402 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



July 4, 1832. 



the leaves, ami then burying them among bog 

 mould. The idea tirst struck me in Scotland, 

 from considering that bog mould was antiseptic 

 and capable of resisting putrefaction, particularly 

 if excluded from atmospheric air. I covered ?oine 

 heads of cauliHower in July, under the rubbish 

 taken from the bottom of ah old peat stack, and in 

 November following found them .still fit for use. 

 I pointed out to your brother some this year, at 

 Stratton, that had been laid up six weeks and still 

 good ; this I was, in consequence of the long 

 drought, obliged to do ; and for weeks it was sent 

 to table, and found as g.)od as if newly cut. It 

 is necessary to wash them well, as they are very 

 black when taken out." 



Liquid Manure, Soot, ^'C. — Sir H. Davy char- 

 acterizes soot as " a powerful manure, possessing 

 ammoniacal^ salt, empyreumatic oil, and charcoal, 

 which is capable of being rendered soluble by the 

 action of oxygen- or pure vital air." Mr John 

 Robertson, writer for the Gardener's Magazine, 

 says, " on meadows, [mowing land,] I have used 

 Boot with great advantage in substance, and though 

 sown by the hand, one dressing gave me always 

 heavy crops of hay for two successive seasons. 

 But this is a wasteful mode of a|)plying it, a great 

 proportion of its ammonia, one of its most active 

 ingredients, being volatilized and dissipated in the 

 atmosphere. When dissolved in water there is no 

 waste ; it is all available, and for horticidiural pur- 

 poses ( have used it mostly in that state, mixing it 

 up in the proportion of a!>out six quarts of soot to 

 a hogshead of water. Asparagus, peas, and a va- 

 riety of other vegetables I have manured with it, 

 with as much effect as if I had used solid dung ; 

 but to plants in pots, particularly to piness, ' hfive 

 found it adtnirably well adapted ; when watered 

 with it, they assume a deep healthy green and grow 

 strong and luxuriant. I generally use it and 

 clean water alternately, and always ovi?r-head 

 in summer ; but except for the purpose of cleans- 

 ing, it might be used constantly with advautage. 



"Other materials for liquid manures are often 

 difficult to procure, and tedious in their prepara- 

 tion ; but soot, sufficient for the gardener's pur- 

 poses, is almost everywhere at hand and in a few 

 minutes prepared. 



" Were gardeners more generally aware, that no 

 manures can be taken \i\t in a slate of solidity by 

 plants as food, and that they can oidy be absorbed 

 by them in a gaseous or liquid state, to whic 



merfed in the fluid. The best time for applying 

 this remedy is in the evening, after which the 

 glasses are to be close shut down for the night. 

 The reason for using the lather only, is, the insects 

 are immersed a much longer time in the fluid than 

 they would be by the application of plain soap and 

 water. This remedy may at first appear a tedious 

 one, but I can assure you, from my own experi- 

 ence, that it is not so ; for any person rnny dress a 

 three light frame, where the plants are properly 

 thinned and where every leaf requires to be dress- 

 ed, in one hour ; and where is the gardener that 

 would grudge even a day, to preserve the flavor 

 of his fruit and save his plants from certain de- 

 struction ? The above receipt is not confined to 

 melons only, for no plant, however tender, to 

 which I have apjilied it, appears to be in the least 

 degree injured by it." 



Bones for Manure. — A good way for gardeners 

 to collect bones for vine borders and other pur- 

 poses, is to make it known in the neighborhood, 

 that they will give so mticli per hundred weight 

 for all that is brought to them. As they are re- 

 ceived, they should be broken' by hammers into 

 small or large pieces, as the eflect is intended to 

 be itnmediate and powerful, or grailual and jiro- 

 longed. For distant effect, a number of hones 

 should be buried whole; on the same principle 

 that opium-eaters envelope their i)ills in paper, to 

 retard their dissolution in the stomach. — Gardcn- 

 cr's Magazine. 



Yeast as a Maiiure. — It is not generally known, 

 that yeast is one of the most jjowerful manures in 

 existence. Some experiments have been tried 

 with grass plots and different culinary vegetables, 

 from which it appears that a very small quantity 

 of yenst, after it has become putrid and useless to 

 the brewer or baker, will eflfect wonders when 

 fiiixed with water and ajiplied to plants as liipiiil 

 manure. The only danger seems to be in making 

 it too rich. We would recommend such of our 

 readers as have leisure and opportunity, to try it 

 on pines, vines, the Brassica family, especially 



MAKING HAY Fi{OM CLOVER. 



The cutting and curing of clover is very nice 

 and critical farming, and demands the first atten- 

 tion. The heads and leaves of clover are its prin- 

 cipal value, the stalk when coarse is of little use ; 

 therefore, in order to preserve the most valuable 

 parts, cut your clover in dry vveather ; and when 

 the dew is dried off' from the first swaths, turn 

 them over gently, without spreading, until you 

 come to the swaths which are free from dew, let 

 these lie untouched until noon, unless showers or 

 a storm become threatening, in this case, break 

 off' your mowers ami get your clover from the 

 swath into small cocks. Let the cocks be made 

 with the fork, with only once or twice rolling. 

 But if the weather continues fair, let your mowers 

 keep on and your hayniaktrs follow with their 

 forks, and put all the swaths into small cocks. 

 The next day let these cocks stand, and go on cut- 

 ting as before; proceed thus until you have secur- 

 ed your clover. In two, three, or four days, as 

 the weather may he, the clover first cut will be fit 

 to cart if the weather proves fair, if not, the rains 

 will never penetrate farther than the winds and sun 

 can dry : the clover will be injured oidy upon the 

 surface. Should a long cloudy or moist turn of 

 weather succeed, you may give your clover air by 

 taking off' the top of each cock and placing it for 

 the bottom, and thus with voiir fork change the 

 onlerof your cocks by bringing the bottoms to the 

 top ; this mode will cause your cocks to shed rain 

 better than the coiiuTjon mode of turning them 

 over at once with the fork. Win ii yon find your 

 clover suflicicntly cured for housing, take the first 

 good liay-day, turn over your cocks in the morn- 

 ing when the dew is off", and ns soon as the mois- 

 ture is dried from' the bottoms, clear your field as 

 fast as possible. Thus you will secure all ifte 

 valuable parts of your clover, viz"- the head and 

 leaves, in full hloissom and as perfect a green as 

 when growing. Anil your horses will Iiold their 

 flesh anil do more service on this clover, without 



cauliflowers, the potato, as a pickle for wheat and grain, than on clover cured in the coiiunon meth 



other seeds, and for watering new sown plants and 

 similar oleaginous seeds. — lb. 



Packing and preserving Seeds. — Mr .\nderson, 

 of the Chelsea Botanic Garden, says, he received 

 from the East Indies twentyfour seeds or nuts of 

 Coryj'ha talicra ; twelve of them were carefidly 



od with the usual quantity of grain. And you will 

 readily experience the saving in expense, which, 

 although of importance, will be found to be of mi- 

 nor consideration in this mode of husbandry. 



A few loads of clover may always he housed in 

 this mode with safety ; but if your fields are large. 



solid manures ap,.lied must be previously recluce.l, j ^^^^ . .^__j ,^^.^|^.^, ^^^ j,^^,_^^ ^^^^^ ,^^jj^j .^ charcoal, 

 before any benefit can be derived from then., they g^.p^,,„„^ „^ „.|,i,.,, ^„,.,y f^.^jy 



wrapped up in paper, not one of which geriiiina- i some precaution will become necessary, to guard 



yonr mows against heating, w hich is not only injuri- 



would in many cases facilitate the process by 

 using them in a liquid stale. In houses where 

 rains have not access, it appears to me superior to 

 any other mode of administering manure to trees." 

 ji simple and effectual method of destroying the 

 Red Spider. — Mr A Kendall, in a conimunicalioii 

 for the Gardener's Rlagazine, advises for the above 

 mentioned purpose the followmg application : 



"To one gallon of rain water add si.x ounces of 

 soft soap, which is to be com))letely dissolved 

 before using. When used, it is to be beaten 

 into a fine lather, (a common hearth brush, I find, 

 answers the purpose best.) The latlier only is then 



Remedies against the Aphis Lanigera, or Jltneri- 

 can Blight. — Tobacco water, soft soap, soot and 

 salt in ecpial quantities, and old urine, have all 

 been recommended in diflVrent articles in the 

 Gardener's Magazine, as specifics against the 

 above named disease. 



Pea Pods. — In a German publication it is sta- 

 ted, that pea pods when green, if boiled in water 

 with a little sase or a few hops added, and the 

 whole afterwards fermented, will produce liquor 

 not inferior to beer. 



Mixing Soils. — It was a maxim of Kliogg, a 



to be taken in each hand and carefully ajiplied to f'lmoiis philosophical farmer of Switzerland, that 



" Every species of earth may be instrumental to 



the improvement of another of opposite qualities." 



fVhite Weed Plaster of Paris, we are told. 



the upper and under side of every leaf that is in- 

 fected. If the disease is not violent one dressing 

 will be sufficient ; but where every part of tin 



plant is infected two dressings are required, as it \vill destroy white weed. Another remedy is to 

 will only kill those insects that are actually im- ' pasture the land with sheep. 



ous to the <lover, hut will prove injirrious to yonr 

 horses and give them a cough. To jirevent both 

 these evils, let your clover stand in the cock a ilay 

 or two longer; o|)en it carefully when you are 

 ready to cart, without spreading ; let yonr bays be 

 open under the bottom for a fnc circulation of 

 air; fill several large bags with hay. set them erect 

 n|)on the floor of your bays, mow the clover 

 around them with ,is little treading as possible ; 

 raise up the bags with the rise of your mow, and 

 when your mow is finished remove the bag.«. 

 These openings will serve as ventilators and se- 

 cure your mows from beating. If you reserve 

 your wheat or rye straw fortius purpose, and cov- 

 er your clover occasionally as you mow it, with 

 straw, your straw will not only ])revent yonr mow 

 from healing, but iiidiilie the moisture of your 

 clover and become valuable feed for your horses 

 and cattle, and thus become a rir.nble saving. One 

 bushel of salt sprinkled upon your clover as yoB 



