402 



NEAV ENGLAND FARMER, 



Jl'L,Y 3, 1«S3. 



acre, is not too ranch ; this makes the straw fine, 

 is much less liable to rust and bhght, or to lodge 

 (}own flat, and rot, than when sowed thin. 



Mv method of preparing seed, is to put it into 

 brine fully saturated with salt; this is a little too 

 strong ; as it will float too much of the wheat, di- 

 lute it a little with water, so that the plump wheat 

 will go down, leaving all the fold seed, lighter 

 than wheat, on the surface, to be skimmed off"; 

 then drain the brine from the seed and stir in 

 slacked lime with the wheat. 



Rose Bugs. For several years past I have been 

 very much annoyed by Rose Bugs, on my grape 

 vines, so much so, that I can scarcely save a 

 bunch where I should, otlierwise, have a good 

 supply for my family : can you, or any of your 

 correspondents point out a remedy ? 



Yours respectfully, J. Wilson. 



Deerfidd, June 17, 1833. 



By the Editor. Dr. Green, of Mansfield, Mass. 

 recommends slacked lime, applied with a dredging 

 box while the fruits or plants are wet witii dew, 

 likewise strong soapsuds as antidotes to rose bugs 

 See N.E. Farmer, page 390 of the current volume 



For thf New Englund Farmer. 

 COBS OP INDIAN CORN. 



Mr. Fessenden, — Are corn-cobs most profita- 

 ble for manure or fuel, when bard wood is three 

 dollars a cord ? 



If you will have the goodness to communicate 

 your opinion on the subject, through the medium 

 of your useful paper, the New England Farm- 

 er, you will greatly oblige 



A Young Farmer. 



Bi/ Ihc Editor. We are not able to say wheth- 

 er corn-cobs would be most valuable for manure or 

 fuel, but believe the latter, as it requires a long 

 time to rot, or decompose them in such a manner 

 that they would be useful as manure. 



But we believe the best use to whii-h corn-cobs 

 can be applied, is to grind them together with the 

 corn, and give the mixture to swine, or other do- 

 mestic animals, which it is wished to fatten. The 

 following extracts front a letter from the Rev. H. 

 C. Perley, of New Rowley, Mass. to the Editor, may 

 serve to explain and corroborate this assertion. 



" I had eohs and corn ground together ; and I 

 put but about a peck of corn to a bushel of cobs. 

 Meal made of this composition I scalded, and 

 made about as thick as hasty pudding ; or mixed 

 about one peck of meal with three pecks of boiled 

 potatoes, thickened to the consistency of pudding. 

 With this kind of food, and what wash was made 

 in the family, I constantly feed my swine ; there 

 were none in the neighborhood grew so fast, or 

 were fit to kill so early in autunm ;"***» 



" 1 have also made further discovery of the use 

 of cob meal for other puqjoses besides feeding 

 swine apd cattle. I had one batch of coarse brown 

 bread, made of it, ground about half and half; — 

 sifted as usual, and the application of the usual 

 quantity of rye meal. The bread was as high sea- 

 soned, as light, as sweet and as moist, as that made 

 of pure Indian and rye meal ; though I think it 

 will dry rather sooner. 



In the Massachusetts ^Agricultural Repository for 

 Jan. 1823, is a communicatron from Asa Rice, Jr. 

 of Shrewsbury, in which the writer observes as fol- 

 lows: "The kind of meal I have used for seven 

 years past, almost exclusively, for provender, is 

 corn and cobs cracked and ground together, which 

 is the best provender I have ever made for fattening 

 cattle. The reason I consider the cob useful is, 

 it swells in the creature and keeps him in good 

 order. In no one instance since I have fed with 

 this meal, have my cattle been out of order by be- 

 ing cloyed, or scouring ; they are at all times reg- 

 ular ; hut when I formerly fed with clear Indian 

 meal it was not unfrequent that their bowels would 

 get out of order, and I have had considerable diffi- 

 culty in regulating them again, they lost two or 

 three days, sometimes a week. W'hen this kind of 

 provender was first introduced in this vicinity it 

 had its opposition like almost all new things. The 

 second year, if I mistake not, which I made use of 

 it, I thought I would try an experiment as follows, 

 by feeding one ox with corn and oats ground, the 

 other with corn and cobs, having a yoke of oxen 

 so even matched that no one who viewed the cattle 

 ajjpeared satisfied which was best ; accordingly I 

 fed them as above. The cob is computed to make 

 a little more than one third, therefore I mixed the 

 other with one third oats which was my former 

 mode. I gave each ox an equal quantity at a time, 

 except the one which had corn and oats some days 

 became dainty, and would not eat his allowance, 

 while the other kept a regular comse. The allow- 

 ance for both was a little over three pecks perda;. 

 When 1 took the cattle to market Mr. A. Whie 

 bought them, they weighed about 28 humlred atd 

 a half The one fed on corn and oats had 1G2 Us. 

 of tallow, and weighed about half an hundred more. 

 The one fed on corn and cobs had 163 jjouuds jf 

 tallow, and Mr. White pronounced his beef half a 

 dollar on the hundred better than that of the oth- 

 er, mostly on account of the color of the beef." 



The third volume of the memoirs of the Phila- 

 delphia Agricultural Society, likewise contains an 

 article on grinding Indian corn in the cob, as food 

 for cattle, &c., by Dr. Mease, of Philadelphia. 

 Mills, for the purpose of grinding corn and cobs 

 together have been erected in Andover, Danvers 

 and we believe other places in Massachusetts, (Sec. 

 Perhaps a large mortar with a mallet or pestle might 

 answer for cracking corn and cobs, and pulverize 

 them suflicientiv for cattle food. 



textensitely known. It consists in using lamp 

 oil (and doubtless any other oil will answer the 

 same |iurpose) instead of brine, in the method no- 

 ticed and condemned by your correspondent. 

 The oil no sooner touches a caterpillar than it ex- 

 pires. In half a minute after applying it to a nest, 

 not a single one will be found to survive, it being 

 in this respect as efficacious as fire. A very small 

 ((uantity of oil is sufficient. I judge that half 

 a pint may be sufficient for a hundred nests. 

 This method avoids the disagreeable process of 

 crushing, is more expeditious, and more eflectual. 

 The lationale I take to be this: Along the sides 

 of the caterpillar, and I believe many if not most 

 other insects, there are numerous spiracles or 

 breati ing holes. W'hen, therefore, oil is applied, 

 those holes become closed, respiration ceases, and 

 the insect dies. Every one has observed how soon 

 a fly ooses his life in a lump of butter. And this 

 last observation leads tue to reflect, that since a fly 

 dies 'ery suddenly in soap suds also, perhaps a 

 very strong solution of soap would he found to an- 

 swer learly as well as oil for exterminating cater- 

 ))illars I mention it however, as mere theory. 

 Iti.scleap, and might therefore heapi)lied in larger 

 quantities, and moreover forms an excellent wash 

 for th; liudisand steins of young trees, securing 

 them from the depredations of various sorts of in- 

 sects aid the growth of moss. 



Yours respectfully, James Scott. 

 Promhnce, June 26, 1833. 



For the Nno England Fctrmer. 

 CATERPILIiARS. 

 Mr. Fessekdek, — Having the noticed remarks on 

 this subject in a late paper,with the writer's conclu- 

 sion that he knows of no better method to destroy 

 caterpillars, than to brush them ofl', and crush them 

 underfoot, I think it maybe useful to point out a 

 mode of destroying these noxious insects which 1 

 learned of my grandfather, and have practised for 

 many years whenever occasion required, with 

 complete success. I Wiis not aware tliat it was 



From the New Yort Fanner. 

 VISIT TO THE L.INNJEAN BOTANIC GARDEN 

 OF FLUSHING. 



0>- the 10th ult. we took steamboat up the East 

 river to the rural village of Flushing, where is the 

 Well known garden of Messrs. W. Prince & Sons. 

 The first subject to which we would invite the 

 attention of our I'eaders is the collection of Dahlias, 

 comprising above six hundred varieties, three 

 hundred of which have just been received from 

 European collections. Among those the most novel 

 and rare are a nuuiber of strijied varieties, and one 

 of deep crimson hue, with a white border. One 

 bed contains nine hundred and thirty-six plants. 

 These, with an equal number along the bordeis, 

 will present, when in full flower, a blaze of beauty 

 probably never surpassed. 



There were pointed out to us four varieties of 

 the Judas Tree, Cercis, in flower — the European 

 red and white, and the American red and deep 

 crimson ; the latter highly interesting, found wild 

 in Muryland, and transferred to the garden by in- 

 oculation. 



A Magnolia grove, containing above sixty large 

 trees of various species, producing^'flowers and 

 seeds in abundance, afforded a sight of this pride 

 of American forests not elsewhere seen in this 

 part of our country. It has often been remarked 

 that this grove presents its greatest display of 

 bUioiTi at the period of the liirth of Linnaeus, the 

 2-ith of Blay, thus seeming to honor the day that 

 gave birth to the father of botany. A lofty tree 

 of tie M. cordata, or yellow flowering magnolia, 

 was resplendcmly in bloom. Of this last, Messrs. 

 Prince have two distinct varieties, one of which 

 originated with them from seed. This species 

 produces flowers twice during the season, in May 

 and August. Of the Magnolia conspicua we were 

 shown a tree ten feet high. The M. obovata was 

 in its prime, as well as the M. gracilis and pyra-, 

 midata : the purple and cream-colored blossoma 



