VOTi. Xlt. NO. 35. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



277 



tioti, it is believed, is disregarded on account of 

 the difficulty of finding it, and from the fact of its 

 being presented in an unsystematic, and irregular 

 manner. 



In order to remove these difficulties, I propo*-, 

 (and respectfully suggest to those who take an in- 

 terest in the advancement of agricultural science,) 

 that tint whole subject I"' divided into about fifty 

 parts, and invite fifty different gentlemen, who are 

 qualified, and acquainted witli the subject, to write 

 treatises on each separately. Each treatise to he 

 confined to one branch of agriculture — to be full 

 and complete in itself — written in a plain, clear 

 style, — and in all cases to give the best and most 

 approved views of the subject. The whole should 

 be entirely American, — no compilations from for- 

 eign works — but adapted to our own soil and out- 

 own climate, and condition. 



• The first treatise should of course be a kind of 

 introductory or preliminary discourse. — The 



2. might be a history of 19. Farmers' Accounts&c 

 Agriculture. 20. Orchards. 



8. Present state of agri- 21. Description* of Fruits 

 culture in different (Pomology.) 



countries. 22. Rotation of Crops. 



4. On cleaning and im- 23. Manure. 



proving ground. 24. Live Stocks. 



5. Building, farm bouse 25. 26. Horse. 



fee. 27. 28. Cattle. 



6. Building, barns, cribs 29. Sheep. 



fee. &c. 30. Dairy. 



7. Fencing. 31. Swine. 



8. Hedges. 32. Poultry. 



9. Irrigation, draining 33. Bees. 



fee. &c. 34.. Meadows, fee. 



10. Geology as applied 35. Hay. 



to agriculture. 30. Clover. 



11. Agricultural chemis- 37. Wheat. 



try. 38. Corn. 



12. Agricultural botany. 39. Oats. 

 13. Vegetable physiology. 40. Rye. 



14. Entomology as far as 41. Barley. 



useful in agriculture 42. Buckwheat. 



15. Horticulture, a gene- 43. Cotton. 



ral treatise. 44. Sugar. 



16. Gardening, practical 45. Hemp. 



treatise. 46. Tobacco. 



17. Ornamental & Flow- 47. Raising Silk, &c. 



er Gardens. 48. Vines and Wine. 



18. Agricultural Imple- 49. Flax. 



meuts. 50. Housewifery, &c.&c. 



An agency should be established at some central 

 place, say at Philadelphia, whose duty it should be 

 to receive these Treatises, and after submitting 

 them to a board of agriculture, for their approval; 

 attend to their publication. They should be pub- 

 lished in volumes of from 250 to 300 pages, and 

 of the size called 12mo. Each volume to be ac- 

 companied by a copious index. They would form 

 what might be called the " American Farmer's Li- 

 brary," and would be a standard work for refer- 

 ence on all occasions, the advantages and value of 

 which will readily be perceived by every intelli- 

 gent reader. If suitable exertions were made, on 

 the part of the friends of scieuce in our country, 

 there can be no doubt but that the object may be 

 fully attained. Would it not be an bouor to our 

 country ? 



If the editors of other agricultural papers 

 throughout the Union, approve the project, they 

 are requested to give this communication a place 

 in their columns. 



Respectfully submitted, J. A. Laphah. 



From the New York Farmer. 

 JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. 



Although this vegetable is generally known in 

 this country, still it is questionable if a full and 

 satisfactory experiment was ever made. We make 

 U«e following extract: 



" I was .determined to prove whether or not 

 they could he cultivated to greater advantage than 

 the potato, as food for cattle. One sack was con- 

 sumed by a young calf at hand ; it ate them with 

 avidity, and improved on them. I took the other 

 two sacks and planted them in the midst of a five 

 acre piece of potatoes. I set them whole without 

 cutting, measuring correctly an eighth part of an 

 acre ; the produce was in proportion to six hun- 

 dred and forty bushels per acre — the potatoes three 

 hundred and twenty-seven bushels. The follow- 

 ing year, the memorable one of 1826, I planted 

 half an acre on a piece of thin gravel, old tillage 

 land, in its regular co'urse of preparation for a 

 vegetable crop after wheat ; they maintained their 

 verdure through that extraordinary dry summer, 

 and produced one hundred and fifty bushels ; but 

 the potatoes by the side of them were completely 

 set fast ; they never formed a bulb. The year fol- 

 lowing I set an acre on part of the same kind of 

 soil, but of better quality ; it produced five hun- 

 dred and seventy bushels without any dung. An 

 half an acre on the same land, with the usual 

 quantity of dung for turnips, produced two hun- 

 dred and ninety bushels (a bad compensation for 

 eight loads of excellent dung.) This present sea- 

 son, an acre on the same land (part of my turnip- 

 fid lows) produced five hundred and seventy-six 

 bushels ; but the wet state of the soil when taken 

 up, and being a vegetable of uneven surface, which 

 causes the soil to adhere to it more than to a po- 

 tato, renders it difficult to come at the exact quan- 

 tity. From an experiment I made of washing a 

 sack, I can safely assert, I have five hundred and 

 thirty bushels of clean roots ; whilst the vegetables 

 on our flat gravels do not equal this by full fifty 

 per cent, in value, except the potato, which pro- 

 duced three hundred and eight bushels .on the 

 same soil. I could never raise more in favorable 

 seasons. 



" The cultivation of the artichoke is the same 

 as of the potato, except that it requires to be set 

 early — not Inter than March ; if laid above ground 

 all winter, it is proof against the severest frost. 

 When once cleaned, no weed can live in its dense 

 shade ; horses, beasts, and sheep, consume it with 

 avidity ; pigs prefer a potato to it in its raw state, 

 but prefer the artichoke when boiled or steamed. 

 It attracts the game in a most extraordinary way ; 

 they resort to its shade in autumn ; it forms one 

 of the finest covers in nature. We are so fortu- 

 nate as to have but little game in our lordship ; 1 

 do not recollect ever basing seen even a Swedish 

 turnip bitten by a bare or rabbit, notwithstanding 

 they will consume the artichokes left by the men 

 in securing them. 



" If potatoes can be profitably cultivated as food 

 for cattle, compared with Swedish turnips, man- 

 gold wurtzel, the sugar beet, &c. (which I much 

 doubt,) the artichoke is vastly superior to them. 

 The expense of culture is no more ; it is not liable 

 to be injured by frost ; can be taken up at pleas- 

 ure ; it produces at least thirty per cent, more, and 

 on poor land full fifty per cent. ; is far more nutri- 

 tious, and leaves the land perfectly clean. The 

 I only objection that can be urged against their cul- 

 tivation for cattle in competition with potatoes is 



that they require more care in taking them up. 

 The frost not acting upon them so as to destroy 

 vegetation, what are missed will, of course, grow 

 amongst the succeeding crop, but I have found 

 very little inconvenience in this respect. D. L." 



From the Maine Farmer. 

 HOPS. 

 I havk been thinking for sometime past of sendV 

 ing you a conversation that I had with a woman, 

 when on my way to Bangor in October last. I 

 stopped at a tavern in North Newport and called 

 for some oats for rny horse. I noticed that the 

 Landlady got them for me herself. With true 

 Yankee curiosity I asked if her husband was not 

 at home. She answered, No ; be was gone to 

 Bangor to sell his hops. Hops, said I, we used 

 when I was a boy to have one hill, but neglected 

 to pick that, half the time. We have, said she, an 

 acre and a half. All to Hops! said I, what do you 

 do with so many ? for I am a real Yankee to ask 

 questions, especially when I can converse with a 

 pretty woman : and here the following dialogue 

 commenced : 



Landlady — Send them to Boston. 

 Yankee — How much do you get for them t 

 Landlady — 20 cents per pound. 

 Yankee — How much will one acre yield * 

 Landlady — About twenty hundred. 

 Yankee — How many did you raise on your acr« 

 and a half? 



Landlady — Thirty hundred and fifty pounds. 

 Y'ankee — How much does it cost to rinse them? 

 Landlady — A little more than it does to culti- 

 vate the Same quantity of land in corn. 



Yankee — How many hills do you put to an 

 acre ? 



Landlady — Twelve Hundred, — but La, says she, 

 for I suppose she thought I should never get 

 through with my Yankee questions, we neighbor* 

 raise enough to bring us in Six Thousand Dollars. 

 I thought I would ask one more question, and 

 that is — How many in number do your neighbor* 

 consist of. Her answer was, twelve or fifteen. 

 Thinks I to myself, if one acre of Hops are worth. 

 four hundred dollars, it is about time to stop try- 

 ing to raise Corn, to say the least if the seasons ta 

 come are to be like the two last. A Yankee. 



P. S. — I learnt from my good Landlady that th« 

 land best adapted to raising bops is a loam inclin- 

 ing to sand. 



WISSHIPS' GREEN HOUSE AT BRIGHTON. 



This is probably the most extensive and splendid 

 Green House in this country, and the collection of 

 plants which it now con tains is superior and brilliant 

 beyond description. There is in it upwards of four 

 thousand plants in pots, of every variety, many of 

 which are now in full bloom, and present in coup 

 d'oeil, the most beautiful exhibition of the kind w« 

 have ever witnessed. It is kept at an even tempe- 

 rature by heated water, conveyed in pipes around 

 the building. The arrangement of the pots in this 

 green- house is in several respects peculiar, and bighr 

 ly advantageous for display and access; walks ar« 

 beautifully \;iu\ with white marble, and the building 

 is finished with the most perfect modern improve- 

 ments. It is of itsell worth a visit to Brighton, and 

 in the approaching season will afford an opportune 

 ty for visiters to gratify their taste as well as curi- 

 osity, and to possess themselves of the most perfMt 

 specimens of rare and splendid plants. — Allot. 



