FARMERS' REGISTER 



501 



7nay be done, by the use of this rich and abun- 

 dant mineral treasure. 



Encouraging and beneficial as have been the 

 results of our correspondent's application of marl, 

 they would have been much greater, if his land 

 had been previously belter drained, than appears 

 from his words. We also warn him against the 

 error of relying on marl alone; or of the necessity 

 of letting vegetable matters be furnished to the 

 marled land, (by its own growth, or otherwise,) to 

 obtain the largest profiis from marling. — Ed. 



DESTROYING BUSHES. 



From tl)c Maine Farmor. 



The month of August has always been consi- 

 d( red the besi time in the year to destroy bushes, 

 and it is firmly believed by a majority of farmers 

 that the full moon of August is the very nick of 

 time to give ihem iheir death blow. 



We cannot say, nor have we yet found the man 

 who could say from any actual comparative expe- 

 riments which have been instituted, whether this 

 was actually the case, or only an ancient beliefj 

 handed down liom generation to generation. Be 

 that as it may, if experience has proved that Au- 

 gust, either in the full or tlie dark of the moon, is 

 the best time to df'stroy bushes, it should be attend- 

 ed to during (he time. We know, however, from 

 actual experiment, that the most effectual mode of 

 eradicating bushes is to tear them out by the roots. 

 Alder bushes and elder bushes, which are very 

 tenacious of life, can be effectually destroyed in 

 liiis manner. A very large stout hook of iron is 

 an excellent thing for this purpose. It may be 

 attached to a chain, and a yoke of oxen will pull 

 Ihera out with ease and despatch. If a hook can- 

 not be had a noose may be made round a clump 

 of bushes by a chain or chains, a hand can bend 

 the bushes over the contrary way from what the 

 oxen are to draw, and thus they can be twitched 

 out and completely eradicated. 



There are but few farms in Maine where a 

 week or two cannot be profitably spent in destroy- 

 ing bushes. And if those who have the means 

 should thus employ their power in clearing some 

 of the bush pastures there would be a great in- 

 crease of food either for man or beast, and the ap- 

 pearance as well as the value of the country will 

 be very much improved. 



BERKSHIRE HOGS. 



From tlie Farmers' Caljinet. 



I find that the breeding of Berkshires is to be 

 the order of the day for the present year ; what a 

 pity that our people will not be content withou' 

 going with a locomotive force about every thing! 

 They must, one would thinlc, each have a small 

 steam engine in his breast! and assuredly, in the 

 breeding of Berkshires, they are going the whole 

 hog. Here is one great man who declares that 

 no Berkshire can be a Bcrkalurc, unless lie has 

 three while feet and a while tip to his tail ! but 



when pushed upon this momentous point, he con- 

 fesses he only meant, that he must have some 

 while hairs on the tip of his tail ; how many, he 

 saith not! Another, equally great in the profes- 

 sion of hog-breeding, declares that the pure-bred 

 Berkshires must have/owr white leet and a tcMte 

 tail; /or they must be perfectly ichite ; none else 

 being genuine; and all this, oftentimes, without 

 regard to shape, points, or figure. I know a per- 

 son in this neighborhood, who has aBement sow, 

 and a wretched looking an\ma\ fur a Bement it is, 

 with scarcely a good point, except the ear and the 

 lop of the tail, about her, but he had a tip-top pe- 

 digree with her, and that is his greatest consola- 

 tion : another lias a most splendid boar, but he 

 will not be comforted, because he has no pedigree 

 beyond the fifth generation. 



Now what humbug is all this! But the best 

 of it y, they are ail wrong, as I, who was brought 

 up amongst the Berkshire pigs in England, can 

 testify ; and I declare they were red or tawny, 

 with black spots ; this was always the legitimate 

 color, and any one there would as soon think of a 

 blue pig as a lohite one ; but all this has been suffi- 

 cient to create a speculation — a morus-mania, 

 and that's enough. Now, by this time next year, 

 the mania, I guess, will have passed away, and 

 then we shall find that the best breeds of pigs in 

 the world n)ight be obtained from across between 

 a good Berkshire boar, even if lie have but two 

 white feet and no white hairs in the lip of his tail, 

 and some of the best of the Chester county sows, 

 than which nothing finer can be found. 



Since writing the above, 1 find a correspondent 

 in the Cultivator \\ashroken ground in favor of the 

 red and black Berkshires, and I mean to help him: 

 the description cf a pure Berkshire, which he 

 copies Irom the Complete Grazier, is worth pre- 

 serving in your pages; it is as follows: "The 

 specific characters of the true Berkshire hog are 

 a reddish color, with brown or black spots; sides 

 very broad ; body thifk, close, and well-formed ; 

 short legs ; the head well placed ; the ears large (!) 

 and generally standing forward, but sometimes 

 pendent over the eyes (!) The best are without 

 bristles along the back, their hair long and curly.'" 

 But, oh mores ! not a word about the tip of the 

 tail .' Now how very difi'erent is the true Berk- 

 shire of the present day to the above portrait 7 It 

 might be called a stufled sausage. 



But, after all, there is another breed of hogs in 

 England, which will one day take precedence of 

 the Berkshires lor quality of meat, and these are 

 the Hampshires: they are so notorious, that the 

 people of that shire are called Hampshire hogs, 

 as the people of Essex are called calves — Essex 

 calves — that county being noted lor the finest and 

 fattest calves ; and any person having resided in 

 London, to which the best ofevery ihing finds its 

 way, must have heard mention made of Hampshire, 

 bacon, and tasted it too, and will bear witness to 

 its great superiority ; it always bears a higher 

 price than any other brought to that market; the 

 flavor is peculiar, and very different liom Ihatof 

 the Berkshire, or any other breed; more tender; 

 does not waste in cooking; the rind of the meat 

 thick, but peculiarly juicy, and, what might be 

 termed gelatinous, 'i'lie hogs of this breed arc 

 all that need be desired in every way, and the 

 estimation in which they are held in that part of 

 England, will assuredly obtain fi^rtlicm a >-»/i in 



