1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



269 



common in Scotland and north latitudes ; it is 

 scarcely known in this country. Tlie best reme- 

 dy for it, is the oil ol' tar, |)hictul in the wool on the 

 backj a small quantity is suflicient. 



Tiios. Baynes. 



[The cautions given in the two fo!lowing articles 

 are well worth attending to in Virginia, whore so much 

 grass-seed is brought annually from the north. We 

 already owe to the purchase of English and northern 

 grass-seeds the introduction of several weeds which will 

 never be got rid of; and it is surprising that we have 

 so long escaped thus introducing the Canada thistle, 

 the worst of all vegetable pests, and which never re- 

 cedes from any ground on which it has been once per- 

 mitted to encroach.] 



From the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 CANADA THISTLE. 



"Thou Shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed." 



Great mischief has arisen to our farmers gene- 

 rally, by sowing grass-seeds which were mingled 

 with the seeds of noxious and pernicious weeds, 

 by which means they have been disseminated 

 throughout our country. The Canada thistle 

 was brouffht from the northern part of the state 

 of New York in timothy seed, and is spreading 

 rapidly in some neighborhoods, to the great dis- 

 may of many farmers. I perceive that it has 

 been noticed in your useful Cabinet, but I have 

 not yet seen any thing stated in your columns ihat 

 can be depended on as a remedy lor eradicating 

 it. I hope your correspondents will keep a close 

 watch on this unwelcome intruder, and furnish 

 you with the first successful experiment which 

 results in getting rid of it. A larmer last season 

 who had it among his oats, mowed it with the 

 oats and burnt the whole together. This season 

 it has made its appearance in his wheat, which 

 will be destroyed by it in the part of the field 

 where it has taken root. I hope you will excuse 

 my calling attention to this subject, as it is one 

 of great interest to many 



Farmers. 

 Bucks Co., June 1, 1838. 



From the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 SOW PURE SEED. 



"One year's seeding makes seven year's weeding." 



It is very material when about to purchase 

 seed, that we should select a seedsman of the first 

 character, who has made the business his study, 

 and obtained a thorough knowledge of it in its dif- 

 ferent branches, and not trust ourselves to transient 

 dealers who may have their attention divided be- 

 tween many other articles of merchandise. Such 

 persons may be strictly honest, and yet lack that 

 information which every dealer in the article ought 

 to possess. Always buy the best thai is to%e 

 had, without regard to a small advance in the 

 price over a common quality, and put plenty on 

 the ground, as 1 hold it to be no economy to save 



a few dollars in the purchase of seed, at the risic 

 of having it impure, or a loss crop llian the land 

 ought to f)roduce. It is also of great importance 

 that we should become good judires of seed our- 

 selves, or we may fill our field with weeds that 

 will require years of trouble, and nmch expense 

 (o sret rid of. Many are acquainled wiih the seeds 

 of the most common weeds Ibund in clover, timo- 

 thy, orchard grass, &c. ; such as wild carrot, 

 daisy, (called underbloom by some persons, and 

 Eensalem clover by others,) wild chamomile, 

 (this also is called underblooni in some districts,) 

 St. Johnswort, wild amarantluis, field sorrel, &c. 

 &c., and as these pests are the common atten- 

 dants of the urasses, Iheir seeds should be known 

 to us all. To attain this knowledge, I would ad- 

 vise every farmer to collect, when ripe, the seeds 

 of every weed they meet with, fold them careful- 

 ly in paper, mark and put them away in some se- 

 cure and convenient place to refer to at any time, 

 until they become so familiar with them that they 

 can detect them easily when mingled with any 

 seed they are about fo purchase, and should there 

 be any weeds unknown to any of us on our pre- 

 mises, it would be well to dry specimens of them 

 carefully, and send them in a told of paper, tied 

 between two pieces of pasteboard, to the office of 

 the Cabinet, where they would be marked by 

 some one of the patrons of that work, and left for 

 the inspection of all. In this way, theie could 

 soon be a collection made (to which the writer 

 would contribute all in his power) that would en- 

 able the farmer to detect and extirpate many a 

 troublesome weed, which would otherwise over- 

 run his grounds. 



To ascertain the true character of plants, they 

 should be taken when they are in bloom, and 

 they may be preserved simply by placing them in 

 some large book with a sufficient weight to press 

 them until they are dry, this wifi be accomplished 

 in a few days. Farmer. 



From the Southern Agriculturist. 

 ON THE COTTON CULTURE. 



Mr. Editor — In forwarding to you my annual 

 subscription, I shall follow the laudable example 

 of some of your subscribers by furnishing you a 

 few practical remarks for publication. An emi- 

 grant from your own state, and the vicinity of 

 your city, formerly engaged in the culture of the 

 lotig-staple cotton on the main lands, conversant 

 with the modes of culture prevalent there, and 

 now engaged in growing the short cotton, upon 

 the plans adopted throughout the whole western 

 country, my experience has enabled me to detect 

 some of the errors formerly practised by myself, 

 and my neighbors in Carolina. My attention has 

 been called to this subject by the perusal of an ar- 

 ticle in one of your late numbers, signed "An 

 Observer," giving an account of the crop of £. 

 Frost, Esq., in St. Andrew's Parish, Mr. Frost, 

 it appears, planted, according to the low-country 

 system, lour acres of cotton to the hand, and 

 each hand made 4,000 pounds seed cotton. This, 

 the writer considers an extraordinary production 

 — and for that region of country, so it is. It may 

 safely be predicted that it will not soon be equal- 

 led by Mr. Frost, or any of his neighbors. With 



