222 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



to grass last September. The wheat is in fine con- 

 dition, and the grass is also doing well. It was sown 

 0:1 sod, or mowing land. "Winter rye was sown along- 

 side, on old, rich, cultivated ground, imdcr much 

 more favorable circumstances, apparently ; the rye 

 ii almost a total failure, while the wheat is of much 

 promise. 



But when prejudice ceases to be tolerated, when 

 groundless /('(1/-S shall be overcome, when pugnacious 

 editors shall yield to facts, and allow experience the 

 hsnefil it icould impart, we trust the "Old Bay State" 

 may yet be made "to bud and blossom like the 

 rose." 



In bringing this notice thus early in the season 

 before the farmer, it is for the object of his easting 

 about the farm for a little patcli for an experiment in 

 wheat growing ; and should you prosper, ask your 

 legislature to give you a bounty of ten cents a 

 bushel, more or less ; and should you succeed, ray 

 word for it, the oxen would be yoked, the plough 

 set in motion, and it would become an onerous tax 

 to the state before five years had expired. Would 

 not its direct benefits accrue, it being a product of 

 our own soil, and from our own labor ? 



Yours respectfully, II. P. 



Bosxox, June 15, 18-50. 



xIemarks. — As this article is from one who has 

 good success in raising winter wheat in this region, 

 we hope that his recommendation will be duly con- 

 sidered by our farmers. We know of cultivators 

 who raise winter wheat with almost invariable suc- 

 cess. Why will not others, with equal advantages, 

 try and see what they can do, and not be discouraged 

 without even making the attempt ? 



We have on hand a small quantity of Koss Blue 

 Stem winter wheat, which we received of Hon. Riifus 

 M'Intire, of Parsonsfield, Me., for distribution. We 

 should be pleased to supply those who would try it. 

 Sec our first volume, pp. 11, 320, 327. — Ed. 



For the New Eni/lund Farmer. 

 OF WHAT IS INDIAN CORN COMPOSED? 



Mr. Cole : In your paper of June 3 is a commu- 

 nication from A. W. Dodge, referring me to the 

 essay of Mr. Flint, published in the Transactions of 

 the Essex Agricultural Society ; where it is stated 

 that Indian corn contains 17 per cent, of phosphate 

 of lime. I think the table in which this statement 

 is found is an analysis of the ashes of Indian corn, 

 not of corn before it is burnt ; for in the table which 

 he gives from Dr. Dana, he says that all the salts 

 amount to but 1.31 per cent. It appears to be the 

 object of Mr. Flint to show that corn abounds in fat- 

 forming principles, not in phosphates. It cannot be a 

 correct ex])lanation of his essay that Indian corn con- 

 tains 17 per cent, of phosphate of lime ; accompanied, 

 as that table is, by Dr. Dana's, in which it is stated 

 that the salts, including phosphate, suli)hate, and 

 carbonate, amount to but 1.31 per cent. Corn, when 

 compared with other grain, is found wanting in 

 phosphate ; the same analysis which finds 17 per 

 cent, in the ashes of corn, finds 40 per cent, in oats. 



In Professor Hitchcock's report on a reexamina- 

 tion of the Economical Geology of Massachusetts, 

 p. 45, it is stated, that Indian corn, by the analysis 

 of the late Professor Gorham, of Harvard College, 

 contains 1.5 per cent, of phosphate and sulphate of 

 lime. 



If chemists can find but little more than 1 per 

 cent, of phosphate of lime in corn, and if our hens 



cannot find enough in it to form the shells of their 

 eggs, is it strange that our cows, whose bones, when 

 in a healthy state, contain 50 per cent, of phosphate 

 of lime, should suffer for the want of it when they 

 are giving milk ? WM. 11. PUTNAM. 



NoKTH Danveiis, 1850. 



For the Neto Enr/land Fanner 

 TO PREVENT THE PEACH-BORER. 



Mr. Cole : I have long been much interested in 

 every thing pertaining to the culture of fruit, though 

 hitherto I have not been in a situation to accomplish 

 much at it practicallij. And among those matters of 

 interest which have attracted my attention partic- 

 ularly, the "peach-borer," its ravages, and remedy, 

 liave occupied a prominent place. I have tried, 

 during a course of years past, almost every means of 

 relief and protection that seemed to jiromise success, 

 and was within my reach ; but all to very little pur- 

 ])ose, until about a year since, inasmuch as my trees 

 would invariably fall victims to that destructive pest, 

 by the time they attained sufficient age to begin to 

 produce fruit. A little more than a year since, I 

 noticed, in some publication, a hint that crude horse 

 manure, packed around the collar of the tree, might 

 probably prove useful as a preventive. Accordingly, 

 in the spring of 1849, (having left that part of my 

 trees naked and exposed to the influence of the pre- 

 vious winter,) I applied the horse manure, closely 

 packing it around the collars of the trees, and cover- 

 ing an inch or two deep with the ashes of hard coal. 

 My trees were unmolested during the season, and 

 upon a partial examination last fall, and a more 

 thorough one this spring, they were all found in ex- 

 cellent condition, except one ; and that contained 

 but one solitary grub, which, from its size, had prob- 

 ably summered and wintered there, having escaped 

 detection at the time of originally packing the tree. 

 I have repeated the process this season, and hitherto 

 not a sign of the borer appears. From my exper- 

 iments thus far, I am inclined to think that this, if 

 faithfully applied every spring, will prove a very 

 effectual protection against this troublesome enemy. 

 Yours, with much respect, 



T. M. DWIGHT. 



Weatuersfield, Ct., June 18, 1850. 



Remarks. — As the experiments made by Rev. 

 Mr. D wight promise that he has discovered a very 

 simple and convenient remedy for a great evil, we 

 hope that many of our readers will make the 

 application at the proper season, and report the 

 result, that its efficacy may be fairly tested, and the 

 question of its utility settled. — Ed. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE CURCULIO. 



Mr. Cole : Much has been said as to the habits 

 of the ciirculio, and modes of destroying it. I have 

 tried two modes this season, viz., — First, with sul- 

 phur water ; and rather thinking it of no avail, I 

 adopted the second mode, by spreading a cloth under 

 the trees, and shaking them ; and think this the only 

 sure remedy, as I have destroyed more than one 

 hundred the past ten days ; first commenced destroy- 

 ing from fifteen to twenty per day, the last two days 

 only four or five, on plum-trees. I found two on a 

 cherry-tree. I have not tried this class of trees 

 much. 



My object in writing you now, is merely to know 



