FARMEM. 



Puhlinhed by John B. Rossell, at JVn. 52 JVorlh Market Street, A»»er the JlgricuUural Warehouse) Thomas G. Fessenden, Editor. 



VOL. YII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBEP^ 12, 1828. 



No. 8. 



AG-RICULTU24E. 



Flemish h'usbandri). — Tlie F'lemings, or inhabit- 

 ants of Fiatidei's, in the Ijiiigdoin of the Netlier- 

 lauds, arc cuicbratud for frugality and ecorionij' in 

 farming, and for judicious modes of cidture. A 

 late traveller says : " The country is a positive 

 garden, and presents a most luxuriant appe r- 

 an -e ; the fields are streaked with all the colors 

 ol the rainbov/. You will see, belonging to the 

 same proprietor, fine green pastures, new mown 

 hay, bright yellow coleseed, [-.inh; and white clover, 

 light blue fia.x, rye, wheat, barley, oats, and large 

 jflots of crimson poppies." 



Coleseed (or ra))eseed) is extensively cultivated 

 in Flanders, France, England, &c. for the produc- 

 tion of oil, and some agriculturists consider it one 

 of the most profitable crops in husbandry. Tlie 

 produce on good land, in favorable seasons, is 

 from 40 to 50 bushels per acre. The seed is sold 

 for crushing, or is crushed by the farmer himself; 

 an oil mill being a common appendage to a farm- 

 ery in some districts. Four gallons of seed yield 

 one gallon of oil. The straw is eaten by cattle. 

 We believe that much of the oil iminrted into the 

 United States from Emope, and soM here aj liti- 

 seeii oil, is the produce of the rape or coleseed. 



The popp:/ is cultivated on the continent of Eu- 

 rope as an oil plant, and the oil is esteemed m do- 

 mestic economy next to that of the olive, being 

 used lor salad oil. The seed is sown at the rate 

 of one gallon to the acre, and the average pro- 

 duce on rich soil is about 30 bushels per acre 



Five gallons of seed yield one gallon of oil. The 

 popj)y is harvested by shaking out the seed upon 

 sheets laid along the rows. — Hamp. Gazette. 



TO AGRICULTURISTS. 



It has been stated to us, that, some eighteen 

 months ago, a gentloman of this state, feefing de- 

 sirous to ascertain whether certain productions of 

 France vi'ould thrive in New-England, sent to that 

 country for a variety of fruit trees. Choice \ari- 

 eties, consisting of apricots, quinces, nectarines, 

 peaches, apples, pears, cherries and plums, were 

 accordingly removed, in January, 1827, and ship- 

 ped to New- York, where they were landed in 

 March following. In the month of April, the gen- 

 tleman planted these trees upon his farm in the 

 neighbouring town of Nortlilbrd ; and in October 

 of the same year, many of them produced perfect 

 fruit. We are gratified to learn that at the pres- 

 ent season these thrifty trans-Atlantics appear 

 healthful and promising. — JVeic-Haven Journal. 



IRON. 



Since the enactment of the tarilFbill last winter 

 it has become a desideratum to ascertain tie prob- 

 able quantity of iron manufactured in the United 

 States, and particularly in Pennsylvania. As there 

 is nmch diversity of opinion on the subject, we 

 have contributed our mite to ascertahi the quanti- 

 ty of iron manufactured hi Schuylkill coiinty.— 

 The statistics of the United States, in this most 

 essential branch of manufacture, is of importance, 

 because we verily believe, the supply of the coun- 

 try is aV)undant!y sufiicient for its consinnption. 



The iron works in Schuylkill county are Green- 

 wood Furnace and Forge r'the^Schuylkili, Bruns- 



wick, and Pinegrove Forges, besides two nev/ 

 forges wliicli are now being built, one at Mahan- 

 oy, and the other at Swaiara. Five hundred tons 

 of bar iron may be made by these four furnaces 

 now in operation annually. Greenwood works 

 are owneil by Messrs. John and Benjanfm Pott, 

 who carry them on extensively and we believe 

 j)rofitab!y. They are the only persons engaged 

 in the business of these works. The ore for then' 

 furnace is obtained from the neighborhood of 

 Pottsgrove and Reading, and is transported to the 

 furnace on the canal. The price of bar iron is 

 $40 per ton at their forgi . The price of pig is 

 •^23 per ton at the furnace, of which iNv-enty tons 

 a week can be melted. — Miner's Journal. 



Peach piesi — The season of peaches having ar- 

 riverl, we again publish the recipe for the best 

 fruit pie that can be made. Place your paste in 

 a deep plate, as for other pies — then, having wip- 

 ed your peaches with a cloth, put them in whole, 

 an<l s]>reail upon them sugar sufiicient to sweeten 

 them well, then cover close with paste and bake 

 till the frint is sufficiently cooked. The stones of 

 the peaches are suiScient without any other sea- 

 soning, and are better than any other. If the 

 fruit is good, there will be so much of the juice on 

 opening, that it v/ill be necessary to serve with a 

 spoon. 



From llie New American Gardener. 



LOCUST-TREE.— Bofrima pseudo-acacia. ' 

 '' This tree is a native of the United States. 



Method of cultivation. — " It is capable of being 

 raised from the .seed, cuttings, layers and suckers; 

 but the seed method is said to afford the best 

 plants. The seeds should be sown about the end 

 of March, or beginning of the following month, 

 on a bed of light mould, being covered to the 

 depth of about half an inch. The plants usually 

 appear in the course of six or eight weeks. They 

 should be well weeded and watered, and, when 

 sufficiently strong, should be set out in the spring 

 or autumn, in nursery rows, for two or three 

 vears, in order to remain to have a proper growth 

 for final planting."— ^cts' Cyclopedia. 



Dr. Drown, of Rhode-Island, says, that " The 

 easiest method of raising the locust is as follows ; 

 Plant fifteen or twenty tree<j on an acre, and, 

 when fifteen or twenty feet high, run straggling 

 furrows through the ground, and, wherever the 

 roots are cut with the plough, new trees will start 

 up, and will soon stock the ground with a plenti- 

 ful growth." 



Use. — It is observed in the JVbrth Jlmerican.Syl- 

 I'rt, a celebrated work, by F. Andrew Michaux, 

 that "The greatest consumption of locust wood is 

 tiir posts, which are etnployed in preference for 

 the enclosing of court-yards, gardens and farms, 

 in the districts where the tree abounds, and the 

 circumjacent country. They are transported for 

 the same use to Lancaster, Baltimore, Washing- 

 ton, Alexandria, and the vicinity. When the trees 

 are felled in the winter, while the circulation of 

 the sap is suspended, and th se posts are alloweil 

 to become perfectly dry before tliey are set, they 

 are estimated to last forty years. Experience has 

 shown that their duratioti varies according to cer- 



tain differences in the trees from which they are 

 formed : thus about Lancaster, and at Harris- 

 burgh, a small town on the Susquehannah, where 

 a considerable trade is cairied on in wood tifat it 

 brought down the rivei-, those trees are reputed 

 the best whose heart is red ; the next in esteem 

 are those with a greenish-yellow heart ; and the 

 least valuable are those with a white heart. From 

 this variety in the colour of the wood, which, pro- 

 bably, arises from a difference of soil, are derived 

 the names of red, green, and tcltite locust. In the 

 Western States, there is a variety which is sotnC- 

 times called black locust." 



It is probable, that the locust with a " greenish 

 yellow heart," spoken of by M. Michaux, is the 

 same with that which Mr. Briggs calls the yellow 

 locust ; and although M. Michaux supposes "this 

 variety in the color of the wood jirobably arises 

 from a difference of soil," it is not impossible that 

 there may he permanent specific differences in the 

 several varieties. If so, the discovery is of impor- 

 tance. 



M. Micliaux says, " In naval architecture, the 

 shij'wrights use as much locust-wood as they c.^.u 

 procure. It is as durable as the Wve oak and the 

 red cedar, with the advantage of being stronger 

 than the one, and lighter than the other." 



With regard to the insect which destroys the 

 locust, M. Michaux says, i' Wilhin eighteen or 

 twenty years, an obstacle hasunhapjiily appeared, 

 which will contribute greatly to prevent the mul- 

 tiplication of the loi-ust in all the anciently settled 

 parts of the U)*i«ed States ; this is a winged in- 

 sect, which attacks the tree while standing, pene- 

 trates through the bark into the centre of the 

 trunk, and, fur the space of a foot, mines it in ev- 

 ery direction, so that it is easily broken by the 

 wind. This inconvenience is already so serious, 

 as to induce many people to forego all attempts to 

 fi)rm plantations of locust. In Virginia, I have 

 nut learned that trees of the natural growth have 

 been visited by this destroyer, but those that have 

 been reared about the plantations have already 

 felt its ravages. This evil, which it aiipears diffi- 

 cult to remed)', will be more sensibly felt when 

 the destruction of the forests now on foot, an in- 

 evitable consequence of the neglect of all meas- 

 ures of preservation, shall force the inhabitants to 

 have recourse to plantations, which they will wish 



to form, in a certain proportion, of the locust ■ 



Hence it may result, that, disappearing successive- 

 ly from the American coasts by constant consump- 

 tion, and not being reproduced on account of the 

 insect, the locusts will become extremely rare in 

 their native country, and abundant in Europe, 

 where no similar catastrophe forbids their propa- 

 gation." 



The Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of 

 Agriculture have offered a premium of fifty dollars 

 " for a mode of extirpating the worm that attacks 

 the locust-tree, which shall appear to the satisfac- 

 tion of the trustees to be effectual." 



The following, copied from a report of a com- 

 mittee of the Essex Agricultural Society, on farms 

 in Essex county, Mass., (published in the jV. E. 

 Farmer, vol. iii. p. 145.) places the advantages to 

 be anticipa'.sd from the culture of the locust in » 

 fair, and, ve believe, just point of view. 



