J^rm^rs JWoutljlg l^tsitxrr. 



CONDUCTED BY ISAAC HILL. 



*' Tho5£ who Labor iti the earth are the chosen people of* God, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposite for substantial and genuine virtue." — Jt^CTSon, 



VOL. 8. NO. 7. 



CONCORD, N. H., JULY 31, 1846. 



WHOLE NO. 91, 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR, 



PIBLISHKU BV 



ISAAC HILL, & SONS, 



ISSUED ON THE LAST DAV OK EVERY MONTH, 



At Athenian Building. 



JKtCeneral Agents.— H. A. Bill, Keene, N H.; John 

 ^fAnsH, Washington iSl. Bustun, Mass. j Charles Warren, 

 Briiilt-y Row, Worcester, Mass. 



TERMS.— To single subscribers, Fljltj Cnits. Ten per 

 cent, will be nllowed to llie person wlio slKiU send more than 

 one subscriber. Twelve copies will be sent for the advance 

 jiaynu-nt ol" Fire /)[i//urs; twcnly-tive copies for Ten Dolttirs: 

 siily copies for Twenty Dullards. The payment in every case to 

 be made in advance. 



JJi^.l/HHCi/ unit siiff^'cription-1, hij a refutation of the Po.-t Master 

 General^ may tii all cases be reintlted lij the Pout Master, free oj 

 postage. 



9:j-.\Il gentlemen who have heretofore acted as Agents are 

 requested to continue their Agency. Old subscribers who 

 come under the new terms, will pleaso notify us of the names 

 already on our books. 



New- York Fanner's Club. 



An iiTcptihir iiieeling of ihis oluli was lioM on 

 Tiie.'idny in tlie rooms oftlie American Instiliite, 

 Rlr. Hjder in tlie Cliair, in order to complete the 

 business left nnfinislied by the last ineelino;. Tlie 

 subject, one of deep importance to the agricnltii- 

 ral and horticnilural interests of the country — 

 "Insects — their injury to vegetation, and modes 

 ofdestnictioii,"' should have comiiiaiided a more 

 iiiiinerous attendance lliiin appeared upon this 

 occasion, of those peculiarly involved in ascer- 

 taining the apparently mysterious system, by 

 wliicli the most healthy and ln.\nriant trees, as 

 well as crops, are suddenly swept, as by a pesli- 

 • lenlial inhalation within their vitals, from bloom 

 and early maturity to blii;ht and rapid coiiBUnip- 

 tion — triumphing over all the experiments of art 

 and ingenifity — and suddenl}-, by arbitrary and 

 capricious progress, defying all remonstrance 

 that ex|iericnce could diclate, or reason suggest. 

 It was to open a channel of investigation that this 

 subject was selected, and we repeal, that none, 

 of pariimoniil, universal importance, could possi- 

 bly engage, or more profitably belong to a so- 

 cieiy prolesscilly organized lor the developemeni 

 of all that belongs to the advancement of the all 

 important cause they have espoused. We were 

 informed, early in the discu.«sioii, of the great de- 

 vastation that a garden in the city was exposed 

 to, by the ravages of insects upon fruit trees, 

 grape vines, vegetables, squashes, Slc. ; but of 

 that fact, too many were unl)a|ipily (iom expe- 

 rience convinced. It was reserved for Dr. Un- 

 derbill lodevelope — from the resources of a mind 

 devoted to the cause of agriculture and horticul- 

 ture — llie foimilatiou of that pestilence, which, 

 IIS if ashami'd of its depredations, maUes "dark- 

 ness its hilling jilace," and spreads its upas ster- 

 ility over the bright and blooming productions of 

 nature's God and man's lianil. The invesiigation 

 of the subject of insects, the Doctor observed, 

 was as nnlathomable as the extent of their in- 

 fluence was unliniited ; varying in form, size, 

 iinttibers and genealogy, they baflled the most 

 experienced to detect their origin or obviate their 

 ravages. Among fruits they seem peculiarly to 

 revel; and from the specimens he produced of 

 the peach, the quince, the pear, and even the im- 

 ported hiiwthorn, their destructive powers were 

 illustrated with a vengeance. That while it dis- 

 played the celerity of their movements, exhibited 

 the rapid contagion that followed their inscruta- 

 ble track — the sting ascending as the sap des- 

 • cends. The only remedy he found effectual was 

 whitewashing the trunk immediately after the 

 sin-jng. Where quinces were planted in wet 



soils, this process was equally salutary, as tend- 

 ing to resist the progress of the snail in its up- 

 ward movement, the lime possessing the proper- 

 ty of dissolving the shell. Doctor Underbill pro- 

 duced branches of the quince, with an infuiite 

 qiianliiy of animalculte deposited within the 

 fruit, and a brick colored skin surrounding the 

 surface. The Doctor repudiated the idea enter- 

 tained by the Jersey farmers, that the East wind's 

 blast produced this blighting elliict u|)on the 

 peach tree ; but was convinced that the beetle, 

 which swarms the trees in the cool of the even- 

 ing, is the [lositive cause, atfecting with equal 

 venom the hardy leaf of the oak, as well as the 

 delicate and (ibrous foliage of the peach. The 

 Newtown pippin and the grape vine are subject 

 to these destructive animalcuke. From such in- 

 roads, as well as from those of the caterpillar, Dr. 

 Underbill recommends the application of spirits 

 of tur|)entine, applied with a sponge on the end 

 of a pole. Tobacco smoke is dniibtfiil in its 

 elKcacy. The ploughing of llie ground the latter 

 end of October or November, is eifectual, so far 

 as exposing the insect to the ueallier, and there- 

 by producing its destruction. Tlie Doctor thought 

 too, that hogs, freely e.\ercising their vocation, 

 would also be very beneficial in destroying ani- 

 malcnla^ An emphasis on the efficacy of fire, 

 was made by the Doctor, who quoted tlie inter- 

 ruption of the march oftlie locusts over the Alps, 

 in tiieir progress to the borders of the Rhino, and 

 practised here with much success. The Doctor 

 recommends a paring or scraping of the bark of 

 fruit trees, without penetrating the inner coat, and 

 thereby dislodging the nidus that conceals their 

 hiding [daces. This process, however, requires 

 a cautious and skilful luiiid. The proximity of 

 the wild cherry renders the caterpillars more 

 dangerous, by furnishing them with a depository 

 for their youug. The Doctor concluded a length- 

 ened but highly useful disserlaliou on this sub- 

 ject, by iiriploring the attention of all the farmer's 

 clubs in the country, to a matter of deep interest 

 to their advantage. Mr. Meigs stated a fact that 

 in Spain, and in the proximity of the tomato, no 

 pernicious insects were to be found. Weappre- 

 iiend his project of planting tomatoes on the mar- 

 gin of orchards as an antidote, might be produc- 

 tive of a contrary effect, as giving birth to another 

 species of aiiimalcula', more dangerous perhaps 

 than that which it was designed to crush. Col. 

 Skinner read some extracts from a work on the 

 mrpeuline trade of South Carolina, which tended 

 to show the rapid disappearance of the long 

 leafed turpentine pine, which was invariably sup- 

 planted by trees of a different origin, probiibly by 

 the inroad of beetles. Dr. Field corroborated 

 from his experience the facts and theories of Dr. 

 Underbill, and recommended constant syringing 

 with a solution of water, molasses and tobacco, 

 and approved also of the process of scraping the 

 trees in winter. Dr. Field suggested to the club 

 the propriety of liirmers supplying the Society 

 with such specimens of the liug tribe as come 

 within their experience, a proposition which was 

 cheerfully adopted. After some desultory re- 

 marks the Club adjourned, not however, losing 

 sight of a subject, that embraces so much matter 

 of deep and abiding iuiporiance, viewed either 

 as referring to the fancy or amateur horticultur- 

 ist, or to the practical and professional farmer. 



Important illeetiug of Wool Growers. 



At a meeting of wool growers, liolden at the 

 oftice of the Middlesex Company, in Lowell, Mass., 

 on the first day of July, 1846, representatives 

 from the eight following Stales being present, 

 viz.: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, 

 Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 

 and Ohio— Samuel Ltiwrence, Esq., of Massachu- 

 setts, was called to the chair, and G. Dana, of 

 Ohio, appointed Secretary. After opening the 

 meeting, an itnportant and very interesting dis- 



cussion took place on the relative properties of 

 the Saxon and ftlerino sheep, and more espe- 

 cially of their fleeces, in which Mr. Brown, (of 

 the firm of Perkins and IJrown, of Ackron, Ohio,) 

 as advocate oftlie excellence of the Saxon breed, 

 and Mr. Jacob N. Blakeslee, of Connecticut, ad- 

 vocate for the excellence of the Merino breed, 

 largely and most interestingly participated. 

 Those gentlemen, after various propositions, with 

 the aid and approbation oftlie meeting, came to, 

 and agreed U|)on the following manner of testing, 

 and, as f;ir as could be done, settling the question 

 of the relative value of these two imporlurit 

 breeds of sheep : 



Perkins & Brown, in presence of Guy VValcolt, 

 of Sutnnfit County, Ohio, are to select forty lambs, 

 which said Walcott is to see shorn, and is to cer- 

 tify that they were of the flock and bred by said 

 Perkins & Brown,and that they were shorn tit or 

 about one year of age, and at the cli|) of 1817. 

 The said Blakeslee is to select a like number 

 from his flock, which are to be shorn at the same 

 age, in the presence of N. B. Smith, of Connecti- 

 cut, at the clip of 1847, who is to make a like cer- 

 tificate as the one above described — which 

 certificates are to accompany the wool of the 

 said lambs to the Middlesex Company, and to be 

 placed in the hands of Samuel Lawrence, Esq., 

 who is to be the umpire to decide upon the 

 merits of the two lots— and if is understood that 

 the wool is to be sta|)led and scoured, and the 

 vftlue of each fleece placed against it — and to give 

 to the gentlemen competitors and the world, his 

 decision and views at large on the comparative 

 excellency of the two kinds of sheep and their 

 fleeces; and the wool-growers throughout the 

 United States are respectfully and earneslly in- 

 vited to participate in this competition, the re- 

 sults of which are deemed important to the wool 

 interest, and to shear at the clip of 1847, a like 

 number of lambs, (and if there be any variation 

 from one year in the age, have the certificate 

 state that variation particularly) and to obtain the 

 proper and well authenticated certificates, and 

 send tliem with the clip to the above-named um- 

 pire, who will report upon the whole, and award 

 the meed of honor to whom it may lie due, and 

 make the report public. The reader will under- 

 stand that Perkins & Brown have a very choice 

 flock of Saxons, and Mr. Blakeslee a very choice 

 flock of Merinos. 



It was unanimously voted that this report he 

 signed by the Chairman and Secretary, and pub- 

 lished in the Lowell Courier, and that the papers 

 friendly to the wool interest throughout the 

 country be requested to copy. 



SAMUEL LAWRENCE, Chairman. 



George Dana, Secretary. 



To MAKE Griddle Cakes. — Best way to make 

 them is to use milk altogether, instead of water 

 — two eggs, both yolk and white, to be allowed 

 for a pint of corn meal — the milk to be a little 

 warmed, and the whole to be well beat up with 

 a spoon or ladle. There must be milk enough 

 used to make the whole so liquid that it wi\l pour 

 out oftlie saucepan on the g-n't/rf/e — one spoonful 

 of wheat flour, and pure butter the size of a walnut. 



The griddle. Much nicety is to be observed in 

 the preparation of the griddle, which, as must be 

 well known, is iijlat, round, iron concern, stand- 

 ing on three legs, and of any size — it must be 

 uiade not very hot, because then it would burn 

 the cakes, and it must be well cleaned and 

 buttered while warm, that it may be perfectly 

 smoolh, so that the cakes may be easily turned, 

 that they may be done broicn [not burnt] on both 

 sides — to promote their lurning easily is the ob- 

 ject of adding the wheaten flour. Be it remem- 

 bered that the dough, or rather the batter, as 

 above directed, must be well beat up and pre- 

 pared directly before being cooked — though it 

 might get an hour — this is mentioned to prevent 



