Vol. X No. 34. 



AND HORTICULTUKAL JOURNAL. 



269 



stances ; Imt tlieu tlie question is wlicther if thpre 

 be spirit produced from fermenting nianuie, tliat 

 spirit would l)e necessary to the production of 

 plants ? or whetlier tliere be spii-it or any other 

 valuable property produced by fei-mentation, which 

 the atmosphere or the fermenting substance is 

 warm e<iough to exhale? We know that distillers 

 put tlifir syrup into a high state of fermentation, 

 and }'et they save none of the exhalation before it 

 is put into the still and a greater heat applied.* 



It seems that Sir Humphry Davy, himself, 

 ascertained the quantity of nutritive matter con- 

 tained in each of two hundred kinds of grasses, 

 by boiling down the decoctions ; and 1 do not re- 

 collect that he took the exhalation into account in 

 any instance, f I am not, however, arguing 

 against housing or covering manure, for I cover 

 mine with black mould, or turf scraped from the 

 roadside, whenever I make a compost heaj), but 

 in the hope of having the matter generally kuown. 

 When the truth has been ascertained. And 1 

 hope, Sir, besides your own information on this 

 interesting subject, you will invite further inqui- 

 ries and obtain more information. For since our 

 most respected friend, Gen. Dearborn, has accept- 

 ed the presidency of our sister society, his atten- 

 tion has been so much engaged for their interests, 

 that we fear he has forgotten us farmers altogether. 



It is a common practice with our neighbors of 

 Milford, who are said at this day to adhere in their 

 agricultural operations implicitly to the practice 

 of their British ancestors, never to carry the ma- 

 nure out of their yards, until they have done sow- 

 ing or planting in the spring ; and then it is drop- 

 ped in a thin bed, in a hollow, a short distance 



* There are three sorts or stages of fermentation : the 

 vinous or spirilous, (which is the distiller's feriii entalion); 

 the acid or acetous, producing vinegar; and the putrid 

 fermentation, proilucing certain gases, principally ainmo- 

 niacal, (vhicii are food tor plants, liut injurious to animals. 

 The feniiciitation of fariii-yaid dung is almost exclusively 

 of the putrid kind. You can neither njake spirit nor vin- 

 eg.ir Ironi the exhalations ol a dunghill; but you may 

 manure plants with such exhalations. . Sir H. Davy, in 

 his lecture on manures, says that he introduced the beak 

 of a retort filled with lei menting dung, very hot at the 

 time, in the soil amongst the roots of some grass, in the 

 borders of a garden ; in less than a week, a very distinct 

 eflfect was produceil on the gi-ass; upon the spot exposed 

 to the influence of the matter disengaged in ferrrrentation, 

 it grew with much more luxuriance than the grass in any 

 other part of the garden. 



t The experiments alluded to by our correspondent 

 were, probably, those wbich ar-e entitled " Details ol Ex- 

 periments on Grasses, by George Sinclair, gardener to 

 his Grace the Duke of Bedford," &c. and printed in the 

 Appendix to »ir Humphry Davy's Agricultural Chem- 

 istry.— The experiments extended to ninetyfive diffecent 

 sortsofur.isses orrly, though the introduction to the ac- 

 count given by Sir Humphry states, that there are "two 

 hundred and fifieen proper grasses, capable of being cul- 

 tivated in the chmate of Great Britain." 



\\itlr regard to the "boiling down the decoctions," 

 and the "exhalations," care was taken to avoid losing 

 nutritive m.itter by such destructive modes of analysis. 

 The account states that "for the purpose of obtaining as 

 far as possible, the nutritive powers of the diflerenl spe- 

 cies, equal weights ol the dry grasses or vegetable sub- 

 stances, were acted upon by hot water till all their solu- 

 ble parts were dissolveil ; the solution was then evapora- 

 ted to dryness by a gentle beat in a proper stove," &c. 

 If, however, extracts of the gases had been made by 

 boiling, the steam would have been a very different sub- 

 stance from the gases arising from a dunghill. Steam 

 as well as water, may combine with and conduct off oth- 

 er substances, and so may the different sorts of gases, but 

 •team and gas are as different, the one from the other, as 

 oil IS different from vinegar. When steam is cooled it 

 returns to the state of water, but gas cannot be rendered 

 •olid nor liquid by any degree of cold 



froin the barn door ; where the hogs in the street 

 root it and the fowls scratch i all summer, entire- 

 ly uncovered until fall sowing, and what is not 

 then used, remaining until the next spring to dung 

 corn in the hill, which is their general |)ractice ; 

 and the dung is not then fit for the purpose unless 

 it is fine enough to measure in a peck, and yet 

 they have good corn, although in the estimation 

 of many the dung in this state would be destroyed.* 

 Bridgeport, Con. Feb. 1832. *B. 



SQUASHES. 



To raise winter squashes, the following method 

 is recommended : — Select a rich piece of ground, 

 rather moist, not much exposed to the wind and 

 true frotn shade. At the jiroper season, plough it 

 well three times ; dig holes in the earth about 

 eight feet distant, sufficiently large to contain iriore 

 than one bushel ; put into each, a shovel three times 

 full of strong manure and one pint of dry ashes or 

 slacked lime. The compost taken from the hog- 

 yard or slaughterhouse cellar, is preferable. Cov- 

 er this composition slightly with dirt ; after a few 

 days, take a hoe, chop it over, and mix with it a 

 sufficient quantity of earth to fill the holes nearly. 

 Let this exercise be repeated two or three times 

 in the course often, twelve, or fourteen days, as 

 the weather may be ; and plant the seeds taken 

 from large ripe squashes. The plants will soon 

 spring up, and then the enemy will appear in 

 great armies — I mean, small striped and large 

 black bugs ; anything that is oftensive to the 

 olfactory nerves of a huinan being, will retard 

 their operations, but the only .sovereign remedy is 

 to take life. The plants, therefore, should be crit- 

 ically examined at least twice each day, and the 

 hugs destroyed. Hoe them frequently, make the 

 lop of the ground in the form of a concave lens, 

 and leave only three or four thrifty plants in each 

 hill. The squash, like other vines, especially of 

 the genus cucurbtttt, receives much of its nutri- 

 ment directly from the rain, thfe air, and the dew ; 

 of course the leaves should be sustained in their 

 natural position. To effect this object, place 

 brush between the hills in every direction, just be- 

 fore the vines begin to spread ; and, with the 

 blessing of heaven, a large crop may be expected. 



I am aware that this method of raising squashes 



requires much labor and jiersevering attention ; 

 but the cultivator will be amply compensated. — 

 Last season I planted one hundred hills, and raised 

 between 4000 and 5C00 pounds, which, at the rate 

 they are usually sold, would amount to more than 

 sixty dollars. My yard was about eighty "feet 

 square. OBSERVATOR. 



Andover, Ms. Feb. 20, 1832. 



■" It is not uncommon for some folks to be a century, 

 more or less, behind the age they live in, as regards im- 

 provements in the useful arts. Exposing dung to rain 

 and sunshine is as decidedly a wasteful practice, as it 

 would be to expose hay, intended fur fodder for cattle, to 

 the same agents. It is well remarked in Lorain's Hus- 

 bandry, " Fresh dung, applied in the usual way, for the 

 growth of plants, affords double the quantrly of nutriment 

 for plants, that is obtained from it after it has been rotted 

 or decomposed. If I weretogrow a wager crop of maize, 

 or any other plant that is not readily injirred by a power- 

 ful application of manure, dung in a very high state of 

 fermentation and partially decomposed, would be prefer- 

 red by me. It would act more powerfully than fresh 

 manure in the beginning, and enough of it «ould perfect 

 the crop. This is, however, no ieason why a farmer 

 (who ought to have a succession of crops and the improve- 

 ments of his land in view,) should adopt this wasteful 

 practice, or that of decomposing his dung, until the 

 greater part of its nutritive properties is scattered in 

 the air." To these and many other authorities, may 

 be added that of Robert Smith, Esq. president of the 

 Maryland Agricultural Society, who in an address to 

 that society, observed, " With respect to stable dung, I 

 .shall for the present content myself by barely suggesting 

 that my experience strongly inclines me to the opinion, 

 that, however long, it orrght to be ploughed into the 

 ground without any previous stirring, and as soon as 

 practicable after taken from the farm yard." 



See J\r. E. Farmer, vol. i, p. 55, 62, 86, 110, 174. 



PRUNING TREES. 



Mr Fessendek — Reading lately some remarks 

 on trimming trees, I was happy to see it recom- 

 nrended to have trees trimmed early in the season. 

 Some fifteen or eighteen years since, when I first 

 began to cultivate trees, I was very much taken 

 up with the recommendations of some scientific 

 horticulturists, on June trimming. As I am not 

 in the habit of carrying the slone to mill because 

 my father and grandfather did ; but, unlike many 

 other farmers, rather apt to err on the other ex- 

 treme ; and as the argument in favor of trimming 

 in June was rather a plausible one, (I say argu- 

 ment, for I do not recollect but one in favor of it,) 

 viz. that the wounds heal over sooner when the 

 sap flows freely, than if cut in the fall or winter. 

 This is undoubtedly true, if left bare to the influ- 

 ence of the sun and winds; but if covered over by 

 some kind of composition, as recommended in the 

 remarks above named, the evil is removed at once. 

 If we reflect on the subject, reason will teach ua 

 that any considerable number of branches cut 

 from a tree, when they are full of sap, destroys so 

 much of the nourishment of the tree. The sap 

 of trees is drawn from the ground by the fibres of 

 the roots, and ascends to the extremities of every 

 twig, a part of which contributes to the growth of 

 the leaves, blossoms anil fruit — the remainder re- 

 turns between the bark and the trunk, and forms 

 a new growth around every branch, trunk, and 

 likewise the roots. And if the limbs are removed 

 when they are full of sap, we destroy so much of 

 the nourishment. 



I will agree that when a person pays proper at- 

 tention to his trees, from the time they are planted, 

 he can remove the small brancljes at any season 

 of the year, without any perceptible injury ; but 

 this is very dJflTerent from the common practice in 

 this country, for many of otir farmers do not trim 

 their trees oftener than once in five or ten years, 

 and when they do trim them they make a business 

 of it, and cut ofl^ a large quantity of wood. The 

 old adage is, that " au ounce of experience is bet- 

 ter than a pound of theory." Sad experience 

 compelled me to abandon the practice. 



When I first began to graft, I emjiloyed a man 

 who used to cut the whole of the top off and all 

 the limbs ; as this was commonly done at the sea- 

 son after the trees had put out, the consequence 

 was the death of one half of my trees ; and those 

 that did live, many of them might as well have 

 been de.id. The next thing I observed, was some 

 young trees which were set out where I pastured 

 a cow, and which were boxed up ; but occasion- 

 ally the cow would reach up and break ofl'a limb. 

 Notwithstanding I cut them off smooth and cov- 

 ered the wound, I lost many of^ie trees and 

 might as well have lost the whole, for what did 

 live were so checked in their growth, that they 

 have not recovered to this day, but remain stunt- 

 ed things. Not so, when, by any accident, they 

 are broken in winter, for if the whole top was re- 

 moved in the winter, they would give out new 

 branches in the spring, and grow the better. for it. 



