NEW EN ii LAND FAllMEll, 



Nov. 23, 1S31. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOV. 23, 1631. 



MANURE YOURGR.ASS GROUNDS. 



An intelligent and scientific cultiv kit, who 

 wrote a niiaiber of valuable mticlcs, wliich nro 

 incorporated into Messrs Wells & Lilly's edition 



of ' Deane's Georgical Diclionnry-! lias given the _ ... 



folluwincretnarUsonlhissMbjeot, under the head experitnont pleased all who wilue.-sed us opera- 



nient. A grate larger or sandier would have pro- 

 duced the same result. 



This apparatus was suspended in the open air, 

 in a yard, for several days, both when there was | ^ 

 a dead calin in the atino.-;phere, and when there 

 was a slight breeze ; and on every occasion, the 

 enal ignited easily, and buriie<l freely, steadily and 

 handsomely, presenting a circular boily of living 

 fire, until the coal was nearly consumed. — The 



Top Dressing,' in that work. 

 ' There is scarcely any question 



which far- 



d at the solicitation of many, it was [lub- 

 licly exhibited in Bowdoin Square, one eveninn. 



to the policy of to a great number of gratified .HptTtatois.- 



-Tbis 

 simple trial, it i.s believed, has established several 

 imi)ortant principles in relation to binning an- 

 thracite, though no one may undertake to warm 

 the cily, or even liis yard by a suspended grate. 



niers are more divided than 



applying manure as a top dressing to grass lands, 



in the spring or fall. The reasoning seems to be 



in favor of spring dressing, and it is supported by 



many excell Mit names. But it ought to be known, 



that "intelligent farmers, near the metropolis, most 



generally dress their lands in autumn. Besides Embury, Nov. 17, 1831 



the reason stated above, that grass lands are less Mr Fessenden— I thank you for defending me 



injured by carting over them in the fall ; it may :„ a note to the communication of yoiircorrespon 



be added, that it is a season of greater leisure ;and dent of Milford, N. H. against the charge of fol 



although it is confidently asserted, that the manure jiy, j,, supposing, that the proposition that the 



is wasted by rains and snows, yet much ought to ; bianclics of evergreens, would make a good screen 



be allowed on the other side, for the protection af- fo,- the hunter, or a good protection for vegetables 



forded by the top dressing to the temler roots of | buried in the earth, was a new discovery. I was 



the plants during wititer, and ought we not to 

 add something for the low temperature of the at- 

 mosphere in winter, which prevents evaporation ? 

 whatever princi[)les of fertility exist in manure, 

 are in winter carried down into the soil. We are 

 fully convinced that a scorching sun, and drying 

 air, are more pernicious to maimres, spread thiidy 

 over the surface than any drenching rains can be, 

 unless on declivities where top dressings are un- 

 questionably of less value than on level grounds. 

 The fact that fanners who grow rich by supplying 

 the great towns with bay generally adopt the prac 

 tice Of fall dressing their grass land 

 weight.' 



deserves 



Mr Fessende.n — I observe in your last number 

 a description of the Yellow Oak ; Michaux says, if I 

 am t>ot mistaken, that this species of oak does not 

 grow in New England. It is important, if thei.' acorns 



e to be sent abroad, that there should be some ac- 

 curacy on the subject. What is called Yellovu Oak 

 in this vicmity, is the common Black Oak. 1 had 

 myself thought of sending you some acorns from a 

 beautiful specimen of the Swamp White Oak ; but 

 could not find an acorn of this year. If Michaux is 

 wrong as to the Yellow Oak, (called by hiui quercus 

 primus acumijuUe) it should be noticed. 



I observe that a neighbor of none, an old and re- 

 spectable farmer, has been antusing himself this 

 Eunnner, with contributing to your columns, under 

 the signature of A. R., upon growing sweet pota- 

 toes, rye, &c. I cannot accede to his opinions con- 

 cerning the expediency of icpcated crops of rye ; 

 though it is a very coimnon opinion in New England. 

 J. L. Klwtn. 

 Poiismauth, A'ov. 21. 



CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 

 We arc indebted to Caj)!. Varnet, passenger 

 in the ship Bengal, for files of the Cape of Good 

 H(i}>c Government Ga:c//f and of the South .ifrican 

 Commercial Mverliser. The latest date is August 

 24. 



The following advertisen::cnt from the Govern- 

 ment Gazette exhibits a peculiarity of customs: 



' Lady Frnnces Cole will be happy to receive those La- 

 dies and Gentlemen, who may wish to vi'it her at Govem- 

 nu-nt House, at nine o'clock in tlie evening on Tuesdays 

 the 12th, '9lh, and 26th insl. and the 2d August. 

 ■ Government House, 4di July, 183L' 

 ' The spirit of the age' has reached the Caiie. 

 The papers contain accounts of a public meeting 

 held in July, (bribe purpose of precuringa reform 

 in the government. 'I'he result was a petition to 

 the British government that the administration of 

 ed the knowledge of a fact, for which he will be the internal adiiirs of the Colony should be coin- 

 intiilcd to the thanks and premiums of all the mitled to a Governor appointed by the Crown ; an 

 Horticultural Societies of the Norihern States of Executive Council chosen by him; and a Legisla- 

 Aincrica, and of the North of Europe. If he did |tive .Assembly, composed entirely of Representa- 



not ignorant that evergreens formed one of the 

 best possible protections against cold. I planted 

 2500 evergreens 2.5 years since, cmbosontcd n'ly 

 green houses with them, and have formed a mihl- 

 er artificial climate by their use. 



But if your correspondent has discovered, that 

 the orange planted in the open ground, can be pro- 

 tected by evergreen boughs stuck thickly round 

 them in the earth, leaving the air to pass freely 

 through ihein to the exotic plan , lie has acquir 



Experiment irith ^inthi aciteCoal—li has been con- 

 sidered a great difficulty in burning the anthracite 

 coals now extetisively used in our Atlantic cities, 

 that the common fire places wo r not easily trans- 

 formed into the proper receptacles for this fm 1, 

 nor grates easily adapted to the proportiuns ol'the 

 room and the requirements of the coal for produ- 

 cing the necessary amount of heat. It has been 

 Ibougbt there must be some nice rule applied to 

 the construction of the apparatus — that the grate 

 must be precisely of ccitain given dimensions ; 

 must be so many inches within the walls of the 

 fire place, and of a particular elevation towards 

 the opening into the cbinmey, whose throat shall 

 in every instance exhibit the same limited capacity. 

 Now there may be a method in warnnng rooms 

 as well as in any other employment, and un- 

 doubtedly much is gained by a careful atteiilion 

 to established facts in the use of grates ; but we 

 are prepared to show by actual experiment, that 

 anthracite coal may be burned, not only without 

 a flue of prescribed proportions, Imt without any 

 flue at all or a chimney of any size. The gr^te 

 made use of, was of a cylindrical form, swelled 

 in the middle like a barrel, 15 inches in height; 

 12 inches the end and 16 inches the centre diam- 

 eter • the wires or bars two inches apart, running 

 in a vertical direction. Wc bavo not mentioned 

 the proportions of the grate because precisely 

 these were necessary to produce combustion ; but 

 merely to give a correct account of the experi- 



mean, that this is his discoverij, be will confer a 

 great favor by stating the mode, and giving in- 

 structions as to its application. If he diil not mean 

 this, then his remarks had no bearing whatever 

 on my communication, for this is what I did mean 

 to assert sis to certain semibardy plRiils. But as 

 to the orange, mine, under the shelter of a thick 

 grove of pines, one of the thickest I believe in this 

 State, were cut down by a sharp, and unexpected 

 frost in October, even in the mild season of 1S30, 

 and are now but just recovering from its effects. 

 John Lowell. 

 N. B. Your correspondent's philosophy is against 

 my experience, and that of most horticulturists 

 here. The dead leaves of forest trees and espe- 

 cially of a submarine plant, wliieh we cM seaiveed 

 or tel grass are most admirable protectors against 

 colli, or to use bis own philosophical, and sound 

 language, slow conductors of heat. Giecn leaves 

 woiihl be better, fir their decmnposition would 

 generate heat. We U:ie green leaves for our hot 

 beds occasionally. 



Drink for horses. — Some of the Inn keejicrs on 

 the western road have adopted the practice, re- 

 commended by a member of the Bath Agricultural 

 Society, of boiling the corn given to horses, and 

 giving them water to drink. It is most satisfacto- 

 lily ascertained that three bushels of oats, barley, 

 &c. so prepared, will keep the horses in better con- 

 dition for working than double tlie quantity in a 

 crude state. — English pa. 



tives, freely elected by the inhabitants. In the de- 

 bates, the institutions of America are alluded to as 

 e.xetnplary. — Ilesoluiions were passed, reprobating 

 in strong terms the abuses of the present system. 



Correspondents of the South African Advertiser 

 are engaged in the attack and defence of the prin- 

 ciples of Unitarian Christianity. 



.Public attention had also been succesefully drawn 

 to Savings Banks. 



The papers contain a favorable notice of the first 

 numbers of ' The Frcemantle Observer, Perth 

 Gazette, and Western Australian Journal,' a news- 

 paper published once a week ' in the little colony 

 of the Swan River.' 



Myriads of locusts appeared at some parts of the 

 Cape, about the middle of July. A writer says, 

 ' A cloud of them passed within a few yards of my 

 house, in. a train of many millions thick, and about 

 an hour in length.' 



The subject of abolishing Negro Slavery is dis- 

 cussed in the newspapers. 



The 'annual examination of the students of 

 the South African College,' is favorably noticed. 



Wool, it is said, must eventually be the staple 

 article of ihe eastern part of the Colony. 



The Caffres bad lately committed some outrages 

 in the interior.— .Sa/eiii Gazette. 



The estimated population of Canada jn 1830, is 

 898,000. 



To Correspondents. — Report of the MassachusetU 

 Horticultural Society will appear in our next — Several 

 i commuaications unavoidably postponed. 



