Vol. XI.— No. 7. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



53 



nr tax should be levied upon such crops as do 

 jnove injurious to others, the reasonable part will 

 Cither pay it cheerfully or discontinue the culture. 

 Now Canada thistles when allo\yed to ripen, in- 

 jure our neighbors. If bis fields are clear of them 

 this year, wc send him seed enough to excite his 

 vigilance and industry next season. If our as- 

 sessors were authorized to examine all our fields, 



and if the supervisors were directed to add to 



our tax list five or ten dollars an acre for this 

 rrop, we should soon grow tired of it ; and in- 

 stead of the present 1-stlessness which prevails on 

 this subject, the most eager inquiries would be 

 made by our farmers, how they could best dispose 

 of the concern. 



For such as are willing to begin before the 

 Legislature shall interfere, I offer a few remarks : 

 first expressing my satisfaction with Dan Brad- 

 let and others for the interest that they have 

 shown in this matter by communications to the 

 Genesee Farmer. 



The Canada thistle extends itself by horizontal 

 roots which lie a few inches below the surface ; 

 and from these the stalks rise at different distan- 

 ces. If the stalks are mowed off an inch or two 

 above the ground, lateral shoots are produced 

 without any great effort in the plant; and though 

 it will be prevented from seeding, its vigor is but 

 slightly impaired. When the stalks are pulled 

 lip, however, the separation commonly takes place 

 at ih" horizontal root ; and to produce a new 

 «talk much more preternatural energy is required. 

 Hence ploughing is more destructive to them than 

 hoeing, even if the horizontal roots should not be 

 disturbed; and the boe is more effectual than the 

 scythe. 



It was in the year 1810, that I first saw this 

 thistle fearlessly attacked by a farmer of this town 

 with the plough. He manured and planted the 

 patch with potatoes, hoeing occasionally. Nearly 

 all the work was done before harvest, — for the 

 thistles were so checked that very few ware visi- 

 ble towards the close of the season. 



In 182.5, I laid out my garden on ground par- 

 ticularly infested with Canada thistles. Both the 

 plough and the hoe were employed ; the new 

 shoots, especially after mid-summer, were drawn 

 up as soon as they were found ; and I shall be 

 safe in saying that not a dozen stalks appeared the 

 next season. 



For small patches, or even for large ones where 

 only a few stalks remain, I would recommend the 

 application of salt or brine. This summer, amongst 

 the roots of my grape vines, a plant of this thistle 

 appeared with a few stalks. More than a month 

 ago, I cut them below the surface of the ground 

 with the corner of a hoe, making an excavation, in- 

 to which I poured a gill or two of old brine. No 

 shoot from this plant has been seen since. I also 

 treated many stalks of a larger patch in the same 

 manner, and with the same success. Brine in 

 pro[)er quantity certainly kills the root to some 

 distance, probably a foot or more each way ; and 

 if farmers will watch the first appearance of these 

 weeds in their fields and meadows, and attack them 

 in this manner before the plants extend them- 

 selves much through the ground, a great saving 

 of labor may be made. 



But for large patches, where the stalks are very 

 numerous, and especially where whole fields are 

 more or less infested, I would strongly recommend 

 thorough and frequent ploughings. The farmer 

 who undertakes this business, however, must do 



it faithfully, or he had better never touch them, 

 in this manner. He ought to make up his mind 

 fully to plough them as oftenas they appear above 

 ground, throughout the whole season, whether 

 that be once a month or once a fortnight ; and al- 

 so to make a free use of the hoe, if stumps or 

 rocks occur in the field. 



Many farmers have fallen into a great error 

 which ought to be pointed out and exposed : Af- 

 ter this weed has been checked by the culture of 

 corn or potatoes for one season, they frequently 

 sow oats or barley in the following spring, and 

 the enemy is allowed time to recover its vigor. 

 No crop should be thought of which would ex-' 

 elude the plough or the hoe for even part of a 

 surumer, until the thistles be completely exter- 

 minated ; and if the business is well and thor- 

 oughly conducted, there will not be one root alive 

 at the close of the second season. D. T. 



Greatfield, Cayuga Co., 7 mo. 25, 1832. 



From the Memoirs of the New York BoatJ of Agriculluro. 



THE ADVANTAGES OP FALLOW CROPS 

 OVER SUMMER-FALLOWS. 



To Jejsk Bhei,, Est. 



Dear Sir — In answer to your circular, I would 

 observe, that I should not have presumed to fur- 

 nish matter for a volume of the Memoirs of the 

 Board, had it not been asserted, that " any facts, 

 however simple, would j be considered valua- 

 ble." 



I have carefully watched the progress of im- 

 provement in agriculture, in order to derive benefit 

 from any system of cultivation, new and useful, 

 which might be proposed. Although many im- 

 provements in the business of husbandry have 

 been suggested, which would no doubt be of ad- 

 vantage to the farming interest, were they reduced 

 to practice, yet I shall speak of but one, which I 

 consider the most prominent, and that deserving 

 the greatest attention; and which, if generally in- 

 troduced, would save to the farmers of this st.ate, 

 annually, many millions. I mean the introduc- 

 tion of fallow-crops, and the abandonment of sum- 

 mer-fallows altogether, on green sward. . The ex- 

 perience I have had in the system, confirms my 

 belief, that all spring crops, such as oats, peas, 

 barley, and potatoes, may be raised on green 

 sward, well ploughed, either in the fall or spiing, 

 and rolled with a heavy roller, with less expense 

 in labor, and double the net profits, than on stub- 

 ble land ; that the expense of tending a corn crop,' 

 on ground of this description, and thus managed, 

 v,rould be less than the expense of summer fallow- 

 ing, and that good or poor land would not be ex- 

 hausted as nmch in growing most of the above 

 crops, with the sod under, unmolested and unex- 

 posed, while rotting, as it would be in receiving 

 two or three ploughings, while in a partial state 

 of decomposition, in the heat of summer, exposed 

 to the influence of the sun, rains and winds. — 

 The first experiment I made of this kind, was a 

 crop of corn, on a stiff sward of spear grass, 

 ploughed in the fall, and well harrowed in the 

 spring, without rolling. My crop was 72 bushels 

 to the acre, worth 50 cts. per bushel. Nett profits, 

 $23,.30 per acre. The ground was well ])loughrd 

 once the next spring, and sowed to peas : crop, 32 

 bushels per acre, worth $1,00 per bushel — nett 

 profits, $25,10. The peas were harvested early 

 in September, and the ground well ploughed once, 

 and sowed to wheat : crop, 31 bushels to the acre 

 — nett profits, $22,90 to the acre. Nett profits in 



three years, $71,30. I have this year raised corn 

 on land adjoining, and of a similar soil and sod, 

 (the soil is what farmers call a sandy loam,) man- 

 aged in the same way, save only the crop was but 

 once hoed : (wet weather jireventf d :) cinp, 106 

 bushels to the acre. No manure was used ; and 

 not so much labor in tending, as stubble land 

 would have required. In the same field, I sowed 

 CO roods of ground to flax, aud harrowed it well on 

 on the soil. The crop grew well, and was the best 

 I ever raised on any ground. It fell down, and I 

 pulled it while in blossom ; after which I ploughed 

 the ground once, and sowed turnips. The tur- 

 nips are very fine, and promise a good crop. 



JAMES SPERRY. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



WATER-MELONS. 



Mr Goodsell — I have suffered this year, from 

 the loss of many water-melon vines, by blight, or 

 some other disease. The seed was believed to 

 be good — one year old — had been carried in my 

 pocket, to season, several weeks before planting, 

 agreeably to a suggestion in your paper — they 

 came tip well — the vines were plentifully water- 

 ed with tepid soap suds, when the hugs first ap- 

 peared upon them, and through the drought; and 

 they continued to grow thrifty till the lute rains, 

 when they had commenced bearing, and prom- 

 ised an abundant crop. The blight first appeared 

 upon a single vine, and soon spread rapidly 

 through the whole hill, leaving melons half grown, 

 to perish for want of nourishment. It has reach- 

 ed other hills, and continues to spread, and I ara 

 threatened with the total loss of a crop which has 

 cost me much pains, and of which I am extremely 

 fond. Is there any remedy for me ? 



A New Gardener. 



N. B. — The soil is a mixture of black loam, 

 barn manure, and gravel, upon a gravel bottom. 

 The hills are about three and a half feet asunder, 

 with from four to ten plants in each, which have 

 grown so luxuriantly as to form one complet* 

 mass of vines. The blight commenced at one ex- 

 treme corner of the patch. 



Palm^jra, August 3, 1832. 



JVote. — It frequently happens after long or heavy 

 rains, that water-melon and cucumber vines droop 

 and die. During the rain, when the ground ii 

 filled with water, the young roots become water 

 soaked, to ihat degree, that many of them never 

 recover. 



Cabbage roots, are often aflectcd in the same 

 way ; and plants may be seen withering after 

 long rains, liefore the roots hav^e had time to re- 

 cover, afier being soaked. 



Another cause of the failure of water-melon 

 and cucumber vines, at this season, is a largs 

 brown bug, which feeds upon them, aud is par- 

 ticularly luu'lful to vines which it infests. To pre- 

 vent the former, raise the hills high ; but for ths 

 latter, we know of no remedy, but to destroy the 

 bug3._£fl'. of G. F. 



Black Cherry — (piinvs ccrasus.) — The gum 

 which exudes from this tree is extremely nu- 

 tritious; indeed it is equal in ever}' respect lo 

 gum arable. Hasselquist relates that a hundred 

 men, during a siege, were kept alive nearly two 

 mouths, without any other subsistence than a 

 little of this gum taken occasionally into the 

 mouth, and suffered gradually to dissolve. — 

 Parkes. 



