S06 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



July 



ping and covering, you -will leave the most prom- 

 inent sprouts a little out of the ground, as where 

 a plant has leaved, it ought not to be smothered. 



When the plant gets up three or four inches, 

 weed with the hoe, and plow with one horse 

 between the ridges or beds, but not on them ; 

 this will take place two or three weeks after 

 planting. When up 12 or 15 inches, many of the 

 tops will fall ; assist them with ten feet poles 

 crossing the beds, covering with a shovel or 

 garden-rake, thi-owing the soil from between the 

 ridges. After loosening with the one-horse plow, 

 you will, with a shovel, scatter the earth between 

 the stalks, rather than throw it into heaps ; of 

 course we wish to keep the stalks separate, as 

 they are to form new and important roots in the 

 centre of the beds. About the 20th of June you 

 may plow between the beds, and scatter more 

 earth on the fresh tops, (all but the ends,) and 

 when you get through, you may plant potatoes 

 between the beds, if you please. I do not recom- 

 mend it if you have plenty of land, although I 

 raised 1070 bushels of pink-eyes on eight acres 

 the first year, and sixty bushels of corn. If your 

 land is perfectly clear of weeds, you are through 

 with your labor on the madder crop for this year, 

 except in latitudes where there is not much snow 

 and considerable frost : in this case, cover in Oc- 

 tober, two inches or thereabouts. Second year, 

 some operations in weeding, but no crop between ; 

 cover once in June. Third year, weed only. 

 Fourth 3^ear, weed in the spring, if a weedy piece 

 of ground. 



Begin to plow out the roots in Tennessee (3 

 years old) 1st of September ; Ohio (4 years) same 

 time ; New York 15th or 20th, after cutting ofl' 

 the tops with a sharp hoe. In plowing out the 

 roots, use a heavy span of horses and a large 

 plow. "W^e ought to choose a soil neither too wet 

 nor too dry, too stiff or light. Shake the dirt 

 from the roots, and rinse or wash, as the soil may 

 be stiii" or light ; dry in a common hop-kiln ; 

 grind them in a mill similar to Wilson's patent 

 coffee-mill ; this mill weighs from one to two 

 pounds. The madder mill may be from sixty to 

 80 pounds weight. Grind coarse, and fan in a 

 fanning mill ; then grind again for market. The 

 profit of this crop is immense ; the exhaustion of 

 soil trifling, and glutting the market out of the 

 question . 



Madder is used in Avhole, or part, for the fol- 

 lowing colors on wool, both in England, France 

 and America, viz. : blue, black, red, buif, olive- 

 brown, olive, navy blue, and many others ; final- 

 ly, it produces one of the most beautiful, durable, 

 and healthy colors that is at this time dyed ; as 

 for calico printers, it enters greatly into their 

 dyes. — Am. Fanncr^s Instructor. 



As the tops of the plants spread very much, 

 some advise placing them in hills, somewhat like 

 Indian corn, four and even six feet apart each 

 way, and two plants in each hill." 



deep, in 22 days, 3-8ths ; G inches deep, 23 days, 

 only one came up. 



The rays of the sun furnish light — those 

 nearest the yellow are remarkable for impeding 

 the heat-giving rays are favorable to it, if plenty 

 of water is present ; while the blue rays, or those 

 concerned in chemical action or actimism, (from 

 the Greek actim, a ray,) accelerate the process 

 and cause a rapid growth . His experiments were, 

 making the light pass through colored glasses 

 upon the vegetable. He thinks that a blue glass 

 will prevent scorching of leaves, and that red glass 

 will increase the heat. He says that a pale green 

 glass made with oxide of copper, is best fitted for 

 conservatories — green being a compound of the 

 yellow or luminous rays with the blue or chemi- 

 cal rays. A delicate emerald green glass has, at 

 his suggestion, been used in glazing the large Pall 

 House at Kew. 



NATIVE. 



Some discussion has been had of late, as to the 

 use and meaning of this term — chiefly as it is ap- 

 plied to cattle, or stock vipon the farm. In it- 

 self, it is as clear and as intelligible, as any other 

 word that is used, being defined hy the Latin 

 word from which it is derived, which simply in- 

 dicates the fact of being born, or the place of 

 birth. If there be any ambiguity or uncertainty 

 about this term, it must be from the words to 

 which it is often attached, rather thrn from the 

 word itself. 



As for instance, speaking of natives, meaning 

 native cattle or native breeds of cattle, one may 

 have ideas relating only to the place in which 

 they came into being, another to those considera- 

 tions which ensure the ability to reproduce the 

 like. It therefore is of the highest importance, 

 that writers who would instruct others, should 

 accurately explain the meaning of the words they 

 use, in the connection in which they are used. 



We find no fault with these discussions — we 

 think their effect is decidedly beneficial ; but we 

 are sorry that gentlemen of distinguished ability, 

 should waste their strength on ivords only — re- 

 membering, as the great Doctor Johnson long ago 

 said, that 



"Words are the daughters of earth, 

 Things the sons of heaven." 



Depth op Planting Seeds. — We find the follow- 

 ing from a foreign author, among the papers read 

 before the Farmer's C'lub of the American Insti- 

 tute : 



Seed buried i inch deep, up in 11 days, 7-8ths 

 of them ; 1 inch deep, in 12 days, all ; 2 inches 

 deep, in 18 days, 7-8ths ; 3 inches deep, in 20 

 days, |th; 4 inches deep, in 21 days, ^ ; 5 inches 



To Cure Sheep Skin with the Wool on. — 

 Take one table spoonful of alum and two of salt- 

 petre ; pulverize and mix well together, then 

 sprinkle the powder on the flesh side of the skin, 

 and lay the two flesh sides together, leaving the 

 wool outside. Then fold up the skins as you can, 

 and hang them in a dry place. In two or three 

 days as soon as they are dry, take them down and 

 scrape them with a blunt knife till clean and sup- 

 ple. This completes the process, and makes a 

 most excellent saddle cover. Other skins which 

 you desire to cure with the fur on, may be treated 

 in the same way. 



We can speak in favor of the above recipe. 

 It does all it promises. Such skins make excel- 

 lent mats for in-doors. — Farmcr''s Coinpanion. 



