298 



NfiVV ENGLAND FARMER, 



APKIt. 3, 1833. 



above size plenty large enough for three or four 

 swine if properly attended to, ihey will make Init 

 little manure without inaterialt-, you should replen- 

 ish the yard with loam or wash from the road, 

 with vines, weeds, &-c. as often as occasion may 

 require. — Yours respectfully. !>• 



Milton, March 23, 1833. 



For the NexD England Farmer. 

 SWINE. 

 Mr. Fessenden, — In your paper of the 21st 1 

 observed an inquiry in relation to the best method 

 of treating sows with pigs, &c. Neither the 

 " Farmer's Assistant," nor " Banister's Husband- 

 ry," nor the " Hon. O. Fiske," have hit the right 

 nail ou the head. For some cause, or on some ac- 

 count, whether from "hysteric irritability" I know 

 not, but so it is that about the time of sows' yean- 

 ing xhey have a great craving for animal Ibod — this 

 I know from experience, and hiS\G been careful for 

 about a week before my sows were about to far- 

 rovv, to give them some butcher's refuse meat 

 which does not cost much; if easy to be procured 

 give them a plenty, and I will venture to say they 

 will not eat their pigs. Your inquirer says thous- 

 ands of pigs have been destroyed the last year by 

 sows. Now if my method of treatment is a pre- 

 ventative, and I verily believe it is, the informa- 

 tion is of more real worth to the coraniuniiy than 

 a history of all the snipes, owls and hob-o-links 

 that Mr. Audubon ever heard of. A SuBSfRiBER. 



For the New England Firmer. 

 Mr. Fessenden, — I am always pleased with 

 whatever proceeds from the pen of your corres- 

 pondent, Mr. B. His observations ever contain 

 entertainment and instruction. He says in page 

 218, current volume of the N. E. Farmer, that, " it 

 is well known to nurserymen that the roots of a 

 grafted or budded tree take the habits of the scion, 

 that is, they are immerous and ramified, horizon- 

 tal or deep, according to the habits of the variety 

 from which the variety is taken, and generally 

 conform in their direction and volume, to the 

 shape and abundance of the top; and yet the 

 sprouts which spring from these roots invariably 

 take the character of the original stalk." He 

 then puts a case of budding a peach into a plum 

 stalk, aiid wonders, "why the roots should retain 

 the character of the stock, after they have been 

 enveloped and seeiningly lost in the growth pro- 

 duced by the scion." 



These are curious facts. But to state my pres- 

 ent opinion, would be perhaps to show my igno- 

 rance on the subject. However, it may elicit fur- 

 ther information which I should be pleased to see. 

 We take the case stated by your correspondent. 

 — The roots of the i>lum may be aftocted in char- 

 acter as to the manner of growth by the scion, but 

 not in nature which remains, essentiallv, unchang- 

 ed. The ascending sap is elaborated in the peach 

 leaves and made fit by a chemical process to form 

 wood and bark, but as yet, it is neither the one 

 nor the other. The descending sap, thus elabora- 

 ted, when in contact with peach-wood and peach 

 bark suffers another change, eflected by the peach 

 stock, and peach-wood and bark are formed ; and 

 when the sap is in contact with the plum-stalk a 

 change takes place peculiar to the plum, and plum 

 wood and bark are formed, so that the roots are 

 not essentially aflected in their nature, and of 

 course the sjirouts will be plum-sprouts. 



If this be not correct, I wish that some of your 

 correspondents \vould inform me of the error. 

 MansJieU, Ftb. 5, 1833. G. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 A SIKGIIL.AR FACT. 



Mr. Elkan4H Andrews, of Taunton, planted, 

 the last year, a field with corn in drills, at some 

 little distanoe from any building or wall, and say 

 about one fourth of a mile from tlie village. After 

 the corn came up he found that much of it was 

 pulled up by some animal, but by what kind he 

 could not determine. Some said that it might be 

 done by squirrels ; but no squirrels were seen 

 about the premises. Others thought that the mis- 

 chief was done by birds ; but no birds were seen 

 near the place. The work of destruction went on 

 night after night, and it was supposed that the in- 

 jury was done very early in the morning, and 

 hence the depredator eluded the observation of the 

 owner. Mr. Andrews visited bis field very early 

 in the tnoming, but made no discovery ; no -squir- 

 rel nor bird was seen, yet the corn was pulled up 

 as before. At last he visited bis field at midnight 

 — and having sccietcd himself, he by the help of 

 moon-light discovered his enemy — an army of 

 rats from the villaE'e. 



For the Nem England Farmer. 

 TEA "VVHEAT. THE SEASON. 



Extracts from a letter from Elisha Marvin» 

 Esq., of Ripley, N. Y. to the Proprietor of the 

 N. E. Farmer. 



The tea wheat which I have sent you I had 

 from the Province of New Brunswick, soon after 

 it was first noticed in your paper. I have sowed 

 this wheat every spring since, from the truth o/ 

 March to the first of May. The choice of timi 

 depends on the season ; a dry season sometimes 

 injures late sowing, for which reason I prefci 

 sowing as soon as the ground will admit. 



This grain does well on what we call a natural 

 wheat soil, and just as well on any good soil. In 

 wet or low places in your field, where wiiilci- 

 wheat would be killed by ice, or t.brown out bv 

 frost, this wheat will give a fair crop. 



On our dividing ridges, which arc generally u 

 wet cold soil, and covered four or five months with 

 ileep snow, this wheat does well. Winter wheat, 

 if growu at all in such situations, would give but 

 an iiidiflercnt crop, and that of a light and poor 

 quality. The tea wheat weighs 63 pounds to the 

 hushel ; other spring wheat, in this region .58. 

 The tea wheat yields a far better crop than either 

 the bearded or bald spring wheat ; and suits much 

 lietter to every variety of soil. With these ad- 

 vantages I think I can with all safety call the tea 

 wheat the best spring crop of grain we have in 

 this region of country. 



Our season is now (March 15,) mild. The 

 coldest day the present year was the 2d of March, 

 when the ice in the lake fastened for the first time, 

 and is not vet started. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 TO PROMOTE THE GROWTH OP TREES. 



Some separate the dry bark of fruit and forest 

 trees to promote their growth, and prevent the bark 

 binding too much. Tliis disfigures the tree, mak- 

 ing seams in the trunk, and makes it grow in 

 angles. The best way is, when the sap is forced 

 up, by warmth of the spring, to scrape oft" the 

 scaly particles of the dead bark, and wash the 

 trees repeatedly during the week with soap suds, 



&c. Trees of considerable age will then have a 

 youthful appearance, be more thrifty, and in the 

 case of iVuit trees, the fruit will make more cider, 

 than that grown on scurvy, moss grown trees. 



Put cinders, bones, and stones, about the roots 

 of pear trees ; it will increase their growth one 

 third, and save them from the blight. 



From the Maine Farmer. 



Mr. Holmes : In a former communication I in- 

 timated that I might give my views respecting the 

 cheapest and best mode of making a barn tight, so 

 as to exclude the snows and make it warm. 1 

 lately built one and covered it with narrow pine 

 boards which had been stuck ujj and seasoned two 

 years. 



The expense of n)atching and trouble of season- 

 ing, ..tc. was considerable, but it answered the end 

 well. 



A neighbor has since erected one equally tight 

 by double boarding with hemlock boards. The 

 first put on slightly, or tacked, being half an inch 

 thick ; he then covered with boards of the usua! 

 thickness taking care to break joints. The last 

 nailing was with double tens. If well nailed they 

 will kep)) their place and the same care respecting 

 lliei; bring seasoned is not necessary. The barn 

 is s) tight that small windows are necessary. 



'. am apprehensive that as hemlock boards are 

 cheaper and more easily obtained (in many parts,) 

 w( in this section of the State had better make our 

 ha-ns tight by double boarding, I hope never to see 

 another barn built with single boards half season- 

 ed. Such a barn is really a nuisance. If any far- 

 mer has such an one he can remedy the evil, by 

 antther covering which I advise him to do for his 

 ova interest, and the comfort of his cattle, preser- 

 vation of his hay, &c. Yours, &c. 



Anthracite in Jf'rentham, Mass. Si)ecimens of 

 this mineral have been forwarded to us by Mr. S. 

 Day, in a letter, dated Providence, R. I. Oct. 11. 

 It is stated to be newly discovered — that the bor- 

 ing has been carried to eighty feet, and the excava- 

 tion or shaft, to si.xty : that the coal lies in strata 

 of different depths, interspersed with slate, and 

 that it is ])roposed, should the prospect continue 

 fair, to petition the legislature for a charter of in- 

 corporation, and in the spring to push their enter- 

 prise with vigor. 



The coal appears like the European anthracite, 

 and resembles that of Rhode Island more than 

 that of Pennsylvania. The latter State possesses 

 such vast resources of this mineral, and of such 

 admirable quality and easy acquisition, that pru- 

 dent men will look well to every undertaking, 

 which must depend in any degree, upon success- 

 I'ul competition. — Siltiman's Journal. 



Extraordinary Cow. A cow fattened by Thomas 

 D.Eaton of this town was butchered by Jlessrs. 

 Porter & Davis yesterday, which weighed 1655 

 lbs. There's for you, against all opposition. — 

 Worcester paper. 



Mr. J. W. Smith, in the Genesee Farmer re- 

 i-ommends the shrub called Prickly Ash (Fraxi- 

 aas) for hedges. 



He says, " It to my knowledge thrives well on 

 a clayey, or even sandy or gravelly soils, but best 

 in rich moist bottom lands, and is about as bard to 

 subdue as are elders. As far as my knowledge 

 extends it is not infested with lice or worms, which 

 are so destructive to the English thorn in our 

 country. No blight affects it that I know." 



