Nursery. Courage and Confidence-J. W. Manning's in hand, who is about to revive the Winnisimmet nursery in Chelsea, which was established by bis father. In every department of life, and in every industrial pursuit, there are always plenty of Little Faiths, while the Great Hearts are about as seldom met with as they are in Pilgrim's Progress. Among fruit growers the tenants of Doubting Castle have been greatly increased of late, by such Lions in the Way, as canker worms, curculios, borers and certain indefinable and mysterious, but potent adverse "atmospheric influences." Against the ravages of wild beasts and insects against anything, in fact, that can be seen or felt, anything that has flesh and blood-men had courage to contend long and bravely; but now that the "Prince of the powers of the air" is pitted against the cultivators of fruit; now that blight has chartered the thunder cloud that passes over the tree in blossom; now that sunshine and the soil are channels of disease and death, brave indeed must he be whose faith is unshaken and whose heart quails not. And yet there are such men,-men who, in the face of all these discouragements, believe that fruit may be still raised in New England! We catch a glimpse of such an individual in another article in this week's FARMER. We allude to J. A. Harwood, Esq., of Littleton, on whose farm there are large apple and peach orchards, and who thinks there are as good inducements now as ever for engaging in the cultivation of fruit. In our paper of the week before, Mr. Comings, of New Hampshire, expresses the opinion that the care of trees will pay if the care of lambs and pigs will; and Elder Frederick, a New York Shaker, tells brother Hepworth, "thee sees we love our garden," and intimates that his trees both know and love him. A week or two ago, the Boston Cultivator told us of Capt. Geo. Pierce, of Arlington, (late West Cambridge,) who, in the midst of legions of canker worms, and all the other ills that trees are heir to in the older portions of the country, sold last year $1198.07 worth of apples, and $532.25 worth of pears and squashes, from three acres of what was once called " Poverty Point." If these are brave men, is not he a braver man still who goes into the nursery business in these times? This question brings us back to the place of beginning-Mr. J. W. Manning's nursery, Reading, Mass., which we recently visited. Mr. Manning is a practical nurseryman. He was an apprentice and student to the late S. W. Cole, author of the Fruit Book, and first editor of the monthly NEW ENGLAND FARMER. In this connection we may remark that we had the pleasure of meeting here one of his sons, spade Mr. Manning has built up, in within the last twelve years, quite an extensive business at Reading. We are particularly pleased with a late addition to his grounds of some ten or twelve acres, consisting of almost every variety of soil, from a deep muck to a light sand, on which he was at work at the time of our visit. This had the fresh appearance of "new land;" most of it having been recently cleared of trees, bushes. rocks, and water, at a large expenditure for chopping, blasting, ditching, plowing, subsoiling and trenching. Here and on other portions of the grounds, the display of the trim bodies and graceful branches of some four thousand maples. from six to sixteen feet high, the "spruce" appearance of some two hundred thousand evergreens, with elms, apples, pears, and other fruit trees in corresponding profusion, arranged with all the military precision of a dress parade, with uncounted grape vines, currant bushes, &c.. richly repaid us for the pleasant spring morning spent in this nursery. The standard apple, pear, cherry, and even peach trees, appeared to be remarkable thrifty and healthy, the cherry and peach being in full blossom. Mr. Manning has no faith in the theory of the degeneracy of fruit trees, in the omnipotence of insects, nor in any permanent unfavorable change in the seasons, but believes that those who plant trees and take proper care of them, will have no occasion to complain of want of success.-New England Farmer. Roanoke Tobacco Company. Above Danville, in Virginia, toward the headwaters of the Dan river, are the celebrated grey lands, which produce the famous high flavored tobacco, now monopolized and manufactured by this company; a small lot of this tobacco, of two qualities, the "Maryland Club" and the "Prince of Wales," were forwarded to this office some time since, by Col. George P. Kane, the Superintendent of the Company. We have smoked the Turkish tobacco, even the famed Latakia, sent by the Sublime Porte as a unique and complimentary present to all foreign diplomatic agents within the Turkish Empire. The “Lone Jack" and "Here's Your Mule," have cheered us on many a lonely bivouac, but we must say that the tobacco from the grey lands of the upper Dan, manufactured by the Danville Company, is the best we have ever smoked. Dealers wishing supplies of this tobacco can apply to the selling and purchasing agency of Bruce, Millard & Skinner, 37 Park Row. Dairy Galloways. taken, my own observations included, the following points which I believe to be facts. The Galloway cow, though affording a smaller quality of milk per day when fresh, than any of the English or American dairy breeds or grades, by maintaining a maximum flow throughout the season, and milking from three to five weeks longer than the average with other breeds, the amount of milk in the aggregate will equal that of any of the ordinary breeds of cows. amount of butter per cow per week, calculating all together from the dairy herd of thirty or more animals, down to single cows kept by gardeners, The There was a promise passed I know, to impart to the public through the medium of the "Journal," at an early day, something which some one happened to know of the qualities and characteristics of the pretty little provincial cows of Britany. But just at this time I have no means of determing whether that promise was made by Yours Respectfully, in person, or some one of three or four personal friends. N, importe-I hold myself responsible for the fulfilment of the obligation, and would cancel it now, but for the interposition between my pen, the publisher and the public beyond, of a bovine of another charac-mechanics, &c., and counting eight months as the ter so well worthy of favorable public opinion that season, the average will be very nearly eight for this time Britany must go to the wall, while pounds. Though in many instances Galloways the North Britian walks up for presentation to kept on "short commons," or rather keeping our American stock breeders, dairymen and far- | themselves as best they can on commous, or mers generally. "browsing" out their board abroad in woods and swamps, will average nine pounds of best quality butter per week through the entire season. Have we many cows among us of any breed or grade that under like conditions will do as well? An eminent English herdsman, whose authority is unquestionable, thus writes of the Scottish Galloways: "Small, harmless, hornless, docile and hardy animals-color dark brown or black, flesh of fine grain and quality-milk moderate in quantity, but excessively rich-almost creamas it flows from the udder, the milking period being considerable longer than with any of our favorite Southern breeds. Inability to endure severe winter weather unsheltered, the Galloways | have no equals, and in capacity for maintaining a supply of milk and themselves in good heart condition, they are excelled only by the Irish Kerries." About two-thirds the bulk of feed required to keep a cow of any of our ordinary dairy breeds in medium milking condition during the feeding portion of the year in the Middle and Northern States, will carry a Galloway through a cold Canadian winter a month longer than ours, maintaining a maximum flow of milk, and the animal in first class condition. It is the popular opinion, both in Scotland and British America, Though my own practical experience with the that provided with a well littered yard, and orGalloways has not been a tithe of that of the dinary open shed, fronting the south, the Gallogentlemen quoted, I have seen a great many of way cow will do better than she will cribbed, them-milked with my own hands more than a confined and cooped up in a close stable. I hundred different cows of the breed, never in a have seen them cropping out a comfortable subsingle instance, so far as I can now remember, sistance from resources where the most enterprizmeeting with one who moved head or heels with ing Alderney, Devon, Hereford or Short Horn vicious intent during the process of milking, so that ever went afield would perish with famine. that my own conclusions in that direction are And many a time have I seen the black, Scottish that I was either singularly fortunate in the se- "buffaloes" wading and wallowing through Calection of animals to experiment upon, or else the nadian drifts, braving Artic blasts and blinding Galloways are the most docile, well behaved snow storms, with the mercury down to nothmilkers that milk man or maid ever put a pailing, seemingly as insensible to cold as a Russian under. In Canada, and throughout the British possessions in North America, the number of Scottish Galloways kept for dairy and ordinary milking purposes, probably exceeds at the present time that of all other breeds counted together, and having made diligent and close inquiries respecting them, from many parties best qualified to afford correct information-during a recent extended excursion through Canada and the provinces east, I make up from all the testimony sable. The Galloway cattle are less liable to any of the ordinary diseases incident to bovine existence than any other breed of stock, if we except the wild cattle of the South American plains and pampas, and being excellent breeders,. kind in disposition, amiable in habits, cheaply maintained and so easily obtained from our Canadian neighbors, it seems to me that an early experiment with the Scotch Galloways would be well worth the attention of our breeders, farmers and dairymen.-VICTOR in the Am. Stock Journal. A Fruit Critic Criticised. The farmer of Edgewood, in a recent number of the American Journal of Horticulture, advances some very sceptical and heterodox notions in pomology, calculated to discourage improvement in this fine art. He says: "I doubt very much if the finest flavored fruits can be grown as easily as the grosser tasting ones." And again, "in the pear line, it is quite possible that, with great nicety of treatment, both in garden culture and in the ripening process, (which last counts for a great deal,) a higher and finer flavor may be given to the Beurré Diel, or the Flemish Beauty, or the Beurré d'Anjou, or even the Duchess, than belongs ordinarily to the Bartlett. But put the Bartlett in comparison with either, under fair average treatment, and upon ordinary garden lands, and I think two luscious Bartletts will present themselves, to one of either the other names." The idea here advanced, that the finer kinds of pears require specially nice treatment in order to succeed, is mischievous, and is certainly not sustained by facts. The Seckel, the highest flavored of all pears, is even more hardy than the Bartlett, and will bear good fruit in almost any soil that is adapted to the pear. It is improved in size by high cultivation, but that is true of all pears— and of the Bartlett as well. We do not think the flavor of the Seckel is improved by its size. The Flemish Beauty and the Beurré Biel, upon ordinary garden lands, and with the fair average treatment, have always borne as well as the Bartlett, in our experience. The Beurré d'Anjou is a newer pear, but it is notoriously a good grower and bearer, and may prove itself adapted to as wide a range of soil and climate as the Bartlett. The Duchess is more fastidious about its soil, but where it finds congenial aliment, it is as easily raised, ripens as well, and keeps better than the Bartlett. We found four large, well grown trees, upon pear stock standing in a common meadow, three years ago, in Westchester county. They have never had any special care, apparently; they stand in sward land, and yet for three years in succession, they have borne abundant crops. A cow-pasture seedling could not be more hardy, or bear with more uniformity. This variety, we are told, does very well at New Haven, and is comparatively worthless at Hartford. This depends, we suppose, not at all upon treatment or culture, but upon the original character of the soil. The Paradise d'Automne, the Muskingum, the St. Ghislain, pears of exquisite flavor, are quite as successful with us as the Bartlett. In soil that suits them, without any special manipulation or culture, we think they can be grown with as much uniformity and in as large quantity. This, we think, is true of many other pears of the first quality. Farmers, and beginners in fruit culture, should not be discouraged from trying to grow the best varieties, by the idea that they require specially nice treatment. They will do better with this than without it, as the Bartlett will, but they are quite as likely to succeed with ordinary care.The best are quite as likely to succeed in your soil and climate as inferior varieties. Therefore, plant them. A great deal of horticultural writing is an account of local experience, valuable as far as it goes, but it should be distinctly stated that they are only individual opinions. No one man is able to lay down rules for the whole extent of this vast country.—American Agriculturist. How to Keep Up Your Hay Crop. A farmer who had been in the habit of selling his hay for many years in succession, being asked how he kept up his hay crop without manuring or cultivating his land, replied, "I never allowed the after swath to be cut." If this rule was generally followed, there would be less said about running out of grass fields or short crops of hay. Some farmers feed off every green thing and compel their cattle to pull up and knaw off the roots of the grass. Cutting rowen is cutting ruin, and hard fall and winter grazing is certain death to hay crops. A farmer had better buy hay at $40 per ton than ruin his hay field by close grazing. The general treatment of grass lands in this respect is wrong and expensive, and should be abandoned as a matter of profit and economy.- Wisconsin Farmer. Gas Lime as a Fertilizer. An officer of the Edinburg Gas Company, writing to the Scottish Farmer concerning gas lime as a fertilizer, says: "I believe that waste gas lime is equal in efficiency to fresh lime for most of the purposes aimed at in its use in farm lands. I sold all the lime thus produced at the gas works in Forfarshire, for sixteen years, to several farmers, who uniformly expressed their satisfaction therewith. One very useful application of it was its mixture with the large pile of weeds and tangled roots of grass cleared off the fields annually. On being composted in this way, the lime gradually killed all the vitality of these weeds, and returned them to the land in the way of manure. It also served the purpose of opening up stiff clay soils, being first spread over the surface, and then ploughed down." Wool Growing in Texas-Scab in Sheep.. Eds. Co. Gent-Sheep farming was fast becoming the most important interest in this State, when, just before the war, a lot of Merino bucks brought from the North, disseminated that terrible pest, SCAB, far and wide. It has spread in our clear climate in a wonderful manner, as it did in Australia, well nigh there putting an end to the business of sheep-breeding. At this moment, notwithstanding the temporarily improved prospect of the wool grower from the recently levied duties on that staple, the business is in so depressed a condition that good flocks can be purchased to almost any extent, at $1 to $1.50 per head in coin, and this almost entirely from the prevalence of scab. bolic dips, are that it not only destroys all insect life in the animal dipped, but that none will again attack the same animal for months. That its effects upon the skin of the sheep are healing and cleansing, and equally good upon the wool. For the foot ointment equal efficiency is claimed. For the carbolic or cressilic soaps, they assume that fleas, bedbugs, cockroaches, &c., will not remain upon floors, beds, &c., washed with it. I know that its use is required in hospitals, jails, ships, &c. The crude acid, such as is evidently used in the manufacture of sheep dip, deck soap, &c., smells strongly of coal tar. But some which I saw used by laundry-women had but a faint smell, which I was assured disappeared when the clothes were dried. Hand soap had no offensive smell. It is said that mosquitoes will not touch the face and hands washed with it. Glo I hope that some of your correspondents have tried the carbolic dip by this time, and can tell us of its effects. I only wait its appearance in market to give it a thorough trial.—Thomas Affleck in Co. Gent. I made it my business in Europe, to learn what means were used there to cure this disease and keep the flocks clear of it; to destroy lice,rious, if true! cads, ticks, &c., and to cure foot-rot, and found that a somewhat recent discovery of the wonderfully destructive effects of carbolic, cressilic or phenic acid, (one of the products of coal-tar,) upon insect life, led to its employment upon sheep, to rid them of the various pests to which that patient animal is so liable. McDougall's Sheep Dip is almost the sole remedy used. (See mention of its effects, page 246 of Dell's Annual Scientific Discovery for 1862.) In my boyish days sheep were smeared with a mixture of pine tar and palm oil, or coarse butter. But that being found objectionable, from several causes, various dips, powders, pouring oils, &c., were used. All contained poisons of some sort or other, injurious to man and beast; or, as in the case of tobacco water, powders, &c., were ephemeral in their effects; and although I found some still using compounds of tobacco, sulphur, hellebore, mercury, arsenic, &c., &c., it is to a very limited extent, while the Me Dougall Dip is used to a vast extent. The "Glycerine dip," and "Girdwood's Melossoon dip," are mere infringements upon McDougall's. On arriving in New York, I learned that Professor Seely and Dr. Eames had discovered the same effects of carbolic acid, and had patented certain compounds to be used for the destruction of insect life some years ago. They are now manufacturing sheep dip, soaps, disinfecting powders, foot-rot ointment, &c. It is of exceeding interest to us, in Texas, to know what is done, and the results, in this way in the north and west. Will your correspondents instruct us? "Glenblythe," near Brenham, May 16, 1867. [We had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Mr. Affleck as he passed through Baltimore on his return from Europe. He was well known to us before, by reputation, as one of the most entelligent agriculturists in the South. ED.] RENOVATING WORN OUT LAND.-At a recent agricultural meeting in Boston one of the speak ers remarked that "on a tract of land which was overrun with woodbox, briars, and other shrubs, he turned one hundred and fifty sheep. At that time a cow could not have lived on the whole tract. The sheep were kept there several years, and so killed out the wild growth that the tract now affords good pasture for fifteen cows." It is estimated that there are thirty-two and one-half millions of sheep in the loyal twenthe annual number of lambs will be over twenty States and two territories. It is supposed that ty-four millions.- Conntry Gentleman. Not definite enough. Which are the twenty "loyal" States.-Ed. Farmer. A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer at the Paris Exposition says: "The competition in ploughing has thus far been between France and England, resulting very greatly in favor of The great advantages claimed in England, The American Farmer. Baltimore, July 1, 1867. Will all who write us on any subject, but especially in reference to subscriptions, please state the Post-office, (the old one as well as the new, if a change has been made since last writing.) We have several communications that must remain unattended to until we know the TERMS OF THE AMERICAN FARMER. Post-office address of the parties. The delay in the issue of The Farmer this month is owing to the break down of the paper mill on which we depend; one of those unlucky accidents that human affairs are subject to. POULTRY ADVERTISEMENTS.-' -There is a large demand, we think, among our subscribers, for choice poultry. Those who have a taste for the best of every sort of stock, but whose means forbid large expenditure, will yet find themselves able very often to indulge in the comparatively small cost of poultry of the best breeds. A subscriber, now writing from Cheraw, South Carolina, asks for lists from poultry breeders "of their different breeds and prices per pair, delivered at the Adams Express Office in Baltimore." Poultry breeders will find room in our columns for their advertisements. TRIAL OF THE STAR DRILL.-This implement, in accordance with a notice given in our last, made a special trial of its working capacity on the sixth of June at the Agricultural College. For the reason that there was no ground available, on which its peculiarities could be fairly tested, the trial was not a satisfactory one. There was only corn land of last year, foul with briars and not cleared well of the stalks. Those who saw it operate, were quite satisfied that on land well prepared in advance, the Drill will accomplish all that is claimed for it as a grain drill and corn planter, with the advantages of ploughing under the seed, at a perfectly uniform depth, and following with the roller at the same operation. Exacting a promise from us not to stop the Farmer without due notice, he paid his bill and went on his way rejoicing, with thirty cents in his pocket to cover dinner and railroad charges. A somewhat curious inquiry discovered to us that the state of our friend's finances was due, perhaps, to the fact that his spare corn had gone South for starving women and children. We beg our friends everywhere to bear in mind that subscriptions are now due for the new volume, of which this is the first number. The printers and the paper makers are inexorable, and must have their bills paid. Surely those who are abundantly able to pay promptly $2 for what we furnish, need not be urged to so small a sacrifice, when it puts it in our power to oblige many who are not able to pay. The following letter, which is a sample of very many that we get, indicates the necessity of punctuality among those who have abundant means to pay: BARHAMSVILLE, VA., June 11, 1867. Messrs. Worthington & Lewis: GENTLEMEN-Enclosed please find $2, being the amount due for your invaluable paper for the past year, which you have kindly sent me; and just here I would offer you an apology for not having long since remitted you the money, if I were not aware of the fact that your wide spread knowledge of our devastated country and ruined fortunes supersedes the necessity for making any excuse. I was a regular subscriber to the American Farmer ten or twelve years prior to the war, and never tired of its rich store of valuable information, characterized no less for its invaluable agricultural instructions than for the manly and noble christian virtues which it inculcates, diffusing much light on many subjects of material |