NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



207 



■wheat or corn, or if it will grow on poorer land to 

 advantage. Any information in regard to the above 

 inquiries, would be gladly received by a 



SUBSCRIBER. 



Ryegate, Tt., June 4, 1S50. 



Remarks. — Millet is a small grain. The seed is 

 valuable for fowls, but rather dear for this purpose, 

 ■when purchased in the market. A good crop yields 

 from fifteen to twenty-five bushels. If sown in 

 drills for seed, one peck of seed is sufficient ; but if 

 sown broadcast for the same purpose, nearly half a 

 bushel is necessary; and when sowai broadcast for 

 fodder, about tluee pecks should be sown. Some 

 cultivators say that a less quantity is sufficient, and 

 others more. 



Millet is often cut before ripe, and used for fodder, 

 but it will not yield so much fodder as Indian corn. 

 Millet requires land in high tilth, the same as for a 

 good crop of wheat. It is rather uncertain in this 

 climate, and though long known, and frequently 

 tried, it is but very little cultivated. On rather poor 

 land, buckwheat is a much better late crop. June is 

 a good season for sowing millet. It should be sown 

 as early as the 20th or 2.5th, and better for being 

 sown before these periods. The usual retail price of 

 millet, at the seed stores, is $2 00 per bushel. 



For the New England Farmer. 



CULTURE OF POMEGRANATES. 



Mu. Cole : The generic name, Pimica, of this tribe 

 of plants seems to have arisen from the circumstance 

 of the 1'. grcaiatum being found growing in that part 

 of Africa where ancient Carthage stood ; the ancients 

 called the fruit Malum Punicum, Carthaginian apple ; 

 and Fumum granutum, kcrnellcd apple. The specific 

 name, granatum, from gramtm, grain, on account of 

 the grains of its fruit, was borrowed from the latter. 

 The Grecians seem to have set very great store by 

 this fruit. The tree was first brought to Rome from 

 Carthage, in the days of Sylla ; and Pliny infonns 

 us, that the color to dye cloth, called Punicus, is ob- 

 tained from the flowers, and that the Romans used 

 the rind, flowers, and every part of the fruit, in medi- 

 cine. Sloane says, "The rind of the fruit, together 

 ■with the bark of the tree, is still used in some parts 

 of Germany, in the dj-eing and preparation of red 

 leather." The rind also produces as good ink as that 

 made from galls. In its Avild state it grows to a bush 

 from sixteen to eighteen feet high, and bears profuse 

 crops of fruit, something after the manner of haw- 

 thorn. 



"NVinc made from this fruit was strongly recom- 

 mended by Lord Bacon, Dr. Buchan, and others, for 

 complaint of the liver, or, if the wine could not be 

 had, newly expressed juice might be used in the 

 morning, with a little sugar and a small piece of 

 green citron peel. ITie Persians make a very favorite 

 drink of the rind, with the addition of cinnamon. 

 The P. nana is used as hedges in Jamaica and the 

 Island of Cuba ; its leaves are diminutive, and its red 

 flowers, altliough not large, are pretty conspicuous : 

 the fruit in such situations is highly ornamftital, and 

 of the most excellent sweet flavor. 



Propagation and Culture. — The usual mode of prop- 

 agation Ls by layers. Lay down the branches of the 

 prc\-ious year's growth in May, merely pegging them, 

 without making any iiicision, and by the autumn 

 they wiU have made good roots, and may be taken 



off" any time before the buds break, and planted 

 either in larger sized pots, in a mixture of good rich 

 loam and a small portion of sandy peat, or against 

 a warm wall. ITiey will also strike freely by well- 

 ripcncd cuttings, taken off in the autumn, and 

 planted in pots filled with equal quantities of light 

 sandy loam and peat, covered over with a hand or 

 bell glass, and set in a shady part of the greenhouse 

 or stove, keeping them perfectly free from mould, or 

 even dampness, until the following February, when 

 they should be plunged in a bark or hot bed, where 

 they will speedily strike roots ; they should then bo 

 potted off" separately, and again plunged in a brisk 

 heat until tliey have established themselves ; they 

 may then be gradually hardened, until they will bear 

 the temperature of the greenhouse, carefully repot- 

 ting when required. The second year alter they are 

 struck, they may be turned out, under a south wall, 

 in front of a stove or greenhouse. "Where they are 

 intended to be planted, take out the soil to about the 

 depth of twelve inches, and lay at the bottom about 

 four inches thick of broken stones, or other hard rub- 

 bish, to prevent the root from striking deep, and in- 

 duce them to run near the surface ; for if once they 

 get deep, however suitable the soil may be for their 

 growth, they will flower but very partially. Fill up 

 the trench with a good strong, rich loam, mixed with 

 a small portion of sand, if it is inclined to bind. 



Pruning. — Proper pruning will greatly assist their 

 flowering. All the flowers are produced at the ex- 

 tremities of the young branches formed the same 

 year ; care should therefore be taken to bring only 

 the strongest buds into action, instead of filling the 

 tree very full of Avcak shoots ; to accomplish this, 

 cut out all the weak branches of the former j'car, and 

 shorten the others according to their strength ; by 

 these means, a quantity of flowering wood may be 

 obtained throughout the whole tree. 



Grafting. — The yellow, white, and double scailct 

 varieties are often grafted on stocks of the common 

 one ; the operation is performed in February or 

 March, after the same manner of the apple, &c. To 

 bring the fruit to perfection, it is indispensable that 

 the tree be trained against a flued wall, where it will 

 have a higher tempei^ature to swell up and ripen. 

 BERNARD REYNOSO. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 BLOSSOMING OF APPLE-TREES. 



Mr. Editor : By the remarkable cold and cloudy 

 weather during the month of May, just past, and 

 the heavy rains, and north-east and easterly winds, 

 the blossoming of apple, as well as other fruit trees, 

 has been delayed to a later season this year than 

 usual. You published my account of the time of 

 blossoming of apple-trees, in the Farmer, in the 

 number for June 23, 1819, p. 213. In that account, 

 containing a tabic of their blossoming in Mansfield 

 for fifty-two years, but one year they were delayed 

 as late as June, and that was in the year 1812, when 

 the blossoms were not out full till the 2d of June. 

 The next latest was May 31, 1832. The earliest in 

 said table was in May 8, 1830 ; — difference of the 

 two extremes, twenty-four days — mean of which is 

 May 21, which is exactly the mean of the said 

 fifty-two years. 



This year I consider apple-trees were not out in 

 full blossom till June 3, one day later than known 

 for the past fifty- three years. I noticed that many 

 apple-trees of late varieties, the Russet, &c.. for in- 

 stance, were not fidly out even on that day. And 

 also, some trees, in cool and wet locations, were uot 

 fully expanded. My rule in determining the time W 



