54 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Sept. 5, 18-2S. 



Select new plants from vigorous stools in full per- 

 fection us to bearing." 



Summer culture. — " Keep tlieni clear from 

 weeds during the summer by hoeing between the 

 rows ; at the same time, loosen tlie earth about 

 the plants. Under this management, the plants, 

 if toleraljly strong, will both yield a moderate 

 crop the first summer, and supply young stems for 

 bearing in greater plenty and perfection the fol- 

 lowing season ; and so, from year to year, the 

 suimner culture should be repealed. As the 

 plants get established, let all straggling suckers 

 between the rows, or from the extreme roots of 

 single stools, be cleared out by hoeing, or twisted 

 oft', to admit the air and sun freely to the fruit." 



Pruning and winUr dressing. — " It is requisite 

 every winter or spring to cut out the dead stems, 

 and to thin and regulate the successicnal young 

 shoots. This annual pruning may be performed 

 any time, during open weather, from November 

 Jill the beginning of April. When kitchen-gar- 

 den crojjs are cnhivated between the rows, it is 

 jno.st convenient to do this as soon as the old 

 bearers begin to decay. As to pruning indiscrim- 

 inately in the open weather of winter, it some- 

 times h: jipens that severe frosts immediately fol- 

 low, and partially kill the plants : therefore it is 

 safer to .shorten the tender young stems early in 

 spring ; but let it not be defjind till t'.e buds are 

 making new shoots, as that w<!u!i: weaken the 

 root. Cut out all the old dead stems clean to the 

 bottom ; and, having selected from the strongest 

 young shoots on each main stool, three, four, or 

 five, to be preserved for a suicession of bearers, 

 flut away the superabundant close to the ground. 

 Let each of the shoots retained be pruned at 

 top, below the weak, bending part ; cutting in 

 the smaller plants, to about three 9r fotir feet in 

 iength, and in the large sorts, to the length of five 

 or six feet. If any of the stems diverge irregu- 

 larly, or straggle much asimder, they may be tied 

 together at top, and thus the strong ones will sup- 

 port each other ; or the taller varieties may have 

 rfiie support of stakes. Prune plants against a 

 wall or trellis as above ; and train tlie shoots to 

 rise a little diagonally. After pinning, having 

 cleared away the cuttings, dig the ground be- 

 tween and about the plants. To turn in a little 

 iich compost every year will conduce to plentiful 

 and fine returns; lay it at the extuniitics of the 

 roots, and deeper as the plantation gets older. 

 Eradicate all straggling suckers." 



To obtain fruit of a very large size. — The fruit 

 cf the raspberry may be obtained of a Vi'ry large 

 size, other circumstances being of the most favor- 

 able kind, by destroying all the suckers ; but in 

 this way, the plant being destroyed, a double- plan- 

 tation is wanted, o;je to grow only suckers, and 

 the other fruit. In this way Rocht, at Berlin, pro- 

 duces plants ten and twelve leet high, with fruit 

 larger than any we have .seen in this country. — 

 f Verauch den I'r'einhau, &c: p. 4G.J 



Taking the crop. — "The fruit of the different 

 varieties comes in from the end of June or July 

 (ill October or later. As it ripens, it should be 

 limely gathered for immciliate use ; because, 

 when fully ripe, it will not Iveep above two or 

 three days before it moulds, or becomes maggotty, 

 and unfit to be used." — (Mcrcrombie.) 



Raspberries maj/ he forced equally well with 

 gooseberries and currants, and, like them, either 

 planted in pots or in the soil or floor of the house. 

 In M. Hoi>eV gsrden M Usnrlem, the raspberry 



is planted outside along the north and south 

 sides of a pit ; the shoots of the preceding year 

 are introduced under a glass and trained to a 

 trellis, and forced while the suckers are left to 

 grow upright in the open air. 



ADVANTAGES TO BE DERIVED FROM 

 AGRICULTURE. 



The celebrated Watson, Bishop of Landaff, in a 

 communication to the British Board of Agricul- 

 ture, has the following passage. 



" The agricultural improvements which have 

 hitherto taken i)lace amongst us, have been by the 

 expenditure of ])rivate wealth ; but the country 

 cannot be brought to that proportion of cultivation, 

 of which it is capable, unless individual efforts are 

 aided and accelerated, by public jvisdoin and mu- 

 nificence. I boast not of any particular ])atriotism, 

 but I would willingly pay my share of twenty or 

 thirty millions of public money, to be appropriated 

 by the Legislature, to the agricultural improve- 

 ment of Great Britain and Ireland. This appears 

 to me to be an object of far greater concern to 

 our independence as a nation, than any extension 

 of commerce or any acijuisition of distant territory 

 ever can be. If the time should fully come when 

 an unproductive acre of land could not be found 

 in either of these, our fortunate islands, we shall 

 then have food within ourselves, for the annual 

 sustenance of at least thirty millions of people, 

 and with a population of thirly millions, what 

 power in Europe, or what combination of powers 

 will dare to attempt our subjugation." 



SELECT SEED CORN. 



It is highly important that your seed corn should 

 be selected from the best samples which cau be 

 obtained, as the offspring whether vegetable or 

 animal will in a great degree partake of the good 

 or bad quahties of the parent. The following di- 

 rections on this subject arc from a srienfific and 

 practical agriculturist : 



" When the first ears are ripe enough for seed, 

 gather a sufficient quantity for early corn or re- 

 planting ; and at the time you would wish your 

 corn to be ripe, generally, gather a sufficient 

 quantity for planting the next year, having partic- 

 ular care to take it from stalks that are large at 

 bottom, of a regular taper, not over tall, the ears 

 set low, and containing the greatest number of 

 good sizeable ears of the best quality ; let it dry 

 sjieedily ; and from the corn gathered as last des- 

 cribed, plant your main crop, and if any hills 

 should be missing, replant from that first gather- 

 ed, which will cause the crop to ripen more regu- 

 larly than is connnon, which is a great benefit. — 

 The above mentioned I have practised many 

 years, and am satisfied it has increased the quan- 

 tity, and improved the quality of my crops beyond 

 what any per.son would imagine, who has not 

 tried the experiment." 



Dr Deane observed that " some recommend 

 gathering seed corn before the time of harvest, 

 being the ears that first ripen. But 1 think it 

 would be better to mark them and let them re- 

 main on the stalks, till they become sapless. — 

 Whenever they are taken in, they should be hung 

 up by the husks, in a dry place, secure from early 

 frost ; and they will be .so hardened as to be in no 

 danger of injury from the frost in winter." 



The donations and subscriptions for the Thames 

 Tunnel, up to our last dates, amounted to u]i- 



wards uf $42,000. 



GOOD FOOD FOR MILCH COWS. 



Beat up in a mortar dry corn cobs, pour boihng 

 water over them, or boil them in a pot, stir them 

 frequently when boihng, and when cold give it X'< 

 your cows. 



TO CAUSE NEW BARK TO GROW ON 

 OLD TREES. 



Scrape off the loose bark, and apjily a mixture 

 of cow dung and urine nia<le into the consistence 

 of paint. A|)ply this composition with a painter's 

 brush, covering the stem carefully over. This 

 softens the old scaly bark, which peels off the 

 following winter and spring, and is succeeded bv 

 firm, smooth new bark. — Repertory of Arts, vol. iv. 

 page 76. 



HORTICULTURE. 



The Editor of the New Bedford Courier in that 

 paper of the 12th ult. has given a friendly and fa- 

 vourable notice of the New American Gardener, 

 recently published at this office ; and closes his 

 remarks with the following just and well express- 

 ed observations on the importance of the "subject 

 to which it is devoted :" 



" We rejoice in the increasing attention which is 

 given to the improvement of Horticulture in New- 

 Englaud. Let us imitate, in this respect at least, 

 the noble example set us by our parent country. 

 Travellers who visit England find nothing which 

 calls forth their enthusiastick encomiums more 

 than the taste and skill with which her country 

 residences are adorned by the hand of successful 

 cultivation. Almost every field is a paradise, we 

 are told, in the ardent and somewhat extravagant 

 language of their ])raise. Our gardens have been 

 comparatively neglected. With a tew exceptions, 

 and those principally in the vicinity of our State 

 capital, there have not been many enclosures here- 

 toibre in this part of the countiy, which an Eng- 

 lishman of taste, familiar with the state of cultiva- 

 ; tion at home, would consent to honour with the 

 name of a garden. But what is there to prevent 

 the gardens of New-England from attaining, with 

 proper attention to cultivate and difluse a correct 

 taste in horticulture, the beauty and elegance so 

 highly extolled in Enghsh gardens ? To come stil ! 

 nearer home : though those who live in towns 

 cannot all be farmers, they may all of them, in a 

 I town not more compactly built than ours, to a 

 j limited extent be Horticulturists. No man is aware, 

 I till he has tried the experiment, how much, by 

 i judicious arrangement, can be made to grow on a 

 quarter of an acre of ground, or even on a smaller 

 quantity ; how many of those fruits, vegetables, 

 and flowers, the best methods of rearing which 

 are pointed out in the book before us, may be cul- 

 tivated to advantage in his little garden. The 

 rapid improvements of our gardens and grounds 

 within a few years, shows that we have learned 

 something of the powers of cultivation, that we 

 are in some measure aware of what skill and taste 

 can accomplish. But we have much yet to learu 

 and to do. Let us profit from the experience of 

 others, while improving and beantifjiug, each one 

 his little domain. The studious and sedentary 

 man will find in this employment a relaxiition at 

 the same time both of body and mind ; and while 

 the face of external nature grows daily more 

 beautiful beneath bis forming hand, the healthful 

 and invigorating exercise imparts a kindred beau- 

 ty to the intelligent spirit within that plans and 

 directs its operations, and both alike conspire to 

 ])romote Jiis 



