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NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



NOVEMBER 13, 1S33. 



From the American Farmer. 

 LODGING OF WHEAT. 



An intelligent friend who called at our office a 

 few daj'9 ago, communicated to us the result of 

 an experiment made by liim relative to the lodg- 

 ing of wlieat. — He prepared two pieces of ground 

 precisely similar in quality and aspect. On both 

 of which he sowed wheat ; on one he sowed broad- 

 cast ; on the other in roivs, which was tints effect- 

 ed: the land was ploughed as usual, but instead of 

 harrowing it, he sowed the wheat immediately 

 after ploughing ; of course the seed fell naturally 

 into the furrow, very little remaining on the ridges. 

 After sowing, the field was harrowed, not cross- 

 wise, but in the same direction as it was ploughed. 

 This last operation cast the seed almost entirely 

 into the furrow at the same time covering it — and 

 when the wlieat came up, it stood close and thick 

 in rows, almost as perfect as if planted in drills. 

 This field of wheat succeeded perfectly and the 

 grain remained erect, whilst that on the adjoining 

 field, which had been sown broadcast, lodged. 



The rationale, (as Loudon would say) of this, is 

 as follows: In the field sown broadcast, the grain 

 stands close and the circulation of air is prevented 

 or at least impeded ; the stalks, deprived of the 

 influence of this element, remain soft and tender, 

 are unable to support either themselves or the 

 weight of the cars — and the wheat lodges. In 

 the other case, the spaces, either vacant or but 

 thinly covered, between the drills admit the air to 

 circulate freely, by which the stalks become firm 

 and hardened. 



" The lodging or falling of some kinds of grain 

 and of grass," says Nicholson, " is owing to their 

 standing too thick to admit of a free circulation of 

 air, by means of which only they can preserve a 

 healthy state. — Plant one grain of wheat, for in- 

 stance, in the richest soil, and the stalk when 

 grown will not fall ; but plant a great number of 

 grains in the same soil, so closely together as to 

 preclude a free circulation of air amongst the stalks 

 and they become unable to sustain their own 

 weight." 



noon, except on Saturdays, when they are from 8 

 to 12 onlv. 



SALT YOUR CORN. 



Mr. Brown, of this vicinity, commutiieated 

 some information to us, in a conversation recently 

 held with him, in regard to the use of salt in corn 

 which is put away in the husks, which may be in- 

 teresting to the puhlic. He stated that he received 

 last year a quantity of corn, which he had pur- 

 chased, in so wet a state that he was apprehensive 

 it would spoil. He remembered that it was a 

 common practice in Pennsylvania, when hay was 

 put away somewhat damp, or not fully cured, to 

 sprinkle salt on it, and that such hay generally kept 

 well, and that horses and cattle were very fond of 

 it; he therefore concluded to try the experiment 

 on his corn. He accordingly, as his corn was 

 thrown in a pile on a large floor, sprinkled it with 

 salt, using from a half a bushel to a bushel of salt 

 to five or six hundred bushels of corn. The corn 

 kept well, never became musty, and never had 

 any weevil in it. Mr. B. still had of this corn 

 when he communicated this information to us ; 

 and he stated that the bread which it then made 

 was so sweet and good, that it was esteemed pref- 

 erable to that made of new corn. He also stated 

 that he was not under the necessity of purchasing 

 any fodder for his working oxen last winter, they 

 fed upon the husks of this corn so freely; and he 

 added that they kept in excellent order. Mr. B. 

 was so well pleased with this experiment, that he 

 is putting up all his corn this year in the same 

 manner, using about half a bushel of salt to five 

 hundred bushels of corn, which he thinks is 

 enough. — Ala. Intel. 



rotten India rubber, and the substance has there 

 lately been brought into use for whale fishing line s , 

 and elastic cables and ropes, the superior excel- 

 ence of which for many purposes is highly spoken 

 of. 



INDIA RUBBER. 



More than fifty-two thousand lbs. of caout- 

 chouc, or India rubber, were exported into Eng- 

 land in 1830, being nearly double the quantity 

 brought during the preceding year. Its price is 

 from Is (id to 2s 3d per lb. The duty upon it is 

 5d per Hi. The increase in the demand is to be 

 attributed to the application of this substance as 

 an article of general utility. 



From the Manufacturer's and Farmer's Journal. 

 RHODE-ISLAND AGRICULTURAL, MECHANI- 

 CAL AND CLASSICAL SCHOOL. 



The American Farmer, published at Baltimore, 

 some time last summer, put forth the inquiry 

 whether there was in this country, such an insti- 

 tution as an Agricultural School. Since that time 

 we have endeavored to obtain information con- 

 cerning the school under the direction of the 

 Rhode-Island Agricultural Society. The most 

 definite we have heretofore obtained was embodied 

 in the account of that Society's annual Fair, which 

 the American Farmer noticed and copied. We 

 are now enabled to communicate some additional 

 particulars concerning the system of labor ami in- 

 struction which has been adopted in this novel 

 and useful institution. The School, which com- 

 mences its winter term on Monday, the 28th Oc- 

 tober, is now under the direction of Mr. Drury, as 

 Principal, assisted in the English Department by 

 Mr. Alden, a distinguished instructor from North- 

 ampton. The mechanical department will be un- 

 der the superintendence of Mr. Alden, assisted by 

 Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Partridge, both practical 

 mechanics. The hours of labor will be from 2J 

 to 4i o'clock in the afternoon of each day. The 

 school hours are from 8 till 12 o'clock in the fore- 

 noon, and from one to half past two in the after- 



Fro/n GoodseWs Farmer. 

 PITTING TURNIPS. 



As the turnip harvest is approaching, we take 

 the liberty of suggesting to those who cultivate 

 the Swedes, our method for pitting them for win- 

 ter. The pits are limited to two feet in width, 

 and of an indefinite length, and are dug in a dry 

 situation, seldom more than two feet deep. When 

 the pit or hole is filled with roots as high as the 

 surface of the ground, the turnips are,laid by hand, 

 the tops out, and sloping to the centre, until they 

 terminate in a ridge which is generally about two 

 feet above the ground. The whole are then cov- 

 ered with straw and then with earth. The im- 

 portant point follows : The crown of the ridge is 

 then pierced with an iron bar, at intervals of a 

 yard, and the earth pressed out so as to leave an 

 entire aperture into the turnips, and into each of 

 these apertures a wisp of twisted straw is loosely 

 inserted. The roots will heat, and unless the rare- 

 fied air is permitted to escape the turnips are apt 

 to rot. The openings permit its escape, without 

 danger of the frost doing injury. With this pre- 

 caution we have not lost one bushel in a thou- 

 sand. The same course would no doubt be bene- 

 ficial in preserving the mangel wurtzel. 



INDIA RUBBER BATHING TUBS 



— Are manufactured in New York. The article 

 folds up like a cot bed, and is so light that it may 

 be carried in the hand from one apartment to an- 

 other. Air beds, pillows, &.C are made out of the 

 same material. Trunks are rendered water proof 

 by being lined with a thin India Rubber cloth as 

 thin as bank note paper. In England they have 

 a method of restoring strength and elasticity to 



From the Rail Road Journal. 

 The following article will, we trust, be read 

 with interest, by those who give their attention to 

 the honey-making insect: 



A Parasite of the Honey Bee (Apis mellifica.) — 

 For a few years past, many of those people, in 

 this vicinity, who have apiaries, have found that 

 in the month of April, May, and June, an un- 

 usual mortality had prevailed among their bees. 

 This circumstance has led to a thorough investi- 

 gation of the cause, by those who have felt a par- 

 ticular interest in the products of this valuable in- 

 sect ; and the result has proved that this mortality 

 has been produced entirely by a parasite. 



More than two years since, one of my neigh- 

 bors suggested to me his conjecture, that there 

 was a parasite fly that was injurious to the honey 

 bee : since which time, we have fully ascertained 

 the fact. I have a box now before me, contain- 

 ing a great number of bees, in which may be 

 found the parasites, in both the pupa and the per- 

 fect state. Usually the bees become sickly and 

 unable to fly, when the parasites are in the larva 

 state ; but they sometimes live till the perfect in- 

 sect emerges from the pupa. The larva is fixed 

 at the inosculations of the dorsal segments of the 

 abdomen of the bee, and is hardly discoverable by 

 the eye, unless the abdomen be dissected. The 

 larva is white, nearly two lines in length, and 

 very much resembles a small worm or maggot. 

 The pupa is nearly the size of the larva, and of a 

 reddish brown color. The perfect insect is a non- 

 descript, and bears very little resemblance to the 

 [Slylops] or [Xejtos] or any other insect, that has 

 been found to be a parasite of the bee or wasp. 

 It is of the class Diptera of Lin., is little larger 

 than the Hessian fly, but in color and form it is 

 very unlike that insect. 



Kirby, many years since, discovered that the 

 insect (Stylops) was a parasite in the black-bronze 

 bee, [Andrena nigroa:nea,) in England, and Pro- 

 fessor Peck afterwards found that the (Xenos) was 

 a parasite in wasps, in America ; but I am not 

 aware that a parasite of the honey bee has ever 

 been discovered till of late, and in this vicinity. 



Iu conclusion, I would most sincerely request 

 those who have apiaries to examine their hives 

 during the spring and summer months, and if this 

 parasite is discovered, to investigate the history of 

 the insect, and if possible, to find a remedy for 

 the injury it may produce. Martin Field. 



Fayetteville, Vt. May 15, 1833. 



Cherries. Mr. Peter Myers of Greenbusb, has 

 a tree full of ripe cherries of the second growth 

 this season, having all the richness and flavor of a 

 first crop. 



