VOI.. XII. NO. 43. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL 



333 



From tke Genesee Farmer. 

 CULTURE OP MELONS. 



In tlie Genesee Fanner of the 18th ult. there is 

 a communication from \V. VV. 1$., stating li is want 

 of success in the cultivation of melons. Perhaps 

 I may he able to suggest a plan hy which he will 

 not he liable to such a total failure in future, though 

 I should suppose that in your latitude there was 

 not much certainty in bringing this delicious fruit 

 to perfection. I would recommend him to select 

 the lightest spot of ground in his garden, and at 

 suitable distances, say eight feet apart, dig holes 

 about thirty inches square and eighteen inches 

 deep. In these holes put some well rotted manure, 

 which must he well mixed with the soil, until they 

 are nearly full. The soil should he entirely clean 

 of grass or grass roots, and completely pulverized. 

 A sufficient quantity of the same kind of earth 

 should then he thrown on to raise a hill to a moder- 

 ate height above the general surface of the ground. 

 If these directions are followed, and the sub-soil 

 be not of such tenacious quality as to retain much 

 moisture, 1 think a fair crop may be reasonably 

 calculated upon. An additional advantage would 

 be derived from digging the holes in autumn, and 

 letting the earth thrown out, remain until spring 

 to he ameliorated by the frost. — This is the mode 

 pursued by some of the gardeners who supply the 

 Richmond market with melons, and I have found 

 it to succeed better than any other 1 have tried. 1 

 will, however, mention an experiment I made last 

 year, the result of which was favorable beyond my 

 expectations. I raised a few plants both of the 

 watermelon and the cantaloupe in a box, which 

 came up very early among other plants. I trans- 

 planted them into a rich, well prepared spot of 

 ground, that had been spaded very deep, being 

 careful to take them up with as much dirt round 

 the roots, anil with as little injury to the fibres as 

 possible. They grew well, were not infested by- 

 bugs, being too large to be much annoyed hy them 

 — and yielded a remarkably fine crop, both as to 

 number, size and quality. If this operation is per- 

 formed well, and the young plants kept moderate- 

 ly watered if the weather is dry, I incline to the 

 opinion that this will he found to be a very eligible 

 way of raising the melon. By this means we may 

 also have the plants in readiness to set out so as to 

 be greatly in advance of those planted in the open 

 ground ; for the earlier they get a start the more 

 certain will he the crop. The seeds may be plant- 

 ed at once, and the transplanting done as soon as 

 the danger from late frosts is over. T. S. P. 



Beaverdam, (Fa.) 2mo. 3, 1834. 



From the Newburypori Herald. 

 HORTICULTURAL. 



Mr. Allen — I take the liberty through your ex- 

 cellent paper, to inform the members of the New- 

 bury port Horticultural Society, that Zebedee Cook, 

 Esq. of Boston, Vice President of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, and whose kind attendance 

 we have several times experienced, has sent to his 

 relation and friend Capt. Hector Coffin of Rock 

 Farm, a number of scions of the best varieties ol 

 Pears iu the neighborhood of Boston, for the use 

 of the members of our Society. Capt. Coffin has 

 added to them a list of scions of very fine Apples 

 from his own farm. There are also scions of Pears 

 from the garden of Gotham Parsons, Esq. and Mr. 

 Wiuship of Brighton. The members of the Soci- 

 ety may he supplied by calling at the store of Mr. 

 Tlis. B. White. A Lover of Horticulture. 



From Vie Northampton Courier. 

 AGRICULTURAL. 



At the annual meeting of the Hampshire, Frank- 

 lin and Hampden Agricultural Society, Joseph G. 

 Cogswell was elected President; Messrs. Samuel 

 Lathrop, Caleb Bice, Dr. Elisha Edwards, Ros- 

 well Hubbard and H. G. Bowers, Vice Presidents; 

 .Messrs. J. II. Butler, D. Stebbins, Secretaries ; and 

 Sajuuel L. Hinckley, Treasurer; Messrs. Stephen 

 Brewer, Elias Winched and Jonathan Hunt, Com- 

 mittee on Household Manufactures ; Messrs. Ed- 

 ward Parsons, James Kent and Henry Parsons, 

 Committee of Arrangements and Agriculture ; 

 Messrs. Henry Kent, Walter Cooley and Benjamin 

 Ashley, Committee on Animals. 



Voted, That the next annual Show and Fair be 

 holden at West Springfield. 



Due notice of the time and place for depositing 

 .Manufactures, &c. will be given hereafter. 



Attest, J. R. Butler, R. Secretary. 



SHORTENING ROOTS. 



Seedling plants that are designed to be re- 

 moved, should be taken up, either in the fall or 

 spring, and set out preparatory to their final trans- 

 plantation, in order to cut off their long deeply 

 penetrating roots, and cause them to send out a 

 greater number near the stem. In case it is not 

 convenient to take them up, cut off the tap and 

 long horizontal roots, by thrusting in the spade, 

 without lifting the plants. If done in the fall, ihcy 

 can be the more safely transplanted iu the spring. 

 — JVeiv York Fanner. 



COMPRESSION OF WATER. 



Mr. Jacob Perkins has invented an apparatus, 



which, by hydrostatic pressure, compresses water 

 to an extent equal to a fourteenth part of its vol- 

 ume. The force employed is equivalent to a pres- 

 sure of 300,000 lbs. to the square inch, and is ap- 

 plied to other fluids. In most of our works on 

 natural philosophy, water is treated as incompres- 

 sible and non-elastic ; hy this apparatus the oppo- 

 site of these two propositions is clearly shown. 



There was a considerable difficulty iu gettin" a 

 vessel capable of resisting so high a pressure ; and 

 the chief feature of this instrument is the manner 

 of constructing the cylinder, which is formed of a 

 series of concentric tubes: thus the inner or smaller 

 tube is first formed by welding, and is turned ac- 

 curately on the outer surface ; the next tube is then 

 formed, and is accurately turned on the inner sur- 

 face, and the bore of this second or outer tube is 

 just too small to receive the first tube, hut, in order 

 that it may do so, it is heated, till, by expansion, it 

 is capable of receiving the first tube within it, and 

 iu cooling, the second tube shrinks on the first 

 tube and strongly embraces them together; a third 

 tube, a fourth, and so on, are similarly put on, till 

 a cylinder is produced capable of withstanding any 

 pressure. — Mi pertory of Inventions. 



MANUFACTURE OF SILK. 



Gay & Bottom of Lisbon, Connecticut, have in- 

 vented [lower looms and other machinery fur the 

 manufacture of American silk into cloths. We are 

 happy to hear these spirited manufacturers say that 

 thev want no protection, not even that which wo.uld 

 arise from a revenue duty on foreign fabrics. What 

 our silk growers need is a market, and that can 

 only be furnished to sufficient extent, by the suc- 

 cessful manufacture of the raw material into a 

 great variety of articles of use. — j\\ Y. Jour. Com. 



•WORCESTER AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



At the Annual Meeting of the Worcester Agri- 

 cultural Society, holden at the Exchange Coffee 

 House in Worcester, on the 17th inst. the follow- 

 ing officers for the present year were elected : — 



President, Levi Lincoln — 1st Vice President, Aa- 

 ron Tufts — 2d Vice President, Silas Holman — 

 TVeasurer.Theoph. Wheeler — Corresponding Sec'nj, 

 Oliver Fiske — Recording Sec'ry, Win. D. Wheeler. 



Trustees — Barre, Daniel Bacon, Setb Caldwell; 

 Bolton, Stephen P. Gardner, Ainory Holman ; Boyl- 

 ston, Nathaniel Brigbam ; Brookfield, 1 ' Edwin B. 

 Taintor; Charlton, Salem Towne; Dudley, George 

 A. Tufts ; Grafton, Samuel Wood, John Batchel- 

 ler ; Hardwick, Samuel Billing ; Harvard, Jacob 

 Haskell ; Holden, Samuel Daman ; Lancaster, John 

 G. Thurston, Joel Wilder ; Leicester, Isaac South- 

 gate, Joseph D. Sargent ; Leominster, David Wil- 

 der; Lunenburg, Edmund Cushing; Mendon, Ben- 

 jamin Davenport, William S.Hastings; Milford, 

 Sullivan Sumner; Millbury, Elisha Jacobs ; New- 

 Braintree, Samuel Mixter, Amory H. Bowman ; 

 Northborough, William Eager; Northbridge, Syl- 

 vanus Holbrook, Paul Whiting; North-Brookfield 

 Francis Carruth ; Oakham, James Alle'n ; Oxford' 

 Jonathan Davis, Jr. ; Paxton, Nathaniel Lakin, 

 Jonathan P. Grosvenor; Petersham, Jared Weed ; 

 Princeton, Jacob W. Watson, Benjamin Harring- 

 ton ; Royalston, Rufus Bullock; Shrewsbury, Hen- 

 ry Snow, Silas Allen, jun.; Spencer, James Draper; 

 Southbridge, Ebenezer D. Annnidown ; Southbor- 

 otigh, Jonas Ball ; Sterling, Moses Thomas, Ste- 

 phen Hastings ; Sutton, Daniel Tenney, Israel Put- 

 nam ; Stiirbridge, Erasmus Holbrook; Uxbridge, 

 Joseph Thayer, Effingham L. Capron ; Westbor- 

 ough, Charles Parkman ; Worcester, John Davis, 

 Thomas Chamberlain, Nathan Heard, John W. 

 Lincoln, Rejoice Newton, Samuel B. Thomas, Lew- 

 is Barnard, Stephen Salisbury. 



It appears by the account of the Treasurer, ex- 

 hibited at this meeting, that the funds of the So- 

 ciety now amount to $7,495,31, of which sum, 

 •?3,000 is in Bank stock, and the remainder iu 

 good notes well secured. The renewal of the 

 grant from the State for the encouragement of 

 Agriculture enables the Society to continue their 

 Cattle shows and exhibition of Manufactures, and 

 a list of premiums to be awarded next autumn for 

 the best of the products of the Farms and Work- 

 shops of the county of Worcester, will soon be 

 published by the Trustees. Neither shall the ladies 

 be neglected or forgotten. The Society considers 

 itself much indebted to the fairer part of thecomnm- 

 nity for the interest and embellishment of their 

 shows — and knowing that they are never weary in 

 well doing, the Society with confidence call upon 

 the ladies, not to forget us next fall. 



The Society would make an earnest appeal to 

 all the present members, individually, to endeav- 

 or, by removing prejudices, if there are still any 

 existing, and by the use of all proper measures, to 

 increase their number, and thereby their means of 

 usefulness, in the promotion of the objects of the 

 Society. They confidently believe the Society 

 has done much good. It is their desire to aug- 

 ment the number and amount of premiums. This 

 can only be done by increasing the amount of 

 their funds. And the Yeomanry of the county 

 are invited to join us in our endeavors to promote 

 the interests of agriculture, manufactures and the 

 mechanic arts, by giving the Society their names, 

 .and their influence. 



April 19, 1S34. By order of the Society. 



