46 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



August 29, 1828. 



the sieve upon it, and the necessary quantity of 

 flour is artdeJ, and mixed and kneaded with the 

 leaven ; this is covered up warm, and left for 

 about an hour. It is tlien formed into loaves, 

 which are kept in a Vvarni room half an liour ; 

 and after that they are put into the oven, where 

 they remain two or three hours according to the 

 size. The great a(ivaiitap;c of this ferment is, tliat 

 it may be made in great (juantities at a time, and 

 kept tor use." 



nf:w en"glard farmer. 



BOSTON, TRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1828. 



Extrat-i oi a leuer lo ihe Editor of the New England Farmer 

 from a gcmlciiinn, who has been advantageously f, nown io 

 llip jVniencan public by several useful works on scienliiic 

 subjects. 



TREATISE ON BEES. 

 Dear Sir, — Since I had the pleasure of seeing 

 you last, I have made considerable progress in the 

 investigation of the subject of bees. By the help 

 of reading, corresjiondence, and my own observa- 

 tion, I shall (I think) be able in a few months to 

 produce a small work entitled "..3 Practical Trea- 

 tise on the Management of Bees, and the Establish- 

 ment of Apiaries, Sfc." Such a work in a cheap 

 form is very much wanted in our country, and I 

 am surprised that it has been so long neglected. 



We fully coincide with the \yriter of the above, 

 that a treatise of the kind he proposes is much 

 wanted : and wi; know of no person from whom 

 a better work could be anticipated than what this 

 gentleman lias means and talents to enable him 

 to produce. — Editor. 



declare the premiums which had been awarded 

 by the Society for excellence in the several arti- 

 cles enumerated below. The address we hope 

 soon to present to our readers. — Patriot. 



Yellow Locust. — The culture of this valuable 

 tree has been recently prosecuted with great suc- 

 cess in various parts of New Eng-land. A gen- 

 tleman in Brunswick, Me. writes us as follows : — 

 "The four ounces of Yellow Locust seed purchas- 

 ed at tlie New England Farmer office last au- 

 tumn, has done finely, as well as all the other 

 seeds pur. hosed of you. I have now over 1000 collie of your readers. 



Locust Trees from this seed, some four feet high, 

 doing well on the sandy plains of Brunswick." 



We are hajipy to learn that the Hon. Judge 

 PiT'.iAN has accepted the invitation to deUver an 

 Address lo the Riiode Island Agricultural Society 

 at their next anniversary. — Tiiis Society has been 

 distinguished for the excellence of its Addresses. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



GRAFTING. 



Mr Fessende:* — I have seen some remarks in 

 your papers as to grafting, which [jropose a wide 

 course of experiment on this subject. There are 

 some singular instances of the su]>iiort of vegeta- 

 ble life, by this process, which seem opposed to 

 those general laws which have been supposed to 

 govern the vegetable kingdom. If we reason 

 from analogy, as relates to the animal kingdom, it 

 is wisely so ordered, by immutable, eternal laws, 

 that the succession of beings of the same species 

 is preserved separate and unmixed. Nothing un- 

 natural can be continued ; or, in other words, 

 " monsters do not propagate." 



As to many proposed experiments, as well as to 

 some that are at present ]>romising, it would be 

 well to withhold too strong an expectation. 



On the (|umce the pear is engrafted. This pro- 

 duces what is called the Dwarf. But of several 

 hundred, I believe I may say, that I have import- 

 ed, I have scarcely one that promises anything, if 

 alive. The Borer is fond of, and fatal to them, so 

 much so, that almost all that have been imported, 

 or propagated, have nearly disajjpeared before 

 this voracious devourer. 



So also as to the Thorn, I must think it a mis- 

 take that the pear thri"-=s on this stock, 1 have in 

 so many instances found the contrary effect to take 

 place. In all cases, though, the pear grafts thrive 

 for one, and at most two years, it is then too scan- j 

 tily supplied, and the grafts perish, apparently for { 

 want of nutriment. 



I do not wish, however, to discourage a zeal, : 

 which if it fail in its main object, must yet in its 

 progress do much probably to enlarge or fix the 

 boundaries of knowledge. I atn bound, too, to 

 state one experiment, acquired in the very path- 

 way of your correspondent, which will be new to 

 About thirty jears ago, I 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAMU FAKIHER. 



THE BORER. 



Mr Fessenden — For several years I have been 

 in the practice of destroying the borers in my ap- 

 ple, quince, and mountain ash trees, as recom- 

 mended by a Committee of the Mass. Ag. Society, 

 and published in Thacher's Orchardist, by the 

 free use of the Chisel, though it has given me pain 

 to think no method had been devised to destroy 

 the worm without greatly injuring the tree by the 

 operation. I have at last discovered a way to ex- 

 tract the borer, which is so natural, simple, and 

 expeditious, that I am astonished it has not been 

 thought of before. It is tliis, — Open the bottom 

 of tiie hole (which is easily discovered by the ap- 

 pearance of powdered wimd) with a knife, and in- 

 sert a wire, sharpened, and bent into a small hook, 

 and you will soon draw out this destroyer of trees, 

 even if he has jjenelrated a foot or more into the 

 wood. 



Remarks by the Editor. — The notice of our res- 

 pected correspondent, relative to his mode of 

 destroying the Borer, will, no doubt, prove useful, 

 and he will please to accept of our thanks for his 

 coiinnunication. The use of a wire for the e.xtir- 

 pation of insects of this description, has been be- 

 fore recommended by John Prisce, Esq. of Rox- 

 bury, see N. E. Farmer, vol. ii. page 342 ; also 

 Deaiie's I E. Farmer, page 363. In the New 

 England Farmer, vol. iv. page 382, is the follow- 

 ing Editorial article : 



" LOCUST TREE BORER. 



A horticulturist tells us that he has preserved 

 his Locust Trees against the borer which has al- 

 most annihilated that fine tree in this part of the 

 country, by first probing the holes made in the 

 tree by the insects with a small flexible wu-e, a 

 little hooked or curved at the end introduced into 

 the tree. With this he destroys or extracts as 

 many of the worms as possible. He then with a 

 small syringe, injects into their holes strong soap 

 suds, which puts a finishing hand to their destruc- 

 tion." 



The Annual Cattle Show, Exhibition of Manu- 

 factures, and Ploughing Match, of the Worcester 

 Agricultural Society, will be held in the town of 

 Worcester, on \VednesJay, the 8tli of October. 



EXIHBITION OF THE NEW ENGLAND 

 SOCIETY. 



On Tuesday last, notwithstanding the great 

 heat of the weather, the Halls over the New Fan- 

 euil Hall Market were thronged with visiters to 

 witness the exhibition of manufactures under the 

 ausjiices of the PJew England Society. Between! 



engrafted a number of apple trees with pear 

 grafts. In most cases the graft projected on one 

 side, and they did not generally unite so as to re- 

 commend the practice. It was otherwise with 

 one, however, which united well, and for fifteen 

 or twenty years produceil an abundance of fine 

 St. Michael jiears as could be had. I have often 

 surprised my friends when they praised the pears, 

 by telling them they grew on an apple tree. 



There are cases where stocks may be benefi- 

 cially selected for grafting or budding in the way 

 alluded to — say of the almond for the peach. So 

 also some have taken for like use the plum stock. 



The almond is very hardy, and no insect at 

 present meddles with them. 



It is otherwise with the ]iluin of late. Of the 

 ahnond, I raise several bushels, and will give you 

 what you may wish, if needed, for distribution 

 hereafter. 



I have little knowledge of Horticulture, my at- 



Remedy for ffhooping Cough. — The follow- 

 ing has been recommended for this conqilaint, 

 which is now connnon : — Take equal portions of 

 new milk and the lye strained from the ashes of 

 hickory [white walnut] bark, of which one table 

 spoonful may be given ever)' hour through the day 

 to a child seven years old. 



nine and ten o'cbck, Gov. Lincoln, who is Presi- [ tention being devoted as far as time will admit, to 

 dent of the Society, entered the centre hall, at- my farm. But there are some of your correspon- 

 tended by the members and several distinguished 1 dents whose practice has been thorough ; and if 



strangers, among whom were Gov. Coles of Illi- 

 nois, Mr Stlvemson of Yirginia, Speaker of the 

 U. S. House of Representatives, and Gen. Mor- 

 ton, of New York. After a very interesting ad- 

 dress to the Society, the Governor proceeded to 



not so, there are some, I perceive, who do not 

 mean any thing should be lo.st for want of zeal 

 and application. I am, sir, yours, 



Dorchester, Aug. 26, 1828. J. WELLES. 



,See .^V«■ England Fanner, vol. vi. paye 4IM. 



POWER OF HABIT. 



In regard to food, it is very certain that habit 

 can raise us above the standard of ordinary men. 

 " Meat and drink to which we are accustomed" 

 says Hippocrates, " agree with us, though natural- 

 ly pernicious ; but not those aliments to which 

 we are unaccustomed, though naturally whole- 

 some :" and henceforth he concludes, that it is 

 more beneficial to adheie to the same sorts of food 

 than to change them abruptly, even though wc 

 substitute better in their stead. Alexander the 

 Great, when in India, found it necessary to forbid 

 his army the use of wholesome food because it 

 carried off the men, owing to their not being ac- 

 customed to it. So true is the (observation of Cel- 

 sus, that " whatever is contrary to their habits, 

 whether it be hard or soft, is prediidicial to halth." 



Liban informs us that the Ethiopians eat scor- 

 pions, and Mercurialis states that the West Indi- 

 ans eat toads ; neither of these facts is without a 



