334 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMET. 



SEA KALE — ITS culture. 



Mr Russell — Although I have distributed 

 sea kale seed for 15 years yet tliere is an universal 

 complaint of its failure. The cause is, that it is 

 sown too late. It drops its seeds in August, and 

 where they are then buried, they never fail of 

 growing. J send you sonic seedlings of last year, 

 to be distributed to the ourious, say 3 or 4 roots 

 to each. To a root, a crown is nectssttry — the 

 crown is known by its foliage just starting — each 

 crown will in good laud furnish 4 at le;.st next 

 fall — and twelve stools or grown jilants are enough 

 for one family, as each will give from half a 

 peck to a peck of eatable matter, and their dura- 

 tion fit for table does not exceed a fortnight. 



Yours, &c. 



Roxhury, JJpril 30. J. L. 



IND[AN CORN. 



Seed Corn is counnonly soaked before planting 

 for two purposes, to preserve it from birds and in- 

 sects, and to quicken its growth. In many cases 

 the soaking nf seed corn is, no doubt, ol' great 

 utility, but sometimes it is thought best to plant it 

 dry. There is danger in soaking the seed too 

 much, especially if it be planted early in the .seas- 

 on, as it sometimes causes the corn to rot in the 

 ground. But if plantnig a second time should be- 

 come necessary, in eonser|uence of the destruction 

 of the seed first planted, or if planting be delayed 

 till the beginning of June it will be proper that 

 tlie seed slioidd have boiling water jioured Ujion it. 

 Let il not soak more than a half a minulc, and be 



cooled speedily, and be pl.nnted before it dries. 



The corn will be forwarded in its growth by sev- 

 eral days. The seed should be covered with 

 about two inches of earth.* 



Jesse Buel, Esq. of Albany, observes that " Fail- 

 ures, and great inconvenience and loss often re- 

 sult from the seed not vegetating from its tles- 

 truction by tlie wire worm and grub, and from the 

 depredations committed upon the young plants by 

 birds and scpiirrels. As I have never suflered in 

 either of these respects, I will state my method of 

 preparing the seed. I collect, in the first place, a 

 quantity of the roots of the black hellebore, or itch 

 weed, which abounds in swamps, grows with, 

 and resembles in its habits, skunk's cabbage, ex- 

 cejrt that the leaves are narrower, longer, and 

 grow upon the seed stock : these I boil tdl I ob- 

 tain a strong decoction. I then take out the roots, 

 and add to the liquor salt petre, in the proportion 

 of four ounces to three gallons, and jiut in my sec<l 

 corn while the liquor is yet warm. Tlurty-six 

 hours is the longest period it shoulil be suffered 

 to steep, as the nitre may destroy the vegetating 

 principle of the arain. As a further )irecauiion, 

 tlie liquor is again warmed, and a gill of tar stir- 

 red in, and the seed immersed m it anew. Thus 

 prepared 1 have not lost twenty hills in four years. 

 The germinating process commences before the 

 corn is planted, and unless the grounil is too wet 

 -to grow the crop, (and it never pays the expense 

 -of culture on soils that abound in springs, or that 

 Avo naturally wet and cold,) it will continue to 

 progress. The hellebore is poisonous, and though 

 the ground may partially extract the |ioison, neith- 

 er birds nor sriuirrels will ever .listurli a dozen 

 hilU. The tar impregnates the .see.l and |M-otects 

 It from the worms. Tlie nitre and plaster, with 



* Denne's N. E. Far mer. 



NE W ENG LAND FAIIMEU, 



which latter the seed is mixed before planting, 

 combine their fertilizing properties to give vigor 

 and strength to the young jilants." 



Soaking seed corn in a solution of Glauber's 

 salts has been recommended as a preservative 

 against insects and birds, and such solution has 

 like>vise been thought to be valnubh! fur its stimu- 

 lating and fertilizing qualities. (See New England 

 Farmer, vol. v. page 316.) Copperas dissolved 

 in water has likewise been highly recommended 

 as a steq) for seed corn. A writer for the N. E. 

 Farmer (see vol iv. p. 284) stales that he " useu 

 about one and a half pounds of co;>|)cras in three 

 pecks of corn. I made the water warm, and 

 soaked the corn full 48 hours before planting, jMit- 

 ting in copperas as we used it out. It is not 

 easy to use too much copperas. I believe the 

 more the better." See likewise N. E. Farmer, 

 vol vi. p. 358. This preparation for seed corn has 

 been much used, and, so far as we have learned, 

 with uniform success. 



A writer in the Richmond Enquirer, with the 

 signature Agricultor, says " I now from a small 

 spot of poor ground, raise the greatest profusion of 

 melons, whereas, until lately, 1 could not raise 

 enough on four or five times the same space of 

 rich land. I dig square lioles ten feet ajiart, each 

 way, for watermelons, and about six feet for musk 

 melons ; for the first, two feet deeji, for the last, 

 eighteen inches deep, and eighteen inches wide. 

 The roots run but a short distance in a horizontal 

 direction, but striking dee)) into I he earth, they 

 are secure from the eflx'cts of drought; and by 

 filling the holes half full of manure, and finishing 

 them to a few inches above the surface with a 

 mixture of manure and soil, or which is better, a 

 composition of vegetables, and other substances, 

 commonly to be met with around out houses and 

 pig pens, a depth of soil, of fine and light tilth is 

 formed. I have not attempted to raise pumpkins 

 in this way, but have no doubt that it will answer 

 for them." 



The same plan may be adopted with advantage 

 and economy, as to manure, in raising Lima 

 beans, especially in cold situations. — Penn. Ag,-\. 

 Almanack. 



SWEET POTATOES. 



\Vc publish the following account of the meth- 

 od of cultivating this vegetable, which we derived 

 from a source that may be relied on. We have 

 no doubt that it would be a profitable crop for our 

 farmers to raise on a large scale. The yield is 

 equal to that of the common potato, and the price 

 is more than double. 



It is not to be expected, however, that our farm- 

 ers will comtnence the cultivation on a large scale, 

 until they have made an experiment upon a small 

 one. 



" I raised the last season a bushel and a half of 

 sweet jiotatoes from thirty bills — an average lot o( 

 them were exhibited at the Cattle Show in Mans- 

 field. They were from six to eight inches in cir- 

 cumference, and from six to twelve inches long. 

 I planted them in hills, which were about the size 

 ol a hnshfl bas,ket, and made as near together as 

 the soil would iiermit ; so that the bases of the 

 hills nearly touched each other. The sli|;s were 

 cut in two, and thre-e pieces were put in each hill, 

 about eight iiiches .Tpart, and covered an inch or 

 so with ibe fartU. 



All Ibe atlcjitioii which w.ts pn.id to tlicni nflcr^ 

 planting was merely pulling u|) the weatjs wiilil 



May 8, W 29. 



the fingers until the potatoes made their appear- 

 ancc. The vine grows with great rapidity, and 

 soon cover.-* the hills, so that no further attention ia 

 necessary. 



The best soil for the potato is a light sandy 

 loam, mannreil with compiisl, spread and plough- 

 ed in ; or a soil composed <if swamp mad and 

 sand, with oil! manure. The vegetatiim is hasten- 

 ed liy rutiiug the sli|)s. 1 have no doubt that it 

 wiuild be still better, where it is intended to plant 

 but twenty or thirty hills, to start the slips under 

 a glass liame. It was a very backward spring 

 last year, and my potato vines did nut show them- 

 selves liir more than four weeks after planting." — • 

 Tuuiitan Advocate. 



Edinburgh Revietv. — The 96th number of this 

 periodic al, repnblislied by Wells & Lilly, contains 

 artirli's on the following suhjecls. 



Lockiiart's Life of Burns — Bishop Ileber's 

 Journal — Freedom of trade and s ttlemcnt in In- 

 dia — Recovery of Lost Writings — Papyri, Ancient 

 Tachygrap!iy, Palimpsests — Americau Tariff — 

 Police of the Metropolis (London) — Causes and' 

 Prevention of Crime — Northwest Passage — Expe- 

 ditions to the Polar Sea — Im|".rtation of Foreign 

 Wocd — State of the Woollen Manufacture — Ben- 

 tham's Rationale of Evidence — Shullleworth's 

 Sermon — Religious and Temporal Knowledge. 



Seed Corn. — It is of the utmost importance to 

 the farmer to secure the first blades of C(un that 

 shoot forth, in order to obtain stalks whose fruit 

 shall come to maturity. The experiment has been 

 tried with success, of soaking the corn before 

 planting it, in a solution of Gtauher''s Sidls. Seed, 

 that had been thus prepared was jilanted by the 

 side of some of the same quality which had not 

 been soaked. The result was that the soaked 

 seed came up three or four days before the other^ 

 and remained uninjured by worms or birds, while 

 one half of the other was liestroyed. The ex- 

 pense of thus leaching the seed is a mere trifle,, 

 and we wish that some of our agricultural friends 

 would make llie experiment, that its utility maybe 

 further tested Loicell Journal. 



Sea Kale. — This garden vegetable is not gener- 

 ally known in this country, but is likely to be- 

 come an object of cultivation in various place.s. — 

 The following resolution in relation to it, was 

 adopted by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Soci- 

 ety, at a stated meeting held on the 6th ult : 



" That a premium of ten dollars, or a gold 

 medal of that value, be awarded to the person 

 who shall bring to the Philadelphia market, in the 

 year 1831, the greatest quantity (not less.tban 12 

 bunches of one pound each) and best quality of 

 Sea Kale, projierly bleached." 



Mr Joseph Brown, a mason in Boston, has ir>- 

 vented a cement for the outside of buildings, 

 which is a very good imitation of marble. It i» 

 said to resist moisture, smoke, and severity of 

 climate. In the interior of bouses it precludes the 

 necessity of oil painting, as it bears washing as 

 well as the natural marble. We have seen sev- 

 eral houses covered with tliis cement ; and wa 

 think a'strujiger might easily be deceived by the 

 beauty of its appearance. — Mass. Jtnirnat. 



Great Ox. — An ox v, as drivi-ii into this town last 

 week, which weighed when alive, 1828 lbs. and 

 1247. lbs. when c'rcsseu. We unclc;rstaiid it was 

 raised by Capt. Wcy;ii(.mh, of Bj-dipont. — Alaiiie 



Farrair, 



