NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



177 



hens bear a silver]/ complexion." (Je< bhxck, bright 

 gold color, and silvery complexion ! ^ " Their tails arc 

 shorter and broader than others of the race," (what 

 race?) " and they feather rather slowly." 



I, for one, cannot suffer such gross misrepresenta- 

 tions to pass unnoticed. Dr. Bennett has no apology 

 for suffering ^Ir. Day's statement to appear in his 

 •work. Dr. Bennett, if he had but a slight acquaint- 

 ance with the different breeds of domestic fowls, 

 would have seen at once, that the Black Dorkings 

 described by Mr. Day were a mongrel race, into 

 •whose composition the blood of the Black Java 

 largely entered. Yours, kc, 



S. BRADFORD MORSE, Jr. 



For the Neio England Farmer 

 WHITE SHANGHAE FOWLS. 



Mr. Cole : In the account of the "White Shang- 

 haes written by me, and published in the last number 

 of ■j'our paper, an error occurs as to the year in -which 

 the importation of the Shanghae fowls by Capt. A. 

 S. Palmer, of Westerly, R. I., was made. The gen- 

 tleman from whom the information was received, has 

 had an interview with Capt. Palmer, and in a letter 

 bearing date May 9, 18.50, says, "In one of my 

 communications to you, I gave it as my opinion, that 

 the fowls of Dixon were not Shanghaes — not hav- 

 ing been imported from that place, but probably from 

 Canton. That information, though derived from two 

 sources, was incorrect. Capt. Palmer informs me 

 that he brought them from Shanghae, in the year 

 184.5, via Canton. He put up two large coops of 

 them, but succeeded in bringing home only eight 

 pairs, most of the largest having died on the passage. 

 He says that they ate fowls on the passage that 

 weighed eleven pounds, dressed ; and that some of 

 his fowls died on the passage, in consequence of 

 becoming too fat. '\Mien he arrived in Canton, the 

 fowls were nearly as great a curiosity to the people 

 of that place as they were here. He also informed 

 me that his was the second vessel that ever entered 

 the port of Shanghae. 



" Capt. Palmer's brother has just brought from 

 Shanghae several pairs for the captain, of two or 

 three sizes ; one pair he speaks of as being uncom- 

 monly large. I endeavored to purchase a pair of the 

 captain, but he says that fifty dollars would not pur- 

 chase a pair." Yours, &c., 



S. BRADFORD MORSE, Jk. 



For the New England Farmer. 



CONGENIALITY OF STOCKS AND 

 SCIONS. 



Mr. Cole: This subject seems to be very imper- 

 fectly understood, probably from the fact that thoso 

 most engaged in horticulture have but little time or 

 desire to try experiments. Enough has been done, 

 however, by amateurs and others, to show that scions 

 set in unnatural stocks will frcqiiently grow, and 

 that some such scions are productive of fruit, even 

 better than on their own bottoms. The drawback, 

 however, is, that they will not live so long. But the 

 pear on the quince, which some years past was 

 thought to be l)ut of short duration, is now known 

 to live twenty-five years. This union seems to be 

 the most siicccssful of unnatural unions. There was 

 a paraj^raph in the first volume N. E. Farmer, p. 40, 

 •which had traversed the rounds of the horticultural 

 papers, stating that a gentleman visiting England 

 had tasted of an apple grown on a piar stock, and 

 that " it had a peculiar flavor, somewhat like a pear." 



See, also, the same on p. 79. It seems from these 

 paragraphs, that the apple can be successfully in- 

 grafted into the pear. It is not understood, however, 

 that the reverse is so successful, if we except the 

 Seckel pear, which is said to do quite well so far as 

 tested. Now, in this union, can it make any differ- 

 ence whether the pear is the scion or the stock ? If 

 the Seckel pear docs well or better on the apple, may 

 there not be some other varieties which will do as 

 ■well ? There seem to be different natures in pears, 

 (as some will, and others will not, grow well on the 

 quince ;) and may we not reasonably infer that there 

 are many other pears ■which, by proper testing, will 

 yet be found congenial ■with the apple ? Having last 

 year quite a number of suitable apple stocks, I in- 

 serted some of the scions of the Beurre Did, Louise 

 bon de Jersey, and one of the Beurre d'Aremberg. 

 The two former kinds did ■well as respects growth ; 

 the latter put forth only a couple of leaves, and died 

 the last winter. The Diels and the Jerseys are 

 grafted a foot from the ground, and I shall let them 

 take their course, and at some future day may report 

 their fate. This year I have inserted a variety snug 

 to the ground, with a vie^^v of their re-rooting. I 

 have two other pears inserted on forest stocks, (dif- 

 ferent from any which I have heard experimented 

 upon,) and anxiously •«'ait the issue. I intend to 

 make still further experiments, for my own gratifica- 

 tion. 



I have heard of pear scions bearing well on apple- 

 trees in a bearing state, and think that inserted in 

 small stocks they may begin to bear a little ; but 

 ■whether they will so continue, in either case, is 

 doubtful. Nevertheless, it seems to me, that if the 

 apple will do well on the pear, the pear will do 

 equally well on the apple. L. 



Boston, April 22, 1850. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 "CORN FOR FODDER." 



Mr. Cole : Having seen several inquiries, in the 

 New England Farmer, with regard to raising corn 

 fodder, and having been in the habit of raising it for 

 a number of years, I will give j'ou a statement of my 

 method of raising and curing. I think that sweet 

 corn is preferable to any other. I sow it in drills, 

 about three feet apart. I furrow deep, and fill the 

 furrow with compost, and drop the corn the whole 

 width of the manure, and from two to three inches 

 apart. I always cut it up before the frost. I stook 

 it up immediately after cutting, in bunches so large 

 that I think the ■v\-ind will not blow them over. I 

 place my arms round near the top, and bring them 

 in as tight as I can, then break the tops over as you 

 would a shock of stalks. I let them stand out till 

 they are sufficiently dry to pack away in the barn. 

 I have never had any trouble in curing fodder in 

 tliis -way. AV. S. 



Medfield, May 8, 1850. 



CULTIVATING DWARF PEARS. 



Every intelligent fruit raiser is aware of the neces- 

 sity of cultivatir.g and manuring the soil well for 

 dwarf pear-trees. S. B. Parsons states tluit he has 

 seventeen hundred trees on four acres ; tliat he ap- 

 plied to this orch.ird, last spring, $150 worth of ma- 

 nure, and gathered in the autumn two hundred and 

 seventy-five bushels of potatoes, thirty tons of sugar 

 beets, and a large quantity of turnips and cabbages -— 

 paying the expenses of manure and cultivation, and 

 giving the pear-trees a vigorous impuLo. — Maiao 

 Farmer, 



