®l)c JTaimev's illontl)!^ Visitor. 



103 



Planting Trees. 



Many olijentto plaiitiiig trees because tlie ben- 

 efit of ilieir labors can be enjoyed only by pos- 

 terity. A very good story Is told of on iiyed n)un 

 who was engaged In transplanting some trees, 

 niid who was interrupted in his noble and phi- 

 lanthropic labor by a passerby with the interro- 

 gation—'- Why do you plant who cannot (lartake 

 of the fruit?" The old irian raised liitiiself slow- 

 ly, and gazing for a while on the querist, replied, 

 " Others planted trees for ine before 1 was horn : 

 I have enjoyed the blessing, and partaken of the 

 fruit of their labors, and I now plant that others 

 may enjoy the blessingof mine, and that the mor- 

 al of gratitude may exist when 1 am dead and 

 gone." Such sentiments are alike creditable to 

 the head and heart. 



There are many regions on almost every farm 

 which, from their natural roughness and sterility, 

 are siisceptil)le of profitable use in no other way 

 tliati by devoting them to the production of trees 

 either for fruit or fuel. In England, Scotland and 

 Wales, the lofty, barren and heath covered moun- 

 tains are being converted into plantations of trees 

 for the latter purpose. The old Duke of Athol 

 planted, on Ids estate in Perthshire, no less than 

 fifteen thousand five hundred acres of irjouiitain 

 land, which, previous to ))lantiug, was rented for 

 twenty-two cents yearly per statute acre, but is 

 now valued at the enormous sum of tinrly-lwo 

 millions five hundred thousand dollars! 



In this (rounlry, where comparatively speaking, 

 there is still an abundance of fiiel ; and where 

 but a limited few possess the advantages requisite 

 for extended operations of this sort, we do not 

 expect to seethe planting of trees for fuel carried 

 to great extent ; but we do hope that more atten- 

 tion will be accorded to the subject than it has 

 thus far elieitt>d, and that plantations of valuable 

 trees for fuel and mechanical purposes, as well 

 as for fruit, will yet arise to adorn and beautify 

 the land. Wherever there is a vacant spot, by 

 the road sides or in the farm yard, let it be occu- 

 pied by trees. 



Travel through some of the older districts of 

 New England, and witness the beautiful appear- 

 ance presented by the handetsand villages, where 

 every edifice has its surroundins grove, and eve- 

 ry street its colonades of maples, oaks or elms.— 

 Sekcied. 



RvE. — In Germany and Russia, rye is the prin- 

 cipal bread corn, and throughout the Continent 

 it is much more extensively cultivated than wheat. 

 It is regarded as not only a much more certain 

 crop than the latter, but as requiring a far less 

 amount of labor and manure. 



In Great Britain and Wales, where rye was for- 

 merly grown in large quantities, its cultivation 

 has abnost wholly ceased, and in Ireland and 

 Scotland it engrosses at present far less attention 

 than formerly, and can scarcely be enumerated 

 among the bread grains of either country. A 

 friend who has travelled extensively there, in- 

 forms us that he rarely saw it, and he thinks that 

 it is but seldom grown as an article of human 

 food. 



According to some aiitlior.s, rye is a native of 

 Crete, yet we have sufiicient data to warrant the 

 belief that, like wheat, it is a fiiclilious grain.— 

 The Egyptians had a tradition whi h assigned its 

 introduction among men to the beneficence of 

 one of their chief deities, su|.posing that before, 

 both whearand rye were founil onlv in tlie woods. 

 In Its lujtntive pro|ierlies this grain probably 

 conies nearer to wheat than either corn or barley. 

 In the New England Slates it is extensively cul- 

 tivated, an<l will) proper soil, ordinarily proiluces 



often through the sunmier will be found I)est. — 

 If you have the least doubt about the effect of 

 ploughing and hoeing often, just try the plan, let 

 the book-fiirmers say what they will. 



It is not very easy to explain why the frequent 

 moving of the soil, and that to a considerable 

 depth, should have an elTect precisely the reverse 

 of what is observed when we often remove other 

 materials and expose iliem to the air. Hay will 

 dry twice as liist when we stir it and let the air 

 in, as when we let it lie with once spreading over 

 tlif ground. Litter of any kind, leaves, manures, 

 will dry up last in proportion to their exposure to 

 the atmosphere. 



But it is certain that all soils are so constituted 

 that fiequent stirring keeps them more moist than 

 when they are allowed to lie still. We have 

 known practical farmers to deluy hoeing their 

 corn in a dry lime fbi' fear they should render the 

 soil more dry, to the injury of the harvest. They 

 may have reasoned from what they had observed 

 in regard to the stirring of other substances. — 

 Experiments on a very small scale will convince 

 them that stirring the unswarded earth will not 

 in a dry time, make it more dry. 



If no litter has been placed about the trees set 

 this spring, keep the earth well tilled both for 

 the sake of your trees and your harvest. Whei) 

 you plough among your trees you should always 

 muffle the ends of the whitlle-lree to prevent 

 galling or tearing off the bark. It is alinost im- 

 possible to avoid it without this precaution. — 

 JiJass. Ploughman. 



Bed Bugs. 



Who has not been driven to his wit's end in a 

 summer night by these little blood-suckers.'— 

 What housewife has not felt her patience exhaust- 

 ed by their persevering residence in her beds and 

 furniture .' The man who will find a means of 

 subduing their insect army will be more truly a 

 benefactor of the race than any conqueror of them 

 all ; and such a victory will be much more to our 

 admiration than many recorded in history, how- 

 ever great and bloody they may be. The editor 

 of the Lancaster County Farmer ihinks he has 

 found a ceriain remedy for them in the use of 

 quicksilver. His plan is, to beat a half an ounce 

 of quicksilver with the white of one egg, until 

 they are perfectly compounded. Then to wash 

 the bedstead clean in cold water, and to anoint 

 all the joints and crevices with the compound, 

 which is to he put on with the feather end of a 

 (juill. Moreover, he advises us, if the first triaJ 

 fail, and if the nocturnal pirates continue then- 

 career with unabated vigor, not to scold wife and 

 daughter, but have the egg and quicksilver again 

 laid on. He says, further, that he commenced 



they have left will be hatched, and a few of the 

 young may be found on inspection. If there is 

 no immediate second application, these will soon 

 lay more eggs, and the tribe will be greatly in- 

 creased before the end of the season. So soon 

 as the cold weather approaches, they retire from 

 view, nestle in the crevices and go into a torpid 

 state till next May. Therefore, either take them 

 before May brings life and activity to them, or 

 make a double application of the alcohol— one 

 lor the full groiVn generation, and the other for 

 their newly halche<l eggs. If either of these is 

 done with care, n deliverance may be safely relied 

 on.— Southern Planter. 



a good crop. It requires light, sandy and rathe, 

 warm land, with a subsoil free and porous.— .1/e. 



Farmer. 



Tilling AMONG Young Trees. — A correspond- 

 ent tells us that he could not readily procure any 

 litter to place around the trunks of hisyounir trets 

 and that as he has planted the field where^he set 

 them with corn and potatoes, he thou!,'bt liiier 

 would be in his way in tilling. 



We think there might be a quantilv around 

 each tree that would not interfere with" the crop. 

 But he should endeavor to keep his soil almoi his 

 young trees as moist as possible whether he uses 

 litter or not. Next to covering the earth with 

 something to check evaporation and to keep the 

 foil both moist and light, ploughing and stirrii." 



these tactics about ten years ago, and has used 

 them once every year during that time. In con- 

 sequence whereof; although be cannot say he 

 never saw a bug in his house during those ten 

 years, he does say, that be was very little troubled 

 with them. 



We know a remedy for bed bugs which is bet- 

 ter than that just given, inasmuch as it is simpler 

 in itself, easier to obtain, quicker in its operation, 

 more cleanly in its nature, and far more certain 

 in its effect. Take any quantity of alcohol, small 

 or great, as may answer your purpose, and dis- 

 solve in it as much corrosive sublifiiate as it will 

 take up. This well a()plied once ii year, will com- 

 pletely rout out the bed liugs, however firmly in 

 possession befiijie. We once lived more than ten 

 years in a house without seeing one. There we 

 have the advantage of the Lancasler Farmer! 

 Yet this very house was an old wooden building, 

 which was so much infested with them before 

 the iijiplicalion of our remedy, that even the 

 cracks of the floois were full of "them. But when 

 ail iiidiislrious lady, learned in the mysteries of 

 house-keeping, moved into it, she at oiice deluged 

 it in the li(pior described ; and the dynasty of iied 

 bugs was at an end. 



A single application, if plentiful and thorough, 

 will effect their total abolition ; but to keep the 

 house clear of them, bedstemis, sofas, &c.,should 

 receive it once a year. The [uoper time for this 

 annual alihition is in March. If there are any 

 about ihe l"urniiure then, they are lying in a tor- 

 pid state, and they are then easily destroyed. A 

 little later, and they will have been awakened liy 

 the approaching heat, and have laid their eggs. 

 An application of it then only destroys the gen- 

 eration in being. In a short time the egjfs which 



Origin of Bots in Horses, and their Cure. 

 —Mr. Porter : I have observed lately much spec- 

 ulation as to the origin of the bot or ■'rub. I 

 have read Mr. Mitchell's account of his experi- 

 ment in the cure, and after the animal died, his 

 experiment in killing the worms,afier taking them 

 from the stomach of the dead horse. 



As it should be our object to do all the good 

 we can to mankind, I feel it my duty to give the 

 world what I think a certain remedy for the bot 

 or grub, without commenting how they find their 

 way into the horse's stomach, or how they are 

 formed. It is enough that such things do exist 

 as bots in horses, and that it is im|)oriant how to 

 get nd of them, when we ascertain our horse' is 

 affected by them. 



To make a bot or grub let go his hold, give 

 the horse a quart of molasses or dissolved sugar, 

 wiihja quart of sweet milk— in thirty minutes 

 you will find the horse at ease : then' pulverize 

 one-eighth of a pound of alum, dissolve it in a 

 quart of warm water, and drench your horse— 

 afier which, in two hours or less, give the horse 

 one pound of salts, and you will find the bots in 

 his dung. I have never failed. I think this is, 

 after all the speculations and cures ] have seen, 

 the only thing that will to a certainty remove the 

 bots. 



The molasses and sweet milk cause the bot to 

 let go and prey upon the sweetening— the alum 

 contracts him, and the salts passes him off.— Cor. 

 JV. Y. Spirit of Ihe Times. 



Celery. — This is a most excellent winter veg- 

 etable, and one that can he brought to perfection 

 only by the most carefid attention. As it possess- 

 es so many excellences, we are surprised th,3t 

 more attention is not accorded to its cultivation, 

 especially by those who have ground and means, 

 and who profess to be fond of it. We have vis- 

 ited many gardenathis season, and while we have 

 been gratified at beholding the most unequivocal 

 evidences of general industry and improvement 

 in other matters, we have rarely bad the pleasure 

 of congratulating the possessoi- on the beauty or 

 extent of his celery bed. On the contrary we 

 have seldom seen it, and we believe that it is at 

 [iresent less cultivated in this region than any 

 plant of similar importance and value that can be 

 noDied.-Maine Parmer, 



Fine FiRMiNa and Great Crops.— James 

 Gowen, of Mt. Airy, near Philadelphia, raised, in 

 1845, a ten acre field of corn, which averaged 95 

 bushels of shelled corn per acre. It bad been in 

 grass, without manure, five years ; it was ploughed 

 and the field manured with a ton of guano, cost- 

 ing S'40. The rows were 3 1-2 feet apart and 

 the plants 12 inches. (This distance would be 

 too great for siiuill northern corn.) Judicious 

 harrowing, in preparation, cleared the ground 

 thoroughly of grass and weeds, and it was kept 

 perfectly clean afterwards at little cost. There 

 were seven acres of winter wheat, and one of 

 spring wheat, the whole computed to average 

 over forty bushels per acre. The Spring wheat 

 was after an acre of carrots, of 900 bushels, and 

 was followed by an acre of turnips of JOOO bush- 

 els; the whole worth over $500,— from one acre 

 ill two years, fhe carrot crop the same year 

 was 1000 bushels per acre, sugar parsnip 800 

 bushels, ruUi baga over 600, potatoes, 3 acres, over 

 200 each. Thcjse were only part of the crops. 

 Besides, there were more than 100 tons of excel- 

 lent hay, though the season was unfavorable. All 

 on an upland farm of about .100 acres, which 

 maintained during the summer over 60 head of 

 cattle. So much for manure, suhsoiling, fine cul- 

 ture, draining, rotation. S^a.—Mmny Cultivator 



