\oh. XI . no. ir. 



AND H R r J C U L T U R A L R K G I S T E R 



l;^3 



SUCAR MAPLE— SUGAR. 



N''Xt. to tlic \nnca and na!;s, there seems to be 

 no trees in the cuniitry of more extensive celebri- 

 ty tliMii the swsM maple. Tlv e.vtraordinary unfit- 

 ness of its n|)()caranco, and the beauty of its foli- 

 niic, H'hicli in summer is of ths liveliest green, and 

 ill autumn assumes the riche.-t and most f;lovving' 

 red, are sutBcient to recommend it as a beautiful 

 ornament in our gardens and avenues. The baric 

 is remarkably smooth, and ihe tree is infested, we 

 believe, by no insect, nor subject to any maladies. 

 The branches are disposed with much regularity, 

 though without stitTness, and so arranged, that 

 their usual outline is an elegant oval. It is to 

 this tree we are. chiefly indebted for tlie beautiful 

 curled and bird's eye mapli', einploycil in cabinet 

 work, which rivals, if it be not admitted to surpass 

 in brilliancy and richness, the finest woods of tropi- 

 cal climates. I!ut the sugar maple derives its 

 chief reputation, as well as its name, from th? qual- 

 ities of its sap. A large portion of the sugar used 

 in may parts of the country, the western districts 

 of Vermonl. and New York for instance, is derived 

 from the maple. Michaux remarked, nearly thirty 

 years since, that at least ten millions of pounds of 

 this su"ar were then annually made in the United 

 States. This quantity is far less than might be 

 procured, from tho same source, in case of necessity. 

 According to Dr. Rush, the ncrlhern part of New 

 York and Pennsylvania alone, contained at the 

 same period, thirty millions of sugar maple trees ; 

 and if we suppose each tree to yield, on an aver- 

 age, from two to four pounds of sugar annually, 

 the product would go far towards supplying the 

 wliole consumption of tlie country. 



The maple sugar can be made of a quality 

 equal to the best imported. We have seen it form- 

 ed into very good loaf sugar. Ft is, however, in 

 a brown state that it is generally used. To man- 

 ufacture it, requires a great expense not only of 

 Hbor, but of fuel ; and hence it probably cannot be 

 sold, at a distance, for a price which will enable it 

 to compete with the imported article. The sap of 

 the tree, or maple juice, as it is called, is greedily 

 coveted by wild and domestic animals, who hreik 

 throunfh enclosures for the sake of obtaining it, and 

 ia generally an agreeable and wholesome beverage. 

 We have been informed, however, of one instanco, 

 in which it is proved to bo of a highly intoxicating 

 quality. Tiiis circumstance occurred about thirty 

 years since in the western part of New York. All 

 the sap |)riicured from the maple trees of an exten- 

 sive district, was found to have undergone a vi- 

 nous fermentation; and children who drank it free- 

 ly were in some cases rendered delirious for two 

 or three days. We have heard of no other instance 

 of this phenomenon, nor have we learned that any 

 probable explanation has been given of its cause. 



A**, .fl. Review. 



I tli(!m measured five feet eight inches in circiiiufor- 

 j ence, and weighed 112 lbs. I was so w<'ll pleased 

 I with tho result of the experiment, that I determin- 

 ed last spring to try the ficdd culture of them. I 

 planted several rods of ground, about the midille of 

 May, in hills nine feet apart, with a good allow, 

 ance of manure in each hill. Tho vines grew very 

 luxuriantly, and the whole ground seemed to be 

 literally covered with pumpkms, so much so as to 

 attract the attention of every person who viewed 

 them. Several of them were immensely large, 

 weighing 1 l(! lbs. Wishing to ascertain the 

 weight of the whole crop, as near .as possible. I 

 sent one wagon load to tho public scales, and found 

 the weight to be 1810 lbs. The same wagon was 

 used to get in the remainder of them, and filled the 

 same as tho one sent to be weighed. There were 

 twelve loads and a part of one, weighing 500 lbs., 

 making in the whole 22.2'20 lbs., or at the rate of 

 50,788 lbs. the acre. The fruit appe.irs richer, the 

 meal much thicker, and the shell softer than our 

 common pumpkins, and admirably adapted to the 

 feeding of stock. It will give me pleasure to fur- 

 nish seed to any person who may wish for them. 

 Respectfully, yours, &c. 



E. HERSEY DERBY. 

 Boston Courier. 



PUMPKINS. 



Salem, Od. Ulh, 1840. 

 Dear Sir, — In the spring of 1839, I received 

 from my son, who resides in Indiana, two seeds of 

 the Harrison or Tippecanoe Pumpkin. 'ihe ac- 

 count given of them at Ihe time 1 considered most 

 extrivagant. It was stated that some of them grew 

 so larije tint it Uitik two men to lift one of them in 

 to a ivhrelbarrow. I p'antcd iheni in my f;arden : 

 the vines crew very luxiiriently, covering a space 

 of gronnil- at least fifty square feet. Tlie produce 

 was ten pumpkins, weighing 890 lbs. Some of 



COMPARATIVE VALUE OF ARTICLES 



USED AS FOOD. 

 Professor Silliman has given a translation of M. 

 Dombaslo's experiments with several articles in 

 feeding anunals. Seven lots of seven sheep each 

 were selected of nearly equal weight, kept in sep- 

 arate divisions of the stable, the weight of each 

 lot ascertained once a week, the experiment con- 

 tinued five weeks. One of the lots was fed exclu- 

 sively on lucerne hay, of which each sheep was 

 found to eat fifteen pounds per week. Each of 

 the other lots received half the quantity of lucerne, 

 and enough of the other kinds of food named to 

 keep them in good health, and of the same weight. 

 The kinds of food used were, dry lucerne, oil ciike, 

 ofils and bnrUy, raw potatoes, conked potatoe.i, 

 hetls and carrota; of these substances, the quantity 

 found necessary to equal tlio half ration or 7 1-2 

 pounds of lucerne, withheld from all tho lots ex- 

 cepting the first, was as follows : — 



Oil coke, 4 1-2 lbs. 



Barley, 3 1-2 •' 



Oats, 3 " 



Raw potatoes, 14 " 



Cooked potatoes, 13 " 



Beets, 16 " 



Carrots, 23 



or in other words, 23 pounds of carrots were only 

 equal to 7 1-2 pounds of lucerne hay, 4 pounds of 

 oil cake, or three pounds of oats. It may be re- 

 marked that the quantity of water drank by each 

 lot of sheep was also accurately ascertained, and 

 while those fed on grain and oil cake used during 

 the experiment about 200 hundred quarts of water 

 to each lot, thoi^e fed on roots did not use 100 

 quarts ; and those on carrots, only 30 quarts. 



Oliver Ames, of West Bridgewater, Mass., com- 

 menced life by making a dozen shovels, which he 

 took to market in a wagon. He now owns three 

 extensive factories at Easton, Braintree, and West 

 Bridaewater — employs sixty workmen, and has 

 four ti.'ams to carry his shovels to market. His 

 profits are $20,000 annually. 



SAL'i' FOR ANIMALS. 



'I'lie importance of furnishing salt to domoi-tic 

 animal-!, ilocs not apprar to bo sufficiently under- 

 stood. Though all aie aware of t!ie avidity with 

 which auimals eat it when given thiun; there are 

 many who scarcely salt their animals through the 

 season. Now it is evident that animals should 

 have it at all limes at their command. They will 

 never eat more than is good for them, and it is es- 

 sential to their health and comfort. The quantity 

 allowed in Spain for 1000 sheep, is 25 quintals — 

 probably twice the amoun; the saiii!.' nuinber usu- 

 ally get in this country ; and this quantity is con- 

 sumed by them in about five months, they getting 

 little in the winter or while journeying to and from 

 their mountain pastures. Lord Somerville allow- 

 ed a ton of salt to a thiiusand sheep, and found 

 they consumed the most in the spring and fall, and 

 at these seasons it was probably most useful to 

 them as a security against disease. Of its value 

 fir animals in a medicinal point of view, the fol- 

 lowing fact, stated by the celebrated Curwen, must 

 be deemed decisive : 



" Before I commenced giving my cattle salt, my 

 farrier's bill averaged 58 pounds per annum, (or 

 more than 2.")0 dollars,) and since I liave used salt, 

 I have never paid in any one year over five shil- 

 ling.«." 



Where cattle have access to sheds, troughs with 

 a constant supply of salt in them, should be kept 

 fir their use. Where they must be salted in the 

 fields, troughs should be placed, and salt supplied 

 frequently. There will, in exposed troughs, al. 

 ways be more or less loss from rain, but that should 

 not prevent a supply. It has been found an ex- 

 cellent practice where sheep alone come to the 

 troughs, to put a little tar on the bottom and sprin- 

 kle the salt upon it. In this way a small portion of 

 the tar is taken with the salt, and is not only found 

 conducive to health, but, nibbed in this way over 

 the nose, serves to prevent the attacks of the Ea- 

 trus ovis or sheep fly. — .lib. Cult. 



PROTECTION OF SHEEP. 



The point which my very few observations will 

 embrace is the extraordinary increase in the growth 

 and condition of sheep by being fed under cover, 

 in an open yard, with a shed in it. This idea had 

 no doubt occurred to many others besides myself, 

 but I am not aware that any one has so fully exam- 

 ined into the effects attending that inquiry as I hap- 

 pened to do in the course of last winter and the 

 winter before. Gentlemen, the principle is one 

 that we have acknowledged in every practical way, 

 by every thing that eats, namely, that if it has 

 plenty to eat, is warm and has nothing to do, it i« 

 very likely to increase. I certainly was not aware, 

 until by repeated experiments I tested the truth of 

 it, namely, that tho same animals wlicn placed in 

 the shade and kept warm, not only increa.sed rapid- 

 ly, very much more rapidly in their condition and 

 weight than when out in the open air, but also that 

 they consumed a much smaller quantity of food. 

 This I have tested, both last year and this. I have 

 not the papers by me to refer to, but as far as my 

 recollection goes, it is this, that Ihe cpiantity of food 

 consumed was less by at least one tliird. and that 

 the increase of weight was fiil'y <me third, taking 

 it in round numbers. — J. W. Childcrs, in the British 

 Fnrnier^s Magazine. 



