346 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



May 10, 1832. 



. , .laTl llioy subtnit to the eptablishrcl max- 

 ^""■IfaV tlieir ciiltivatcd vegetables receive their 

 chief nutritious matter from the atmosphere. — 

 That, for example, the thick tuberous roots of red 

 clover (trifolium prateiize) is transmitted from its 

 herbage to its roots, from the atmosphere, in the 

 form of minute atoms of carbon, oxygen and hy- 

 drogen ; also nitrogen, in the case of the cruci- 

 fera?, as mustard, radish, turnips, cabbage, &c. 

 Plaster of Paris (sulphate of lime) stimulate vege- 

 table action, as a glass of brandy stimulates a hardy 

 laborer to eat an unusual (juantity, but it affords no 

 nutritious matter. Therefore, Indian corn, buck 

 ■wheat, &c, impoverish land, by seizing greedily 

 upon all its food, when plaster of Paris is used. 

 But red clover imjjroves the land, by al)Sorbing 

 nutritious matter frotn the atmosphere and depos- 

 iting it in the earth in the form of clover roots. 

 Most respectfully, AMOS EATON, 



Senior Prof. Rensselaer School. 



for 



the same paper. 

 I 



with the 



Another writer 

 signature " II. S." say 



frames for cucumbers and melons completely 

 cleared of ants which infested them, by merely 

 confining a toad in them." 



superior in flavor to those grown in dimg heat, 

 ive known common |Mr Knight has holes in the front walls of his pine 

 and melon houses, to adnjit air, which coming in 

 near the flue drives up the heat and causes a cir- 

 culation of air in the house, which passes off" near 

 the top of the back wall ; of course more heat is 

 required by ke(?i)ing a constant circulation of air. 

 The luHons also, in frames, heated with dung 

 linings, have air admitted through the finings up 



aUICK LIME FOR THE DESTRUCTION 

 OF INSECTS. 

 Mr Johii Plant, a writer for the Horticultural 

 Register, informs, that " During the last six years, i\^p |,ed to the frame, 



I have made use of quick lime in the spring, just 

 when the buds are opening. I take the advantage 

 of the trees being moistened with rain or dew, 

 otherwise I sprinkle the bushes with water by a 

 syringe or engine, and then with a quantity of 

 fresh, well-fallen lime, I give each a strong dust- 

 ing over the branches ; I repeat the operation in 

 the course of four or five days. 



" Supposing that at the time the buds were 

 beginning to expand their foliage, the insects were 

 then hatching or about creeping from their hiding 

 UTILITY OF TOADS. places, I was in<luced to adapt the application of 



A writer (Mr J. Stafford) for the Horticultural I lime, judging that it would not only destroy rlie 

 Register observes, that he has found no method so I young insects, but should any escape, it would, by 

 effectual for destroying ants, as that of giving ev- i adhering to the green buds or yoimg foliage, ren- 



ery encouragement to the common toad. " I have 

 for several years paid attention to these reptiles 

 and so has every persou under my control, inso- 

 much, that I have had as many as three or four 

 dozen; some of which have become so domesti- 

 cated, that I have taken them in one hand and ex- 

 hibited their food in the other, which they have 

 taken with the greatest composure. So much do 

 my family, as well as myself, set by them, tluit my 

 two little girls are in the habit of bringirg tlicm 

 home in their hands, from the roads and fields, 

 with as much delight as they would the choicest 

 objects. Those 1 recommend are abojt three 

 ounces in weight, and, from observations I have 

 made of their progress, I should calculate about 

 five years old. This size appears more lively thau 

 the larger ones, and I have often known them to 

 remain for several days together, at the mouth of 

 the hole where the ants congregated ; and such is 

 their agility, that they will take the ants when on 

 the wing, as quick as they come within reach ; and 

 their instinct is so grent, that if you erect a habita- 

 tion for them, contiguous to the resort of the ants, 

 they will remain and consider it their dwelling ; 

 and should they be taken and placed in another 

 part of the garden or house, they will endeavor to 

 return to their old station again. The quantity of 

 insects they devour is immense, as they have a 

 very quick digestion. 



" I have preserved and protected them for more 

 than twenty years. My reason for commencing 

 it, originated from the circumstance of a friend of 

 mine calling on me, who, on observing the hot- 

 beds so much infested, and concluding the crops 

 would be destroyed, advised me to introduce toads 

 as a certain remedy ; and to my great surprise and 

 satisfaction, I observed them the next day devour- 

 ing the ants as fast as 1 was able to count them. 

 From that time, I have observed with satisfaction, 

 that wherever toads are encouraged, ants will dis- 

 appear. I much regret that these usidlil creatia-es 

 should meet with the ill treatment they often do, 

 even from gardeners. I have often been almost 

 insulted for harboring them myself, and I have 

 scarcely met with one individual that half appre- 

 ciated their value. When trees are infested with 

 ants, confine the toads behind a board set on one 

 edge, until they become habituated to the spot 



der the food of tlie insects poisonous. By atten- 

 tion to the mode described, I have never had any 

 Caterpillars on the bushes at a later season of the 

 year. It is my practice to prune the bushes 



Mr Knight's potatoes are worthy of notice; — 

 the crop in the field was very strong, planted near- 

 ly three feet from row to row; whole potatoes 

 planted, and prettj' thick in a row. The soil seem- 

 ed very shallow, as nearly all of it was taken up 

 in earthing. Mr Knight said that he expected 

 seven hundred bushels to the acre. 



Watering celery, at Downton, is done by caus- 

 ing a stream to run through the trenches ; and Mr 

 Knight's fine marrow peas I found attended bj 

 the same kind of watering, a drill drawn out on 

 one side of the row, by which means they ars 

 kept longer in bearing. F. H. S. 



Remarks hy the Editor of the A'cu' England 

 Farmer. — The a])plication of hot water for the 

 destruction of insects, is not uncommon among 

 European gardeners. Loudon says, " Water heat- 

 ed to 150 or 130 degrees will not injure plants 

 autumn, and to have the ground about their i whose leaves are fully expanded, and in some de- 

 roots maimred and dvig. gnc hardened ; and water at 200 degrees or up- 



" I have likewise found lime to be an excellent j warils may he poured over leafless plants." 

 preservative of small seeds, as broccoli, turnip. With regard to Mr Knight's mode of raising 

 radish, &c, from the ravages of birds. When I potatoes, we doubt whether it would succeed in our 

 sow a bed with seeds, I immediately give it a clitmite. In a moist climate, a dry and a shallow 

 strong dusting all over, to prevent the birds taking! soil "aid in ridges, is suitable for that plant ; but 



what seeds may accidentally be uncovered, as they 

 will not eat the seeds when strongly covered with 

 the lime. When 1 observe the plants coming up, 



in a dry and hot climate, every precaution is re- 

 quisite to guard against drought. Ridges and 

 protuberant hills are generally improper here, 



I water the bed or take advantage of dew, and j though well adapted to a shallow soil and British 

 give the bed another dusting. If the weather be I climate, where excess of moisture is often im- 

 rainy, I repeat it, if required, till I perceive the ' friendly to this prime article of produce, 

 plants have got into rough leaf." 



PRESERVATION OF BACON. 

 It cannot be supposed, that any mode of pre- 

 serving hams can' alter the original quality of the 

 article. All that can be anticipated is to prevent 

 its being injured by the heat of the warmer part of 

 the season. One mode is to pack it in oats; for 

 that purpose, the chest or cask in which it is pte- 



Froni the HorticuUural Register. 



Remarks on the Garden of T. A. Knight, Esq., 



President of the London Hortindlural Society, at 



Downton Castle. By F. H. S. 



Gentlemen — On a visit this autumn to Down- 

 ton Castle, our highly respected and worthy Pres- L'^^^'e'd should- be perfectly tight, and laised about 

 ident was so kmd as to show me many of his ex- I ^j^ i^^,,gg fy„„^ j,,g surface of the ground, and the 



periments imder operation, .is well also as to state 

 his experience in other things, some of which may 

 be worthy a place in your Register. 



oats packed in quite tight. 



Another mode of preserving hams and all kinds 

 of smoked meats, recommended by T. Gould, Esq. 



First then. Hot ffater, (don't be alarmed, though | c,rn,erlv President of the Berkshire Agricultural 

 L^fii-^"" '""^ ''"' T""' T^'^*' ,'"'",*"' '^'*'"^r*i ! Sof 'f^OS is this:— Take a tierce or box, and cover 



the bottom with charcoal reduced to small pieces 

 but not to du.st ; cover the legs or pieces of meat 

 with stout brown paper, sowed around so as to 

 exclude all dust ; lay them down on the coal in 

 compact order, then cover the layer with coal, and 

 so on till your business is done, and cover the top 

 with a good thickness of coal. 



Another mode is as follows : — A piece of canvas, 

 cotton, or other suitable cloth is sewed tightly 

 about the ham, and this is overlaid^ with two or 

 three coatings of lime white-wash, which is said 

 to thoroughly preserve the inclosed article. 



A writer in the American Farmer states, that 

 he tried many ways to preserve ham from bugs, 

 worms, and rancidity, but succeeded in none ; 



Mr Knight says, water heated to the degree of 150 

 will kill any insect on the ]iine — his gardener has 

 proved it under his own (Mr Knight's) observa- 

 tion. I understand they are watered with a sy- 

 ringe, and repeated two or three times. Though 

 Mr Knight has bad very little trouble with in- 

 sects on his pines, his fruiting house being a cur- 

 vilinear, I believe with him that the insects will 

 not increase so readily under a strong light. 



The varieties of the Persian melons were very 

 fine, growing in a small house in pots, placed on 

 the flue in front, and trained up trellis work near 

 the glass ; the fruit of course resting on the trellis. 

 I was surprised at the weight of one of the fruit 

 I lifted up, and have no doubt they were much 



'SeethecurrentvolumeofiheN.E.'Farmer, p. 161. 'though perhaps the methods he tried might an- 



