PUBLISHED UY J. B. RUSSELL, NO. a'2, NORTH MAKKET STREET, (at thk AGmtui.Ti.ti.u. WMi, n,>usi;.) — T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOL. XI. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 26, 1832. 



NO. 11. 



€ o Bill 111 u IB i c a t i o n !!i 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 







WILD OR CANADIAN RfCE. 



(ZIZANIA AQUATICA.) 



This interest! 11 !j plant is .i 'native of Nortli 

 America, but li.is lieeii inti-OfJuced iiilo Eiiro|ic by 

 Sir Josepli Piiaiks ;uir1 otheis, and is now ciiltivji- 

 ted considi-nilily in Middlesex and Rossliire. It 

 grows on the tnaririns of ]iniKis and brooki=, uiid in 

 the muddy liottoni.s of ponds iind rivers when; the 

 water is shallow and does not run rapiji, and i.s" 

 extremely prolific of bland farinaceous, sqcSt^, 

 which afiord a very good meal. It is a incst ini- 

 jiortani grain lo the Indians near Lake Superior, 

 and the norlliwestern pa-t of America. Pinhcr- 

 ton says it sc-nis intended by nature to be the 

 bread corn of tiic iiorili. Horses are very fond 

 of it, and innnmer.able flocks of wild geese, rice 

 birds and wild ducks annually fatten upon it. 

 Gilleland says, " Among the vegetable productions 

 of the Western Territory, north of Illinois, and 

 west of Green Bay, on tlie Oiii*onsin and Fox 

 rivers, the Wild Rice, called Folle avoine by the 

 French, and .'iciioinen by the Indians, claims jiar- 

 ticular attention. It grows in inexhaustible abund- 

 ance, through .all parts of the territory, in almost 

 every one of the innumerable lakes, ponds, bays, 

 rivers and creeks. It is said to .be as [lalatablo 

 and as nourishing as common rice, and if so, it 

 v.'ill lie incomparably more vaUialde. It grows 

 where the water is from four to six feet deep, 

 and where tin' bottoni i.^ not hard or sandy. It 

 ris(;s above tlie surface of the water from lour to 

 eight feet, and is often so thick as to prevent ca- 

 noes from passing through among it. The stalk 

 is soft like the bulrush, but grows in joints like 

 tke reed cane, which it niucii resembles. It is 

 usual for the Indians to force their canoes through 

 it (just before it ripens) and lie it in large bunches 

 for the purpose of preveniing the wild ducks and 

 geese from breaking it down and destroying it. 

 When it is fully ri|>e, they pass through it again, 

 and spreading their blankets in the inside of their 

 canoes, tliey bend the bunches of the wild rice 

 over tliein, and thresh ofl" the grain with sticks; 

 an operation which requires little time, and is gen- 

 erally performed by the women. After drying it 



in the sun, they put it into skins, for future use. 

 This singular spontaneous grain gro«s riowhere 

 south of the Illinois river, nor ea.st of Sandusky 

 liay. ICverj;, autumn and spring the wild ducks 

 and gce.se resort to the wild rice lakes in flocks 

 incredibly numerous. The Meiionionics (Folles 

 Avoines or Rice caters) who live in tins part of 

 the country are distinguished for their comeli 

 ness. 



"It will probably at some day be an object of 

 cultivation in New England, since it afliirds a 

 means of rendering useful large tracts of inunda- 

 ted groimd, and stagnant water. As before ob- 

 served, horses appear to be fond of it, and no 

 plant employed as forage, offers a larger crop." 



We believe this plant is rarely met with in New 

 England. Professor Bigelow of Harvard Univer- 

 sity, says it is to be found in a biook near the 

 Punch Bowl, in Brookline, and in the brook which 

 divides Cambridge from West Cambridge. In 

 the latter place, near the house of Mr .Jonathan 

 Whittemore, the brook is filled with it for a quar- 

 ter of a mile or more, as we noticed last week. 

 Many of the plants are from 7 to lOWeet high, and 

 grow nearly as rank as Indian corn. We should 

 suppose that with a boat, a bushd of the seed 

 could be easily gathered. AVe collected a quart 

 or two of if, which we shall be hapfiy to dislribnte 

 among any of the subscribers to the New England 

 Farnicr, v^ho will apply for it. J. B. R. 



appearance r(;s('iM!i!ing lime <\r fine .'■nit which cor- 

 ; rodcs, and in a few days desircys the leaf, and it 

 ■ falls as i^er a severe frost in nuiuinn. If any of 

 ! your correspondents are acquaiiited with ibis diffi- 

 iculty, airti knuw of a remedy, I hope they will 

 ' make it knpvvn through the medium of the New 

 Eneland Fanner. 



It is true that though llic griqie vtay be i-aiscd 

 in this climate in great perfection in open ground, 

 as has been proved, yet owing to its delicate nature 

 we are liable to frequent disappointments, and I 

 have long thought of the subject fuggcsted by Mr 

 LowELi,, in regard to "cheap houses, without fire 

 heat," and hope be will favor the public with his 

 views of the best and most economical plan of 

 such buildings. Yours, &c, D. FOSDICK. 



Charlestouin, Sep!. 1832. 



FOREIGN GRAPES. 



Mr Fessenden — The present season has been 

 particul.uly unfavorable for raising the grape in 

 open ground, at least this has been my own ex- 

 perience, and, as far as I have learnt, the experi- 

 ence of others in this vicinity. The early part of 

 the season, it will be recollected, was co!d and 

 backward, and although on the first opening of the 

 buds, there was promise of a pretty abundant crop, 

 the growth was so long retarded by the cold that 

 much of the tender fruit fell to the ground, and 

 what reni'dned caine forward so much later than 

 usual, as very soon to lead many to predict that 

 little, if any, would come to maturity, and these 

 predictions I fear are about to be realized. My 

 vines at jiresent look about as flourishing as usual, 

 and if it were now the middle of August in- 

 .stead of September, I should expect some good 

 fruit, and am not yet altogether wi!hci:t hope of 

 a small crop. I have not perceived a " rotting of 

 the grape" to any great extent, as mentioned by Mr 

 LowEt.i, in No. 9. I have noticed however a 

 few berries here and there, both this season and 

 the last, that have perished, but I have not been 

 able to account for the canse. They first exhib- 

 ited a sickly appearance and then gradually turned 

 of a dark color un<ler the skin, and though thev 

 attained to their full size, remained har.l and good 

 for nothing. 



I have not been troubled iriuch with mildew 

 this season, and think I have had renewed evi- 

 dence of the good effect of sulphur and lime, 

 which I have used moderately as a preventive. 



But there is another disease wliich for several 

 years [last has attacked the leaves, and caused many 

 of them to perish — this is first discovered by yellow 

 spots upon the leaf, and on the under side a white 



SUPERIORITY OF THE MORUS 

 MULTICAULIS. 



Bin Fessende>' — -Agreeably to your solicita- 

 tion of the 12tli inst. I send you the following ac- 

 count of my silkworms. 



On the 9th of May last, the first brood were 

 hatched without the aid of artificial heat, and 

 wore fed promiscuously oiv the Morns multicanlis, 

 the Morns alba, and other kinds of mulberry. The 

 litters were changed every second day, and the 

 worms continued through their successive stages, 

 as vigorous and healthy as usual. Tiiey com- 

 menced the task of spinning about the '.^Sth of 

 June, being f9rty days from the lime of their 

 ha'china-. The cocoons which they produced 

 were aJrrtut two thirds white and tlie remainder 

 of an orange color. A suitable portiou of these 

 cocoons, were selected for seed, without paying 

 any regard to their color. 



The eggs which they produced were siilijected 

 to the iiroccss of hatching, and brought forth a 

 second crop of worms on the 3Cth of July. These 

 silk caterpillars were fed exclusively on the Mo- 

 rus inidticanlis, and were much more vigorous 

 than those of the first brood ; and what is still 

 iTiore favornble, they jiaSsed through the diflerent 

 stages of their larva existence in the short period 

 of twentysix days ; whereas, on the contrary, 

 those of the first crop were forty days, a much 

 hunger time than it usually requires, v,'hicli jiroba- 

 bly was owing to the backv.ardness of the season. 

 The cocoons which were obtained from the sec- 

 ond crop were of c much larger size than those of 

 the first crop, and what appears to be still more 

 valuable, thei/ are of the tvhilcness of snow, and 

 have a most beavtifid shining appearance. Now if 

 the superiority of the cocoons of the last crop, and 

 the short period in which they were produced, be 

 imputed to the food upon which they were fed, it 

 appears evident that this truly valuable tree pos- 

 sesses gieat advantages to the other kinds of mul- 

 berry ; for it is perfectly hardy, is always i>refer- 

 red by the worms to any other kind of tree, and 

 the leaves, from their large size, are much more 

 easily and ipiickly gathered. No insect, except 

 the silkworm, has as yet, been detected in feeding 

 upon this tree; and as it is continually jiutting 

 forth leaves, there is always suitable food for the 

 diflerent ages of the silkworms. P. 



Brooklyn, JV. I'. Sept. 19, 1832. 



