56 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEK. 



Jax. 1855. 



For the iS'etv England Farmer. 1 



MACHINE FOR PEELING WILLOW. | 

 Jkln. Bkown : — Those of your numerous readers 

 ■who are enjiaiied, or contemplate engaging in the 

 cultivation of the hasket willo>i\ will be pleased to 

 learn that there is a machine for peeling the wil- 

 low. Mr, Gkorge F. CoLiiV, of Jamesville, Vt., 

 the inventor, has had a machine made by which its 

 merits have been fully tesied ; and all who have 

 witnessed its operation, agree that it does the work 

 to perfection and with the greatest facility, and be- 

 lieve it to be one of the greatest labor saving ma- 

 chines of the age. This, 1 believe, is the first ma- 

 chine ever invented for the purpose, either in this 

 or the old country, and must add vastly to the cul- 

 tivation of the article in this country. Mr. C, who 

 has been successfully engaged in the cultivation of 

 the willow for several years, estimates the cost o( 

 peeling, in the ordinary way, at from S80 to $120 

 per acre, or at S40 per ton, while he claims that his 

 machine, which r('(|uiresbut one horse power, with 

 two men, will do the same work within at least 

 from two to three days, at the rate of one ton per 

 dav. j\Ir. C. has taken measures to secure a pitent. 

 Bolton, Vt., Dec, 1854. J. R. Jewell. 



The Connecticut Valley Farmer. — Prof. 

 J. A. Nash, of Amherst, has become the editor and 

 Proprietor of this paper, and we find its columns 

 filled with the well written and valuable facts so 

 familiar to the mind of the writer. The Valley 

 Farmer, under the care of Prof. Nash, will be the 

 medium of such intelligence as most of us need in 

 the operations of the farm. We wish it abundant 

 success. 



Postage. — Gentlemen writing the Agricultural 

 Editor on their ov,'n affairs, and requiring a reply, 

 will be kind enough to enclose a stamp for the re- 

 turn letter. 



PiiETTY Fine Cabbage.— W. C. Hoff, Esq., 

 has sent us from his fine gardens, at the Mission 

 Dolores, a very compact and finely grown Cab- 

 bage, of the Flat Dutch variety, weighing 32 1-2 

 lbs. If any of our cultivators can beat this, we 

 should like they would bring along their specimens. 

 — Calif ornia Farmer. 



Feed Liberally. — It is generally acknowl- 

 edged that cattle of any kind, when well fed and 

 looked after, repay much more fully the judicious 

 outlay incurred for their maintenance, than ill kept 

 animals repay the niggardly expenditure incurred 

 in keeping them alive. Profit is derived only fi-om 

 the excess above that which is absolutely necessa- 

 ry; the quanity of nourishment which just keeps 

 an animal alive, is to a certain extent lost. This 

 we say is generally acknowledged, but we are sor- 

 ry to say, not so generally practiced upon. — Rural 

 New Yorker. 



Generous Price for Fruit. — Two splendid 

 Oregon Pippins, weighing 2 1-2 and 2 1-4 lbs., and 

 one sy)lendid Pear, weighing 1 3-4 lbs., were sold by 

 Mr. AVeaver, at No. 1 Washington Street, at SflO 

 each. — California Fanner. 



Wintering Cabbage Plants. — Any method 

 simple and inexpensive, for preserving of autumn 

 sown cabbage plants through the winter, is a valu- 

 able consideration. "We know of none better 

 adopted for the great bulk of people, than the fol- 

 lowing, practiced to a considerable extent by mar- 

 ket gardeners, and in dry, sandy or upland soil, 

 with good success. 



THE ARGAN TREE. 



The following letter, descriptive of the Argan 

 tree, by the British Acting Vice Consul at Moga- 

 dore, will be read with interest. The tree is val- 

 uable in dry countries as furnishing what is there 

 much wanted, a supply of food for cattle in seasons 

 of drought. 



The Argan tree grows more or less throughout 

 the States of Western Barbary, but p.-incipally in 

 the province of Haha, and south of this town. 



The soil on which it is found is light, sandy, and 

 very stony. It is usually found upon the hills, 

 which are barren of all else, and where irrigation 

 is impossible. 



I should imagine, from the appearance of some 

 of the trees, that they are from one to two hun- 

 dred years old ; and a remarkably large one in 

 this neighborhood, I should say, is at least three 

 hundred. This tree measures round the trunk 

 twenty-six feet; at the height of three feet it 

 branches off, (one of them measures eleven feet 

 near the trunk ;) these branches rest upon the 

 ground about fifteen feet from the trunk, and 

 again ascend. The highest branch of this tree 

 is not more than sixteen to eighteen feet: the 

 outer branches extend to a circumference of 220 

 feet. This is the largest I am aware of. 



The system of propagation in this vicinity is 

 mostly by seed. When sowing, a little manure is 

 placed with it, and it is well watered until it shoots, 

 from which period it requires nothing further. It 

 bears fruit at from three to five years, which ripens 

 from May to August, (according to the situation 

 of the tree.) The roots extend to a great distance 

 under ground, and shoots make their appearance 

 at intervals, which are allowed to remain, thus 

 doing away with the necessity for transplanting 

 or sowing. As the fruit ripens, herds of goats, 

 sheep, and cows are taken out ; a man beats the 

 tree with a long pole, and the nuts fall and are 

 devoured voraciously by the cattle. In the even- 

 ing they are driven home, and when comfortably 

 settled in the yard they commence chewing the 

 cud and throw out the nuts, which are collected 

 each morning as soon as the cattle have departed 

 upon their daily excursion. I have heard it re- 

 marked that the nut passes through the stomach 

 of the animal ; but this is only a casualty and not 

 a general rule. Large quantities are collected by 

 women and children, which are well dried; the 

 hull is taken off and stored for the camels and 

 mules traveling in the winter. They are con- 

 sidered very nutritious. 



The process of extracting the oil is very simple. 

 The nuts are cracked by the women and children. 

 The kernels are then parched in a common earth- 

 en vessel, ground in handmills of this country, 

 then put in a pan, a little cold water sprinkled 

 upon it ; then it is well worked by the hand (much 

 the same as kneading dough) until the oil sepa- 

 rates itself, when the refuse is well pressed, which 

 completes the process. The oil is let stand and 

 the sediment removed. The cake (in which a 

 good deal of oil remains) is generally given to the 

 milch cows or goats. Some of these Argans are 

 in clusters, others single trees. 



1^ Our doctrines are — feed the earth, and it 

 will feed you — feed the apple tree, and it will 

 yield fair fruit. 



I 



