184 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 3 



was preferred by the Spaniards to any other va- 

 riety. The fruit is rather etnaller than the com- 

 mon tonaato, of an oblong shape, and of a deep 

 red color, not quite so bright as the former. It is 

 fine for preserves. It is an abundant bearer, and 

 full eight days earlier than the common kind. 

 Mr. Lowell's recommendation is a sufficient 

 guarantee of its goodness. 



7%e imperial watermelon, a new variety, was 

 raised the past summer, by T. Allen, Esq., of 

 Hyde Park, New York, which, for richness of 

 flavor, firmness of the flesh, thinness of the skin, 

 productiveness, and every other good quality, sur- 

 passes any thing we have ever tasted. We do 

 not know the source from whence the seed was 

 procured; but it is sufficiently early to arrive at 

 perfection in our climate, and it must become 

 very extensively cultivated- The seed cannot, 

 probably, be procured in any quantity, as only a 

 few melons were raised ; we shall, after the trial 

 of another season, notice it again. 



The Cedo Nulli pea, introduced for the first 

 time last year, has promised to be a fine and very 

 early variety, and one which we recommended to 

 the notice of all gardeners. It is dwarf, early, 

 and prolific. We would not have gardeners, as 

 well as farmers, forget to cultivate, and extensive- 

 ly too. Groom's superb dwarf blue pea, which we 

 have heretofore recommended. 



The Rohan potato. — This remarkable variety 

 of the potato will be very generally cultivated the 

 coming season. The extraordinary produce in 

 almost every single experiment which has been 

 made in their growth, notwithstanding the past 

 unprecedented dry season, has convinced even 

 those who have little faith in new varieties of ve- 

 getables, that it is a most prolific, and, conse- 

 quently, a valuable article. Only a very limited 

 supply for planting could be obtained last spring, 

 and four or five pounds was the most ihai could be 

 easily procured by a single individual : but the in- 

 crease has been so enormous, that, from this small 

 amount of seed, a sufficiency has been raised to 

 plant an acre or more. 



After what we have said in our previous num- 

 bers, and the appearance of Mr. Renrick's article, 

 (p. 51,) it is not necessary that we should occupy 

 the time of our readers with a repetition of the 

 same, but simply remark, in addition, that there 

 remains no doubt but that it is the most valuable 

 article which has been introduced to our husband- 

 ry for many years. 



We have given an account of the origin of this 

 variety in our I V., p. 149. It was named in honor 

 of the Prince Rohan, of Geneva, who was the 

 first to disseminate it. 



An opinion has gained ground, that the Rohan 

 potato is very inferior to our common kinds : this, 

 however, is a great error. We have previously 

 given Judge Buel's opinion of its quality, and we 

 can confirm what he has stated. When the pota- 

 toes are grown to their proper size, Avhich is two 

 or three pounds each, we have no doubt that, with 

 the same care in cultivation, they will be found 

 equal to any other variety. In proof of this, we 

 may notice that a late London paper states, that a 

 "new and extremely prolific variety, of German 

 origin," was introduced last spring, and cultivated 

 for the metropolitan market. Of^ its enormous 

 produce there is no doubt ; we lately stated, (p. 

 35,) that twelve hundred bushels might be raised 



on an acre ; and we have no hesitation in saying 

 that it may be made to exceed this ! 



A paragraph has just met our eye in the Lon- 

 don Gardener'^s Gazette, stating that a new va-- 

 riety, called the mangel wurtzel potato, was in- 

 troduced last spring, and that a gentleman of 

 Waterford procured four of the tubers. These 

 were cut into thirty-six sets, and planted on good 

 land, with the usual quantity of farm-yard ma- 

 nure, in drills three feet apart and twelve inches 

 between the sets, the whole occupying just twelve 

 square yards. When dug, the produce was one 

 hundred and twelve pounds, being at the rate of 

 thirty-five tons to the acre, or thirteen hundred 

 bushels. There is not the least doubt but that 

 the mangel wurtzel potato, so called, is the Rohan, 

 which has acquired the former name in England, 

 from its great size. We again commend it to the 

 notice of every farmer or gardener. 



LARGE OAK TREES. 



Loudon, in his jirboretum Britannicum, states 

 that the oldest oak in England is supposed to be 

 the Parliament oak (so called from the tradition 

 of Edward I, holding a parliament under the 

 branches,) in Clifstone Park, belonging to the 

 Duke of Portland, this park being the most an- 

 cient in the island. It was a park before the Con- 

 quest, and seized as such by the conqueror. The 

 tree is supposed to be fifteen hundred years old. 

 The tallest oak in England was the property of 

 the same nobleman — it was called Duke's Walk- 

 ing Stick — higher than Westminster Abby, and 

 stood till of late years. The largest oak in Eng- 

 land is the Calthorpe oak, Yorkshire, measuring 

 seventy-eight feet in circumference where the 

 trunk meets the ground. The Three Shire Oak, 

 at Worksop, was so called from covering parts of 

 Yorkshire, Nottingham and Derby: it had the 

 greatest expanse of any recorded in this island, 

 dropping over seven hundred and seventy-seven 

 square yards. The most productive oak was that 

 of Gelonds, in Monmouthshire, felled in 1810. Its 

 bark brought £200, and its timber £670, (about 

 $4,000.}— ^rb. Jirit. 



From tlie Maine Farmer. 

 MORE ABOUT HOGS. 



Any experiments which render the operations of 

 the farmer more certain, or which shall give cer- 

 tain data whereby to calculate the profit or loss of 

 any pursuit in agriculture, are of great value.^ 

 One trouble in the business of the farm has been, 

 the uncertainty with which the cost and the re- 

 turns of investiments in this occupation has too 

 generally been attended, owing to the remissness 

 of farmers in keeping proper accounts. The keep- 

 ing of hogs and the fattening of them, are sub- 

 jects respecting which much has been said and 

 much been written, but after all, the exact cost, 

 or an exact account current, has but in a very few 

 instances been fairly kept. Arthur Young, many 

 years ago, published some experiments wherein 

 the expenses were laid down, and the profits also 

 minuted. Mr. Colman also pubhshed some ex- 



