Vol.VII.— No.43. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



339 



vigor, a circiiinstaiice which liad not occiirreii for ' pains to observe the difTerence. In the American | team is swamped, the forward oaltl 

 several preceding years. Tlie next season, as j mo.ie, the oxbow in a strong dranght, presses -.vitl 



soon as the young caterpillars were discovered, 1 great force, against parts that are tender and 

 commenced llie same opuratioiis with the lilxe [ (leshy, against the passage for the breath, and 

 success, and tlie foliage was tlicn so fine that I against bones and joints of but secondary strength, 

 had very few bitten leaves, and the whole of my I This pressure must, in some measure, affect the 

 orchard put on such a perfectly different appear- wind ; and if it do not excoriate, it must render 

 ance, tliat persons, who were iu the habit of see-, fiesh and skin tender ; and we actually observe 

 ing it two or three times in the year were aston- : the animals after resting awhile, sliriiikiiig from 

 ished at the change. The *oi:soqucnce of thus the touch of the bow, as a blistered breast from 

 preventing the destruction of the leaves, was a the touch of the nurse. Jf tiiis is a correct state- 

 most abundant crop of fruit, (from 3 to 4000 ment, it will account for the greater indocility of 

 bushels,) and my trees are now in a most prornis- the American oxen, and for, wliat I believe to be 

 ing stiito for as great a bloom as ever. The time the honest fact, their drawing less than those 

 for using the j)ovvder is in the dew of the morn- ■ of Cuba. 



ing, or. whenever the leaves are damp; and if The yoke, in the Spanish mode, is made fast to 

 there should be a gentle breeze, sufficient to carry the horns near the root behind, so that it does 

 the dust obliquely through the head of each tree, not |)lay backward and forward, and give to the 

 it is the more quickly performed. Under favora- oxen, a sunilar, but better chance of backing, (as 

 ble circumstances of this sort, I found that three in teamster's phrase, it is called.) I have lieen 

 men, provided with the powder in a large box on astonished at the power of these oxen, in holding 

 a liglu wheelbarrow-, could dress from two to back. There is a short hill, in one of the streets 

 three thousand trees in a, day. When the wind of this city, at an angle, nearly of 45°. Stand- 

 changed I had the trees dusted on the other side, ing at the foot of it, I saw a cart and oxen ap- 

 Although used ever so freely, no perscm need fear preaching at the top with three hogshea<ls of 

 any injury from the caustic quality of the lime on molasses, and the driver sitting on tlie forward 



e may draw 

 them out. They have little to do with chains, but 

 draw by a jiole, hxed at each end with ropes, or 

 thongs of leatlier. 



From Fessenden's New American Gardener. 



the nujst delicate, fresh expanded foliage; it is 

 only prejudicial to insects of all kinds, and to dead 

 vegetable matter. 



1 use the lime for the trees the first time when 

 the bunches of blossom buds are separating, but 

 the corollas not expanded ; at this jieriod many 

 small caterpillars hatch and take shelter among 

 the foot stalks, and eat into the young fruit, and 

 I believe this is the time when the depredation 

 on all fruit commences, though it does not show 

 itself till nnicli later peiiods. The young shoot 

 buds are nuich later, but the dusting preserves 

 them in their infancy. After the blossom is over, 

 and when the foliage is exjianded, one or two 

 more dustings may be applied to advantage, and 

 the leaves will be ])reserved in good health and 

 beauty. If rain happens shortly after the dust- 

 ing, the condition of the caterpillars is not much 

 better, as the lime water is as prejudicial to them 

 as the powder; but those which either escape, or 

 are fresh hatched, must have the powder applied 

 again as soon as possible, or they will prey on the 

 fresh washed foliase. 



cask. The driver did not so much as leave his 

 (lerch ; the oxen went straight and fearless over 

 the |)itch of the hill, and it seemed as if they 

 nmst be crushed to death. The animals s(piatted 

 like a dog, and rather slid, than walked to the 

 bottom of the hill. Have we any animals that 

 could have done it? And if they could, have we 

 any docile enough to have done it with the 

 driver in the cart.' Thus superiour is this mode 

 of yoking in holding back the load in difficult 

 pluc^js. 



It gives them still more ilecisive advantage, in 

 drawing. A fillet of canvas is laid on the front 

 below tlie horns ; and over this fillet the cords 

 pass, and the animal presses against the most in- 

 vulnerable part of his frame; his head, Ids neck, 

 his whole frame are exerted in the very manner 

 in which he exerts his mighty strength in com- 

 bat. It is the natural way, therefore, of availing 

 yourself of this powerful and patient animal to 

 the best advantage. 



There is a third peculiarity in managing the ex 



in the 



51)anish mode, of the convenience of 



MAY. 



You may now sow most or all the articles men- 

 tioned in the Calendar for the last month, either 

 as first or successive crops. Plant your cucum- 

 bers, and melons, for a general crop in the ope^i 

 ground about the 20tli ; also squashes, pumkins, 

 ami gourds ; likewise, Indian corn, for an early 

 garden crop. Plant your bush-beans and pole- 

 beans, fir your principal crop, at any time nhea 

 most convenient during the month. It is recotn- 

 mtiuled to set the poles, and then plant the beam 

 round the poles. Weed and thin your advancing 

 crops of radishes. Transplant radishes fiir seed. 

 Sow succession-crops of spinage. Carrots may- 

 be sown in the eastern States in the forepart of 

 i the month. AVeed and thin beets, carrots, parS- 

 1 nips, onions, early turnips. Sow more turnips of 

 the early kinds for crops in succession. Such 

 sowing is best performed in the first week of the 

 month, in order that the roots may have time to 

 grow to a good size before they are overtaken by 

 summer heat and drought. Early Califlower 

 plants, as they advance in growth, should have 

 earth drawn up about their stem, and be watered 

 in dry weather. You will do well to sow peas 

 for succession-crops, at least twice this month. 

 You may set out or transplant early lettuce. Sow 

 as m.-iuy of the sorts of small salading as you may 

 need for market or family consumption. Now is, 

 perhaps, as proper a time us any in the year for 

 pruning fiuit trees. The season for pruning is 

 immediately before, or commensurate with, the 

 rising of the sap. Let your du'cks have constant 

 employment as vermin pickers. Attack insects 

 by s|)rinkling over them by means of a syringe, 

 Avatering-pot, or garden engine, simple water, 

 soa])-suus, decoctions of tobacco, of elder, &c. &c. 



The canister which I have used is twelve ; which, 1 am better satisfied, than of the human- 

 inches long, seven inches wide at its broadest, j ity. The cartilage between the nostrils is perfo- 

 and four inches on its narrowest part, and the ban- rated, and a rope is fastened to the nose of each 

 die is five inches and a half long ; the top of the j animal, and they are governed by the reins, like 

 handle is fitted with a cap, which is put on when | horses, and are stopped, or turned to the right or 

 the lime is to be thrown on low trees ; but when j left, or forced backward, with all imaghiahle 

 high trees are to be operated upon the cap is re- ease ; I have seen no animal so fierce or sutlen, as 

 moved, and n pole of sufficient length to roach tie not to be pliable as alamb, by this check rein. The 



height required is inserted into the handle. 



[Kxiract from " Lellers from Cuba," ByDrAsiEL Abbot. 

 A work lately published by Bowles & Dearborn, Boston,] 



CUBA OXEN. 



The oxen in this island are not large, compared 

 with those of our own country, but irowerl'ul, and 

 tame, and docile, as the Boston truck horses ; in 

 fact they are used in the city for the same pur- 

 poses as those excellent animals. You may some- 

 times see a mule in a dray or cart, but usuallv the 

 trucking of INIatarizas is performed by Cuba orei. 



Their harnessing strikes me oddly, but I real'y 

 am convinced that they can draw more, and wit'i 

 much less inconvenience to themselves, than if 

 harnessed in the American mode. I have takeni belongs to bad roads— that when the^rcst of the 



drivers seldom speak to them ; they intimate their 

 pleasure by the rein, and quicken tlieir ])ace by 

 the goad, but never strike them. Tiiey, in gener- 

 al, move quick ; I have often seen tliem on the 

 trot; and next to horses, they seem the best dis- 

 ciplined animals I have seen in the service of man. 

 If the force of habit and prejudice could so far 

 give way in our country, as to make the exjieri- 

 menf, I think Yankees, «ith all their shrewdnes.s, 

 might take a valuable lesson from Sjianiards. 



In a team of four or six oxen, the forward pair, 

 usually drawn by a long cord, with space between 

 them and the rest of the team, for another pair. 

 This appears uncouth, and ordinarily is, I should 

 think, a disadvantage. The reason given for it. 



The argument that a Rail Road would be inju- 

 rious to the ietercsts of the people, by furuisbiiig 

 a facility for the introduction of the agricultural 

 products of other States into our own, proves too 

 much. If good at all, it is good to the greatest 

 extent, and then it proves that every improvement 

 in our great j)uldic highway is injurious to the 

 State — that, so far from annually repairing the 

 roads, for instance, leading to Boston, it would be 

 better to expend the same money and labor, to 

 render them as diflicult to be travelled over as 

 jiossibie, and thereby prevent the products of New 

 York, and of other State.s, whicli reach Boston by 

 water, from finding their way into the country. 

 This may be the true course to make a people 

 rich and prosperous, for aught we know ; but it is 

 a new doctrine, to which we think the shrewd 

 yeomanry of Massachiisotts will not very readily 

 yield their assent. — ff'orcester Yeoman. 



A speedy relief from the painful ejects of scald.?, 

 or burns.— It is simply by dijiping a cloth well in 

 tar, and binding it lightly on the part affected : it 

 will give almost immediate reh-f from the most 

 violent pain, and is recommended to be kept iu 

 the house by every family having yoimg childrcji. 

 — .V. H. Journal, 



