556 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



OIL SOAP — WILlIs' SYRINGK. 



From the New England Farmer. 



Mr. Putnam,— Sir :— I have lately noticed 

 advertisemenis and communications on oil soap, 

 lor destroying insects upon rose bushes, small 

 trees, &c. It ought to be known by those who 

 cannot obtain the oil soap, that strong suds made 

 ol" common solt soap will answer most ol Kie 

 purposes attributed to the lormer. It kills the 

 snail, keeps oH' the rose-bug, and I have preserved 

 my plants by it, lor several years, against the at- 

 tacks ol' the curculio. In sprinkling the plant, it 

 is necessary to do it early in the morning, while 

 the dew is on, because it is difficult to wet a dry 

 green plum. 



Willis' brass syringe is recommended for using 

 the soap. 1 would not willingly be instrumental 

 in discouraging the use or sale of that almost in- 

 dispensable implement; but, for the purpose of 

 throwing suds upon small single trees and shrub- 

 bery, a smaller syringe than any I have seen ol 

 Mr. Willis' make, is much more convenient and 

 economical. Go to a tin-shop and get a tube 

 made ten or twelve inches long, which will hold 

 I'rom a gill to half a pint, with three or lour small 

 holes in the end to produce as many streams, and 

 the jack-knife of any Yankee of common ingenu- 

 ity will make a good piston in a lew minutes. 

 This will save your suds, is managed more readily, 

 and with equal if not greater effect upon such 

 treeg. R. Newton. 



Worcester, Aug. % 1841. 



LATE WHEAT. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Berkeley, Sept. IGth, 1841. 



# * » * # 



JVly last effort with seed wheat procured from 

 Winchester was a decided failure. The grain was 

 obtained last fall, and was as fine as I could have 

 wished ; but I had at the time doubts as to its suc- 

 cess, as I have rarely succeeded on the Berkeley 

 lands with bearded wheat ; and 1 was unable to 

 procure any lof the smooth-headed kind, such 

 as 1 approved. That which I purchased was ex- 

 ceedingly slow in maturing, and my experience 

 satisfies me, as a general rule, that all late wheats 

 with us are worthless ; if not ripening at the usual 

 time, they mvariably are affected with rust. In- 

 deed my own observation leads to the conclusion 

 that, be the season what it may, the wheal which 

 ripens first is nine limes in ten'lhe best. 



Marl is doing much for our lands ; but operates 

 much more efficaciously on the solt, friable lands, 

 than on the stiffT, tenacious clay. 



Benj. Harrison. 



A SIMPLE MEANS OF PREVENTING THE FAIL- 

 URE OF THE POTATO CROP. 



By Mr. Robert White, Farm-overseer to David Ander- 

 son, esq., of St. Germains. 



From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, for September. 

 It will be allowed by all practical farmers that 

 the potato sets when cut discharge a large quanti- 



ty of fluid or juice, the loss of which has a ten- 

 dency to weaken the germinating powers of the 

 sets, and at the same time exposes them to under- 

 go fermentation in the heap. 



In 1833, we had our seed-potatoes from the pa- 

 rish of Penicuik. When cut, 1 desired the wo- 

 men to riddle a shovelful of hot lime on every 

 basketful of new cut sets. They were turned 

 over and over again, until the lime was taken up 

 by the sets, when they were put into a heap three 

 or lour feel thick, where 1 have kept them lor two 

 or three weeks. The hot lime had the effect of 

 stopping the flow of the juice, and of encrusting 

 a strong skin on the sets. This crust, on the 

 one hand, preserves the sap being drawn away 

 Irom the sets in a dry season among dry soil, and 

 of repelling wet in a wet season among damp 

 earth. The sorts of potatoes experimented on 

 were dons and blues. The land was in a fine 

 moist state, well worked, and the dung well made, 

 and they were ridded in the last week of April. 

 There was a regular braird, and the crop was 

 fine. 



In 1834, our seed-potatoes, dons and blues, 

 were obtained from the same parish, and treated 

 in the same manner. The ground was very dry, 

 the dung dry, and the heat great when they were 

 planted ; so dry that the dust was flying li"on» 

 the strong clay-soil when drilled up. The braird 

 was regular and the crop fine, with the exception 

 of eleven drills which were planted without the 

 sets being limed, and which proved a complete 

 lailure, and of some ox-nobles which also tailed. 



In 1835, we did not change our seed- potato. 

 One- half of the land was dunged on the stubble 

 in October, and the other half in spring, part of it 

 on strong clay, and part on light loam. The 

 dung was very dry in spring, the land not well 

 worked, and the planting finished in May. The 

 braird was regular and the crop fine, allliough 

 there was a general lailure of the crop throughout 

 (he country. 



in 1836, the seed-potato was obtained from the 

 neighborhood of Edinburgh. They were buffs, 

 and treated in the same manner as described 

 above. The land, a fine dry light soil, was in 

 oat stubble after old grass, and full of wire-worm. 

 The dung was very dry, the land well worked, 

 the braird regular and the crop fine. There was 

 none planted without the lime this season. 



In 1837, the seed-potato was obtained from 

 Leader Water dons and blues. A fine light loam 

 was well worked, and dunged with well made 

 dung. The crop was planted in the second week 

 of May, and proved a fine one. None planted 

 without the lime this season. 



In 1838, the seed-potatoes came from Gala 

 Water, dons and blues, which were planted in 

 the last week of May, on land not well worked, 

 and the dung very dry, but the braird was with- 

 out a blank, and the crop fine. Two bolls ofseed- 

 potato from Peeblesshire were tried without lime 

 and proved a complete failure, the insects having 

 eaten the sets to a shell. These were planted in 

 the last week of May. 



In 1839, the seed-potatoes were from Gala 

 Water buff's, and which were planted in the last 

 week of April, in strong clay soil, not well work- 

 ed, and the dung very dry, but the braird was 

 very regular, and the crop fine. There were 

 none planted without lime this season. 



