410 



and occupies much attention abroad. The sub 

 ject of Hve liedges must in many parts of the 

 country become prospectively important. So also 

 the int'enuity of our manufacturers might present 

 many improved implements of agriculture. To 

 all of which subjects attention was invited, and 

 liberal premiums offered. 



The novelty of the mode may perhaps in some 

 degree account for this, and the committee can 

 onty hope that our intelligent husbandmen may 

 more readily show forth their good practices, for 

 which it is well known many of them are so dis- 

 tinguished Kv order of the committee. 

 ° JOHN WELLES, Chairman. 

 Boston, Jan. 14, 1832. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Jnly II, 1832. 



there' We know that high and arid heaths nev- but little for manure ; and it is worlli noiinng, m- 

 er produce clover ; it cannot therefore be consid- , dee.l, so long as it remains in this slate. Other* 

 ered as proceeding from a plant which formerly are prevented from applying it on account of its 

 srew there But even did we admit the possi- comparative bulk, and the consequence is, it is suf- 

 l.ihtv that t'hese kinds of earth may contain clover fered to remain in the barn-yard, exi.osed to sun 

 seed this oiiinion cannot be maintained in some and rain, until is is reduced by fermentation to a 

 parts of East Friesland, where wild clover is black mass of carbonaceous matter. 

 !.-...i„ .., i,„ .,..o..in,r npnrl ashes on peatl By this means much oi the mannre is lost by 



lade to grow by strewing pearl ashes on peat 

 marshes. — Bull. Univ. 



By 



evaporation, and 



the noxious eases constantly 



ITEMS IN RURAL ECON^OMY, 



ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. BY THE EDITOR. 



Salt in Agriculture. — A writer for the Garden- 

 er's Magazine, with the signature "Agronome," 

 in treating of salt as a manure, &c, says in sub- 

 stance, that its use may be comprehended under 

 two general heads, viz. destroying weeds and worms. 

 I find I can keep a large coach yard perfectly free 

 from moss and weeds, for h-ss than a shilling a 

 year. This to gardeners must be very acceptable. 

 When families go from home, the weeding of pave- 

 ments is often a tedious job. I can also keep my 

 gravel walks clear of moss and weeds at a tenth 

 of the expense of hreaking-u]), raking, rolling, &c. 

 Care should be taken in sailing the walks, not to 

 let any drop on the box-edges, as it kills that also 

 and makes it very unsightly ; it his also been 

 found to discolor some of the skirts of ladies' dress- 

 es. I found it very effectual in destroying worms, 

 &;c, in the tan-pits, but the cure proved a great 

 deal worse than the disease, as it chilled t}ie whole 



surface of U- •"" ° '^"^ "^"y <'«"•"• .Nothin 



^"""f*^ °erinentation so ir,,..i- - . . it ,„ .u 



chreTaiiuuuie to putrefnc-tiou, and yet it acts on 

 certain bodies in a wonderful manner. It com- 

 menced operations against the curb-stones of the 

 tan-pit at this place, and would soon have reduced 

 them to a heap of sand, if I had not scraped them 

 well and painted them also. And here, I believe, 

 1 have let out the secret why sail has been suppo- 

 sed to be a sort of manure, as it not only kills 

 worms and weeds, but even acts upon certain 

 earths and stones, in a similar manner that severe 

 fi'OSts do. 



Equivocal Production of Plants. — It is undoubt- 

 edly a very remarkable phenomenon, that the earth 

 when dug to the deptli of eight or ten feet, or 

 more, produces many sorts of plants, provided it is 

 advantageously exposed to the sun ; but what is 

 more extraordinary, is that this new vegetation 

 frequently affords plants of kinds which have nev- 

 er been remarked in the country. It is natural to 

 ask, whence came these plants ? Can it be ad- 

 mitted that the seeds of those new plants were 

 contained in the several kinds of earth ? But 

 could all these seeds, which had been perha^is 

 above 3000 years under ground, without having 

 ever been exjiosed to the action of the sun, have 

 preserved the power of germinating ? If we strew 

 ashes on high and arid heaths, %ve shall see, some 

 time afterwards, clover and vetches growing there, 

 though these two plants had never before been seen 

 on those places. Shall we believe that the seeds 



T. ■ „ „i.,f ' emanating from such a body, render the atmos- 



Cheap and #^f '""* ;''5''""":-/f;'^ ^j,,''^'/ ph and are oftentimes the ca.ise 



form of earth on the head land of a field, eight feet 1^^ _^___^|_ ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^.^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ 



wide, one foot high, and of any length accord-ng ^^^__^ ,„fleH„s those gases to poLson the air which 



to the quantity wanted. Oi. this first stratum ol ^^.^^j,^^^ -^^,,j^i, jf ,„.o„„|v applied, would be 



earth, lay a thin stratum of lime, fresh from "^<' ^,^,,,,r,ea bv th 



kiln; dissolve or slack this ;^'';'Vt=^l'„ ',!':':i^.,^T. healthtul lUUrim 



aking the 



the rose of a watering-pot ; add immediately an- 

 other layer of earth, then lime and brine as befoi 

 carrying it to any convenient height. In a we 



inient. 

 The true economical mctliod of 



other layer of earth, then lime and brine^ as before,] ^^^^ ^^ manures, is to bury the whole under the 



'^'^' ■, , , soil before fermentation commences ; in this man- 



it should be turned over, '^"'"'''^"'ly ™" j;",° | ner the wh.le is saved. When decomposition 



ixed, so that the whole mass may be thoroughly 

 incorporated. This compost has been used in 

 Ireland, has doubled the crops of jiotatoes and 

 cabbages, and is said to he superior to stable dung. 

 — James Reed, in Card. Mag. 



Caterpillars. — An edict is published annually 

 by the government of the Netherlands, ordering all \ 

 the proprietors of lands, and farmers, to clear off 

 caterpillars from the trees twice a year, viz. be- 

 fore the 2.5111 of March and the 2.ith of April, un- 

 der pain of the infliction of a certain penalty, de- 

 termined by law. Would not a law to that effect 

 in this country be of service? 



Pearl Barley as a substitute for Rice. — This 

 substance is much used and highly recommended 

 in England and Scotland. The conductor of the 

 Gardener's Magazine, some time sinfc, observed. 



takes plac^ the gases, as fast as liberated, are 

 taken up b' the roots of the growing plants, en- 

 tering iiiK new combinations and forming new 

 plants, flcurish for a period, and then wither and 

 decay lile the former. But to return to my sub- 

 ject — tie best method of applying straw as a ma- 

 nure, if to spread it over the ground intended for 

 corn, o as to cM)mpletely cover it. When the 

 grouni is ploughed, a man should follow the 

 plouiU with a rake, raking the straw into the ftn- 

 row! for a space just wide enough for the next 

 furow. 



t is necessary that the ground should he 

 pliughed deep, and the straw raked in and trod 

 (bwn completely ; the raker walking in the fur- 

 ow to tread the straw down, so that it may be all 

 covered by the plough. The ground should not 



that a grocer in London, (Robinson,) has obtain- (lie ploughed again, as it would plough ui>the straw. 

 - ..... ■•-'iru is well covered, but little of it will be disturb- 



ed a patent for prenariiio 

 ..^. J., f^iutinu rice. 



Method of destroying Moles in meadows or gar- 

 dens. — Collect earth-worms, kill them, and mix 

 them u]) with the powder of nvx vomica. After 

 the mixture has remained in a heap twentyfour 

 liour.4, take the worms and place one or two here 

 and there in the routes and holes of the moles. 

 The desired effect is said to be a certain result. 



ed when working among the corn. The effects 

 oftlie manure will be the greatest at the latter end 

 of he season, when it is most needed. At tlie 

 time of the filling out of the ear.s, the action of the 

 manure in this way is peculiarly adapted to the 

 pur|iose, as it then exerts its greatest influence, 

 and causes the cob to be covered with kernels of 

 good size to the very end. 



The effects of manures applied in this manner 

 last longer, although their immediate influence is 

 not q'lite so energetic. * 



" It apjiears from the experiments of Hassen- 

 patz," says Dr Thom])son, " that substances em- 

 ployed as manures, produce effects in times pro- 

 portioned to their degree of putrefaction ; those 



STRAW. 



Since the introduction of threshing machines 

 into this part of the country, it is a very common 

 thing to see large heaps of straw around the barns 

 where they have been in"o]ieration. Many farm- ' substances which are most putrid, producing the 



ers are at a loss what to do with it, or how to ! most speedy eflects, and of course sooner losin 



maiiiige it to the best advantage ; while others are 

 so indifferent to these things, that to get it out of 

 the way with the least trouble, is their only care. 

 It is an object of the highest importance to eve- 

 ry judicious farmer, to understand the right appl 

 cation of manure 



their efficacy. Having manured two pieces of the 

 same kind of soil, the one with a mixture of dung 

 and straw, highly putrefied, the other with the 

 same mixture newly made and the straw almost 

 fresh, he observed, that during the first year, the 

 Plants need food as well as I plants which grew on the land manured with pu- 

 trefied dung, produced a much better crop than 

 the other ; but the second year, (no new dung be- 

 ing added,) the ground which had been manured 

 with the uuputrefied dung, jiroduced the best croji. 

 The same thing took place the third year, after 

 which both seemed to be equally exhausted." 



animals ; and he who neglects to feed the former, 

 might with as much propriety neglect the latter; 

 for without the former, the latter could not exist. 

 The existence of man and all the inferior animals, 

 dejiend upon the annual quantity of plants which 

 the earth brings forth for our use. But by a care- 

 less mode of culture and a neglect to supply the 



proper nourishment, the best soils will soon begin 

 of the clover and the vetches were previously ( to degenerate, and at last refuse to pay the hus- 



ia the ground, and only waited for a stimu- 

 lus to germinate .' But how did the seeds come ' 



bandman for his toil 



Dry straw is considered by some to be worth 



T%e Vine. — A writer on the cultivation of the 

 vine in Sidney, states, that the blight after the fruit 

 is set, may be prevented by ringing the old wood 

 which sustains the young branch. 



