NEW ENGI.AND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED by J. B. RUSSELL, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Auhiculturai. WARKHoust:.)-.T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOt.. XI. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 19, 1832. 



NO. lO. 



Coniinuiiication!^. 



FOB THE NEW KNGLAND FARMER. 

 BEES. 



I sent you, Mr Eilitor, iiboiit IS riiomlis ago, 

 an account of a new fashioned bee house, which 

 I had seen in Otsego county ;* and informed you 

 I had constructed one after that model, into which 

 fproposed to put the first swarm tliat came from 

 the parent hive. A yoimg swarm was put into 

 the house in July, and the same season they filled 

 the small hive with comb, but went no further. 

 This summer, contrary to my expectations, they 

 put forth two swarms, but have made very little 

 addition to their comb. The first swarm was put 

 into a close apartment, four feet square, built for 

 the purpose in my garret, early in July, a hole 

 being made through the brick wall for them to 

 pass in and out. On examining their apartment, 

 I find they have not only filled the common hive, 

 in which they were introduced, but have construct- 

 ed an equal quantity of comb upon the outside of 

 it; the whole if filled with honey, would weigh 

 70 or 80 lbs. I am induced to believe these will 

 not send out colonies while there is room to con- 

 tinue their operations at home. As their passage 

 through the wall is about 26 feet from the grouod, 

 I have strong hopes that the bee moth will not dis- 

 turb them. The principal advantage that this 

 sort of bee house promises, is the facility it affords 

 ■of taking honey when it is wanted, without des- 

 troying or injuring the bees. B. 



Albawj, Sept. 2, 1832. 



VEGETABLE MARROW. 



From the high encomiums which have been be- 

 stowed upon this vegetable by Loudon and other 

 English writers, I flattered myself that it would be 

 an acquisition to our gardens, and was impatient 

 to procure the genuine seeds. I have raised them 

 four or five years, the seeds last sown being fi'om 

 Constantinople ; have had them cooked in all the 

 prescribed forms, and am yet unable to change 

 the opinion I formed on first tasting them, that 

 they are absolutely hisipid, and inferior to the 

 mmiy varieties of the summer and winter S(]uash 

 which we have been in the habit of cultiviling. 

 Whether the climate of England will not grow 

 better varieties, or whether I yet lack knowledge 

 of preparing them for the table, I cannotsay. But 

 if any of your readers have discovered the art of 

 making them desirable, or even palatable, I beg 

 they will send you the secret for publicatioa 



While on this subject, I cannot forbear com- 

 mending to the special notice of the loversof fump- 

 kin pie, the cultivation of the Valparaiso sjuasli, 

 as far superior in richness to the common pump- 

 kin. Beheving that what is best for men is best 

 for other animals, I have introduced them f)r ex- 

 clusive field culture. The Valparaiso squash is 

 generally of an oblong sha))e, of a pea greei col- 

 or, sometimes of a lighter shade, and weighs from 

 15 to ,50 lbs. Carefully saved, and kept frou frost 

 and moisture, they will keep till March. I plant 



them with potatoes, and find they do better than 

 with corn. 13. 



* See N. E. Farmer, vol. ii. p. 253. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAKD FARMER. 



THE ROSE. 



The rose has long been admired as the queen 

 of flowers. Its delightful fragrance, and the rich- 

 ness of its colorings, have rendered it a imiversal 

 favorite. The skill of the florist has greatly mul- 

 tiplied its varieties, of which some collectors boast 

 of their hundreds. The floral amateur watches 

 their unfolding with impatience, admires their ex- 

 panding beauty, and sees them fade with regret; 

 for, with few exceptions, they bloom as it were 

 but for a day. The hardy monthly flowering are 

 of recent introduction, and are comparatively lit- 

 tle known. 



But even the rose is in danger of being sur- 

 passed in public adnjiration by an indigenous 

 plant of our new continent. The Dahlia, or Geor- 

 giana, is a native of Mexico, and although desti- 

 tute of fragrance, it surpasses the rose in the bril- 

 liancy and variety of its colors, and in the duration 

 of its bloom. In a late visit to the Albany nurse- 

 ry, I passed through an avenue of some hundreds, 

 embracing 150 varieties, displaying double flowers 

 of various forms and brilliant colors. The ane- 

 mone and globe flowering varieties are the most 

 fashionable forms, (for taste is mutable in flowers, 

 as in everything else.) They are certainly pret- 

 ty, but I cannot yet prefer them to bold and mag- 

 nificent show of the larger sorts. Many of them 

 had been in flower in June, and would continue 

 to bloom till checked by frost. The proprietors 

 presented me with their catalogue of select roses 

 and Dahlias. The former comprised IX hardy 

 kinds for sale, exclusive of many new ones which 

 they were propagating, and including several that 

 flower monthly. They are arranged by colors in- 

 to eleven classes, with characters denoting the 

 size of the flower, and habit of the plant ; and the 

 price of each attached. The list of Dahlias ex- 

 tend to 115, arranged like the roses, by their col- 

 ors into thirteen classes, with the ordinary height 

 of each, and price. To the buyer this arrange 

 nient is very convenient, as it enables him to se- 

 lect favorite colors, or an assortment of colors, 

 with a certainty which ordinary catalogues do not 

 afford. A FLORAL AMATEUR. 



destroy their vitality. In like manner, seeds of 

 maize and the yellow locust, will bear a high tem- 

 perature without injury. Peas and beans, with 

 boiling water poured on them, sprouted in a few 

 hours and did well. Our gardeners do this with 

 onion seed, 10 test its goodness. If good it soon 

 sprouts, but will not grow. 



Seeds sown in the mineral acids, diluted, did not 

 grow. But those sown in carbonate of magne.^ia, 

 and watered, germinated freely ; thus dis[)roving 

 the conclusion of Tenant, which has been adopted 

 by subsequent philosophers, that raagnesiau lime- 

 stone is injurious to vegetation. 



Other experiments went to demonstrate, that 

 the metallic poisons, destructive to animals, are no 

 less deleterious to vegetation ; that ferruginous 

 matter holds the first rank in these poisons, and 

 that these substances were absorbed by the roots 

 of the plants. 



Albany, Sept. 2, 1832. 



GERMINATION OF SEEDS. 



The memoirs of the Caledonian Horticultural 

 Society, vol. iv. contain some interesting experi- 

 ments made by John Murray, Esq. on the germi- 

 nation of seeds and subsequent vegetation. 



Mustard and cress seeds were sown upon bl.ick, 

 white, and red woollen cloths, kept constantly 

 wet. The germination on the first was tardy, 

 and the vegetation quickly ; on the others luxuri- 

 ant and beautiful. 



Like seeds were sovra in powdered alum, sul- 

 phates of iron, soda and magnesia, and muriates 

 of soda and lime. The seeds germinated only in 

 the first. 



Like seeds were partially roasted, others submit- 

 ted to the action of boiling water, all of which 

 grew ; showing that elevated temperature did not 



ON SHORTENING TAP ROOTS OF 

 TREES. 



From the Transactions of the Society for the advance- 

 ment of gardening in the Royal Prussian States, commu- 

 nicated tor the New England Farmer. 



The following principles are laid down. 



1. An injury to any one part of a plant occa- 

 sions a change in the natural development of the 

 other parts. 



2. Roots and stems are always in a certain de- 

 gree reciprocally proportioned to each other. 

 [Roots prodixe branches, and branches produce 

 roots.] 



3. The tap root does not form a part of every 

 plant ; but, where it does so, it is an essential part 

 of that plant. 



4. By shortening the tap root, one or other of 

 the following consequences will result: tender 

 plants will be more easily destroyed by severe 

 weather ; all sorts of plants by dry weather, from 

 their roots not being so deep in the soil : the wood 

 of the timber trees will be less durable, their 

 trunks shorter, and their heads broader and less 

 high ; and fruit trees will blossom earlier and 

 more abundantly, and their fruit will be larger 

 and better flavored. 



5. To transplant trees without injuring their 

 roots, is difficult in proportion to the age of the 

 tree, and the extent of the roots. 



C. All transjilanting ought to be done when the 

 trees are young, and then only can the roots be 

 cut without injury. 



7. When the tap root descends into a bad sub- 

 soil, it brings on diseases in the tree. 



FOR THE NEW EKGLAND FARMER. 



REMARKS ON PROPAGATING FROM 

 HYBRIDS. 



Mr Fesse.nden — In a late No. of the American 

 Farmer, is an editorial article relative to two va- 

 rieties of Indian corn produced from a hybrid. 

 The following passages in it will serve to explain 

 the few words subjoined by way of comment. 



"For the purpose of improving Indian corn, 

 last year he impregnated the pistils (silk) of the 

 large while Tuskarora with the pollen from the 

 tasseli of the Golden Sioux. The result w«b ' 



