858 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



May 29, 1823. 



tors, and wliich offers them no prosiicct of iiiilo- 

 pcndence. The city is crowded with sliopkeep- 

 ers, and there is no branch of what may be called 

 trade, that is not overdone. If a young man ob- 

 tains credit fur a small stock of dry goods, or hard 

 ware, or groceries, ten chances to one he is un- 

 able to meet the frst payment, and if he should 

 be so fortunate as to have turned his stock and 

 made a small profit, by the revolution, the second 

 or third period of payment finds him unprepared, 

 and he must either clear out (as the phrase is) and 

 seek a living at New York, or some other remoter 

 place, or he must write " Agent," under his name 

 on the sign, and struggle with his debts and his 

 bad luck a httle longer. The result of this latter 

 arrangement needs not be told. Everybody knows 

 how few of those who /ai7 ever recover from the 

 shock which broken credit produces, and how 

 hard it is for an " agent " of this description ever 

 to recover the character of principal. 



How happy would it be for hundreds and 

 thousands of our young men, if they could be per- 

 suaded that a few acres of ground are a better 

 capital than as many thousands of dollars, i)ro- 

 ciu-ed by writing their names at tlic bottom of a 

 negotiable note ; and what years of misery might 

 be saved if men would believe that a dollar actu- 

 ally earned by honorable and healthful labor, as 

 farmers and niechanicks, is worth a hundred in 

 prospect to be gained in trade and speculation. — 

 Bost. Cour. 



JYEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, MAY 29, 1829. 



A COMPOSITION FOR GRAFTING. 



In our paper of the 22diust. page 337 we gave 

 recipes for several compositions to be used in 

 grafting, but were not then in possession of the 

 following, which we are assured has, for some 

 time, been used by Messrs Winships, at their val- 

 uable nursery, in Brighton, and by ti;cai prefer- 

 red to any other. 



3 parts rosin ; 3 parts bees' wax ; 1 piirt tallow. 

 Melted and mixed while hot. 



SPONGE BLACKING. 



A friend has given us the following, as a good 

 method to make sponge blacking. Take [)ulver- 

 Lsed shellac, dissolve it in alcohol, in suiiicient 

 quantities to give it a proper consistency — then 

 color it with ivory black. It is important that the 

 shellac should bo well dissolved ; if necessary, 

 giving it a gentle heat will hasten it. 



DANDELION.S. 



A correspondent of the Springfield Journal says, 

 " Last summer I transplanted dandelions in June. 

 This spring I have cut them three or four times 

 a week, and must say they are a very superior ar- 

 ticle for the table — they occupy little room, and 

 require very little attention. I njake this state- 

 ment now, as this is the season for transplanting 

 them, and I know of no better green, nor anythinu 

 more profitable for a small portion of a garden — 

 they arc planted about six inches apart. 



FOR THK NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



DISEASED PEAR TREES. 



Mr Fessenden — You may recollect my In- 

 quiries respecting a paper sent you in October 

 fast ; and iny statement that it was a treatise on 



Disease of Pear Trees, containing new discoveries, 

 I had made the preceding sunnner on the origin 

 and progress of that formidable and incurable dis- 

 order — or of a new one more destrin-tive to the 

 efforts of those engaged in a primary cultivation of 

 this valuable tree. Having destroyed the min- 

 utes I had taken, I felt a reluctance at complying 

 with your request of tasking my memory in a new 

 draft. On noticing a recent conmiunication from 

 my intelligent and scientific friend, E. Hunt, Esq. 

 of Northampton, on this subject, some prominent 

 facts occurred to my recollection which may be 

 important to him, and others, engaged in investi- 

 gating this deplorable evil. In addition to these I 

 am now enabled to give a more extended his- 

 tory. 



Some time, probably in July last, after support- 

 ing the stem of a pear tree for the purpose of 

 trimming it, I found my fingers had been in con- 

 tact with some viscous substance. On examina- 

 tion I found the wood enveloped in a fluid, which 

 to the touch and taste resembled diluted honey. 

 The leaves were also partially coated and glossy. 

 On some the exudation was so abundant as to ad- 

 mit a collection on the point of my knife. By an 

 exposure to the sun the granulation gave a rough- 

 ness to the bark. The leaves becatne black in 

 the aftected spots, and gradually died and fell. — 

 The wood by a longer exposure to the atinos- 

 phere resembled a leafless stick exposed to the 

 smoke of a lamp. The bark was so embued that 

 neither torrents of rain, nor the friction of a wet 

 cloth could restore the natural appearance. This 

 disease, in a moderate degree, is known under 

 the appellation of Honey Dew ; but so rarely oc- 

 curs, and with so little apparent injury, that I know 

 not that it is to be found i!i the nomenclature of 

 the horticulturist. The effect of so copious an ef- 

 fusion from the life-current of vegetation was to 

 be apprehended. Rows of trees which a year 

 since were in a luxuriant state of vegetation, seem 

 now to be striken with death. The least vigor- 

 ous have perished root and branch. Others that 

 had a healthy root, are starting again beneath the 

 surface. Some, hut a little discolored, have been 

 relieved by a gentle topping : but the sickly as- 

 pect of a great proportion of them demanded a 

 bolder jnactice. I have cut them down to a 

 healthy shoot, taking care that the |)lace where 

 severed is perfectly sound. An abundance of 



healthy looking sprouts are in vigorous growth 



Mr IIo.M mentions the Brown Beurre as most 

 particularly aflected. Of the budded and grafted 

 fruit ill my nursery the Summer Bergamot has 

 suffered most. A Golden Beurre, for many years 

 in bearing, was the only adult tree on which I no- 

 ticed the disease. Its foliage was conspicuously 

 glittering in the sun. The leaves perished, and 

 were prematurely cast : and the fruit fell either 

 unripe or vapid. As the trunk appeared to be 

 healthy, my only prospect for saving it was in cut- 

 ting off the branches. The indications are favor- 

 able ; still I consider it a doubtful case. 



How far this disease of the nursery has any af- 

 finity with the pestilence which has destroyed the 

 adult, and which for some years has called forth 

 so many equally unavailing investigations and re- 

 grets, I shall not prestime to determine. Still, 

 however, I may hazard a remark that some of the 

 leading symptoms are common to both cases, — 

 There is, however, one very noticeable difference. 

 In the disease most noticed and discussed, the leaf 

 and fruit p^'-ish and remain on the branch-^-tn this 



ihey both lucmaturcly fall. More minute and 

 careful examinations must settle the question. 

 Most cordially your friend and serv't, 

 Worcester, Marj 25, 1829. O. FISKE. 



SAFETY BLANKET. 



Mr Caleb Pierce, of this town, has invented a 

 fire screen, which he has exhibited in Boston, to 

 the satisfaction of every one, who has seen it. It 

 is merely a canvas sheet to cover the roof, or 

 the sides of a building exposed to the fire. The 

 sheet on the upper edge, is provided with a can- 

 vas tube, into which water is thrown by the en- 

 gine hose, and as the water percolates through, it 

 keeps the canvas so wet as to resist the effects of 

 fire. — Salem Observer. 



CHEESE. 



The milk is universally set for cheese as soon 

 as it comes from the cow. 



The management of the curd depends on the 

 kind of cheese ; thin cheese requires the least la- 

 bor and attention. 



Breaking the curd is done with the hand and 

 dish. The finer the curd is broken the better, par- 

 ticularly in thick cheeses. The best color of tliis 

 kind of cheese is that of bees wax, which is pro- 

 duced by Annotta, rubbed into the milk after it is 

 warmed. The dairy woman is to judge of the 

 quality by the color of the milk, as it differs much 

 ill strength. The runuet is prepared by taking 

 some whey and salting till it will bear an egg ; it 

 is then suffered to stand over night, and in the 

 morning it is skimmed and racked off clear; to 

 this is added an equal quantity of water brine, 

 strong as the whey, and into this mixture, some 

 sweet briar, thyme, or some other sweet herbs, also 

 a little black jiepper and salt petre ; the herbs are 

 kept in the brine three or four days, after which 

 it is decanted clear from them. Into six quarts of 

 this liquor four large calves' bags, or more proper- 

 ly called calves' stomachs, are put. No part of 

 the preparation is heated, and frequently the 

 calves' bags are only steeped in cold salt and 

 water. Turning tlie milk differs in different dai- 

 ries — no two dairy women conduct exactly alike. 



Setting the milk too hot inclines the cheese to 

 heave, and cooling it with cold water produces a 

 similar effect. The degree of heat varies accord- 

 ing to the weather. The curd when formed is 

 broken with what is called a treple cheese knife. 

 The use of this is to keep the fat in the cheese ; it 

 is drawn the depth of the curd two or three times 

 across the tub, to give the whey an opportunity of 

 ruaning oft' clear ; after a few minutes the knife 

 iSfmore freely used, and the curd is cut into small 

 pieces like chequers, and is broken fine in the 

 whey with the hand and a wooden dish. The 

 curd being allowed about half an hour to settle, 

 the whey is laded oft' with the dish, after it is 

 pretty well separated from the curd. 



It is almost an invariable practice to scald the 

 curd. The mass is first broken very fine, and 

 then the scalding whey is added to it and stirred a 

 few minutes ; some make use of hot water in pref- 

 erence to whey, and it is in both cases heated ac- 

 cording to the nature of the curd ; if it is soft, 

 the whey or water is used nearly boiling ; but if 

 hard, it is only used a little hotter than the hand. 

 Afler the curd is thoroughly mixed with the hot 

 stuff, it is suffered to stand a few minutes to settle, 

 and is then separated as at the first operation.—. 

 After the scalding liquor is separated, a vat, or 



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