vol. XII. NO. 4S. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



3R9 



MANGOLD YVURTZEL OR FIELD BEET. 



We are happy to find that farmers are awake to 

 the cultivation of tins crop; and so great lias heen 

 the increase of demand for seed, that it has heen 

 impossible at all times to procure a supply. We 

 have already had calls for ten times as much as 

 was called for the last season, and all who culti- 

 vated it the last season are anxious to increase the 

 quantity this. One farmer who has been longest 

 in the cultivation of it, is putting in sixteen acres 

 — and speaks of it as the must, profitable crop he 

 has ever cultivated. — GoodseWa Farmer. 



PROGRESS AND EFFECT OF THE SEASON. 



The frost about the middle of May destroyed 

 most of our fruit. The forests have not yet recov- 

 ered, and many trees look as brown, and dry, as 

 if they had been girdled. 



The week past has been very warm, and the 

 Curculio, that enemy of all stone fruit in this coun- 

 try, has made its appearance, and wherever a plum 

 or cherry escaped the frost, these little insects are 

 sure to find them, and at once insert into them the 

 seed of destruction. With all their industry, we 

 think some of them will be disappointed in finding 

 a proper place for depositing their eggs, winch 

 may diminish their numbers another year. — Ibid. 



ROTATION OP CROPS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 



A farmer gives, ill the Farmer's Reporter, a 

 concise view of the mode of Agriculture in Penn- 

 sylvania. The corn is always planted on sward 

 ground, carefully ploughed once, two or three 

 weeks before time of planting. It is well harrow- 

 ed without disturbing the sod ; marked off into 

 furrows three feet apart, in which the corn is 

 planted in hills, one and a half or two feet apart. 

 A little plaster is sprinkled on the hills wilbn well 

 up — harrowed and ploughed once — when too thick, 

 the stalks are thinned. By this method, "we now 

 raise," says the writer, " forty to sixty bushels of 

 corn to the acre, where twelve or fifteen years 

 ago, it was thought a crop of corn could not be 

 obtained at all." 



The next crop is oats, sown the succeeding spring. 

 Wheat succeeds the oats, when barnyard manure is 

 carted on. A rye crop follows the wheat. Clover seed 

 is sown on the rye in March. The clover is allowed 

 to remain two or three years, and plastered ; when 

 the same rotation commences again. — A'. Y. Farmer. 



THE SHEEP HEEDLESSNESS. 



Cows and sheep possess much less of the in- 

 stinctive apprehension of danger than horses. In 

 a marshy country it is by no means uncommon 

 For cows to be bemircd, or laired as it is termed in 

 the northern counties ; and this is still more com- 

 mon with sheep, though so much lighter in weight. 



In mountainous and rocky districts, the sheep 

 is by no means to be trusted in places of danger, 

 having none or little of the instinct which enables 

 the goat and the chamois to make their way 

 amongst the steepest precipices. It is remarkable 

 that even upon seeing accidents befal their fellows 

 they are not deterred from following heedlessly in 

 the same track. The heedlessness of the animals 

 in such cases, may probably arise from their be- 

 ing so much accustomed to follow others in the 

 same track, — (a habit which causes a sheep graz- 

 ing district to be every where intersected with 

 sheep paths about a foot in breadth,) — and when 

 the leader falls over a precipice, the next follows 

 in the same way, as Suwarrow's Russians march- 

 ed into a trench till it was filled with their dead 

 bodies — -Penny Magazine. 



MORI'S MTJLTICAULIS. 



A subscriber asks our opinion concerning this 

 tree as a hedge plant. We answer' confidently that 

 it will not answer for a hedge. Cattle are ex- 

 tremely fond of it, and would soon "eat up the 

 fence" if made of so delicious a material. Its ex- 

 traordinary value as food lor silk-worms begins to 

 lie understood. Compared with the white mulber- 

 ry, it will become lit for use 50 per cent, sooner, 

 will yield 50 per cent, more food for the worm, 

 and el' a quality 33 to 50 per cent, belter at the 

 same time. — Baltimore Farmer. 



VEGETABLE SILK. 



There is at present considerable activity in a 

 new branch of industry at Paris. We allude to 

 the manufacture of carpets, anil various other arti- 

 cles uf general use, from a substance first imported 

 into France by M. Pavy, to which he has given 

 the name of vegetable silk. This substance ha^, 

 in fact, an appearance very similar to silk, and can 

 he employed as its substitute in a variety of eases. 

 It is white, and can receive dye of any color. 

 This vegetable is gathered in shoots of from 15 to 

 20 feet in length, and is of such strength that four 

 of these shoots plaited together, will bear a weight 

 of -10 pounds. 



A GOLD TERRAPIN. 



A gentleman from Booker's Gold Mine reports 

 that he saw a small gold terrapin, taken from the 

 mine, for which the proprietor refused the respect- 

 able sum of five hundred dollars, intending to send 

 it to Feale's Museum in Philadelphia. The little 

 creature was not much larger than a partridge's 

 egg, and ran briskly about, from which circum- 

 stance it could not be solid gold, whatever its ap- 

 pearance may have been.. Experienced miners 

 report to have seen leather thongs that had been 

 suspended in mines, coated with metallic silver. 

 Another case is reported of a similar coating of the 

 wooden supports left in a mine, which had been 

 under water two hundred years. From such ob- 

 servations, we may infer that silver is sometimes 

 in a gaseous state, and so gold may be ; and in 

 that way this curious little terrapin may have got 

 its coating of precious metal. The extraordinary 

 price offered for this non-descript will no doubt 

 lead to its careful preservation. — Lynchburg Vir- 

 ginian. 



CROCODILE BIRD.. ..Prom Herodltus. 



Now as the crocodile lives much in the water, 

 he has his mouth within quite covered with leech- 

 es. All other birds and beasts shun the crocodile ; 

 but there is peace between him and the trochilus, 

 inasmuch as he is benefitted by that bird ; for when 

 the crocodile goes out from the water upon the 

 land and opens his jaws, which he is wont to do, 

 in order to receive the cool breeze, the trochilus 

 then entering his mouth devours the leeches ; and 

 he, delighted at the advantage he thus receives, 

 never injures the trochilus. 



TEMPERANCE IN NEW YORK. 



It appears from the Report of the Executive 

 Committee of the New York City Temperance So- 

 ciety, made at the meeting held on Friday cm n- 

 ing last, that tho number of individuals who have 

 signed the pledge within the last year, ending Feb. 

 25th, amounts to 15,873 — to which add 14,471, 

 being the result of previous efforts, and the whole 

 number wdio have pledged themselves to total ab- 

 stinence is 30,345 in the City of New York. 



ITEMS OF ECONOMY, &C. 



Agriculture — says Sir John Sinclair, though in 

 general capable of being reduced to simple princi- 

 ples, yet requires, on the whole, a greater variety 

 of knowledge than any other art. 



Salt and lime are said to be very useful for des- 

 troying slugs, snails and grubs which infest garden 

 and other plants. For this purpose quick lime 

 should be sown with salt when there is a prospect 

 of a continuance of dry weather. The mixture 

 also operates as excellent manure. 



Charcoal sown on the top of the earth, and mix- 

 ed with it, is stated to be very useful where onions 

 are to be raised. It will protect them from insects 

 and increase the amount of the crop. The charcoal 

 dust is also said to prevent'eabbages from becoming 

 club rooted, — and it will increase the warmth of 

 cold soils. 



Marnier of making Castor Oil very palatable to 

 Children: — Take the quantity of oil you purpose 

 for the dose, and boil it for a few minutes in an 

 equal quantity of milk ; then sweeten it with a 

 little sugar. When the mixture has cooled, stir it 

 well, and give it to the child. There will be no 

 necessity of giving the child any thing to drink 

 alter taking the mixture, for the taste of it is more 

 pleasant than any drink you can give. 



To Wool Croicers.— They are particularly re- 

 quested by the manufacturers not to use cotton 

 twine in doing up the fleeces ; the particles of cot- 

 ton that will inevitably adhere to the wool take a 

 different color, which makes specks in the cloth. 

 Marking sheep with tar of turpentine is also very 

 objectionable. 



Curious Fact. — The Shaddock contains generally 

 thirty-two seeds, two of which only will reproduce 

 Shaddocks ; and these two it is impossible to dis- 

 tinguish ; the rest will yield some sweet oranges, 

 others bitter ones, others again forbidden fruit, and 

 in short all the varieties of the orange ; but until 

 the trees are actually in bearing, no one can guess 

 what the fruit is likely to prove ; and even then the 

 seeds which produce shaddocks, although taken 

 from a tree remarkable for the excellence of its 

 fruits, will frequently yield only such as are scarce- 

 ly eatable. — Leicis's Journal. 



Tame Bees. — That bees may be so tamed as not 

 to hurt persons to whom they are accustomed, I 

 have in many instances, heard exemplified, but most 

 remarkably in the following account : A gentleman 

 residing at Bury St. Edmunds, could do with impu- 

 nity any thing he liked with his bees ; he knew every 

 one of them ; could distinguish each bee from his 

 fellow, as a shepherd is said to individualize his 

 sbeepby the physiognomy of each ; and, if he wanted 

 to show a particular bee to a friend, he would have 

 the hive to which it belonged turned out into a cloth, 

 roll the insects about with his hands, like so many 

 peas, and unharmed, select from them the one re- 

 quired I This feat he has often been seen to perform. 



One Animal preys on Another. — A large Hake 

 was lately taken on the coast of England in which 

 was found a clever sized Codling. On opening 

 the codling a small Ling was found, sepulchred in 

 his maw. On opening the Ling, an angle worm 

 and several marine insects were found established 

 in close quarters. 



The seventeenth year locusts have made their ap- 

 pearance at the South in immense numbers. A 

 letter from Forsyth county, Georgia, says they 

 cover the country in " countless millions," aud their 

 noise is perfectly deafening. They are so numer- 

 ous that the swine have fattened on them. 



