FARMERS' REGISTER— CULTIVATION OF SUGAR MAPLE. 



221 



is broken down, or otherwise killed by boiling, it is 

 not acted on, and Avill grow as readily after having 

 passed lhrtnig4i the horse, as the olives have done 

 after passing through turkeys. Oats, like every 

 other seed, is possessed ol" vitality, and it would 

 ap]:)ear that the organs of digestion, and tlieir se- 

 cretions, do not act upon .bodies possessing it. 

 Were it not for this exce]ition, the gastric juice, 

 which acts upon and dissolves every dead matter 

 taken into the stomach, would, act upon tlie sto- 

 mach itself; but it is notj)ossessed .of thi.s power. 

 It is therefore necessary to destroy the hfe of the 

 food taken into the. stomach before, it can yield 

 nourishment to the animal. This may be tfene by 

 bruisin.Q:, and the finer it is bruised the better, be- 

 cause it is culpable of being more compktely mixed 

 with the cut straw or hay, and the wliole is then 

 more easily eaten, but as experiments of Captain 

 Cheyne have shown, it may a's;) be steamed or 

 boiled, and given with the same advantage;, and 

 from what has been stated regarding digestion, it 

 must be prettv obvious that this kind of cooking 

 brings thelbod nearest to the stat.e of being readily 

 dissolved and acted on by the digestive organs. 

 The only objection whicli will at once occur, I 

 know is,'that boiled or steamed meat will incline a 

 horse to purge: this, however, is not so much the i 

 case as many, whhout trial, may ■ suppo.se, and' 



in their natural stat«, being connected together in 

 pairs, they are usually called maple kejs. About 

 a peck is sufhcient lor seeding three acres of ground. 

 Nature would seem to dictate the liall of the 3ear 

 to be the proper time lor sowing the seed in their 

 natural form, as the elllect of the frost would be to 

 soften the shell. At this season they are scattered 

 abroad by the wind in infinite profusion. But di- 

 vested of the shell and .sown in tlte spring they 

 will grow as surely as peas, and make their a])- 

 pearance at the time the forest trees put forth. 

 Tliey shotald bfe sown^ or rather scattered upon the 

 furrows of dryland, imd harrov/cd in, and grass 

 seed should be sown for future pasture. Hogs, 

 calves, sheep, horses, &c., may be pastured among 

 them, but no cattle, tiU they are out of danger. 

 The third year, either I'all or spring, they should 

 be taken up, where too thick, and transplanted in 

 vacancies. Oiie thousand may commence groAv- 

 ing upon an acre. In twelve years, an enterpris- 

 ing farmer,- wlio wishes for the future prosperity of 

 oi.ir country, as Well, as to enhance' the present 

 value .of his fands, would walk five miles bare- 

 footed before sunrise ' in the 'month of June, to 

 view the ''sugar bush" of our climate, in full foli- 

 an;e, situated near the residence of the owner, 

 sheltering his fruit trees and habitation from 

 torms, andthe re^sortof the songsters of the air. 



where it does occur, it is perhaps owing to too ! The leaves of the grove might be collected for the 



large a quantitybeinggiven at oneTimc, as indeed 

 is almost invariably tlie case, for stable-men, when 

 they give boiled food, always suppose it necessary, 

 at least the practice is, to give nearly double the 

 quantity or more at. a time than they would think it 

 proper "to give of raw food; but if the rich cooked 

 stewed food is. mixed with a less nutritious and raw 

 material, the whole of the boiled is taken into the 

 system, without producing the laxative efl'ect. All 

 horses on this restricted feeding are found to be 

 hffht in their belly; but while this is the case, the 

 appearance of their coats, the quantity of fat on 

 their ribs, and the manner thev are able to do their 

 work, show that they have sufficient nourishment, 

 while-(what is the subject of the most important 

 consideration) their dispensing with the doctor, 

 shows thattheir health is most materially improved 

 by itj — Mr. Oick, in the Quarterly Jour, of Agr. 



CUI.,'nVATION OF THE SUGAR BIAPLE AND 

 CURIOUS MANNER OF PROCURING THE SEED. 



From Goodsell's Genesee Farmer. 



Mr. Grmchell, — Every one is delighted to see our 

 native forests thicklv planted by the hand of na- 

 ture with this valuable and beautiful tree; valuable, 

 because for cabinet work some varieties of this 

 wood are superior to" that brourrht from distant 

 climes; first rate for fire wood, and as jrood for the 

 manufacture of sugar as the cane plant. And 

 who doe?, not regret the destruction of the axe-man 

 amon<Tst them. Occupying the best soil, they are 

 usually the first \'ictims. But he who destroys 

 should endeavor to produce anew. No native tree 

 can be more easily cultivated than this, the seed 

 being abundant and easily procured. It' grows 

 rapidly from the seed in open cultivated grounds, 

 attaining the height of six feet in three years, and 

 in twelve years the stems will measure from six to 

 nine inches diameter 



barn-yard. At the age of twenty-five years, the 

 trees might he tapped. I was bred upon a farm, 

 in a deep valley of^ the mountains, on the eastern 

 border of this state, and have witnessed the 

 growth of the sugar maple in groves from the seed, 

 and also standing singly in fields, where they have 

 stood for more than half a century, presenting a 

 more beautiful appearance than the trees of any 

 land or clime. My occupation now is fixrming. 

 As to tlie manner of procuring seed: I send you 

 about one-fourth part of the winter store of a 

 buck or wood-land mouse, which was deposited in 

 a living hollow beach tree, 15 inches diameter; the 

 whole of his store, being about one bushel, one 

 half beach nuts, with a lew other seeds, and shell- 

 ed, and neatly put up for whiter provision, and a 

 nest Avithin, lined with down, the residence of the 

 family. A boy found another store-house the 

 same day, which was 25th of December last, 

 containing half a bushel of maple seeds, with 

 others. Boys are skilful in such kind of hunting. 

 In this way seed stores might be furnished with 

 them from the maple forests of the west, in quanti- 

 ties sufficient to plant out territories and kingdoms. 

 The buck mouse enters his habitation through a 

 smooth hole an inch or less in diameter, into the 

 hollow of the tree, sometimes nearer and some- 

 times further from the ground. At the com- 

 mencement of cold weather and snow, the red 

 squirrel visits the place daily, and endeavors with 

 much chaffering to- gnaw" through, to rob the 

 mouse of his store." By this recent gnawing 

 around the hole, and by tracking in the snow, the 

 habitation of the mouse may he discovered. This 

 little animal, also depositesvast quantities of elm^ 

 seeds, in hollows of the branches and trunks of 

 that stately tree. In the night seasons, when all 

 his enemies .sleep, except the owl, he is busily 

 employed during fall months, in running up and 

 down the- tree, and laying up his winter store. 



I send you a quantity of 

 seed as a specimen; they are ready prepared for I The habitation of the mouse is frequently occu 

 mowing, and are di\-ested of the shell and wings; - pied afterwards by the honey bee. VVheneve 



