410 



NEW ENGLAND 



FARMER 



JULY 2, 1S34. 



t 



ous tu bend or coil them up. When the holes 

 are aliont half filled, writer is poured in so as to 

 make the earth like mortar, and this process 

 tually covers all the roots and fibres, and leavesno 

 part of them naked. The holes are then filled up, 

 covering the roots about three inches deep, and 

 *>s placed near the trunk to prevent the wind 

 from ii pving the roots from their position in the 

 earth. None of the branches should be cut i 



The trees should he planted, so thick as to shade 

 the roots of each other. Natural groves of pines 

 grow most rapidly when they grow very thick, and 

 u re'regular in their forms. Where they 

 stand singly or alone, they rarely have a hand- 

 some shape, nor do they attain to any considerable 

 height. This may not always be the case, but it 

 Iteved to be generally so. 

 A friend of mine has succeeded very well in re- 

 movii earth with the tree. Hia method is, 



to cm round with the spade and retain the earth 

 rem the roots, and the only objei tion to 



this mode is, that the earth falls out in the remo- 

 < ,', . lich haves in setting it into the earth a bid- 

 low place directly under the trunk. In almost 

 every instance when I have attempted his plan and 

 the tree has not succeeded, in taking it up, I have 

 found that the under side of the larger roots direct- 

 ly under tin: trunk bad not touched the earth. 



planting the trees I have coven d the 

 ground with hay to the depth of four or five inches. 

 Chips would answer the same purpose. This 

 keeps the moisture in the ground, effecting an op- 

 eration similar to that produced by the falling of 

 the leaves of the pine. 



White pines grow best in a good soil ; like other 

 forest trees they will grow any where, but they 

 are most thrifty when the soil is rich. It is a re- 

 mai' . .. made by those engaged in the lumber 

 trad" that where land bearing pines is good, the 

 timber will he good. It is believed the banks of 

 :ut, in New Hampshire and Vermont, 

 covered with a heavy growth of white pine' 

 when the settlements commenced in 1761. Until 

 I am wrong in this, you can correct me. 



The laurel, which bears one of the most beau- 

 tiful flowers found in New England, maybe plant- 

 ed among pines with great certainty of sue 

 This like the pine, must be so planted as not to 

 have its roots exposed to the sun. I have two large 

 roots which are now covered with blossoms and 

 i very finely. This is the second time they have 

 blossomed since they were transplanted, and they 

 appei vigorous and thrifty as when in the 



Woods. 



Yom- correspondent asks what kind of forest 

 trees may be planted with the view to the best ad- 

 vantage. '1 his inquiry. 1 cannot answer. 



[f the information I have given shall be of any 

 service, I shall lie very grateful to your correspon- 

 dent if he will u II me how I can successfully trans- 

 plant the walnut and white oak. I have made 

 several attempts at transplanting them, and have 

 failed totally; 1 thoughtl would take a more cer- 

 tain course, and so planted the nuts, thinking I 

 could raise them from the seed, but the squirrels 

 dig them up nearly as soon as they are put down, 

 and now I am in despair. 



Very respectfully, your humble servant, 



Gervase JIarkuam. 

 Woreester, Jane 21st, 1834. 



From t ' <> Ri si ■■ Farmer. 

 ON THE MANAGEMENT OP NEWLY TRASS. 

 PLANTED TREES. 



We have observed in regard to transplanting 

 fruit trees, that we have rarely lost one that stood 

 in cultivated ground, where the hoe was introduc- 

 ed several times in the course of the summer ; but 

 on the contrary where the trees were set in grassy 

 land, or where the cultivation was neglected, our 

 losses have been considerable. We therefore ad- 

 \ ise in order to insure the safety of such as have 

 been planted out, either in the last autumn or this 

 spring, to have the ground well hoed round them 

 as often as once a month ; and if it be done every 

 fortnight, it will be still better. The labor will not 

 differ very materially from hoeing a hill of corn. 

 It is worthy of notice however, that the oftener it 

 is done, the easier it is to do — because the soil 

 will be kept loose and mellow. 



To water trees in that condition may sometimes 

 he useful ; but we are not free to recommend it 

 very highly. A loamy soil that is much watered, 

 soon becomes hard ; the surface is glazed, render- 

 ed in a great measure impermeable to the air, and 

 consequently is no longer capable of affording in 

 dry weather the necessary nourishment to the 

 plant. The sources of its fertility are obstructed. 

 This may be better understood by some of our 

 readers, when we state on the authority of Sir 

 Humphrey Davy, that a soil in the greatest degree 

 absorbent, exposed to the atmosphere till it be- 

 comes dry to the touch, still contains moisture 

 equal to one eight part of its whole weight. This 

 i ; coverable by subjecting it to a heat indica 

 by 300 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. Non- 

 ail water not chemically combined, but only adher- 

 ing to parts of the soil, is in constant use in veg- 

 etation : and the one-eight part referred to is of 

 this kind. If we estimate common fertile soils 

 however, as containing only one-twelfth part, then 

 in 400 pounds of soil, even when it is dry to the 

 touch, we shall have 33 pounds of water in store 

 for the use of vegetation; and it is particularly 

 worthy of notice that such soils, when deprived 

 of a portion of this by plants, procure a fresh sup- 

 ply by constantly absorbing water from the atmos- 

 , where it exists in the state of vapor. In ef- 

 fect, a good soil is a perpetual fountain, even in 

 dry weather. 



From these statements it must be evident that 

 no; s the ground is frequently cultivated and 

 kept mellow, so that between its particles the air 

 can pass in, the latter cannot impart the moisture 

 win. h it holds in solution; but when the soil i- 

 freshly broken, minutely divided, and prevented 

 i.. i conglomerating, these invisible springs are 

 preserved in order, and plants that drink from 

 them will long resist the drouth. Let the hoe 

 then, be freely and frequently used. 



dock, and forming two rings or bands round th» 

 trunk of the tree a few inches apart. This of 

 course should he done in the fall ; and it is easily 

 accomplished, as the burrs readily and closely ad- 

 here to each other, and will remain for a year or 

 more. The numerous sharp points or hooks will 

 prevent the ascent of the worm or grub. The in- 

 dividual who has tested it says that he never knew 

 the insects to he able to pass the second harrier. 

 This is a deposit subject worthy of consideration, 

 anil the heretofore obnoxious burdock should be 

 protected rather than destroyed. 



ON THE CURING OP CLOVER. 



Tlic common method of curing clover is bad. The 

 , to lie attained is, to cure it in the cheapest and 

 best manner. The common practice of spreading 

 clover from the swath, causes the leaves and blos- 

 soms to dry and crumble, ere the haulm or stock* 

 ii\ cured. Thus either the finer part* 

 of the hay are lost, or the crop is housed with so 

 much moisture, as to cause it to heat, and often to 

 spoil. Clover should only be spread when it has b»~ 

 come wet in the swath and should be gathered again 

 before the leaves dry and crumble. Both these 

 evils may be avoided, and labor saved withal, by 

 curing the grass wholly in the swath and cock. 

 After experiencing the serious disadvantages of 

 the old method, I adopted the one I am about to 

 recommend, and have pursued it satisfactorily 

 ten or a dozen years. My practice has been to 

 leave the clover to wilt in the swath, and when 

 partially dried, either to turn the swaths, or to 

 make grass cocks the same day, so as to secure 

 the dried portions from the dew. That which is 

 not put into cocks the first day, is thus secured 

 the second day, or as soon as it becomes partially 

 dried. These grass cocks are permitted to stand 

 out', two, or three days, according as the weather 

 is, and as the curing process has progressed, 

 when they are opened at nine or ten o'clock en it 

 fnir day, the hay turned over between eleven and 

 three, and soon after turning, gathered again for 

 tie cart. Thus cured, the hay is perfectly bright 

 and sweet, and hardly a blossom or a leaf Wasted. 

 Some care is required in making the cocks. The 

 grass is collected with forks and placed on dry 

 -round, between the swaths, in as small a com- 

 ss as convenient at the base, say two or three 



pai 



a cone to the height 



FltllT TREES. 



Hopes have been cherished this spring, that the 

 canker worms which have made such desolation 

 ano ug our orchards, lor some years past, were in 

 Born measure destroyed by the late frosts of the 

 season, or by some other cause ; but this we be- 

 lic\ is not the case — the insects only being later 

 in tin if operations. 



•..have beard of a very simple remedy for 

 tlii.-, ar-e, accidentally discovered, and successfully 

 practised by an individual of this town. It has 

 proved entirerj effective in his own garden. It is 

 The cost of transporting the obelisk of Thebes to, nothing more or less than taking the burrs, com- 

 VarU w ill not be far from two millions of francs. | raouly called cuckold-buttons, produced by the bur- 



led in diameter, and rising 

 of four or (ivi; feet. 



The advantages of this mode of curing clover 

 are : 



•1. The labor of spreading from the swath is 

 s tved. 



2. The labor of the hand rake is abridged, or 

 may be wholly dispensed with, if the horse rake is 

 used to glean the field when the hay is taken oil", 

 the forks sufficing to collect it tolerably clean in 

 the cocking process. 



3. It prevents in a great measure, injury from 

 dew and rain — for these cocks if rightly consiruet- 



uot by rolling) will sustain a rain of some 

 that is, they have done this with me — with- 



ed, 

 ' 1VS- 



out heating, or becoming more than superficially 



wet. 



4. Clover hay made in this way may almost^ 

 invariably be housed in good condition ; and .if 

 rain falls after the grass is mown, the quality ol 

 the hay is infinitely superior to what it would be 

 under the old process of curing. 



The rationale is this : The outside of the clo- 

 ver parts with much of its moisture while in the 



