]NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PUBLISHKU BY JOHN B. RUSSELL, ROGERS' BUILD'.NGS, CONGRESS STREET, BOSTON.— THOMAS G. EF;SSEN))EN, EDITOR. 



VOL. III. 



SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1824. 



No. 7. 



©rtjjtnnl (tommunttntjons. 



FOR THE KBW ENOLAND FARJHER. 



FMraclsfiom a Idler, written by a gentUman in South 

 America to a friend in this ticinily. 



5 U. S. ship Franklin, 

 JCallao, April 10, 1824. 



Mr DEAli Sir, — I send you a small parcel of 



seeds in a box directed to , which I 



wish was more extensive, but hitherto I have 

 had little opportunity to collect any. There 

 are two kinds of watermelons, — one red flesh, 

 the other yellow, — that are perhaps not superi- 

 or to what you may find at home, but you mu«t 

 ■value them, as coming from a distance. There 

 are also a few squash seeds, a kind of melon- 

 squash, or pumpkin, of moderate size, from 

 Chili, but I think of very delicate tlavour ; — 

 also a few Lima beans, used as shelieil beans. — 

 They grow very large, and are parlicularlv 

 good. 



I also send you a few wild, native peas, which 

 I wish you would make a fair iri;il of. The his- 

 tory of them is as follows : — Lieutenant 



of this ship has just returned from a cruise in the 

 hired armed schooner Amanda, despatched by 

 Com. Stewart to cruise after a privateer fitted 

 out from Chiloe, which had committed many 

 piratical acts on American ships, and on those 



of other nations. Lieut. landed on a small 



island, not laid down in any chart, to the south 

 of the islamf of Chiloe. Here he found large 

 quantities of these peas growing, some of them 

 in the sand and within a few yards of the sea. 

 They were extremely prolilic, and he sajs the 

 same vine seemed to have a successive produce, 

 as some of the pods were wholly dry, and others 

 just putting out ; and this difference of growth 

 seemed more considerable than in the cultivat- 

 ed pea with us. They cooked several messes 

 of them, and he says they found them excellent. 

 It is very probable that this seed would be ame- 

 liorated by cultivation ; and I know it is always 

 interesting to the horticulturist to get original 

 stock. 



I hope I shall hereafter be able to obtain the 

 roots and an entire plant of the solanuin tubero- 

 sum [common potatoe*] but this is not the sea- 

 son; they are said to grow abundantly in the 

 ravines in this country. I explored the highest 

 of those in the island of St Lorenzo with Com. 

 Stewart, the other day, but unsuccessfully, as 

 hardly a vestige of vegetation remained, though 

 in August last, he found them plenty there. 



What would your trustees say to a farm on the 

 plain of Lima, which is about 20 miles in length 

 by about 7 in width, rising gradually from the 

 Sea, on a most regular plane about 500 feet? It 

 is all an alluvion, bounded by the sea and pre- 



* South America Is the native country of the Potatoe, 

 and it is believed to be an exotic in all other countries 

 in which it is cultivated. It is considered as a great 

 desideratum to procure some of the plants in their 

 iitild stale, in order to ascertain what changes the 

 Potatoe has undergone in consequence of its domestica- 

 tion and culture in nearly or quite every civilized part 

 cf the globe.— Ej>. N. E. Farmfr. 



cipitous, liy.rren mountains. The river Rimac, 

 which washes Lima, furnishes water by which 

 every part of this plain is irrigated. The cli- 

 mate is so peculiar, that the fruit of every re- 

 gion is found growing in the same garden. — 

 Apples, peache?, quinces, oranges, lemons, 

 grapes, figs, bananas, Chiri,iioyas, &c. What 

 might not an enterprising, skilful agriculturist 

 do with 1000 acre.'! of such land, every foot of 

 which may be watered, and where the ther- 

 njometer is alw.ays between 70 and 84", where 

 the sun is never scorching, where the dews are 

 copious, the ground fertile, the market near 

 and dear ? 



The muhijlora is growing in the garden of a 

 lady at Lima. I shall (ry to get to you, for your 

 own and some other green-houses, a Chirimotja 

 tree. They may be kept at the size of a com- 

 mon peach free, and doubtless might be made 

 I spaliers. This fruit preserves its original In- 

 dian name, is the pride of this country, and may 

 well hf the envy of every other. It varies in 

 size from that of a man's fist to that of his head, 

 most commonly near the latter. Its taste is that 

 of the richest strawberries, the freshest cream, 

 and a slight addition of sugar. If the fruit of the 

 Chinmoya should not ripc^n, the flower is said 

 to possess the most exquisite fragrance. 



Yours, iic. 



ON RYE. 

 To the Editor of the New England Farfner, 



Sm, — If the following remarks on Rye should 

 meet your approbation, and should you think 

 their publication could in any degree be advan- 

 tageous to the community, you are at liberty to 

 insert them in your useful paper. 



Rye is a valuable grain, and when it flourish- 

 es well, is, perhaps, as profitable a crop as the 

 farmer can raise. It makes excellent bread, 

 for family use, and in some instances produces 

 flour of a quality little inferiour to that made 

 from wheat. When mixed with other grain 

 it answers a valuable purpose in fattening hogs. 



For family use I think it to be at least worth 

 a third more than corn, if we go upon the prin- 

 ciple of economy, and I have even heard it as- 

 serted by some careful observers, that a bushel 

 of rye alone would do as much service in a fam- 

 ily as would the same quantity with half a bush- 

 el of corn mixed with it. 



Rye flourishes well in many parts of our 

 country if there be proper management in its 

 cultivation. It generally grows best on newly 

 cleared land, but frequently does extremel\ 

 well on old ground, or that which has been im- 

 proved many years if it be properly prepared. 

 To raise rye on newly cleared land, it is neces- 

 sary that it be well burnt over, and thoroughly 

 cleared off, which should be done in .lune, and 

 the ground immediately ploughed. About the 

 last of August or the beginning of September, 

 it should be cross-ploughed, then smoothed down 

 with a harrow, and the rye sowed and again 

 well harrowed. New land that is free from 

 sward and under brush, will often produce -i 

 good crop of rye without being ploughed s.i 

 much as once. In this case it is necessary In 

 give it a double, harrowing, in order that it 



may be thoroughly worked up and rendered 

 mellow and pliable. The same process, as it 

 regards ploughing and harrowing, should be 

 pursued with old or improved land as with 

 that which is new and unimproved, excepting 

 that it should sonvetimes be ploughed deeper, 

 and more severely combed with the harrow. 



One bushel of rye is a sufficient quanlily to 

 be sowed on an acre, if the ground be new or if 

 the soil be of a rich and loamy kind. 



Land of a poorer kind, or that, the strength 

 of which is in a measure exhausted by frequent 

 tillage and hard usage, requires more seed. In 

 this case five pecks would not be too large a 

 quantity for an acre, and in some instances six 

 pecks might not be too much.* 



When rye is sown early, which ever ought 

 to be the case, it is often necessary to feed if 

 down in the fall, as it will be more likely to get 

 through the wfnter safe and sound, than it other- 

 wise would. 



It is not injurious but generally beneficial to 

 turn sheep on rye in the spring and let them 

 feed it down as close as they will, unless the 

 ground be very soft, so that the roots may be 

 exposed to injury by being trodden up. 1 have 

 known sheep kept on rye until nearly or quite 

 the first of May, and so completely gnawed it 

 down that nothing but the roots seemingly re- 

 mained, and then spring up and produce a luxu- 

 riant crop. 



Rye should be cut before the straw becomes 

 thoroughly dry or the kernel quite hard, when, 

 if properly cured, it will produce more and 

 better flour than it would do were it suffered to 

 stand until it becomes entirely dead and dry. 



Massachusetts, Aug. 1824. BUSHROD. 



* The quantity of rye sown for seed depends, in 

 some Jegr«e, on the time of the year in which it is 

 sown. If winter rye is sown early in the fall, a bush- 

 el to the acre is said to be sufficient. If sowed in the 

 spring, a bushel and a half is about the right quanti- 

 ty. The quality of the soil, however, should be 

 taken into consideration, as well observed by our cor- 

 respondent. The poorer the soil, other things equal, 

 the greater the quantity of seed. — Ed. N.E. Farmer. 



NEW MODES OF FARMING. 

 To the Editor of the New England Farmer, 



Sir, — I also will show my opinion, which is 

 that our mode of farming is the best. Our 

 farms, generally, contain from one hundred to 

 four hundred acres each, comprising different 

 kinds of soil, which I suppose would be called by 

 many well worn. Yet we raise what are called 

 pretty crops ; say from 5 to 15 bushels of corn, 

 from 3 to 12 bushels oats, from 'T to 14 bushels 

 uf rye, from 50 to 100 bushels of potatoes, and 

 from 75 to 100 lbs. of flax to an acre ; and al- 

 ihnugh (if we would renounce our agricultural 

 superstition) we might raise treble the quanti- 

 ty, yet 1 think it best to join with the apostle in 

 saymg, '■'■ with what we have let us be content.''^ 

 Some of the more credulous kinds of people 

 advise us to improve our land in every possible 

 way, and thereby rear great crops, and apply 

 a portion to charitable uses, especially to the 



