•NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Published by JOHN B. RUSSF.LI., at the corner of Con?:res9 and Lindall Streets, Boston THOMAS G. FKSSF-NDKN, Ebitob. 



I^lTiv. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 182(j. 



No. 38. 



ORIGIN AI. COM3VIUNICATIONS. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ENGLANP FARMER. 



CULTURE OF CABBAGES. 



Westboroiigh, March 30, 1826. 

 SiR'-Tlsere luis Innjj been a coiniilaint amnnsr 

 farmers, oC their cabbages slmnji footing, as it i'^ 

 called ; thai i?, the roots as Ihey tcrow, formiiisr 

 themselves into biilhs or small bmirlies, and as 

 these increase in size, the top will decrease. — 

 Many [.revenlives liave been tnenlioneri as ef- 

 fectual, such as hoeins: ol"tpn, and when the dew 

 is on, using certain liinds o( manure, S:c. All 

 these I have tried without sncccs. The ran=p 

 of the stump foot is in the snil Few pieces ef 

 land, I believe, that liave lieen for several su> 

 cessive years under the plough mil produce a 

 good crop of cabbao^es. Ihniigh there may be 

 exceptions. My method ot raising Iheni, uhicb 

 1 have practised several years w|lh compieie 

 success, is tlie t'ollowing. In liie spring lake a 

 piece of green sward, ol'gond -if.il and free I'rom 

 stones, and turn it over vviih llie plough as llit 

 as possible ; then spread on a large quantity «( 

 good manure, if it lias been previously mi.ved 

 with leached ashes, the belter, then harrow 

 groatlv, and early in June, if for winter cabbage, 

 cut holes through the turf wilh a lioe, as near 

 fogeliicr as the cabbages ought to grow ; fill the 

 holes will) the fine earth and manure, and Ih-'n 

 set the plants or put in a small numher ol 

 seeds; I prefer tlie latter however, since it 

 saves the lahour of sellinc". and is much siiro'.i- 

 success if it happens to be a time of ilrough!. — 

 They will need no more hoeing than is neces- 

 sary to keep down the weeds. In liiis way I 

 have raised .cabbages ol' the largest size in a 

 green sward polaloe lield, without more hoeing 

 Ihan was necessary for the potatoes. 



LOVETT PETERS. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMEFi. 



WOODPECKER APPLE. 



Mr Editor — Having noticed some remarks in 

 H late number of your paper, respecting the or 

 igin of llie fruit known in this city by the name 

 of the Baldwin Apple, I take (he liberty of stal- 

 ing the following facts; many of which 1 am 

 personally knowing to, and others I have Icarni 

 from the oldest inhabitants of the town, where 

 this ajiple was first discovered. Being myself a 

 native of the same town, 1 claim some indul- 

 gence for the interest I take in this natural pro. 

 duction of our soil. 



An old gentleman in Ihe town of Wilmington, 

 Mass. by the name of RtiTTERs. discovered on 

 bis farm an apple tree of spontaneous origin, 

 which bore a fine red apple. Ihe tree was 

 ■very productive, and the apple very much ad 

 iniied ; and in the neighbourhood it was denoni 

 nated Ihe Butters Apple. Afterwards it was cal- 

 led Ihe Woodpecker. This name was given to 

 it by the original discoverer, Mr Butters, he- 

 cause the bird of this name frequented ihis tree 

 in preference to other trees in ils vicinity ; — 

 probably oa account of some peculiarity m the 



richness or flavor of if? sap. It lias by some 

 been called, by way of atibreviation, the Pecker 

 Apple. Col. Bai.pwin nf Woburn, (father rl the 

 celebrated engineer) first inlrodnrVd tlie Wood- 

 pecker Apple into Iliis market. Hence it very 

 naliirally took the name of Bald-win Apple. It 

 is nol however rerngnized by tbi* name even 

 mm- in Witminglon, — the place ol' ils nnli\'ily. 

 It still goes by ils old legitimate, orlliodox name, 

 Ihe \VoonpFCKr:R, and I think it fairly enlitled 

 to Ihis name, as it was given to il by Ihe origin- 

 J al discoverer, Mr Cutters, who certainly had a 

 : right to christen tiie spontaneous productions of 

 ; his own soil. So much for Ihe name and origin 

 of this apple. 



I regrel that I am conipr !!ed to add, I Ihink 

 the.qualily of Ihe fruit driniioraled. It is cer 



! tainly no! so good as il formerly was, or my lasle 

 I is very much altered. I lake it for granted that 

 I we have ihe besi specimens of Ihis ap])le biought 

 10 market, and that we see them on genllrmcn's 

 tables in ihis city. I have wa'chrd Ihem for the 

 I pa'^t sixteen year«, hut have never heen able lo 

 find one which I Ihonjht eqnal lo Ihe first grails. 

 Thry have lost somelhing of ibat mellow rich- 

 ness which Ihey formerly had. Their lexturo 

 i« more filirons, and ihey possess an acerl'itv 

 whii'ii Ihey did not thirly years ago. The col 

 our, loo, I ihink is somewhat changed.''' 



II is dilficnll lo describe lasles and colours. I 

 should say, Iiowever, that the colour was nol 

 originally so deep a red as it now is. Il was a 

 bright red, apparently laid upon a yellow ground 

 — The yellow was m- re visihle. which gave lo 

 lliis apple a more rich and mellow appearance. 

 The mother Iree has long since returned to the 

 dust from whence it came, and all ihe first gratis 

 I believe are extinct. 



The above facts, taken together, go to prove 

 ihe correctness of Mr Knight's hypothesis wilh 

 respect to grafted fruits. 



RFMINISCENCES. f 



Fifly years ago Dr Jahez Brown, of Wilming- 

 ton, (now eighty three years old) look scions 

 from Ihe mother tree, and "rafled two trees on 

 a farm of his in the town of Tewksbury. 



Foily five years ago, this gentleman hronghl 

 specimens of the Woodpecker apple lo Boston. 

 :m<l presented Ihem lo Ihe Governor, then Gen. 

 Sullivan. The growth of Ihisfniil must at thai 

 lime, have been confined to a very small num- 

 ber of Irees (proliably not more than four or 

 five) — for within my remembrance, sav Ihirly 

 voars ago, I could have pointed out all the 

 tr-es, which then bore Ihe Woodpecker. These 

 trees were -ifcU kno-n'n to boys in this vicinity. 



Upwards of twenty years ago I look scions 



myself from a graft, taken from Ihe original 



-lock, and carried lo Ihe town of Uxhridge, in 



he county of Worcester, where ihey are now 



produclive, on the farm of Ihe Hon. B. Taft. 



Agreeal'ly to your request, Mr Editor, 1 send 

 you the biography of my old friend, Ihe Wood- 



j'-'cker apple. Many of Ihe facts, as I have p."e- 

 vioitsly staled, I am personally knowing lo — 

 others I have recenllv ascertained, from some 

 of Ihe oldest inhalulanls of Wilminglnn — parlic- 

 nlarly from J)r Bnowr;, and a man by Ihe name 

 of BuTTFns — the oldest nf ihal n:'me.nnw living, 

 and a dislant relation of the original discoverer 



I of ihc Hood pecker npjdc. 

 • Your o 



bed'l. serv"t. 

 J. D. BROWN. 



Cnmman-Sl. — Boston. .Ipril 12. 



* This fact woiiltl seem to corroborate the theory of 

 some writers on fruit trees, who suppose that the vi"-- 

 elable niatlei which nourishes a graft is in some degree 

 modified by th^ organs of the stock in which the graft 

 is inserted, — Editor. ' 



1 From llit jV. Y. Statesman. " i 



We piihiish this evening ano'her instructive 

 communication from our correspondent Hopson, 

 whose valuable essays, puhlishril in Ihe Slates- 

 man, hnve essentially promoied Ihe agricultural 

 and manufacturing interests of llie country ; 



ON ijlIE CULTIVATION OF MADDER. 



As munufactures jirogress. many agricnllurnl 

 products will he brought inio demand, which, 

 from th« varicly of our soil and climale, may as 

 well be raised in Ihis country as in any other ; 

 and it isj Ihe interest of our agricullurisls to 

 sei/.e evpry opportunity of cullivalin^ new pro- 

 ducts, asj soon as a sufficient demand is created lo 

 uarranljlhe atlGnipt. 



Maddfer has become an article of great con- 

 sumplioL and Ihe demand is daily increasing. — 

 That it can be raised in most parts of Norlh- 

 Americij, in the greatest perfection, has been 

 teslcd by e:.r>erleoce. Mrs .M;tdison made a re- 

 port lo [he Pliilnsophical Society of Philadelphia 

 many years since, of madder raised under her 

 direction, and Ihe report was accompanied with 

 a sample ofcollon dved an .\drianople red, that 

 has never been exceeded in colour liy any Eu- 

 ropean dyer. In Kenlucky, madder is coninron- 

 ly raised in gardens, is drycd in the root, and 

 sent lo market for'^le. I once used a fevy pounds 

 ol those roots, and Ihe colour obtained was equal 

 10 Ihal produced from the second quality Dulcli 

 grapp. 



D. Amboiirney informs us that the ro.its (aken 

 from Ihe ground and waslied, will, by using lour 

 pounds for one, produce all the effect of Ihe 

 best prepared. This fact is highly import mt 

 lo manufacturers as it points out to them an easy 

 and cheap way of supplying the article for 

 their own consumption. They need only en- 

 close a piece of ground of sufficient extent, lo 

 plant a small quantity al first, anti by transplant- 

 ing from Ihese every year, Ihey can, taking 

 Ihem up as they want Ihem, obtain Iho requisite 

 supply at half the price they now pay. 



I have selected information relative lo the 

 cultivation of madder, which I request you 

 Messrs. Editors, to publish, for the guidance of 

 those who may wish lo make Ihe atlempl. Roots 

 will be supplied, or information given where 

 ihey can be obtained, by Wm. Partridge, 4.5, 

 Fulion street. Those gentlemen who may be 

 desirous of obtaining roots, will please give 

 early notice of Ihe intention. In due time I 

 shall give the necessary inlorniHtioD of the pro- 



