1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



177 



cents, the labor being rated at one dollar per day, 

 which is more than the actual cost, as I hired my 

 laborers by the month, at from six to ten dollars 

 per month. The yield was at the rate of 991 

 pounds to the acre. Had all my ground been ful- 

 ly stocked, it would have exceeded ten hundred 

 pounds per acre. 



The expense of scraping the brush for the seed 

 was thirty-three cents per hundred pounds. The 

 brush was sold at 8-£ cents per pound. The crop 

 of seed was light and poor; fifty bushels to three 

 acres, worth 16| cents per bushel, or $8.33 to an 

 acre. 

 Summary expense of cultivation of one 



acre as above, $28.68 



Scraping 1000 pounds, 3.30 



Board of man five days, 1.07 



Rent of land, say $16 per acre, 16.00 



849.05 



Sale of brush, 1000 lbs. at 8|- cents, 

 Seed upon one acre, 



Net profit on one acre, 



85.00 

 8.33 



93.33 



$44.28 



The sale of the brush at 12i cents per pound, 

 the present price, would have enhanced the pro- 

 fits forty dollars, and made them $84.28. This is 

 very remarkable, and certainly affords ample en- 

 couragement to labor. That it can be often done 

 is not to be expected; and yet there is nothing ex- 

 traordinary in the process. The uncertainty of 

 the seasons is something-, and the fluctuations in 

 the market prices of broom are great. The 

 amount of crop, though large, was not more than 

 can usually be commanded by good and generous 

 cultivation.- Many of our lands, besides the allu- 

 vial meadows, are capable of producing good 

 crops; and the great yield of 150 bushels "of seed 

 to the acre mentioned above, with broom, of course, 

 in proportion, was produced in one of the most 

 rough and rocky towns in the commonwealth, and 

 on land which owed every thing to good manage- 

 ment. I hope the length of these details may "be 

 excused. 



it. c. 



Meadowbanks, (Mass.) May 1th, 1S35. 



From the Southern Agriculturist. 



ON THE DISEASES OF TREES, AIVD METHODS 

 OF CURE. 



When it is observed of a tree, that it does not 

 shoot forth, we are certain that it is either punc- 

 tured to the liber or white bark, or that it is defi- 

 cient in nourishment from the poverty of the 

 earth, in which it is planted, that will in time prove 

 its destruction. The remedy is to lay bare the 

 roots in the month of November, for three feet 

 around the tree, and put in three or four baskets of 

 well rotted cow manure; throw upon this three or 

 four buckets of water to force the manure amongst 

 the roots, after which fill up the hole with the 

 same earth that was taken out of it: the roots be- 

 coming refreshed, throw out new fibres, and the 

 year after the tree will be seen shooting forth its 

 green foliage again. If the summer is very dry 

 you must throw two buckets of water around it 



Voe. Ill— 23 



from time to time. The winter following in trim- 

 ming the trees, you must not leave as many 

 branches as on those that have always been in 

 good health. Trees of every description are cured 

 in this manner. 



Bad soil. — Fruit trees accommodate themselves 

 more to warm light earth than to that which is 

 cold and wet. 



Diseased roots. — Frequently a tree, all of a sud- 

 den, after have thriven many years, will become 

 weak and languid: this arises from the roots be- 

 coming rotten from having been planted too deep, 

 from the many fibres, from humidity or otherwise. 

 This is easily remedied by laying bare the roots in 

 autumn, and cutting off such as are decayed, up 

 to the sound wood. 



Exhausted earth. — If the tree languishes in its 

 sound roots, the malady arises from the earth be- 

 ing too much exhausted. To reanimate it, re- 

 move the exhausted earth and replace it with new; 

 afterwards throw around the foot of the tree two 

 good baskets of cow manure, if the earth is warm, 

 or that of the horse if it is cold, and when the time 

 arrives to trim it, cut out the old wood. If it does 

 not shoot forth well the succeeding year, it ought 

 then to be dug up and thrown away. 



To regenerate old trees. — When you have in 

 your garden a very old tree, whose branches on 

 the right and left indicate dying, you may calcu- 

 late the cause to be in the roots: it wants nourish- 

 ment, and the earth about its feet is too old, ex- 

 hausted and dry. To give it again health and vi- 

 gor, lay bare the roots in the month of November, 

 for four feet square all around them so as not to 

 injure them; afterwards throw five or six baskets 

 of well rotted cow manure above the roots, the 

 fall and winter rains will decompose it; if the win- 

 ter is dry, you must water it, in order that the li- 

 quor of the manure may become a kind of pus to 

 nourish the roots; the sap will begin to flow, and 

 the earth and tree revive. In the month of Feb- 

 ruary, cut the old branches to the body of the tree, 

 covering the wound so as to prevent either rain or 

 the sun from doing any injury. After the first 

 year, the branches will be three feet; and, if it is 

 a tree which ought to be trimmed, the winter after 

 trim the branches a foot long. This manner of 

 resuscitating all kinds of trees is excellent. 



Trees diseased on one side only. — If a tree iaf 

 diseased on one side and vigorous on the other, 

 lay the roots entirely bare, remove the diseased 

 part, and cut the larger roots in order to make the 

 tree equal, and the circulation of the sap more 

 general; put new earth above the roots, even if 

 they should not be unhealthy, and two or three 

 baskets of manure as above. 



When you trim this tree, leave the vigorous 

 side long, and you must leave all the fruit 

 branches, even the weakest, so as to draw the sap: 

 trim very close the diseased side; cut off all use- 

 less branches, and leave a few fruit branches. 



Yelloio leaves. — This disease arises often from 

 the same cause as that of the disease last spoken 

 of, that is to say, exhausted earth. In such case 

 administer new earth mixed with manure reduced 

 nearly to that of common earth; or, without en- 

 tirely uncovering the roots, with ashes and soot, 

 these materials are very good for light earths. 

 When the ground is cold, pigeon dung is very 

 good, particularly where it has been in a heap for 

 two years, to ameliorate its strong heat; spread it 



