134 



Song. — JJpplication of Plaster to Wheat. — Papers. Vol. VI, 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Son^ of the Bees. 



BY H. F. GOULD. 



Mr. Editor, — Ilavingf lately met by chance 

 with an old annual, "The Boston Token of 

 1830," my eye fell upon the following beau- 

 tiful poetic effusion. It immediately struck 

 me that it would be suitable for your pages 

 — and as so much prose has lately appeared 

 on the same subject, that your readers would 

 be pleased with a little riiyme. 



We watch for ttic light of the morn to break, 



And colour the east4>rn sky. 

 With its blended hues of satfron and lake, 

 Then say to each other, " Awake I awake 1 

 For onr winter's honey is all to make, 



And our bread for a long supply." 



And ofT we hie to the hill and the dell, 



To the field, to the meadow and bower; 

 We love in the columbine's horn to dwell, 

 To dip in the lily with snow-white bell, 

 To search the balm in its odorous cell, 

 The mint and the rosemary flower. 



We seek the bloom of the eglantine, 



Of the pointed thistle and briar; 

 And follow the steps of the wandering vine. 

 Whether it trail on the earth supine. 

 Or round the aspiring tree-top twine. 



And reach for a state still higlier. 



While each on the good of her sisters bent. 



Is busy and cares for all ; 

 We hope for an evening with heart's content, 

 For the winter of life without lament 

 That summer is gone, its hours misspent. 



And the harvest is past recal. 



Cazenovia, Oct. 12, 1841. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Application of Plaster to Wheat. 



Mr. Editor, — I wish to relate my experi- 

 ence of the past season on the use, or rather 

 the abuse of plaster, upon crops sown on ex- 

 perimental patches of land ; it has spoken to 

 me a volume, and although comparatively a 

 Bmall one, I expect eventually to read and 

 study it to much advantage — it is a fact, fur- 

 nished by my own experience, and I value it 

 accordingly. By the way, would it not be 

 best for farmers to manufacture their own 

 facts, instead of relying on those fabricated 

 by others'! — for after all, Home Tooke's defi- 

 nition of the word truth must bo the only 

 correct one, namely, "that which a man 

 troweth — that is to him the truth." * 



Well, then, you may remember having 

 given mc, the last autumn, several parcels 

 of choice seeds for cultivation, — amongst the 

 rest, the emur, the chevalier barley, the Hope- 

 town oat, and two samples of remarkably fine 

 wheat, all which I planted at proper seasons 

 on one side of my wheat-field, tending them 

 with the greatest care, and enjoying in an- 

 ticipation a rich harvest. The Odessa wheat 

 came up remarkably strong and fine, but was 

 soon attacked by the fly, and was so much 

 injured, that by the time the frost had left 



the ground, one half of it was blown away, 

 having rotted off at the surface of the land : 

 some plants, however, stood, and made such 

 amazing progress in vegetation that I expect- 

 ed from them a full crop. In the mean time, 

 the other seeds had been sown and were 

 growing well, when, at the time of plastering 

 the corn which grew in an adjoining field, 1 

 gave the whole of my experimental crops a 

 double dressing with it, thinking to add dou- 

 ble strength to their growth ; and it had this 

 efl^ect, but it was at the expense of their fruc. 

 tifying powers, for not one of them ever came 

 to bearing — they were absolutely destroyed 

 by the rust: and the common wheat in the 

 immediate vicinity, which had partaken of 

 the plaster at the time of sowing, shared the 

 same fate in a remarkable manner, the space 

 to which it had extended being defined to an 

 inch. This very simple experiment has con- 

 vinced me of the truth of the theory, that 

 rust is occasioned by an overcharge of the 

 sap-vessels, which, on bursting, the liquid be- 

 comes spread on the surface of the stalks, and 

 on drying, it assumes the colour of rust — 

 and that appears to me about the whole of 

 the matter. E. 



Agricultural Papers. 



The vast improvements in agriculture, 

 which have been made throughout the coun- 

 try, for some years past, have been brought 

 about in a great measure, by the dissemina- 

 tion of valuable information through agricul- 

 tural journals. The farmer now finds that 

 he needs a paper devoted to his business, as 

 well as other men. There is no class in 

 whose afluirs there are so many subjects pre- 

 sented, on the most of which every one may 

 learn something new from the experience of 

 others. Cultivators now read papers devoted 

 to their interest, not only as a matter of plea- 

 sure, but as a matter of profit. They learn 

 the best method of improving soils of every 

 description. The detailed accounts of re- 

 claiming low lands, and of renovating worn 

 out fields, as pursued with profit. The most 

 successful ways of preparing manures, by 

 which the quantity is greatly augmented and 

 quality greatly improved. The most profit- 

 able modes of culture, the best productions 

 of every description, &c. &c., and the result 

 of the best practice in every department, is 

 related in a paper to the community, as one 

 neighbour would state his practice to another. 

 This is book farming, at which some, even 

 in this day of light, have the prejudice to 

 sneer. — Far. Jour. 



Extravagant wishes are sometimes so 

 absurd, that the fond dreamer would be 

 ashamed to reveal them even to his nearest 

 friend. 



