No. 15. 



Canada Thistle — Farming, ^c. — ^pple Orchards. 



265 



their decomposition. Grain, which has been 

 frozen out during the winter, may be consi- 

 derably benefitted by passing the roller over 

 it and bringing the fibres of the roots in con- 

 tact with the earth again. There is another 

 object to which I would invite the attention 

 of farmers — in the use of the roller — that is, 

 in the preparing of their ground for corn. 



The roller may be used to great advantage 

 on any sod after being ploughed, by making 

 the ground more compact, which will facili 

 tate the decomposition of the sod and render 

 it more impervious to drought. In corn ground 

 in addition to the above, it prevents the fur- 

 rows from being moved by the cultivator in 

 the dressing ofthe corn and renders the ground 

 in much finer tilth than it would otherwise be 

 with the same labor, without the roller. 



A 



Clvester County, March Ifith, 1838. 



To the Editor of the Farmt-rs' Cabinet. 



Canada Tliistlc. 



Dear Sir, — Having seen an article in this 

 month's number of the Famers' Cabinet, 

 requesting information as to the best means 

 of destroying the Canada thistle, I send you 

 the following: — In all grass lands the only 

 thing necessary to be done is to seed it down 

 with timothy and clover, taking care first to 

 prepare it well by ploughing, &c. My fa- 

 ther-in-law, one ofthe best farmers in Wash- 

 ington county, N. Y. had a piece of grass land 

 completly overrun with them. Three years 

 ago he ploughed them under and seeded the 

 land with timothy and clover, mixed with 

 oats. The first year the thistle was nearly 

 all destroyed — the second year he had a fine 

 yield of grass, as also this last year, no thistle 

 appearing among it — but on stony lands it is 

 impossible to get rid of thera at all, at least 

 by any means as yet known. 



Ueiv York, March 20, 1838. 



E. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Fanning in Kent County, ITId. 



I have read in your valuable paper, reports 

 of what farmers are doing in many parts, and 

 have thought it fair that they should know 

 something in return about us, in Kent county, 

 Maryland, and, if it be of no edification, it 

 may, nevertheless, afford some amusement 

 to your numerous readers. 



Our farms are large ; three hundred acres 

 is rather a small farm. We plant large 

 crops of corn, say eighty to a hundred acres. 

 The cultivation of this crop requires a num- 

 ber of working beasts and hands; to feed 

 those hands we must raise a good number of 

 hogs ; the hogs eat up the corn, and we eat 

 up the hogs, so that at the end of the year we 



have but little surplus for market. If a far- 

 mer raises two thousand bushels of corn and 

 sells six hundred, he is doing well ; beside 

 all this, the farmer keeps a saddle or harness 

 horse, and sometimes both. It is very com- 

 mon to say " the land is too poor — I cannot 

 live on it." However we are going to do 

 better, since our honorable geologist has 

 paid us a visit and innoculated us with the 

 marl fever. I think we shall now "go ahead." 

 I should be very much pleased if some of your 

 readers would give us the result of their ex- 

 periments with green sand, its component 

 parts, and the quantity to put on an acre. We 

 have large quantities of it, but have little 

 practical experience in regard to its applica- 

 tion. Your friend, Kent. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Apple Orchards. 



I have observed that the generality of or- 

 chards decline in about twenty-five or thirty 

 years. This is owing to many causes. First, 

 the sowing of oats, which seldom fails to 

 kill the trees ; it ought never to be done ; 

 again, in about the time specified, the tree 

 has exhausted the land, which is too poor to 

 support it. I would recommend the follow- 

 ing plan — the benefit I have proved. Grub 

 round the trees and take the mould and grass 

 away ; then manure them ; take off the old 

 scruffy bark — a spade is a good implement 

 for this. Then let your hands take a stick 

 about two feet long (the end in each hand) 

 and rub briskly up and down ; this will, in 

 a small degree, loosen the bark, and give 

 room tor the sap to flow freely. After this 

 you may put round the trees, say the second 

 year, corn cobs ; those from your hog pen are 

 best Cut off the sprouts but no large limbs. 

 A Subscriber. 



To the Editor ofthe Farmers' Cabinet. 



Culture of Hemp and Flax. 



We frequently see the culture of silTi re- 

 commended in the Cabinet. It would, in my 

 judgment be of greater interest to the farming 

 community in general to pay more attention 

 to the culture of wool, and also to that of 

 hemj} and Jlax, as the wearing apparel made 

 from these articles is far more serviceable, 

 than that of silk. Let the farmer give his 

 sons and daughters a good education; then let 

 them labor with their own hands, and there- 

 by become familiar with that industry and 

 economy that is essential to the successful 

 and thrifty farmer. First, let the son take 

 hold of the plough ; learn the management of 

 a farm ; acquaint himself with the different 

 kinds of stock — in a word, let him be instruct- 

 ed in all that is essential to constitute him a 



