PUBLISHED EY GEO. C. BARRETT, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (a t the Agricultukal Warf.i.ouse.)-T. G. FK,^J?i; ^w, EDITOR. 

 VOL. XI. 



BOSTON, WEOIVESDAY EVBNING, JANUARY 30, 1833. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



For the Neto England Farmer. 

 AGRICULTURAIi ESSAYS, NO. XV. 



Hemp i-equircs a rich and well prepared soil — 

 bears drought well — plough deep iu the fall — dung 

 as for Indian corn — sow as early as the season and 

 soil will admit — sow the last year's seed, three 

 bushels to an acre. On the last of July pull that 

 which has the flowers on it, when growing yellow 

 at the top, white at the root, and the leaves are 

 withered. Put it into a pond, four or five days 

 when it will be rotted enough ; thcu spi'ead and dry 

 it iu the sun. Seed hemp is not ripe till five or 

 six weeks after, when the seeds turn brown ; and 

 \vhich must be combed out. 



This hemp will require almost three times as 

 much watering as the first. It may be rotted and 

 <lressed like flax : when ten or twelve, feet long it 

 may be cut in the middle to make it handy for dress- 

 ing. Stalks too thick for the break, m:iy b? peeled by 

 hand. Hemp is a profitable crop ; is liiible to no 

 disease, nor will any creature crop and e&t it ; and 

 it will grow well in almost any northern (Jimate. 



Farm. One hundred acres of laud are enough 

 for one — a tenth of that tillage land — mum less 

 will do near a market town-small farms an best 

 when labor is dear — those which aflbrd a plenty 

 of good sweet grass, best for a dairy. Never \ver- 

 stock your farm — this will prove a great loss tqyou 

 better have fodder left in the spring, and lay Tver 

 for another year — and if you feed close, the \oil 

 will soon become bound. V i 



Herds-grass, as good and profitable as any. 

 Gi'ows well on any soil, except sandy and gravelly; 

 when mixed with clover, as that decreases, this 

 increases, so that the crop of grass, will hold out 

 for several years — cut it just before it goes out of 

 blossom or a little sooner. 



Horse, a good one, high neck, full breast, 

 and a lively eye — strong back, full buttocks, ribs 

 reaching near to the hips, and rather large hoofs, 

 — small horse most profitable ; but large ones best 

 for the chaise and plough — horses are great eaters, 

 require the best of hay and pasture — a small farm 

 can hardly keep one — if he labors all summer 

 should be fed with green grass mowed, and brought 

 in a basket, as he wants it — nor so nmch trouble 

 as leading him one quarter of a mile to pasture— a 

 small spot of long and thick grass will feed him, 

 for by the time the whole is mowed over, you may 

 begin again. In this manner cows are fed all sim- 

 mer in some places, where the soil is lich — it saies 

 all their dung, and they live well with very litle 

 pasture. This is called soiling of cattle — -m this 

 way, one acre will feed several cows. 



Indian Corn improves by standing in the 

 field so long as there is any moisture iu the aaik 

 or even in the cob — should be harvested by the 

 first of November. When it ripens late, and is 

 uncommonly green, cut it up close to the gro'ind 

 aiidset it up in small shooks in the field ; ami it 

 will ripen well, and take no damage. In a dry 

 season hoe your corn iu the morning and even- 

 ing. Take your seed out of the middle of your 

 fairest corn — plant no corns with black eyes 



eight or ten will do in the hole, and produce a 

 tolerable crop. 



Lambs, if they cannot come at the teat, cut 

 away the wool and tags — if the ewe will not own 

 him, shut them up together, two or three days, in 

 a close pen. They should not bq weaned till 

 seven weeks old ; and then have the best of pas- 

 ture. 



Lands worn out by tillage, maybe recruited by 

 seven ar eight years pasturing, only ploughin 

 and sowing clover, to be fed, not mowed off. Or 

 you may turn up the fresh sward, dung it and 

 plant potatoes the first year — Indian-corn, well 

 dimged the second year — lay it down to clover 

 the thiid year, for two years, plant potatoes the 

 fourth year — flax and corn the fifth year — and 

 then clover. It is not judicious to take two crops 

 of Indian-corn, following each other. 



Mares for breeding, should be strong, high 

 spirited, well shaped, and of a good color — not 

 breed before they are seven years old — go to the 

 horse iu the latter part of June. When with foal, 

 housed early in the fall ; fed well till they foal, 

 and not used for two or three months before 

 that time. They go eleven months, and as many 

 days over that time, as the mare is years old. 



Meadows must not be fed late in the fall nor 

 early in the spring. Poor water-grass should be 

 cut rather before it is grown to its full length, it 

 may be cut a second time. 



A DISCOURSE 

 Delivered before the Massachusetls Horticultural .Society, on 

 the Celebration of its fourth Anniversary, October 3, 1832. 

 By Thaddeus William Harris, M. D. 

 [Continued from page 221.] 

 The lettuce and cabbage, in common with 

 almost every plant, are subject to the attack of their 

 pecidiar aphides, or plant-lice. The fecundity of 

 these insects surpasses that of any known animal ; 

 for Reaumur has proved, that, in five generations, 

 one individual may become the progenitor of near- 

 lysix billions of descendants; and many generations 

 succeed each other in a single season. What is 

 still more singular in regard to these insects is 

 their mode of increase. The first brood is hatch- 

 ed in the spring from eggs laid in the preceding 

 autumn, but all the other broods during summer 

 are produced alive.* Aphides, in all their stages 

 are active, and live by suction. They are furnish- 

 ed with a tubular mouth or proboscis, with which 

 they pierce the leaves, buds, and annual stems of 

 plants, injuring and even poisoning them by their 

 numerous jjunctures, and exhausting them by ab- 

 stracting tlie sap for their own nourishment. Dif- 

 ferent methods of destroying plant-lice have been 

 suggested, all of which may undoubtedly be use- 

 ful. The preference, in my opinion, is to be giv- 

 en to strong soap-suds, or to a mixture of that with 

 tobacco-water, thrown warm upon the infested 

 plants, which afterwards should be thoroughly 

 drenched with pure water, if their leaves arc to be 

 used as food. It is said that hot water may be 

 employed with perfect safety and success to des- 

 troy these noxious insects, wherever lliey exist. 



DUt twentv loaH« nrHiino- f.n ,>i.,. oo»o :<• j *Forsome other particulars a paper, by tlie author, mav be 



put iweniy loaas pi dung on one acre, if spread— consulted in " The New England Farmer," Vol. VI. p. 3a3. 



An insect, called the cut-worm is the pest of 

 the cabbage yard. It is a naked caterpillar, the 

 larva of a moth or JVodua, so named from its'noc- 

 turnal habits. It passes the first two states of its 

 existence in the earth, and in the last, or moth 

 state, flies only by night. In the night, also, 

 the caterpillar issues from its retreat, and attacks 

 and eats off the young cabbage at its root. In the 

 morning the enemy may usually be discovered an 

 inch or two beneath the surface of the .soil, imme- 

 diately about the roots of the cabbage. Rolling 

 the roots and stems of the plants in ashesor ground 

 plaster before transplanting, as well as surround- 

 ing them with paper cylinders, has proved a pre- 

 servative against the cut-worm. 



Cucumbers in England enjoy ap' immunity 

 from insect assailants, but with UB .they are de- 

 prived of this privilege. Besides the minute black 

 TfaZ&o or jumping beetle, which is so injurious 

 to it immediately after the expansion of its seed- 

 leaves, the well-known cucMmier-^i/,* a little beetle, 

 striped with black and yellow, devours its loaves 

 in the spring and summer, but is particularly ob- 

 noxious in the early part of the season. The 

 metamorphoses of this insect have not yet been 

 traced, but I have reason for believing that they 

 take place in tlie earth. Various means have 

 been tried to protect the vines, and to destroy tlie 

 insects upon them. Dr. Bartonf says, that " noth- 

 ing has been found so beneficial as a mixture of 

 tobacco and red pepper sprinkled over the vines." 

 Some have advised watering them with a solution 

 of one ounce of Glauber's salts in a quart of 

 water. One writer, in " The New England Far- 

 mer," applies ground plaster ; a second, slacked 

 "me; and a third extols the use of charcoal dust. 

 Some protect their young vines with niillinet 

 stretched upon small frames ; and others stick in 

 the ground at night torches of pine knots, or 

 splinters of tar-barrels, to attract and consume the 

 insects. 



The squash, pumpkin, and mejon vines are oc- 

 casionally attacked by these insects, but not to so 

 great an extent as the cucuinber. They are, how- 

 ever, more infested by some other noxious insects. 

 Among the.se the most redoubtable is the large 

 squash-bus; already noticed. This insect conceals 

 itself on the approach of winter in any crevice 

 which will afford it shelter, and remains torpid 

 untd the ensuing spring, when it issues from its 

 winter-quarters, and deposits its eggs in clusters 

 beneath the leaves of the vine. These ought daily 

 to be sought for and crushed. Whatever contri- 

 butes to bring forward the plants rapidly, and to 

 promote the vigor and luxuriance of their foliage, 

 renders them less liable tc Buffer by the exhausting 

 punctures of the young bug.s. Water drained from 

 a cow-yard and similar iJieparations have, with 

 this intent, been applied with benefit. 



During the month of August the squash and 

 other cucurbitaceous vines are frequently found 

 to (lie suddenly down to the root. The cause of 

 this premature decay is a little whitish worm or 

 caterpillar, which begins its operations near the 

 ground, perforates the stem and devours the inte- 



* (latcntra vrittata. F. 

 t Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania. 

 . Tables, p. 4. 



