20 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



An^gt 1, IR32. 



O N W E fi D I N G L A N D . 



Thistles have been menlioiu-d as infesting ara- 

 ble lands. Tliey are generally weeded out of the 

 corn, but are too frequently left in fidl possession 

 of the grass land, by which much damage is in- 

 c'.irred ; yet these weeds are most successfully erad- 

 icated when the land is pastured, as they then 

 stand detached, and can easily lie destruyed. The 

 thistle ought to he torn from the main root every 

 year, when the plant is in its greatest vigor; the 

 mot itself is thus injured, gradually decays, and 

 ihe plant is ultimately got rid of. They have 

 been destroyed in a cow-pasture, by mowing the 

 ground for hay three years in succession, a full 

 proof of the advantages of regularly culling this 

 plant for a succession of years. They ought to 

 be let alone till their blossoms begin to appear, 

 for if cut while much younger, they produce fresh 

 shoots from the sides of each plant. It has been 

 said, that when they are mown in full bloon), the 

 stem is hollow, by which the dew and rain de- 

 scend into the heart of the plant, and occasion it 

 to rot ; yet so many of the blossoms in that state 

 are capable of ripening their seed, that the safer 

 way is, for the mowing to take place on the earli- 

 est appearance of the blossoms. 



Weeds in Hedges. — Both young and old hedges 

 suffer greatly from the weeds with whicli they are 

 infested, and which prevent their being able to 

 answer, in a satisfactory manner, the purpose for 

 which they were intended, that of dividing and 

 fencing the land. Indeed young quicks will nev- 

 er thrive, unless they are kept clean. Every kind 

 of weed growing in hedges, is a nuisance, more 

 especially, if it be suffered to ripen its seerls, which 

 are liable to be carried into cultivated lands by the 

 wind, or conveyed by water to flooded or irriga- 

 ted meadows. There are also some kinds of hedge 

 weeds, which bear the character of being hurtful 

 . to stock. On these accounts, all plants growing 

 in hedges should be extirpated, as in general use- 

 less, and often injurious to the fields in their 

 neighborhood, or the domesticated animals who 

 pasture in them. 



M'eeds in Waste Lands. — While lands of this 

 description continue uncultivated, it is highly ex- 

 pedient, that, at the joint expense of the parties 

 interested, (if they be held in common,) measures 

 should be taken, for destroyinj weeds, and thus 

 introducing better herbage. Furze and hrooMi 

 . might thus be extirpated, and the land sown with 

 hay seeds in moist weather. Fern should be mown 

 and carried off" in the summer, the value of it, as 

 litter, being well worth the labor. Lands in com- 

 mon, would thus be rendered capable of main- 

 taining a greater number of stock. 



Means of Preventing the Increase of Weeds.— 

 This is a point which requires a number of 

 precautions on the part of the farmer. 1. There 

 is a risk of carrying a i:uisance to his fields, if he 

 . use unfermented dung, and where that system is 

 adopted, drilling and careful hoeing are necessa- 

 ' ry. 2. Great care should be taken, when corn is 

 dressed, that none of the oflTal, which contains the 

 seeds of weeds, should be thrown upon the dung- 

 hill; and if any weeds grow upon the dunghill, 

 or compost heap, they should be cut before seed- 

 ing, a. Seed corn should be thoroughly cleaned 

 of all other substances, before it is deposited in 

 ihe ground; and, 4. Great care should bo taken, 

 to purchase the best seeds of artificial grasses, 

 particularly when rye-grass is used. Many fields. 



after being completely fallowed, and sown with 

 grass-seeds wilh the fallow crop, have been found 

 when re-ploughed, to be stored v\itli weeds of va- 

 rious sorts, most proliably from some unlbrtimate 

 mixtme in the grass-seeds. The seeds of docks 

 are oflcn sown with clover, and those of other 

 pernicious plants with rye-gra.'*s. The seeds of 

 weeds are sometimes brought from the uplands in- 

 floods, floating on the water, and are left in multi- 

 tudes by the eddies in particidar places. — Code of 

 JlgricuUurc. 



EMPTY PONDS. 



This is a proper season foremplyiiig ponds,and 

 cleansing rivers; for, being early in the summer, 

 you will afterwards have an opportunity of turn- 

 ing the mud over, and thereby sweetening it, and 

 laying it into the proper state for bringing on the 

 land. This is a juirt of husbandry too nuich neg- 

 lected by many farmers ; but advantage should 

 always be taken of it by a good husbandman, 

 when lie is luckv enough to succeed a great slov- 

 en ; for then he will probably find all the ponds, j 'ii'g "" exhausted and empty stomac 



flannel next to the skin, more especially round the 

 bowel.s, and to protect ieet and legs by woollen 

 stockings. To avoiil e.vcessive fatigue, profuse 

 perspiration, and exposure to cold and wet, par- 

 ticularly at night, and !-> change damp clothing 

 without delay. 



Bid. — To let the diet consist of plain nieata, 

 bread, an<l well boiled vegetables, rejecting as in- 

 jurious all iruligeslible kinds of food, such as sal- 

 ads, raw fruits, nuts, rich pastry, and, in general, 

 such articles as each individu.d may have found 

 by experience to create acidity, flalideiice and in- 

 digestion. 



Beverage. — To abstain from ardetit spirils, acid 

 driidis, and stale soups or broths, and to be sparing 

 in the use of sugar, esiiccialiy if it give rise to a 

 sour fermentation in the stomach. 



Exercise, S)-c. — To maintain regular habits, using 

 moilcrate exercise, keeping early hours, and tak- 

 ing nourishment at limited intervals, so that fa- 

 tigue or exposure may never be encountered dn- 



Finally, 



&c full of rich mud. ' ' '" presene a cheerfulness of disposition, a free- 



It is improbable that pond mud, especially if fiom from .ibject fears, and a full reliance that 



there is a stream into the water, sbotdd ever fail 

 of proving a good manure, when judiciously used. 

 The method of managing it, which has been found 

 the most beneficial, is the following : 



As soon as the mud is dry, and hard enough to 

 spit, turn it over, and three months after, mix it 

 with a quantity of chalk ; if lime is cheap and 

 plentiful, it will be an excellent managemcul to 

 add about one tenth the quantity of mud in lime. 

 Let the whole be mixed well together, and in Sep- 

 tember turned over again, and spread upon pas- 

 ture or meadow land in October. — Young's Far- 

 mer's Calendar. 



PRECAUTIONS AGAINST THE 

 C HOLERA. 



The following rules on this subject have been 

 drawn up by the London Board of Health, ami 

 liberally distributed throughout the metropolis : 



House. — To guard against acciiniulalions of rc- 

 ftise matter in drains, cess-pools, dust-bins, and 

 dirt heaps, and to purify such receptacles by a so- 

 lution of chloride of lime, to be procured on ap- 



uli measures will be taken by the government, 

 and the local authorities, as are best calculated, 

 with Divine assistance, to meet the exigencies of 

 the occasion. 



Extract from a rommunication of Doctor Pascalis to 

 Ihe Kom\ of Health : 



There a])pears at tliis moment to be three sortj 

 of cholera morbus in the city of New York. The 

 worst of them simulates the Asiatic or sjiasmod- 

 ic cholera, but it falls exclusively upon the moat 

 im[)aircd or diseased constitutions, badly fed or 

 debilitated by labor and intemperance. These are, 

 perhaps, without exception the most rai)id!y mor- 

 tnl cases. This class of cholera. rrtbrbus embraces 

 .•ilso a certain muuber of pers6iis of the better 

 sort, who have adopted an imwltoltsome mode of 

 living, or who arc in the habit of daily taking 

 giTHt quantities of liquor, withouf ever being in- 

 toxicaied ; or who, being annoyed hy a chronic 

 compl.iiiif, subject themselves incessantly to med- 

 ical (lotalions, or to quack remedies. These, also, 

 have t( rminated their careers by idiolera asphyxia, 

 or by fits of epilejisy or apoplexy. I have heard 

 plication at the medical stations of each ward. To of one, who after great fatigue from hunting sport, 

 maintain in a cleanly and wholesome condition all j sujqied upon lobster and milk, 

 reservoirs, cisterns, and sinks, and to allow inipu- A second sort of cholera is that which is ag- 

 lities, where practicable, to be carried away wiih | gravatcd by local causes, such as filih of the 

 running water. To keep inhabited upartinenis [ >;treet3 and liouses ; miasmatic effluvia from sew- 

 clean, by frequently washing and very carefully (.rj^ docks and wharves, in the vicinity of the con- 

 drying the floors; and to ventilate them thorough- 1 taniinated atmosphere elicited hy the breath, and 

 ly, as well by fires, as a free access of fresh air. [transpiration of a mulliiutde rf persons living to- 

 To have the window.s, especially of bedrooms, pui [<;e|her. These cases are ixcmplified at IJellevue 

 in good repair, so that the occupants may not be j where the cholera has aheaily swejit off' so many 

 exposed, during sleep, to currents of night air. To l,,f ibe inmates, 

 change bed linen and ftirniture freqiienily, and to 

 clear out those spaces in inhabited rooms wliieli 

 are concealed by beds and other furniture, and 

 which are so often made the de])Ositorics of filth 

 and rubbish. Where persons live in crowded 

 apartments, which should be avoided, as far as 

 may be practicable, additional vigilance should be 

 used to preserve a free ventilation ; and where of- 

 fensive exhalations arise, they should be destroyed 

 by the solution of chloride of lime. 



Persons. — To maintain personal cleanliness by 

 frequent washing and change of clothing, and, if 

 available, by occasional warm bathing. To guard 

 against sudden changes of temperature by wearing 



The third species of chclera is that which we 

 iVequently meet with every summer, espr ci.illy in 

 the season of fruit. All i)ersoiis from infancy to 

 old age are subject to it. T-h.is, Jiowever, easily 

 yields to ordinary regular mcdfrol' practice. 



A writer in Loudon's Gardener's Magazine 

 statis that the roots of couch grass are regularly 

 washed and sent to market, at Naples, as fond for 

 borse.s. The writer had some of these roots sent 

 from Na|)les, w bich jiroved to contain more nntri- 

 live n;!iiter than the roots of F.iiglioh grovvfh. — 

 Dogs eat the leaves of this species of gr.'iss to ex- 

 cite voiuiting. 



