44 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Aug. 24, 1831. 



OKBA, TO.MATO, AND EGG PLANT. 



Mr Editor — As you invite information in re- 

 gard to the culture of ol^ra in onr latitude, I take oc- 

 casion to say, that I have cultivated it six or eight 

 years, with general success,and that I subscribe to 

 your high commendation of it It is the Hibiscus 

 tscuhtitus of botany, of the natural order malvacetB, 

 a family of plants abounding in mucilage, and 

 showy in the flower border. I have the okra now 

 in blossom, and may expect pods fit for use in ten 

 to fourteen days. I use it principally in soups ; 

 though it affords a nutritious and healthy dish for 

 weak and debilitated stomachs when boiled plain 

 and seasoned to the taste. As the plant requires 

 warm weather to bring it forward, it should not 

 be sown in the open ground till late in May. The 

 rule for ])lanting melons, viz: when early planted 

 Indian corn has come up, applies to this and tnost 

 other tender jilants introduced frotn warmer cli- 

 mates. I plant in a rich loam, rather dry, and 

 open to the sun ; and as tlie plants are liable to be 

 eaten by grubs, I am not sparing of seed. I have 

 this year started the okra, as well ns other tender 

 plants, under glass, with little or no bottom heat, 

 and trausplanted in June. 



While on the subject of rare garden produc- 

 tions I will mention, that I also cultivate with 

 success thetoniato(So/aiiuni Lucopersicum) the Egg 

 plant( S. melongeva) and the Bene [Scsamum 

 orientiah). These were started thisyear under glass 

 with the okra. I have the first with full grown 

 fruit, the second in bloom, and the third in an 

 advanced state. The tomato, from its anti-bilious 

 properties, is highly conducive to health, and be- 

 comes, by a little use, one of the most desirable 

 dishes upon the table. The egg plant, properly 

 prepared, has a greater affiuity, in taste, to the oyster, 

 than any oilier vegetable I am acquainted with. 

 The purple variety is principally used for culinary 

 ])urposes. I have a new variety growing, the seeds 

 of which were brought from Constantinople, by 

 Mr Rhind. — The Bene is cultivated, by me for 

 medicinal uses alone ; though at the south its seeds 

 afford an abundance of oil, not inferior to the 

 finest made from the olive. It is called the oil 

 grain. A leaf of this jdant, immersed in a tum- 

 bler of water, converts it, in a few moments, into 

 a thin mucilage, without taste color or smell, and 

 is readily taken by children and infants. It is 

 found highly useful in infantile relax and diarrhoea, 

 and in allaying- inflammations, of the eye, ear, &c. 



Albany, July 16. J. Buel. 



NOTE BT THE EDITOR. 



We consider the above communication from 

 Judge Bukl, a favor to oursel\'es ,ind tlic public. 

 Observations coming from men, who unite theory 

 with |)raclice, are more to be depended upon than 

 the opinions of men, who are acquainted with 

 theory only. From the above, it appears that 

 okra may be cultivated to advantage in this 

 latitude, and from its known reputation in the West 

 Indies, and our southern stales, as an article of 

 food during warm weather, we hope our garden- 

 ers will be induced to give it a fair trial. A very 

 celebrated dish, called Gombo, is prepared in those 

 countries where okra is grown, by mixing with 

 the green pods, ripe tomatos, and onions ; all chop- 

 ped fine, to which are added pepper and salt, and 

 the whole stewed. 



Tomatoes are already cultivated, to considera- 

 ble extent in thia section, and seem almost indi- 



genous to the soil, growing with little trouble; but 

 in order to have the benefit of them during the 

 heat of summer, they should be started under 

 glass, and transplanted, when they will ripen their 

 fruit early in August. We have two varieties of 

 them, the yellow and red, growing at tliis time, 

 with fruit full size, and the quantity produced by a 

 single stalk is surprising. We consider the yellow 

 as l)cst for pickles, but the red, for eating without 

 cooking, and for making catsup. The taste for 

 tomatos is rather an acquired one, arising from 

 the beneficial effects of eating, and most people 

 become fond of, after eating them a few times. 



No less than three varieties of tlie egg plant 

 are cultivated in the gardens in this vicinity, viz. 

 the large round purple, the long purple, and the 

 round white ; the latter variety is considered the 

 most showy, and is more generally cultivated than 

 the other varieties. When started in a hot bed, 

 they |)roduce well. Although they are to be 

 found in many of our gardens, yet they are sel- 

 dom met with at any of our public, and very few 

 private tables. This is probably owing to our 

 northern cooks not being acquainted with the best 

 method of preparing this fruit, and Jiidse Buel 

 would confer a favor on ourselves, as well as our 

 readers, by giving directions for cooking, ns they 

 will undoubtedly continue to be raised if only for 

 ornament. 



Frotn.lhe Northampton Courier. 



CULTIVATION OF WHEAT. 



Mr Atwill — With the improvements which 

 are going forward in various branches of industry, 

 it is desirable that those in agriculture may bear 

 a part. To obtain the full benefit of these, the 

 result of practical experience is necessary; and 

 with this New England may stand preeminent in 

 successful ctdtivation of her soil. It is too often 

 the case with our agricultural experiments, that if 

 the first does not succeed to our wishes the ob- 

 ject is abandoned, when it might easily be attained 

 by a little variation in the process. 



The cultivation of meat has in a great meas- 

 ure been given up by the farmers in this vicinity, 

 and onr necessary sup|)lies brought to us from the 

 far distant south and west at no small expense. 

 Could our farmers be made to believe it practica- 

 ble to raise our own supidies of Wheat ; many 

 would try the experiment, could they be made to 

 believe it could be raised at a profit, all would 

 desire to engage in the cultivation. From well 

 attested experiments I am satisfied that a little 

 care in relation to the seed and a little more care 

 in the preparation of the soil is all that is requir- 

 ed to a snccessfid result in this crop, and that 

 from almost any of the lands in Old Hampshire 

 County. The ivhile flint Wheat is better suited to 

 (Uir soil than any other. For several years I have 

 cultivated this grain and have been uniformly 

 successful in the crop. Bluch has been said of 

 the/mf Wheat in our agricultural journals. I 

 am inclined to believe it is the same known in 

 Virginia by the name of the Lawler fVheat : it 

 took this name from the gentleman who intro- 

 duced it there, from Pennsylvania, when it was 

 known by the name of the Jones white ffTieat ; I 

 am aware that some have supposed that n distinct 

 kind of wheat from the flint Wheat so well known 

 and so much approved in the western counties of 

 N. y. ; attempts have been made to show a differ- 

 ence, but I have seen no evidence which satisfies 

 me that any substantial difference exists between 



them ; some of the evidence that they are the 

 same arises from these facts; both are natives of 

 Spain, brought to the U. States about the same time 

 (as early as 1814,) and first cultivated in N. .ler- 

 sey ; both resist the Hessian fly and the variations 

 of the season alike, are similar in their appearance, 

 both in the seed and in the field. Be this as it 

 may, whether they arc the same or different grains, 

 the flmt wheat which I have cultivitteil possesses 

 the excellence of resisting the insect so often fa- 

 tal to the Wheat crop ; it is not so liable to win- 

 ter killing, better suited to our seasons, less liable 

 to gather rust or shrink, than any other wheat 

 within iriy knowledge, and the quantity of flour is 

 full equal and quality superior to other wheat. 

 Many things have been published of tiiis grain 

 which the practical farmer may not find to be cor- 

 rect. It has been said it did not require so strong 

 a soil as other wheat, that less seed was required 

 — that it spread on the ground much more than 

 other Wheat, and takes a greater growth ; these 

 qualities I have not discovered. It has been said 

 that the stalk is solid and that has been given as a 

 reason for its resisting tlie insect ; but the stalk is 

 not solid ; a solid Wheat stalk, 1 apprehend, would 

 be an anomaly in this part of the country ; but 

 that there is more substance and less cavity in 

 the stalk than in other wheat is true, and that it 

 is altogether more sure in its rewards to the cul- 

 tivator than any other wheat, I am fully satisfied 

 My practice is to soak the seed twentyfour hours, 

 in strong brine (before sowing) and roll it in lime ; 

 when this mode has been adopted in preparing 

 the seed, I have never found a head of smut 

 among- my Wheat. 



The benefit in the use of lime on Wheat as a 

 remedy against smut has been fully shown by nu- 

 merous experiments which have uniformly proved 

 effectual, the result of which is before the public ; 

 the mere statement of a single one, will show 

 What they are; this is taken from ' yowjig-'i .4n- 

 Jia/.» ;' it has been copied into other publications; 

 'several distinct and equal portions of very smutty 

 Wheat were sown ; the first with no application 

 to it produced 377 smutty ears, the second wash- 

 ed in jnire water produced 325 smutty ears, the 

 third washed in lime water produced 43 smutty 

 cars, the fiitirth sleepedin lime water 4 hours pro- 

 duced 12 smutty ears, the fifth soaked in lime 

 water 12 hours, produced 6 smutty ears, and the 

 sixth soaked in lime water 24 /tours had no smut 

 among it ; see New England Farmer for .August 

 23. 1823, and Sept. 6, 1S2.'5, ami for August 18, 

 1826, and fr m memoirs of the N. York Board of 

 Agriculture, all proving the same effect from the 

 use of lime. — The application of ley from wood 

 ashes, and a wash of arsenic and salt mixture, has 

 a similar effect upon smut as the use of lime. 



It has been fully proved that this disease in 

 Wheat arises from microscopic grains of black 

 dust which germinate and reproduce themselves ; 

 by the application of lime, as the salt mixture, the 

 germinating principle is destroyed. Lime is also 

 useful in supplying a ileficiency in om- soils for 

 Wheat culture; the soils of New England, gener- 

 ally, says Judge Duel, ' are primitive in their form- 

 ation, and do not contain all the elements of this 

 valuable grain, and tliat this defect must be reme- 

 died by the ap[ilication of something containing 

 those elements.' Great difference of opinion ex- 

 ists as to the quantity which should be applied, 

 and no doubt, diflferent soils require different 

 quantities ; a very little is useful ; with less than a 



