c 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



July 23, 182S. 



use for that purpose, nuBiely, when thrown into 

 the nostrils it kills the sheep as well as the worms. 



From an iiiadvertanee in our paper of the 11th 

 instant, the notice of the aimiial meeting of the 

 Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture 

 was incomplete. After the vote of thanks to the 

 Hon. Mr. Lowell, the following vote was passed, 

 Mr. Prince having also declined a re-election : 



Voted, That the Society learn with great regret 

 tl.'o determination of John Prince, Esq. to decline 

 a re-election as a mcnihin- of the Board of Trus- 

 tees ; and that the thanks of the Society he pre- 

 sented to him for the well khown assiduity, zeal, 

 and interest manifested hy hint in the cause of 

 agriculture, v.liile a member of the Board. 

 A true copy from the record. 



BEN.T. OnLD, .'hsisi. Rec. See'i/. 



Corrected list of the oflicers. 

 Hon. Thomas L. Winthrop, President, 

 Hon. Israel Thorndike, First Vice Presiiknt, 

 Hon. Thomas H. Perkins, 'Zd do. do. 

 Hon. John .Lowell, Corresponding Secretary, 

 John Heard, Jr. Esq. Treasurer, 

 Gorham Parsons, Esq. Recording Secretart/, 

 Bcjijamin Guild, Esq. Assistant Recording Secreiarji. 



The Mowing Matcli at Canaudnigua, on the 4th 

 excited much interest. The first premium, a 

 Plough, was awarded to Samuel Remington, of 

 that town, who inov/ed, in one minute, 100 feet 

 in length, and a total of 892 square feet. 



The tax on foreign butter and cheese, itnfiortcd 

 into England during the last year, amounted to 

 300,000 pounds sterling. 



Hon. Richard Sullivan, 

 Hon. John Welles, 

 Hon. P. C. Brooks, 

 Wni. Prcscott, Esq. 

 E. H. Derby, Esq. 

 Jolii! C. Gray, Esq. 



1 

 I 



J> Trustees. 



I 



I 



05^ V»'e beg leave to call the attention of our 

 readers to the advertisement of Mr Champion, in 

 our paper of this day. The American improver 

 has now a rare opportunity to become, possessed, 

 at reasonable prices, of very fiue stock. . 



In addition to the great variety of fruits with 

 which the Philadelphia market is supplied. Peach- 

 es have been exposed lor sale of tolerable quality 

 and in considerable quantities. Yoimg corn is a- 



t.undar.t. By arrivals at New York from Charles- i ^5^ *"_ '^^ . ''"'^'^ ''';''"'. ^'''''™" procession oii the 

 ton and Norfolk, 

 Watermelons. 



ST. SWITHIN-S DAY. 



Most of our "readers, perhaps arc acquainted 

 with the prognostications connected with St. 

 Swithin's Day, which has just passed, being the 

 15th of July. The old Scotch proverb resjiect- 

 ing it is:— 



'■ St. Swithin's Day, 5;if ye do rnin, 



Fi)r ll'rty (inys it will reniciin, 



8t- Svviihln's Day, nn ye be fair, 



For forty daj-s 't^^■iIl rain iia inoir." 



The unusual quantity of rain since Tuesday last, 

 St. Swithin's Day, has gone far towards convert- 

 ing lis to the brilief in this popular superstition, 

 and had it not been for the late delightful change 

 in the weather, we should have advised our fann- 

 ing friends to prepare for a forty days' rain, and in 

 the meantime have cudgelled our brains (or the 

 invention of some method of makmg hay within 

 doors, on the economical and labor saving princi- 

 ple of the Paddy, who said, "if you \vant your po- 

 tatoes dug, fetch 'cm along." While on the sub- 

 ject ■^^ c v. ill refer to the circumstances from which 

 the tradition abovementioned is said to have taken 

 its rise, Vvfliieh cannot fail to interest and amuse 

 the reader. In doing this we shall again draw 

 upon the excellent article on Popular Superstitions, 

 in the last American Quarterly Review. Swithin, 

 or Swithum, Bishop of V/inehester, who died 868, 

 desired that he might be buried in the open churcjj 

 yard contrary to the usual custom with BishopsJ 

 and his request was complied with ; but the 

 monks, on being canonized, considering it dis- 

 graceful for the Saint to he in a publick cemetery, 

 resolved to remove his body into the choir, which 



TO HORTICrLTURISTS. 



There is a negligence amongst some who are 

 profiting by the sale of fruit trees which should he 

 corrected. It is extremely vexatious for a man to 

 purchase a fruit tree, have it taken a thousand 

 miles, nurse it a dozen years, and instead of real- 

 izing his expectations, to find fruit of a most in- 

 ferior quality. This has happened with a gentle^- 

 man in Frankfort, Ken. in relation to the sccklc 

 pear; and he has circulated around him the graft?-, 

 so that the injury is extensive. I hope yon will 

 put in your paper a short paragraph, that you will, 

 upon request of any gentleman who may hereafter 

 be imposed on, give i>ubhcity of the kind of decep- 

 tion, and by whom practised, provided the dccep- 

 tion was made by a vender of trees.* This will 

 correct a carelessness wiiich must be its cause ; — 

 for I cannot believe there is anj- man so lost to 

 what is due to himself and to his fellow roan as to 

 thus deceive him for the paltry simi of the price 

 of a small tree ; the injury to the one, and to so- 

 ciety, is incalculably greater than the benefit to 

 the other. 



* [We shall have no hesitation in doing it if the 

 person making the complaint will leave his name 

 with the editor]. — American Farmer. 



we remark several cargoes of 



Thames Tunnel. — We are glad to find, that the 

 Company for prosecuting this great and arduous 

 enterprise, have passed resolutions for its prompt 

 coinplction. The water has again been entirely ; tif" "'!> 



excluded from the shaft, an<l nearly 300 feet of 

 the sotith Tunnel is dry. The public are again 

 admitted to inspect the great work. — The sum ex- 

 pcnd'vl on it is I30,000i. and it is calculated that 

 only 170,000;, more will be necessary to com- 

 plete it. 



15th of July ; it rained, however, so violently for 

 forty days together, that the design was abandon- 

 ed. The vidgar tradition adds that the monks, 

 finding it vaivi to contend with a Saint who had 

 the elements so completely under his controul, 

 gave him his own way. So soon as their inten- 

 bandoned, he became appeased, though 



Wu-)l. — The Boston Courier states that more 

 tlian !*200,000 have been pRi<l in this city, since 

 the pas.sage of the Tariff, for wool raised in Mas- 

 sachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, 

 and New York. 



The Clove is now cultivated in the vicinity of 

 Port au Prince, in the island of St Domingo. A 

 single tree has produced sixty pounds, of excel- 

 lent quality Might not this plant he cultivated 

 in the south western part of the United States ? 



not altogether so, and hence still reminds the de- 

 scendants of those obstinate people of the suprem- 

 acy of his jiower. In the north of Scotland this 

 day is termed St. Martin of Bullion's Day, and the 

 same superstition is there prevalent. One thing 

 is certain, our summers are ever}' year more and 

 more assimilated to the British sumiuer.s, in a ma- 

 jority of which there is a showery period at this 

 season. — Lancaster Gazette. 



From the Soutlieni Agriculturist. 



THE PROCESS FOR MAKING CASTOR 

 OIL. 



Dear Sir. In compliance with your request, I 

 send you the process for malving Castor Oil ; and 

 hope that it may prove useful to the gentleman 

 who requested the information. 



After collecting the bunches of seeds, expose 

 them to the sun until perfectly dry — then lay them 

 on a scaffold, and beat them with a very small 

 flail, which will separate the hull from the seed ; 

 then pound them in a wooden mortar till the shell 

 of everj' seed is broken. Have a vessel of water 

 at boihng heat, which you will then put the seed 

 into front ten to twenty minutes. A dirty scum 

 will rise v.hich musthe taken off ; the clear oil 

 will then rise, which must be put into a second 

 vessel without water, to be acted on by a slow 

 fire, not to arrive at boiling heat ; as soon as it ap- 

 pears clear and tran.sparent, taking off the scuiu 

 that may appear, (which will make on inferior 

 qi-.ality of oil ;) it is ready for bottling ; as soon as 

 cold, exclude it from the air. The kind of Pal- 

 nia Christi said to be the best for making oil, is 

 of the species where the stalk is pink, 



P, S, The quantity of water in the first vessel 

 must he as three to one to the quantity of the best 

 seed, and stir frequently to prevent its adhering to 

 the bottom of the vessel, which would give it a 

 burned taste. Be careful that it does not boil 

 over, as it will take fire. 



I remain yours, &c. S. 



Blockstone Canal. — This canal is now navigable 

 from Providence to (he Albion Factorv. With 

 three or tour weeks of dry weather, the navigation 

 will probably he opcneti to Worcester. 



ff'orth knoiving. — The toad is said to be a vora- 

 cious destroyer of that worst of all domestic ver- 

 min, cockroaches. It is stated that two ov three 

 toads, being placed in the kitchen one night, upon 

 examination in the morning, were found complete- 

 ly gorged with those trotiblesoiuc invaders of the 

 fire-place. We have had cockroach traps invent- 

 ed and sold to rid our hou.ses of these creatures, 

 but these traps have not answered in all cases ;— 

 housekeepers will now be able to oppose a natural 

 antidote to one of their discomforts, and a profita- 

 ble commerce in toads may he the result of the dis- 

 i cover)'. — Boston Patriot. 



Rail Road. — Messrs. Makepeace and Baldwin 

 have completed their examination and stirvey of 

 the rail road, to the borders of the State of New- 

 York, through part of Pittsfield, Lanesborough 

 Cheshire, Adams, Williamstown, and Pownal, Vt. 

 Tiie inclination of the land is found to be very 



; gradual : generally not more than from ten t<i 



I twenty-five feet in a mile. The New York com- 

 juissioners set out on Monday to examine the 



I route surveyed by Mr. Baldwin last summer. 



The best feelings are entertained towards this 

 project, by the commissioners and the people of 



'that State. — Bos. Daily Adv. 



