NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JlLirS, 1840. 



A>n IIORTICULTL'RAL RIGISTER. 



UosTON, Wednesday, Jdly 8, 1840. 



COMMENCEMENT OF VOLUME XIX. 



Tiine,evL-r on its wing, lias broiii'fii us lo ilie clo^e of 

 another volume, and tiie CDmnienceinenl of h new one. 



In looking (»vf;r the last volmne, «e feel aj^iured that 

 none ol its [iredecessors liavi^ been conducted with great- 

 er ability, nor have their pages been enriclied with po 

 ■luch original, useful and interesting niaiter as Lliat of 

 »he last year. It has been our emieavor lo nieet the 

 wants and wishes of ilie intelligent agricultural coinmu- 

 nity, and as far as we can learn, belnve our efforts have 

 not been in vain. VVe havj certainly exeried ourselves 

 lo do tJie best we could. The able as.^istanci- from the 

 Agricultural Coniniissioner, we are confiileiit, h:is been 

 duly appreciated by the public, as well as that which 

 we have received from <iur numerous correspondents, 

 who have so generously contributed from their knowl- 

 edge and experience for tiie advancemertt of agriculture. 

 We take this opportunity to expiess to tlrtin our grate- 

 ful acknow ledgincnls and also to solicrt'a continuance 

 of their f-ivors. 



We have endeavored at all limes to steer clear of pol- 

 itics, sectarianism and every subject in fact asi(Je from 

 agriculture, upon wfiich the public mind is divided and 

 agitated. We haveour<Jwn poiilical anil leli'jioiis views, 

 which we hold most dear — to which wc shall rigidly ad- 

 here, and at proper times and in suitable places defend ; 

 but our paper is mtt the place for any allusions whatev- 

 er which have a tendency to wound the leelin^s of any 

 party or sect. This will account to some of our corres- 

 pondents why their communications have been curtai'ed 

 or not inserted ; and we beg of them to remember that 

 there aie papers where opinioiK of every kind, political, 

 religious and miscellaneous, may be advaiiced without 

 offence to their readers. 



In conducting the present volnnie we shall continue 

 to exert ourselves to the utmost, hoping thereby to keep 

 Hp with the improvement of the age, and present to our 

 leaders all that is intereslin;;, and instructive re alive to 

 agriculture, which traii.= [iires eiiher m this or foreign 

 countries, by which our farmers may bo benefited. 



Having been absent for the laet two week.t, we are 

 not able now to send out the Index for vol. 18ih, but 

 hope to have it in readiness the nest week. 



We remember with gratiiude those who have prompt- 

 ly paid for iheir [laper ; hut regret to add that an uuii- 

 tual number of our subscribers are still behind. We 

 trust that a hint is all that is necessary, and that the 

 amount due will be speedily remitted. J. B. 



PROGRESS OF VEGETATION DURING THE 

 MONTH OF JUNE. 18J(). 

 fConimunicated for the N. E. Farmer.) 

 June 6. Saturday. The muchwisbed-for and lonj; 

 delayed rain has come at last, relieving us effectu illy 

 from the drou;;ht. to which our light lands have been 

 •suhjcci for the last week. The face of nature is already 

 changed to a biautiful verdant green; the locusts and 

 the ash trees have robed themselves with their tardy fo- 

 liage, and the waving grain reminds us of our entinnce 

 upon the confines of summer. There was a slight frost 

 en Tuesday morning, the cfi'c uts of which were not visi- 

 ble upon the most tender planis. The vines have grown 

 "most vigorously during the week, and the Isabellas on 

 the back of the vinery, which commenced blossoming on 

 tJie 28lh May, are now beginning to set their bi rrii s. 



The locust trees are blossoming, as also the pink bor- 

 ders around the cin^ular plats of flowers. Squashes, 

 melons and pumpkins planted the '20lh May, and man- 

 gold wurlzel planted the '22d May, arc all up finely. 

 The prospect for fruit is not so promisinjf as in the early 

 part of the season, owing, as is generally thought, to the 

 great heat of Monday the ISlh May, when the irees 

 Wfre just setting iheir fiuil; not only ihe pears, but 

 also in many instances plums and peaches have appar- 

 ently dried or withered and fallen from the trees. Cher- 

 ries, in most of our gardens, have remained on better, 

 and apples in our orchards and fields never promised 

 more abundantly. 



Jiini' 13th. Another week of fine summer weather. 

 It showered abundantly during the morning service on 

 Sundn>, sprinkled generously during the afternmn and 

 evening, and the sky being overcast on Monday, we 

 availed ourselves of the opportunity to transplant the 

 dahlias to the flower borders. From some cau.se or oth- 

 er, either from an unsuitable exposure or an unconge- 

 nial soil, my success with dahlias has been very discour- 

 aginc, and I did not obtain last .season one 4)erfect flower. 

 The vines upon the rafiers commenced blossoming on 

 the 9th, and today several bunches are setting their 

 fiuit. The berries upon the Isabellas have grown fine- 

 ly, and are, generally speaking, about the size of early 

 pe:is. They do not, however, set their fruit well under 

 •.'lass, the blossoms requiring more air than it is practi- 

 cable to admit inlo a vinery ; but when thoroughly ri- 

 pened, which they never are with us in an outdoor ex- 

 posure, they are a far richer and more highly flavored 

 grape than the Sweetwater. Strawberries are ripening 

 vry fast, and we have gathered freely from our vines 

 both yesterday and today. Cherries are coloring upon 

 the trees, and there have been some few otVered in the 

 market, but they need a few hot suns to sweeten them. 

 Roses have commenced blooming finely, es|>ecially the 

 Scotch, the Boursalt and the Moss roses. The fly which 

 disfigured the foliage the last season has again made its 

 appearance, and no effectual remedy has been discover- 

 ed for dispelling them. Sulphur, dry ashes and snufT 

 have each been recommended and used, but they can 

 neither of them be applied :it this stage of the growth 

 without injury to the buds and flowers. The weather 

 has been showery again tod.-\y, and wc have completed 

 the filling up of the flower borders with annuals, and 

 have transplanted lo the field a quantity of cabbage 

 planis sowed I3th May. The locust trees have been in 

 perfect blossom during the week and also the double 

 pheasant-eyed pink borders around the circular flower 

 beds upon the lawn, which combined with the clover 

 blossoms, have completely perfumed the air with fra- 

 grance. 



June 20th A brilliant flash of lighining succeeded 

 instantaneously by a tremendous chip of thunder at 2 

 o'clock yesterday morning, introduced one of tiio finest 

 rains of the season, which continued lo fall in pouring 

 showers until mid-day. The weather has been clear and 

 I comparatively coo! since Saturday last, such as farmers 

 tt-rm III this season of the \ear, fine hoeing weather. 

 Green peas, cherries and strawberries are now very 

 abundant, but our crop of cherries is generally irtiper- 

 fecily ripened, owing perhaps, in some measure to the 

 difficulty of preserving the ripened fruit from the depre- 

 dations of the feathered tribe, who not content with a 

 fair proportion of the spoils, peck at each rosy cheils, 

 and leave it to decay upon the tree. The vines in the 

 g.'apery have all set tlieir berries fully and strongly, and 

 the vines themselvi's have grown with great vi^or. Gar- 

 den vegetables of all kinds are looking remarkably well, 

 wilh the exception of carrots, the seed of which in many 

 instances lailed lo v«gelate, in con.suquence of tlie con- 



tinued dry weather immediately after the sowing. This 

 seed vegetates at best but very slowly, and like the beet 

 seeds of every kind, should invariably be soaked at least 

 three days beiore planting. I last year sowed rm the 

 30th May, half an acre with carrot seed, which had been 

 soaking in spring water 4 days, and we were enabled to 

 weed and thin them on the 1.5th June, almost before a 

 weed had made its appearance upon the field. The 

 show of ruses and of pinks have been perfectly beauti- 

 ful during the week, but tht: latter were much injured 

 by thi! rain of yesterday ; for the last fortnighi tliey have 

 been blossoming superbly, attracting the admiration of 

 hundreds who have visited Elfinglen for the purpose of 

 viewing them, and now that they are trimmed off, and 

 the earth drawn up around them, they will still continue 

 until autumn, a ^-reen and ornamental border. 



June 27th — Saturday. It commenced showering this 

 alternoon at 2 o'clock, and we have now every pros- 

 pect of another refreshing rain, (iince Saturday last 

 the weather has been clear and very hot, and the sur- 

 face of the ground has become quite dry again under the 

 influence of ihe scorching sun. The month of June has 

 been hut and summer-like throiighcmt, forming a strik- 

 ing contrast to the June of last year, when we had scarce- 

 ly a warm summer day, and not one solitary warm night 

 during its continuance Crops of all kinds are now 

 promising remarkably well. Indian corn has generally 

 been hoed the second time and is just ready to spindle, 

 and early planted potatoes are fully in blossom. 1 would 

 recommend to cultivators lo test tlie experiment of 

 plucking off' the flower blossoms for the purpose of in- 

 creasing the produce of potatoes. 1 experimented last 

 season upon six rows of DiUinghams. The three rows 

 fiom which 1 plucked the blossoms yielded fivebushels ; 

 while the three rows upon which the balls ripened pro- 

 duced only four bushels. The first crop of peas are about 

 gone, and iheir place will soon be supplied with string 

 beans, which are just podding. Melons and squashes 

 have recovered from the efl'ects of the fly, and early 

 planted canteleupes are already setting their fruit. 

 Strawberries and cherries are very abundant. The 

 grapes in the vinery are growing vigorously and are a 

 week or ten days in advance of the last season. On the 

 29lhJune last year, they were barely of the size of very 

 small peas; today they are larger than the largest mar- 

 rowfats. During tlie week we iiave sowed several rows 

 of Bloodgoods, ruta baga, (a reddish variety, fareuperior 

 lo the white or green,) for transplanting the latter part 

 of July and August ; have planted into llie trenches ihe 

 celery plants which were pricked out from the hot-bed 

 into the cold frame on the '.i7lh May; and have hoed 

 and thinned out the mangold wurlzel planted on the 22d 

 .May. The success of this most valuabh: crop depends 

 much upon the proper thinning of the plants in the ear- 

 ly stage of their growth. 



The soil foi Mangold Wurtzel should be ricii and deep, 

 and if practicable, be trench ploughed, which is merely 

 ploughing two furrows deep, by following wilh a second 

 plough in the track of the first. The seed, having been 

 previously soaked in spring water, should be planted 

 about the 20th May, at the rate of 4 lbs to the acre, upon 

 drills two feet apart. Each seed produces two or more 

 plants, all but one of which should be drawn out at the 

 first hoeing, and the plants thinned to 12 inches. Upon 

 drills two feet asunder, wilh planis standing one foot 

 apart from each other upon ihe row, there will be 4t>,.'5G0 

 plants upon an acre. Allowing them to average 2 lbs. 

 each, which is ceitainly alow estimate, (I last year raised 

 several Mangold VVurtzels and Ruta Bagas, weighing 8 

 and 10 lbs. each,) we shall have 9:1,120 lbs., or more 

 than 4.) tons of the most nutritious food for stock. Man- 

 gold Wurtzels cannot be transplanted to advantage, but 



