318 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



April -24, 182^. 



fruit, some sorts being remarkable for tlieir large 

 size, such are the Roaring Lion and Eagle ; oth- 

 ers, again, are remarkable for tlieir beauty, such 

 are the Lancashire Lad, Top Sawyer, Rockwood, 

 Sovereign, Bonny Lass, and others ; some, again, 

 are remarkable for their rich flavor, and others for 

 producing large quantities ; some sorts have their 

 fruit large very early, while others are small until 

 nearly ripe ; some, again, bear large bei lies, but 

 only a few of them, while other sorts bear both 

 large and numerous berries ; some sorts are ripe 

 early, as Top Sa'wyer, Huntsman, Rockwood, &c. ; 

 some, again, continue to grow much longer than 

 others before they are ripe, such are the Printer, 

 Duckwing, and several more. Now, unless a per- 

 son knows the names and peculiarities of the dif- 

 ferent sorts of gooseberries, he is not hkely, when 

 he gives an order for plants, to be suited accord- 

 ing to his wish, as there are several sorts not worth 

 growing. I am sir, &c. 



JOSEPH CLARKSON. 

 Blackley, near Manchester. 



NEW ENGL AND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, APRIL~24, 1829. 



NOTICE. 



A special meeting of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society, will be held on Tuesday, 28th 

 inst, at 11 o'clock, A. M. at the office of Zebedee 

 Cook, Jr, in Congress street. 



R. L. EBIMONS, Record; g SecSj. 



NOTICE. 



The Board of Counsellors of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society are hereby notified that their 

 meeting stands adjourned to Tuesday, the 28th 

 inst, at 12 o'clock, A. M., then to bo holden at the 

 oflBce of Zebedee Cook, Jr, in Congress street. 

 R. L. EMMONS, Record'g SecY 



THE LATE MR WEBSTER. 



The notices of the untimely decease of this 

 good and eminent man, which have appeared in 

 our newsjiapers, are already before our readers ; 

 and we can add nothing of importance respecting 

 this melancholy subject. We are not willing, how- 

 ever, that our columns should be destitute of some 

 testimonial of regard for a man whose merits 

 were so conspicuous, and whose loss is so greatly 

 and so widely deplored. 



In the afternoon of the 10th inst, the Hon. 

 EzEKiEL Webster, while addressing a Jury, in 

 the Court House, in Concord, N. H. with every 

 appearance of full health, and that ability for 

 which he was justly distinguished, fell deprived of 

 sensation and of life. 



To give an eulogy, or biograjihical sketches of 

 the worthy deceased, is not our province ; but we 

 are happy to perceive that diis duty has been ably 

 performed by the accomplished Editor of the Afic 

 Hampshire Statesman, in that paper of the 18th 

 inst. From this we shall quote a paragraph, 

 which describes some traits in the character of Mr 

 Webster, which agriculturists are more particular- 

 ly called on to imitate. 



" lie was a practical and skilful farmer. Living 

 in the country — enthusiastically attached to the 

 healthful and virtuous pursuits .f rural life, and 

 the quiet and hr.npiness, and siniiilicity, of domes- 

 tic scenes — he was strongly inclined to he con- 

 cerned in and to cherish tliat £,veat interest, whicli 

 was the priucijial concern of l;i:i neighbors, the 



cultivation of the soil. He was the most active 

 founder, a very efficient member, and subsequent- 

 ly the President of the 3Ierrimack Agricultural 

 Society — the associates of which will deeply feel 

 and lament his loss. By exciting attention, in his 

 vicinity, to improvements in the breed of animals, 

 in fruits, grasses, grains, and the various valuable 

 productions of the earth, and by examples of bet- 

 ter modes of husbandry, in draining, reclaiming, 

 and other agricultural processes, Mr Webster 

 sought to be useful, without regarding the ex- 

 pense to himself of what he foresaw to be ulti- 

 mately serviceable to the farmer and to the com- 

 munity. His own farm, inherited from his father, 

 became, under his care, one of the most improved 

 and best cultivated, as it is one of the most pleas- 

 antly situated and valuable, ifl this county." 



DISEASE IN PEAR TREES. 

 E. Hunt, Esq. of Northampton, Mass. an intelli- 

 gent horticulturist, has sent us a branch of a Ber- 

 gamot pear tree, bearing the marks of a disease 

 with which we are unacquainted. It is covered 

 with a black coating resembling rust or mildew in 

 wheat, and appears as if it were partly dried, and 

 in a degree scorched and slightly charred by heat. 

 We should be glad to submit this branch to the 

 inspection of connoisseurs in the diseases of veg- 

 etables, and hope thus to ascertain the cause and 

 the remedy of the evil. 



WEB WORM. 



In our paper of the lOtli inst, page 299, we 

 published remarks respecting an insect on fruit 

 trees, called the Webworm, from a correspondent 

 with the signature " P." In this it is advised, 

 when a branch is infested by the insect, to " am- 

 putate the limb and burn it." A friend, who is a 

 cultivator of fruit trees, assures us that it is not 

 necessary to cut off limbs infested with this in- 

 sect ; but that it will answer quite as good a pur- 

 pose to jiluck off and burn the leaves on which it 

 is found. 



SPRING WORK. 



FENCES. 



The first object of a farmer's attention in the 

 spring after the frost is so far removed as to per- 

 mit driving stakes into the ground, should be his 

 fences. This work should be done thoroughly. — 

 An insufficient fence is worse than no fence, be- 

 cause it not only fails to protect your crops, but 

 gives your cattle practical lessons in the art of 

 jumi>ing. When a fiirmer i:- conscious that his 

 fences are such as do not afford full security, he 

 cannot sleep in peace, nor quietly enjoy the fruits 

 of his labors. It is, therefore, better to take a lit- 

 tle extra pains with this part of rural econoni}', 

 and rather exceed than fall short of what a correcl 

 fence viewer might deem indisjicnsable. 



Post and rail fences, are, probably, more used 

 in New England than any other ; and are, per- 

 hajis, in most cases justly preferred. Mr Preston 

 of Stockport, Pa. recommends to set posts with 

 the top part in the ground ; and asserts that they 

 will, in that situation, last three or four times as 

 long, as when they are set with the butt-ends 

 down. He also advises in making fences always 

 to place the rails with the heart side up. 



Dr Deanc observed that " the best timber tor 

 rails is cedar : It is easy to split, light to carry 

 and to handle, sufficiently strong, and the most 

 ■hinble of any. A rail of cedar will last an age. 



Next to cedar, rails of chesnut, white pine, and 

 ash are best. But, for want of better, some use 

 rails of oak. Cedar is also best for the post, in 

 this and in board fence. The locust tree is said 

 to be excellent. But posts of white oak, which in 

 most places are more easily got, will last aboul 

 fifteen or twenty years. If the lower ends of 

 posts are scorched in a hot flame, before they are 



put into the ground, they will last the longer 



Also soaking them in sea water will tend to keep 

 them from rotting." 



EARLV POTATOES. 



The best time to plant potatoes for winter's use, 

 feeding stock, &c. is said to be about the latter 

 end of May, or the first of June ; but it would be 

 good economy, generally speaking, to plant an 

 early sort on early ground, to feed swine before 

 Indian corn becomes sufficiently grown for that 

 purpose. These should be planted the last of 

 April or beginning of May. 



Coarse manure answers best for potatoes.— 

 Fallon leaves taken from the woods are recom- 

 raandod by a correspondent of the Bath Society in 

 England. This kind of manure, says the writer, 

 causes potatoes to be much more mealy, and of a 

 finer flavor than when they are produced by the 

 application of ashes or dung. 



The following judicious observations on this 

 subject are from the 2d volume of " Memoirs of 

 the Board of Agricidture of the State of New 

 York." 



" Potatoes should be planted the first ten days 

 in May, or a little before the planting of Indian 

 corn. But it is better to postpone the planting of 

 potatoes than of corn. Therefore in the hurry of 

 spring work, farmers often leave their potatoes to 

 be planted in the last week of May. To plant 

 tlieni early will never injure the crop at any season, 

 and if the season happens to be very dry about 

 harvest time, the crop will be much better if plant- 

 ed the first of May. 



" Seed potatoes should never be cut — one large 

 whole potato is sufficient for a hill. The outside 

 skin of the potato, called the caticle, is the most 

 durable part, and retains the moisture for the use 

 of the young plant, until it is all exhausted. If 

 potatoes are cut the nutritive juice is absorbed in 

 a great measure by the earth. The evil of cut- 

 ting seed potatoes is more manifest on a dry soil 

 than if moist. It is a mistaken opinion that a 

 whole potato is not good, on account of bringing 

 the plants too near together ; for the roots will 

 yield all we seek for, spread in all directions, and 

 fill the hill. 



" Potatoes, if planted in a sandy or loamy soil 

 will yield one third more, if a table spoonful of 

 plaster be thrown upon the naked potatoes in each 

 hill, after they are covered. 



" Yard manure is very useful, if laid over the 

 potatoes in each hill, and after an inch of soil has 

 been laid upon them ; and then the hill covered 

 as deep as usual. But if the manure be laid di- 

 rectly upon the seed or under it, a drought will 

 injure the crop. 



" The most convenient method of raising pota- 

 toes is to plant them about the margin of corn 

 fields. Then a horse may turn upon them, when 

 ploughing among the corn, without injury." 



The Editor of the Delaware Advertiser, under 

 date of April 2, says that he has received from an 

 agricultural friend, a few hundred Silk Worms, 

 for gratuitous distribution. 



