262 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



vinced that lobelia is the principal cause of slavers 

 in horses. I have frequently used it as a medi- 

 cine for the horse, with a view to cause sickness, 

 and successfully ; and believe it will produce the 

 same feeling in the horse, as in man ; and if the 

 horse could vomit, lobelia would undoubtedly cause 

 him to do so, instead of slaver. 



I do not contend that lobelia is the only thing 

 which will cause slavers ; but I do contend, that 

 I can produce slavers with lobelia, and I also con 

 tend that no horse can be made to slaver with 

 either white clover, sorrel, or cobwebs. 



As the season for slavers is fast approaching, I 

 wish some of your readers would make experi 

 ments, and give the result to the public. 



I have some cherry trees of thrifty growth, 

 raised from the stone, which, for 6 or 8 years, 

 have not failed to blossom very full, but never bear 

 more than 4 or 5 quarts each. The cherries are 

 large'ox heart, of a beautiful flavor. AVill you or 

 some of your readers tell me how I can make 

 them ii bear? ,J Plowboy. 



New Marlboro', Mass. 



Remarks. — "Plowboy" is entitled to thanks 

 from the community for his patient and thorough 

 experiments with the horses. Perhaps we might 

 suggest a remedy for the cherry trees, if we could 

 see how they are situated. Trees frequently fail 

 to produce fruit because their roots cannot find 

 the particular aliment which they like. From 

 some cause they cannot expand themselves, or 

 cold spring water flows in among them. 



For the Neiv England Farmer. 



SHAVINGS— TAN— HORNS— BONES. 



Mr. Brown : — Dear Sir, — Having a little patch 

 of "terra firma," which I call my own, and which 

 I intend to improve to the best advantage, as my 

 means will permit, I have been very much inter- 

 ested in your valuable paper ; (by the way the 

 best agricultural paper I have ever read.) As I 

 have seen you have been very willing to help oth- 

 ers, I supposed you might help me; if you will, by 

 answering the following questions, I shall, be much 

 obliged to you. 



(a.) Are shavings and saw dust worth saving 



to put on any kind of land ; wet land, for instance ? 



(b.) Is old tan, that which has turned black by 



being heaped together, worth anything for making 



compost 1 



(c.) Would old horns, skirts of hides, old lime. 

 &c, be good for making compost 1 and would sul- 

 phuric acid decompose such a heterogeneous mass 1 

 (d.) What are bones worth per ton or cord, 

 for making manure with sulphuric acid ? 



If you or some of your numerous correspond- 

 ents will answer the above, you will greatly oblige 

 a young friend and subscriber. 

 Sanborntown, 1852. 



Remarks. — (a.) They are both excellent for 

 mulching trees, either old or young, and in rot- 

 ting, enrich the soil as well as keep it light and 

 porous. If you have them in large quantities, it 

 would be very well to throw into heaps and mix 

 with quick lime. 



(b.) The old tan isworth but little— it is about 

 as profitable on the highway as anywhere ; it makes 

 a capital country road. 



(c.) Certainly, very good; you will find direc- 

 tions on this point by reference to former articles 

 in the Farmer. 



(d.) Whole bones sell for about ten or twelve dol- 

 lars a* ton, varying according to circumstances. 

 The ground dry bone sells for $2,25 per barrel of 

 from 275 to 300 pounds to the barrel. 



We answer the questions of our "young friend" 

 with a great deal of pleasure, and only regret that 

 they were not attended to sooner. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CULTURE OF FORESTS. 



Messrs. Editors : — Having recommended, in a 

 former communication, the extension of forests, 

 there may be some obligation upon me to impart 

 aid in the prosecution of the important work, 

 as far as the knowledge possessed can avail. 

 This knowledge is very limited, and drawn almost 

 exclusively from experience. Treatises on the 

 subject are nearly all of European origin, and 

 recommend processes requiring more labor than 

 the objects in view would justify in this country. 

 Transplanting from seed beds is the general, if not 

 the universal practice in Europe. This seems to 

 be attended with needless expense, excepting 

 where it is desired to have the trees placed in regu- 

 lar order. Some kinds of trees we can take from 

 existing forests, and transplant without much 

 greater expense than must be incurred in gather- 

 ing and sowing the seed. Young white pines 

 abound in many forests ; these may be carefully 

 taken up and transplanted at any time from the 

 middle of May to the last of July, and when the 

 work is well done, will generally live and sometimes 

 grow nearly as well as seedlings. The smaller 

 the trees when taken up, the greater will be the 

 probability of success. The pitch pine transplant- 

 ed will sometimes live, but we have never seen it 

 grow well. The birch generally lives after trans- 

 planting, but does not grow as well as from the 

 seed. And this is supposed true of most of the 

 deciduous forest trees ; the transplanting of them 

 beyond purposes of ornament should not be much 

 encouraged. They can be easier raised from the 

 seed and will grow more shapely. 



Seed of the locust should be planted in May, 

 soaked in scalding water, it will vegetate very soon. 

 The young plants should be carefully cultivated 

 the first year, after which they will grow rapidly, 

 if the worms do not attack them, but this so 

 often happens, as greatly to discourage the propa- 

 gation of these trees, which otherwise would be in 

 higher estimation than almost any others pertain- 

 ing to the forest. 



The spring is a favorable season for planting 

 forest seeds generally, but the difficulty attending 

 the preservation of several kinds in a good state 

 through the winter, induces fall planting as pref- 

 erable. Acorns and chestnuts cannot be kept in 

 such a state; they will vegetate in the spring with- 

 out great care and considerable labor. The seed 

 of pine might keep well in the cones, but as this 

 will bear only a very light covering, it is best to sow 

 it on the surface in the fall, and the action of the 



