302 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APRIL a, 1S34. 



NKW ENGLAND FARM Eli. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 2, 1834. 



MESSKS. WINSHIPS' GREEN HOUSE AT 

 BRIGHTON. 



W'k have recently taken a trip to Brighton for 

 the purpose of making a visit to tlic Horticultural 



Establishment of Messrs. Winships, and were ch 



gratified. We were particularly pleased with the 

 green-house, in whichthere is a very great collection 

 of rare, beautiful and useful plants, both exotics 

 an I natives. These are supplied with an artificial 

 temperature, both by tire tines and hot water pipes. 

 The number of plants in pots is upwards of four 

 thousand, which appear to luxuriate in the ming- 

 led climates of the torrid and temperate zones ; 

 and though many of them strangers to our hind 

 and latitude, the) seem perfectly at home in their 

 domiciles, where art supplies all the requisites, to 

 their perfection, which nature cannot afford to the 

 " pale nnripened florets of the north." 



The marble walls, porcelain tiles, Chinese orna- 

 ments and other samples of oriental magnificence 

 made us imagine we were within the influence of 

 the wand of some enchantress, who had "wrapped 

 us in elysium," and substituted the delights of par- 

 adise for the insipid realities of common existence. 



The Boston and Worcester Rail Road will pass 

 within a short distance of this Temple of Flora, 

 and if it does not become a fashionable resort in 

 the vernal and summer months, we shall say that 

 the beau inonde of Boston ought never to be in- 

 dulged with prospects fairer than views of brick 

 walls, paved streets, and narrow thread-needle 

 lanes, where day-light can scarcely penetrate, and 

 the inhabitants are doomed to a crowded seclusion, 

 suffering all the penalties of confinement, without 

 the pleasures of solitude. 



We understand that the Green House of Messrs. 

 Winships is an indication of the taste and liberali- 

 ty of a generous and benevolent friend who chose 

 that method of evincing his good wishes to its pro- 

 prietors. 



For the New England Fanner. 



keeping stacks clear op rats and 

 mice; 



Ma. Editor, In vol. x, No. 52, page 412, 

 of the New England Farmer, is an article under 

 the above head. A subscriber wishes to inquire 

 whether the receipt there mentioned will' answer 

 the same purpose in a mow'or hay in a barn ; and 

 more particularly whether it will iujiu/e the straw 

 for cattle. The nitre, I think would not, but do 

 not know what effect the alum might have or both 

 combined. I am in the practice of sprinkling a 

 small quantity of salt on my grain, when 1 mow n 

 away, instead of brining the straw after threshing. 

 Would the salt alter the effect? 



By the Editor. The recipe alluded to by our 

 subscriber was taken from llic Farmer's Magazine, 

 published in Scotland. It directs " to take one 

 pound of saltpetre and one pom id of alum, dissolve 

 them together in two pints of spring or well wa- 

 ter ; get a firlot [some what more than a bushel] of 

 bran, and make a mash thereof, putting in two 

 pints of the above liquid, and mix them all to- 

 gether. When you build your stack, every sec- 

 ond course take a handful or two of said mash, 

 and throw upon them." 



We do not pretend in general to vouch for the 

 efficacy of the recipes we publish ; hut give them 

 as we find them or receive them, either orally, in 



print, or in writing. If we should publish noth- 

 ing relative to improvements or progress in agri- 

 culture or other arts, which had not been tested by 

 our own personal experience, our pages would 

 soon be as destitute of novelty as of utility. We 

 pass such currency as we receive, unless we know 

 or suspect it to he counterfeit, in which case we 

 nail it to the counter ; we generally do and always 

 ought to indicate the sources from which we de- 

 rive our recipes, directions, suggestions, &c. ; anil 

 having given our authorities, we leave our read- 

 ers to judge for themselves what degree of credit 

 is due to them. 



Vi it h regard to the materials in the above com- 

 pound, both the alum and the nitre are user! in 

 medicine, and we believe would not prove injuri- 

 ous to cattle in such quantities as the animals 

 could well be induced to swallow them. But 

 with regard to their rendering stacks of hay or 

 straw unpalatable to cattle, or making rats or mice 

 keep their distance, all we know is that it is so 

 stated in the Scotch Magazine from which we ex- 

 tracted the receipt referred to above. 



For the New-England Farmer. 

 THE BLACK OR COMMON ELDER. 



The virtues of the Elder are but little known 

 among us. In continental Europe it is used with 

 success in many diseases. From Hippocrates down 

 to the present time, we are told by the French So- 

 ciety of Naturalists, the Elder lias been employed 

 in medicine. Every one knows, say they, its vir- 

 tues and properties ; they are not equivocal, for 

 time and experience have confirmed them. 



Its ■flowers are resolutive, anodyne and emollient. 

 Infused and drank like tea they provoke and estab- 

 lish perspiration in certain fevers, colds and ca- 

 tarrhs. Fried with eggs, they operate as a purge ; 

 applied as a fomentation in the Erysipelas, they 

 reduce the heat and irritation, and are excellent in 

 all inflammations of the skin ; warmed and applied 

 to the forehead and temples, they cure the Me- 

 grims. They are used in the vapor hath for swol- 

 len legs, particularly in the Dropsy, in which dis- 

 ease the berries, inner hark and roots of this plant 

 are used with effect as diuretics and purgatives. 

 From the berries a Rob or thick syrup is made, 

 which is given with success in bowel complaints, 

 particularly in the Dysentery. 



Its flowers give a fine perfume to vinegar, and 

 to wine the flavor of Muscat. Apples when laid 

 on a bed of the flowers of the Elder when dried, 

 and then confined from the air, acquire an exqui- 

 site taste. A decoction of its berries dyes linen, 

 alter passing it through alum water, of a greenish 

 brown color, am! from them good brandy can be 

 distilled. 



An English farmer, in the county of Devon- 

 shire, at a season when the whole of vegetation 

 was destroyed by caterpillars, grasshoppers and 

 other insects, observed that the Elder remained 

 untouched in full health and vigor. This induced 

 him to make an experiment which was attended 

 with perfect success. With boughs' of the' Elder 

 he went over bis fields whipping and rubbing 

 gently his turnips, cabbage plants, wheat, &c. 

 which drove off all those noxious insects, and they 

 never returned to their destructive work : The 

 strong stinking scent of the plant destroyed the 

 eggs of these insects. Since that time the process 

 has been used with success on fruit trees and all 

 other plants when attacked by insects. Some boil 

 the branches, leaves, &c. of the Elder in water, 



and then sprinkle it over those plants and trees 

 attacked by insects, which has the desired effect. 



This shrub flowers in June ; after picking the 

 flowers and berries they should be dried in the 

 sun, and then laid up in a clean place free from 

 moisture, for medicinal purposes. 



There are varieties of the common Elder; some 

 plants have deeply indented leaves. The leaves of 

 some are streaked with yellow, others with white, 

 and some with yellow and while. Some bear 

 white and others green berries. The Elder is 

 multiplied by seeds, layers and slips. They take 

 root rapidly when planted in slips, as do most 

 plants having much pith. 



Hedges of Elder are common in some parts of 

 Europe. They are impenetrable, of long duration, 

 and not subject to the depredations of cattle from 

 their odor being very offensive to them. Sheep 

 will sometimes eat them. 



The wood of roots of the Elder is used in Ger- 

 many and France in making toys, sword canes, 

 snuff boxes, fishing rods, combs anil other ai tides, 

 and by cabinet-makers and turners. 



Wm, Lee. 



For tlie New England Farmer. 

 REMARKABLE OAT PLANT. 



Mr. Fesse.nde.n, 1 send yon the stalks produced 

 from one oat ; there are 140 stalks, and from 1 stalk 

 at the time of reaping, 330 oats grew. The height 

 of the oats was 5 feet 2 inches. This was raised 

 on new land, in Township No. Four, in Oxford 

 county, state of Maine, last sea on. E. Adams. 



The roots and clusters of the lower part of the 

 stalks id" the above-mentioned vegetable phenome- 

 non may be seen at the office of the N. E. Farmer. 



Editor. 



ET CETERAS. 



A new Agricultural paper entitled "J'/ic Culti- 

 vator" has been recently issued in Albany. It is 

 to be published monthly, under the sanction of the 

 New York Agricultural Society, to be edited by a 

 committee of which Judge Buel, President of the 

 Society, is Chairman. Tlie price of this paper 

 will be but 50 cents per annum, and it will no 

 doubt be conducted with much ability, and obtain 

 an extensive circulation. We wish it success, and 

 believe it will add strength and stability to the 

 cause on which all are dependent, and in which 

 every person of reflection will feel a diiect and 

 powerful interest. 



A pretty pithy paramount piece of poetry, and 

 notice of a present proper for a prince or a peasant, 

 shall blaze in the poet's department of our next 

 paper. 



ITEMS OP INTELLIGENCE. 



Salt. — The people of Onondaga County, N. Y. believe 

 they have under them an inexhaustible mass of rock salt, 

 and that in raising this, instead of brine, they shall save 

 half the expense of manufacturing, and be able to supply 

 tlie Atlantic towns with salt cheaper than they can im- 

 port it. There is one dilHculty which now threatens, 

 and that is the expense of fuel. Tlie wood now used at 

 the different salt springs now in operation, amounts to 

 400 cords a day, and as the works arc in use 200 days in 

 a year, the annual consumption is 80,000 cords. 



A Cincinnati paper of the 4th instant, states that the 

 steamboat Banner collapsed her flue, on the 2:td ult. 27 

 miles below St. Louis. The engineer was badly scalded 

 — the chamber-maid has not been heard of since, and it 

 is believed that she jumped overboard and was drowned. 



