vol.. XI*. NO. 2. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



14 



cuinstances, and also tlie iiiiin wlio is entirely des- 

 titute (if meaTis, liad belter remain where tliey are; 

 and if they ac<|iiirc! less properly they will be lil;(^- 

 ly to enjoy lit'o better than they wonld to emigrate ; 

 the niiddle-aged man esporiilly, who has been set- 

 tled in comfortable circiimst.mces, and rC(noves, 

 whatever may be his success, will always regret 

 haviiiy left Ins home.. J. GOULD. 



Fur the New England Farmer. 



"F.ANCY FARMKRS." 



Jamiiicn Plain, [Wh June, 1840. 



Mr CoLiMAN — Dear Sir — A nt.'if;hl)or sent me, a 

 day or two since, the lioston " (.'nltivator " of the 

 i;3tli inst., thinliinij F rni<;iit like to se(5 a notice on 

 ''Fancy Funners," without knowinjr I should feel 

 any interest in that piece. That paper I have nev- 

 er seen three nnnlbers of since its first publication, 

 having always been well satisfied with the N. E. 

 Farmer, which 1 have taken from its commence- 

 ment. 



The article on large preminvtn on ploughs, was 

 brnnixht to the notice of the 'I'rusiees of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Agricultural Society by me. I was one 

 of the trustees of that society for twenty years, and 

 retired from it six or seven years ago. I still feel 

 a great interest in it, and am a firm believer in its 

 having done and is still continuing to do, much 

 good to the farming interest. They were the first 

 in America to recomtuend ploughing matches, 

 which was the means of such improvements in 

 ploughs, that although at their first match ill 1817. 

 only one with iron mould board was in the match, 

 (and which I imported from London,) at their last 

 match in which twenlytwo ploughs were tested, 

 every one was of cast iron. This result was brought 

 about by the means, as the editor of the Cultivator 

 stylos them, of "fancy farmers." 



Now as to the mode of ploughing, whether the 

 furrow slice should be laid flat or on the edge, I 

 have always thought for our New England fiirming, 

 the flat mode was preferable. But I also know 

 from book reailing, that in England where much 

 wheat is raised, that they very generally use ma- 

 chines lor sowing in rows, and afterwards machines 

 drawn by a horse and guided by a man, to hoe and 

 weed between the rows ; and they also lay the fur- 

 row slice on edge and sow broadcast, by which 

 rncans the grain slides to the bottom of the furrow, 

 and the harrow drawn lengthways, levels the earth 

 and leaves the seed in rows; by which means the 

 air draws more freely through it; and it is also by 

 many farmers hand-hoed and weeded, and not al- 

 lowed to grou', weeds and all, as is much the case 

 in other countries, smothering the crop and produc- 

 ing more weeds than grain. 



In our ploughing matches at Brighton, one of 

 the chairmen of those committees usually directed 

 the ploughman to lay the furrow slice on edge. 



You will perceive, air, notwithstanding the sneer- 

 ing of the aforenamed editor, I am not to be laugh- 

 ed out of my ploughing notions, which are not of 

 yesterday. 



This is not a great strain growing State, but our 

 premiums for plough^ extend to every State in the 

 Union, and they are for the use of any oilier State 

 where much grain is cultivated. 



Now as to the reason for the premiums at all 



I w as invited three years ago to act on the premi- 

 um cominittee on agriculinral iuiplemeuts at ihe 

 mechanics' show in Faneuil liall. Ploughs by sev- 



eral of our best makers were ther';'. I stated that 

 I could not give an opinion whicli was the best, 

 without seeiiig them tested in the earth; last an- 

 tumn F again declined acting on that coiuinittee for 

 the same reason : [that Society ai-e not prepared to 

 make such trials.] Several of these plough-makers 

 caiiin to me on the suuject, to see how this could 

 he broiiLiht about, and the rreniiums now offered 

 by the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, are in 

 consequence of my request to the Trustees. 



I am sorry to see an editor of an agricultural pa- 

 per still using the term " fancy farmers " or " book 

 farmers '' — by whom many experiments have been 

 made that would not probably otherwise have been 

 attempted — many of which rnay have been found 

 too expensive, but many also have resulted in much 

 good — and those li.ave been copied and continued. 

 What also arc editors of papers doing, but dissemi- 

 nating their weekly papers, the chief contents of 

 which are but copies from books or other papers. 

 I am, dear sir, 



Yours, very truly, 



JOHN PRINCE. 



From the AMi:iny Ciillivator. 



TFMF3ER : PROPER TFMEFOR CUTTING, &c. 



Timber includes all kinds of felled and seasoned 

 woods. Of all the different kinds known, oak is 

 considered the best for building, and even when it 

 lies e.\posed to air and water, there is none equal 

 to it. The goodness of timber not only depends 

 on the soil and situation in which it stands, but 

 likewise on the season in which it is felled. Peo- 

 ple disagree very much in this : some are for hav- 

 ing it felled as soen as the fruit is ripe; others, in 

 the spring, and many in the autumn. As the sap 

 and moisture of timber is certainly the cause that it 

 perishes much sooner than it otherwise would do, it 

 seems evident tliat timber snoiild be felled when 

 there is least sap in it, or when the sap is most fu- 

 sible or in a liquid stale. 



The ancients chiefly regarded the age of the 

 moon in fidling timber : their rule was to fell it in 

 the wane, or four days after the uew. ,";n Amherst, 

 Massachusetts, cooper states that he formerly fur- 

 nished three oil mills in that vicinity with casks 

 made from oak felled in June ; because, he says, 

 timber felled in winter being more porous, would 

 not contain oil; and that oak and walnut cut in 

 Fune, would not powder-post. 



'I h.it the moon has an influence on the sap, no 

 one who has paid attention will have occasion to 

 doubt: the liber or inner bark is less adhesive at 

 this stage of the inoon, the ligneous or woody mat- 

 ter being in a more fluid state. It has been ascer 

 tained by various experiments, tliat the woody part 

 of oak in full vegetation, is only four tenths of the 

 whole: air constitutes one fourth of it, and the rest 

 consists in sap. Light woods have still a much 

 less quantity of solid matter ; but the season of the 

 year and age of the tree occasion considerable va- 

 riation. 



Timber should be rut when of a proper use, for 

 when it is either too young or too old, it will not 

 be so durable. 'I'hey should be cut in their prime, 

 when alnmsi. tully grown, and before they begin to 

 decay; and this will depend upon the dryness and 

 inoistness of the soil where the limber grows. The 

 time of its cominencement to uecay, or when it is 

 going past its prune, is when the concentric cir- 

 cles are less and less, as may be seen in the oak, 



beech, walnut, &c. These circles yearly enlarge 

 the trunk by tUii formation of a new alburnum or 

 soft wood, which the next succeeding year becomes 

 the lignuiu or hard wood. 



The wood of Ihe north side of all trees which 

 grow in this climate is the weakest, and that of the 

 south side is the strongest. The heart <if a tree is 

 never in its centre, but always near to the north 

 side, and the concentric circles or annual coats of 

 wifod are thinner on that side. In conformity with 

 thi.^, it is the general opinion of carpenters, that 

 timber is stronger whose annual plates are thick- 

 est; the air vessels makes the visible separation 

 between the annual plates. Therefore, when these 

 plates are thickest they contain a greater propor- 

 tion of the woody fibre. 



Timber after being felled and sawed, must be 

 seasoned ; not by standing upright, but lie one 

 piece upon another, only kept apart by short blocks 

 interposed to prevent a certain inonldiness which 

 they will contract in sweating on one another. 

 Some advise the planks or other tii iber to lay in 

 water a few days, in order to extract the sap, and 

 afterwards lo dry in the air: by this means they 

 will bo prevented from cracking or chopping. Some 

 scorch and season them in the fire, such as piles, 

 [losts, &c. which are to stand in water or earth. 

 They are charred and seasoned by burning them 

 round in a strong violent flame, until a black, coaly 

 crust is fo-rined ; the internal part of the wood is 

 thereby se hardened tiial neither earth nor water 

 can damage it for a long time afterwards. An ex- 

 cellent preservation of wood by charcoal, especially 

 applied to eve trouixhs and water spouts is, first to 

 lay on a coat of drying oil, then immediately dust 

 it over with a thick layer of charcoal finely pow- 

 dered, and contained in a muslin bag. After two 

 or three days, when the oil is thoroughly dried, 

 brush off the loose particles of charcoal, and cover 

 that which adheres with a coat of paint, and in a 

 few d lys after a second ; the whole will become a 

 fine solid crust, and is said to preserve the wood 

 sound; many years. 



Some advise to season the timber before it is 

 cut down, by taking otTllie bark a year before it is 

 cut: the sap is expelled and the alburnum is con- 

 verted into wood in the course of the year. Sills 

 and sleepers for out buildings should have a free 

 circulation of air to save them from decay. 



S. W. JEWETT. 



Peaches. — A correspondent of the Journal of 

 Commerce speaking of peach trees and their liabil- 

 ity to be destroyed by hard winters, states that 

 Judge Jud.-^on, of the U. S. District Court of Con- 

 necticut, who resides at Canterbury, caught the 

 idea that it might be the too early springs which 

 created the difficulty. Ho therefore in January, 

 after the ground had become thoroughly frozen, 

 covered the roots a foot deep with hay or straw, 

 which had the effect to keep the frost in the ground 

 and so prevent the sap from starting until the 

 spring was fairly opened. He succeeded complete- 

 ly ; for the last spring the trees all around, and of 

 his neighbors in the adjoining yard, were all de- 

 stroyed, but his were fresh and blooming. The 

 fact seems to be, that not the cold weather, but 

 warm weather, docs the mischief. The trees are 

 killed by frost after the sap starts. — Bust. Times. 



Eggs, it is said, may be preserved good for a 

 year, if kept in lime water salted. 



