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NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



SEPT. ao, isar. 



(From llieGi-nesee Farmer.) 

 BBIEF HINTS FOR SBPTEHIBER. 



Seeii wheat slioiilil always ho selected riorii th« 

 largest ami fijiest part of the field ; for as the pro- 

 duct always partakes more or less of the nature 

 of the seed, no pains should he spared to procure 

 the best. In this way the variety may he con- 

 stantly improved. Spare no pains to clean it ef- 

 fectually, so tiiat not a grain of chess or other 

 weed can he found by close .searching. There 

 will he weeds enough in all cases, without sow- 

 ing the seed u]ion the land. 



One o( the hest modes of (ireveuting the rava- 

 ges of the Hessian fly, and perhaps the only one 

 of nuich value, is to sow wheat so late that it 

 may come up after the first autumnal frost, where 

 there is reason to apprehend its attacks. 



All wheat fields, in the least degree liahle to 

 surface flooding,sh()uld he well supplied with well 

 cleaned furrow drains. 



In harvesting corn, always cut it up at the sur- 

 face of the ground, in preference to topping it, as 

 the latter method has heen found to diminish ma- 

 terially the cro|), in some cases several hiishels to 

 the acre, as was proved by measuring. At the 

 sam ! time, cutting it up gives us a much greater 

 amount of fodder. 



Where corn is nipped hy a premature frost, the 

 hest method of securing the crop, is to set all 

 liands at it with scythes heforo sinirise, so that it 

 may he all prostrate before the heat of the day 

 has melted the frost. Theliieat gradually emit- 

 ted from the earth, then slowly thaws it, and as 

 soon as convenient on the day, it is gathered and 

 properly secured. If the glazing process has com- 

 menced on the eai,the nourishment oljtained from 

 the slowly drying stalks, will ripen it sufficiently, 

 and the fodder will he well preserved. 



Seed corri shoidd always he carefully sidected ; 

 if the crop stands long enough in the field, it 

 should be taken from the stalks before they are 

 cut, in order that the selection may be more per- 

 fect. Look for those stalks which sujiport two 

 or more ears, and take the irpper one only. This 

 method, practised for successive years, has great- 

 ly improved the variety atid increased its produc- 

 tiveticss. 



As straw is alw-iys valuable, either for fodder 

 when cut, or for the mamifaiiure of manure, it 

 should be carefully preserved. When fr(;m the 

 threshing machine, it is most conveniently secured 

 by binding it in large buiulles by means of hay 

 ropes, as fast as it is thrown out from the machine. 

 A surti<;ient nundier of hay ropes for this purpose 

 may be |u-eviously twisted from a stack and placed 

 in readiness. 



Farmers who have hogs to fatlen, will find, if 

 they will but try it, that commoj) apples are as 

 good for the |iurpose as any thing they can ob- 

 tain, and (ar cheaper. If the numhej- of hogs be 

 large, it may he advisable to cook them, as this 

 process greatly itnproves their quality. 



Whenever grain is feil to hogs, it should always 

 be ground, and not only grouiul hut cooked. 'J'he 

 advantage ot these two processes combined is in- 

 deed great. An exitellent way of preparing In- 

 dian meal, is to boil about one peck in a i\ve. pail 

 kettle of water ; this wid fiiriush five pails of most 

 excellent and nutrilious food. 



Unlike latietdng swine, very little advantage is 



ing animals, accurate accounts slioidd be co'i- 

 stantly kept, the animals should be freqiuuitly 

 weighed, and the best and cheapest food thus de- 

 termined. The farmer will then know what he 

 is about, instead of working in the dark. 



In the garden, only cabbages and cauliflowers 

 for the next season, may be sown, to be protected 

 by a frame and sash in the winter, — strawberries 

 may be transplanted. — top onions set out, — hardy 

 lettuces sown for spring use, to be covereil during 

 winter, — celery earthed up as its growth advan- 

 ces ; — and the seeds of the pie plant put in the 

 ground ; but as these do not always vegetate free- 

 ly, they sho(dd be planted in rich moist ground, 

 which should be closely packed about them, and 

 watered if necessary. This plant greatly improves 

 the flavor of pies made from dried apples in the 

 spring, and is excellent for making tarts, &c. at a 

 season when fresh fruit is hard to he obtained. 



STI.1Ii:l.A.TIIVG MAKIIRES. 



Most of our farmers are somewhat averse to 

 trying new experiments in the art of cultivation, 

 and yet of all the arts which are practised by man, 

 there is none in which there is more need of them. 

 'J'hipse experiments which require great expense 

 at the outset, should be instituted by Societies, or 

 by those who have both money and time to devote 

 to them. Many very important experiments may be 

 tried hy the man of very moderate lunds, lor they 

 ir.ay cost but little else than the time consumed in 

 performing them. One sidyect which we would 

 name is stimulating (nutritive) manures, though 

 perhaps the word would be better than stinuda- 

 ting. After the |)lant or crop is up, what is the 

 best application to cause it to thrive ? Liquids in 

 which manure has been soaked, are often used for 

 particular purposes. We recollect that an old 

 frienil of ours once amused himself hy pampering 

 a squash vine, which he pushed forward to an 

 immense length, hy watering it every day with a 

 liquid which he drained from his pig-stye. He 

 applied it not only to the main roots, but al.so to 

 the little radicles which put out at intervals along 

 the vine. No doubt there are numy articles, 

 cheap at ( ost, which may he used to great advan- 

 tage. 



We quote the following use of the chloride of 

 lime, from a French work. Mr Dubuc, a French 

 apothecary, has discovered that muriate ol' lime 

 (chloride of lime dissolved,) is a very active ma- 

 tiure or vegetable siitnulant. He <lissolves about 

 two and a quarter pounds'of the dry chloride in 

 about sixteen gallons of water, and with this so- 

 lution waters the plants at distant intervals. He 

 sprinkled a light soil with his fluid, and eight or 

 ten days after, planted it with maize, and from 

 time to time during the season, watered the corn 

 with the same solution. Another portion of corn 

 at six feet distant, he watered with common wa- 

 ter. 'J'he forujer yielded double the luoduce of 

 the latter. A large variety of plants and garden 

 vegetables were tried in the same manner and 

 with sitnilar results. 



The sunflower, (heliantlnis) which at that place 

 rises only six or eight feet, grew l)y thistreaiment 

 to the height of twelvj or fourteen feet, with flow- 

 ers whose discs were eighteen to twenty inches 

 iti diaiueter, producing seeds whi(di yielded hall 

 their weight in oil good to eat, and exuding from 



May, 1822, in two squ ires, six feet asunder ; the 

 one was watered with the solution, and the other 

 with water from the cistern. 'I'hey were gather- 

 ed on the 10th of Novend)er. 



Till; bed which had been watered with the so- 

 lution, and only three times during the season, 

 produced potatoes six inches long, twelve in cir- 

 cumference, and weighing nearly two pounds 

 each. 'J'he others were in general only half as 

 large, and their stalks in the same proportion.-:— 

 Three or fom- waterings with the fluid at distant 

 periods, are considered sufficient. Some ascribe 

 its action to electrical agency. 



Allowing one half of the above statement for 

 the natural enthusiasm of the French, when any 

 thing nevv occurs among them — the solution must 

 be a valuable stimulus for some plants. The 

 chloriile of lime can be had at the paper mills, or 

 at the apothecary's, for a few cents per pound, 

 and the experiment may be tried ; and if the gcod 

 effects described above, are corroborated, it cer- 

 tainly will be a valuable auxiliary. If it proves 

 to he of no worth, still the experiment will he val- 

 uable as refuting the above statement and proving 

 that the results obtained by Mr Dubuc must be 

 at:ributed to something else. — Me. Faj; 



tFrom the Maine Farmer. l 

 PORK MAKIXa. 



The season for fattening swine is at hand — liut 

 is it a profitable business or not ? The answer 

 must depend upon a great many circumstances, 

 such as the facilities of procuring food, and the 

 conveniences of preparing it — cost ol labor, and 

 price of the articles in the market — as also the 

 propensity of the breed to lay on fat. 



Our friiMid Paine Wingate, we hope, is at the 

 business again, with his apple sauce and oatmeal, 

 carefully noting the expenditure and the increase. 

 He lias a large orchard, and the afiples cotne to 

 him some cheaper than they would to a person 

 who purchases them. Can a person who has to 

 purchase a pig and the materials for fattening 

 him, make it more profitable than to purchase in 

 the market at 6 cts. per pound .' If he is a care- 

 ful and saving man, he probably can do it. A wri- 

 ter in the nnmher of the Cultivator for May, 1S36, 

 makes the following statement: He [)urchased 

 two pigs Dec. 23d, 1834 — gave for them $6,50 — 

 they weighed 316 pounds, and were eight months 

 old. They were put into a warm Jien, and fedi 

 regularly, with six (juarts per day, (in three leedsjl 

 of rye or corn meal, until the next October. 



'I'he feed was then increased to nine quarts perjl 

 day, until the 7th of December, when they wer 

 killed, being about twenty months old, and weigh' 

 ed 1138. They were fed on grain 349 days, an 

 drank the refuse iriilk of two cows, and had a fe 

 weeds from the garden. lie goes on to state thai 

 "if we allow one third oHal in dressing, the, 

 gained in live weight a fiaction under three Iba 

 and a half per day, and cost each day about tei 

 cents. , Jj 



They ate fifty-five bushels of corn and rye; ihi 

 grain was ground fine, and the toll taken out ; 

 cold weather it was scaldeii and fed warm, 

 warm weatlier it was fed dry, and milU poured on 

 it in the trough — none was ever made into a swilj 

 and fermented. 



The grain cost 62i cts. jier bushel, = $34 S'rt 



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