NEW EPnGLAND farmer. 



21 



our country frienJs v.'ho liave not been fiimiliiir 

 with this excellent Ameiiciin pear, that it is 

 worthy of Iheir attenliini. It is harily — a great 

 bearer — ripens at a time when ihey are desti- 

 tute of fruit. It boars very young— very con- 

 stantly ; and uoulil if no other fruit could be 

 obtained, of itself furnish a delighlful desert. 

 Nothing can sur()ass its exquisite llavour. The 

 writer of this article will be happy to furnish 

 grafts in the month of March, or buds in .luly, 

 to any agricultural gentlemen, if they will send 

 to'his place in Roxbury. 



We shall take some notice of another new 

 pear, because it has been introduced t>y one 

 of the Trustees of this Society, and a most dis- 

 tinguished cultivator of fruits, S. G. I'erkins, 

 Esq. It was received iVom the garden of the 

 London Horticultural Society. 



Tlu Charles d''Av.lriche Ptar. 



It was probalily so named from the celebrated 

 Archduke of Austria, who was the most success- 

 ful combatant of Na[ioleon, before Wellington 

 arose to eclipse him, or at least to diminish his 

 lustre. 



"This is a large variety three inches and a 

 half long and three inches wide. It is one of 

 the nexa varieties sent by Dr. Van Mons. Skin 

 greenish yellow, profusely sprinkled with 

 brown spots and partially rus-elled. Flesh 

 melting, white, very juicy, with a rich high 

 l^avour, but with little if any perfume — a beau- 

 tiful -.mi fine I'ruit. Ripens about the uiiddle of 

 November." 



We hope we shall be pardoned for devoting 

 60 much of our journal to line fruits. 



ON SUMMER FALLOWS, AND FALLOW CROPS. 

 [By J. BcEL OF Albani.] 

 In the best improved districts of Great Bri- 

 tain, France, and America, summer fallows have 

 been pretty much abandoned. It has been 

 found that, 



1. They occasion the loss of one crop. 



2. That they impoverish the soil, by expos- 

 ing it to the influence of a scorching midsum- 

 mer's sun. 



3. That they increase the expense of tillage. 

 And, 



4. That they waste the vegetable and fertil- 

 izing matter of the sod, which, by the cross 

 ploughings, is exposed to the exhausting influ- 

 ence of the sun and winds. 



Darwin says, that " though a summer fallow 

 may be an advantage to a poor soil which has 

 nothing to lose, yet it must be injurious to a 

 rich one which has nothing to gain." It is only 

 advocated, by late writers, as a means of des- 

 troying weeds; and this can be done full as 

 well by crops which require to be hand-hoed, 

 particularly maize, the properties of which, as 

 a cleansing crop, are unknown in English hus- 

 bandry. 



For Summer Fullowx, substitute Fallow Crops. 

 These may be maize, potatoes, beans, peas, or 

 oats. Or, if the ground is a clover ley, it re- 

 quires neither fallow nor fallow crop. Plough 

 in August oreatly in September, and sow wheat 

 upon the sod, harrowing well in the direction 

 of the furrow. I will speak of the fallow crops 

 separately. 



1. Indian Corn. If the soil is stiff, or the 

 sward stubborn, plough late in the fall, and har- 

 row in the spring before you plant. If a sand 



or light loam, leave the grass to grow till near 

 planting time. In either case the roller may 

 be used to adviyilage. It compresses the sod, 

 smothers the growth of grass, and prevents the 

 escape of the gasses evolved in the fermenta- 

 tion of the vegetable matter buried by the 

 plough. If you have manure to s|)are, (and 

 vou can use it no where to better advantage 

 "than with this crop,) spread it on the sod and 

 plough il under. Plant your corn in hills. The 

 distance will dejiend on the kind of seed, and j 

 strength of the ground. 1 plant at three feel! 

 each way. Harrow at the first dressing, the! 

 more the lietter, provided you do not disiuil) the | 

 sod; and plough shallow and earth slightly at ' 

 the second. But exterminate all weeds. By 1 

 leaving the sod unbroken, the roots of the grain ! 

 have a better su()ply of moisture and nutriment 

 beneath it. The |)rocess of decomposition is 

 at its height in August, when the young ears 

 are jiutting torth, and llie grain tilling. iiar- 

 vest your corn by cutting it ui), stocks anil all, 

 close to the surface, as soon as the ears are 

 thoroughly glazed or seared ; bind it in bundles, 

 and stack it in small stacks oil the ground. Pro- 

 ceed immediately to plough, and sow your 

 wheat or rye, which in almost every case can 

 be done in the month of September. The nu- 

 triment in the stocks will ripen your corn, 

 while by cutting thus early, you improve the 

 quality, and double the quantity ol' cattle food. 

 An extensive and intelligent farmer, Mr. P. R. 

 Livingston, informs me, that he values the fod- 

 der thus secured, a full compensation lor all 

 the labour of cultivating the croji, leaving the 

 grain a clear protit. 1 split the hills, harrow, 

 plough, sow the seed, and barrow it in both 

 ways. On light soils, it may be preterable to 

 plough in the seed. 1 raise an early and very 

 prolific corn, which is invariably ripe enough 

 to cut the tirst ten days in September. 



1 am satisfied, from several year's experience, 

 that other things being alike, the clover sod, 

 ploughed under in May, will give a material 

 increase of corn, over land which has no sod, 

 1 think 20 per cent, on an average, and the 

 crop is much less liable to be mjured by drought. 

 The planting should be as early as the season 

 and soil will admit. 



Failures, and great inconvenience and loss 

 often result from the seed not vegetating, from 

 its destruction by the wire worm and grub, and 

 from the depredations committed upon the 

 young plants by birds and squirrels. As I have 

 never sufl'ered in either of these respects, I 

 will stale my method of preparing llie seed. 

 1 collect, in the tirst place, a quantity of the 

 roots of the black hellebore, or itch weed, 

 which abounds in swamps, grows with and re- 

 sembles in its habits, skunk's cabbage, except 

 that the leaves are narrower, longer, and grow 

 upon the seed stock : these I boil till 1 obtain 

 a strong decoction. I then take out the roots, 

 and add to the liquor salt petre in the propor- 

 tion of lour ounces to three gallons, and put in 

 my seed corn while the liquor is yet warm. 

 Thirty-six hours is the longest period it should 

 be suffered to steep, as the mere may destroy 

 the vegetating principle of the grain. As a 

 further precaution, the liquor is again warmed, 

 and a gill of tar stirred in, and the seed again 

 immersed in it anew. Thus prepared i have 

 not lost twenty hills in four years. The ger- 

 minating process commences before the corn is 



planted, and unless the ground h too wet lo 

 grow this cro[), (and it never pays the expense 

 of culture, on soils that abound in springs, or 

 that are naturally wet and cold,) it will contin- 

 ue to progress. The helleliore is poisonous, 

 anil though the ground may partially exlrncl 

 the poison, neither birds nor squirrels will ever 

 ilisturb a dozen hills. The tar imjiregnates the 

 seed, and protects it from the worms. The 

 nitre and plaster, with which latter the seed is 

 mixed betore (danling, combine their fertilizing 

 properties lo give vigour and strei)glh to the 

 young plants. 



A gentleman in Madison county, who is said 

 to have raised the greatest cro|) of corn ever 

 growed in this slate, ascribes his success jirinci- 

 pally to the circumsiance of his having put 

 lour bushels of seed on an acre, instead of six 

 quarts, ihe usual quantity ; and pulling up all but 

 the requisite number of most ibrifly plants at 

 the first dressing of the crop ; and that no stalk 

 produced less than three ears. I do not know 

 that the facts have been correctly stated to me ; 

 but I confess they appear to be rational. We 

 scarcely ever notice a hill of corn, without ob- 

 serving a spear more vigorous than the rest, 

 which maintains its ascendency, and is always 

 most prolific in its return. On the contrary 

 those plants which are pale and sickly when 

 young, seldom produce much under the best 

 care. My experience warrants me in the be- 

 lief, that seed taken from a stock which has 

 produced two or three ears, is more prolific 

 than seed from a stock which has produced but 

 one ear. 



2. Potatoes, if intended as a fallow crop, 

 should be planted early. If on sward, hills are 

 more convenient than drills. The dung should 

 be unrotted, and spread previous to ploughing. 

 If dunged in the hill, the manure is apt to gen- 

 erate too much heal, to encoora^e a too luxu- 

 riant growth of tops, to protiact Ihe ripening of 

 the crop, and lo render it watery and ill flavour- 

 ed. It is a mistaken notion that the best pota- 

 toes grow in a warm dry soil. Ireland and 

 Nova Scotia produce the best in the world. 

 The climate in both is comparatively, cold and 

 very damp. I have planted them on a clover 

 ley, by dropping the seed six inches apart, in 

 every fourth furrow, long manure being first 

 drawn ofl" the land with a rake into the furrow. 

 The ground was afterwards rolled — and har- 

 rowed as the plants were breaking ground. 

 One ploughing and a slight earthing with Ihe 

 hoe completed the process of cultivation. The 

 produce was more than 400 bushels per acre. 

 Land ploughed deep the preceding fall, would, 

 1 have no doubt, under this plan of culture, with 

 manure produce a larger croj). Potatoes, gen- 

 erally, may be dug between the 15th and 30th 

 September ; and the ground is quickly prepar- 

 ed tor crop ; which should not be put in after 

 the first week in October. I have procured 

 a kind which are not only of good quality for 

 the table, but which come to maturity in eight 

 to ten weeks from planting. These promise 

 to be valuable for a fallow crop. A practice 

 has been recommended to me, to prevent the 

 deterioration of this crop, a misfortune which 

 seems to follow planting, successively, seed 

 I raised upon the same farm. Two years' expe- 

 i rience has tended to satisfy me of its utility. The 

 I recommendation is, to select seed of good size, 

 1 to cut off and throw away a slice from the seed 



