VOI-. XVT. NO. 4 1. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



325 



ill the ceh!i-e of the top of the hill, and gently 

 lunilii^ tin; piiint.s out of the pot, with the liiill 

 entire; after vvliich, the iiioiilH irmy he crirefullv 

 drawn nroiiiul them and iiiodeiately watered, to 

 close the soil to the hall. 



Enrlhlns the hills. The mana;,'er should he 



careful always to have some con)p.i.st in the hark 

 of the fratiie, to keep it in an tqnal teiriperatnre 

 with that in the hill. As the yonng roots of the 

 plants are seen to grow through the hill, a little 

 earth may he gradnahy drawn around them vvilh 

 the hands, ut ditlerent times, until they are large, 

 when the whole of the inside may he earthed, as 

 the plants will then he well estahiished. 



Tempernture of the bed. — The internal heat of 

 the hed may he kept from 65 to 75 degrees of 

 heat, and eare must he taken always to leave a 

 little air at the back ef the frame, to let off the in- 

 ternal steam; of very cold nights a mat may he 

 hung over the place where the air is given, to 

 mollify the harsh air as it enters. 



Stopping and Ihimiinsr Ihe vines. — The young 

 plants iiuiy he stopped as soon as they show ont 

 two or three rough leaves, by nipping out the 

 centre, close; to the first rough leaf. The after 

 maiiagemeut is, to thin the vines in smrh a man. 

 ner that they will not be malted too close togeth- 

 er ; but can in every way enjoy the sun and air. 

 When the fruit begins to show on the vines, the 

 shoots are to be regularly nipped off two joints 

 from it, in order to throw the strength and sup- 

 port into it. 



PVatering, S,-c. — The cucumber requires plenty 

 of water when in a growing state, and if a quan- 

 tity of soap suds or liquid manure is often applied, 

 the bett(;r. Every attention must be paid to giv- 

 ing air in a regular manner, covering well of a 

 night, &.e. Let the cultivator hear in mind, that 

 strict attention is reiiuisite, and that a negligent 

 fraaier must never expect to succeed. 



Linine; the bed. — When the internal heat of the 

 hed decreases, it should be renewed, by lining the 

 outside of the bed with two or three feet ot hot 

 [worked manure, which must be augmented at 

 tiifferent times, to keep a continual and regular 

 internal heat. 



FORCING THE MELO.f. 



The melon requires nearly the .-ame treatment 

 IS the cucumber, in the preparing of the bed, the 

 nanagenient of the seed bed, and the potting of 

 he young ptant.s. The time of sowing the seed 

 nay be nearly the same as the cuciiiiiber, although 

 t is generally the practice to sow a week or two 

 ater. 



IVuitin^ frame. — The fruiting bed for the melon 

 nay be prepared in the same way as for the cu- 

 iuinber, except that the cucuuiher requires more 

 )ottom heat than the mehui, the melon being lia- 

 )le to have its j-oots hurut l)y too much heat. — 

 laving the be<l in proper order for planting, a 

 lill may he prepared under the centre of eaidi 

 ight, as directed for the cucumber. The corn- 

 iest may be nearly the same, only more loamy. 

 ?he p ants being placed in the hills, the frame 

 houlii be regularly aired every fine day, and cov- 

 red every night a little before sunset, and uncov- 

 red in the morning as soon as the sunshines full 

 n it; every attention should be ])aid to the vvel- 

 ire of tiie plants as recommended for the cucum- 

 er. The compost for the earthing of the bed, 

 hould be a strong mellow loam with a portion of 

 rpU rottted hot-bed manure mixed with it. The 

 lelou does not require Bo rich a soil as the cu- 



enmlier, nor so much watering. Having the com- 

 post prepared, the bed should be earthed in every 

 way as recommended for the cucumber, in a grail- 

 iial manner. 



Stnppins: yotins: plants. — This ought to be done 

 when the first rough leaf is fully grown, by nip- 

 ping out the leader in the centre of the plant, and 

 again, when the plants have made a growth of 

 eight or ten joints in length. 'J his last stopjiing 

 will be the means of throwing the plants into 

 fruit at once. 



M'alering the plants. — The melon requires less 

 water than the cucumber ; and iu many case.-*, 

 when over watered, the vines canker and rut off, 

 c;speciaily if the hdls are dirhed so that the water 

 collects a'lout them. The hill of the melon should 

 be always a little above the level of the soil in ihe 

 frame, to let offthe surface water about ir. Wa- 

 ter, at the roots, on a mild evening, ns often as 

 once a week ; when the frame should be closed 

 and well cov>-;red, in order that the vines and in- 

 side may not be chilled. After very hot days, the 

 vines may be sprinkled over wiih a water pot 

 with a rose on the s|)out, of an evening, about an 

 hour before sundown, and closed and well cover- 

 ed. In this state, the frame will he steamed in- 

 side, which will keep down the red spider, and be 

 congenial to the growth of the vines. 



Thinning the vities. — Thinning the vines must 

 be regularly attended to ; that at no lime through- 

 out the season of their growth they should he 

 allowed to become crowded or matted togellier. 

 Every part of the frame sliould be filled with vines 

 in a regular manner. Of the two extremes. I 

 should advise the cultivator to keep the vines 

 rather too thin than too thick, for by crowding the 

 frame with either too many vines or fruit, the crop 

 will be materially injured. 



Stopping the vines for fruiting. — When the 

 fruit of the first flowers are swelling as bi" as 

 marbles, the shoots may be nipped off one joint 

 from the best formed fruit, in order to throw the 

 strength into it, ami O'ake it swell freely. 



Thinning the fruit. — When the fruit is set 

 freely all over the frame, it may undergo a regu- 

 lar thinning, by selecting that which is the best 

 formed and of a healthy appearance to remain ; 

 and taking off any deformed fruit, and a portion 

 where it is too thick ; this thinning will throw 

 vigor into the vines and cause the fruit left on to 

 swell and form in a handsome manner. 



Ripening the fruit. — When the fruit is begin- 

 ning to color, the watering must then be suspend- 

 ed ; as too much water spoils the flavor of the 

 fruit. Plenty of air must also be given at every 

 opportunity, when the fruit is ripening. 

 ('I'o be continned.) 



uiiis— one for potatoes, ore for wheat. 1 need 

 not aild perhaps, that when stocked down to grass 

 with that crojj of wheal, the soil was well filled 

 with manure. I therefore deemed it unnecessary, 

 if not injurious, to add more than the above amount 

 of manure in the present proce,«s,as I have known 

 wheat land to be manured too highly, causii-g the 

 straw to be heiivy& the kernel light. The last week 

 of last April after the laud had been well and deep 

 ploughed, the seed (2 1-2 bushels of the .Smyrna 

 or Back Sea Spring Wheat*) was sown and har- 

 rowed ill across the furiows, the roller fr)llovviug; 

 which finished the duty of the husbandmen lo 

 this field, till harvest, wliieh was completed the 

 first week in August, the grain being c-iit when 

 the kernal w;is to the feel like Imlia rubber; two 

 days sun cured it for housing. The crop was 

 threshed in October by horse power, (the machina 

 having been in use a number of years and the 

 teeth much worn; I judged, over a bushel passed 

 through unthreslied and went with the straw, of 

 course not counted in the measure) winnowed up 

 clean and carefully measured. 'J he amount was 

 38 bushels ami 16 quarts (d' clean wheat. 

 Yours, respectfully, 



PAYSON WILLIAMS. 

 Fitchburg, JVov. 10, 1837. 



"This kinJ of wheat was imporled from Smyrna 

 about seven years since, the largest product on my land 

 was 55 bushels and an itKiii (tor which a premiaai was 

 awarded) and has generally done well. 



SO- 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL 



CIETY REPORTS. 

 To the Committee on Agricultural Products and 



Experiments, of Massachusetts Agricul. Society. 



Gentlemen: — In entering a claim for the [ire- 

 mium offered by the Trustees of the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Society, for the greatest quantity of 

 Spring Wheat per acre, and in conformity to the 

 rules of said society, I now stale that the field on 

 which my erop was grown the present season 

 was planted the year previous with corn and po- 

 tatoes, and for that year was not manured - 

 heavy — say with about six cords of good ma- 

 nure ploughed in. As a reason for so doing, I 

 will state that this field had obtained two premi- 



THE BERKSHIRE CROP OF OATS. 



In the New England Farmer of February last, we pub- 

 lished fn.m the Berkshire Star, an extraordinary crop of 

 oal* on eight acres, averaging 91 bushels to ihe acre. 

 We soon after received from a coirespondent at Hart- 

 ford some inquiries respecting them.whicli wo promised 

 to answer as soon as wc got ihe necessary informalioii ; 

 and for thai purpose we wioie immediately to the enter- 

 prising fanner, whose answer we subjoin. 



Great Barrington, March 15, 1838. 

 Dkar Sir — In answer to your inquiries, the 

 land that the oats grew upon is a gravcdly loam 

 but very litlle gravel however. In 1830 I |iut a 



small coat of barnyard manure on the land ; 



ploughed and planted it to corn. The year fol- 

 lowing 1 sowed it to oats and stacked itilown,and 

 put about 1 1-4 bushels of plaster on the oats to 

 the acre. The 3 years next following I used it 

 for pasture. The first year of pasturing [ used 

 about 1 1-4 bushels of |)laster to the acre. In 

 1836 1 ploughed it shallow, dragged it well, and 

 planted it to corn. I had a great growth of corn 

 but the early frost very nearly destroyed it. In 

 the spring following I split the hills as usual ; 

 dragged it well ; about 1-3 of the lot is quack land, 

 (we suppose land infested with quitch grass) t.hat 

 I ploughed three times after harrowing, the rest 

 hut once. I sowed my oats, 2 1-2 bushels to the 

 acre, and harrowed the quack pait well, six limes, 

 the other (lart four times. I sowed 1 1-2 liushels 

 of plaster to the acre immediately after the oats 

 were np. One thing I consider very essential in 

 order to keep land in good heart ; when I till I 

 till it well, and when 1 use it for pasturing, I do 

 not overstock my land witli cattle or sheep, in or- 

 der tli.it my lainl shall have a good coat of grass 

 left on the ground in the fall, so as to keep the 

 land warm through the winter and serve for ma- 

 nure. The oats weighed 35 3-4 lbs. to the bushel. 

 One thing 1 would mention, at every time 1 plough- 

 ed my quack land, I applied the harrow immedi- 

 ately after. Yours, with respect, 



JONAH A. HURLBERT. 



