NEW ENGLAND FARMEM. 



Published by JOHN B. RUSSF.I Ji. a t the corner of Conyresg and Lindall Stre et?, (Six doors from the Post Office') Boston.— THOMAS O. FF.SSENDEN, EnnoR 



VOL.111. , ' 



FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 182.0. 



No. 48. 



_ORxaxKAi. cozanxvirxcATXON^ 



FOR THE NeW ENGLAND FARMER. 



CUTTING OF BUSHES. 

 I see With regret, in mnny pnrls of the coun- 

 try, pastures overspro.id with ;\ noxious growth 

 of shrubbery and weeds which destroy half^and 

 sometimes the whole of the feed. 



This evidently shows bad husbandry; when I 

 see such a pasture, 1 say to myself, the owner 

 " does not work it liglit.'' Perliaps lie may ex- 

 cuse his neglect by saying he lias not time to 

 clear his fields; but I suspect the real truth to 

 be, that he docs not believe that his brakes, 

 briars, hard hack, and hushes can be subdued. 

 If he believed that they ccflild be subdueil with 

 any moderate share of labor, 1 am sure he would 

 not be so unwise as to sufier them longer to in- 

 fest liis fields. I liavo often heard farmers se- 

 riously assert that certain Liruls of bushes could 

 not be killed exccjit by estiipating the mwith the 

 plough or other means. Cut it is a principle 

 that 1 have adopted in my husbandry, that there 

 is no vegetable, but what may be killed by a (en 

 cuttings at the proper season. I s;ty at the proper 

 season, for I believe you might cut Ibcin twe.ity 

 years in succession, at some seasons of the year 

 without materially injuring them. For instance, 

 the repeated croppings of an asparagus bed in 

 the spring, are far less injurious than a single 

 cutting when the plant has attained its full 

 growth. 



That all vegetables may be siibdued by re- 

 ye;Ued cuttings, is a position that does not rest- 

 on mere theory, but is supported by innunicra- 

 i)le facts; and moie than twenty years' experi- 

 ence has removed every doubt about it from my 

 ipind. I own a farm, which tea years ago, seem- 

 ed to liave inherited a double share oftiie cur.s- 

 cs of the apostacy, for it was all overgrown with 

 brakes, thistles and sweet ferns. But I have 

 now almost entirely destroyed them, and at an 

 expense, too, very moderate compared with the 

 benefits resulting. 



The sprouts from oak, chesnut, maple and 

 otiier forest trees are easily subdued in pastures 

 newly cleared ; for cattle, and especially sheep, 

 keep them so closely cropped that they will die 

 in one or two years. Now, 1 believe that any 

 other vegetable, if kept as closely cropped, 

 would die as soon. But hard-hack, brakes, this 

 ties and sweet ferns, sheep and cattle will not 

 eat ; therefore we have no way left to subdue 

 them but by the use of the scythe. 



But the whole success of this business depends 

 on applying the cuttings at the proper season; 

 and in order to determine the proper season, 

 the farmer should understand something about 

 the vegetable economy. 



The growth of the vegetable ia summer, ex- 

 hausts the resources of the root ; and the great- 

 est exhaustion is when the top has arrived at 

 full perfection, and before it begins to decay. 

 When the stalk be.gins to decay, it pays tribute 

 to the root, and returns a portion of w hat it has 

 received, so as to replenish the source hoia 

 which the future vegetation is to spring. 



If this he the economy of vegetables, we learn 

 the proper season for cutting. If we wish to 

 preserve the root for future growth, we must 

 cut in the winter or spring, w.hcn the resources 

 of the plant are colteciod in the root. 



If we would destroy the plant and prcvcii' 

 future growth, v/e must cut ivhen the root ii 

 most exhausted. This is generally just before 

 the fruit ripens, for after ripeniMg the leaves 

 i;egin to turn of a russet colour and drop off. 



Trees that are cut in the winter and spring, 

 liirov,' up a very vigoroiis growth of young 

 shoots, but those that are cut in the fall eilher 

 put forth no shoot at all, or tliose that are weak 

 and feeble. 



Vv'eeds, brakes and tiiis'les, must be cut at 

 diilerent seasons according to the maturing of 

 the plant. They should always be cut after the 

 blossoming and just before the fruit is ripe 

 enough to vegetate. The Canada ihisllc, which 

 will flourish for years ami;!st the culture of the 

 plough and the hop, may be efVectually subdued 

 by two or three mowings at the season above 

 named. Some say that they must be mowed in 

 a rain, that the water may fill the stalk and kill 

 ihe root. 1 cannot say, but that this may be the 

 best season ; but 1 can say that from rejjcilrd 

 experi.iients, two or three cuttings in fair weath- 

 er are effectual. 



The hog-brake is very abundant in some part-; 

 of the country, and is perhaps the most dif^cull 

 of all plants to be subdued. It is diilicult to de- 

 termine the proper season for cnlting. The 

 seeds are very minute brown ['articles arranged 

 in parallel rows on the under edge of the leal', 

 which when ripe fall from the leaf in a fine dust. 

 This is generally supposed to be nothing more 

 than a kind of rust, such as that which forms on 

 grain; but it is in fact the seed, and affords a 

 sure indication of the proper Si^ason to cut the 

 plant. The plant should be cut just before the 

 seed begin to turn of a brown colour, or the 

 leaf to grow spotted and yellow. This is in the 

 latter part of June, or the first of July. After 

 cutting there will a second growth come up, 

 which should be cut at the proper season, which 

 will generally be sometime in August. And the 

 brake should always be cut so low as to take the 

 whole leaf, for if a part of the leaf is left, the 

 stalk will Bot die. 



I have a pasture of twenty acres, which four 

 years ago was so overrun with a luxuriant 

 growth of brakes and sweet ferns, that a flock ol' 

 sheep could he seen in it but a little distance. 

 I mowed it the first year but once ; the second 

 and third years I mowed it twice ; and there are 

 now but a very few brakes and sweet ferns left, 

 and these of a stinted growth. Where the 

 brakes grew thick as a field of grain two and an 

 half feet high, they are not now more than six 

 or eight inches. Another mowing or two will 

 probably completely destroy them. 



Perhaps it will be said, that so many cuttings 

 are too expensive. That five cuttings have cost 

 more than the benefits resulting. But let us es- 

 timate the expeuse and compare it with the ad- 

 vantage. 



The first cutting cost, per acre, 

 The two cuttings (he second year, 



Qb cents each . . . 



The two cuttings (he third year, 



17 ccnlf, each 



$0.50 

 0.50 



0.3! 



$1.34 



The whole expense has not exceeded $\.oi 

 cents per acre. The land cost me gl2 per acre 

 It now yields more than double what it did when 

 1 bought it. or what it could have yielded if the 

 brakes were s!anding ; 134 cents in clearing has . 

 increased Ihe value of my land 12 dollars per 

 acre, if ive judge of tlie value by the produce, 

 and the increased produce of a single year will 

 nearly or quite cover fiie whole expense. 



Now let the farmer look at this, Jind count 

 the cost of clearing his own pastures. If he is 

 too poor to clear them, he is certainly too poor 

 to let them lie uncleared, lie will find that 

 whatever expenses he incurs, will soon be re- 

 paid by the increased [iroduce of his fields, and 

 repaid with interest too. 



One secret of subduing the noxious growth of 

 our pastures i=, — not to feeti them loo close. If 

 ihcy are overstocked, the grass and cverythinsr 

 that the callle will eat, will he kept down ; and 

 this will give ihe plants, that they do not cat, <i 

 double cliancc to grow.- -The brake, for instance, 

 will shoot uj) in a close fed pasture much more 

 abundantly, than if it were covered with a lux. 

 uriant growth of grass. It is said, that they may 

 be destroyed by manuring highly. The reason 

 probably is, tli-;t the grass springing before the 

 brake, covers tJVs ground with so thick a coat, 

 (hat it prevents its groivlh. ! once atteniptecl 

 to subdue the brake by close feeding, but 1 

 found 1 sbou!<i injure my c;!ttle by starvation, 

 more than I should benefit tiiy pasture; and de- 

 sisted without going through with the experi- 

 ment. I think, however, if a pasture were so 

 closely fed fur a year or two, that the callle 

 would take every brake in its fonder state as it 

 comes up, it would effectually subdue them. In 

 this I am confirmed by the fact that 1 have sel- 

 dom seen the brake growing in highways where 

 they were closely fed. But even should this 

 method be effectual, still 1 think the better way 

 would be not to feed close and to mow as I have 

 recommended. A. 



Extract from an Address delivered before the Phila- 

 delphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, at its last 

 annual meeting, by 



ROBERTS VAUX. 



Introduction of Gypsum and Red Clover, and their 

 hnporlant bearing on tlie agricultural prosperity 

 of modern Pennsylvania. 



The use of lime and gypsum, as fertilizers of 

 the ground, the introduction of clover, and the 

 rotation of crops, constitute the happy causes 

 which gave the first grand impulse to the agri- 

 cultural prosperity of modern Pennsylvania. 



Nothing, perhaps, requires more persever- 

 ance than the efibrt to overcome the injudicious 

 habits of men in connexion with the chief secu- 

 lar pursuit of their lives. This remark has 

 heretofore applied with peculiar force to the 



