NEW ENGLAND FARMEli. 



Published by JOHN B. R U^'SKLL, at the cr>rn«-rofCfn<Tea» and I.inHall Strtets. (Six doors finm the Post Office") Boston THOM4S «. FpesK^•^r■^7^ liiiii.f: 



~ FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 1825" ^^^^^ 



VOL. IV. 



JSo. 2. 



AaXlICU'l.TURS. 



300 V ears old. It ivas perfectly sotinii — contiiiti- 



ed 634 cnl)ical feet of timber in the friiiik, and 



the arms were estimated at 200 feet more. In 



The following remarks on native, Saxony, Electoral, Mr Gilpin's work on forest scenery, there is an 



and Spanish Leonesa Sheep, are from a very respec- laccoiint of ouk trees in the new foresl, which 



t-able corrtspondent, -who is will acquainted with jhad marks of existence hefore the lime of the 



the subject.and whose statements may be relied on. Iconqnest. The tree in the same forest against 



— which the arrow of Sir Waller Tyrreil glanced, 



Merino Sheep. — It must be exiremelj grali- and killed Iviiia; William Rnfn*, remains slill a 



fying to every well wisher to his <;o\mtry's pros- tree, though much ninlilaled. In Mr Robert 



})eritv,to have obserted for the last few year» Low's " View of the Aoricultwre of Nottiiiglvim- 



the emulous excitement among the agricultur- shire," several trees are said to have been laie- 



ist!< of the United Slates, to impro»e the breed ly felied in Sherwood Forest, which were foimd 



of fine fleeced Sheep. The farmer now efTec- to have cut in them I. R. or In. R (Rex.) and 



tually feels his interest, and is convinced of some had a crown over the letters. MrM'Wil 



truths which were anticipated some years since liam, in his " Essay on the Dry rot," goes still 



of the profits arising from producing the fines j farther — he says that many trees n»ight be men- 



etaple wool, when he realizes an immediate sab tioned, in this and other countries, which bear 



of wool from his Merino flock at 65 to 70 cent! s«fiicient testimony of their being far above 1000 



per pound, in lieu of to 20 to 30 cffnls for thc| years old ; and he jfives reasons for believing, 



common wool. He likewise finds his protiifl ihnt several trees now exist above 3000 years 



over and above the common sheep not onlj in old. 



the price but in the abundance raised. It is ■ ■■ 



well known, that a flock of native sheep Well STRONG BEER, 



ied, rarely produce over 3 lbs. on an average as rj.^^.^ .^ ^,^j^„ ^^ Englishman's drink, and by 

 brought at present te market; whereas the ,.,^ „,^ ^^^, wholesome of any fermented bev- 

 most indiflrerently fed flocks of merinoe. rarely ^^,^j^j^ ,,^^ ^^,^,. ^^^„ J^^^^ ,.„^ ,^,^ „ 



produce less than 4 lbs. on an average. There j^ ^^^^ becoming an important article in families 



tire many ag;ncultiirists in the Norllisrn Stales, . •,- ,i, t . iji.. ii i i 



•'•',, . ' . , ,, ' and if the brewers could be encouraged by wliol- 



moie esiiecia y in Connecticut and Vermont,. ■ , j- ,- ,u . r ■ •. i a. 



■^ ,, •' . , ' ^.„,,„ ' ly interdicting: the use of spirituous liquors, the 



who annually receive in cash Irotn SlOOOto - . ,■■ , ,, . , . ,, , 



..„„ ,,^ ,. ■'., . ,, , ,. ,, . '^/ I ■ , Tioral condition of the whole nation would be 



S2000 from their flocks o Merinoes, (which ,■ . j at ,• i i . i 



*'. , , , . i. . iL , y ,, meliorated. Never were tiie laborin"' p''op!e, 



they have increased bv perseverance ajaiuit a , i , i . 



■'. . , ■ ' r , ~ an any country, more completely a community 



the lormer prejudices in that part of the couulrr,! ,■ .„, , .^i.^^.i, „,„.„„'.»,;„„„ „f ,i it -, 



,..'.,■' , , ' . . , " 'I drunkards, than in some sections ol liie Lnil- 



which existed) over and above what others havr . ,^, . . ,,t . .. „.,_i, _. ;„,„i _ i,i„ i ,„„ i 



, „ ' . , ,. . . '^d otales. We have such an intolerable haired 



received from the same number o nativesbeep , ..■ ■• • ■ „ ,u ■ 



- - r to every thing approximating intemperance, that 



The fineness of staple can he still further im 

 proved, so as to command nearly double price, 

 by selecting the finest fleeced sheep to breed 

 from, which every one must be convinced ol 

 who has examined the flocks of many individu- 

 als in the northern states, whn have attended to 

 esuch selection, more especially a flock of Col 

 Jai^ues, of Charlestown, Mass. Still greater im- 

 provement may be made by selecting some of 

 the fine wooled sheep ol Saxony, which wool 

 commands in America and Europe nearly do::blp 

 price of the fine Spanish Leonesa, now vvcrth, 

 scoured, ^2, in comparison with Leonesa, ^1 

 This verifies arguments used ten years since, 

 that sheep moved from a warm climate die not 

 deteriorate but rather improTed. It is well 

 known the first stock of the Saxony sheep, i^ere 

 first introduced into SaXony from a selection 

 from the Guadaloupe flock of Estramailcira, 

 Spain, in the year 1765, and on its improrenml 

 <o the Electorate of Saxony. — Bait. Patrio, 



NATURAL LIFE OF TREES. 

 There are various opinions respecting the 

 full iige or natural life of trees. The few Ibl- 

 lowiiig instances will show the length of ime 

 which trees have been known to exist. M'Ga 

 line, and others, imagine that from 300 to 400 

 years is the natural life of the oak iree. An 

 oak tree was felled in April, 1791, in the park 

 of sir John Rushoiit, Bart, at Northwick, near 

 '•Bl.ackley, in Worcestershire, fudged tobeaboiit 



ve nlmost lose our temper by simply writing 

 'he word. There was a time in the reign of 

 Qiieen Elizjibeth, when rum and brandy were 

 solfi by the ounce by apothecaries, as a medicine 

 — aid a tea-spoonfull was con:'idered a dose, by 

 all tae regular physicians. What would those 

 sage and learned men, viri grave) et docti, say, 

 wert they to see a man and his vrife, in these 

 days of dissipation, swallowing down two gills a 

 piece, over a surloin of mutton, to facilitate di- 

 gestion I Let labourers have strong beer — not 

 too strong neither, and those who do nothing, 

 would be infinitely better oiTto use it too. Beer 

 strengthens the system ; gi^es actifity to the 

 chylopoietick viscera ; promotes the secretions, 

 and ensures a clear mind. There is such a 

 thing as abusing the use of this valuable article, 

 but it will require an immensely longer period 

 to produce mania a potu, by malt beer than by 

 cognac or any other kind of spirit. We can form 

 a very correct opinion of a man's importance in 

 ■inciety by watching his movements at a bar- 

 room. A discreet, sober, business man, calls 

 or a simple glass of beer; the man who earns 

 his daily bread by the sweat of his brow, pays 

 four pence for a glass of rum, while his discon- 

 solate wife IS wearing herself into the giave to 

 save as much at home ; ihe cockney calls for a 

 ivhole bottle ot wine, and if he wishes lo make 

 an imposing appearance before his inferiours, 

 'akes a second of ch.impaign ; the common eve- 

 ry day business man takes a dram ut nine, eleven 



and four, and the man of no business at all, drinks 

 the whole time. Encourage the general use of 

 beer, and drunkards will dhninish, tippling will 

 go out of fashion, and health und family happi- 

 ness will abound wfiere wretchedne.ss and misery 

 have long been predominant. — Med. Intel. 



From Ihe Thomaslon R'gtsler. 



THE CANAEf.^ THISTIJ:. 



Mr Editor, — The cornmunication of a "Far. ■ 

 mor ' copied from the Worcester Spv into your 

 paper of June 2oih, is not the fir-t instance of 

 needless alarm on account of the Canada Ihistle. 

 The frulh is, this is a \evy harn>less planl, no 

 more deserving of legislative hostiliiy than the 

 dandelion, raspherrybiish, or white clover. It 

 never intrudes itself into enclosures that are 

 well cultivated ; for during the first six months 

 after it springs from lh« seed, it is as easily des- 

 troyed as ;iny other weed; and where the 

 ground is well covered with grass, the seed is 

 unable to lake root and penetrate lluougli the 

 sward. — Since Iheii it is only in pbices unim- 

 proved by man ihat this weed is found, why r.ot 

 allow nature these vacant spots in vvhxh to feed 

 her I'eathercd oirspring with the seed, and fur- 

 nish tjeir habitations with liic delicate down of 

 the thistle ? Man is Ihe primary, but not Ihe on- 

 ly car^ of nature. A thousand birds and insects, 

 all cajjable of enjoyment, swarm in every place 

 whlcliihe neglecls; and for their accomnK'dation, 

 tti/io rifillitr soxa nor reap, the seeils of various 

 plants^as the thistle, dandelion, fireweed and many 

 others, ;ire furnished with wings by which 

 they iini their way to every neglected S|)of, 

 and grow, asd bloom, and smile for them alone. 



Nor let it be imagined that the good of these 

 is altogether indifferent to us. Besides the de- 

 light which tlieir beauty and melody give to 

 our senses, they serve to keep up the balance 

 of power betweeu the several trilies, and pre- 

 vent any one from making too great encroach- 

 ments on the rest. It is calculated from the ac- 

 tual observation of a single hour, that a pair of 

 sparrows, during the time they have their youug 

 to feed, destroy every week no less than 3360 

 caterpillars ; a service for which we cannot, in 

 some seasons, be sufficiently grateful. 



But not to dwell on these indirect advanta- 

 ges, the tlfistle itself js immediately servicea- 

 ble to man. Its root affords a nutritive food for 

 swine, and its stalks and leaves make as good 

 fodder for caltle as many of the cultivated grass- 

 es. If cut in season and well made, there is no 

 better hay for neat cattle and hi rses. Clover 

 is inferior to it. The reader will object to it. that 

 it is disagreeable stuff to handle ; and very 

 troubleseme in tillage land among grain. Thi« 

 is indeed true ; but the remedy is at hand. For 

 in the first place, these plants may be entirely 

 excluded by good cultivation ; and when by 

 neglect, they have been allowed lo enter your 

 fields, since they will not flourish till the ground 

 i-^ made rich, mellow and fit for laying down to 

 grass, you may get rid of them in the follow- 

 inij manner. Manure your land well, and sow 

 it down with oats, clover, and herds grass. When 



