52 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



morning, and again towards cvfnin;j, busily per- 

 foi-min;?in the same manner as on the first ap|)Car- 

 ance. tlie third day tliey iiad much increased from 

 what tliey were the day belore ; and liaviiig licard 

 that lime sown npmi the whcMt wonkl he ef service, 

 I iniinediatelv tlirew on nli lut one buslicl of slaked 

 lime up m tlie wlieat while it was wet with dew, 

 upon about ahall'nn acre of the wheal. The fourth 

 day morninff, I again visited this piece of wheat 

 where 1 sowed the lime, and upon a careful exam- 

 ination, I found but one wevil or lly upon the 

 wlieat, until 1 came where I liad sowed no Ume, 

 where, to my surprise, 1 believe tliere were as ma- 

 ny as a dozen of those yellowish flies upon every 

 head of wheat. Tliis discovery caused nie imme- 

 diately to commence sowing on more lime, and not 

 having enough to finish tlie piece, I then h;td re- 

 course to ashes which [ threw on in much haste, 

 fearijig that these insects, being then so active and 

 numerous, would entirely destroy our wheat crop. 

 The fifth day morning, 1 again carefully examined 

 our wheat, and found only three of those flies, 

 which on the fourtli inst. were sd very numerous. 

 Upon tlie si.xth day, as before, 1 examined carefully 

 and found none ; neither did 1 see any of those flies 

 afterwards. 



The wheat sown upon the pasture land on the 

 thirtieth of May, not being headed until after the 

 departure of those unwelcome visitors, they had no 

 opportunity of injuring any part of it. After reap- 

 ing and tlireslilng, I winnowed up. Beginning at 

 the half bushelof red bearded, wliich had no lime 

 sown upon it, I had only tv.'o bushels, it being al- 

 most entirely destroyed by the wevil. Of the Tea 

 wheat, which grew from one bushel and twelve 

 quarts, I cleaned up twenty-two bushels. From 

 the three bushels and a half of Black Sea wheat,^ I 

 cleaned up fifty-three bushels of good wheat, of a 

 round full kernel. From the last sown piece upon 

 the pasture land without manure, 1 cleaned up six- 

 ty-two bushels and a half of wheat : this was not 

 quite so plump and full as I have seen, on account 

 of the drought, v.'hieh in all, amounts to one hun 

 dred and thirty-nine bushels and a half 



S.\MUEL TALL.'VlNT. 



Canterbury, March Sth, IS'ii). 



For the Par;npi'.s Motuiily Vi^iior. 



Hon. Isaac Hill: — Dear flir : — I am much pleas- 

 ed in seeing the pursuit of agriculture, a pursuit 

 which has been too long neglected by all classes, 

 rapidly assuming a more elevated character. I am 

 highly gratified in seeing many individuals whose 

 time has long been occupied in tlie public affairs of 

 the country, "and in the learned professions, now 

 giving their attention to this occupation. And, sir, 

 it o-ives me much pleasure to know that an agri- 

 cuTtural newspaper has been established in New- 

 Hampshire; a publication that has long been need- 

 ed. It opens a channel through which our farm- 

 ers may communicate their thoughts to each other 

 relati\t; to their particular branch of industry. 



In conformity to a well established custom among 

 farmers, to send specimens of their produce to the 

 editors of agricultural journals, I send you a sam- 

 ple of peas,"of dift'erent kinds, wliich come to ma- 

 turity, in the order in which they are named. 



Bisliop's E'.nlij Dicarf, which grows from one 

 foot to one and a half high, and is as early as any 

 I have had, and 1 think quite as good. 



The Early Marrojrfat grows to the height of a- 

 bout four feet, and is very productive, possessing a 

 fine flavor. The Tall Murroiofat grows six feet 

 high and is also very palatable. 



The Dwarf SrijmcUtr comes to maturity at the 

 same time of the last mentioned, and grows one foot 

 and six inches high, and are my favorite peas. I 

 send you one paper for cooking, that you may test 

 their quality — hoping to know your opinion of them 

 hereafter. , 



Kniahl's Dwarf Mar roiif at grows two and a half 

 feet hiT^h, conies to maturity late, and of excellent 

 quality. Also some String Peas, which are rather 

 late ; the pods of ivliich are tender, and are eaten 

 with the peas : they grow about five feet high. 



I send you a kind of Pole Bean r.ither late, hut 

 we think very good ; the seed was obtained from 

 Washington,"D. C. Also a sample of /5«;;o;t Cuni, 

 the seed of which was procured at Albany last 

 eprinw, and planted the aOth May, the produce of 

 which was picked the 2oth August, for seed the 

 ensuing year. 



My method of planting peas is, to plough fur- 

 rows about three feet apart, and manure with old 

 compost ; sow the early ones three to an incli, the 

 later kind, two to an inch ; those which grow high 

 should be planted with less seed than the lower 

 kind. 



At the last hoeing, sow ruta baga seed along the 

 drills of the early ones, and En;;lish turnip seed, 



the late ones; and if good care is taken, connected 

 with a favorable Beason, a good crop will be the re- 

 sult. 



With regard to peas that are designed for seed, 

 my practice is to let one or two rows remain with- 

 out picking any from Ihein, as the vines are gener- 

 ally somewhat injured by gathering from them ; 

 consequently the peas that remain must be injured 

 also. As a substitute for slicking those rows that 

 are designed for seed, 1 have been in the practice 

 of putting up picked sticks, one foot high or less, 

 according to the height of tlie peas, on each side of 

 the row at convenient distances, and laying poles 

 from one to the other. This is very easily done, and 

 I think quite an improvement. 



I also send you a jar of honey, as a sample of my 

 new mode of producing it. With regard tp the ad- 

 vantages derived from the new method I have a- 

 dnptcd in the cultivation of bees, permit me to say, 

 that a good swarm will annually, in good seasons, 

 and with proper attention, fill nine such jars, and 

 afl'ord one tier, which contains from twenty -five to 

 fifty pounds, besides swarming once. 



A swarm of mine which came oS" the second of 

 July, and were placed in the house I had just built, 

 filled nine such jars, and collected one hundred 

 pounds more thin was suflicient to supply them 

 with food during the winter. 



From the experience I have had, lam confident 

 bees may be kept through the winter with as much 

 safety, and far less trouble, than a farmer is sub- 

 jected to, in wintering his cattle ; and this method 

 thus far, has proved a complete remedy against all 

 the misfortunes heretofore incident to the cultiva- 

 tion of bees. 



With regard to the Rohan Potatoes which I exhib- 

 ited last autumn at the annual Fair, at Hopkinton, 

 I would say, they were produced from six potatoes 

 obtained from Albany, and weighed three and a 

 half pounds, artd cut mto IIG pieces, three of which 

 were put in a hill ; hut in consequence of being in- 

 jured by the cold, while on their way from Albany 

 to Franklin, 6'> only of the 116 grew ; being less 

 than two pounds, and those were in 24 hills ; which 

 produced five bushels, on soil similarly cultivated to 

 that where potatoes of common kind grew, which 

 yielded one bushel to forty-five hills. I might have 

 raised more li.ad I put two sets in a hill ; for in one 

 hill where only one grew it produced five potatoes 

 weighin,? eight and a half pounds; the largest 

 weighed'2 3-4 lbs. the next best 2 1-2 lbs. 



The land should be ploughed deep, for their roots 

 descend deep, and their vines are strong. They 

 should be planted early, for they are a late kind. 

 However, they ripened well and were not aft'ected 

 by the rust. They are good for the table, and as 

 Judge Buel says, "if not the very best, they are 

 very good." 



If the facts I have submitted relative to the farni- 

 inof interest and the cultivation of bees, are worthy 

 a place in your valuable paper, you are at liberty to 

 publish them, orsuciipart of them asyou may deem 

 proper. 



The seed of the above articles can be furnished to 

 some extent to those who may want. 

 Very respectfullt' yours, 



J. SEARLE. 

 Franklin, April 1, 1839. 



We thank the gentleman, not less for his present 

 of new and useful seeds and the jar of honey, than 

 for his communication for the public eye. We hope 

 that he may be amply remunerated for all his extra 

 labor in identifyins and furnishing the best quality 

 of the first rate seeds as well in the products of his 

 own fields as in the increased price which such 

 seeds ought to command. 



The jar of honey, being an original deposite by 

 the bees themselves in a transparent glass vessel, 

 holding ])crhaps three pints, is a great curiosity, 

 Mr, Scarle has obtained a patent for his improved 

 bee-house, which we believe to be an improvement 

 upon all previous methods of keeping bees. The 

 fact of a single swarm ichich came, out in Julij furn- 

 ishing one hundred pounds of honey more than 

 was sufficient to supply them with food for the 

 winter, is an intereslino^ illustration of his improved 

 mode of treating the little animal which presents so 

 many instincti\'C good qualities fit for the imitation 

 of man. We remember when a child, the homely 

 poetry which is probably older than the art ofi)rint- 

 ing, having been handed down from parent to child 

 in memory alone ; 



A swarm of bees in May 

 Is worth a load of hay. 

 A swarm of bees in June 

 Is worth a silver spoon. 

 Jl swarm of liecs in July 

 Isn't u'orth one fij. 

 The Rohan Potatms exhibited at Hopkinton last 

 October by Mr. Searle, were the only potatoes of 



that kind we have ever yet seen ; and they were 

 decidedly the largest of the potatoe kind whe-li ev- 

 er met our view. We w.nnt a half a peck or peck 

 of Mr, Searle's seed fur planting this spring, and 

 ask him to send thein by the first opportunity, for 

 which we will pay his price. 



Shawnee Run, Mercer Co., Ky. March 19, 1839. 

 Dear Friend : — I was a short time since perus- 

 ing a number of the Monthly V'isitor, in which I find 

 some account of a new species of corn, which you 

 call Brown corn, it being improved by a Mr. John 

 Brown of your State. My object in writing, is to 

 obtain a few grains of the said corn by mail, if on- 

 ly half a dozen, as I v/ish to get the beu'-fit of 

 friend Brown's improvement. Your attention to 

 the above will be cheerfully reciprocated at any 

 time. 



I see you have given a short sketch on the value 

 of the "improved Durham cattle and Berkshire 

 hogs, botli of which our Society have in great per- 

 fection, and find them greatly superior to all other 

 stock that have ever been introduced into this coun- 

 try. I sold one pair of these hogs for ^oOO, and can 

 sell any number of pigs for ij.^0 a pair at seven 

 weeks old. The cattle command prices from JjrinO 

 to l?)2,000, in tiiis State. I purchased a Bull a 

 short time since, imported from England, for $1,- 

 100, for which I would not take $1,800. 

 Respectfully yours, 



J. R. BRYANT. 

 Friend WdliamP. Foster. 



If we do not mistake, the writer of the foregoing 

 is of the Society of Shakers, who in Kentucky as 

 in New England, are pioneers in whatever is use- 

 ful in the production of the earth, and every me- 

 chanical improvement, not less tlian in the moral 

 reformation which distinguishes the present age. 



We will willingly comply with the request of 

 forwarding the corn. We are, however, apprehen- 

 sive that t1iis highly improved corn will not be a- 

 dapted to the crnnate of Kentucky, any more than 

 the celebrated " Baden corn" shall he adapted to 

 this climate. The Brown corn, earlier than the D>Lt- 

 ton corn, and a little later than the small Canada 

 corn, is well adapted to the ordinary seasons of the 

 New Hampshire climate. Any corn which would 

 come to maturity here would not be deemed the 

 best corn for Kentucky — it would be too diminu- 

 tive for that climate. As you proceed from North 

 to South, the stalks of corn increase in size. In 

 the northerly parts of New England that kind of 

 corn only is sure which will become ripened in 

 ninety days from the time of planting: the stalks 

 of this kind are usually placed as four for one of 

 the Virginia cirn — the ears are formed at no great 

 distance from the ground. In the South, the hills 

 are placed further apart, with a less number of 

 stalks in the hill, and the ears grow so high as al- 

 most to be out of the reach of cattle. It is highly 

 probable that the corn of either climate will adapt 

 itself to the other after a series of years, and in be- 

 coming acclimated will grow larger or smaller. 



In New England, corn cannot be raised to any 

 extent without careful hand cultuie. It is usual 

 to pass over the ground, after running the plough 

 or cultivator between the rows, three times with the 

 hoe. In the South and V.'est, the whole work, of 

 cultivation is done with the plough. In the fertile 

 valleys and prairies where no manure is requ.red 

 at present, li'ts common far a single farmer to plant 

 more than a hundred acres of corn in a season : the 

 labor of producing is there perhaps not a fourth 

 part of the labor here. Indian corn there formerly 

 was from ten to twelve and a half cents the bushel, 

 and is rarely now half the price of the same article 

 in New England. 



Indian corn, on account of the humidity of the 

 atnios])here, cannot be raised on the island of Great 

 Britain: tliat country, from the circumstance that 

 the thermometer never ranges very high or very 

 low, is sure for crops of the small grains, as wheat, 

 barley and rye ; but Indian corn, requiring a warm- 

 er sun and a drier atmosphere, will not come to ma- 

 turity, although the climate may be said to be more 

 mild than in New Knglnnd. A warm and dry sea- 

 son in New England is nhvays a good suininer for 

 Indian corn; luit the best Indian corn 3'ear is sel- 

 dom a good year for wheat, rye, barley, oats, peas, 

 and for Knglish hay. If we were at all limes cer- 

 tain what would be the season, we might sow or 

 plant what would be most productive. It is per- 

 haps a no less wise dispensation of Providence, tliat 

 we arc ignorant of what will be the season, than 

 that we do not know the precise length of our lives, 

 the day and hour in which we "shall surely die." 



The vicissitudes of seasons do not more af- 

 It'ct us at the North than they do the inhabitants 

 of the South. The cold year of l)?lt> drove many 

 of our nurthern farmers to llie AV'est and South* 



