Published by John B. Russell, at JVo. 52 jVortk Market Street, (over the Agricultural Warehouse). — Thomas G. Fessekden, Editor. 



VOL. YII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1828. 



No. 19. 



HORTICULTUilE. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



?.Ii!. Kditor. — I always read the New England 

 Fanner with pleasure and improvement. Its pur- 

 pose is a truly valuable one. This is, to instruct a 

 large and important class in tlio comnninity in, 

 what it liighly concerns thcui to be thoroughlyj 

 taught. Principles and (acts are placod in it side 

 by side. The doctrine and its illuslralion are 

 brought together, and men are thus taught to think 

 as well as to act. What has been done for our 

 agriculturalists, our farmers, is now doing for the 

 industrious classes of every order in the cuuimuui- 

 ty. It is one of the distinguishing ciroumstances 

 of these times, and will be rerordv?d to our lasting 

 honor, that the whole mind of the connnumty is 

 uow every where addressed, anil excited to put 

 foith its whole powers, as well as for its own pro- 

 gress, as for the good of the wiiole. Agriculture 

 has taken the lead in this noble effort, and it is 

 fittnig that it should have done so. This was the 

 earliest human occupation, and its continued ne- 

 cessity, has been a continued appeal to every un- 

 dertaking which could ei'U.o its progress. I 

 must leave these getieral rjniarks, however inter- 

 esting It might be to extend them, for this commu- 

 nication has a special purpose. 



in the last number of the Farmer (Novenihcr 7) 

 an account is given of Mr. Rice's method of mak- 

 ing cider. I am too little practised in this art to 

 criticize his method generally, though some doubt 

 did arise whether rotten apples improve tlie liquor. 

 What particularly attracted my attention was the 

 quantity of new rum to a barrel of his cider. — 

 This is TWO GALLONS AND A HALF. It first occur- 

 red to me that this quantity was much too large ; 

 and a question immediately arose if any rum at all 

 were necessary. 



Cider contains alcohol. This is the product of 

 the fermentation it undergoes. This is not much 

 to be sure, but it is quite sufficient to affect some 

 heads. Great cider-drinkers are even sufferers in 

 this way. They are dull sluggish men, with red, 

 full faces ; and if insanity occur in such individ- 

 uals, a very obstinate form of this disease, and 

 marked by characteristic symptoms is produced. 

 In Mr. Rice's method the natural quantity, so to 

 speak, of spirit is greatly increased ; and as I think 

 a very dangerous liquor is Ibrmed. Its popularity 

 may in part be owing to its exhilarating proper- 

 ties, to the RUM, in short, which it contains. If, 

 however, this be denied, it must be acknowledged 

 that some of the bad effects of spirit cannot fail to 

 follow its use. The stomach is affected in a pe- 

 culiar manner by all the forms of alcohol. There 

 is produced in this organ, a certain, a morbid con- 

 dition, for though the immediate effects of ardent 

 spirits be pleasurable, its remoter ones are any 

 thing else. When the excitement has passed off', 

 a sense of uneasiness and exhaustion almost in- 

 variably takes its place. This demands another 

 drain. The quantitj' must be increased, for the 

 morbid state of the stomach increases with the 

 continuance of the habit, till at length nothing 

 will satisfy it but a constant, a daily, hourly, use 

 «)f ardent spirits. 



Tliis is the way in which the habit of intem- hilly or level, and ni. Hpeoially to the quality 

 peraiice is formed ; and I would respectfully sub- I of the soil : fwr th; '■ v.nicli are calculated for 

 mit if there be not some danger that such habit I liyht land will ni)t answer equally Avell in soil.v 

 may follow from the daily use of cider, whioli con- jthaf are heavy and adhesive, 

 tains so much rum. If these views IsiB in ar 



so mucli rum. It these views 

 measure correct, they deserve velrj' senous attcn- 



"tion. One of the most itrip<*tant classes in the ,,.,,,. . ,, , , 



community is intcre=.tcd in its decision. I cat,- ..gV^*' ^^dl and science in !• ranee, botli as regards 



,pi national fore.sts, .-ind jirivate estates, in an arti- 



FOREST CULTITRE IN FRANCE. 



This branch of rural economy is conducted with 



liijf but t!r-;k thp danger exists, and did not feel 

 tii: ; i ', .T disc!iar{,'ing my whole duty, without 

 lor your consideration these hasty re- 

 .i;d cf requesting for them a place ii' your 

 ; ; ^i r.sertrt publication. I have not noticed the 

 jue.-ticn of the necessity of any additional alcohol 

 to what is natural to cider. If cider he faithfully 

 m;i(\c why siiould it not last sound, aow. as long 

 as it did thirty years ago. I was a boy men, but 

 I remember perfectly well, Iiow good the cider of 

 that day was. It was honestly made, in proper 

 weather, of good fruit, and put into clean barrels. 

 Its fermentation was cerefully watched, and when 

 over, the barrel was accurately closed, and kept 

 quiet till March. It was then bottled ; or if meant 

 to he kept in the vvood, it was cai-efully drawn off 

 ihe lees into clean barrels. New rum, or bran- 

 dy PIPES, or rum hogsheads, were not in vogue 

 then. We drank, and relished, the native unadul- 

 terated juice of the apple. It is to be regretted 

 that a false taste should in any way have been 

 produced in the later times, and still more so, that 

 false cider only will satisfv it. It is however not 

 loo late to correct the evil. This may be done, 

 by making cider in such a manner that a moder- 

 ate use of it shall not be an occasion of a man's 

 becoming a drunkard. A PHYSICIAN. 



Boston, ^rov. 20, 1828. 



[By Ihe Editor.] 



AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 



In purchasing agricultural implements, the fol- 

 lowing rules are to be observed : they should be 

 simple in their construction, both that their uses 

 may be more easily understood, and that any com- 

 mon workman may be able to repair them, when 

 they get out of order ; the materials should be of 

 a durable nature, that the labor may be less liable 

 to interruption from their acciden';al fadurc ; their 

 form should be firm and compact that they may 

 not be injured by jolts and shaking ; and that they 

 may be more safely worked by country laborers, 

 who are but little accustomed to the use of deli- 

 cate tools. In the larger machines, symmetry and 

 lightness of shape, ought to be particularly attend- 

 ed to ; for a heavy carriage, like a great horse is 

 worn out by its own weight, nearly as much as by 

 what he carries. The wood should be cut up 

 and placed in a position the best calculated to re- 

 sist pressure ; and mortices, so hkely to weaken 

 the wood, should, as much as possible bq,avoided ; 

 at the same time implements should he made as 

 light as is consistent with the strength that is rio- 

 cessai-y. Their price should be such that farmers 

 in moderate circumstances can afford to buy them; 

 yet for the sake of a low ]>rice, the judicious farirr- 

 er will not purchase articles, either of a flimsy fab- 

 rick, or a faulty form ; and implements ought to 



cic, written for Messrs. Wells and Lilly's Edition 

 of Deane's JVeiv England Farmer, by J. Lowell. 

 Esq. it is observed that " The practice of the pop- 

 ulous nations of Europe, where forests have been 

 cut off centuries ago, and who are compelled to 

 resort to measures of the strictest economy, to 

 sujiply themselves with fuel, ought to have great 

 weight with us. France, in particular, ought to 

 be looked up to for wise lessons on this subject. — 

 Her vast and thickly settled populations, her nu- 

 merous manufactures, her poverty in mineral coal, 

 the eminence which she has attained in all eco- 

 nomical arts, entitle her to great respect. It is 

 the practice of tlie French |)eople not to cut off 

 their woods oftener than once in twenty or twen- 

 ty-five years, and by lan', when they are cut over, 

 the owner is obliied to cut the tchole smooth, with 

 the exception of a very few trees, which tiie offi- 

 cers of the government had marked to be spr.red 

 for larger growth — without giving any opinion as 

 to the propriety of the direct interference of the 

 government on such a topic, we would say that 

 the example proves that in the opiniou of French 

 scientific and practical men, it is expedient, when 

 \voodiands are cut, that they should be cut jinootli, 

 in order that the new growth might start togeth- 

 er, not overshadeifby other trees of larger growth. 

 We have no favorable opinion of the utility of cut- 

 ting down trees in a scattered manner, as they 

 appear to fail, and still less of planting acorns in 

 thinner spots of the forest. The growth thus pro- 

 duced must remain forever feeble." 



TURNIPS FOOD FOR HORSES. 



An English writer says that when horses are 

 fed on turnips, they are induced to eat the barn 

 chaff, and other dry food with good appetite ; ai e 

 kept healthy and will work without grain. Lou 

 don says " the Swedish and yellow turnip are 

 eaten greedily by horses ; and afford a very luitri- 

 live and salutary food along with hay or straw for 

 working stock. The best mode is to steam them 

 after previously passing them through a slicing 

 machine, as no root requires so much cooking as 

 the Swedish turnip. Horses will also cat the 

 white turnip, but not freely unless they have been 

 early accustomed to them, as in some parts of 

 Norfolk." 



REMARKS ON TREES AND TIMBER. 



Loudon says that the period at which trees are 

 felled, for the sake of their timber, is determinc<l 

 by various causes. By maturity of grov/th, or 

 where the annual increase is so trifling as to ren- 

 der their standing no longer worth while in point 

 of profit, when wanted for private use or sale ; or 

 when defects in the tree, or new aiTangei-ients hi 

 its situation point out the necessity of its removal. 

 '< A timbered estate," Marshall observes, "sliould 

 be suited to the nature of the country, whether i frequently be gone over by some person of jiMg 



