314 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[April 28 



in:iple. The forest nnd the orchard are fully 

 stocked; and tlie borers are the meat upon 

 which depend the whole tribe ofthe woodpeck- 

 ers. Go into the forest and you bear these birds 

 pecking the trees in quest of their food ; go 

 and look at the logs of timber, which may have 

 laid in your yard for one year, and yoii will find 

 the deciiyed bark well stocked with borers. If 

 you l;iy by your fire wood, to burn it dry, go into 

 your wood houie in August and September, and 

 hear the borers at xvork. Please to notice the 

 firnbi'rs ot your buildings, and wherever a slip 

 of bark has been suffered to remain, there again 

 you will trace the destroyer. In fact, nature 

 seems to be so full of thrm that it is a matter of 

 a-!toiilshment that our apple trees are not in a 

 situation sliU more deplorable. The locust 

 Ihey have so nearly exterminated that hardly a 

 trace of them remai-is ; and as the wood land'' 

 are fast clearing away, and the pasturing 

 ground of the borer is thereby reduced, we 

 inay expect that their famishing tribes will 

 wreak iheir vengeance more and more upon our 

 orchards; in sur'i a threatening case, what are 

 we to do? the beetle flies about so wild, that 

 the destroying of them appears to be impossi- 

 ble. But by painting the trees wilh some com 

 position, and keeping Ibem so painted through 

 the season, I have no doubt that much good can 

 be done ; the female beetle is provided at the 

 lower part of her body with something like a 

 small hollow lancet ; where the baik is tender 

 she pricks it with that little instrument and at 

 the same instant lets a small seed slip through 

 it, and be lodged in the bark. Where the 

 trees are old, and the bark scaly and hard she 

 deposits the seed under the scales ; these seeds 

 come to life the spring after, and the small bor- 

 er gnaws its way immediately iato the bark. — 

 i conceive that the large bojers which attack 

 the butts are the offspring of the large beetle, 

 and that (he smaller species are those which we 

 lind to infest the branches, and the existence of 

 which is indicated by black spots on (lie bark, 

 which bi'ing removed with the knife, bring to 

 light, in general, a number of little worms. A 

 coat of composition laid over the bark becomes 

 an effectual shie.'d ag.tinst the destructive little 

 lancet, whose power is blunted by the harsh- 

 ness of the paint. It is needtul to remove care- 

 fully the grass from round the butts that there 

 shouliJ be no space «h .lever left unpainted and 

 (ha( the soil should to that effect, lap over the 

 painls; the main branches should be painted as 

 >vell as the bulla. The i;rst painting should be 

 perlormed as soon as the weather gels warm, 

 and the sap fiows freely. As the rains wash it 

 away it ouglit lo be renewed, so as never to 

 loave the bark iiuv:overed and exposed. Three 

 or four limes will carry the trees safe through 

 the Season. Various are the compositions used; 

 ihey not only protect the trees against the bor- 

 'Ms, but have a tendency to feed the trees by 

 ;d)sorplion, and lo get the bm k into that bright 



ind lively order which insures prosperity. Va- 

 rious are the coniposilions used and to none of 

 them would 1 feel any objection but to Ihe lime, 

 used alone and quick. Its power as a stimulant 

 is so great that 1 am convinced of the unlilness 

 to use it, unless a gentleman wishes to bring his 

 young trees to a premature stale of bearing, of 

 old age. and of decay. The composition of For- 

 syth, from long experience can be recommend- 



;d ^s produolive of the most beuefjcial e&cls ^ 



although well known, by transcribing it here, it 

 may save the trouble to refer to his publication. 

 " Take one bushel of fresh cow dung, half a 

 " bushel of lime rubbish of old buildings, that 

 " from ceilings of rooms is preferable, or lime 

 " which has been slacked at least six months, 

 " half of a bushel of wood ashes, and two quarts 

 " of tine pit or river sand. The three last arli- 

 " cles are to be sifted fine before they are mix- 

 " ed ; then work them well together with urine 

 " and soap suds wilh a spade and afterwards 

 " wilh a wooden beater until the stuff is very 

 " smooth like fine plaster, used for the ceilings 

 " of rooms. Then mix again soap suds and 

 "•urine, to bring it to the consistence of thick 

 " paint, and lay it on the trees with a painter's 

 "• or white washing brush. It will not only 

 keep Ihe trees free from borers, but it will heal 

 sore wounds and cankers, and transform into 

 healthy and fruitful trees, some which at first 

 sight seemed to defy the hope of recovery.— 

 You will please however to recollect that hap- 

 [ly results in any pursuit, but more especially 

 in agriculture, are not to be obtained but fy 

 care and perseverance. Whilst on the subject 

 of boreis I beg leave to raenlioii further, tha\ 

 in families who use siovcs, which require dry 

 wood, the only method to prevent iheir oak and 

 yellow |iine being injured by ihe borers, is to 

 slow it in a close wood house, from which the 

 light is excluded. I had some last season, in an 

 open shed, 'which was so much injured thai 

 the bark fell off from most of it. I had some in 

 a place shut up, where no light is admilled, and 

 it was perfectly sound. From Ibis »ve m:iy con- 

 clude that the seed deposited in the bark by the 

 beetle, requires the light and free air to devel- 

 ope ilself into life ; and that wherever the light 

 and air are excluded, it must perish. — If you 

 think tiiat these notes can be useful, please lo 

 give them insertion, and to accept of the good 

 wishes of One or your Subscribehs. 



FOP. THE NEW EKOL.\ND FAR.MHR. 



POTATOES. 



Ryegale, Vt. April 21, 1826. 

 On the third of May 1825 1 selected twenty 

 good handsome potatoes, as near of a size as 

 possible, ten of which I planted whole in ten 

 hills, — the other ten 1 cut into four pieces each, 

 and planted in ten hills, in a par.illel row with 

 Ihe other, lour pieces in each bill. On the 2Glh 

 day of September I dug the potatoes and weigh- 

 ed Ihe produce of each row by inelf. The row 

 in which the 10 whole potatoes were planted 

 weigh".l 16 pounds 12 ounces — and the row that 

 was cut into quarters, produced 77 pounds 4 oz. 

 The rows were contiguous to each other, and 

 the soil exactly the same. No manure was used. 



J. VV. 



DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES. 

 We have recently examined a beautiful |)iece 

 of broai'cloth manufactured at the Saxon facto- 

 ry in I ramingham, which is for sale by Messrs. 

 Kilbam &. Mears, pronounced by good judges to 

 be equal lo the best English cloths imported in- 

 to this country. We understand that some of 

 the same deseri[)tion of goods have been order- 

 ed by merchant tailors in New York, who give 

 Iheni the preference to English cloths of the 

 same cost. Every American who feels an inter- 



est in the prosperity of his country should give 

 the preference to domestic fabrics, the price 

 and quality being equal. — Boston Gaz. 



From Iht American Farmer. 



PLANTATION OF THE WHITE MUL- 

 BERRY. 



The best method of multiplying the mulberry 

 tree, is from the seed ; for as it grows it be- 

 comes accustomed to the climate, as if it were 

 indigenous. It ought to be taken from the nurse- 

 ry at the end of two years, and placed in a 

 , dry and elevated place, about fifteen feet distant 

 from any other tree. Two years afterwards it 

 ought to be transplanted, and placed at the same 

 distance ; again, at the end of two years it ought 

 I to be transplanted, and always at the same dis- 

 tance. It may also be multiplied by slips or 

 suckers, but it degenerates, and in the end per- 

 lishes in the flower of ils age. 

 I The eggs oi' the silk-worm must be hatched 

 I in the month of May, at the time when the 

 [leaves have all their sap, and are still extreme- 

 ly tender ; Ihe leaves must be always gather- 

 ed in Ihe evening for Ihe next day morning, lest 

 ihey should not be moist. The quantity of 

 leaves ihat one has should always be calculated 

 in order that the requisite quaHtity of eggs may 

 be hatched. One ounce of eggs ivill produce 

 4(1,000 worms, 50 pounds of leaves are suffi- 

 cif-nl for 1000 norms. A tree ."^ix years old 

 will nol produce more than from 60 to 80 pounds. 

 The house should be very dry and well air- 

 e(, ; the shelves on which the silk-worms am 

 phced should be of wood, dry and without anv 

 peculiar smell — no bad odour should be suffered 

 lo enter the apartment ; Ihat is to say, care 

 ;m//sl be laken to prevent the mm'nins; air from 

 penetrating tiie room. The worms are -iit)Jeci 

 lo many diseases. When they are discovered 

 to he diseased, they must be thrown away, lest 

 the disorder should be communicated to Ihe res'. 

 When Ihe time of making cocoons has cnnie, 

 small branches must be placed in the shelves 

 and the worms must in no wise be disturbed. — 

 When ihe cocoons are made. Ihe haurisomes: 

 are lo be left for seed ; the clhers are lo be 

 detached from the branches, and ihrewn into 

 i boiling water ; the thread loosens itself, and is 

 i to be (iiviiled upon a spindle. The price, 6ve 

 I dollars per peimd. 



It is necessary that llie work slinu'd he di- 

 ■ reeled by perT-ous of judguicni. eiiiier for walch- 

 i ing the silk worms, or !br choosing Ihe leaves. 



Extract r>f a Letter from General La Fayette to J. S. 

 Skinner, Kilitor ofthe American Farmer. 

 "La Grange, .Ian. 20, 1826. — It is not an eRPy 

 task for me to submit to Ihe wide malerial sepa- 

 ralion which now exisls between me and my 

 American friends, while my mind is conslanlly 

 with them ; and the regret lor the loss of their 

 society mingles with an ardent sympathy in Iheir 

 public and personal concerns. So prompl I have 

 been in recovering pleasing hnbils, and so much 

 nllached I feel lo my new as well as my old 

 connexions in Ihe United Slates, that it seems 

 to me (piile strange to think this winter will 

 pass without meeting any of you, either at Bal- 

 timore or Washington. I am eagerly wailing* 

 for Ihe papers and lellers from my friends, and 

 beg when you write lo remember that at a dis- 

 tance minute particulars are very welcome. 



