10 



®l)c iairmer's itttnit!)ln btsitov. 



butter is. We have known many a neat and tidy 

 lionscwife, an exreilcnt pfovider too, pride lier- 

 >elf ii;)ori lier liiitier, which in coni|jari!-on with 

 sun>e U'liich iniiy he had fruni Northern dairies, 

 was not (it to Cecil ii doi; upon. Siirh sinlJ' as is 

 .sold in the Richmojid niiirket at this time fnr Uj 

 cents a pound, would not bring, in I'liiLulelpliia, 

 more than or 10— cuiirh of it woidil not be 

 thonglit good enough to ijrease a curt-wheel. 

 We can assure our reuderis that we do not oxa^- 

 trerutu this luatser; and if tliey could only tasie 

 the .~*weet, rich, and niarrowy butter that can he 

 bad in liie Northern and Eiustern niarUeto Cor 17 

 cents a poinid, they would ever aCierwards .-iii- 

 preciate as it deserve^- the miserable grease they 

 have been accustomed to dijjuify with the name 

 of butter. 



"A Cew d:iy6 since, we happened to Uicet with 

 an article iu a celebr;jted jrrocery in this city, 

 from the niounlains in Virginia, twelve mouths 

 old, Cully equal lo any it had ever been our ^oorl 

 fortunf^ to encounter aii) where. W'e then a.-ked 

 what quaulily of such bnltcr could be sold in 

 tliis market. His reply was, '1 myself will con- 

 ti.ict Cor ten ihousund pounds of such butter an- 

 jmally, at '20 cents a pound.' Now, to thi.s cir- 

 cumstance we would wish particularly to cull the 

 attention of Northern dairymen — they wliolliiuk 

 th(!y are doina well to iret la ci-nts a pmnd I'or 

 llieir butter. Our lands are belter and cheaper, 

 our climate more favorable, and our market hijjher 

 than any they have been accustomed to, and we 

 doubt if iu the Union there is an oponinn Cor a 

 better business than a well conducted dairy es- 

 lablishmejit at the Cool of the Southwestern moun- 

 tains, in Virjfiuia, would afford." 



,1 statemcnl exhibiting Ihs vnlue of hemp nn:l cord- 

 age imported into the United States from 1621 to 

 1842, inclus've. 



T. L. SMITH. Kegister. 

 TREAstitv Department. 



Jii'^istcr's Office, Xuc. 15, 18 1-"?. 



Farmers- Clubs. 



W'e have, on more than one occasion, insisHid 

 nn the bcneti'S that mi^l.t be experienced by 

 iho.se inten .-li d in the cnllivaiiou oC the soil, 

 Crom the cstablcshmeut oC luiijjhborhood as,«ocia- 

 lious Cor the consideration and discussion of 

 ipu-slious perluiidnjf to the science and practice 

 of agriculture. We have so often i;iven oiu' own 

 views on this sulijei-t, and so ofleii ipi!)tpd the 

 opinion of otu' coulemporaries of the a^iricultn- 

 ral |iress, that it is not necessary to enter again 

 into a discussion of the subject. It must be ap- 

 paient lo every intellij;eut farmer — intiepcl to 

 every farmer who i.s not contented to follow the 

 old-tiisluoneil skinning system of lillajre — thai 

 such associations are calculated to do inestimable 

 ^'ood. It is too lali! iu the day to (piestion their 

 pood results. Every body aiimils the fact ; and 

 yet, comi-aruiively sj>eaUiu£, nobody is re.-iily to 

 iea|> their benetits. We shoulil hardly tljiidi it 

 possilile for any farmer, who is not deterufnied 

 to "hide his light under a buslul," to rest easy 

 wiihoui ctdling bis jH;ighbors toirclher to bear 

 (he story of his success or failure in the various 

 expcriinems he may have tried dnriuff the scr.^ou. 

 And this is iu realiiv what these '•(Hubs" amouin 



,\ cum! -f •^f farui'-rs 



ori;it« losclhe.r, 



and hold meetings once in a week or two, lor the 

 pnrjiose of relating their experience in the man- 

 agemeiit of llieir farms, and expressing their 

 opinions in relation lo various priictical que.-.tinn8 

 that may be staiteii among themselves. Thus, in 

 a familiar way. all the members give and receive 

 iusiructiiui, ;uul all are benefited by (he as.socia- 

 lion. The eft'ect of these meetings wdl at once 

 he seen in the improved nnides of cultivatiiui 

 adopted by all the members of the Club, if iiol 

 by <ill the tiuanei's in the neighlmrhood. 



We rejoice lo le.'un that one Faiiiiers' Club has 

 been organized in Ihl? Slate. 'J'lie Cu'mers in the 

 neighborhood of Middletown liave formed an as- 

 sociation of the kimi of which we are speaking, 

 and have begun to hold tiieir regular meetings; 

 and we piedict Cor the farming interest iu tliat 

 vicinity, an inqirovenieut in the great art of cul- 

 tivating the soil, beyond any other li'.'ighborhood 

 iu the State — unless, indeed, other neighborhoods 

 shall wake up and follow this example. — Conn. 

 Far. Gaz. 



(XJ^ From the Transactions of the New Yorli 

 .■Agricultural Society, published twenty-five years 

 ago, we extract the following, — connnunicated by 

 an eminent liiriiier, John Nicholson, Es().: — 



P0T.«iT0F.S. 



A planter in North Carolina lately sent a cargo 

 of potatoes to the West Indies for sale, a part of 

 which were exposed to the sim, after digging, a 

 lengih ol' lime sidBcient to dry" the surface of the 

 roots, anti a part wa.s stored away in sand of the 

 usual moisture of the earth, as fist as they were 

 dug; and the result of these two melhods of 

 keepins' them was, that the latter sold in that 

 market for more than double what could be ob 

 tained fur the foi mcr. It would iherefore seem 

 that the method last mentioned is much ihe bet- 

 ter way of keepiufi jiotaloes for family use, imtil 

 the approach of the growing season; when it 

 becomes requisile to ihythem, in order to retaid, 

 as uiiich as possible, the process of their vegi ta- 

 tion. Giving ihem a slight scalding at this sea- 

 sou of Ihe year, is also of service in preventing 

 their growth. 



-INDIAN COIi.V. 



The seed for a crop of Indian corn should be 

 soaked some hours in a strong solnlion of salt 

 j)etie, and rolled in gypsum, immediately before 

 pl.uMiug, besides having the usual allowance of 

 this hitler manure to the hills or drills aiier plant- 

 ing. The soaking of the seeds in this solution is 

 [larticularly recomniRlided in all situations w here 

 there is danger (d' thecroj) being injured by early 

 fiosis; as it is found that this process not oidy 

 .•issists the growth of ihe crop, but that it causes 

 it to ripen u.*i initch as ten d.-ys earliei- than it 

 would were the process omitted. 



Ju selecliug ears for seed com, the practice 

 recommended by Ttlr. Coojier, of New Jersey, oC 

 selecting Crmn the most productive and perfect 

 jilanls lo be found, is, iu this ca.se, easily observ- 

 ed, and is fomid greally to increase the product 

 of the crop. JjCt the ears Cor seed, ihereiiirc, be 

 gatlieied from such stalks only as bear two ears, 

 and these of the longest, soundest and best filled 

 lo be found iu the field. A late writer says, that 

 by conslanlly observing this ]irac.iice, he finds the 

 [Jioduct of his crops of Indian corn so much in- 

 creased, thai he now coininouly gels as mm'h as 

 sixly bushels lo ihe acre. 



or.ciiAr.niNi;, cider, tc. 



.Mr. Coxe, of New Jersey, planted eight or- 

 chards, each of which, as a mailer of experiment, 

 were treated in a difi'erent way iu planling; and 

 lh.it which proved most thrifty of these eight, or, 

 as he says, the mosl flourishing of any he had 

 seen in that part of the country, was idanted iu 

 ihe following manner: he dug a hole for each 

 iree about four feet iu diameler, two spadings 

 deep, ;ind laid in each a plentiful quantiiy of a 

 compost of river mud, sand and lime. 'I'he first 

 meulioued ingredient being much the largest 

 proportion id' the m.-iss, the trees were set in this, 

 am! the holes filled with the best of ihe earlli 

 previously thrown out. A wagon load of the 

 compost served fi>r about every fifteen irres. . 



It is prob.'.ble that lime is the niost ertii-acious 

 ingredient iu this composition; and that it serve.^' 

 the two-l'old purpose of povverfnlly slimulaliiig 

 the growth of the trees, ami id" preserving the 

 roots from injury by iii.sects: as lime is a re|iel- 

 lant of these as long as it retains its caustic qiial- 

 it.v. No doubl llie e,\lent to which the li'>h ? 



were dug was also of essential service. Probably 

 also the river mud had some proporlion of com- 

 mon salt iu it, fioiii its being covered with «ea 

 waler, by the fi(;wing of the tides; and that the 

 salt, as long as it remained in the compost, wu3 

 beneficial in keeping off insects, and assisting the 

 growth of Ihe trees. 



Mr. Wynkoop, of Pennsylvania, has an orchard 

 of about 200 of the Virginia crab apple tree, 

 whicli is an idternate bearer: every bearing vear 

 he makes about JOO barrels of cider from this 

 orchard, which is of about 20 \ears giowlh, and 

 he sells this cider iu Philailelpbia for about $14 

 per h.irre!. He racks off the cider six limes be- 

 fore he considers ii properly prepared for mar- 

 kei ; first, from the lees, when the first fernienla- 

 liun nearly subsides; second, fioni the lees, after 

 the ces.sation of this ferment.iiion ; third, pre- 

 paratory for fining it with isinglass: this is dis- 

 solved by boiling it in some of the cider, and 

 wliini .sidficieiilly cooled it is poureil into the casks 

 and well mixed with the contents of each, and 

 after the iaiuglass, with all the impurities of the 

 liquor, Iji.is settled to the bottom, ihe fourth rack- 

 ing takes place, and after the slight fermeutalion, 

 produced by this, the fifth; after which ihe liquor 

 stands till the month of .April, whim it is iig.iiri 

 racked oft", and soouafier is fit for market. The 

 cider of this aj.'ple, prepared in this way, litis been 

 taken for cliampaigne. 



It is believed, however, that skim milk, about 

 a qnarl lo a barrel, is just as good as isinglass 

 for fining any liquor whatever. Let it be well 

 mixed with tlie liquor. Even the color.s of li- 

 quors may be taken away by repetitions of tbi.-i 

 process. 



The Virginia crab apj.le is qinle. ditiisrent from 

 <hat found in this Stale. 



Most apple trees are alieniale bearer?, but 

 some bear yearly, and plentifidly Crich year. I 

 reuK-mlier an apple tree that hai! I'een growing 

 about S,') years in my father's oichard, in Orange 

 county, that yielded u yearly average of apjiles 

 sufficient to make three barrels of cider. One 

 such tree is worth ten of such as commonly com- 

 pose our orchards. An important enquiry tlicre- 

 iVn-e is, would scions, taken fiom such tree, and 

 grafted on any other stock, piofluce a tree that 

 would be a yearly and plentiful bearer, like the 

 parent tree, or would its bearing, boili as lo time 

 and quaulily, be regnlaled by the disposition of 

 the stock on which such scions were engnifted? 

 1 believe the disjiosition of the scion regulates 

 that of the slock, particularly where this is en- 

 grafted upon as soon as it is fit (or that purpose; 

 and if so there is nodifficidty in rearin;; orcliard.s 

 at leas! six times ns productive of fruit as those 

 raised in the common way; as :ill that is neces- 

 sary in sm h case is to make the best jiossible 

 selections of scions from trees, wliei'ev»r found, 

 which bear yearly, and pleniilidly, of such apples 

 as make the best cider, Or are best adapted Cor 

 whatever purpose they are wanted. 



The alternate bearing oC apple trees is said to 

 be acquired principally from habit. Wherever 

 theyoimg In^e commences its bearing with an 

 over plei.tifid crop, it becomes so far exhausted 

 by the operation as to be unable to bear the next 

 year: but this period of rest recruits It snlficient- 

 ly for liearing too heavily the third year, and thus 

 its habit of allernnte bearing becomes fixed. This 

 habit, it is said, may be prevented by taking off 

 one half, or more, as may be indeed nece.«s.iry, 

 of the young fi'uit, while very small, the first 

 bearing year, and to repeat the operation for some 

 of the fidlowiiig years, taking off a less quantiiy 

 each year, till the hahil of yearly bearing becomes 

 confirmed. 



Ii would seem that some of ihe best varieties 

 of the pear tree should be more gener.-dly culli- 

 vated, particularly in stiff soils. They bearyear- 

 ly, and commonly iu considerable pleniy.aiid the 

 liquor made from them (perry) is superior to ci- 

 der. iM:'iilion is made in the leiiers of Espreiila 

 ihat l!ie juice of Ihe fruit of a famous variety of 

 this tree, cultivated iu England, called the Te.ifi;n- 

 t07i squash, had been told in London fiir cliam- 

 paigne. It has also been found in Peun.sylvani.i 

 that the juice of the quince affords a liquor equal 

 to gooii wines. 



It is saiil that when fruit trees are raised in n 

 nursery whore the soil is poor, and an; trans- 

 planted into a better soil, the trees will prow 

 inor? rapidly ihnn they would had they been 



