NEW ENCJIiANB FARMEji. 



83 



Pabliglad by John B. Russeli,, at JV'o. 52 jVortli .Market Street, (over the Agricultural Warehouse) — Thomas G. Fessenden, Editor. 



VOL. VII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1828. 



No. 11. 



AGRICULTURE. 



roR THE NtW ENGLAND FAUMKR. 



PEACHES. 



Mb. Fe33E-Vden, — Tlic following plan has been 

 adojjterl by nn ajjiiciilturist wlio bus for several 

 years sent the best peuclies U> New York, wbich 

 have been raiseil in tbat vicinity. Wlieii the trees 

 begin to lilossom, larje piles of combustibles are 

 placed ill liifterenl parts of his orchard. They are 

 composed of tiiose materials vvhicb burn slowly, 

 «U(1 produced a dense smoke. When there is any 

 reason to expect a frost the piles on the windward 

 side of Ihf^ orchard are i<;nited towards evening, 

 and kept in a state of combustion through the 

 uight. He thus keeps the orchard filled with 

 smoke, ajid the temperature of the air so far above 

 that of the surrounding grounds, as to exclude the 

 frost from his trees ; and in Jhis manner has suc- 

 ceeded in securiiig his fruit, while tbat of tiees 

 exposed to the effect of the weather has been en- 

 tirely cut otr. 



BEE.S. 



An intelligeii! mechauic in the neighborhood of 

 Hartford, who had, previous to his removal to 

 that vicinity, attended much to the management 

 of bees, informed me tbat be bad secured his 

 hives from the attack of the insect, by laying od 

 the floor of the hives, eiirly in the spring, a quan- 

 tity of salt. This he sometimes renewed in the 

 course of the season, though usually one applica- 

 tion was sufficient. The bses appeared to be fond 

 of the salt, and esca|)ed entirely the injury which 

 others, not thus protected, suffered from the worm. 



Sept. 28, 1828. J. S. R. 



rOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



YELLOW LOCUST. 



Mr. Fesse.nden, — 1 am apprehensive it is not 

 so generally known as it ought to be, that there 

 is an essential difference in the qualities of the 

 locust tree of our groves and forests. .And should 

 it be conceived that some kinds are more valuable 

 than others, too indefinite and vague are the ideas 

 which generally prevail on the subject. 



The merchant, the manufacturer, and the farm- 

 er have frequent occasions to use this sort of tim- 

 ber, and from its general reputation, do not hesi- 

 tate to give a high price for it, without any regard 

 . to the kind or quality of the wood, they purchase, 

 hence a sad disappointment is frequently the con- 

 sequence. Michaux, m his North American Syl- 

 va, as quoted by you, says, " those trees are re- 

 puted best whose hearts are red. The next in 

 esteem are those with a greenish yellow heart — 

 and the least valuable are those with a white 

 heart. From the variety in the color of the wood, 

 which probably arises from the difference of the 

 soil are derived the names, red, green, and white 

 locust." He here .icknovvledges a difference in 

 the value of the various colored species, but I 

 think he is mistaken in assigning as the cai'se of 

 this, t!ie siiil on which they severally grow, as the 

 different kinds in this region .it le;t.st, grow prom- 

 iscously : often yon will see (he yellnw and the 

 wiiiiB or grey the only two varieties found auionc 



lis, growing side by side. It is possible that one 

 kind of soil may be more congenial to the growth 

 of one variety than it may be to the other, and 

 here in one tract of country large quantities of the 

 yellow may be found, and the reverse of this in 

 another region. 



The fact of the heart of the locust being red, 

 green, white, or even yellow, does not stamp a par- 

 ticidar value on the timber, as that kind with a 

 different colored heart from the wood is found to be 

 least valuable, often if not always denoting a state 

 of premature decay. This is almost always the 

 case with the white locust, on cutting which, 

 though quite yoimg and apparently thrifty, the 

 heart in diffin'.-nt degrees will be discolored and 

 if the tree be old the same part will be found rot- 

 ten or boUov. i" " reverse of this is the case of 

 the yeliiiw :• ; .;•,'. , the wood of which when re- 

 cently cut dxiiib;!- ;i tisie yellow apiiearanci'! but 

 gradually changcu lo . i',eenish yellow after hav- 

 ing been worked a short time, the heart being of 

 the same cohir, remidns sound althougii tht; i/ee 

 may be ilead through age or some >-f: .r ■ .-.use ; 

 it shews no appearance of a tci • 



Two venerable old yellow loci.- ■ 

 .d' winch were burnt to cii > 

 house to which they tVo.'.! ' 

 the British when they fir -■ • 

 olutionary war, are now st.i : 

 by their want of bark ou the nij' 

 leiice they then suffered, yet :' i o i .1 mt 

 trunk is sound. Though the r. ■ s 'luewhat 

 (Iry indeed, still they put fori:; i-.iv s and new 

 branches annuidly and appear to be in a flourish- 

 ing state. Now the fact of there being "a perm- 

 anent specific difference" in these two different 

 varieties as it respects their durability at least has 

 been tested, times without number. The white, 

 or as it is often called grey locust, when used for 

 posts or sills of buildings, will in the course often 

 or twelve years, be found in a complete state of 

 decay, whereas the yellow locust may bt^said to 

 be almost imperishable when used exactly in the 

 >ame circumstances. 



A corner post to one of our streets of tliis latter 

 kind of wood, which was set out before the war 

 of the revolution, at least fifty-five years ago, was 

 a few years since taken up in a perfectly sound 

 state, and now supports one of the sills of a dwell- 

 ing house in a cellar in this village. Innumera- 

 ble facts of this kind may be produced if necessa- 

 ry, to substantiate the superiority of the yellow 

 over the white, which last is only hi, neither is it 

 used* in this vicinity for any other pur|>ose but tor 

 woqd, for wbich it is in as high repute as walnut 

 or hickory. To a person unacquainted, it might 

 be somevvhut difficult at sight to distinguish the 

 two different kinds, but one or two blows of the 

 axe will decide the point ; the chips are of a dif- 



* During ihe laic war, one of our old and respectable ship own- 

 ers and furiuerly ship master was on a vi'.il to the navy yard in 

 Charlestown, and being in company with the superiiitcad.Mtl. 

 he observed a rarpenler hewing a slick of while locust. He 

 said to the officer, ■' you do not put such wood into your phips." 

 •• Why not?*' was the answer, "it is locust.'' "Truly — but 

 •.hat k'nd of locust we consider no more valuable or tiller lor 

 ship ImiMinj th in any inferior timber j" and I'urther he e.tplam- 

 ed the ditTcrence of the two species of locusts, &c. iwe. iSuGice 

 .1 U)sav that, th,' old i^entlcman received any thiii^ bat polite 

 treatment for ins piesuuiiiig lo differ from the pi.-sidirj^ g^eiiius 

 •"■'-• Tilace. 



fereut color ; the white or grey is more soft and 

 sappy in a green state ; the bark in general is 

 thinner and smoother, and peals off more readily. 

 It .seems to be a fact that the locust tree does not 

 blossom every year and when they do put forth 

 the seeds are not apt to come to maturity. Jluch 

 care ought to be taken by those who wish to pro- 

 pagate the locust, to select the genuine yellow 

 kind, and then the seeds ought to be swelled in 

 hot, or some have used boiling water, before 

 planting to ensure their speedily coming up. 



LEMUEL VV. BlUGGS. 

 Bristol, R. I. Sept. 26, 1828. 



MACHINE FOR TRANSPLANTING TREES. 



The June number of the Gardener's Magazine 

 contains a review of Steuart's Planter's Guide, by 

 Mr. James .Main ; and gives the Ibllowiug cut and 

 description of a machine used in England in trans- 

 planting large trees : 



The reviewer states in sub- 

 stance, tbat with full command 

 of men, horses, and machines, 

 many trees of \arious heights, 

 from fifteen to forty feet were 

 'i transplanted by the means of a 

 common timber truck. Or for 

 the largest trees, with much 

 earth attached to their roots, 

 "we had a low oaken sledge, 

 five feet by four, running on 

 low block wheels before, and 

 resting on smooth iron slides 

 behind. On this, after the tree 

 was piilUd down, the root was 

 , rolled like a wheel, by involv- 

 ing chains fixed as low as pos- 

 sible on the opposite side, by 

 a horse or two, ilriven steadily. 

 When such weighty trees were 

 drawn to the bole where they 

 were intendeil to stand, and 

 rolled ofi" the sledge into one 

 side of it, the tree was raised 

 by two horses with the utmost 

 ease, by means of two poles 

 twenty feet long, crossed, and 

 made fast together about two feet below their up- 

 per ends. Over this crossing the rope by which 

 the tree was pulled down, (being still attached) 

 was passed ; the poles were then elevated across 

 the line of draught, (which was directly from the 

 butt of the tree); the horses were hooked to the 

 end of the rope, and gently moveil forward ; and 

 thus, from the elevated direction of the rope fi-am 

 the tree to the crossing of the resisting poles, 

 brought the tree upright. In raising a tree in 

 this easy way, a little judgment is necessary in 

 preparing the ))oles two or three yards apart at 

 the bottom, that they may lean rather towards'" 

 the tree till they receive the full strain in the 

 draught, and that they may be at such a distance 

 behind the horse as not to ilrop on l.im in their 

 fall when the tree is up." 



THE CURCULIO, OR WORM IN FRUIT. 



The follo'.ving was written in answer to an in- 

 quiry lespecting the Curculio or worm, which it 

 has been supposed injures the tiuit grov.ii 



New 



