230 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Feb. 1. 1832. 



with a sprightly and pleasant acidity. In Enjrland 

 tliey preserve, the fruit on the trees till Scptenilur 

 and even October, and it is then highly esteemed 

 for the dessert. It is not, however, properly 

 speaking, a table fruit, but best suited for tarts, 

 ])res2rve3 and cherry brandy. It ripens among 

 the latest varieties in July, and the tree is produc- 

 tive. 



PLUMSTONE MORELLO. Pr. cat. 



LON'D. HORT. CAT. 



This is the largest variety of the Morello, that 

 I have yet seen, but it is stated that some of the 

 kinds from the north of Europe exceed it in size. 

 It is round in its diameter, somewhat pointed at 

 the extremity, and has a long stone resembling 

 that of a plum, on account of which circum- 

 stance it received the title here adopted. When 

 T)erfcetly ripe the skin is of a dark red color ; the 

 flesh very rich and high flavored, with a sprightly 

 and agreeable acidity. It is a most excellent fruit 

 for preserves, tarts, and brandy ; and as it ripens 

 late in July, after most other cherries .are past, it 

 also serves as a pleasing appendage to the des- 

 sert. The tree is thrifty, but, like the other 

 varieties, attains only a moderate size, being seldom 

 over twelve or fourteen feet in height, with a 

 round well-formed head ; it is quite productive, 

 and I have never seen it attacked by the insect 

 that depredates to such an extent on the common 

 Morello, which circumstance, together with its 

 great excellence, gives it high claims to that gener- 

 al estimation in which it is held. 



Boston, Wednesday Evening, Feb. 1, 1832. 



ITEMS OF HUSBANDRY FROM VARIOUS 

 SOURCES. 



rrepared by the Editor. 



SHEEP FED WITH PEA STRAW. 



Sir John Sinclair says ' there is no food of which 

 Sheep are fonder than pea straw ; and where cir- 

 cumstances are favorable to that crop, peas ought 

 to be cultivated, merely for the straw, from the ad- 

 vantages that would thence be derived by the sheep 

 farmer.' Mr Young also observes that 'the straw of 

 early white peas, applied to sheep is the most valu- 

 able return made by straw.' 



PREPARING STRAW FOR CATTLE FOOD. 



The ancients were accustomed to prepare their 

 straw for feeding stock, by keeping it for a consider- 

 able time sprinkled with brine ; it was then dried, 

 rolled up in bundles, and given oxen instead of hay. 



MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS. 



Rolling was formerly considered to be indispensable 

 in the management of grasslands, tending to smooth 

 and consolidate the surface ; to prevent tlie formation 

 of ant-hills ; to promote the growth of valuable herb- 

 age ; and to render the eflects of drought less per- 

 nicious. But scarifying the turf with a plough, 

 consisting only of coulters, or harrow teeth, so that 

 the whole surface may be cut or torn is to be 

 recommended, when the pastures are hide bound. 

 That tenacious state rolling tends to increase ; 

 whereas by scarifying, the surface is loosened, and 

 the roots acquire new means of improved vegetation. 

 This operation seems particularly useful, when it 

 precedes the manuring of grass lands ; for if well 



scarified, the ground is so opened, that any manure 

 spread on it, gets at once to the roots, consequently 

 a small quantity thus applied, goes as far, as a larger 

 one laid on in the old mode, and without such an 

 operation. Thus the force of objections to tlie applica- 

 tion of putrescent manure to grass lands is in some 

 degree obviated. 



PASTCRE LAND. 



Feeding sheep with oil cake and allowing them 

 to pasture on land over grown with mosses has been 

 found to be effectual for the destruction of moss 

 and the means of bringing up abundance of grass. 



SOILING. 



By soiling is meant the feeding of stock in a 

 house, shed, or fold, with cut green food, instead 

 of making the grass into hay or pasturing the field. 

 Working horses, or o.xen, derive great advantage 

 from soiling. They are saved the trouble of col- 

 lecting their food, after their work is over; can fill 

 themselves, much sooner, and consequently have 

 more time to rest ; and can take their repose much 

 better in a stable or shed, with plenty of litter, than in 

 an open field, where there are so many things to an- 

 noy them. 



The experiments of soiling cattle have likewise 

 been successful. Young steers become more tracta- 

 ble for work ; nor is there any risk of cattle being 

 hoven, if their feed is mowed two days in advance. 

 For milch cows in particular, it is highly expedient 

 to soil them, at least in the middle of the day, that 

 they may not be tormented with flies in the field, 

 nor induced to stand in brooks or ponds of water, 

 nor in the shade of spreading trees or hedges, by 

 which much valuable manure is lost. The stock 

 are thus kept in a healthier state, and the milk is of 

 a superior quality. 



LUCERNE. 



Sir John Sinclair says of lucerne, ' This valuable 

 grass requires a dry and rich soil, which must be 

 thoroughly cleared of weeds hi/ two or three preinous 

 h oed crops. It may be sown cither broad cast, which 

 is the usual method, or drilled nine inches apart, 

 between rows of barley equally distant. It is bet- 

 ter to sow it with barley or oats thinly seeded, both 

 on account of the profit of the crop, and as the 

 grain furnishes some protection to the plants from 

 the attacks of the fly, which does great injury to it 

 when very young. If drilled, from 12 to 1,1 lbs. of 

 seed will do ; if sown broad cast, not less than 20 

 lbs. It may often be cut four times a year. Lu- 

 cerne is much superior to clover for soiling milch 

 cows, giving no taste to the milk or butter, and one 

 acre is sufficient for 3 or 4 cows during the soiling 

 season. In rich land, a quarter of an acre will be 

 sufficient for each of all sorts of large cattle taken 

 one with another ; but on moderate soils, half an 

 acre per head is the proper allowance. I/iicernc 

 requires to be kept thoroughly clean by hand hocirig 

 and scarifying between the drills. All other grasses, 

 should be carefully plucked out.' 



It appears from the above, as well as from the di- 

 rections given by other writers on husbandry that 

 weeding is as necessary for lucerne as for Indian 

 corn, until the lucerne has obtained entire posses- 

 sion of the soil. 



R. Livingston, it appears that with good cultiva- 

 tion and abundant manuring, from six to nine tons 

 of hay may be obtained from an acre of this grass 

 in a season. That gentleman asserts in substance, 

 that the ground must be highly pulverized to in- 

 sure a good crop. Twenty pounds of seed are re- 

 quired for an acre if sown broad cast. He advises 

 as the result of his experiments; 1. Never to sow 

 on ground that is not perfectly pulverized. 2. Not 

 to sow till the ground has acquired a degree of 

 warmth friendly to vegetation, viz. in May. 3. To 

 sow with no crop that will probably lodge. 4. If 

 sown with buck wheat to apply no gypsum or other 

 manure till the buck wheat is off. 5. When the 

 quantity sown is small and the farmer can aflibrd to 

 lose a crop, to give the ground one turn in the au- 

 tumn, another in April, harrowing fine, and a third 

 the beginning of May, and tlien if the weather 

 be mild and warm sow, if the ground be in perfect 

 tilth, otherwise give it another ploughing. 



' When lucerne turns yellow it should be mowed, 

 and the plants will come up free from the disorder.' 



CORRECTION. 



In the list of the premiums that have been 

 awarded on Butter by the Massachusetts Agricul- 

 tural Society, and Bostonians, for the last ten years, 

 t/ic first premium of sWO, awarded Oct. 24, 1828, 

 lo John L. Hciylstou, Esq. of Princeton, Mass. was 

 unintentionally omitted in the account published in 

 the New England Farmer, Jan. 14th, 1832. 



Baltimore Rail Road. — Withiu eleven days from 

 the 3d of the present month, 3!li)7 barrels of flour 

 w ere ti'ansported from Fredericksburg, on the Rail 

 Road to Baltimore, an average of 357 per day. 

 The difference in favor of sending flour to market 

 by the rail-road instead of by wagons, is about 

 fjly cc)!<« per barrel, making in all a clear gain to 

 the lin-niers of nearly $2000. This is one of the , 

 hai)py results of cheapened transportation. 



From the Ge 



I Fan 



DETERIORATION OF SHEEP. 



Plliloilelplili.i, Doc. 29, 1831. 



During a recent visit to Baltimore and VVash- 

 ington, I had the pleasure to fonn an acquaintance 

 with William Jarvis, Esq. of Weathersfield, 

 Vermont, a delegate to the National Republican 

 Com ention. Mr Jarvis is a very respectable and 

 exj)erienccd wool-grower, and was indeed one of the 

 first who introduced merino sheep into the United 

 States. lie stated to me, that he deemed the intro- 

 duction of Saxony sheep into our merino flocks, 

 as, on the whole, unfortunate ; for though it had 

 increased the fineness of the fleece, it had dimin- 

 ished the size and healthfulness of the animal, and 

 materially impaired their annual reproductions. 

 He said that from a given number of ewes, be had 

 raised a much greater ))roporti()n of lambs before 

 than since the interiiihi;,'!!]!;;- of Saxon blood. His 

 opinion is, that we should im|irove the quality of 

 the fleece, by breeding from the first and best of 

 our merinos, and avoiding the Saxons altogether. 

 My own ex])erieiice would seem to give sanction, 

 iu one particular, to Mr Jarvis' opinion. For, in 

 proportion to my ewes, I have not succeeded in 

 rearing an equal number of lambs for several years 

 past, as I did before the intermingling of Saxon 



sheep. I had not, however, suspected the cause 

 By some experiments made by the Hon. Robert which he assigns. 



