vol.. XT. NO. 36. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



283 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



At a stated meeting of the Miissacliusetts Hor- 

 ticultural Society held on Saturday, March 9, 1333. 



A letter was received from J. R. Newell, Es(|. 

 acompaiiied by one of Lord Vernon's tillage hops, 

 a donation from Messi-s. Thorbunis, of New 

 York. This letter having been read, it was re- 

 sol vim! that the thanks of the Society lie presented 

 to Ulessrs. Thorburns, for their very acceptable 

 present, and that Mr. Newell be permitted to nse 

 tlie instrniiient as a model tor the constrnction of 

 others, and that, thereafter it be deposited in the 

 Hall of the Society. 



Thomas H. Mason, of Charlestown, was elected 

 a member of the Society. 



Adjourned to March 16. 



NOTICE. 



The following books are now missing from the 

 Library of the Mass. Hort. Society. 



Anderson on Gardening. Duhamel Plantation 

 des Arbres. Forsyth on the culture of Fruit Trees. 

 Hints on American Husbandry. Hipbournes 

 American Gardener. A volume of Horticultural 

 Tracts bound together. Sinclair's System of Hus- 

 bandry, vol. 1. Say's Entomology, vols. 2. Wheat- 

 ly on Gardening. Loudon's Gardener's Maga- 

 zine, No. 30. Horticultural Register, Nos. 1 & 8. 

 Loudon's Encyclopedia of Gardening. Sweet's 

 Florist's Guide, vol. 1. 



Gentlemen having any of the above in their 

 possession are requested to retiu'n them imme- 

 diately. R. T. PAINE, Libiarian. 



At a stated meeting of the Massachusetts Ilor- 

 cullural Society held on Saturday, March 16, the 

 following gentlemen were elected corresponding 

 members, Dr. Ebenezer Emmons, Willianistown, 

 William Foster Redding, Esq. and J. J. Hitch- 

 cock, Esq. of Baltimore. 



NOTICE. 



A stated meeting of the Slassachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society will be held by adjournjiient at the 

 Hall of the Society, on Saturday, March 23d at 

 11 o'clock A. M. R. L. EMMONS, Sec'y. 



ITEMS OP ECONOMY, ARTS. &.C. 



Raising Ducks. A writer for the Southern Ag- 

 ricidtnrist, with the signature " Experimenter," 

 lias given some directions for rearing this sjiecies 

 of poultry, which have the appearance of utility as 

 well as novelty. After a number of unsuccessful 

 experiments " in raising a bird which in its wild 

 state is very hardy" he says: — 



"The thought at last occurred to me that in the 

 food with which we usually fed this species of 

 poultry, we departed widely from nature, and that 

 though the old ducks in their wild state fed on rice 

 and the seeds of various grasses that are found 

 along the edges of rivers, brooks and ponds, yet, 

 that at the spring of the year when young wild 

 ducks are hatched there are few seeds ripe, and 

 it is questionable whether at that, early age they 

 feed at all on grains or seeds. There appears in 

 the digestive organs of these young birds some- 

 thing unsnited to this kind of food — it passes 

 through them without affording much nourish- 

 ment. 1 had ascertained by dissection that their 

 gizzards were filled not with vegetable food, but 

 with the fragments of small era w-tish, worms, and 



various acpiatic insects, as well as the spawn of 

 lishes ; and I determined in the following year to 

 try the effects of animal food. In due time my 

 young ducks were hatched, beef was given them 

 at first, after having been chopped very fine ; this 

 they devoured greedily and ate it in preference to 

 all kinds of vegetable food. The effect upon their 

 liealth and growth was immediate and surprising. 

 Tliey appeared to grow faster than any other 

 poultry — in a few weeks they were out of danger, 

 and a few months fit for the table. As beef was 

 expensive I tried cheaper kinds of food, such as 

 haslets of animals, crabs, fishes, &c. The result 

 was equally favorable. I was now satisfied that 

 in the article of food the end was attained by 

 simply giving the young ducks animal food. 



Tea. Most ladies consider it sufficient that the 

 ti'a-kettle has boiled, and not that the water be al- 

 ways boiling hot when it is poured into the tea-pot. 

 To make a good dish of tea, scald the tea-pot, put 

 in the tea, pour on two or three table-spoonfuls of 

 water; let it stand a few seconds, and then fill ii]i 

 with the water boiling hot every time the tea-pot 

 is filled ; the kettle should be previously put on 

 the fire. 



Invention and Economy. The Editor of the 

 Eastern Centinel, says, that an ingenious Tavern- 

 keeper, of that Borough, has succeeded in the 

 profitable desideratum of making his fire pay for 

 itself, by burning lime-stone and coal together, in 

 equal parts. TJie fire must be kindled in the 

 morning with pure coal, but through the day 

 rather more lime-stone than coal is used. He 

 thus saves several bushels of coal per week and 

 procures several bushels of lime. To all apjiear- 

 ance the stoves emitted as much caloric as when 

 filled with pure coal — the cylinder was as usual, 

 in a red heat. 



Transplanting from Hot-beds. Afier raising 

 plants . in the hot-bed some little experience is 

 necessary to insure success iii removing them to 

 open ground. The common error which is com- 

 mitted in this business is, planting them out before 

 thewe.ather becomes warm enough to keep up the 

 vegetable circulation ; and the consequence is, 

 that during the rainy weather the plants look 

 water soaked and perish ; but if the weather con- 

 tinues dry and cold, tender plants will wilt and 

 die. Each plant requires a certain degree of heat 

 to cause it to flourish — some more and some less, 

 and due reference should be had to this in re- 

 moving them. Cabbages thrive best in cool, moist 

 weather ; but melons and cucumbers require a 

 greater degree of heat, and of course should not 

 be transplanted until the weather becomes warm 

 enoiigh to cause the yellow locust to be in full leaf. 

 — Genesee Farmer. 



From the iiouthem Planter. 

 RAISING CALVES BY HAND. 



Tarversville, Feb. 12, 1833. 

 Mr. Editor, — Having found you very desirous 

 of communications coimected with agricultural con- 

 cerns, I have thought proper to recite to you my 

 method of raising calves by hand, and thereby not 

 only enlarging the dairy product, but actually rear- 

 ing a finer animal and in less time. At one day 

 old, the calf is removed entirely from the dam, and 

 fed at first with milk fresh from the cow and 

 in a pail in which the feeder may lay his hand, put- 

 ting a finger into the calPs mouth by which the 



little animal will soon drain the pail. By a little 

 care and ingenuity in the feeder, tlie calf will pres- 

 ently either drink the milk, or thrusting its nose 

 to the bottom of the pail, suck up the contents every 

 drop. Having taught the creature to take its food 

 in this artificial manner, |uoceed to add to portions 

 of thin corn meal ujush as much skinimed-milk as 

 will reduce the raush to a proper consistency for 

 suction, and render the mi.xture afull feed for the 

 calf. Feed thus three times a day. Any child 

 eight years old will take interest in administering 

 to the little beast, and be fully comjieteut to dis- 

 charged the office of feeder for a number of 

 calves. 



Should the diet ever disagree with the calf, 

 substitute fresh milk a time or two, and all will 

 bo well again. Probatum est. 



Yours repectfully, Geo. P. Cooper. 



" The reason why hens do not lay eggs in the 

 winter is because the earth is covered with snow 

 that they can find no gravel, or other calcareous 

 matter to form the shells. If the bones of meat 

 or poultry, be pounded, and given to them, either 

 mixed with their food, or by itself, they will eat it 

 greedily, and will lay eggs as well as in warm 

 weather. When hens are fed with oats, they lay 

 better than when fed on any other grain." 



Fruits and Flowers. — The annual catalogue of 

 fruit and ornamental trees and plants cidtivated at 

 the extensive nurseries of the Messrs. Winship, iu 

 Brighton, fills a pamphlet of 40 closely printed 

 pages, and is really worth examination to learn 

 to what perfection the art of floriculture has at- 

 tained in this country. The selection of roses is 

 probably superior to that of any other establish- 

 ment this side the Atlantic, there being upwards 

 of three hundred desirable kinds, and many of 

 them superb indeed and rarely seen elsewhere. 

 They have the choicest variety of Scotch roses, 

 and the most favorite kinds of that flower grown 

 in England, presented to the proprietors by Admi- 

 ral Sir Isaac Coffin. They have too, more than 

 forty varieties of the Paony, some of them exceed- 

 ingly rich ; and ornamental shrubs, evergreens, 

 vines, and creepers, honeysuckles, &c. without 

 number. 



A RECIPE FOR MAKING BEER. 



BoiL 10 ounces Hops in 3J pails of water one 

 hour, or until the leaves settle at the bottom of the 

 kettle. Then strain it into a 20 gallon cask in 

 which must first be put 6 quarts and one pint of 

 good thick molasses. Fill it up with cold water. 

 Add one pint of brewer^s yeast. Roll it over and 

 shake it well. Let it remain in the cellar 24 hours 

 with the bung out, after which it must be bunged 

 tight, and in one week it will be fit for use. If 

 bottled it will very much improve. 



Fire proof and Holer proof Cement. To half a 

 ])int of milk put an equal quantity of vincgur in 

 order to curdle it, then separate the curd from the 

 whey and mix it with the white of four or five eggs, 

 beating the whole together; when it is well mixed, 

 add a little quick-lime passed through a sieve, un- 

 til it has acquired the consistence of a thick paste. 

 With this cement, broken vessels, and cracks of 

 all kinds may be mended. It dries quickly and 

 resists the action of fire and water. 



The supercilious, however refined are rude 



