B54 



NEW ENGLAND FAUjMER, 



May 20, 1S20. 



tlic trench 34 fuet 9 inches , says 



lou? ; to this I adJ one foot nine inclies more at 



occupied a space 



ug; -- — . .- .1 



eacli end of the row, for the extension ot then 

 roots. We then liave 38 feet 3 inches as the 

 ground occupied by the cut pieces, nine times as 

 Ions as that occupied by the whole potato. The 

 vvliole potato produced 6 lbs. 10 oz. ; which mul- 

 tiplied by 9 would give 59 Ihs. ]0 oz. The cut 

 potatoes produced only 46 lbs. 4 oz. leaving a de- 

 ficiency of 13 lbs. 6 oz. An acre planted in this 

 manner in rows three feet three-tenths of a foot 

 apart, would give 13,200 feet of rows. The pro- 

 duce of an acre of cut pieces yielding at the above 

 rate would be 22S bushels, at the rate of 70 11»-. 

 to the bushel. The produce of an acre of whole 

 potatoes yielding at the above rate would be 294 

 bushels, difference of crop in favor of the whole 

 potatoes 66 bushels. It would take about 6 bush- 

 els of potatoes to plant an acre in the above man- 

 ner with pieces, and 36 bushels to plant it with 

 whole potatoes, leaving a net gain of 30 bushels of 

 crop seed being deducted. This accords with an 

 experiment I made some years since, conmmni- 

 cated to you, and the rcsidt I then came to, was, 

 that if potatoes were plenty and cheap in the 

 S[)ring, I should plant whole ones — if dear, then I 

 should cut them. ' NO THEORIST. 



Ellsworth, Me. March 22, 1829. 



Remarks by the Editor.— A note from the author 

 of the above (which we hope he will excuse our 

 publishing) informs that he is about making ex- 

 periments on the subject of seed potatoes, &c., in 

 which he will " try one of seed ends, root ends, 

 middle pieces, and whole potatoes, the result of 

 which shall be communicated to you. As I am 

 neither the champ'-.m of whole, or cut potatoes, 

 seed ends, root ends or middle pieces, the experi- 

 ment shall be fairly made. One experiment, how- 

 ever, is not sufficient to establish which is the best, 

 nor even a number of experiments in the same 

 year ; different seasons, whether wet or dry may 

 give different results. Those interested in the de- 

 cision of this interesting agricultural question, arc 

 challenged to a course of experiments for three 

 years, the result to be communicated to you." 



We are much gratified in observing so much 

 enlightened zeal in so good a cause, and hope the 

 party " challenged " will not shrink from the am- 

 icable contest. 



rOK THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



WORM OR BORER IN APPLE TREES. 



Mr Fessexde.n — I have read your useful paper 

 for a number of years, and do not recollect read- 

 ing much about loorms in apple trees. I have from 

 three to four hundred apple trees on my farm, 

 princijially youi:g ones, and have taken all possible 

 I)ains to cuhivate them ; but am almost . discour- 

 aged. I should think nearly two hundred of them 

 are infested by those unwelcome visitors. If any 

 one can give .some information how to commence 

 war against them, I should be exceedingly thank- 

 ful. 



By giving tliis a place in your pajier you will 

 very much oblige one of your subscrihcrs..^ 



JOL'N WALES. 



Remarks hi/ the Editor. — The worm above men- 

 tioned, is, probably, what is called the Ajjple Tree 

 Borer, Saperda bioitata. Professor Say, of Phila- 

 delphia, in a letter to Jesse Buel, Esq. of Albany, 



You state that it leaves the pupa, and be- 

 comes perfect in the latter part of April, and that 

 the eggs are deposited beneath the surface of the 

 soil. These two circumstances ascertained, I 

 would recommend the application, early in May, 

 or the latter part of April, of common brick lay- 

 mortar, around the base of the tree, so as to 

 cover completely the part, and its inmiediate vi- 

 cinity, where the deposit is made. This preven- 

 tive was successfully employed by IMr Sholwcll, 

 against the attacks of the peach tree insect (see 

 American Fanner, vol. vi. p. 14,) and I see no 

 reason why it should not be equally efficacious in 

 the jireservation of the apple tree." — Mem. M Y. 

 Board of .Hgricullure, vol. iii. p. 479. 



Previous, however, to any attempt to guard 

 against the ravages of a future generation of these 

 iirsects, it will be necessary to extirpate those 

 which now infest the trees. The Mass. Agr. Re- 

 pos. vol. V. p. 360, contains a paper on this insect, 

 by John Prince, Esq. by which it appears that 

 worms of this kind are gotrid of " by digging round 

 the tree, and clearing av> ay the earth to the roots, 

 and then with a sharp pointed knife, a chisel, or 

 a gouge, (and a small wire to probe, if they are 

 deep in the tree,) th(!y may easily be destroyed." 

 After taking out the worms, the wounds should 

 be covered over with grafting clay and a large 

 proportion of dry wood ashes mixed, and the earth 

 then returned to the tree. The process for cleans- 

 ing the trees from borers should be performed in 

 the spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground, 

 or at least before the month of June, as the per- 

 fect insect escapes before that time. 



A writer for the New England Farmer, vol. iv. 

 p. 289, advises as follows: "The last of May, or 

 early in June, remove the earth from about your 

 trees that are attacked by the borer, and rid the 

 tree of the insect as far as you can do it without 

 lacerating the bark too much. Assoon as the body 

 of the tree is dry where the earth had covered it, 

 apply two good coats of white wash [clear time and 

 water) from the insertion of the great roots to 

 about a foot or eighteen inches above the earth 

 when it is replaced. Let this be done every suin- 

 mcr at the same time, and I think great advan- 

 tage will be derived from it. I do not mean to 

 say that you must not go higher tlian eighteen 

 inches, if you have time and money to spare ; for 

 I believe lime to be very useful if applied in the 

 form of white wash to the whole body of the tree, 

 the fust of June, or earlier, if the weather be 

 warm, as it destroys the insects, of which great 

 numbers always lodge in the cracks and openings 

 of the bark, and make their way under it, if not 

 removed in season. It is, however, jiest, if it can 

 be done, to scrape the rough bark off before the 

 wash is applied, bv which means you remove the 

 shelter as well as the insect itself, and prevent oth- 

 ers harboring in your trees." 



From Ihe Trausaclions of Ihe Lomlon Horl. Society. 



ture to lay the following experiraentB and their re- 

 sults before the Society. 



The garden I superintend is a very wet, stifT 

 soil, ujion a strong clay, and without any declivity. 

 For several years my crops of onions were nearly 

 all destroyed by a grub, and by mouldine.-ss coining 

 on about their roots at various stages of their 

 grov.lh ; sometimes when they were about the 

 size of what we call srallions, at other times when 

 they were beginning to form a bull), and even 

 when the bulb was funned. As soon as the dis- 

 ease takes place it may very readily be perceived 

 by the onion blade assuming a glaucous green col- 

 or, but very soon after changing to yellow, and 

 the leaves at the same time rather flag. I tried 

 various quarters in the garden, and found that 

 there was a diflerence in them, some of them pro- 

 ducing more of the disease than others. I also 

 tried several experiments to prevent the disease 

 takng jilace ; but none had the desired eflect, un- 

 til '. made use of charcoal dust spread upon the 

 to[ of the ground intended for onions, about half 

 an inch thick, before the seed is sown (the ground 

 being previously well dug and manured,) and 

 mccly scuffled in with the point of a sjiade, so 

 as t) "mix the top soil and charcoal dust together. 

 Notl'ing more is after required beyond managing 

 the -rop in the usual way. 



For these last six years I have had most excel- 

 lent crops of onions, and not the least appearance 

 of my infection. My first experiment I made on 

 a bed fifty feet long and five feet wide, ])rcpareil 

 in the usual way, one half the bed was dressed 

 with charcoal dust, and Ihe other half without it, 

 the part on which the dust was laid had an ex- 

 celle It cro)) of onions, it remained quite clean and 

 free from any disease, while the part to which the 

 duft was not applied was entirely destroyed by 

 tli! grub and by mouldiness. 



I subsequently resolved to try the effects of the 

 dust on a larger scale ; I therefore had the whole 

 of the quarter prepared for onions, and divided it 

 into eight beds of the same size as before ; four of 

 the beds were treated with dust, the other four re- 

 mained without it. The result was the same as 

 before, the beds where the dust was ajiplied bore 

 a good clean crop, whilst the others were affect- 

 ed. Having had two years proof of the good ef- 

 fects of charcoal dust in preventing the disease 

 from taking place upon the onion in one quarter, I 

 have since tried it upon difiereut quarters, with the 

 best success. 



The charcoal dust ought to he kept quite dry, 

 which is easily done by placing it in around heap, 

 and covering it closely over with turf till it is 

 wanted. 



I have also found that the application of char- 

 coal dust eflcctually prevents the clubbing in the 

 roots of cabbages, &c. I had been accustomed 

 to use lime fresh from the kiln for that purpose, 

 and always with consiilerable advantage ; but 

 since I have made use of the charcoal dust upon, 

 different quarters of the garden, and any of the 



On the Use of Charcoal Dust as a Top-Dressing for grassjea kind has subsequently planted there the 

 Onions, and as a Cure for the Clubbing in Cab- piyi^i^ing has entirely disappeared. I planted, some 

 bages, i-c. Communicated in a letter to the Sec- jj^^^g |^gp|.^ ^ quarter with cauliflower jilants, which 

 rctary. By Mr Tliomas Smith, Gardener to ^^^^.^^ anived at maturitv, being very much injur- 

 Matthew Bell, Esq., F. II. S. at Woolsinglon, 

 J\'orthiimberla n d. 



Sir— Having seen some papers in the Trans- 

 actions of the Hort. Society upon the cultivation 

 of onions, but none that took any notu-e of a dis- 

 ease to which these roots arc very subject, I ven- 



ed with the club. In the spring of the following 

 yeu- I had the same quarter prepared for onions, 

 "will charcoal dust upon it ; as soon as the onions 

 vve;e cleared off in October, I had it well dug 

 ovo, and planted it immediately with early cab- 

 bags, which all arrived at maturity the eusuin'' 



