NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



189 



drought. One, two and three years are the best 

 times to take them from the nursery. They should 

 be taken up with a sharp spade. The tap root 

 should be cut off before the tree is removed. They 

 should be taken up early in the spring, and if the 

 ground is not ready for them, cover the roots in 

 ground until it is. They should be set out the 

 same depth as they stand in the nursery. It is a 

 good plan to sift soil from the corn field or garden 

 among the roots. He also approved of washing 

 trees with soap suds and ashes. In trimming, great 

 care should be taken to balance the tree aright. 

 He thought it needed a hard-hearted man to trim 

 an orchard. A good tree set one year is worth a 

 dollar ; it will increase a dollar a year for the next 

 nine years, and in the next twenty years it will 

 pay the interest of that ten dollars and the princi- 

 pal also. Large limbs should be cutoff in August. 

 This is a better time than in June. He related 

 an incident to illustrate that no man is too old to 

 set out trees. To the nurseryman he would say, 

 never cheat in the name of your trees, and to the 

 farmer he would say, never set out an orchard un- 

 til you are ready to take care of it. 



It was then moved that the same subject be 

 continued next week, and that the time of meet- 

 ing be changed to half-past seven. Hon. Marshall 

 P. Wilder, it is expected, will preside at the next 

 meeting. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ONION MAGGOT. 



Messrs. Editors : — Our onions were nearly all 

 destroyed in this section last season by the white 

 maggot, which I have seen mentioned in your pe- 

 riodical some years since. 



I would inquire whether any remedy has been 

 discovered to your knowledge that proves effectual. 

 Yours, &c, Ira Brown. 



New Haven, Feb. IV, 1852. 



Remarks. — See remarks upon another communi- 

 cation making similar inquiries. Use ashes and 

 well-rotted manure freely, and we think you will 

 get good onions. 



A Remarkable Hex. — A gentleman of our ac- 

 quaintance, in marketing a day or dwo since, 

 bought from a wagon a hen of ordinary size and 

 appearance, but the great weight of which excited 

 his curiosity, and upon having it killed and cleaned 

 a remarkable fact was disclosed, and its extraordi 

 nary weight accounted for — the creature was 

 found to contain twenty-five eggs, eighteen of 

 which were of full size, with yolks and whites, 

 although their shells were still soft ; the remain- 

 ing eight were of a yellow color, and varied in 

 size from that of a hickory nut to that of a cherry. 

 This remarkable bird was purchased in the Charles- 

 ton market from Mx. Bradley, the keeper of the 

 Four Mile House, near this city, and has been re- 

 turned to his hands for the inspection of his 

 customers and the curious in such matters. — 

 Charleston, S. C, News. 



GRAFTING WAX ON COTTON CLOTH. 



To the Editor of the Whig and Courier. 



Inquiries are frequently made for the best graft- 

 ing wax and the recipe for making it. I have pro- 

 cured the recipe for the best article I have ever 

 seen, which was three years since invented by Maj. 

 Chapman of this city, which he uses in grafting in 

 his nursery with guod and almost sure success. I 

 have used it two years and find it valuable ; for it 

 is very pliable, easily worked, and it contains noth- 

 ing that in the least injures the scion or stock. 



It should be made precise according to the fol- 

 lowing proportions. 



recipe. 



G lbs. Beeswax ; 1 lb. Rosin ; 1 pint Linseed Oil. 

 (No other oil than linseed should be used.) Melt 

 them well together over a slow fire. Then with a 

 paint brush, spread the wax thinly while warm, 

 on one side of thin but closely woven cotton cloth. 

 Cut the cloth when waxed (lengthwise, as the warp 

 is the strongest) into strips as may be wanted — 

 say half an inch wide and about 9 inches long — ac- 

 cording to the size of the stock to be grafted. 



Grafting can be worked with these strips very 

 readily, as no strings are necessary, and may be 

 very neatly as well as quickly performed. 



These wax strips may also be used in budding 

 trees. That the public may be better accommo- 

 dated I will try to keep a supply of the above graft- 

 ing cloth in our store for those who do not wish to 

 make it for their own use. 



I would again remind our citizens that to insure 

 success, all stone fruits should be grafted before 

 the frost is out of the ground, or as early after- 

 wards as possible. Respectfully, 



Henry Little. 



Cotton from Straw. — A circumstance extreme- 

 ly interesting to all engaged in textile manufac- 

 tures, indeed to the whole community, has this 

 week been communicated to us. An amateur 

 chemist of this town, while engaged recently in 

 testing the Chevalier Claussen's chemical process 

 of making cotton, not having any flax straw at 

 hand, tried it upon oat straw. To his astonish- 

 ment, after the silica and gums which enter into 

 the composition of oat straw in greater proportions 

 than in flax, had been dissolved, he obtained a 

 large quantity of good cotton. The opinion he 

 formed from this and subsequent experiments is, 

 that the common straws of this country may be 

 profitably converted into cotton, thereby adding to 

 the certainty and abundance of our future supplies. 

 At any rate, the experiment is one which is worth 

 testing to the fullest extent, and the hint here 

 thrown out will no doubt induce persons most fa- 

 vorably situated for pursuing an investigation with 

 advantage at once to undertake the task.— Notting- 

 ham paper. 



Effects of Irrigation. — Water applied to the 

 soil by irrigation gives many other things beside 

 humidity ; it manures, consolidates, deepens the 

 staple, or surface mould, and guards against cold 

 — effects a3 obvious in a northern, as in a southern 

 climate. 



Q3T Mr. Oliver Clark, of Southampton, killed 

 some fowls recently, and found in the gizzard of one 

 of them, two five-cent pieces. Biddy had perhaps 

 become imbued with the money -getting spirit of the 

 age. 



