The (Old) Farmer's Almanack

DISTRICT COURTS IN MASSACHUSETTS.

(Corrected Sept. 1875.) No. Berkshire. — For the towns of | Bridgewater, E. and W. Bridgewater, at Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Brockton, crim., daily ; ciril, every Tues. and Savoy, at Adams, crim., daily, 9 A. 2d of Plymouth. - For Abington, M.; civil, weekly, at north village of So. Abington, Rockland, Hingham, Hull, Adams, and ist Wed. of each month at Hanover, So. Scituate, and Hanson, crim., south village.

at Abington, erery Mon., Wed., Thurs., Central Berkshire.-For the towns and Sat., at 'Hingham, every Tues, and of Dalton, Hancock, Hinsdale, Lanesbor. Frid.; civil, at Abington, 1st and 3d ough, Peru, Pittsfield, Richmond, and Wed., and at Hingham, 4th Frid. of ev. Windsor, at l'ittsfield, crim., daily, 9 A. ery month. M.; ciril, every Saturday.

3d of Plymouth. - For Plymouth, So. Berkshire. - For Alford, Egre- Kingston, Plympton, Pembroke, Dux: mont, Great Barrington, Monterey, Mt. bury, Marshfield, and Scituate, crim., at Washington, New Marlboro', and Shef- Plymouth, every Mon., Wed., Thu., and field, at Great Barrington, crim., daily, Sat., at Scituate, every Tues, and Frid. ; at 9 A, M.; ciril, every Sat., at 10 A. M. civil, at Plymouth, 1st and 3d Wed., and

Ist of Bristol. For Taunton, Re- at Scituate, 4th Frid. of every month. hoboth, Berkley, Dighton, Seekonk, At- 4th of Plymouth.-For Middlebotleborough, Norton, Mansfield, Easton, rough, Wareham, Lakeville, Marion,

and Rayuham, at Taunton, crim., daily; Mattapoisett, and Rochester, crim., at civil, every Mon,

Mindli borough, every Tues., Wed, and 28 of Bristol. - For Fall River, Sat., and at Wareham, every Mon., Thu., Freetown, Somerset, and Swansea, at Fall and Frid.; ciril, at Middleborough, 1st River, crim , daily; civil, every Mon. and 3d Wed., and at Wareham, tih Fri.,

3d of Bristol. - For New Bedford, of every month. Fairhaven, Acushnet, Dartmouth, and 1st of So. Worcester,- For SturWestport, at New Bedford, crim., daily; bricige, Southbridge, Charlton, Dudley, civil, every Mon.

Oxford, and Webster, crim., at South1st of Essex.- For Salem, Beverly, bridge, Mon., Wed, and Fri., and at Web. Danvers, Hamilton, Topstield, Middle-ster, Tues., Thurs., and Sat., 9 A. M.; tou, and Wenham, at Salem, crim., daily, civil, at Southbridge, Mon., Webster, 9 A. M.; ciril, every Wed.

Tues., weekly. E. Hampden. For Palmer, Brim- 2d of So, Worcester.- For Blackfield, Monson, Holland, and Wales, at stone, Uxbridge, Douglas, and NorthPaimer, crim., daily, 9 A. M.; cicil,' 1st bridge, for trials by jury, in Blackstone and 3d Sat, of each month.

or Uxbridye, at such times as, in the 1st of No. Middlesex.- For Ayer, discretion of the justice, the public conGroton, Pepperell, Townsend, Ashby, venience may require ; when not in sesShirley, Westford, Littleton, and Boxbor- sion for trials by jury, the court shall be ough, at Ayer, crim., daily, 9 A.M.; civil, held for crim business, in Blackstone, Ist Mon, of each month.

every Mon., Wed., and Fri., in Uxbridge, Central Middlesex. - For Acton, every es., Thurs., and Sat.; for civil Bedford, Carlisle Concord, Lincoln, May- business, in Blackstone, every Mon., in nard, Stow, and Lexington, at Concord, Uxbridge, every Sat. crim., daily; civil, 1st and 3d Wed. ot 3d of So. Worcester.- For Milford, each month.

Mendon, and Upton, at Milford, crim., 1st of E. Middleser. - For Wil- daily ; civil, 1st and 3d Wed. each mon. mington, No. Reading, Reading, Stone- Central Worcester - For Worcesham, Wakefield, Melrose, Malden, Ever- ter, Millbury, Sutton, Alburn, Leicester, ett, and Medford, crim., at Malden, every Paxton, W. Boylston, Boylston, Holden, Mon., Tues., Frid., and Sat., At Wakefield, and Shrewsbury, at Worcester, crim., every Wed. and Thurs.; civil, at Malden, daily, at 9 A. M.; civil, every Sat. every Sat., and at Wakefield every Wed. Ist of E. Worcester. - For North.

1st of $. Middlesex.-l'or Ashland, borough. Southborough, Westborough, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Na- and Grafton, crim., Westborough, every tick, Sherborn, Sudbury, and Wayland, Mon., Wed., and Fri., at Gratton, every at So. Framingham, crim., daily; civil, Tues., Thurs., and Sat., ! A. M.; civil, every Mon.

at Westborough, every Mond., at GratE. Norfolk.- For Randolplı, Brain-ton every Tucs. tree, Conasset, Weymouth, Quincy, Hol- 2d of E. Worcester.-For Clinton, brook, and Milton, at Quincy, crim., dai- Berlin, Bolton, Harvard, Lancaster, and ly, 9 A. M.; civil, every Mon.

Sterling, at Clinton, crim., daily.; civil, 1st of Plymouth.- For Brockton, | 2d and ith Sat. of each month.

MUNICIPAL AND POLICE COURTS IN MASSACHUSETTS.

(Corrected Sept. 1875.) Municipal Courts are held daily in the city of Boston, as follows: In Boston (old city), Highland District (Roxbury), South Boston, East Boston, Dorchester District, Charlestown District, Brighton District, and West Roxbury District.

Police Courts are held daily at Cambridge, Chelsea, Chicopec, Fitchburg, Gloucester, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lee, Lowell, Lynn, Newburyport, Somerville, Springfield, and Williamstown.

PROBATE COURTS IN MASSACHUSETTS.

(Corrected Sept. 1875.) Barnstable. - At Barnstable, 2d Tu. Hampen.- At Springfield, 1st Tu. Jan., Feb., March, Aug., Sept., Dec., Jan., Feb., March, Ap., May, June, July, and 3d Tues. April and Julie.; Har- Sep., Oct., and Dec.; Paliner, 2d Tucs. wich, 2d No. af. 1st Tu. May, and Mo. af. Feb., May, and Sept., and 4th Tues. Nov.; 3d Tu. Oct.; Orleans, :d Tu. May and 4th Westfield, 3d Tues, in Feb., May, Sept., Tu. Oct.; Wellfleet, Wed. af. 3d 'i'u. May, and Dec. and Wed. af. 4th Tu. Oct.; Provincetown, Hampshire. - At Northampton, 1st Th. aft. 3d Tu. May, and Th, aft. 4th Tu. Tues. of every mo.; Amherst, 20 Tues. Oct.; Falmouth, 3d Tu. Nov.

Jan., Mar., June, Aug. and Nov.; BelchBerkshire. - At Pittsfield, 1st Tues. ertown, 2d Tues. of May and Oct.; and in Jan., Feb., March, April, May, June, Williamsburg, 3d Tues. May and Oct. Sept., Oct., and Dec., 3d Tu. July, and Nantucket. - At Nantucket, on Th. Wed. after 1st Mon. Nov., Lee, Wed. aft. aft. 2d Tu, of ev. mo. 1st Tu.in Jan., Ap., and Oct., and Wed. af. Norfolk. - At Dedham, 1st and 3d :30 Tu. July: Adams, Th. aft. 1st Tu. Jan. Wed. ; Quincy, 2d Wed., Hyde Park, 4th and Oct., Wed. af, 1st Tu. Mar., and Th. Wed. ev. mo. exc. Aug. af. 3d Tu. in July; Gr. Barrington, Wed. Middlesex. - At Cambridge, 1st, 28, after 1st Tu. in Feb., May, Sep., and Dec. and 4th Tu, ea. mo. ex. Aug.; Lowell, 3d

Bristol. - At Taunton, 1st Fr. Mar., Tu. of Jan., Mar., May, July, Sep., and Jun., Sep., Dec.; New Bedford, 180 Frid. Nov. Feb., May, Aug., and Nov.; Fall River, ist Plymouth.- At Plymouth, 2d Mon. Fri. Jan., Ap., Oct., and 20 Fr. July, ev.mo., ex. July and Aug.; Wareham, 4th

Dukes County. At Holmes' Hole Mon. Oct.; E. Bridgewater, 4th Mo. Feb. village in Tisbury, 3d Mo. Ap. and 1st Mo. and Dec.; Hingham, 4th Mo. Mar.; MiddleSept. ; Edgartown, 3d Mo. Jan. and July, boro', 4th Mon. Jan. and Ap., and 20 Mon. and 1st Mo. Mar. and Dec.; W. Tisbury: July ; Abington, 4th Mo. May, Aug., and Ist Mo. June and 3d Mon. Oct.

Nov.; Hanover, 4th Mo. June; BridgewaEssex.- At Salem, 1st Mon. of each ter, 4th Mo. Sep.; North Bridgewater, 3d mo.,

and 3d Mon. of ea. mo., except Aug.; Mon. Apr. and Oct. Lawrence, 2d Monday Jan., Mar., May, Suffolk.- At Boston, every Monday June, July, Sept., and Nov; Haverhill, in each month. 2d Mon. Apr. and Oct.; Newburyport, Worcester. - At Worcester, 1st and 4th Mon. Jan., Mar., May, June, July 3d Tu. of every mo. except Aug.; Fitch. Sept., and Nov.; Gloucester, 4th Mo. Ap. burg, 4th Tu. of Ap. and Sep.; Milford, and Oct.

20 Tu. of Ap. and 'Sep.; Templeton, 21 Fra u klin. - At Greenfield, 1st Tues. Tu. of May and Oct.; and Barre, Wed. in every month, except Nov.; North-next after ža Tu. of May and Oct. field, 2d Tues. May and Sept.; Orange, AT When the uppvinted day falls on a 20 Tu. Mar. and Dec., a.d 3d Tu. June; holiday, the court will be holden. by ad. Conway, 3d Tu. May; Shelburne Falls, 4th journment at such time and place as the Tu. May, 20 Tu. Feb., and 4th Tu. Oct. judge may appoint. JUDGES OF PROBATE COURTS IN MASSACHUSETTS.

(Corrected Sept. 1875.) Barnstable Co., Jos. M. Day, Barnstable. | Hampden Co., Wm. 8. Shurtleff, Springf?. Berkshire Co., J. T. Robinson, No.Adams, Middlesex Co., Geo. M. Brooks, Concord. Bristol Co., Edm. H. Bennett, Taunton. Nantucket Co., Thaddeus C. Defriez, Dukes Co., Joseph T. Pease, Edgartown. Nantucket. Essex Co., Geo. F. Choate, Salem.

Norfolk Co., G. White, Newton Lr. Falls. Franklin Co., C. C. Conant, Greenfield. Plymouth Co., Wm.H.Wood, Middleboro'. Hampshire Co., Samuel . Spaulding, Suffolk Co., Isaac Ames, Boston. Northampton.

Worcester Co., Henry Chapin, Worcester. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' MEETINGS IN MASSACHUSETS.

(Corrected Sept. 1875.) Barnstable, at Barnstable, on the 20 Hampden, at Springfield, on the 28 Tues, of April and Oct.

Tues. of April, the 1st Tues. of Oct., and Berkshire, at Pittsfield, «n 1st Tu. of the 4th Tues. of June and Dec. Apl., July, and Sept., and list Tu. Dec. Hampshire, at Northampton, on the

Bristol, at Taunton, on the 4th Tues. 1st Tu. of Mar., Scpt., and Dec., and on of March and Sept.

the Tues, next after the 2d Mon, of June. Dukes Co., at Edgartown, on the Wed. Middlesex, at Cambridge, on the 1st next after the 3d Mon. of May, and the Tucs. of Jan., and the 1st Tues. of June; Wed, next after the 2d Mon.of Nov. and at Lowell, on the 1st Tues. of Sept.

Essex, at Ipswich, on the 2d Tues, of Nantucket, 1st Wed, of each month. April; at Salem, on the 20 Tucs. of July ; Norfolk, at Dedham, o the 3d Tues. at Newburyport, on the 20 Tues. of Oct.; of April, the 4th Tues. of June and Sept., and at Lawrence, on the last Tues, of and the last Wed. of Dec. Aug.; and on the 4th Tues. of Dec., at Plymouth, at Plymouth, on the 1st

Ipswich, Salem, or Newburyport, as they Tues, of Jan., the 38 Tucs. of March, shall order at their next preceding term. and the 1st Tues. of Aug.

Franklin, at Greentiete, on the 1st Worcester, at Worcester, on the 4th Tues. of March and Sept., and the 2a Tu. of March, the 3d Tu. of June, the Tues. of June and Dec.

2d Tu. of Sept., and the 4th Tu. of Dec. Economy of Pasture Management. As long as the dairy continues to be the leading specialty in New England farming, the treatment of pastures must remain, as it is now, of paramount importance. Thomas Horsfall, of England, whose reputation as a successful practical dairyman, is well known in this country, has built up his dairy by wise and judicious manage ment of his pastures, and his method of feeding dairy cows. Though the details of his system may not be in every respect applicable to this country, they are full of valuable suggestion, and furnish an instructive lesson to us. Consider what he says about his treatment of permanent pasture: “ The Home pasture, of barely fifteen acres, carries my twenty milch cows during the day. They are housed during the night. This clearing the pastures by night has in some degree the effect of change of pasture, and prevents their lying so much on the grass they eat. In addition to the twenty cows in milk, twenty ewes with their lambs graze and farten on this home pasture of fifteen acres. These ewes are supplied with half a pound of rape cake cach per day. It will be observed that the dung from the cows is likewise enriched by the extra food given to the cows in stall. Several times during the season a laborer is sent around the pastures to spread about the dung; for this operation I prefer wet weather. My other pastures are also rich feeding pastures, and carry a beast and a ewe with her lambs per acre. During July and August the coarse tufts of grass in the pastures are mown and carried home for fodder for my horses. I prefer this pasture grass for horses to that 1rom aftermath, which is too relaxing. These pasture mowings more than suffice for the bulky food for four or five liorses during July and August. The surplus is partly eaten by the cattle, the remainder being converted into hay, and mixed with cut straw for steaming. After this mowing of the tusts the pastures assume the appearance of aftermath, and the animals graze with appetite over the whole. Late in autumn and early in spring the ewes are continued on these pastures, which they graze quite close. They are housed during severe weather, and at night on boarded floors, and turned on the pasture during the day through the winter in fine weather.

“ To these frequent cuttings of my meadows and close grazing of my pastures I am in some degree indebted for the excellent quality of their produce."

Here we see the same liberal course of treatment or pastures by this distinguished dairy man, that we find adopted by the skilful dairymen of Holland. We see his pastures carrying a cow and a ewe to the acre, with a plenty of rank growing redtop to spare, But in his case there was some extra feed at the time of pasturing, which the dairy stock of Hollanıl does not generally get.

This example certainly ought to lead us to adopt a more generous policy towards the creatures that niinister so completely to our wants, and towards the pastures to which we are to look in the future to supply their necessities. The prosperity of the coming farmer of New England will turn largely upon his pasture-grounds, and we cannot expect that these will take care of themselves.

Wood Ashes. All the wood ashes of the house ought to be saved with scrupulous care, and applied to the garden or to the grass land of the farm. Good hard-wood ashes are worth more to a farmer than the ash-man will give for them. A bushel of such ashes contains from four to five pounds of potasli, and potash is worth about cight or ten cents a pound. The old custom throughout New England of selling ashes to the soap man was a very bad one.

To any land not already containing an excess of alkali, like some of the plains on what is called the Great American Desert, ashes are of very great value. On clayey, stiff, or heavy land, especially, they can be used with very great profit, while on land of an opposite character, sandy and light, they never fail to be of immediate and permanent value. Even coal ashes, on very heavy land, will have thic effect to improve its mechanical condition. They are worth saving and apply. ing to such land. But wood ashes ought to be saved with the greatest care,

Colorado Potato Beetle.

terrible post is rapidly advancing eastward, having averaged from fifty to eighty miles a year, and we shall probably make its acquaintance in Massachusetts during this centennial year or the next. It is estimated that it will cover the New England States before the close of 1877; and if so, it will prove to be the greatest insect curse that has yet appeared in our midst; and it is important that every farmer should understand something of its habits, and know what to expect.

Previous to 1859 the home of this beetle appears to have been in the Rocky Mountains, where it hall been knowu to exist for many years, feeding on a wild species of the potato peculiar to that region. When civilization reached the foot of the mountain range, it xoon acquired the liabit of feeding on the cultivated potato. In that year it had reached a point about a hundred miles west of Omaha, in Nebraska, and invaded lowa in 1861, and soon spread over that state, and crossed the Mississippi in 1864 and 1865, invading Illinois and other adjacent states, marching in separate columns eastward, just as Sherman marched from Atlanta to the sea, During the last ten years its progress has been steadily castward, till it has already reached Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. It is clear that it will inevitably reach us soon, and that we shall have to take our turn in efforts for its destruction, Its scientific name is the Doryphora decem-lineata, or Ten-lined Spearman.

The wings of this beetle are of a bright rose color, its body is cream colored, and it has five black stripes upon each wing-case, or ten in all. It can fiy, but it appears to be reluctant to do so, except in the heat of the day. At other times it is slug: gish. It is wonderfully prolific, producing three broods in a season, the last brood wintering over in the beetle state, under ground, which it enters in October, and from which the beetles issue forth early in May. Though in general it is three brooded, it may be found at any part of the growing season in all its various stages, on account of the fact that the female continues to deposit her eggs in patches of potatoes froin time to time for forty days, and that among the larvæ, which hatch out in six days, sonic will develop up into beetles a week or ten days earlier than others, so that some of the later brood may pass the winter in the pupa state. Each female can deposit more than a thousaud eggs. They hatch into larvæ, which seed on potato-vines for about twenty days, when they go into the ground, to issue forth as beetles in teu days. These beetles in turn begin to deposit eggs in about two weeks after issuing from the ground, so that in about fifty days after the egg is laid in the spring, its offspring will begin to propagate. Its capacity for increase is thus seen to be quite amazing. It is estimated that a pair of these beetles, if uudisturbed, will produce a progeny of sixty millions in a single season.

Thus far Paris green in powder mixed with ashes, and dusted over the vines when the dew is on, or when they are wet from rain, or else put into water and sprinkled over the vines, has been the only effective remedy found. The powder does not dissolve in water, and the water simply has the etfect to hold it in place on the leaves and vines. Paris green, being an active poison, must be used with

It is supposed that its poisonous properties will remain after its application to the soil, and that it may prove dangerous in future. If so, the remedy would seem to be quite as bad as the disease; but tons of this arsenic green have been used at the West, and we have heard of no case of poisoning that could be traced directly to this source. The “ lady-bird,” or “lady-bug,” a little red beetle with black spots, feeds on the eggs of the potato beetle, and so helps very much to keep it in check. Let us all protect and cncourage the - lady-birds " as anong our best friends.

care.

Common Soap. WHEN oily or fatty substances are brought into contact with an alkali held in solution at a high temperature, they undergo an entire change, and the process of soap-making depends on this change. Soft soap, such as is comnionly made in the farm-house, is forincd by the union of potash with fatty matter, while hard soaps are formed by the use of soda instead of potash. If water is present, as it always is in soft soups, potash will not harden. Soit soaps are most commonly made of soft fats, while hard soaps are oftener made from tallow. Olive oil and soda are used in making what is called castile soap, the peculiar marbled appearance being produced by the mixture of iron rust. In the manufacture of yellow bar soap rosiu is often used. Rosin soaps forin lather so readily, – that is, they dissolve so easily,

that they are often thought to be better, or more effective; but, in point of fact, their cleansing properties are inferior, and they are by no means so economical as soda soaps. The cleansing properties of soaps depend on their alkaline constituents. When soaps are brought into contact with soiled clothing, or with the impurities of the skin, which consist largely of oily matters derived from the exhalations of the body, the alkali in the soap seizes hold of these oily matters and dissolves them, so that they are readily removed by the water. Water alone will not always have this effect, because it has no affinity for oily matters. It just leaves them - lets them alone in the skin or the clothing; while if an alkali were used alone, it would be so strong as to injure, or perhaps destroy, whatever it came in contact with.

Curing Clover. MANY farmers are carcless in the curing of their clover, and treat it as they do the hay made from the grasses, They often lose a great deal by this method. Clover ought to be cut immediately after blossoming, and before the seed is formed. it ought to be cured so as to preserve the blossoms and the leaves, and not exposed long to the scorching sun. After being wilted and partially dried, let it be forked up into cocky while it is still warm from the afternoon sun, and 'lest to cure in this position. In three or four days, when the weather is fair and warm, it may be opened and aired an liour or two, when it will be fit to cart to the barn.

Clover cured in this way, without the loss of its foliage, is one of the best kinds of hay for cows in nilk, and for sheep and young stock. It may be fed to horseg that are not hard at work, but it is most valuable for dairy cows. If clover is not sufficiently cured when stored away, mix it in alternate layers with old swale hay or straw.

Ploughing under Clover for Manure. THE vencrable John Johnston, of Geneva, who is now eighty-four years old, and who says he thinks the average of all his wheat crops would be not less than twentyeight bushels per acre, while lic has raised, many times, over thirty-five bushels, and occasionally forty-two bushels, thinks it indispensable to success in wheat-growing to plough under clover. The Hon. Geo. Geddes, and very many other farmers of Central New York, are of the same opinion. The same enterprising men by no means undervalue barn-yard manure; on the contrary, they feed all the stock possible for the sake of aecumulating a good supply; but, with the best management, whenever grain is sold to any considerable extent, the available supply of manure is not enough to maintain the fertility of the land without the aid of clover to be ploughed under. But with its aid the land improves. There may be reasons why this practice will not succeed here, but the method is worthy a fair trial.

It may seem at first an absurd project to attempt to improve land by ploughing into it what has just grown out of it. If the clover drew all its nourishment from the land alone, this would be true. The clover, however, has the property of draw. ing large quantitics of nitrogen from the air which are stored for ihe use of the grain crop following, which can absorb nitrogen only by its roots. Clover, then, is to be regarded as the cheapest known source of nitrogen and organic matter, carbon, &c., but it cannot restore to exhausted land either potash or phosphates; and if our land is deficient in these essentials, we must add them to the clover before we can expect a good yield of grain. In New York this has not yet proved necessary, as the clover alone, with such manure as could be easily obtained, has been able to maintain the fertility of the land, under judicious rotation, for scores of years. Experience may prove that we inay need in addition to use some potash and phosphate. Now, the potash can be had cheaply in the German potash salbs, and superphosphate cau be prepared of good quality so as to be sold at $25 per ton, if it were not mixed with any nitrogenous manure. It is the nitrogen that costs, and which can be cheaply supplied by the farmer himself by ploughing under clover. The manufacturer of so-called superphosphate generally mixes some nitrogenous com. pound with the superphosphate at a cost which the farmer can ill afford to pay, even it he gets an honestly mixed article – the purpose of the manufacturer being to get a manure which will produce a visible and immediate effect upon foliage when applied to farm crops. The farmer can buy his nitrogen, by ploughing in clover, at a price with which no trader can ever possibly compete, with ihe additional advantage of loosening the soil by the decomposing vegetable matter. The clover should be ploughed under when in full blossom. If the land will produce two crops, the first may be cut for hay, and the second ploughed under for manure.

THE PUBLIC DEBT.
Statement of the Public Debt, September 1, 1875, not including bonds
issued in aid of the Pacific Railroad Corporations,
Debt bearing interest in coin -

At Six per cent. $1,085,865,550 00
At Five per cent.

(23,032,750 00

$1,708,898,300 00 Debt bearing interest in currency

14,678,000 00 Debt bearing no interest

Old Dem’d and Leg. Tend. $374,315,565 50
Fractional Currency. 41,137,018 52
Certificates of Deposit. 64,780,000 00
Coin Certificates.

17,618,500 00

497,851,084 02 Matured debt

17,961,260 26 Total principal

$2,239,388,644 28 Total accrued interest

26,919,783 90

$2,266,308,428 18 Cash in the Treasury Coin

$71,117,272 73
Currency