200 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



April 10, 1829, 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



FOR THE HEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



OAT GRASS. 



Mr Editor— Allow ine, through the mediutn 

 of your paper, to suhtiiit, for the consideration of 

 my brother fanners, a few remarks on the culture 

 of the Tall Meadow Oat Grass, (Avcna elalior.) I 

 have not been able to discover its origin. It dif- 

 fers from the Meadow Oat Grass, Jlvena pratensis, 

 mentioned by Sinclair, and other English writers. 

 Of this fact I am satisfied from an inspection of 

 the Avena pratensis exhibited in Sinclair's cele- 

 brated work upon grasses, (HoHus Gramineus H'o- 

 hurnensis, page 312) as well as from the descrip- 

 tion therein given of the same. The latter grass, 

 is, no doubt, a native of England. And some of 

 the English writers describe it as rather coarse, 

 and possessing nutritive qualities in a lesB degree 

 titan some others. The resemblance of the Eng- 

 Lsh Meadow Oat, (Avena pratensis) to the Tall 

 Meadow Oat, (Avena elalior} cultivated in this 

 country, may be considered perhaps as the cause, 

 why the indifferent qualities of the former have 

 been ascribed to the latter by some writers on the 

 subject in this country. From the circumstance 

 of its having been first introduced among the Ger- 

 man farmers of Pennsylvania, I am inclined to be- 

 lieTe, with Justin Ely, of AVest Springfield, that 

 the Tall Meadow Oat Grass, cultivated in this 

 country, is of German origin. I am confident it is 

 not contained in the list of grasses described by 

 Sinclair, and doubt if it was known in England 

 when he wrote. 



The attempts which have been made in this 

 part of the country to cidtivate the Tall Meadow 

 Oat Grass, I suspect have not been iipoii a scale 

 sufliciently large, nor under circumstances which 

 furnished a fair test of its qualities. As far as 1 

 have been able to learn, the experbiients in this vi- 

 cinity have been made upon small patches of rich 

 and highly manured soil, thinly sown, and suffer- 

 ed to stand in the field for some weeks after fiow- 

 ering, for the purpose of ripening the seed. The 

 produce has therefore been what might under 

 Buch circumstances, have been expected, rather 

 coarse and " strawlike." With similar treatment 

 the result would have been the same, every form- 

 er must be aware, with any of our common 

 grasses. 



I have cultivated this grass for seven years 

 past, mostly tipon a thin soil, liahtly manured, in 

 fields of from one to four acres, and am fully sat- 

 isfied of its excellent qualities, cither as a hay 

 crop or for grazing. I was induced to make the 

 trial from an account of it, givi^ji by Col. Taylor, 

 of Virginia, a very distinguished practical as well 

 as scientific farmer. After fifteen years experi- 

 ence. Col. T. states in a communication to the 

 Virginia Agricultural Society — " It is the hardiest 

 grass I have ever seen, and bears drought, and 

 frost, and heat, and cold, better than any I have 

 ever tried. It keeps possession of the land in 

 spite of severe grazing. It furnishes better graz- 

 ing early in the spring, late in the fall, in drought, 

 and in winter, than any grass known to me." — 

 "Alone, cut before the seed ripens, its hay is as 

 nutritive and pleasant to stock of all kinds as any 

 I have ever used." 



Dr Muhlenhurg of Pennsylvania, says " This 

 grass is of all others, the earliest, latest, and best 

 for green fodder or hay. It blossoms about the 

 tniddle of May, (with us the first of June) and 



rises to the height of from 5 to 7 feet. Horned 

 cattle prefer this hay to all others, but some horses 

 do not like it green. If suffered to grow old be- 

 fore being cut, it will become strawlike." 



The character given of this grass by the above 

 writers is fully sustained by the exi)erience I have 

 had, both as it relates to its qualities as hay, or 

 for grazing. From its e.irly flowering it is pecu- 

 liarly well suited to be sown with red clover. It 

 is fit to be cut just at the time the clover ia full 

 grown, coinmoidy about the first of June. 



In the spring of 1827, I sowed with barley a 

 field of four acres, and put on 2J bushels of oat 

 grass seed, (3 would have been better) 5 pounds 

 of red clover, and 2 of white clover seed to the 

 acre. The soil was thin and had been exhausted 

 by long crop|)ing. I intended it for pasturing, but 

 in the spring it looked so promising, I concluded 

 to mow it the first season. On the 3d of June, 

 1828, it was cut, and gave me two tons, to the 

 acre, of the finest and best hay, either for cattle 

 or horses, I have ever had in my barn. 



When sown in the spring either alone or with 

 a grain crop, of barley or rye, it should be har- 

 rowed and rolled in, and not less than three bush- 

 els of seed to the acre. It vegetates freely and 

 does not suffer by a sudden exposure of the ground 

 to the sun, by taking otTthe crop of grain in the 

 hottest weather. It is peculiarly well adapted for 

 grazing on jtoor and exhausted lands, as well as 

 upon those of a richer ipiality. It comes forward 

 in the spring as soon as the frost leaves the ground, 

 at least a fortnight earlier than our common 

 grasses, and through the dryest weather of the 

 summer exhibits a green and inviting appearance. 

 It yields an abundance of seeds. I took the last 

 season from ^ of an acre (sown in the fall of 

 1824) of ground, in tolerably good heart, over 20 

 bushels of well cleaned seed. 



Respectfully yours, E. P. 



Lexington, April, 1829. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



THORN BUSHES ; TOBACCO ; CABBAGES, 

 AND FRUIT TREES. 



Mr Fesse.nden — I have a small farm of about 

 75 acres ; and all my fence is of wood, and 

 going to decay very fast. Indeed the repair of 

 my fences yearly amounts to more than 6 |)er cent, 

 on the whole produce of my land. I have, per- 

 haps, about stone enough lo make what fence I 

 sh.Tuld want for the whole farm, but they lie scat- 

 tered through a fine young wood lot, and cannot 

 be come at but by digging and blowing, which 

 would, I think, spoil my wood lot. In this state 

 of affairs I had concluded to sell out, and go to 

 the land of promise in the western country. With 

 these notions in my head, about two years ago I 

 took a pretty long ramble in the state of New 



ricty of soil, will answer for hedge or live fence ? 

 If it will, is it by planting the seed or by cuttings? 

 At what time should they be cut ? Or if by seeds, 

 at what time sown ? What distance should they 

 be set apart in the rows, and what distance the 

 rowp ? Is the manner of treatment the same as 

 with the English hawthorn ? Or any other in- 

 formation would be thankfully received. We 

 have in this part of the country, large tracts of 

 land, where stone for fence cannot easily be pro- 

 cured, and timber has become too valuable to make 

 fence of If we can ]n-ocure from our own for- 

 ests a good live fence, we may hope in time, some 

 of our farmers will make the experiment. But I 

 fear it will be a long time before we shall have 

 good fences here, on our pine lands, if we must 

 pay money (though but little) for the cuttings, and 

 wait six or seven years for their growth. 



I have been very much troubled for some years, 

 with lice on my cabbages and turnips. By the 

 advice of an old gentleman, last season, I set out a 

 fev'/ tobacco plants among my cabbages and tur- 

 nips, say the plants about one rod apart. I had 

 no lice in my garden that I could find. The to- 

 bacco grew well, and were fine plants. Had I 

 known how to cure it, I think i could have raised 

 my own tobacco, which costs me about five dol- 

 lars per year. I find nothing in your paper 

 about curing tobacco, and my neighbors are as ig- 

 norant as I am. Now, sir, if you will give us such 

 directions about raising and curing tobacco, as to 

 enable us to furnish our own from our own farms, 

 we shall be much obliged to you, and I will prom- 

 ise to lay out seventy-five per cent, of such saving 

 in books of agriculture, at the New England 

 Farmer oflice. Quere, would a few tobacco plants 

 set amdhg our melon and squash vines prevent 

 the bugs from destroying them ? What would be 

 the effect on the vermin, which destroy our young 

 fruit trees, to ])lant tobacco at their roots, and 

 leave it on the ground all winter, or by cutting it I 

 np anri curing it (if we know how to do it cheap) I 

 and spreading it round the tree in the spring, or 

 anv other season of the year. 



MERRIMACK RIVER. 



March 21, 1829. 



Remarks hy Vie Editor. — We will make a few 

 observations on the foregoing ijueries and sngge*. 

 tions of our corres|)ondent ; premising, however, 

 that we sirall not attempt fully to satisfy all his in- 

 quiries, nor fully to investigate all the subjects 

 which he proposes for discussion. And first with 

 regard to Hedges. We do not believe that live 

 fences will be fiiund useful except in a thickly 

 populated part of the country, where stone cannot 

 easily he obtained, and timber is scarce and dear; 

 or, perhaps, in some instances, to inclose gardens 

 and barricade them against human as well ae 

 brute animals. The following are some of the din- 



York, spent money enough to have rc])aircd my ^ 



fences for one year,— satisfied myself that by pru- j advantages, which attend the cultivation of live 



dence and industry I might be full as hapjiy, if 



not quite as rich here as in the western country — 

 came home and sat down more contented — sub- 

 scribed for your valuable paper, and have read it 

 as I think, to niucli advantage to my farm and to 

 myself. 



I see, sir, in your paper, that my brother farm- 

 ers when they want advice or iidormation go to 

 you, nothing doubting. Will you, or .some of 

 your corresjiondentp, be so good as to inform 

 whether our common thorn bush, that grows wild, 

 I believe throughout the country, and on every va- 



fences 



Live fences talce from cultivation viW the land on 

 which they grow, and when at maturity send their 

 loots in search of uourishmen* ti each side of the 

 low at least five or six feet ; exhau.sting the soil 

 »nd shading that part of tlie crop, which is near 

 ihem. Live fences generally require dead fences, 

 such a.s posts and rails, what is called Virginia 

 fence, or something of the sort for several years* 

 10 protect the young hedge plants while growing 

 10 sufficient maturity to form a barrier against th» 

 inroads of cattle. MrTibbets,of Renssellaer Coun- 



