3fT) 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MAY 31, 1«34. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 21, 183-1. 



FARMER'S WORK. 



Pies im Clover. Judge Peters of Pennsylvania 

 observed " In summer my hogs chiefly run on 



clover. Swine feeding on clover in the tielils will 

 thrive wonderfully, when those (confined or not) 

 fe(\ on out clover will fall away." Dr. Dearie, like- 

 wise, remarked " Green clover is known to he 

 good feeding for swine. To prepare a pasture for 

 them let the ground he broken up, tilled anil ma- 

 nured, and then laid down to clover. For swine 

 are mure fond of this grass than of any other which 

 our country produces. Let the. quantity of land 

 he so proportioned to the number of swine that 

 they may keep the grass from running up to seed. 

 This will prevent waste, and the shorter I lie grass 

 is the sweeter it will he, and the more tender and 

 agreeable to their palates. 



" I suppose that one acre of rich land in clover 

 will support twenty or more swine, large and small 

 together, through the summer; and bring them 

 well forward in their growth, hut they should have 

 rings on their noses to prevent their»rooting out 

 the clover. 



" It should he remembered that the pasturing 

 land with swine will enrich it more than pasturing 

 with other beasts, and hereby the profit of the far- 

 mer will he increased. And if a common clover 

 lay will produce a good crop of wheat, much more 

 may he expected from the same ground after pas- 

 turing swine upon it ; as their manure adds much 

 to the fr ility of the soil." 



If in May, or any other part of the season, the 

 grass of a hog pasture should not he quite sufficient 

 to support the hoys, some potatoes or other food 

 may lie added. The fence about the pasture had 

 better be so tight that the hogs will not need yok- 

 ing, because yokes impede their growth. But the 

 bogs should he well ringed ; or it is said by Eng- 

 lish writers, that shaving off the gristle from tin 

 noses of young pigs with a sharp knife will answer 

 the purpose of preventing them from rooting, and 

 injure them less than ringing. 



It will he a great advantage to a hog pasture to 

 have plenty of water in it through the summer. 

 Running water is best, as it will afford them the 

 most wholesome drink, and at the same time serve 

 as well as any other for them to wallow in ; and it 

 keeps them clean, which is no small advantage. 



But the most dirty puddle water is better than 

 none, as they can cool themselves in it in hoi 

 weather, which is greatly refreshing to them, ami 

 conducive to keeping them in health. 



Dr. Deans observed " When it can with conven- 

 ience lie so ordered it is an excellent piece of hus- 

 bandry to make a hog pasture of an orchard. Their 

 dung is allowed to he the very best manure for 

 trees. They will keep the ground light and loose; 

 destroy insects ihat infest the trees ; and feed hearti- 

 ly on the premature apples that fall, which file 

 farmer is too often tempted to grind up for cider. 

 And the shadow of the trees will he very grateful 

 and comfortable to them in summer. An orchard 

 may be prepared with clover as well as any oilier 

 spot of ground. But it should he remembered that 

 when the trees in an orchard are young anil small, 

 swine should not he permitted to go among them : 

 For there will be danger of their wounding them 

 aud stripping off some of the hark." 



Apples are an excellent food for swine. They 



are good raw, hut better if boiled aud mixed with 

 meal. A writer fir the Braltleboro' Reporter ob- 

 serves, " I have tested by ten years' experience the 

 value of apples as food for animals. I keep five 

 or six hogs in my orchard on nothing but apples 

 and a little swill ; anil have uniformly found them 

 to grow and gain flesh faster than hogs fed upon 

 any thing else hut grain. On the first of Novem- 

 ber they are very decent pork ; after which I feed 

 them about six weeks on grain before I kill them; 

 and I believe I have as fat hogs and as good pork 

 as my neighbors, who give their hogs double the 

 quantity of grain that I do to mine." 



fruit at any season of the year; hut at Hie present 

 time when almost all other kinds are gone, it will 

 he allowed by all to he very valuable. If this va- 

 riety of apple proves to he rare, and any members 

 'if the society should wish for scions at the proper 

 seas.. n, I have no doubt that Mr. Wilson would 

 give them with pleasure. 



Yours respectfully, John C. Lee. 



Sulem, May 17, 1834. 



CULTIVATED DANDELION. 



We doubt whether any vegetable is more im- 

 proved by culture than the Common Dandelion, 

 Leontodon Taraxacum. We believe that Gen. II. 

 A. S. Dearborn is the first person who in this 

 country attempted to raise this vegetable in a gar- 

 den, by planting it in rows, and subjecting it to the 

 same treatment which is afforded to hoed crops. 

 Notice of his experiment, anil its successful result, 

 was published in the New England Farmer, vol. vi, 

 p. 337, May 16, 1828. 



Since that period we have heard of several per- 

 sons having been successful in the garden-culture 

 of the Dandelion. But we believe that the follow- 

 ing may he considered .as the cap sheaf of all ex- 

 periments in attempting to domesticate this valua- 

 ble vegetable. Mr. G. Pierce of Charlcstown raised 

 this spring a dandelion which measured 6 feet in 

 circumference and weighed 4 lbs. 3 oz. The whole 

 mass of foliage sprang from a single root, and had 

 been only twenty days in growing ! It was exhib- 

 ited at No. 27, North Market street, to a great 

 many admiring spectators, and we were among the 

 number. The leaves were small and tender, hut 

 innumerable, and matted together like the fibres ol 

 wool in a carpet. The dandelion is not only a 

 palatable pot herb, hut may be blanched like celery 

 and make an excellent salad, and is esteemed very 

 wholesome, if eaten in any way. 



Flat Pippins from Maryland, received from John 

 Prince, Esq. of Jamaica Plains. 



Scions of various kinds of Plums from R. Man- 

 ning. 



A line specimen of Asparagus from Samuel 

 Pond. 



For the Committee on Fruits, 



Cus. M. Hovet. 



The asparagus was presented to us, The Editor, 

 by Mr. Pond. The shoots were many of them an 

 inch in diameter, and all as large and as fair as any 

 we ever beheld in the best of seasons. Mr. Pond de- 

 serves and will pltfase to accept our best acknowl- 

 edgments. 



Thomas Mason, Charlestown Vineyard, splendid 

 variety of Anem'onies and Tulips. 



By order of the. Committee, 



Jo.na. Winship. Chairman. 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



EXHIBITION OP VEGETABLES, FRUITS AND 

 FLOWERS. 



Saturday, May 17, 1834. 

 The following Letter was received and read. 

 Lansingburgh, 18th April, 1834. 

 Dear Sir — I send to your care for an experi- 

 ment by your society's gardener at Mount Auburn, 

 a newly discovered vegetable, called the Oxalis 

 Crenata, a rival to the potato, which has latch 

 been imported fioin Chili, aud cultivated with great 

 success in Suffolk (England.) The flavor of the 

 root is said to be decidedly superior to that of the 

 common potato, and ii is equally prolific. 

 I remain, very respectfully yours, 



Alexander Walsh. 

 Hon. H. Jl. S. Dearborn, ( 

 Pres. Mass. Hort. Hoc. J 



Likewise the following letter was received, to- 

 gether with the fruit referred to. 

 To the. Chairman of the Committee of Fruits ." 



The accompanying two Apples are from the 

 garden attached to the Mansion House of the late 

 Governor Langdon of Portsmouth, N.II. The es- 

 tate is now owned and occupied by Joseph Wilson, 

 Esq. who sent me the fruit : he calls it the Gov- 

 ernor apple. I think it would be called a good 



ITEMS OF INTELLIGENCE. 



Terrible Hurricane. The Petersburg (Va.) Intelligen- 

 cer, of the blh inst. gives an account of a dreadful tor- 

 nado which passed near that place on Monday the 6th 

 inst. It varied in width from two hundred yards to 

 half a mile, and its ravages extended at least seventy 

 miles. Every thing within its range was laid prostrate 

 including dwelling-houses, out-houses, trees, fences, Sue. 

 A considerable number of lives were lost by the blowing 

 down of buildings, and property to a very large amount 

 has consequently been destroyed. On several planta- 

 tions the buildings were blown entirely from their foun- 

 dations, and their contents carried to a great distance. 



The. Weather, has been uncommonly cold as indicated 

 by some paragraphs below. A letter from the Postmas- 

 ter at Greenwich, Mass. to the Editor of the Boston 

 Transcript, informs that on the Oth inst. the thermome- 

 ter stood at 2b'^ degrees. 



We understand that snow fell in the western part of 

 this County to the depth of a foot on Sunday night. 

 We have seen several persons who declare it was " over 

 shoes" when they left home. — Greenfield Mercury. 



A brilliant meteor was seen last night in the southern 

 part of the heavens about eight o'clock, at a greater alti- 

 tude than is usual with such phenomena. It rose 

 gradually, and emitted a pale flame not unlike that of an 

 artificial blue light, and its shape was rather that of an 

 armorial lozenge, or a diamond, than round: it was vis- 

 ible for several seconds, #and then disappeared when . 

 nearly at its greatest elevation. — Quebec Mercury. 



There are now nineteen steamboats plying to and from 

 this harbor, viz. Great Britain, St. George, United King- 

 dom, William IV, Cobourg, Sir James Kempt, Britan- 

 nia, Kingston, Rideau, Thomas M'Kay, Toronto, Mar- 

 garet and Enterprise — British boats : and United States, 

 Oswego, William Avery, Carrol, Black Hawk and Car- 

 oline — American boats. For purposes of pleasure or 

 commerce, a person may scarcely want an opportunity 

 of employing a steamboat at any hour of the day.— 

 Kingston Chronicle. 



