554 



FARxMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 9 



warmer climates, but is very rarely to be found in 

 Brilam; nevertheless it is said to exist; and that 

 a hive was dis overed within these some years. 

 Tiius the animal may have eitlier been domeslica- 

 ted at a very remote |)eriod by tlie iiihabitanis, or 

 it may have been brouuht from abroad. Natural- 

 ists doubt whether the wild honey bee is a native 

 ol" America, thoiiifh existinj? in numbers in the 

 woods. It is rather supposed to have been carried 

 thither in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. 

 Honey is said to be a great article oCsubsisience in 

 Madagascar, and in other places where bees are 

 common in the delis of trees. Fn Aliica, there is a 

 small bird called cuculas indicator, or the honey 

 bird, which uttering a peculiar note, and flitting 

 from bough to bough, will inliillibly lead the trav- 

 eller to a swarm in some hollow of a tree. 



FRUIT TREES. 



From tlie Newburyport Herald. 



The famous Pickman farm, in Salem, the best 

 in the country, is lined round the borders of the 

 field, with engrafted apple trees. These trees are 

 very thrifty, deriving most of their nourishm(>nt 

 from the crronnd under the sione fences, which Ueep 

 the soil loose, warm and moist, and preserve the 

 roots of the trees Irom external injury. The trees 

 in this situation are an ornament to the farm, while 

 they are no hindrance to the linmer in cultivating 

 his field, nor injury to ihe crops by witluiiaw- 

 ing nourishment, like tliose in the interior of the 

 field. Yet those trees round the field, are believed 

 to yield a greater profit than the annual crop with- 

 in, with all the labor necessarily bestowed upon 

 il; and the annual ^ales of the apples and Iruit on 

 this farm are said to be enough to purchase a liirm 

 of moderate dimensions in theinterior of this state. 



From tlie Genesee Fanner. 



Few are aware of the importance of this article, 

 as an item in our productions, or the amount which it 

 already reaches in the sum total of value. Two 

 years since the number of sheep was estimated at 

 twelve millions; it is now not less than fifteen mil- 

 lions. Allowing the estimate of three pounds per 

 head, the clip of the present year Avould be forty- 

 five million pounds of wool. VVe have been care- 

 ful observers of the price of wool, and find il has 

 ranged from 40 to t)0 cents per poimd, some lew 

 lots goiuir above, as some have lailen below, the 

 prices named. To be sure of being within the 

 amount, we will take the average at 45 cents, and 

 at that rate, the last clip of wool would be worth 

 more than twenty millions of dollars. Yet this is 

 but one item in the produciive industry of the north. 



At the present prices of sheep and wool, the bu- 

 siness of growing them is a profitable one; and we 

 think may with sali^ty be calculated upon as a 

 good one f^ir lime to come. Wool of good quality 

 could hardly tiiil to pay as an article of export to 

 England or France, should present prices abroad 

 be maintained, and the supply lor home consump- 

 tion in this country be exceeded. To prove that 

 (jrowing wool is a good investment of money, we 

 have only to look at the cost, expenses and returns 

 of a flock. A flock of good ewes, with proper 



management, will hardly fail of doubling their 

 numbers within the year; and if to the sales of the 

 wool the value of the iambs is added, il will be 

 seen, after deduciing the expenses of keeping, that 

 a handsome profit remains. I3ut to have good 

 sheep or wool, more attention must be paid to 

 them than is usually given. Sheep that get their liv- 

 ing by hook or by crook; that are allowed to gather 

 in their fleeces all the burdock and other burvveeda 

 that line too many of our roads and fences, and 

 fill our woodlands; that are exposed to all the vicis- 

 situues of our severe and variable climate without 

 shelter; or barely make a [shift to] live through 

 the winter, cannot bo expected to raise many lambs, 

 or produce good wool. Wool and silk are to be 

 the great resources of our supply ofclotliiug hereaf- 

 ter, and their importance to the country will be 

 proportioned to their general use. 



SWEET POTATO PLANTS STARTED IN HOT- 

 BEDS — A NEW METHOD. 



From tht; Soutliein Cultivator. 



Monrovia, Ark. July 17, 1839. 

 Mr. D. Clayton. 



Dear Sir. — Your invitation to the readers of 

 the 'Cultivator' to offer to the public through its 

 columns, the result of any experiment, orinloima- 

 tion acquired in any other way, that would en- 

 lighten the public mind on the all-important sub- 

 ject of agriculture, seems lo be general, and not 

 directed alone to the learned and literati, but alike 

 to the clodhopper -and sceniific agriculturist; which 

 encourages me to submit to the public a new me- 

 thod of bedding out sweet potatoes; though with 

 the utmost diffidence 1 assure you. 



Ijy using a hot bed, made on the following 

 plan, which was suggested to me by one of my 

 neighbors. I drew slips from my yams and 

 Spanislies, on the 10th of April, and by the last 

 of June, the yams had attained the ordinary size 

 of "eating roots;" and 1 have this moment mea- 

 sured three, that are from 6| to 7 and 7^ in. in 

 circumference. It was perhaps owing, in a cer- 

 tain degree, to the season being unusually forward. 



For one bushel of seed, I made a bed 8 feet 

 long, and 4 wide, (wider than this would be in- 

 convenient,) by driving posts into the ground, and 

 weather-boarding up 2 feet on the east side and 

 each end, and on ihe west side 5 feet, so as to give 

 the advantage of the morning sun, and shield it 

 as much as possible from the scorching influence 

 of the evening sun. I filled up my box wilh 

 straw 2 feet deep, made as solid as possible by 

 mauling, and then covered it 4 or 5 inches thick 

 vvilfi good stable manure. I then wet it thor- 

 oughly to the ground, and spread a coat of light 

 soil, clear of clods, 1^ inches thick. My potatoes 

 were then placed in so as not to touch each other, 

 and covered 3 or 4 inches deep with the same kind 

 of soil. The first coal of slijis was ready to come 

 ofl' in lour weeks from the day they were bedded, 

 and I am of opinion they would have been ready 

 sooner, if the bed had been moistened oliener, so as 

 to have prevented a crust forming on the top, 

 which the tender plant could not break. Artifi- 

 cial waterings are indispensable, in the absenee of 

 rain, at least once a day. 



M. F. Sadler. 



