NEW ENCJI-AND FARMER. 



Published by John B. Russell, at JVo. 52 JVorth. Market Street, (over the Agricultural fVarchouae). — Thomas G. Fessenden Editor. 



VOL. YII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 1828. 



ISo. ■'*-. 



AGRICULTURE. 



TARRING FRUIT TREES. 



Mr. Fessenden, — Our town has for several 

 years been infested with the Canker Worm ; the 

 orchards, in some sections, having been complete- 

 ly ruined by them. Every expedient has been 

 resorted to for the preservation of the trees, bu; 

 none have been successful except tarring ; an 

 this, when properly applied and attended to, has 

 proved entirely efficacious. — I have about 250 

 apple-trees, from twenty to tliirty years old, and 

 the last season I made use of between one and 

 two barrelsi of tar, and a man would, after be- 

 coming a little more used to the business, apply a 

 sufScient quantity to every tree in less than two 

 hours, including the time taken in heating the tar, 

 which sliould be rather more than blood warm. 

 Tliis, to be sure, is attended with some expense, 

 but after all it is trilling, when compared with 

 the lo.ss of your fruit ; or even the desolate ap- 

 pearance of your orchards, and the annoyance of 

 the creeping millions, when the trees will no lon- 

 ger afford them sustenance, covering your fences 

 and buildings, and, like the flies of Egypt, " cor- 

 ruptins^ the whole land." 



Tlie method adopted by me is as follows :'. — I 

 took the common sheathing paper and cut it into 

 strips about four or six inches in width ; these 

 strips I dijiped into tar which had boiled long 

 enough to be pretty stiff when cold, and as soon 

 as tbey Could be conveniently handled, placeiV 

 them round the trees, by tacking them with pump 

 nails where necessary, and at a proper distance 

 from the ground for the easy application of the fu- 

 ture dressing;^. After having prepared the trees 

 as above, you may rest perfectly easy until there 

 is a frost sufficient to chill the surface of the 

 ground. I know not what particular agcncj' the 

 frost has in the business, but such I believe is the 

 fact, that none of the insects move from their fra- 

 gile habitations, until they are awakened to a 

 sense of their situation by a sHght touch of the icy 

 finger of Winter. But after a frost, as above 

 mentioned, a single night must not be suffered to 

 pass, until your trees have been secured by a 

 dressing of tar on the paper, and where the pa- 

 per does not adhere from the unevenness of thf 

 tree, grass may be put in to fill up the space, and 

 a little tar upon it will stop any from going through 

 it. The tarring must be continued every after- 

 noon, (the later the better, as the insects do not 

 move much till about sunset,) until sometime in 

 the following May, unless the ground should be 

 entirely closed with frost, or covered with snow. 



Particular care should be taken in this respect ; 

 for the insects will continue to go up all winter, 

 whenever the top of the ground is sufficiently 

 thawed to admit of it. Nothing need be fearec! 

 from the miller, or other winged insect, this being 

 the male — the females having no wings to as.sist 

 them in their ascent, the tar will be sure to arrest 

 them, if properly and daily applied. 



The trees do not suffer by the above process, 

 the tar being confined to the paper, which may be 

 taken off the 1st of June, leaving the bark per- 

 fectly bright and free from stain. 



In this way orchards have been preserved from 



the Canker Worm in the midst of their ravages, 

 iflbrding here and there a green spot for the eye 

 to rest upon, when all around wore the appcar- 

 jnce of worse than wintry desolation ; in other 

 instances, orchards have been reclaimed, after hav- 

 ing been for several years stripped of their foliage 

 and laid entirely waste ; but in the latter <:ise, 

 much moic time and care is required than if taken 

 on their first appearance. W. 



Lynn, Aug. 5, 1828. 



- EMPLOYMEMNT OF TIME. 



Mr. Fessenden,— Your repeated favors induce 

 repeated demands upoii your goodness. I should 

 like to add to your hints, inserted in your last upon 

 the improvement of tiie winter evenings of farm- 

 ers. If farmers benefit themselves by weekly, 

 socia meetings, they may confer a still greater 

 benefit upon their sons and their daughters. If a 

 subject upon agriculture or domestic economy, say 

 the raising, use, and preservation of fruit — the 

 management of a garden, or some particular veg- 

 etable, of a dairy, of poultry, or of fuel, should be 

 prepared at one meeting for consideration at the 

 next, it would naturally, and almost necesssarily, 

 become the topic of conversation at the table and 

 fireside ; both before and after the regular discus- 

 sion. Conversation upon a particular and impor- 

 tant subject would create a desire for reading, and 

 this desire would lead to the possession of books, 

 and periodical and weekly journals, which treated 

 upon it. The natural consequence would be, that 

 conversation and social intercourse, the channels 

 of almost all the information and habits, both 

 good and bad, which exist in the world would be 

 purified and elevated. Topics of conversation 

 woidd be immediately changed. Substantial im- 

 provements upon farms, domestic economy and 

 convenience, the principles of science which ought 

 to direct, in the construction and uses of farming 

 utensils, the laws of heat, upon which the econo- 

 my and success of the management of fuel de- 

 pend ; and consequently natural philosophy, che- 

 mistry, general science upon matter, intellects and 

 morals, would, in conversation, take the place of 

 a fashionable dress, or novels, the shape of a 

 leghorn, the color, form or position of a bow most 

 fashionable upon headdresses, and what is still 

 lower, of petty scandal. And consequently good 

 would be done and evil prevented. 



FRANKLIN. 



NURSERIES AND GARDENS ON LONG 

 ISLAND. 



If Mr. Fessenden thinks the following memo- 

 randa, made on a late tour to the city of New 

 York, worth the space they will occupy in a cor- 

 ner of the New England Farmer, he will obUge a 

 subscriber by inserting them. I conceive it a just 

 tribute to the Long Island nurserymen ; though 

 we shall soon show them something of the kind 

 woth seeing in the vicinity of Boston. 



Yours, &c. VIATOR. 



J^ewton, Aug. 12, 1828. 



At Flushing we visited the Linnoean Botanic 

 Garden, the estabhshment of William Prince, 

 Esq. This is probably the most extensive collec- 

 tion of exotic and indigenous productions in the 



state (if N.Y.and co.ors an extent, (buildings, &c. 

 iicluded,)of about 30 acres. Much taste and refii- 

 larity is discoverable in the arrangement, and the 

 intelligent proprietor has spared neither pains or 

 c.vpense in collecting from every quarter of the 

 globe every tree, fruit, and plant, which niig^ht 

 subs-jrvc for the us- ; of man, or for ornament. At 

 the time I was there, his collection of roses were 

 in bloom ; these cover the extent of an acre, and 

 coubist of inore than 600 different kinds. 



Opposite to Mr. Prince's is the establishment o1 

 Mr. Mills. This consists of 8 acre.«, closely fill- 

 ed, and contains an extensive collection of fruit 

 trees and ornamental productions. 



In the immediate vicinity of these nurseries is 

 the cstablishiiient of Messrs. Bloodgood & Co. of 

 deservedly high reputation. Here, too, may be 

 seen a very extensive collection of fine fruit and 

 ornamental ti-ees, shrubs, &c. 



At Brooklyn we called at the celebrated Ilnrtl- 

 cultural Ganien of Mr. Andre PAP.MrrsTiEK. 

 This is a recent establishment begun in '■ 325. It 

 L-ontains 20 acres, and is surroCmded by a wall of 

 masonry, after the manner which we are told is 

 jiractised on the old continent ; a parMnly of this 

 i.s, as yet, brought into a state of culti-ation ; it al- 

 ready contains, however, a valuable collection of 

 fruit and ornamental trees, greeu-'iouse plants, 

 &c. and especially of grape vines which he has 

 uicreased by extensive importations. This gar- 

 den, so far as completed, has been laid out by the 

 very inteliigput propiietor in the most modern style 

 md with great taste ; for in the branch of orna- 

 iiental and pictiuesque igardening, Mr. Parmen- 

 ;ier, it is believed, greatly excels. Ou an eini- 

 lence, in a corner of the garden, he has con- 

 u-ucted a small, cheap edifice denominated a 

 Rustic," from the top of which you have a com- 

 .lauding view of the surrounding country. 



VINES. 



Kxtract of a ieUer lo the Editor ol the New En^^land Farmei- 

 da!cd Bridgeport, C'..n.' August 5, lS2y. 



I had it in contemplation to give you a state- 

 ment of some vines, of different varieties, which 

 were planted in the fall of 1826, but have thought 

 better to omit a more full account until I have 

 given them a fair trial. To give you some idea, 

 however, of their vigorous growth, I will mention 

 the length to which some of the shoots of the 

 ))resent season have attained ; I measured thetn 

 on Saturday, 3d of August, and found the longest 

 branch of the early white grape to be 15 feel;, 

 .shortest 10 feet — 6 branches in all, average 12 

 feet each, making the whole length of all to be 

 72 feet. 



While Chasselas, <t branches, average length of each 10 feel 

 Musk do. 6 do. do. do. 13 do. 



Rlack Hamburg, 5 do. do. do. 12 do. 



Tokay, 3 do. do. do. 13 do. 



IVlunier, 5 do. do. do. 10 do. 



Ciiasselasof Fon- >^ , . , „ , 



tainbleau, J *• ^o. do. do. 9 do. 



Golden Chasselas, 4 do. do. do. 9 do. 



Black Sweetwater, 4 do. do. do. 8 do. 



Isabella, 15 blanches, two largest 17 feel each, shortest 'J feet; 



average length of each 13 feet,— making whole leoaih of all 



195 feel. 



The aboi ementioned vines are all in fruit, con- 

 taining from two to fourteen bunches each, and 

 the Isabella, fifty bunches. It will be observed 



