372 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[June 17, 



Ftoidi the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository. 



MEMOIR? OF THE PENNSVr.VANIA AGRICULTURAL SO- 

 CIETY. 



A very interesting little volume iinHer this 

 title, 1ms been published by the intellis;ent, in- 

 defatigable and manly editor of the American 

 Farmer. It seems that the Pennsylvania Agri- 

 cultural Society sent to Mr Skinner such com- 

 munications as they had received, and wljicli 

 they deemfid worthy of [lublication, which he 

 has accordins:ly [lublished They are plain and 

 practical. The book is beautifully piinled, and 

 the plates are superior to any thing of the sort 

 in any agricultural work. They must have been 

 expensive. It is not out purpose to review this 

 work in the modern style ofreviews, which is 

 to insert the title page, and then to proceed to 

 a dissertation, in which nothing or very little is 

 said of the work itself. Our purjio-^c is to re- 

 commend it to the notice of the reading class of 

 far.ners, by extracts, not so copious as to injure 

 the sale of the work, but just enough to enable 

 our readers to appreciate its merits. We make 

 no apology for preferring these extracts to orig- 

 inal matter. We hold very cheap tint ridicu- 

 lous jealousy of the editors of public journals, 

 which leads them to reject an excellent article, 

 which has a[ipeared in another work, and to 

 insert one mnch inferior. The object of all 

 printed works should be the diffusion ofknowl- 

 edge, and that object should not be defeated by 

 pride or jealousy. If Maryland or Pennsylvania 

 should furnish sounder remarks than Massachu- 

 setts, there is no reason why the readers in 

 Massachusetts should not see them. 



The only objection which could be urged 

 against such re-publicatinns might be, that bv 

 such a course our journals would become mere 

 echoes of each other, and that readers would 

 thus pay twice over for the same matter. But 

 this objection docs not apply to our extensive 

 country, and to works on agriculture. Their 

 circulation is necessarily limited, far too limited, 

 much more so than it ought to be, and, than, we 

 fondly hope, it will hereafter he. Take the 

 work in question as an e.xnmple. It is not prob- 

 able, that it will reach more than one in twenty 

 of the subscribers to the Massachusetts Agricul- 

 tural Repository. 



That we have not borrowed more extensive- 

 ly from the American Farmer, ediled by Mr 

 Skinner, has been owing not to any jealous feel- 

 ings, but because the subjects of the articles in 

 that valuable paper are more adapted to the mid- 

 dle and southern states, than to our own. Some 

 articles of culture, the tobacco and the vine, 

 have no interest, and can have no application 

 (0 the eastern stales ; and even as to those wiiich 

 pre common to us bnlh, there is such a differ- 

 ence of climate, of soil, of extent of farms, of 

 value of labour, of the means by which that la- 

 bour is performed, to wit, by oxen or horses, 

 that very few of the articles could be read with- 

 out much allow.itice for these diflerr nces, which 

 are not entirely understood by the New England 

 iarmers. 



Tlle^e ohjcctinns do not, liowever, apiilv »vith 

 so much force to the remai-ks of Pennsylvania 

 farmers: thouiih their great staple, wheal, is 

 not generally cultivated here, yet it is cullivat- 

 -ed to a very considerable extent; and as to all 

 •ilber ai tides, our culture is very similar. Dif- 

 f'.rences, and important ones, unquestionably 



there are. Milder winters, deeper soil, longer 

 seasons, render the rules applicable to the cul- 

 tivation of Pennsylvania, not directly and rigor- 

 ously applicable to Massachusetts, New Hamp- 

 shire, Vermont, and Maine. 



Still they may afford us much and valuable 

 instruction ; and as they are, on the whole, at 

 least our equals, and in many important respects 

 our superiors, we ought to seek information 

 from them — ha[>py, it we learn something new, 

 sure to gain if our own practices and opinions 

 are supported by theirs. 



GARLIC. 

 The medical pro])erlies of garlic are various. 

 In dropsical complaints, asthmas, and agues, it is 

 said to have been successfully used. Some in- 

 stances have occurred, in deafness, of the bene- 

 ficial effects of wrapping a clove of garlic in 

 muslin and putting it into the ear. .\s a medi- 

 cine, internally taken, it is usually administered 

 [ as a bolus, or made into pills. Its smell is con- 

 sidered an infallible remedy against vapours, and 

 as useful in nearly all the nervous disorders to 

 which lem.iles are subject. An oil is sometimes 

 prepareil from garlic which is so heavy as to 

 sink in water; but the virtues of this pungent 

 vegetable are more perfectly and more readily 

 extracted by spirit of wine than in any other 

 way. A syrup also is made from it. 



The juice of garlic is said to be the best and 

 strongest cement that can be adopted for broken 

 glass and china, leaving little or no mark, if used 

 with care. Snails, worms, and the grubs or lar- 

 vae of insects, as well as moles and other vermin 

 may all be driven away by placing preparations 

 of garlic in or near their haunts." — Domestic 

 F.nct/rlopedia. 



FLEAS. 



Want of cleanliness remarkably contributes 

 to the generation of fleas; as the females de- 

 posit their eggs, each from twenty to thirty. 

 in damp and filthy places, within the crevices 

 of boards, on rubbish, iic. whence they emerge 

 in the course of sis or eight days, in the form 

 ofgreasy whitish m.'iggols. When a fortnight 

 old, they envelope themselves in a small chry- 

 salis, from which they sally forth, after ten days' 

 existence, in the form of fleas. In the winler, 

 these different transformations require a period 

 of six weeks, but in summer only a month. — 

 They probably do not live longer than one year; 

 though it is said, that fleas liave been kept in 

 little golden chains for six years. As they are 

 able to draw a weight eighty times greater than 

 that of their own bodies, some frivolous persons 

 have occasionally kept Ihcm harnessed to minia- 

 ture carriages, iic. Lea;)ing also is a singular 

 pruof of tlieir muscular strength ; as, by press- 

 ing the belly downwards, expanding their legs, 

 and then suddenly contracting ihem, these crea- 

 tures dart forward to a distance of 10 or 12 inches. 



Children and females are remarkably liable 

 to the attacks of this little einemy ; a circum- 

 stance which must be attributed to their more 

 tender skin, their purer blood, longer clothes, 

 and, in some individuals, jierhaps, to a [lecu- 

 liar state of perspiration. Cleanliness, and fre- 

 quent si)riiikling of the room with a simple 

 decoction of wormwood or sassafras, will sonn 

 extirpate the whole breed of these troublesome 



vermin ; and the best remedy to expel them 

 from bed-clothes, is a bag filled with dry moss, 

 the odour of which is to them extremely offen- 

 sive. Others cover the floors of the rooms 

 where fleas abound, with the leaves of the al- 

 der tree, while the dew is on the foliage, to 

 which these insects fondly adhere, and thus 

 may be easily destroyed. Fumigation with the 

 leaves of pennyroyal, or the fresh-gathered 

 foliage of that plant, sewed up in a bag, and 

 laid in the bed, are also remedies pointed out 

 tor the expulsion offleas. [Sjirinkle with Cam- 

 phorated whiskey or other ardent spirit. — T. C] 

 Dogs and cats may be effectually secured 

 from the persecutions of these vermin, by oc- 

 casionally anointing their skin with sweet oil. 

 [The fleas and lice of poultry are destroyed by 

 decoctions of sassafras wood. — T. C.]--ihicl. 



MERINO RAM. 



On Wednesday last Mr. Wedsworth AVads- 

 worlh of Durham, exhibited in this city, his 

 celebrated Merino Ram. This remarkable ani- 

 mal is only six years old — weighs 140 lbs. has 

 never been sheared, and pn.s»esses the peculiar- 

 characteristic of the merino breed, of never 

 shedding its wool. The length of his fleece, by 

 actual measurement is 17 inches, and its weight 

 estimated by competent judges, from 20 to -10 lbs. 

 For fineness of texture, length of staple, and 

 be.iuly of appearance, it is believed it has nev- 

 er been surpassed by any single fleece in the 

 country. Thi'. animal enjoys perfect health, 

 and it is said does not suffer from the changes or 

 extremes of climate. He obtained the premium 

 in this County three years ago. The distin- 

 guished Agriculturist and friend of domestic im- 

 (irovement, who is the owner of this animal, and 

 has done so much to improve the breed of sheep 

 in this County, has been induced to rear it wiili- 

 )ut shearing, for the purpose of ascertaining 

 whether it would shed its wool or not. The 

 fxlraordinary length and weight of its fleece, 

 ■^ellles the question beyond controversy, and 

 proves the decided sujieriority of Merino, ove; 

 every other descrii)lion of sheep. 



Middteto-jsn Sent. 



From Ike A.iiierica7i F^irmer. 



AGRICULTU RAL CORRESPONDENCE. 



E.ttracts from letters addressed to W. M. B.arton 

 Esi}. yicc Prcsidcjit of the .'Igricnllural Society 

 cf the Vallcij, I'lt. by the Hon. Jesse Buei., of 

 Albany. 

 Dear Sir, Albany, JYov. 3, 1 822. 



" My turnips, which yon saw growing, ex- 

 ceeded my fondest hopes. The white and green 

 lops gave at the rate of 760 bushels the acre ; 

 and tfie ruta baga, sown broadcast upon a clover 

 lav, after the grass was mown, gave about 600 

 bushels. These roots were not so large, but 

 more fair, than those raised in drills. I had be- 

 tween six and seven acres, all a second crop. It 

 is the first experiment I have heard of raising 

 the Swedish as a second crop ; ami it succeed- 

 eil so well, tliat hereafter I intenil to raise them 

 altogether after clover. 



'• I think the culture of this root might tie 

 successfully introduced in the \'alle\' upon light 

 soils. You should not sow the flat kinds till 

 the lOlh or IGlh .August, nor the Swedes till a- 

 bout the 15lh or 20th of July. I think they 



