J 26 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



OCT. 35, 18 '«• 



AND gardener's JOURNAL. 



Boston, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 1837. 



FAKIUER'S WORK. 



On the use of LiMK in raising Whjat. — Lime is 

 not only a necessary ingredient in every soil, which is 

 intended to produce a vigorous and profilable vegeta- 

 tion, but it is wanted to compose a part of the substance 

 of certain phinls, and wheat is one of the number. No 

 plant can g;iivv in a soil u liicli is enlirtly destitute ol 

 the earlhy ingredients winch must constitute its sub- 

 stance ; and lime is found by themical analysis, always 

 to exist in wheat, both in the straw and in the kernel. 



It is well known that the lands in N. England, which 

 are at all suitable for any kind of grain or root crop, will 

 produce good crops of wheat, when first cleared from 

 their native growth of wood, liul after having been 

 tilled some years, such hinds yield wheat with difficul- 

 ty, and it is often found impossiblo to r.iise it by any of 

 the modes comnionly adopted for wheal culture, in 

 process of time, the Boil a|ppears to lose its faculty for 

 produring wheat, and our farmers think ihem^elves for- 

 ced nearly or quite to forego its culture. 



The same variatiojis have likewise been observed in 

 Europe. Wheat countries, by continued cultivation, 

 have become almost incapable of yielding wheat. Phe 

 cause and remedy ol this partial barienness, this falling 

 ofFas legrds particular plants, weie alike involved in 

 obscurity, till modern discoveries in chemistry threw 

 light on'lhe subject It has been lounri that the texture 

 of every soil is defective, unless there is a mixture of 

 three kinds of earth, viz: clay, sand and lime; and that 

 lime ill SDiiie of its combinations, exists in wheat, both 

 in the straw and in the kernel. In some soils, fertile in 

 other respects, lime may either h.ive no existence, or be 

 found in very minute portions, and be soon exhausted. 

 If lime be a necessary ccmslituenl of wheat, and docs 

 not naUiritlUj exist in ihe soil in which we attempt lo 

 raise wheat, it must be supplied by «ri, or wheat will 

 not grow. Ur, if native lime exists in the soil in small 

 quantities, the land may bear wheat till the lime is ex- 

 hausted, and then become incapable of producing that 

 plant, till a fresh supply of lime, marl, pulverized bones, 

 or some other calcareous substance is added. 



John Young, Esq., in an able work entitled Letters of 

 JIgricula, p. 299, states as follows, viz: 



" It c:innot be denied that since the plentiful use of 

 lime has been adopted, t land in Europe will produce 

 wheat, which otherwise were incapable of bearing it. — 

 The ryu lands of Herefordshire, which were reported 

 hj l)r lieale, in the year H330, as incap ble of produc- 

 ing wheat, Iiave been so much fertilized by the subse- 

 quent introdujtion of this fossil manure as to be success- 

 fully applied to the growth of that and every oth«r;gTOin. 

 This and similar effects may be referable in part.Ks the 

 subserviency of this earth in the more perfect f«rniiition 

 of the vegetable straclnre ; for we knirtv that aHl birds, 

 if confimMl in a cage aud denied all access to lime, will 

 Jay eggs with soA'i shells. ,So viheat ra.-iy labor .under 

 some such ana'lagons imperfection, unless the carbonate 

 of lime comes wuhin the range of its roots." 



I)r Anderson, a celebrated British writer on agricul- 

 ture, givei, an account of a field, which had a top dres- 

 sing of lime for the purpose of raising wlitat, but the 

 lime by ae^'ident was not applied to a small patch in the 

 field, and in that patch there was no crop, while every 

 pari of iJie lieid to wliich the lime was applied, pro- 

 duced fine M heal. Il would be e;isy to adduce many 

 more instances to prove tinil lime in (Jreal Britain is 

 consideieji not only useful, bul iniiispensable, for the 

 prodiiclion of wheal. A British farmi'r, we believe, 

 never uudertakes to raise wheat without the Use ol lime 

 as a manure, and American farmers, (unless a gre;il 

 change has n cently taken place in lliat tiram h of hus- 

 bandry,) rarely make any use of lime as miinuro for 

 wheat. 



<To bu cuntinueiJ.) 



By Mr Downer,— [)ix 



By ,Mr Grosvei.or, — :i pear, name unknown. 



By Mr Manning,— Stytian, Henri IV., Ceurre Knox, 

 Marie Ijouise. Al.so, Petre tiee, a native of B.irtram's 

 Garden at I'hiladelphi.i. The tree is healthy, fruit of 

 medium size, pear shaped, color yellow, partially cov- 

 ered with thin russet, flesh melting, juice sweet, a little 

 musky, with a fine flavor: the fruit uniformly fine. 



By John Prince, Esq. Roxbury,— Maiie Louise. 



By iMr D.ivis, Plymouth, - Marie Louise, large speci- 

 mens. 



.ipples.-By Mr Jonathan Warren, of Weston,— Gold- 

 en Harvey, so called, but wrongly named, a native 

 Porter, and anotbi-r fruit, a native, of a red color, large, 

 with a sprightly acid. 



By Mr Cla|pp, of .South Reading,— Pippin, a large, 

 pale, flat fruit, of excelleiil flavor. 



By Mr Grosvenor,— A fruit from a Frenuli tree, mu.st 

 be tiie Pomme Noii ; small, round, flattened, of a shin- 

 ing dark color, almost blai k. The blackest apple we 

 ever saw ; a beautiful and curious fruit. 



G,.„^,f., _Firie Grapes, source unknown, will be re- 

 ported another day. 



For the Committee. 



WM. KENRICK, Chairman. 



Voted, That ihe committee concerning the disposition 

 of the hall in Cornbill, be authorized to make sale of 

 such articles as in.iy be deemed unnecessary for present 

 use 



Mr Davis from the Nominating Commitlee, reported 

 a list of candidates, which being accepted, Messrs B. V. 

 French and C. .\I. Hovey weie made a Comtniltee to 

 collect the votes. 



Adi. to Ihe 20th inst. 



E. WESTON, Rec. Sec. 



MASSACHt'SBTTS IIORTICIII.T URAL. SOCIKTY. 



KXIIIOITION OF FKlUTS. 



Saturday, Oct. 11, 1837. 

 Peiirs. — l»y Win. Oliver, Esq — Columbian Virgalieu, 

 from New York, I'luit laige and fine, but liardly ripe. — 

 Tliis fine fruii will keep lill January. 



t j\I.ir.li.,|| > Ki^v ,;*■ 01 Ihe Cj, 



u H' 



. p 247 



Saturday, Oct. 7, 1837. 

 The annual meeting for the purpose of filling the of 

 flees for the coming year, and transaction of othei busi- 

 ness, was field at the Hall in Tremonl st. 



Messrs J. L. L. F. VVarien, of Brighton, and Levi 

 Tnaxter, of Watertown, were admitted subscription 

 members. 



A letter was read from William Lincoln, Esq , and 

 a committee consis ing of Messrs Davis, Grosvenor and 

 Weston, wasjappointed to superintend the publicalion of 

 the Anniversary address. 



Mr Grosvenor moved the following votes concerning 

 the disposition of funds, .ind the dutiesofthe Treasurer, 

 all of which were separately ccmsidered and passed. 



looted. Thai all the money belonging to the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society, he kept deposited in sorae 

 Bank, in the name of the Society, to be drawn for by 

 the Treasurer. 



f'oted, That ihe Treasurer be directed lo make a state- 

 ment of his accounts, every three months, to the Com- 

 miitee of Finance, and once a ye.-ii to the Society. 



Voted. That the Committee of Finance be directed, 

 whenever there be $200 on hand, and not wanted for 

 immediate use, lo have the same invest, d in such per- 

 manent stocks as they may think best. 



Voted, That all transfers of stocks standing in tlie name 

 of ihe Massachusells Horticultural Society, be made by 

 the Treasurer, under the direction, in writing, of the 

 Co iimiltee of Finance. 

 All passed separately. 



The Executive Committee were authorized to rent 

 the rooms formerly occupied by the Society, and make 

 a lease of the same. 



Oil motion of Mr Oliver, it >vas voied 

 Thai the thanks ol the Society be presented to the 

 contributors of Planls, Fruits and Flowers, for the nu- 

 merous and beautiful specimens furnished in aid of the 

 late exhibition. 



Oil motion of Mr Bartlelt, it was 



Voted, That thelhanks of the Society be presented lo 

 Mr Samuel Walker, Chairman of the Committee of Ar- 

 rangements, and to the individual members id" the Com- 

 mittee, for their acceptable services in the heanliful ar- 

 rangement and tasteful decorations of the flail of ex- 

 hibition. 



On motion of Mr Isaac P. Davis, il was 

 Voted, That the thanks ol this Society be presented 

 to Wm. Worthington, Esq., for his long and faithful ser- 

 vices as Treasuier of the same. 



After some lemarks from the Chair, it was 

 Votr.,i, Thai the Finance Committee, R. 'P. Paine, 

 and E Weston, Jr., be a Commitlee lo confer with any 

 similar C.>mmilteo that may he appointed by the society 

 of Natural History, the Boston Athena-uni, and the lil- 

 ies of Boston and Salem, to defend the will of the late 

 Ambrose S. Curtis, Esq., wilh authority to employ 

 counsel, if they lliink proper. 



Messrs Walker, Worthington and R. T. Paine, were 

 appoiiiled a committee to collect the list of members, 

 and arrange ihe same. 



A letter was read from George W. Brimmer, Esq , 

 accompanying a donation of 100 copies of Hoare's treat- 

 ise on the vine. And on motion of Mr Grosve- 

 nor, the thanks of the Society were voted to Mr Brim- 

 mer for the same. 



DREADFUL LOSS. 

 Mo.st Melancholy Disaster ! Wreck of Ihe Steam pack- 

 et Home, of N. York, and iiinely-five lives lost! ! ! 

 An Extra from llie ofHce of the Baltimore American, 

 dated October 16, one o'clock P. M., contains the truly 

 heart-rending intelligence, ihal the steam packet Home, 

 Captain White, from New York for Charleston, whence 

 she sailed on Saturday the 7tli inst , sprung a leak on 

 Monday the yth, when off Cape Hatteras, and was run 

 ashore six miles north of Ocracocke, in order to save 

 the lives of those on bo:ird. The Home had on board 

 00 passen-rers, of whom SEVENTY PERISHED, and 

 of her crew of forty-five, TWENTY-FIVE were lost- 

 making a total loss of JV7JV£ri'-f7K£ LIVES! I !— 

 Two of the passengers who escaped, say thai the Home 

 made rapid progress after slie left New York, and had 

 proceeded as far to the southward as Cape Hatteras, 

 when the wind, which had blown very freshly all Mon- 

 day morning the Olh. increased lo a gale about 2 o'clock 

 P. M., and caused itie boat to labor very much. It was 

 soon very generally manifest that her frame wa» not 

 strong enough to withstand the violence of the sea, and 

 il was suppo.sed that she leaked freely, for she soon set- 

 tled so deep in the vvater, as lo render her wheels en- 

 tirely useless, and her sails were then raised lo run her 

 on shore. At half past 10 at night, she struck the shore 

 near Ocracoke, and iinmediat.-ly vvenl to pieces ! The 

 passengers were now in the greatest confusion and 

 alarm — some leaped overboard, and were drowned in 

 alleniptingloswim to land, while others possessed them- 

 selves of pieces of timber, and floated ashore nearly ex- 

 hausted wilh fatigue. Mrs Schroeder, one of the two 

 ladies who were saved, lashed herself to one of the tim- 

 bers, and thus reached the shore in safety. Mrs La- , 

 cosle, though an exceedingly feeble old lady, aged about [ 

 70 years, was safely dragged out of the surf— she is sup- 

 posed to have been buoyed up by a settee. One of the . 

 passengers had on a life preserver, and got safely to land 

 by its aid. , 



The Grain Worm- — We believe this enemy has noti 

 made his appearance yet in Kentucky. We liave made 

 many inquiries of farmers in this section, and none ol 

 them know any thing abimi the destroyer. The edi:oi' 

 of ihe Cnllivator says: " Many of our readers abroac) 

 identify ibis insect wilh the hessian fly, and others willi 

 the weevil. Il is neither. The hessian fly preys upor 

 the stock of the wheat; the weevil upon the ripenedl 

 gram in the barn or in bin ; the grain worm ihslroyi 

 the wheat in the germ or aiUU.." — Franklin {Ky.) Far-'^ 

 mer,^ , 



Peach Treks.— A subscriber informs us, and wishei 

 the fact made public, that marl put round the trunks o 

 Peach Trees, say a husbel or half thai me:isure to end 

 tree, protects them from the attacks of worms, preservei 

 llie trees in health, continues them in life beyond tin 

 lime of their ordinary existence, promotes the growth o 

 the fruit lo almost double its former size, an^ increase! 

 the richness of its flavor in like proportion. This il 

 valuable information indeed, and our friend assures ui 

 il is not less true than valuable.— Saiem (JV. J.) Banner 



The Bristol County Agricultural Society held an an 

 nual Fair and Exhibition in this town, on the lOlh inat 

 The Address, bv the Rev. MrTnompson is highly spok 

 en of We sh.ill publish the proceedings in a futur 

 number.- Brisfo/ Co. Dein. 



The Worcester Cattle Show was held on the lit 

 inst. We shall give details of the exhibition in ou 

 next. 



The Berkshire Catlle Show was held on the 4th an 

 5th insl., at Pitlsfield. Parliculais as soon as possibh 



The Report of Fruits at Ihe rooms of the Mass. Hot 

 Society, was received loo late for insertion in to-day 

 paper. 



