526 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Mav 1. 1S29. 



but by diligently seeking for every information 

 botli in the new and old world. 



Accept the best wishes of your friend and 

 obedient servant, ALFRED BAYLIES. 



Taunton, March 20, 1826. 



The subject of the foregoing letter being deem- 

 ed by the Board of Trustees, one of importance, it 

 was voted to request tlie author to consent to its 

 publication. A coniniiltee was also appointed, 

 vs'ith reference to it, to lake into consideration and 

 report at the ne.\t animal meeting of the Society, 

 in October, the best mode of disseminating agri- 

 cultural information by books or otherwise, through 

 the county. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, MAY 1, 1829. 



SPRING WHEAT. 



Payson Williams, Esq. of Fitchhurgli, Mass. 

 gives the following account of his method of rais- 

 ing a crop of spring wheat, being twenty-eight 

 bushels and thirty quails on one acre and an 

 eighth of an acre, for which he receiveil the Mas- 

 sachusetts Agricultural Society's premium of forty 

 dollars, Oct. 1819. 



The land on which the wheat was sown, was 

 in 1818 planted with potatoes (for one acre of 

 which I obtained your premium) which after har- 

 vesting was |)loughe(l a short time before the set- 

 ting in of winter. In the spring of 1819, as ^oon 

 as practicable, (after spreading on six loads of fer- 

 mented maniu'e) it was again cross-ploughed. — 

 April 26 sowed on the furrows two bushels of 

 what is known by the iiame of the Gi'.mnn wheat, 

 (which 1 procured of the lion. P. C Brooks, of 

 Boston) on one acre and twenty square rods, and 

 cross-harrowed tlie same, foilowing the harrow at 

 the same time with the clover seed, which in turn 

 was cross-harrowed in. The \vheat before sowing 

 was washed in water until perfectly clean, then im- 

 mersed in a liciuor, or ley maile in the proportion 

 of 4 pi[its of water to every pound of wood ashes, 

 then add 1 pound of uiislncked lime to every bush- 

 el of seed, as recommended by M. Dn HauKl. — 

 When the wheat plant was out of t!ie ground two 

 inches, I sowed on a pirt of the field plaster of 

 Paris, at the rate often bushels to tlie acre, which 

 I never have been able to discover has had the 

 least etfect. (I had the like ill success in the use of 

 a ton, on various parts of the farm.) The amount 

 of the wheat by actual measure was twentj-eight 

 bushels and thirty quarts. It may not be impmp- 

 er here to state, that on the most close examina- 

 tion, I could not discover one kernel of smutty 

 grain in the whole crop ; a;id had it not been for 

 the ravages of the grasshojiper in this field (in 

 many parts of which they cut off one-fourth part 

 of the heads, which were of cours ; lost,) there 

 would probably have been thirty-four bushels. 1 

 esteem this kind of wheat a valuable acipiisition 

 to this part of the country. The grain weighing 

 sixty-two ))ouiuls to the bushel, and yielding at the 

 mills in this quarter, forty-five |)oun(ls of flour, 



equal, I lliink, to the best Baltimore -.Mass. »%r. 



Kep. vol. vi. pp. 32, .33. 



POTATOES. 



If the land on which you plant potatoes is in- 

 fested with grubs, or wire worms, it may be well 

 to strew quick-lime over it, at the rate of uhoui 

 two bushels to the acre, iimnciliately after plant- 



ing. Or, where lime cannot conveniently be had, 

 it has been recommended to use salt, at the rate 

 of about a bushel and an half to the acre. These 

 substances maybe strewed over the hills, after the 

 potatoes are planted, and well covered, but should 

 not be put into the hills, in such a manner as to 

 come in contact with the seed potatoes. 



A letter from AVilliara Moody to the lion. Josi- 

 ah Quincy, published in the 4th volume of the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, page 353, 

 recommends sea sand as an antidote against the 

 wire worm, and, has no doubt it would prove ef- 

 ficacious against other insects, which infest pota- 

 toes, while growing. This writer says, " I am 

 persuaded, from experience, that sea sand, put 

 under corn or potatoes with manure, or spread on 

 the land, will go far, if not wholly to the total des- 

 truction of those destructive worms [wire worms] 

 on which nothing else seems to have any effect. 

 It has a beneficial eftiiot spread on land before 

 ploughing, or even after land is planted with corn 

 or potatoes ; not only to destroy the wire worm 

 and other insects, but to increase the crop. Whh 

 my neighbors a load of sea sand is considered 

 preferable to a load of their best manui-e, to mix 

 in with their common barn manure, or to spread 

 on their gardens and low flat land." 



Blr Moody likewise says in the same letter, 

 " late planted potatoes, which are gathered in be- 

 fore ripe are far the best for seed the next year. — 

 If kept in a dry warm place in a cellar, they will 

 be much earlier, and likely to produce more abun- 

 dantly the next year, and will be as good for use 

 the following spring, though they may not be so 

 good in the fall." 



Mr Moody's opinion relative to planting late, or 

 unri|)e potatoes is corroborated by an article, orig- 

 inally published in the Gardener's Magazine, and 

 reimblisbed in tlie N. E. Farmer, vol. v. p. 409, in 

 which it is stated that " the ripe potato, having 

 performed all its operations, becomes more inert ; 

 Init the circulation of the sap in the unripe tuber 

 having been stopped, it starts more readily, and 

 with greater vigor when jilanted : — the one seems 

 to die, worn out with age, the other seems acci- 

 dentally to have fallen asleep, and when awoke 

 possesses an unspent vigor and energy." 



continues to bear folly every year — fruit of enor- 

 mous size — ripens in November — of a rich, mealy, 

 mellowness — a good pie apple, and a great bear- 

 er. 



" No. 2. Scions from the thin skin apple tree, so 

 palled — a young tree — bears a yellow apple of a 

 very thin skin, and an excellent fruit for the table 

 — ripens in October. 



Communications were received, and read, from 

 John Pkince, Esq. of Roxbur)', and Gen. Ak- 

 MisTEAD, on engrafting the foreign Sweet Water 

 Grapes into American stocks, which will be pub- 

 lished in the next New England Fainier. — Like- 

 wise the Report of the Committee on Fruit Trees, 

 Fruits, &.C. 



Votes of thanks to Dr Hos.ick, and the other 

 gentlemen, who presented the above articles to 

 ihe Society were passed. 



MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SO- 

 CIETY. 



At a special meeting of this Society, on Tues- 

 day last, for the admission of members and other 

 busines.-i, the following donations were receive<l, 

 and distributed among the members. 



From Dr S. L. Mitchkll, of New York, a 

 small package of seeds of ornamental flowers, 

 shrubs, and fruits, recently received by him from 

 Caraceas. 



Fnim Doct. IIosack, President of Ihe New 

 York llortieultural Society, a box of kitchen gar- 

 den vegetable seeds, including twenty new vari- 

 eties of j)eas, beans, and squashes, received by 

 him from Mexico. 



From Mr Wm Wilson, of New York, a pack- 

 age of seeds of the large Apple Head Lrttuce, 

 (heads of which were exhibited in the New York 

 markets last season, which weighed 4 lbs. 4 ozs. 

 each) —the New York premium Lettuce, and some 

 fine Green Fleshed Melons. 



From Mr E. Wight, of Dedham, scions of two 

 varieties of fine native Apples, described by him, 

 in an accompanyinsr letter as follows : 



"No. 1.. Scions from a very old tree, which still 



SUMACH. 

 The Vermont Chronicle, a paper printed in 

 Windsor, Vt, after adverting to the qnere on the 

 cultivation of sumach, published page 2.53 of our 

 current volume, observes that " There are in this 

 region two varieties of Sumach. The larger 

 grows sometimes to the height of 20 feet. Its 

 berries are of a paler red ; and its leaves and 

 tender shoots have a hairy appearance. The wood 

 is of a bright yellow, and is used for dying that 

 color, and for inlaid ornaments in cabinet work. — 

 The leaves and berries are sometimes used for 

 dying black, but are inferior to the small kind. — 

 This is seldom more than about six feet high, the 

 berries of a deeper and brighter reil, the leaves of 

 a deeper green, and the young stalk covered with. 

 a down, such as is fiiund on plums, and some kinds 

 of apples. This, we believe, is the kind used in 

 tanning. On light, loamy, or sandy soils, it grows 

 spontaneously. When mown yearly, it springs up 

 again. In ploughed lands, it is sometimes trouble- 

 some, as every piece of the root cut fiff by thn 

 plough, becomes a separate plant. Whosoever 

 will it'.form our fanners how they may reap a 

 profit from it, will confer a favor on them. A de- 

 coction of the leaves is said to make very superior 

 writing ink ; but we have never proved it." 



[The following extracts from English papers, 

 were furnished by a gentleman who will please to 

 accept of our thanks, and will much oblige us by 

 the continuance of his favors.] 



Prtservaiion of Lambs from Vermin. — An oint- 

 ment made of gunpowder, brimstone,and common 

 grease, applied behind the necks of lambs, will in- 

 fallibly preserve them from all kinds of vermin. — 

 The (pianlity requisite is so small, that sixpenny- 

 woi th is suliicient to dress two hundred lambs. — 

 Camhnan. 



Destruction of Slugs. — The Sussex Advertiser 

 says the slugs are committing extensive ravages 

 among the wheat. The following is rccoimnend- 

 ed as an efi'ectnal mode of destroying them :-— 

 "Take five quarters of fresh lime in the morning, 

 put it down in some clean place, and throw eight 

 or ten pails of water over it, which will slack by 

 the evening, then take it up, and sow it betwixt 

 six and nijie o'clock in the evening with shovels. 

 This will sow three acres, kill the slugs anil re- 

 vive the wheat, so much so, that it is scarcely to 

 be distinguished from that which has not been in- 

 fested with the slug." 



