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FA R M E R S • REGISTER. 



277 



it would coi*t a <^ootl ileal of labor and pains to re- 

 move it, and get at them. As I before eaid, 

 therefore, it seems to me tliis plan will only suc- 

 ceed durin<f tiie (irst and second years of its 

 ffrowtli; and wliilst it is yet not very prolific ol' 

 seed. Or perhaps the difliculty may be obviated 

 by planting in rows very wide apart, in a lot pur- 

 posely set apart (or the purpose of raising young 

 plants. 



Your other plan of taking up plants of two or 

 three years' growth, dividing and transplanting 

 lliem IS, doubtless, perlccily |)raclicable. I have, 

 myseli; divided a tussock into seventy good |)lants. 

 liut as you say, if they will only lijrnish thirty, 

 then, twenty-nine-thirtieths of seed will be dis- 

 pensed with : or one bushel of seed may be made 

 to plant as much in this way, as thirty bushels 

 when planted from seed in the ordinary way. 



This plan, although not difficult, must, never- 

 theless, be rather tardy ; but, as you justly re- 

 mark, when we consider the great value and du- 

 rability of a lot, when once set with it, the objec- 

 tion dwindles into insignificance. 



The whole tenor of your letter is so apposite to 

 the subject, and so well calculated to encourage 

 the culture of this grass, that I must be;r your 

 permission to send it to the Southern Agriculturist 

 lor insertion. And as articles of this description 

 lose nine-tenths of their value and authority by 

 appearing anonymously, I hope you will permit it 

 to be published with your name. 



I am, dear sir, respectfully, your most ob't. 



J ABIES Davis. 



From tlie Farmers' Cabinet. 



In the last number of your highly useful peri- 

 odical, I observe an article very properly recom- 

 mending the production of capons, by our farmers 

 and others, ibr the city markets. Your corre- 

 spondent has the merit, so far as my knowledge 

 extends, of first publicly noticing this important 

 matter of agricultural economy. I say "publicly" 

 noticing this matter, inasmuch as several gentle- 

 men of my acquaintance have in various ways 

 endeavored to accomplish this desirable object; 

 but, I regret to say, without the least approach to- 

 wards success.* Fowls have been by them ope- 

 rated upon in the West India mode, by puncture, 

 and in the Chinese and European manner, by in- 

 cision, but so far the result has been death to the 

 animal, or its nature unchanaed. They have en- 

 deavored to get information from books, and have 

 even had the assistance of those who say they 

 performed the operation frequently in Europe, but 

 notwithstanding all of their attempts at mutation, 

 the object has not, in a single instance which 1 

 have heard of, been effected." 1 am aware that in 

 the West Indies, China, Western Europe, and 

 other countries, women and children are success- 

 fully employed in this kind of surgery, but it 

 somehow happens that I have never seen a capon 

 in this country ; although I must conless that I 

 have frequently heard of them, and with your 

 correspondent "Civis" understood that the art was 



"easily acquired." Mrs. Glasse, in her directionfl 

 Ibr cooking a lurbot, says, you nmst "take him;" 

 and I should, by parity of reasoning, suppose that 

 to eat a capon you must first 7nnk('. him. Now 

 will our friend "Civis" put us on the right tack be- 

 tween this and next August, by which we may, 

 in the course of another year, both take and cat of 

 this delicious bird. If he leels the same interest 

 which myself and many others do, he will doubt- 

 less comply with the re(|uesl. I also agree with 

 "Civis" that It may be made a profitable business 

 in this country, and may hereafter endeavor to 

 point out the mode whereby persons with a very 

 small capital, near our great cities, may make a 

 livelihood, it not a lijrtune, in an easy manner. It 

 should be remarked, that the operation is not con- 

 fined to the dunghill Ibwl, but that it is success- 

 fully extended to the turkey, goose and duck, both 

 male and iemale. Should your correspondent find 

 leisure to give us his experience and the inodus 

 operandi in your next or the succeeding number, 

 I shall then endeavor to offer some suggestions 

 which may be profitable to our farmers and 

 others. 



RUSTICUS. 



See Cabinet, Vol. II. page 145. 



From the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 PEACH-TREES. 



Sir — By an error of the press, the latter part of 

 the communication at page 308, "on planting 

 peach-trees," is rendered unintelligible; the manu- 

 script reads thus : — "The subsoil of Jersey i.s 

 lt?iTuginous and acidulous; lime and the calca- 

 reous earths, are correctors of these evils." 



The worm in the root ol' the peach-tree and the 

 excrescence on the branches of the Morello 

 cherry, are not the cause, but the effect of disease, 

 which arises either from a poisonous subsoil, or an 

 exhausted surface ; the cure might be efiected by 

 carefully removing the soil about the roots to a 

 considerable depth and distance, and replacing it 

 with li-esh rich mould, with which lime or calca- 

 reous earth has been well mixed. The old folks 

 understood well the advantage of this treatment, 

 for at the 7th verse of the 13lh chapter of Luke, 

 we find the dresser of a vineyard petitioning the 

 owner to let the fruitless fig tree stand another 

 year, " till I shall dig about it and dung it ;" and 1 

 knew an excellent larmer, who, at the time of 

 killing his hogs, reserved the blood, with which 

 to dress his fruit trees; and this he did, by open- 

 ing the ground about the roots, and pouring it 

 upon them, closing the earth over it. And when, 

 through age or infirmity, he Ibund it necessary to 

 remove a tree, he was careful to take away the 

 earth in which it had grown, to a considerable 

 depth, and replace it with the best mould he could 

 procure, always mixing lime with it, and into this 

 the young tree was planted. I have even known 

 him to lay a pavement in the bottom of the hole 

 belbre filling, if he ibund that the roots of the old 

 tree had penetrated to a wet and sterile subsoil, to 

 prevent the young tree from throwing i.ls roots so 

 deep. And tor this man also, as well as for Mr, 

 J. Reeves, (see p. 297) peaches ivould altvays 

 grow. His trees were so strong and healthy, and 

 lull of foliage, that they could bear a little frost, 

 and throw oil an attack of blight, which would 



