398 



NIAV ENGLAND FARMER, 



ujtMoa mKsrTf' is r wr a ^miL t a csTaim 



July 3, 1829. 



Remcdu for the Bilt of a RaltUsnake.— The last I altributeil to it. We know it is often api>lVed to 

 number of the "Transactions of the Albany In- 1 the tender leaves of vegetables, trees, &c. to .les 



stitute," just published, contains a pap"^'' '"^" ''"^ 

 Uindavia graniUfora, as a remedy fo/ the bite of 

 a rattlesnake, by James G. Tracy, tl'.at is worthy 

 of some special notice. The writer furnishes the 

 concurring opinions of several gentlemen as con- 

 clusive proof that this plant is the same with that 

 nsed by one Hank Johnson, an adopted Indian 

 hunter, who accompanied the connnissioners for 

 settling the boundary line between the United 

 States and the British Possessions, In 1820. — 

 During this service, IlaiA performed several 

 cures with this plant. It has a general resem- 

 blance to Solomon's Seal ; leaves alternate, smooth, 

 and perforated by the stem, which is forked near 

 the top ; bearing one, rarely two, drooping lilia- 

 ceous yellow flowers early in May. — Bosion Trav- 

 ellci: 



lUMii i wiv. ' i iMi Ti f ^ft ' ■ ^ I I 1 1 1 1 II f' ■'■ajaj-i «Ay^jjujj ' ^Ji i hJi.*.,^njtMJu i ai«mM«B UJJ4aj 



I^EW ENGLAND FARMER. 

 BOSTON, FllIDAY, JULY 3, 1829. 



DEC0CTIC7N OF TOBACCO FOR SOAKING 

 MELON SEEDS, &c. 

 In our paper of April 17, 1829, page 310 of 

 the current volume, wc published a communication, 

 in which I\Ir " A. M. T." states in substance 

 that he had learned from a person in Northampton, 

 that soaking melon seed 24 hours in a decoction 

 of tobacco, immediately previous to planting them 

 would prove a preservative against bugs. The 

 gentleman who favored us v.')th the intimation is 

 a merchant, of Boston, who owTis a farm and su- 

 perintends its cultivation in the neighborhood of 

 this city ; and whose note or assertion we are 

 willing to indorse to any amount. The next news, 

 on this subject, with uliich we wcro favored, was 

 the following paragraph, which appeared in the 

 Boston Traveller of the 16th ult. 



" The Editor of the Moutpelier Watchman has 

 tested the experiment recommended by the New 

 England Farmer, to secure certain annual vines 

 from bugs, by soaking the seeds in a decoction of 

 tobacco. His success was overwhelming : the to- 

 bacco had got th.o start of the bugs ; the seeds 

 and vines also remain snug under ground." — 

 Someiliing of tl;e same sort, has, we are told, been 

 published in several other nev,'spapers, thougli this 

 is all that we have seen on the subject. 



If the experiment has been tried, and found 

 not to succeed, it is pro[)er th.it the trial and fail- 

 ure should be made as public as possible. But 

 one experiment is not sufficient to " lest " the value 

 of any proposed improvement. Perhaps the seeds 

 of our Montpelier friend were too old to vege- 

 tate ; — or were planted on ground too wet ; — or 

 were soaked too long ; — or were planted too early 

 in the season, or sonic other evil cause existed of 

 which the decoction of tobacco was as innocent 

 as the Editor of the N. E, Farmer, or his friend, in 

 recommending the trial of it. 



But the i)roposed improvement is not a matter 

 of merriment. This undertaking to reward with 

 a sneer, a disinterested eiTort to benefit the com- 

 munity, is not particularly jiraiscworthy. An at- 

 tempt to do good, even if unsuccessful, is not a fit 

 subject for satire. Besides we are not yet con- 

 vincpd, nor shall we be by any degree of ridicule, 

 if ever so " overwhelming," that our tobacco-de- 

 coction is not entitled to all the good qualities, as 

 an anti-hugmalical preparation, which have been 



troy slugs, &c. without injuring tlie vegetation, 

 but with sure destruction to the in.sects. Snuft", 

 or the jiowder of tobacco, is also used to save 

 i/o-ung and tender plants from being injured by in- 

 sects. We doubt whether a decoction can be rini- 

 dered stronger, or more poisonous to vegetation 

 than the pulverised leaves, and if snuft" does no in- 

 jury to tender plants, we can scarcely suppose that 

 a watery extract from the leaves of tobacco will 

 destroy seeds. 



But we have facts as well as arguments at our 

 service in this case. The gentleman, who origin- 

 ally gave us information respecting the utility of 

 the infusion of tobacco leaves for the purpose 

 above mentioned, says he has tried it the present 

 season for the following sorts of vines, viz. winter 

 squash, cucumber, water melon, musk melon, and 

 cantaleupe. That his seeds having been soaked 

 24 hours, all grew, the vines arc all flourishing, 

 and no insect has yet infested them. We hope 

 that in due time he will give' us further state- 

 ments on the subject, sanctioned with his name. 

 It is thought by some that the vines will not 

 acquire or retain enough of the flavor of the to- 

 bacco with which the seeds were imbued to deter 

 the bugs from their depredations. But it is only 

 while plants are very young that the insects injure 

 them, and in the first stage of their growth their 

 nourishment is principally derived from the |>arent 

 seed, and of course will taste of tobacco. English 

 writers have given the following as a method of 

 preserving turnips from the fly. « To a quart of 

 turnip seed add one ounce of brimstone finely 

 powdered, putting both in a bottle, large enough 

 to aflTord room to shake them well together every 

 day for four or five days previous to sowing." If 

 impregnaiing turnip seed vvitli brimstone will ]>re- 

 scrve the plants originating from such seed from 

 the fly, it is at least possible that soaking melon 

 seeds with tobacco water might preserve the young 

 vines which spring from such seeds from bugs. — 

 And if a decoction of tobacco is usefiil in preserv- 

 ing melon vines from bugs, it is not unlikely that 

 its use may be extended to the [ireservation of 

 wheat from the Hessian fly, &c. &c. This, how- 

 ever, is conjecture, not assertion, and if we are 

 wrong in our anticipations, we do not think it 

 worth the while for paragraph-mongers to under- 

 take to be witty thereupon. Abortive attenii)ts 

 at wit are altogether disgusting, and even genuine 

 wit when misplaced or misappheil. is proof posi- 

 tive that its author wants good sense ; and an 

 ounce of good sensfi is worth more than all the 

 wit that ever stung in epigrams, sparkled in .inac- 

 reontics, or blazed in senatorial effusions of elo- 

 quence. 



filthy water, and yet seem very well satisfied with 

 taking a substance into our lungs which is fit only 

 to support the respiration of reptiles accustonieii 

 to " feed on the vapors of a dunghill." And this 

 we suffer, while the remedy is at hand, and almost 

 as cheap as the scrapings of the street ! 



The walls of cellars, dairy rooms, sitting rooms, 

 and indeed of all apartments, which are much oc- 

 cui>ied by human beings should be well coated 

 with good caustic lime white wash, at least once 

 a year. The time for its apjdication should be 

 just before the heats of summer become fervent 

 and oppressive. " In London," says Wilhch's 

 Encyc. " a Society is organised for the Cure and 

 Prevention of Contagious Fevers in the Metropolis," 

 and they have appropriated a certain sum of 

 money for purifying the tainted habitations of the 

 poor. Their method consists simply in washing 

 the walls of the room with hot lime, which will 

 render the place perfectly sweet." 



In the villages of New England, the practice of 

 wliite washing the walls and ceiling of dwelling 

 apartments is very common ; in cities less so. — 

 The walls of the apartments of our more opulent 

 citizens are usually decorated with costly paper, 

 or something else, which would be spoiled by 

 white washing; and if they |)refer decorations to 

 health, they must submit to the unwholesome an- 

 noyance of a contaminated atmos))here. 



ON THE USE OF LIME FOR PRESERVING 

 HEALTH. 



Lime as an antidote to contagion, a preservative 

 against infection, and a means of purifying vaidts, 

 is" not so much used as it should be. By means 

 of this simple but poweri"ul agent, together with a 

 due attention to cleanliness and ventilation, the air 

 in jails, hospitals, shii)s, &c. may be rendered com- 

 paratively sweet and salubrious. A quantity of it, 

 while hot and quick, sifted every day or two into 

 the vaidts of back houses, would greatly contribute 

 to comfort and health. 



We shoidd think it a very serious matter if we 

 were forced to eat tainted provisions, or drink 



JULY. 



Clean and prepare your ground where your 

 early crops of peas, spinach, cauliflowers, and cab- 

 bages grow, and all other vacant spots, to culti- 

 vate thereon such plants as are proper to supply 

 your table, in autumn, and winter, with later- 

 grown productions. You may continue to sow 

 crops of small salailing every eight or ten days, 

 as dire cteil in former months ; but they .should 

 now be sown on shady borders, or else bo shaded 

 by mats, occasionally, from the mid-day sun, and 

 frequently watered, both before and after the 

 plants appear above ground. You may now plant 

 out your celery plants in trenches, unless you have 

 already perlbrme<l that operation, as directed last 

 month. About the middle of July, and from that • 

 time to the eiul of the first week in .lugiist, you 

 nun sow turnips. Thin and ti-ans[)lant such let- 

 tuces as were sown last month, and sow more let- 

 tuce seed in the beginning, middle, and last week 

 of this month, in order to have a constant supply 

 for the table. Sow likewise radishes, and in the 

 last y/cek of this month a good crop of spinach 

 maybe sown for autunm use; it will not then be 

 so liable to run to seed as in the preceding months. 

 It is a good practice to sow early kinds of cab- 

 bages about this time, for a supply of young 

 greens during autumn. Collect all kinds of seeds 

 as they come to maturitj', cutting off', or pulling 

 up the stems with the seeds attached, as they 

 ripen. Spread them in some airy place under 

 cover, turning them now and then, that the seeds 

 mav drv and harden gradually, and be careful not 

 to lay them so thick as to hazard their heating 

 and fermenting. When they are suflicienlly dry, 

 beat out and clean the seeds, and deposit them in 

 hags or boxes till wanted. Give water to such 

 plants as require it, but let this be alw.nys done in 

 the evening, that it may be of use to the vegeta- 

 bles before the sun shall cause it to evaporate. 



You may now inoculate or bud your fruit trees, 

 and, where it can be done whhout inconvenience, 

 it will be well to turn swine into your orchard to 



