228 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



JAN. 20, !R*1. 



For llie New Engldutl Farmer. 



UUTA BAGA. 

 MrEditok — In the summer of 1839,1 sowed 

 3-4 of an acre of grourul witli ruta bagas and 1-4 

 of an acre adjoininj; with Hale's Hybrid. The 

 around was all prepared alike and the seed sown 

 on the same day. '1 hoy all came up well, and in 

 the earlv part of the reason Dale's turnip grew 

 more rapidly than the ruta bagas, and promised an 

 abundant crop. But when the roots had attained 

 the size of my finger, they began to rot; and 1 be- 

 lieve I had not a turnip on the piece worth pulling. 

 None of the ruta bagas died. I concluded that 

 Dale's turnip was a less certain crop than the oth- 

 ers, and that I would try no more of them. 



About the 2.5th of June last 1 sowed half an acre 

 with ruta bagas. They came up well ; hut by the 

 time the roots were 1-4 of an inch in diameter, I 

 found they were dying. I did not examine them 

 particularly for some days ; or, perhaps, weeks, af- 

 ter I made the discovery. When I did examine 

 them, however, I found they were rotting in the 

 middle, and when the rot had reached the outside 

 of the root, the top died. On many which were 

 not dead, I found a small puncture on the side, and 

 on cutting the root open, I found it had been eaten 

 hollow near the top. On pilling up and closely 

 inspecting a large number of them, I found in two 

 or three a small white maggot, about the size of 

 the largcit we see in cheese. 



In pulling my crop, which though a light one 

 was not an entire failure, I found many of the tur- 

 nips, which had grown to a good size, were hol- 

 low ; and many of them were quite defective. All 

 the crop.s of ruta bagas which I have noticed in 

 this quarter this season were rather light. 



Now, Mr Editor, I wish to know whether it is 

 common for ruta bagas to sufi'er from this kind of 

 worm; and if so, whether there be any remedy r 

 Or is my disappoiiitme.it owing to some mistake of 

 mine ? That this question may be answered, I will 

 state my management and the manner the ground 

 had been previously treated. The soil is a sandy 

 loam. In the spring of 18;J8 it was covered with 

 a strong sward, whicli was ploughed in fur corn, 

 after being well manured from the barn. In the 

 fall, lime was applied at the rate of eight casks to 

 the acre. In the spring of 1839 it was again ma- 

 nured from the barn and ploughed for mulberry 

 trees. Twentyfive or thirty loads of compcsst, made 

 of stable manure, loam and lime, to the acre were 

 covered in the furrow with the trees. Before hoe- 

 ing, a top-dressing of 25 bushels of crushed bone 

 and 25 bushels of leached ashes was applied to the 

 acre. And as I was desirous of getting a large 

 growth, alter hoeing I added 25 bushels of pou- 

 drette to the acre. In the summer, I sowed com- 

 mon turnips between the rows. The crop this year 

 showed that the laud was in good C(mdition. 



In the spring of 1840, the land was ploughed 

 and lay in the furrow till the time of sowing ruta 

 bngas, when it was harrowed, ploughed a second 

 tune and then harrowed well. Light furrows were 

 then upfMicd with a horse plough, a dressing of bone 

 manure was put in the furrows and slightly covered 

 with dust, when the seed was sown in the furrows, 

 by me.ius of a drill barrow. 



If you, Mr Kdilor, or any of your correspondents, 

 can tell me the cause of my failure, and the reme- 

 dy (if any,) I shall be highly gratified. I think 

 more light may be elicited by farmers publishing 



their failures, than by their publishing their suc" 



R- R- P- 



Manchester, Ct., Jan. 7, 1641. 



rWe have seen cmps of ruta baga similarly af- 

 fected. Have conjectured causes. Sometimes 

 the que.stion with us has been, whether the evil 

 were not caused by the use of unformented manure 

 ;n the drills; and at other times we have asked 

 whether it were not early sowing. R. R. P. has 

 here shown that the cause must be different from 

 either of these. He is entitled to thanks for " pub- 

 lishing his lailures." and we would aid him to a so- 

 lutinn°of his difficulties were it in our power; but 

 we can only join him in a request that some one 

 will give the needed information. We will simply 

 ask whether he or any one else has ever seen a 

 crop suffer in this way, excepting upon free or light 

 soils and those highly manured. On tenacious and 

 moist lands, and upon sward land we do not recol- 

 lect ever witnessing such failures. 



The inquiry relaUve to Mr Ingersoli's piggery 

 accompanying the above communication w'e have 

 not published, because, we are led to believe that 

 the communication, referred to, once made in these 

 columns, was never worthy of credit (we know not 

 from whom it came,) and because the gentlemen is 

 not now in this vicinity. — Ed.] 



NEW SEEDLING CAMELLIA WILDERII. 



One nf the mort popular ornamental green house 

 plants of the present day is the Camellia Japonica, 

 of which there are more than .500 varieties, describ- 

 ed in a work recently published in France, by the 

 Abbe Berli^e, worthy of a place in the conservato- 

 ry, many of them magnificent and costly, and a 

 great majority produced within a few years by the 

 celebrated florists in Europe, by cross impregna- 

 tion. Some few very fine varieties have been pro- 

 duced in our own country by Floy, Landroth, and 

 others. 



Marshall P. Wilder, Esq., of Dorchester, has had 

 in his possession more than 300 of the very best 

 varieties of this plant, most of which have display- 

 ed their interesting and elegant flowers, and have 

 been examined from time to time with much inte- 

 rest by the writer. .Mr Wilder has been very suc- 

 cessful in ripening seed from many of the choicest 

 kinds, the flowers of which were crossed with other 

 fine sorts, and he has now in different stages of 

 growth, from one to four years old, over COO seed- 

 fings. It might be expected that from this largo 

 number, some few fine varieties would be produr.ed 

 worthy of a name and place among their parents, 

 and w'e have been anticipating a share in the own- 

 er's pleasure in beholding something novel. We 

 had no idea, however, that .Mr Wilder would so 

 soon be rewarded by a flower that would surpass 

 in perfection and eclipse all that had preceded it. 

 But this, according to our fancy, is tiie case. We 

 have within a few days had the, pleasure to exam- 

 ine this beautiful produetimi and must say that it 

 stands unrivalled by any Camellia which has come 

 under our observation. It is four years from seed. 

 Its parents were the Single Red, fertilized by the 

 variety C. punctata, a fine, double white delicately 

 spotted and maiked with red. The size of the new 

 variety is four inches in diameter; color, a most 

 beautiful clear rose; form exquisite, every thing 

 that could be desired; petals being of the most 

 perfsct rose leaf shape, arranged with the greatest 

 regularity in the shell form, from circumference to 



centre. The flower is very deep from the back to 

 its centre, forming a semi-spherical ball, and has a , 

 bold and showy effect. But what gives this varie- 

 ty Its great excellence when compared with those 

 established favorites, the old Double White, Lady 

 Hume, Landrethii, &c., is its broad round petals 

 with scarcely a noti^h or serrature on the edge, and 

 retaining a round full bosom at the centre even 

 when fully expanded. 



Those who are acquainted with this family of 

 plants, will be able to judge of the value of such 

 an acquisition as the Camellia, which is the subject 

 of this article, by referring to our Horticultural 

 Journal, vol. iv. page 26, where it is stated that 

 Mr Wilder had received a Camellia from Germany, 

 which his correspondent had paid two years before 

 twentysix guineas for a plant of seven leaves. If 

 after ten or twelve years Mr Wilder had succeeded 

 in producing this Camellia, he might thus have 

 considered himself as amply rewarded for his ex- 

 ertitni.^. No doubt this variety will be considered 

 lis one of the first class, as long as the family ex- 

 ists. It has been suggested to Mr Wilder that he 

 gives it his own name — if so, it will be known as 

 C. Wildcrii. It will be propagated as fast as pos- 

 sible and will be found ere hmg in the best Euro- 

 pean and American establishments. We noticed 

 a number of other promising looking seedlings in 

 bud, and from the pains which have been taken 

 with them by crossing ihe best varieties with 

 those of equal value but of different characters, we 

 may hope to be able to announce hereafter other 

 fine new varieties, but we doubt whether it will fall 

 to the lot of Mr Wilder to produce another com- 

 bining so many points approaching perfection as 

 the one now described. J. B. 



SILK : THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PICTURE. 



The following communication is timely and uc 

 ceptablc. The leading views contained in il arc 

 in near accordance with what we believe to be tiie 

 prevailing opinions in this vicinity. Consequently 

 little need be said in our columns in this strain.— 

 We admit the communication cheerfully, because 

 of our desire to make it distinctly understood, thai 

 while in our hands, the paper will contain only a 

 small portion of matter in favor of the silk business 

 Little need be said against it. There is in us 

 something like a belief that the time may come 

 when New England will grow her own silks. Whet 

 she shows a disposition to do this, we are ready t( 

 encourage. We oppose no obstacles : we give nt 

 help, because we might allure men on to their in, 

 jury. — Ed. 



For the N. E. Farmer. 



Mr Editor— I noticed recently in your papei 

 an article containing the experience of an unsiio 

 cessful silk-grower. It is high time, I think, ih& 

 the public should be furnished with many mojl 

 similar statements, for there is no doubt they c| 

 be made, if the desire to promote the public god 

 can triumph over self-interest and pride of opinioi 

 We have too long been presented with only OD 

 side ol the picture, and that side colored with at 

 the tints which a glowing imagination gouW gi* 

 to it. The experiment of raising our own silk h» 

 been pretty fairly tested, and I will not say has t 

 fairly failed : but has aot as yet to my knowledgi 

 fairly succeeded. 



There are many substantial reasons why it cai 

 not succeed here w, N.ew Eugland- It niay I 



