284 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



VOL. ] 



table matter, subside somewhat before you put 

 in your corn. 



After your corn plants have assumed suf5- 

 cientsize to exempt them from further danger j 

 from the grub-worms, thin them out so as to 

 leave but four plants in a hill. 



If the ground to be put in corn be sand or 

 sandy loam, it may not be necessary to sub- 

 ject it to such thorough ploughing, but even 

 in sucii soil, I would plough much deeper 

 than fasiiion has prescribed ; for I hold the 

 crown of the substratum in no reverence 

 whatever, believing that the dread of break- 

 ing it, vvliich generally prevails, to be a dan- 

 gerous fallacy, and to have no foundation in 

 common sense. 



A word or two as to Reed corn. In all 

 close planting, it has been recently suggested 

 by a highly prized correspondent from Vir- 

 gmia, that the norlliern com would ansiver 

 best ; we coincide vwth him in opinion, and 

 should be happy in seeing it introduced into 

 culture, in the whole of what may emphati- 

 cally be called the corn region of our coun- 

 try. 



As to the after culture, it is almost impos- 

 sible to prescribe any thing like a rule of 

 universal application; the great object should 

 be to keep the soil stirred and the plants clear 

 from weeds; the cultivator may under certain ' 

 circumstances be advantageously passed 

 through the corn, three and four times, but 

 this practice is to be governed altogether by 

 the state of the soil and season. 



To prevent crows and other birds from 

 disturbing your corn when newly planted, it 

 is recommended to soak a sufficient quantity 

 in a solution o? nuoc vomica, or arsenic, and 

 strew it about the cornfield; but we confess 

 we have no taste for such insidious modes of 

 warfare ; the exhibition of poison, whether to 

 man, the proud tryant of the earth, to the 

 beasts of the field, or the birds of the air, 

 always has been, is noiv, and we trust ever 

 will be, abhorrent to our nature. If the birds 

 must be destroyed, shoot them ; let them die 

 the death of the brave. 



As you have probably not planted your early 

 potatoes, you should lose no time in doing so 

 now : your long manure should be used in the 

 row or hill, whether planted the one way or 

 the other, as besides being the most econo- , 

 mical mode of applying it, it is decidedly best 

 calculated to promote the prolific growth of^ 

 this vegetable. 



While you are planting your early crop, 

 put in a few bushels of seed ejctra to be fed 

 boiled to your milch cows and hogs, they will 

 come in at a period of the summer when 

 green food is mostly scarce. About 27 

 inches is a good distance for either row or 

 hjU culture. 



Spring Grain. — As soon as the ground is 



sufficiently dry you should sow Barley, Sprini 

 Rye, and Spring Wheat. 



PARSNErS, CARROTS, AND BEETS. 



You should sow your early crop of eithe 

 of these delightful roots as early this montl 

 as possible. The best-kind of ground for eacl 

 is a rich loam inclining to sand ; but if th( 

 ground be well and thoroughly manured 

 ploughed deep, and pulverized finely, the; 

 will grow in any soil. No farmer shoulJ 

 omit sowing them, if tor nothing else, as ibcn 

 far his cattle. Thoy tend greatly to improvi 

 the quantity and quality of both milk and but 

 tcr, and are highly healthful and nutritious t( 

 cows, and serve as admirable food for store 

 hogs, suckling sows and their progeny. 



MORUS ALBA OR WHITE MULBERRY SEED. 



Sow your white Italian Mulberry seed ir 

 drills as early as you can get your groum 

 ready this month. Your beds should b( 

 thoroughly manured, deeply dug, and wel 

 pulverized : keep the plants stirred and clean 

 and in dry weather water them twice o 

 thrice a week, and always just before sun 

 down. 



GRASS. 



The fields of artificial grasses of all kind 

 should have a bushel of plaster to the acr 

 sown over them. A moist day, or very earl 

 in the morning, should be selected for b 

 doing. 



VETCHES OR SPRING TARES. 



This is a species of the pulse or pea kint 

 and although but very little cultivated in thi 

 country, is greatly and deservedly prized i 

 England, where every intelligent agricu 

 turist has engrafted them into his system ( 

 husbandry. The mode of culture is regi 

 lated by tlie object intended to be gained. ^ 

 seed be the object, they are invariably sow 

 in drills. If for hay, or green food for soi! i 

 ing, they are put in broad cast. About on | 

 bushel to the acre in the former and thre j 

 in the latter mode of culture. If intended 1 1 

 be ploughed in for manure, four bushels c 

 seed is not too much. They will grow upo 

 any well manured and tilled soil, and may b 

 sown any time this month, though it may b 

 prudent to say, the earlier the better: if sow 

 at intervals of two weeks, during this montl 

 they would come in as a happy succession t 

 supply the lack of green food in the nature 

 pastures in the heat of summer. In Londo i 

 green tares are as much sought after in bun| 

 dies, as are clover and rye here. An acr i 

 will yield three tons of hay, which is ver i 

 eagerly devoured by all kinds of stock. Aj 

 a green crop to plough in, it is considered t 

 great moment, and would prove a most valii 

 able acquisition to be used as a substitute fc 

 liraeand calcareous manures generally. 



