834 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 12, 1B?P. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



FRIDAY, MAY 12, 1826. 



The article on Fruit Trees, from the able pen of 

 Col. PiCKERiiSG, whirii commences this dny's pa- 

 per, will well reward diligent periisiJ and careful 

 consideration. We apprcliend that Mr Knight has 

 met with opponents in persons, who, for want of 

 onportnnity or patience to peruse a full explana- 

 tion of his theory, have not thoroughly compre- 

 hended what they com'.emn as erroneous. Men 

 sometimes " fall out they know not wliy ;" .and 

 when they are made to understand the subject of 

 dispute, find at length tiiat there are no grounds 

 for disputation. 



(t^We take occasion this week — on presenting 

 our paper on new type — to call the attention of 

 our delinquent subscribers to t\ie justice of remit- 

 ting the sums due on their subscriptions. We have 

 enclosed bills to most of our patrons who are in 

 arrears, which we hope mil he attended to. Where i 

 no other mode of conveyance offers, the amount can 

 be forwarded by rnail.i 



GREATEST PO.=!SrBLR FRODUCT OF IN- 

 DIAN CORN. 



In an " Essay on the intrinsic virhte of arnhle 

 land, written for t!ie agricultural Society of the 

 county of New C;istle,'" By S. A. Black, Esq. j 

 we find the following passage: "I risk it as an | 

 opinion without any actual experiment to support ! 

 it, that as a matter of curiosity, it mig;ht Ik pogsi^ | 

 hie to make some fraction of an acre of ground so | 

 <'eep. and perfect in its soil, as to produ'-e and 

 maintain to maturity one stalk of Indian corn upon I 

 every t'.venty-four inches of square surface. If so, 

 nxv\ we allow one good ear to each stalk, and half | 

 a pint of grain to each ear, the product would be j 

 about at the rate of one hundred and sixty eight i 

 bu.sh.'ls to-tho acre. 



"Tills may at first view seem an pxtravrgant ' 

 idea ; yet if we justly estimate the irr.menscpower 

 whicli land may be made to exert, and remember 

 that corn thus closely set, would prevent tlie 

 {ri'owth of all extrnneous vegetable matter. J'nd 

 consequently demand but little tilling, the opinion : 

 may not seem to be preposterous. I know indeed 

 of but one insurmountable diflicnlty in the way pf 

 this product ; the air and rays of the sun would be 

 raarly or altogether excluded by the closeness of 

 the corn thus planted. And yet with such a soil 

 as is here recommended, even these might possi- 

 bly be dispensed with." 



The render will perceive that this mode of plant- 1 

 ing Indian corn is merely suggested as an experi- I 

 mer.t worth the trial, not reconiniendod as a pro- ' 

 cesff which e:;periment has tested. The rh?k of 

 the' trial can be hut small ; for if the ears should i 

 not come to maturily the plant-- may be cut up near 

 the- ground at the priper season, and servo a val- 

 nabl'e purpose for fodder. ' I 



Pl.ASTI'lR OP PARIS, CLOVER, &c. 



Tiue following extracts ure from :i, "Series of 

 Pajjers, communicated for the American F.arraer, 

 by frt'O. W. .leffreys, Esq. of Nortii Carolina- 



" I kiave been in the habit of using plaster morv? ' 

 tfiair twenty years, and its efi'ects on every kind of 

 ve^tation (.sedge grass excepted Vvhich it diminish- j 

 C3> are .surprisingly great. Th'ire i? no arable fnnd 

 lefl: unsown, 'villi, clover seed here — neither is i 

 piiister of so riiurli beneiH Ic Jand lefk bare of: 

 glass j; piaster Is not a manure,, but a stimuLas ; rt 



stimulates clover, and clover manures the land ; 

 three pecks of plaster are enough as a top dress- 

 ing for clover per acre, and all kinds of small 

 grain including hemp and flax are benefitted by 

 the same quantity to the acre. Early in the spring 

 we sow plaster on our clover pastures and grain 

 fields ; our sheep are not permitted to run in the 

 clover fields in the winter, and are kept out in the 

 spring, until the clover is well grown — at this time 

 also hogs are permitted to graze upon it, and if 

 they are well salted will thrive as long aa clover 

 lasts. The second crop injures the stock, particu- 

 larly horses, very much by creating a slavering, 

 and it is best to keep them ofi", and devote the sec- 

 ond crop to seed, as it makes the best seed. We 

 generally salt our clover hay, and put it under 

 cover, not much together ; mixing it with straw 

 answers a good purpose. In saving clover seed 

 tiie heads should be gathered quite dry, and kept 

 in that state until sown. Those who sow seeds 

 for market too often heat it, which prevents it 

 from coming up ; the good or bad quality of clover 

 seed may be discovered by filling a glass tumbler 

 half full of water, and dropping a few seeds in. — 

 Those whicli sink are good, those that swim are 

 generally de]irived of their vegetating powers. — 

 Clean seed sliould be sown in tli>o following man- 

 ner. Let the weather be calm (w-hi.-h is also ne- 

 cessary for sowing plaster) and let the ground be 

 laid off into eight feet lands ; take as much seed 

 as you can between your thumb and two fingers 

 for every two casts or steps, and let the casts not 

 exceed the width of the lanJ."' 



PLASTER OF PARIS APPLIED TO SEEDS. 



Not only Indian corn, but peas, oats, buckwlieat 

 and prob.ably most other seeds are benefitted bv 

 wetting them with water and then rolling them in 

 plaster. 



TO PREVENT CROWS FROM PULLING UP 

 INDIAN CORN. 

 Deane'sNew England Farmer says " To prevent 

 birds and vermin Irom pulling up the corn, steep 

 some corn in a strong infusion of Indian poke, or 

 refuse tobacco, and scatter it over the ground be- 

 fore the corn is up. White threads stretched over 

 a field of corn, will prevent crows from alighting 

 upon it. But I doubt whether this will deter any 

 other birds." A gentleman, in conversation with 

 the Editor, observed that he iiad been in the habit 

 for some years of protecting his young corn plants 

 from crows, by threads of white cotton yarn as re- 

 commended by Dr Dcane. He says, however, that 

 the threads must be large, like what spinsters call 

 rope-yarn, or they will not answer the purpose — 

 Coloured threads, or those which are not large 

 enough to make a formi.lable appearance in the 

 eye of a crow, will not deter the sable depredators 

 from their work of mischisf. Our informant says 

 he ha« seen crows arrested in their fli>;ht towards 

 a corn field, and iias observod tliein sliearinfr off 

 with a croak ot" alarm, when they have perceived 

 these threads; which |)erha|)S to them appear to be 

 connected wit,h some gunpowder plot, menacing 

 destruction. It. seems that crows, like some other 

 bipeds, are sometimes too cmining I'or tlieir ovi'n 

 interest ; and oulw it Ihcmselves by superabundant 

 caution- 



their entire estabiishments beneatii your feet 



Those wiiich you cannot reach, otherwise, may be 

 brought low by Col. Pickering's brush fastened 

 to the end of a long pole. But whatever is done 

 shouhl be done as soon as possible after the nestg 

 are formed. 



CONGRESSIONAL. 

 Sk.nate — April 2t\ Tv.o resolutions 



passed, 



Caterpillars are s;iid to be very abundant and 

 proniis''' much mischief to fruit trees. Many modes 

 of destroying them have been recommended, but 

 we beliine the best is to take them by hand before 

 they leave their beds in the morning, and crush 



one that the committee on Military atTairs be in- 

 structed to inquire whether any, and if any, what 

 alterations are necessary in the articles of war 

 which relate to courts martial; the other that the 

 President of the United States be requested to fur- 

 nish the Senate with a copy of the proceedings of 

 the court martial, by which Col. Talbot Chambers 

 was lately tried, together witli a list of all the 

 Field and General Officers in the service of the 

 United States, \\'ith a statement of the services 

 they were engaged in, and the places they were 

 stationed at, during the time of that trial. — The 

 Senate refused to postpone indefinitely the bill to 

 establisii a uniform gystero of Bankruptcy through- 

 out tlio United States. 



Miiii 1. Mr Lloyd from the Committee of Com- 

 merce made a report unfavourable to employino- 

 apprentices on board vessels engaged in foreign 

 commerce. 



Mit;; 3. The bill making appropriations for tiie 

 Mission to Panama pas.~ed. 



Muy 4. The Bankrupt bill, after discussion, was 

 posti)oned to the next session. 



IIot.sE-^.'2/jrt7 28. A bill aut'iorirnng the Wash- 

 ington Monument Association to import into the 

 United States a statue of Wasliington, was report- 

 ed and read twice. — The Speaker laid before the 

 House a report containing information respecting 

 the imposition of taxes on the Navy Yard of the 

 United Stales, near the city of Philadelphi.i. 



April 99. A resolution was read and laid on the 

 table directing the Secretary of the Navy to sus- 

 pend until the lOtli day of January next the expen- 

 i diture of the sum of .*liO,000 appropriated for the 

 support of the Navy of the United S'ates for the 

 [year 1821) for the repairs and improvements of th§ 

 1 Navy Yard at Phihideljihia. — The Speaker laid 

 j before the House a Messsore frtpui the President 

 i transmitting an opinion of William Wirt. Attorney 

 General, relative to the riiiht of Mr Adams, when 

 I a foreign minister, to retain money advanced to 

 him as an outfit. In tliis the Attorney General ob- 

 I serves " I think Mr Adams clearly entitled to the 

 whole outfit which was allowed and paid him by 

 the President." 



Mf:y 2. Mr Van Ren«allaer from the Commitfeft 

 on Agriculture, made a report of which 2(i(lll cop- 

 ies were ordered to be printed, on the subject of 

 the cultivation of the Mulberry tree, and the breed- 

 ing of Silk Worms. 



REPORT 



0/ the Covimltfre nf Conirress on A<!rindliire, on. 

 on the si'ljrif nfthe ru^livaiion of the Mjtlberry 

 Tree, and the. breeding of Silk fVorms. 

 The Committee have examined the fjuhject at- 

 tentively, .and have taken snch steps as they thought 

 best calculated to obtain information which might 

 be useful, and lead to satis*"actory conclusions. 



The facts developed in the course of their inqui- 

 ries, tend, to place the subject in an important point 

 of view. It is an interesting fact, that the mulber- 

 ry tree grows indigenously throughout the United 

 States, and tliat silk may be raised with facility 

 from the Southern to the Northern boundary oC 



