PU;1L1.S1I|.:D UY GEO. C. liARRETT, NO, 5-', NORTH MARKET STREET, (at thk Agrk u..i uhal VVarkhouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 

 XI. BOSTOV, VVEDNESnAY EVENING, MARCH 13, 1833. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



For the Nem Eiif/cind Fanner. 

 SEIiECTIOX OF SEEDS, IMPROVED VEGETA- 

 BLES, 6i,c. 



Camden, f.'V. J.) 3d Month, \st, 1833. 

 Respected Friend, — [ observed in the N. E. 

 FaniiLT, No. 22, under the head Agricultural Es- 

 says, No. 23, on tlie suliject of seeds, the author 

 says, " seeds not natural to the climate degenerate 

 and should he changed annually," and, "thai 

 corn, harley, oats, and seeds of all kinds should be 

 changed every year, if will pay the farmer four- 

 fold for the trnulile of doing it." This is a subjccl 

 of great importance to the agriculturist, and should 

 be fully investigated from actual experiment before 

 it is implicitly adopted, as it 'is attended with nnich 

 trouble and expense, in making these repeated 

 changes. I believe some benefit may result from 

 making changes and introducing a greater rvariety 

 of sorts, and when we find good and productive 

 kinds, of either vegetables or grain we had better 

 enileavor to continue to improve them ourselves 

 by proper care and cultivation and saving of the 

 best for seed than depend upon our neighbor's 

 care. — I, however, can speak from about forty years 

 of observation and experience, that seeds not natu- 

 ral to our climate, instead of '^ degeverating" by 

 care and proper cultivation have a tendency natu- 

 rally to become more acclimated to our climate, 

 and insteadof making these annual changes it would 

 be better for the farmer to endeavor to juiprove 

 these good sorts than to be annually changing 

 with his neighbors. 



I expect it will be admitted that much has been 

 eflx'cted in the improvement of the breeds of cattle 

 and sheep, sometimes by a cross and again by selec- 

 ting thejMost |)erfect in form and size, and raising 

 a sock from the best milkers, for iustance the shon 

 horned Durham, and Alderney breed, also Bake- 

 well's celebrated sheep, these have all been derived 

 from crosses, and selecting the most perfect. The 

 same course I think will be found to produce the 

 same beneflcrial results of mixing some kinds ol 

 seeds of the same species and improve from the 

 best. I will now give an instance of a trial made 

 by one of my ancestors tnore than sixty years ago ; 

 he planted some of the small kind of chicken corn 

 ' (or as the children call it pop corn, from its burst- 

 Lig so handsomely when roasted on a shovel over 

 the fire) which usually produces from four to eight 

 ears on a stalk, with the common large Indian 

 corn, aint improved from that mixtme, for a few 

 yeais, until he got what ho thought a good anil 

 perfect kinil. This small sort was also very pro- 

 ductive in leaves as well as in ears, which is ol 

 great importance as regards fodder, as some ol 

 our kinds produce but few leaves aud are not 

 worth njuch for that purpose. The product ol 

 this mixture is, gi'uerally, from two to four and 

 sometimes six ears to a stalk. This same kind ol 

 corn has been annually grown on the same farm 

 since that [leriod without any other mixture, anU 

 to this time the usual product is from fifty to sev- 

 enty-five bushels [ler acre. On the same iiuni 

 and about that pjriod aud hy the same person the 

 like results took place with squashes ; tiny are 

 still grown there, and do not dcgeuerate either in 

 flavor or <iuantiiy. 



About twenty years since dining with a friend 

 of mine about 80 miles from my home, I observed 

 some potatoes brought on the table. I was struck 

 with their unusual white appearance, and their fla- 

 vor was also excellent (at that time we rarely saw 

 my but what were of a yellow appearance). On iu- 

 liiiry I found he had procured them from Long Isl- 

 md, about two years before. They had been re- 

 •ently brought from England, and were called 

 Koxites or Fox's seedlings. I obtained a fnw and 

 (ilanted them, and have continued to do so, from 

 (hat period to the present time without any changf 

 with my neighbors, they continue to be as good it, 

 ipiality and as productive in quantity, but I am 

 always careful not to make use of the best foj 

 cooking or sale and plant the refuse. When this 

 is done I do not marvel at the common complain, 

 of seeds degenerating. It is a good practice and 

 should be done every few years, to be carefm 

 when the potato crop is gathering, when a 

 large number of good sized fair potatoes are found 

 attached to a stalk to put them by and jdant thenj 

 separately for seed. I think it of importance for 

 farmers not too hastily to adopt theory without 

 lieing tested by actual experiment, by annual- 

 ly changing their seeds. I have found from an 

 ■xperience of nearly forty years a benefit from 

 my jiractice of saving all kindsof seeds designed to 

 jilant, to make the selection from the best aud 

 most productive. This rule will apply to rye or 

 wheat as well as all other seeds. The rye I uow 

 liavc, is the product (many years since) from a re- 

 markably large seed, and the grain nmch whiter 

 than conunon, and it is uow generally sown in this 

 neighborhood. Indian corn of any kind can be im- 

 proved. It is my usual practice to go through the 

 tield previous to gathering the crop, and make the 

 selection from the best shaped stalk with the most 

 leaves and most productive in ears, attending also 

 to the time of ripening, and by sowing some of the 

 most early we can injprove as to the time of ripen- 

 ing. Hy taking this care with our early pease we 

 get them much earlier for market than formerly. 

 I wish our farmers, more generally, would try tin 

 ■experiment for themselves of making a careful 

 selection of seeds endeavoring to improve the 

 kinds, and I think they would find as proportion- 

 ,ite a benefit from it as they do from raising stock 

 from the best cattle. Resj)ectfully thy friend, 

 Benjamin Cooper. 



By the Editor. We have taken the liberty to 

 attach the name of the writer to the above valua- 

 ole article, notwithstanding his intimation to the 

 contrary. We have done so because the name ol 

 a judicious practical cultivator adds to the value 

 of his communication. 



For the New En^lajid Farmer. 

 CULTtJUB OP OATS. 



Ir» your " Agricultural Essays, No. 17," the wri- 

 ter says " Oats cannot Le sowed too early." — Now 

 it is a general practice among the farmers in Strat- 

 ford our neighlioriiig town to sow oats late ; that is 

 not until the first of May or after. They give as 

 a reason for late sowing that early sown oats pro- 

 duce a large crop of straw, and a small crop of 

 seeds, aud that late sowing gives a small crop of 



straw and a large crop of seed, and is a lighter tax 

 upon the land. They generally sow on stalk 

 ground, (after Indian corn,) plough early, leave the 

 land in furrow, until sowing time, wlien they say 

 most of the weeds have started and will be sub- 

 dued by harrowing in the oats. It would be well 

 for th^ farming interest to have this question put at 

 test by those who can speak decidedly upon it. I 

 myself have been in the practice of sowing early 

 in April to give more time to prepare for planting. 

 Bridgeport, March 5lh, 1833. B. 



By the Editor. The writer of the " Agricul- 

 tural Essays," alluded to by bur correspondent, is 

 not alone in his recommendation to sow oats early 

 in the spring. Dr. Deane, in New England Far- 

 mer, article Oats, says, " they cannot be sown too 

 ^arly in spring, after the ground is thawed and be- 

 comes dry enough for sowing. The English far. 

 mers sow them sometimes in February. But in a 

 wet soil they sometimes answer very well, though 

 sowed in June." 



" Tke Farmer^s Assistant" states that Oats re- 

 quire a soil and a climate sufficiently moist. Dry 

 gravelly or sandy soils are the most unfit ^for this 

 grain. In most climates it is best to sow oats as 

 soon as the ground can be properly prepared in the 

 spring; but where drought is not to be expected, 

 they may be sown at any time that will enable the 

 crop to ripen before the close of the sea.son. Lou- 

 don informs that iu England the season for sow- 

 ing oats is from the last vwek in February to ths 

 end of April. About the middle of March is pr«- 

 ferred by the best f irmers." 



For tlie New F.ngland Farmer. 

 ADDIEASUREIUENT OF SIASIVRE. 



It would be desirable for the farming interest 

 that there should be some mode by which to state 

 what quantity of itianure is used in raising certaja 

 crops which are reported for premium: a load iB 

 an indefinite quantity, a cord is a good and a very 

 proper term if we could only umlerstand each 

 other what quantity is meant by it. 1 had sup- 

 posed that an ox cart which would carry a 

 half cord of wood — would with good top side aud 

 end boards carry a half cord of manure if well 

 loaded aud have as many cubic feet in it, and this 

 is what I had considered in all the reports to be 

 what was meant the half of what is called a cord. 

 But it apfiears that I have been mistaken in mak- 

 ing this calculation by the report of Mr. Payson 

 Williams, of Fitchburg, in your paper No. 32, who 

 makes 45 loads of 16 cords. Will you, Mr. Editor, 

 liavc the goodness to fix the quantity which is to 

 be considered a cord? B. 



We believe that a cord of manure like a cord of 

 wood, consists of 128 cubic feet, equivalent to a 

 |jile or heap, 8 feet long 4 feet wide and 4 feet 

 high. Mr. Williams according to that admeasure- 

 ment carried about 45,5 cubic feet to a load of hia 

 manure. 



