3€ 



FARMERS' R fc: G I S T E U, 



[No. 6 



I considered the botanicnl doscription, accomp:!- 

 nyiriu; ilie eiiirraviii<r of the indicator, Rufficienl to 

 idenlily llie growiiig speciLv; hut liavinj^ another 

 very Une specimen lie!!)re me, upwards of two 

 feet liigh, 1 will aifaiii more minutely repeat its 

 botanical characters, na iliey present ihcmselveB 

 in tiie specimen hi ibre me. Rout fibrouB, stem 

 glabrous, (entirely Iree I'roin pubescence,) ramose; 

 leaves opposite, amplexicaul, lanceolate, slightly 

 serrate; flowers racemose, axillary, termmal ; ca- 

 lyx four-toothed; corolla light-blue, entire base, lip 

 four-parted, reflexed, capsule two-celled; habitat, 

 80 far as 1 have observe^l, strictly confined to the 

 eddies formed in streams supplied with calcareous 

 matters. 



The above description is, 1 believe, essentially 

 correct, and such as will enable any botanist easily 

 to identify the growing plant. I am still of the 

 opinion that the indicator is a species of veronica 

 not formerly described. 



[It is the rule for this publication that every ar- 

 ticle shall have a title indicating its purport; and 

 when the writer of any communication does not 

 prefix such a heading, it is always done by the 

 editor, who therefore must be charged with any 

 unfitness or impropriety, that may be found in 

 the titles to communications, in the great majori- 

 ty of cases. In conformity with this rule was 

 prefixed to Clayton's communication the heading 

 which reads "The Marl Indicator, not a new 

 species," designing by it merely to announce the 

 views which the writer presented — and without 

 thinking at the monent, as has since occurred 

 to our mind, that the words conveyed a more po- 

 sitive assertion than the writer himself would have 

 made — or that, if charged to its proper source, it 

 might seem that the editor took sides against the 

 first describer of the plant, on a point in dispute 

 in regard to which he is confessedly ignorant. 

 There was no such intention; but, on the contrary, 

 a wish to place on fair ground both sides and opi- 

 nions, on a new and interesting question. 



It has been requested by the 'Farmers' Cabi- 

 net' that a dried speciment of the "Marl Indica- 

 tor" should be furnished for examination. This 

 cannot well be done, so as to preserve sufficiently 

 the natural appearance of the plant, owing to its 

 being so extremely tender and watery. But the 

 plant can be found from May to August in every 

 rivulet flowing from or through a marl-bed, and 

 can be readily recognized by the description and 

 representation already flirnished. — Ed. F. R.] 



KNGLISH (or common) TURKIPS. 



From tlic Maine Farmer. 



In No. 7 of the present vol. of the Farmer, Mr. 

 H. Eutman states his opinion of the small value 

 of English turnips as food for cattle. I have had 

 some experience in raising and using that kind 



of turnips for fiittening oxen, and cows, and have 

 in six or eight instances fatted an o.x or cow lor 

 my own use with English turnips, and always 

 successfully. In one instance I suffered a cow to 

 be milked until the 20th of tSeptember, and from 

 that time to the 1st of November she had good 

 feed upon grass only— at which time ahe was put 

 into the stable, and led with Englisli turnips and 

 hay, without any v/aier, ami kept constantly in 

 the stable until the 1st of Januaiy, and was then 

 excellent beef The only additional Ibod given to 

 her was two bushels of Indian meal given to her 

 durins: the last two weeks in December. 



PERIODICALS OFTEN AFFECT THOSE WHO DO 

 NOT READ THEM. 



From the Cultivator. 



J. BuEL, — Sir, — I am disposed to mention one 

 fact, which may encourage you in your arduous 

 labors, and which may also show the important 

 and responsible situation of editors and conductors 

 of public journals. 



In the course of the last summer a neighbor of 

 mine invited me into his orchard to witness the 

 efiects of an experiment he had made, at the sug- 

 gestion of another. Last winter one of his apple 

 trees of considerable size was peeled around near 

 the bottom by mice. He took four or five cions 

 from the top of the same tree in the spring, and in- 

 serted them in the bark, one end below and the 

 other above the naked truiik, in the manner of side 

 grafting. When I saw the tree (perhaps in Au- 

 gust) it was growing very vigorously, the sap 

 having passed through the inserted cions. On 

 seeing this I was determined to send you an ac- 

 count of it, that it might be spread out before the 

 public in the Cultivator. Not long alter this oc- 

 currence, I was reading one of the first volumes of 

 this excellent work, which I had recently received, 

 and found a description of a similar process there. 

 I know not through how many hands this infor- 

 mation had passed before it reached my neighbor, 

 but it is certain he himself had not read it in the 

 Cultivator. I mention this to show, that however 

 extensively a usellil publication may be circulated, 

 its salutary influence may extend to hundreds, and 

 thousands, who may never see it. On the other 

 hand, let a publication be circulated containing ar- 

 ticles which may be hurtful to the best interests 

 of man, and its deleterious efiects may be li^It by 

 thousands and millions, long after the publisher 

 may have gone to give up his last account before 

 his final Judge. O, how unspeakably important 

 that every editor, and every one who presents any 

 thing before the public eye, should never publish 

 any thing but that may be usefiil to some one, 

 either for time or eternity. 



PLANTIXG SEED ENDS OF POTATOES. COM- 

 PARATIVE NUTRITIVE QUALITY OF ROOTS. 



From the Maine Farmer. 



Although potatoes are sufficiently plenty with 

 us in this slate, yet on account of the great de- 

 mand for them at the west, they are uncommonly 

 high in price. It is well therelbre lor those who 



