NEW ENGLAND FAMMER. 



PUBLlbllKl) I;V JOHN IS. IKJSSKl.L, )UK;KRS- liLll.lMKGS, CONGRIISS SI rvKKT, BO-ilON'.— THOMAS G. FKS.SI.aDEN. 1:diTOR. 



VOL. in. 



FRIDAY, OCTOBER l.-j. 1821. 



No. 12. 



©rtflCnnl CommuntcBttons. 



TO THE E3IT0R 01' THE KEW ENGLAND FARJIEK. 



MrFrssENDCx. — Tn yonr ISTew England Farmer 

 of this tnorning', I find von have not communica- 

 ted the idea ! meant to convoy in onr conversa- 

 tion on the snbji'ct ol" a dclVct in the common 

 harroivf. Fur six years pa*l, ! have used har- 

 rows ivith the second tooth on the rii^rh side in- 

 serted in the hrace. or liar, uhcre tlie line of 

 its work intersecls it; in the loHowinii manner : 



With great respect, yours, &,c. 

 Dorchester, Sept. 10, 1824. "j. MEARS. 



[We have heeriobliged to defer the dove plate aftw 

 tKekt, on MCOWU of the indisj>osilion of our tji^jroSar.] 



RAISING OF ONIONS. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ENGLAND TARKER. 



Dear Sib, — In a late Farmer, your ex'-eliem 

 correspondent, Mr Preston, wished some gentle- 

 man to answer questions there proposed by hmi, 

 respecting the raising of ouioiis. As 1 have cul- 

 tivated them for many yeairs, I communicate D)j 

 own method. 



1. " fVhat is the best kind of soil or manure for 

 tkeir gro-diith .'" 



The soil ought to be a deep black loam, thai 

 will crumble fine when the plough passes thro'' 

 it; such as is easily rake<l smooth and pulveris 

 ed. A heavy, clammy soil, that adheres togeth- 

 er when both wet and dry — a dry, cbiyey, or a 

 san-Jy soil will not answer. 1 know of uo vege- 

 table that is so difficult to please, with a soil, as 

 the onion — though they will grow well, yet thej 

 will not ripen, but hold green throughout the 

 fall, and mary of them will be what are gener 

 nlly known by the name of scullions, with the 

 neck stiff and green; whereas those on suitable 

 ground are ripe and dry, by the 1st of Septem- 

 ber. Rotten stable manure, made in the win- 

 ter, preceding the spring in which it is put on 

 the land, is generally made use of; to be spread 

 on the ground and ploughed in. I have a piece 

 of land four rods square, on which onions have 

 ueen rsissd, I suppose, these eighty years ; aod 

 siace / have improved it, I have yearly spread 



upon it five cart-loads of manure, such as are 

 nsnaily drawn by one pair of oxen — and have 

 raisetl from fiur to scvr.n hundred bunches of on- 

 ions upon it, at 3.^ lbs to the buuch, of which 

 about sixteen make a bushel. 



2. " What time of the season is best to put the 

 seed ill the ground .•"' 



As soon as (he frost is out of the ground, and 

 ! it is sulTicicnlly dry to be vvorked. I have fre- 

 t quendy ph;nled lliem in the latter part of March, 

 but more frequently in the first days of Apiil. 



3. " In ■jxliat manner unll the same piece of 

 ground produce the most — in hills or broad cast ?'"' 



I have always planted them in hills, which is 

 the general practice in Concord. My method of 

 \ preparing the ground and planting the seed, is, 

 I F(cs(', carry on the manure and spread it as even 

 I as possible ; when the ground is to be ploughed 

 deep, then let the plat be divided into beds, a- 

 bout three I'eet nine inches wide ; to do which, 

 I the easier way is, to stretch a line across, lining 

 ' one bed at a time; after this, let a man with a 

 .shovel or a pofatoe hoe, make an alley through 

 the whole piece, to separate the beds, alionl 

 four inches deep, and sutTiciently wide to 

 ad.'jiit a person to walk in it. Then let the 

 lumps be berst fine, levelling the ground and 

 shaping the beds ; which, after being raked 

 smooth, must be divided into squares of 8 or 9 

 inches. This is best done by a line, or it is suf- 

 ficiently exact to draw a heavy rope backward 

 and forward. Now let the seeds, C or 7 in a hill, 

 more or less, be dropped into the corners of the 

 squares, and covered with mould, about half an 

 inch deep, pressed down witli the hand. M.my 

 persons make their beds, in width, 20 or 25 feet : 

 but I think narrow beds are more easily weeded 

 and kept clean, and the onions are not so liable 

 to be trod on. 



-1. " What is the best mode of preserving a quan- 

 tity through the Tuinter ?'■' 



Hang them in bunches, in a dry cellar, that is 

 free from frost, aid as i'lr from the bottom of 

 lire cellar as possible. Yours, truly. 



Concord, Oct. 9, 1824. TH. HUBBARD. 



TO THE EDITOR OF TnE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Paris, {Me.) Oct. 8, 1824. 

 Dear Sir, — I have been making- an excursion 

 of a tew days on the high lands of Oxford county. 

 This, the shire town, exhibits many fine farms, 

 ivhere the axe, but about thirty years since, 

 first wounded the forest. I trust it will not be 

 considered invidious particularly to notice the 

 farms of the Robinsons, if any symptoms of tlie 

 Oliio fever are yet lurkino- in any of the restless 

 sons of Maine, I trust a single view; here would 

 (harm away the pain. It is to be regretted that 

 :!iany of the first settlers brought the opinion 

 with them, that the apple would not thrive in 

 Maine. It has already become one of the best 

 apple-bearing states, and aflords decidedly the 

 liest cider in the Union. The orchards of these 

 farmers yield most of the choicest fruits we find 

 in the vicinity of Boston, generally larger and 

 fairer, and I believe equal in flavour. In the 



late very heavy blow, (hat m.iy truly pa«s for a 

 line gale, many frees liave parted with their 

 loaded limbs. I found all the breaking wa«, 

 where the ill-timed pruning- knife hail been i!se<t. 

 It may may be asked, — can the knife do harm, 

 where the tree bears so well? ( an-iwor, — 

 neighbouring frees, that exhil'il llieir r.pples 

 like strings of onions, and not pruned, are uiiin, 

 iur('<I. I^ie bloiv has taken off a very great 

 portion oPlhe besi winter fruit, that is consi^lc- 

 red noi pcrlVclly matured ; and a q^icie is a^ 

 broad, — what is the best metho 1 of preservintr 

 such fruit? .\ note from the Ediior of the New 

 England Farmer, I presume would gratify and 

 instruct many of your readers in this stale. 



Maine lias, unfortunately, hitherto imported 

 much of her bread-stuff and most of lier fruit. 

 A great portion of|j|fcer change has been sent 

 South and West for pari of her dinner, and all 

 her dessert. Tliey have almost lumbered them- 

 selves into starvation, and parted with their es- 

 tate piece-meal for their daily bread. Maine is 

 awakening to agriculture, and begins fo know 

 her own physical strength. The crops of wheat, 

 I presume, were never so great, — other grains 

 uniformly good, and corn, which has so long 

 stood betiveeu hope and fear, will be a middling 

 crop. 



Frost on l!ie ISIh, 23d, 21th, and 2.'5th, struck 

 Ihe low lauds. The strong northwardly winds 

 that prevailed through the nights of the last 

 week, prevented it from swee[)ing the high 

 lands; atvl as the rains, now falling, promise to 

 be iong cotMinued, probably the tender plants of 

 tbe !i:lis n);!^n"t be cut (pr some iime. The 

 longest time this messenger of winter hrfs de- 

 layed his comino' in this section of the country 

 was in 1810, when we felt the first severe frost 

 on the niorninsf of the 5th of October. The 

 White Hills of New Hampshire, in full view 

 where I am writing, put on their full winter garb 

 last week; though this morning thp evaporation 

 was so arreal, they looked like a range of coal- 

 pits. Virgil might have imagined, that Vulcan 

 had set every forge to work. 



I learn from various quarters, that beans are 

 much struck with rust,— that the crop will be 

 ordinary. It is a prevailing opinion, that beans 

 hoed when wet, are prone fo rust. What =;,ys 

 experience? Not recollecting any i;:.sertation 

 in your paper on the subject.^ \ am induced to 

 join inquiry, if this be Vne fact ; as beans may 

 be considered nr.c of the staples of this part of 

 the countiy. Beans often rust in years, when 

 w'.,&al and rye do not. 



In visiting Maj. Robinson's garden the other 

 day, I found one thing entirely new to me ; and 

 therefore am vain enough to suppose, it may be 

 useful to some farmers. He had taken out the 

 scullions from his onions, and laid them flat on 

 the ground. He pulled them five weeks since, 

 and he tells me they have been continually 

 growing and growing flatter, onion fashion, ever 

 since, — that at the proper time for housing, he 

 puts them into a chamber where fires are kept 

 below, — throws ou them and among them all the 

 dried pealing coats of the onion and dry husks 



