NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



171 



15y J. S. Skinner — Gen. Van Ransellr.ar : His heart 

 loads aud his moana freely follow, "in the ways of pub- 

 lic usefulness. 



The following wa? offsrrd as the parting toast by Pr 

 Grafton Duval, of Frederick — Speed l/ie I'lough. 



The company then separnled vvitli a e;encral 

 sentiment of g:ralirication and good wishes for 

 the success of tiie Society. 



From the American Farmer. 



ON THF. F.rriC.VCV OF CERTAIN STEEPS, TO PRESERVE 

 WHEAT FRO.M THE FLY AND SMUT. 



r«i7;f.v Totrn, (J»/rf.) Ju!;/ 5, 1824. 



Mr Skinner, — Some time provioiia (o last fall 

 seeding time, 1 read in a newspaper (I think it 

 was not in the American Farnior) an account, 

 slating witk preat conliHoiice, that tiie eggs of 

 tiie Hefsian fl_v were deposilod in tlie grains of 

 uheat, whilst in the e.-r. — that they could he 

 liiere distinguished with a mirrnscnpe, &ic. and 

 that the application of quiciv lime to the seed 

 wheat would eiTecfually destroy them. This 

 statement was corroborated by a gentleman from I 

 Germany, who assured mo that the practice was 

 common there, and that it had the desired effect. 

 The thing seemed reasonahle, and I set about 

 the proof, I assure you, with great confidence 

 of success. I steeped my wheat, not in mere 

 water, hut in water in which rich hog manure 

 had been mixed for a considerable time — I then 

 slacked the lime completely, and whilst yet tol- 

 erably warm, mixed the wet wheal and it to- 

 gether, by frequent turnings on the floor. Yon 

 may therefore perceive that I not only calculat- 

 ed on destroying the eggs of the fly, hut on stim- 

 ulating the wheat to a quick and vigorous 

 growth, by the «id of the hog manure. 1 com- 

 menced sowing on the 11th of October, and fin- 

 ished in all that month, about 82 bushels in 7 

 different lots ; you will observe it was late — of 

 course the grain made but little progress till the 

 Spring. About the Istof May, 1 thought it look- 

 ed well, but shortly after, 1 perceived a change 

 for the worse ; this led to an investigation, when 

 it appeared that the enemy had made an allack, 

 and was fast prevailing — in fact, not one of the 

 7 lots escaped, though in different fields, and 1 

 never experienced or witnessed so much damage 

 from the depredations of the fly. You are "to 

 observe, that in most of those different lots, I 

 sowed a small portion of the seed without lim- 

 ing, but could not discover, that in any instance 

 they had respected my prohibition by lime. 



I feel a reluctance in writing for public in- 

 spection, and 1 believe F should have been so far 

 remiss in my duty to the puhlick, as to have 

 withheld this information, had 1 not seen in your 

 paper. No. 11 of the current volume, a state- 

 ment dated at Albany, May 15lh, signed J. Buel, 

 who seems satisfied that liming wheat has the 

 effect of comfdetely protecting the crop from the 

 tly. 



Do not conceive, Mr Skinner, that I question 

 Mr Boel's veracity; my object is to shew, that 

 in all cases, the same cause will not produce the 

 same effect, and I truly regret that the result of 

 my experiment was not as favourable as those 

 made by Mr BiELand his friends; perhaps they 

 had a belter' method of applying the lime to the 

 wheat. 1 have slated my practice ; if it was 

 injudicious, I shall be thankful for such inform- 

 ation as will put me in the right way. 



C. BIRNIE. 



[The above letter was placed in the hands of 

 Mr Buel himself, and independently of his con- 

 nexion with the case in question, it could not be 

 in better hands. It was returned by him, with 

 the following remarks:] 



Mr Ski.nner, — The result of the experiment 

 of Mr Birnie, in liming wheat as a preventive of 

 the ravages of the Hessian fly, whose commu- 

 nication to you I have attentively read, seems 

 to render questionable a fact, which I thought 

 well established, and from which I anticipated 

 great public benefit. 



My conclusions were formed, not so much 

 from critical and personal observation, as iVnm 

 the corroborative testimony of gentlemen of 

 more practical knowledge ; and their opinions 

 appeared to he confirmed by the result of my 

 practice. Except in two instances, I have al- 

 ways steeped my seed wheat in a pickle made 

 with salt, and dried it previous to sowing, with 

 slacked lime ; and, except in the two instances 

 where the steep and lime were omitted, I have 

 never suffered by the insect, nor from smut. In 

 the first case noted, falling short of steeped seed 

 to sow my land prepared for winter wheat, I fin- 

 ished with dry seed. From the seed steeped, 1 

 did not see a smutty head ; while from the dry 

 seed, about one-tenth was smutty. In the other 

 instance, the crop was spring-wheat, which was 

 sown without being steeped or limed. The fly 

 appeared in it early in June. I sowed 2 bushels 

 of slacked lime, while the dew »vas on the grain, 

 on one acre, and left the residue to its fate. The 

 limed part gave a good crop, while the residue 

 was but half a crop. 



With these facts before me, a communication 

 in the Farmer first led me to believe that the tiy 

 is propagated in wheal fields, by the eggs of the 

 insect being sown with the grain, and that im- 

 pregnating the grain with quick lime would de- 

 stroy these ovae The observations of Geo. B. 

 Evertson, Esq. of Ponghkeepsie, who watched 

 the insect through all its changes — who suffered 

 greatly from its ravages — and who got rid of the 

 evil by stooping in pickle and liming, tended to 

 strengthen that belief — and the experiments ot 

 Col. Armstrong, and others, finally cnufirmed it. 

 Whether the hog manure employed by Mr 

 Birnie in his steep, rendered the lime inopera- 

 tive ; whether salt is the real antidote, or whe- 

 ther the insect was propagated upon some other 

 plant growing in his fields, which may afford it 

 a habitation and food, 1 am unable to decide. — 

 And although 1 attach full credit to his state- 

 ment, I must retain my former opinion, as to the 

 efficacy of lime, or salt, until Ihe weight of tes- 

 timony preponderates the other way. At all 

 events, reiterated experiments will show its truth 

 or its fallacy. And its importance to wheat 

 growers ind'vjces me to hope that they will be 

 mnde. Yours, truly, J. BUEL. 



Fine Arts. — An extract of a letter from a gentle- 

 man in Boston to his correspondent in New-York, 

 says, " .'Vlston has sold his picture of Elijah to one of 

 the members of Parliajient who are fravellinj in this 

 coinitry, for $1300. Something extraordinary this 

 for English amateurs to buy American painting's to 

 carry to London. It goes to England in the spring. 

 His great picture of Bc/jATjrsnr'j fcas<, on which he 

 has been some years employed, will be exhibited next 

 month. A". Y. Ev. Post. 



1)11 TERENT KI^'DS ()(•' EXERCISi:. 



Exercise may bo diviilod into two kind!=, viz. 

 the active and the passive. Of the former kind 

 are walking, running, leaping, riding, swimming, 

 &c. Of Ihe latter are riding in a carriage, &,c. 



The more active kinds of exercise are best 

 adapted In youth, to those of a middle age, and 

 particularly to the corpulent, and those whose 

 evacuations sire not in due proportion to Ihe 

 quantity of food and drink. The passive kinds 

 of exercise, on Ike contrary, arc better suited 

 to infants, to persotis advanced far in years, to 

 Ihe delicate and weak, and especially the asth- 

 matic and consumptive. 



For preserving health there is no kind of ex- 

 ercise more pro[ier than wallcing,^^ it gives the 

 most general action to the muscles of the body, 

 but for valetudinarians, riihng on horseback is 

 preferable. It is almost incredible how much 

 Ihe constitution may be strengthened by this 

 exercise, when continued for a considerable 

 time ; not so much in the fashionable way of a 

 morning ride, but of making long journeys, in 

 which there is the farther advantage of a per- 

 petual change of aip. Many people reduced to 

 a state of great weakness, have, by this means, 

 acquired a degree of vigour and health, which 

 all the medical prescriptions in the world could 

 not otherwise have procured. But, it is of im- 

 portance, in travelling for health, that one should 

 not employ his mind in deep reflections, but en- 

 joy Ihe company of an agreeable com[)anion, 

 and gratify his sight with the prospect of the va- 

 rious objects around him. In this exercise, as 

 well as in every other, we ought always to be- 

 gin gently, and to finish gradually, never ab- 

 ruptly. 



general RVIMS FOn PRESERVING LIFE AND HEALTH. 



1. Rise early, and never sit up late. 



2. Wash the whole body every morning with 

 cold water, by means of a large sponge, and 

 rub It dry with a rough towel, or scrub the 

 whole body for ten or fit'leen minutes with 

 flesh brushes. 



3 Drink water generally, and aToid escess 

 of spirits, wine, and fermented liquois. 



4. Keep the body open by Ihe free use of the 

 syringe, and remove superiour obstruolions by 

 aperient pills. 



5. Sleep in a room which has free access to 

 open air. 



G. Keep Ihe head cool by washing it wheo 

 necessarv, with cold water, and abate feverish 

 and inflammatory symptoms when they arise, 

 by persevering stillness. 



7. Correct symptoms of plethora and indiges- 

 tion by eating and drinking less per diem for a 

 few days. 



8. Never eat a hearty supper, especially of 

 animal food ; and drink wine, spirits, and beer, 

 if these are necessary, only after dinner. 



TO GLEAN GLASS VESSELS. 



Roll up in small pieces some whifed-browa 

 or blotting-paper ; then wet and soap the same j 

 put them into the vessel with a little luke-warm 

 water ; shake them well for a few minutes ; — 

 rinse the glass with clean water, and it will be 

 as bright and clear as when new from the shops. 



