NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY GEO. C. BARRETT, NO. 5:, NORTH MARKET STREET, (at thk Aorichltural Warehouse )-T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EV:^NING, DECEMBER 19, 1832. 



NO. 23. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 AGRICUIiTCRAI, ESSAYS, NO. TX. 



CL0TI11.\G AND DIET. 



The earth is the jwirent of us all : her breasts 

 «re inexhaustible : the Farmer is her fir.st born : 

 and yet, how often docs he forfeit her blessing ! 

 ■Every man who tills the ground, and who endeav- 

 ors not to live, as niiich as possible, upon the 

 productions of his own labor, is guilty of this 

 extravagance. The Merchant may indulge in 

 foreign luxuries, may eat, drink and wear, such 

 articles as are not the growth anil manufacture of 

 his own country, as he imports thein, and as they 

 come cheaper to him, than to those who buy of 

 him, and consume the greater part of them. And 

 the Mechanic, from his profession, is ohligedito 

 live upon the productions of other men's labors; 

 but the Farmer is the most indej)endeut man in 

 ■world, as he may raise every article fCr his own 

 consumption — bread, milk, pork, beef, Initter and 

 cheese, potatoes, wool, flax, cider, beer, — and 

 wliat other good things can he then stand in need 

 of? You will say, prehaps, a little coftee, a little 

 tea, sugar, rum, &c. I acknowledge, thai those 

 little things, all but the last mentioned, may now 

 and then be indulged in ; provided the Farmer, 

 and liis family, will be contented to perform a 

 considerable portion of extraordinary laboi, and 

 to use these things more economically, or spannc- 

 ly, through the year. For rmn, freely used, Nvill 

 soon reduce, and render poor, the most wealthy 

 Farmer. If he should expend but one gallon per 

 week, from the spring to the last of autumn, seven 

 mouths only — it will form a direct tax, of 14 or 

 15 dollars ; and which is more, perhaps, than 

 all his state, country, town and parish taxes put 

 together. I have said a direct tax ; and it often 

 proves as heavy an evil indirecUi/ ! that is to say, it 

 takes time to run to the shops fur it ; it takes time 

 to sit and chat over it ; and it takes time to recover 

 from the baneful effects of it. For it gradually im- 

 pairs the strength, as it weakens the powers of 

 the stomach, and eventually brings on prenature 

 old age, to say nothing of the manifold contentious 

 and quarrels excited by the use of it. I an now 

 speaking of this article used to excess, as it is but 

 too commonly. In hot and sultry weatlicr, a 

 moderate portion of it, well diluted, six p;irts, at 

 least, out of seven, with water, when the laborer is 

 greatly fatigued, exceedingthirsty, and compelled to 

 drink immoderately, may not be prejudicia' ; but 

 even then, good cider and malt liquors, are mil -h bet- 

 ter and more salutary, both for the body and p irse of 

 the Farmer. Our fathers tilled the ground without it, 

 were strong and vigorous, left then- farms uumort- 

 gaged, and died in a good old age. I wish I could 

 say that their descendants had not acquired very 

 diffeient habits, not a little imhappy for themselves 

 and for their children. When men of sixty, or 

 seventy years of age, recollect the days of their 

 youth, they camiot but remember how easy and 

 independent their fathers past their days. When 

 the Collector or Tax-gatherer came, and whiih 

 was seldom oftener than once in a year, to receive 

 their several assessments, he commonly found 

 them laid up and ready for him. It was ahnost 



scandalous in those who obliged him to call a second 

 time for his due ; and as to those persons who 

 were com])elled by a course of law to pay their just 

 debts, they ftll into open and great disgrace there- 

 by. And to what was this owing — to what causes, 

 under God, were they indebted for their freedom, 

 case and independence, but their industry, and 

 care against contracting debts for luxuries, and 

 for things not necessary ; and to their making it an 

 irrevocable rule, not to eat, drink, nor wear scarce- 

 ly any thing which was not raised on their farms, 

 and which was not the fruit of their own labors. 

 In those days, when' the rites of hospitality were 

 peculiarly attended to, rum, tea, &c. were hardly 

 known : and the daughters of the most wealthy 

 and independent farmers, the mothers of many of 

 the more respectable persons now living in these 

 States, seldom appeared in silks. And it would be 

 highly advantageous to Farmers in these days, if 

 they would endeavor to raise more on their lands 

 for their own consumption, and to buy less of un- 

 necessary articles imported from abroad. That 

 Farmer who has not money at interest, and who 

 can only ifiake both ends of the year meet by his 

 own labors, before he purchases any superfluous 

 irticle for his fiuiiily, should look into his cellar, 

 corn-b.irn, &c. and consider whether he has any, 

 and how much gram, butter, cheese, &c. to spare 

 over and above that portion which must be dis- 

 posed of, to pay his laborers, taxes, and a number 

 of incidental demands. Let him reflect upon the 

 toil and labor those articles have cost him, which 

 he will acknowledge to be very considerable, and 

 more than enough to convince him of their value 

 and importance. Let the extraordinary industry 

 of the Farmer's daughters, with the profit of a 

 good yard of poultry, bear some kind of proportion 

 to the luxuries he purchases ; and then he will not 

 fcei tliose expenses so heavily, and his affairs will 

 cojtinue to wear a good aspect. 



able, for I have not had a swarm mjured in the 

 least by moths since I adopted it. I suspect that 

 a hive alluded to by Mr. Andrews, was one in 

 which the egg of the moth had been deposited 

 previous to its being elevated. It is to be hoped 

 that others who have paid attention to bees will 

 give the resuhs of their different experiments, 

 whether successful or unsuccessful, that the most 

 profitable method may be adopted. W. 



Sweden, JVou. 1832. 



Note. I am tiying some experiments with 

 wheat, as regards the quantity to be sown, varyin" 

 from one to two and a half bushels per acre, intend- 

 ing to give the results to the public through the 

 medium of your paper in due tune. W. 



From the Genesee Farmei 

 BEES. 



IHr. Editor, — I noticed in the 41st No. of the 

 second volume of the Genesee Farmer, a commu 

 nioation respecting the bee moth, which I think 

 incorrect. As the raising of bees is of much im 

 portance, I think that any information resulting 

 from experience will be acceptable to your read- 

 ers, and therefore I will give my method of treat- 

 ment. 



Until experience had taught me better, I allow- 

 edmy hives to be placed upon a board, as was the 

 practice with my neighbors. By thi» treatment I 

 lost several swanns, and others received much in- 

 jury ; for, unless the hive is nicely fitted to the 

 board, the moth will deposit her eggs under the 

 edge of the hive, and when they hatch, the worms 

 are so very small that they wUl crawl into the 

 hive during the night tune, imperceivcd Ijy the 

 bees ; and after they have located themselves, and 

 spim a few webs over tlieir habitation, they are 

 seldom di-iven from it by the original proprietors. 



For five or six years past, my practice has been 

 to support my hives upon small blocks or nails 

 driven into the bottom of the hive, which shall pre- 

 vent its coming within half an inch of the bottom 

 board. The result of this practice has been favor- 



From Transactions of Horticultural Societij in Durham, {ye. 



OK THE MANAGEMENT OF PEAR AND APPLE 



TREES, AND KEEPING FRUIT IN WINTER. 



L\ winter pruning I cut all the long weak spurs, 

 leaving the strong fiiithful buds in a regular man- 

 ner. When my trees are in flower in the spring, 

 and a frosty night happens, I wash the blow next 

 morning, before eun-rise, with cold water, throw- 

 ing the water gently on the flower with the squirt, 

 which washes tlie frost rind off, and keeps the 

 flower from being damajj^^^iaianBr * 



When the fruit gets the size of a pigeon's egg, 

 I thin them to tivo on each spur ; by doing so I 

 seldom have any that drop off, and those left on 

 get larger. _ Tiie superabundant wood that the 

 trees malie'in summer, I shorten back to three 

 eyes in the end of June, by which means the sap 

 flows to the fruit and spurs for the next season • 

 when these three eyes have grown a few joints I 

 stop them again, and when done growin" I cut 

 them close out, that the spurs for next season may 

 get the free sim and air. I see some who let this 

 superabuniiant wood grow on their trees until Au- 

 gust, and the sap of the tree flowing to these use- 

 less shoots, causes the fruit to be small, and weak- 

 ens the buds for next season. 



When I observe the fruit on the trees to change 

 from the dark green to a clear blush, I take them 

 carefully from the tree, and lay a bass mat on the 

 ground, and spread the fruit thereon. I let them 

 remain in the sun about three days, which takes 

 that moisture out of them that causes them to 

 sweat, and they will keej) longer when treated in 

 this manner than when taken from the tree and 

 immediitely stored. When stored I find straw the 

 best thing to lay them in. Wji. Grav. 



From the A'eir- York Farmer. 

 KBAREVG OP POULTRY IN BIEXICO. 



" September, 1832. 



Sir, — I cannot embark for Campeachy without 

 relieving myself by telling you not a cock and bull, 

 but a cock and chicken story, which may be of 

 service to those farmers who supply our markets 

 with poultn|-. 



The fondness of Spaniards for eggs and chick- 

 ens ap])cars to be inherited to the full extent by 

 their American descendants, as at every Indian 

 hut which I have stopped at in Mexico, I could 

 get one or the other in default of every thing else 

 in the eating line. It is true they are not very 

 scrupulous about the number of feathers which 



