H 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



JULY 19. 1R17, 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 1837. 



FAKMER'S &■ GAIIDENBRS WORK. 



Seeds of l.lants are won.lerful prodiuUions. Tliry 

 conlam in embryo, or . .ninole form, the phml they are 

 to produce, in nil ile parts; ihese they h.ne preserved 

 from a.e lo Rge, seeds producing plants, and pla.Ms 

 bearing seeds. Seeds are covered with coats « h.ch are 

 finely and closely wrouglit,lhe belter to keep the mois 

 ,ure of the eiirlh from coming in too suddenly upon tiie 

 lobes, or the little plants, ulmh might occasion their 

 rottin", and we find that almost every sort of seed, by 

 ,„ea*of ihesecovriinfTS must remain ditferei.t tnnes 

 ill the ei ith, before they begin to germinate. Some will 

 not spring in the ground till the second year after they 

 are buried, while others will begin f shoot in three days 

 aRer sowing. This is owing to their requiring different 

 degrees of moisture, beat and air to make tbenr germi- 

 nate, or begin to vegetate. 



Seeds may be so small as not to be discernible, even 

 with the help of the microscope, and there are many 

 which may be seen with a magnif)ing glass, which re- 

 main invisible without them ; and such very small seeds 

 lake flight easily, and are scattered in every direGlion 

 to great distances. 



As to certain plants appearing where none were be- 

 fore, this occurrence is thus accounted for by philoso- 

 phers. Some seeds will keep many ye:^rs, when deeply 

 buiied, and being afterwards brought to the surf.icc, 

 will vegetate. This fact accounts for the otherwise 

 mysterious appearance of new plants, in lands where 

 no seeds of the kind have been sown for years, peihaps 

 for centuries.* 



By selecting the ripest and best seeds from such plants 

 89 are most forward and vigorous, you may improve 

 your breed of vegetables, in a manner similar to that 

 by which breeds of domestic animals are improved by 

 (he celebrated European breeders of cattle. - New and 

 improved sorts of wheal, peas, beans, &c., have been 

 br lught into use by careful and observant cultivators, 

 taking notice, among growing crops, of some individual 

 stalks" pods, ears, Ac, which were distinguishable from 

 the rest by a greater degree of health, luxuriance, pro- 

 ductiveness, earliness, or some other desirable peculiar- 

 ity; gathering and preserving them exclusively for 

 seed, till sulficiently multiplied for piopagation on a 

 large scale. Tlie subject of forw^'rdiiig and improving 

 liinds of vegetables, by selecting to propagate from the 

 fairest, finest anirfirst ri|ie seed, has of.en been recom- 

 mended to the notice of farmers and gardeners, but we 

 have never heard of much attention having been paid 

 to such recommendation. 

 . In the 3d volume of the N E. Farmer, p. 60, vim 

 published " an experiment shewing the importance of 

 selecting the first ripe seeds," communicated to the 

 Trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, 

 Sept. I, 1RU3. 15y James Freeman, from which the fol- 

 lotving aru extracts : 



"To ascertain whether the ripening of seeds can be 

 forwarded liy sowing those which are earliest. 1 have 

 made experiments, all of which have bein succ(!ssrul, 

 and on several ditlereiil soils. It will be suflii lent to 

 mention one only. 



" In the year 1801, I planted the casc-knifu bean. — 

 The pods first formed, which arn commonly those near- 

 est the root, were reserved ; and when the quantity of 

 a peck was fully ripe, ibcy were gathered on the same 

 day. The largest and fairest of the seeds were planted 

 Ihu next year, and the first formed pods reserved as 



before. The same method has been pursued without 

 any variation, till the present year; by means of which, 

 whilst the bean has not degenerated in its quality, the 

 ripening of the seeds has been forwarded 90 days, as 

 will appear from the fiillov\ing table; 



Planted. Gathered. No. days. 



1801, May 20, Sept. 9, 112 



1802, May 11, Aug. 21, 102 



1803, May 8, Aug. 8, 90 

 1601, May 8, Aug. 4, 88 

 1805, May 6, July 31, 66 



The first column denotes the time of planting :he 

 seeds; the second that of gathering the seeds, which 

 were first ripe; and the third the number of days which 

 had elapsed between the time of planting and the time 

 of gathering." 



Cl'iirtlie New' England Farmer.) 

 Insects on Spruce Tkeks. — Mr Fessenden : Do you 

 know the name and history of llie green worm that is 

 now infesting the black spruce, and threatens by the 

 destruction of the young shoots, to deprive our pleasure 

 Crounds v\'liolly of their most beautiful ornament; and 

 can you point out a remedy ? By so doing in the pages 

 of the New England Farmer, you will greatly oblige 

 A Lover ok Fi.ne Trees. 



/?!/ the Editor. — We have never seen, nor, before the 

 reception of the above, heard or read of any worm, or 

 any other insect that infested spruce trees. Any of our 

 friends or corri'Sponilents, who ni'iy be in possession of 

 information relative to any insect of tli.^ kind, will con- 

 fer a favor hy its communication. 



FiNF. Rhubarb — Mr Samuel Pond, of Cambridge- 

 port, who deserves well of hi? country for raising and 

 exbibitinT rare aiid excellent articles of horticulture, 

 h.as recently, conferred a great favor by presenting the 

 Editor with choice specimens of Rhubarb, raised in his 

 garden. These excellent esculents were, we believe, 

 of the variety called ll'llmot's Superb, and are as re- 

 markable productiuns as the Giant Asparagus, which 

 Mr Pond cultivates with success. 



The samples of Rhubarb which Mr Pond presi^nted 

 to us, consisted of 6 stalks, each 2 feet 8 inches long, 4 

 inches in circumference, at the largest end, and the 

 weioht of the whole five pounds. As the culture and 

 uses of this salutary plant may not be known to some 

 of our readers, we will give the following from the Al- 

 bany Cultivator. 



" nhuhirrb.— Thin is one of tlie many plants which a 

 farmer may have in his garden, and which may be made 

 to contribute to the delicacies of his table, and to the 

 health and comfort of his family, with very little ex 

 pense or labor. The plant is perennial, and resem- 

 bles much in its habits, :he burdock, though the leaves 

 and their stalks may be somewhat larger in a good soil. 

 A dozen ])!ants will serve to supply a family. The leaf 

 stalks arc the parts used. The skin or cuticle is pee'cd 

 ofi"; they are cutiito qiiarier or half inch pieces, and 

 used without further preparation, with sugar and spi- 

 ces like unripe gooseberries, for pies and tarts, which 

 fruit it very mucli resembles in flavor. It may be used 

 in the spring, and till mid-sunmii^r. Medical men as- 

 cribe to it a salutary influence on health, particularly lo 

 children, wlicn used in this way. The seed ripens 

 about mid-summer, at which time it may be sown," 



This plant may be raised from seed, or by dividing 

 the roots; and we believe Mr Pond can furnish the 

 means of lh> ir prujpaga;ion in tiither mode. 



MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTltRAI. SOCIETY. 



EXHIBITION OF FRUITS. 



Saturday, July 15, 1837. 

 Raspberries,— from Mr Thomas Mason's Vineyard, 

 Cliarlestown, — Wiiite Antwerp. Also, beautiful red 

 Raspberries, called Grapes, from their hanging in clus- 

 ters — being a new seedling. 



Gooseberries,— from J. L L. F. Warren, Rrookline, 

 Roaring Lion, and one other variety. 



Apples, — of last year's growth, from B. Guild — Pear- 

 main, Russet, and one other kind, in as perfect a stale 

 of preservation as they were in January. 



Tomatoes,— ripe, f'oni S. Sweetser, Cambridge. 

 For the Committee. 



L. P. GROSVENOR. 



EXHIBITION OF FLOVVKRS. 



There was much to admire, and tnany admirers, at 

 our Rooms this morning. Our friends spread our ta- 

 bles with many ekarming tilings. 



By Charles Hood, Esq. — Liriodendron tulipifera. 



By Co!, M. P. Wilder, — Geraniums, Roses, Miniu- 

 lus, Grandifiora aiid Sciiizanthus rctusus. 



By Dt J. C. Howard — Finn Dahlias: the specimens 

 shew they are highly cultivated. There were other 

 plants from Mr Howard, but we have mislaid eur min- 

 utes of them, as also of the line collection of choice 

 plants from the ftlessrs Winship. 



By Thomas Lee, Esq — Dahlia : var, Ccdumbine ; its 

 color is splendid, but it lacks the other good qualities to 

 make a good flower. 



By Mr Tliomas Mason. — Dahlias : var King of the 

 Whites, Dennisii, Matilda, Bunker Hill, &c. Roses, 

 Carnations, and some very fine specimens of Scabiosa. 



The Messrs Hovey displayed good taste in the ar- 

 langements of their bouquets, which contained many 

 good, although not rare, specimens. It gives us pleas- 

 ure to see nature and art thus united. 



Bouquets from Messrs Sweetser, Kenrick and Wal- 

 ker. Seedling Pinks; var. Walker's Cusliingtonia, do. 

 Olhello, do. Claudius. 



For the Committee. 



S, WALKER, Chairman. 



Since the above was written, we have seen a speci- 

 men of Mattapan, a seedling dahlia, raised hy John 

 Richardsm, Esq of Dorchester. Had Mr Widnall sent 

 this lovely variety to our friend Breck or Hovey, with 

 a lag lo it marked " WidnaU's perfection surpiissed," it 

 would have commanded universal attention and a high 

 price. We call it a first rate flower. 



This 'variety was produced in the summer of 1836, 

 from seed raised by Mr Richardson in 1635, and the 

 whole plant distributed among his frienils with his usu- 

 al liberality. S. W. 



Fanedil Hai.l Vegetadi.e W \rkf,t — U'cdnesday, 

 July 19, 1837.— Siring Beans, $1,50 a bushel ; Beets 6 

 cents a bunch ; Cabbages 6 cents a piece ; Lettuce 2 to 

 4 cents a head ; Carrots 6 cents a bunch ; Turnips 

 cents a bunch ; Early Bush Scollop Squash, 50 cents a 

 dozen ; Peas $1,00 a bushel ; Oiiions 6 cents a bunch ; 

 Radishes 3 cents a bunch ; new Potatoes $1.50 a bush- 

 el ; Cucumbers 25 to 50 cents a dozen. A few Toma- 

 toes of Green House culture, have made their appear- 

 ance. 



Fbdit. — Strawberries 25 cents a box ; Cherries 124 

 cents a quart ; Currants 6 1-1 cents a quart , Bluiiber- 

 ries 25 cents a quart ; Gooseberries 12 1-2 cts. a quart ; 

 Rasplierrres 31 cents a quart. 



This season, from all accounts, will be as propitious 

 fi.r market gardeners as could bo desired. Every crop 



