THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



63 



lirought here last fall from Deerfield, Mas- 

 sachusetts. This particular pattern is adapted to 

 intervale or alluvion grounds, and is said to go 

 deep and turn the already broken ground over so 

 completely as hardly to leave a trace by which the 

 furrows can be counted. 



Froiu the specimen of ploughing when first ex- 

 hibited here, we are inclined to the opinion that ns 

 a seed plough this will equal in value almost any 

 other. Our neighbors who wish it may also have 

 an opportunity to make trial of this. 



Messrs, Jiahtix & Co. also have sward and 

 breaking up Ploughs of the Prouty and Mears pat- 

 tern for sale at the Foundry. 



Cai'den and Field Vegetables. 



Tlic PiiiUiih'.pliia Pole Bean, which is the most 

 prolific bean we have ever seen, may be planted in 

 warm land as early in May as shall be safe from 

 the risque of frost. The pole may be eight and ten 

 feet high on rich ground. These are of a species 

 resembling the white Cranberry, only more flat. 

 If the hills are four feet apartihe foliage running 

 on the [foles will nearly cover the ground. The 

 ground should be made mellow with ploughing and 

 rich with manure. 



The Red Globe Manuel Wurizel and the t'rcnrh 

 Sugar Beet will best grow on rich and warm mel- 

 low ground, v/ell prepared with the plough ; if a 

 small quantity of stimulating manure shall be spread 

 along the furrow or drill in which they are planted 

 covered Uji with Soil, it will be all the better. The 

 roots of these beets grow about half out' of the 

 ground and sometimes to a great size. The}' arc 

 excellent food for cattle ; and Sir Hum])hrey Davy, 

 according to analysis, proves that they contain 

 more nntrinirnt th.an carrots. For the field they 

 should be planted about the same time as Indian 

 corn. 



The Early Blood Beet in common use is best for 

 the garden nnd for family use. They may be sow- 

 ed early in May in drills from twelve to twenty in- 

 ches apart. The griuind should be well manured 

 and trenched deep to gi.e field for the roots. 



The Carrot will grow well Ih ground prepared 

 as for Mangel Wiirtzel. When raised in the field 

 the soil should be well pulverized, and the rows 

 will be most convenient at eighteen inches apart 

 — or if you would pass them with the plough, two 

 feet asunder. The ridges maybe prepared as for 

 the sugar beet, after a spreading over the ground 

 an application of good manure in the covered fur- 

 row. 



Rvta Baga will grow well in any light soil pre- 

 pared as for carrots : sow deep, so that when the 

 plants appear they will have strength to resist the 

 turnip fly and other minute insects. Let the seed 

 not be stinted if sowed by hand — the extra plants 

 may be afterwards thinned. In rich ground where 

 the rows .are two feet distant and the plants twelve 

 inches apart, the growth of the toj* will cover the 

 s\irfaoe. 9«)w from the first to the tenth of June. 



The Cu-mnwn Einrlish Turnip may be sown from 

 April to the middle of July, for early or late crops, 

 on light moderately rich soil. There are several 

 kinds of Turnips recently introduced from Europe 

 that are said to be a Hue acquisition to New Eng- 

 land : of these there are several kind.i of Hybrid 

 Turnips— of richer qirvlity in appearance, and of 

 greater excellence for keeping in the Spring. We 

 know not the particular management of these tur- 

 nips ; but presume they will grow on ground well 

 prepared aa fur Ruta 15aga turnips ; and as they 

 come from a mililer and more humid climate, to 

 their growth should be given the best parbof the 

 ser.son. 



The Union, of late seasons, has been more diffi- 

 cult to bring to perfection the farther north we go, 

 or the more distant from the seaboard. The blight 

 and mildew for the lew last seasons have done the 

 crops essential injury. Here salt in small quanti- 

 ties strewed over the ground will help the onion 

 'growth Onions, it is believed, will grow best on 

 ground where they have been produced for a suc- 

 cession of seasons. The ground need not be 

 ploughed dee[i every year : fine manure should be 

 acratehed in witli the harrow or iron rake. The 

 onions had best be sowed as early as the ground 

 can be properly prepared for them. They may be 

 sowed in drills or rows from twelve to eighteen in- 

 ches apart : If sown broadcast, they will be more 

 difficult of cultivation. The silver skin onion is 

 said to be the surest crop, and keeps the best. 



Parsnips may be sowed on ground prepared as 

 for carrots, and about the same seasons of year. 

 They will thrive well only in good ground well 

 prepared. 



Radishe.t may be ^own every fortnight from the 



first budding in hot b^s through the summer. 

 3^hey re(|uire a mixed soil of sand, garden loam, 

 and a small quantity of stable manure, well pul- 

 verised. In such land they will grow brittle and 

 tender. 



Peppers siiould be brought forward in the season 

 as early as possible. The plants may be taken up 

 and fi.xeri in a rich soil early in Juna in hills two 

 feet apart. 



Melo7is should be sown in April of May. The 

 various kinds should be sown at so great a distance 

 as not to intermix. It is said, if the seeds are soa- 

 ked in a decoction of tobacco and water twenty- 

 four hours, they will be protected froni bugs. 



Cucxmhers may be planted early in May to the 

 first of June, in hills four feet apart, both for the 

 general croji and for j)i«kling. The ground should 

 be made rich with vegetable mould and good yard 

 manure. Thi"ri> should not be more than two thrif- 

 ly plants in a hill ; and these should be watered 

 with pool water in dry weather. Tobacco dust 

 and soot are said to drive away the yellow fly. 



Lettuce makes an excellent sallad : it will spring 

 up spontaneously and grow in almost any rich gar- 

 tien. A little seed sown early, and continued from 

 April to September, will furnish this article the 

 greater part of Summer. It is produced still earli- 

 er in hot beds. 



(Jrafting Fruit Trees. 



The season returns when our tittention is turned 

 to the value of a good orchard. We have hereto- 

 fore adverted to the great gains made from apple 

 orchards on and near the seaboard ; and it is wor- 

 thy of continued notice that a good fruit tree will 

 yield nearly as much money from sixty to a hun- 

 dred miles in the interior, as they do on the very 

 borders of the largest towns. 



The orchard-farms in Lexington, West Cam- 

 bridge, Watertown, &c. near Bo.ston, that give a 

 profit annually which will pay the investment of 

 five hundred dolkirs an acre for the apple crop, do 

 not yield ajiples alone. Tha orchard itself is cul- 

 tivated (and highly cultivated for the advantage of 

 the trees) with a view to as great crop of vegeta- 

 bles, grain or grass, as though the apple trees were 

 not upun the ground. 



Now it is evident that fruit, especially apples, 

 maybe raisrd as much to profit far in the interior 

 as at the places which produce their five hundred 

 and a tTiousand barrels in a year. The greater por- 

 tion of bearing trees is less than twe«ty years of 

 age from the seed, and hardly ten years from the 

 engrafting of the scions. \.i we are getting into 

 the " sere and yellow leaf" of life, the time po.-ses 

 so much more rapid to the aged than to the young, 

 that it seems bat a moment from the period when 

 the scion is inserted to the day of generous bear- 

 ing. No man is too old to plant an apple tiee. 

 The 3'oung most assuredly have every inducement 

 to cultivate an orchard with all the various fruits; 

 for they may live long enough to enjoy the whole 

 bearing time of the trees they shall plant. 



If, as the sage declares, " he who makes two 

 spires of grass grow where but one grew before is 

 a benefactor to his country," how much less so is 

 he who makes twenty dolliars worth of fruit grow 

 in a year, on a tree where nothing grew before, or 

 changes the sour Crab to the BttJdwin or Sapsavine, 

 the wildliiig Pear to the Cartlett or Udall's Early, 

 or 1 he Canada Plum to the Green Gage? For two 

 months from this time sciiins may be set. By se- 

 lecting a portion of the liiiibs of large trees many 

 scions may be set and scarcely interrupt the ordi- 

 nary cr'ip of apples; when these have attained to 

 the growth of one or two years, the original limbs 

 may bo gradually displaced ; and the whole tree 

 in a few year.-:, with proper attention to pruning, 

 will become a bearer. Trees but recently taken 

 from the nursery may be graftt-d on the smaller 

 limbs; and if done in a proper manner, the graft 

 will so adapt itself to the stock that tlie point where 

 the}' are joined c.Tn be hardly discovered. 



In the last volume of the Monthly Visitor we 

 noticed the efforts and the success of Mr. Joseph 

 PiNNro, jr. of Hanover, N. H. in introducing in 

 that vicinity many kinds of the very best fruits a- 

 dapted to this climate. We then had the pleasure 

 of tasting and eating some twenty difterent kinds 

 of apples raided on his own premises, descriptions 

 of which we presented. For the uppgr region of 

 Connecticut river to the distance of more than 

 two hundred miles, there is no individual who so 

 well understands the business of grafting and wijo 

 .at the same time is aljle to furnish as great a varie- 

 ty of excellent fruit. Of Apples, Pears, Plums, 

 and Cherries, he has nearly two hundred varieties, 

 comprising almost every delectable fruit which has 

 Rs yet been introduce*! into New England. He 



has several excellent kinds of Apples and Pears, 

 which arc natives, and to which he has given the 

 names. 



Mr. Pinneo during lire Spring ono year ago set 

 ^0,000 grafts in the vicinity of Hanover ; and of 

 those warranted he lost only about ten per cent. 

 During the last six or seven years he has set not 

 less than 123,000 grafts. Having devoted much 

 time to the different modes of grafting and bud- 

 ding, and in ascertaining the best materials and 

 proportions for a grafting composition, he will be 

 a safe person to be employed extensively in this 

 business. 



The terms of Mr. Pinneo are two dollars and 

 fifty cents for every hundred scions warranted to 

 take and grow : for a less number tlian one hund- 

 red, three cents per scion. Grafting is said to be a 

 business that almost any ingenious person can per- 

 form ; but to do it to the best advantage, and have 

 them live, requires experience and close observa- 

 tion. Very many scions fail or never do well on 

 account of some deject in the operation. Good 

 judgment in selecting scions and such a composi- 

 tion as will adhere, is of much more importance 

 than is generally supposed. 



Two years ago, Jacob A. Potter, Esq. of this 

 town put into fifteen or twenty trees upon ouv 

 premises softie two hundred grafts of ditJtrci.' 

 kinds. In almost every case enough lived upc i 

 the tree to answer our purpose. We now want 

 him or some other man equally ingenious, to prune 

 these trees, and insert a kvi other grafts of the 

 same kind in each tree where there is a deficiency. 

 We dislike very much to see different kinds of ap- 

 ples or pears upon the same tree. Several entire 

 orchards of thrifty trees we have seen wh'ite eve- 

 ry tree bore Baldwiij;3, a most excellent apple for 

 late winter and snring use. We can recommend 

 as well our friend Potter as Mr. Pinneo to be a 

 good and safe hand at grafting. He can likewise 

 furnish several excellent varieties of apples from 

 his owngrafting. 



We have no room the present month to give the 

 names of the two hundred varieties of Apples, 

 Pears, Plums and Cherries which Mr. Pinneo can 

 furnish. The list may be given hereafter. Mr. 

 Pinneo informs us he has a large variety of sciQ,ns 

 cut for grafllng the present season : they are gAr- 

 erally taken from bearing trees in an orchard of 

 his own grafting. Orders directed to him at Plan- 

 over, N. H. can lie answered to almost any part of 

 the country. 



For the Farmer';* .Moiiltily Vieitor. 



Observations on Optical Phenomena, with 

 ej[plunatorj' remains. 



Hon. Isaac Hill, — Diar Sir — Somewhat re- 

 cently an article met my eye in your valuable and 

 very useful paper of Feb. 28, concerning an " Op- 

 tical Phenomenon" respecting Gunstock Moun- 

 tains, in the town of Gilford in this State, (N. H.) 

 which was of ahighly amusing and interesting na- 

 ture, as niigfit be expected from the pen of an in- 

 genious and vigilant observer. The fact that the 

 summits of those mountains were observed by you, 

 sir, from a station in Main Street in Concord, on 

 the morning of Jan. 14, the present year, from 

 which point they had never before iieen seen, in- 

 dicates that tiie state of the atmosphere was unu- 

 sually peculiar at that time. But, sir, before I offer 

 any opinion as to the cinisc, I shall place your ob- 

 servation side Inj side with some of the same na- 

 ture made by the sage of Monticello. 



Mr. Jeifersoii tells us in his^'Noteson Virginia," 

 that there is a solitary mountani distant from Mon- 

 ticello about forty miles off" in the south, whose na- 

 tural shape is that of a regular cone ; but, by the 

 effect of looming, it sometimes subsides almost to- 

 tally in the horizon ; sometimes it rises more acute 

 and elevated ; sometimes it is heinispiierlcal ; and 

 sometimes its sides are perpendicular, its top flat, 

 and as broad as its base. In short it assumes at 

 times, the most whimsical shapes, and all these, 

 perhaps, successively in the same morning. The 

 blue ridge of mountains comes into view, in the 

 northeast, at about 100 miles distance, and approa- 

 ches in a direct line, passing by witiiin 20 miles, 

 and goes off fto the southwest. This phenomenon, 

 begins to show itself on these mountains at about 

 50 miles distance, and continues beyond that as far 

 as they are seen. I remark no particular state, ei- 

 ther in the weight, moisture, or heat of the atmos- 

 phere, necessary to produce this. The only con- 

 stant circumstances are its appearance in the mor- 

 jalng only, and on objects at least 40 or -50 nxiles 

 cnstant. Refraction will not account for it. That 

 only changes the proportions of length and breadth, 

 base and altitude, preserving the g«neral outlines. 

 Thus it may make a circle appear ellipticaJ, raise 

 or depress a cone, hut by none of its laws as yet 



