316 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 5. 



which is so peculiarly noxious to insects, might be 

 tried.* The smoke of burnt weeds, and in par- 

 ticular of sea weeds, might also be of use. 



In the course of these inquiries, 1 have seen 

 very strong assertions, made of the benefical ef- 

 fects of elder, in protecting growing plants from 

 the attack's of insects; in proof of which it is said, 

 that when a whole district was infested with cock- 

 chafers, and scarcely a green leaf was untouched, 

 the elder alone remained uninjured. This plant 

 is said, 1. To preserve cabbages from being injured 

 by caterpillars; 2. To prevent blights and other 

 effects on fruit and other trees; 3. To protect 

 crops of wheat, from destructive insects; and, 4. To 

 prevent the destruction of turnips, by the fly, if 

 elder bushes are drawn, for that purpose, along 

 turnip drills. 



It is recommended, to beat the cabbages with 

 twigs of elder,*)rto make a strong infusion of el- 

 der water, and sprinkle it over the plants with a 

 watering pot. 



It has been remarked, that the greatest mischief 

 is usually done to the late sown wheats, and that, 

 such as are sown early, receive little or no injury. 

 When the grain has arrived at a certain degree of 

 hardness and consistency, (which may be the case, 

 with the early sown wheats, before the insect has 

 made any material progress, or even commenced 

 its operations,) the plant is not so liable to be in- 

 jured. 



Conclusion. 



It, is much to be lamented, that so important an 

 object as the means of preventing the destruction 

 of our most valuable crops of grain, should not 

 have attracted the attention of government; by 

 whose means, discoveries might be made, which 

 can never be expected from private exertions. By 

 public encouragement, the inquiry would be car- 

 ried on with energy, and probed to the bottom; 

 and the most effectual means of preventing the mis- 

 chief; would probably be ascertained. What sub- 

 ject can be compared to it in point of importance? 

 At present, we are liable every year, not only to 

 the loss of some millions worth of grain, but to all 

 the mischiefs of scarcity, and even of famine. 

 These would not probably be experienced in this 

 country, were the ravages of insects, and the de- 

 struction by the mildewf prevented; objects which 

 are certainly in a great measure attainable, if the 

 inquiries regarding them were prosecuted with vi- 

 gor, and if no expense were spared in collecting 

 facts, and ascertaining, by careful experiments, 

 the means by which such frightful losses might be 

 prevented. 



SEED OF THE BREAD-FRUIT TREE. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



I send you by my friend , a few, of -a few, 



seeds of the celebrated "bread-fruit." In its na- 

 tive climate, it continues in use for eight months, 

 and so various are the messes made of it by the 

 Otaheitans, that Capt. Cook was led to say of it, 

 ''if in those parts where it is not spontaneously 

 produced, a man plant but ten acres in his whole 

 lite time, he will as completely fulfil his duty to his 

 own, and to future generations, as the nature of 

 our less temperate climate can do by ploughing in 

 the cold of winter, and reaping in the summer's 

 heat, as often as these seasons return, even if after 

 he has procured bread for his present household, 

 he would convert the surplus into money, and lay 

 it up for his children." Not only does this fruit 

 supply food, but. clothing, and numerous other 

 conveniencies of life. It was for the purpose of 

 transplanting the bread-fruit tree to the West In- 

 dies, in a growing state, that his majesty's ship, 

 the Bounty, was despatched in 17S7, to the South 

 Seas, under command of Lieutenant, afterwards 

 Admiral Bligh. 



I send you also a i'ew locks of long glossy and 

 silk-like looking wool, from the skin of the famous 

 Angora goat, sent to me from Constantinople, by 

 the gallant and intellectual Porter — one of those 

 rare spirits, who here and there rise aloft by their 

 courage, enterprise, and talents, to illustrate their 

 country, as do "cloud-capt towers" to embellish a 

 city. 



For Ihe bread-fruit, should these seeds produce 

 it, as they may in our southernmost region, the 

 country will be indebted to Mr. N orris, a very 

 younjj gentleman, who is much to be commended 

 for his thoughtfulness in bringing them. For acts 

 of less apparent national utility, some men have 

 gained enviable immortality: for after all, what so 

 deservedly confers immortality as the considera- 

 tion of having added one more to the means of 

 national subsistence and comfort. 



J. S. SKINNER. 



Baltimore, July 30, 1S35. 



* It may be proper here to mentiona curious fact re- 

 corded in the Survey of the Hebrides. A cottager there, 

 had his cabbages much injured by the caterpillar. He 

 surrounded his little garden with hemp, and was no 

 more molested by them, the smell of that plant being 

 noxious to insects. The same idea exists in France, 

 as appears from the following paragraph: "Quelques 

 personnes out cru reconnaitre, qu'en semant du chan- 

 vre sur toutcs les bordures d'un terrain, les chenilles 

 n'ont point depasse cette barriere, quoiqu'elles infest- 

 assent tout le voisinage." Code of Agriculture, 4th 

 edit. p. 523, note. 



t The writer of this paper, from his zeal to promote 

 the improvement of British Agriculture, was led per- 

 sonally to examine the husbandry of the Netherlands. 



It is believed that the best disposition has been made 

 of the few seeds which were enclosed in the forego- 

 ing letter, by placing them in the care of two gentle- 

 men of the South, to whom this journal and its read- 

 ers are under many obligations. Our thanks for the 

 gift, are due to our esteemed correspondent. 



He there found, that "The Rust" or mildew, which 

 frequently occasions such devastation to the crops of 

 wheat in England, was scarcely known. He prevailed 

 on the Board of Agriculture, to offer premiums for the 

 best accounts of Flemish husbandry; and regarding 

 that point in particular, several valuable papers were 

 sent over; but unfortunately, about the time they arrived; 

 government had resolved to abolish the Board, and ac- 

 tually sent all the papers belonging to that institution, 

 (and these most valuable documents among the rest,) 

 1o the Tower of London, where they still remain, rare- 

 lully locked up, as if information that might prevent 

 the' miseries of scarcity or famine was unfit to be pro- 

 mulgated, and should be carefully concealed from the 

 public eye. 



