No. 4. 



Old Times in Gardening. — Svgar Beet for Stock. 



125 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Old Times in Gardening. 



Permit me, ]\Ir. Editor, to transcribe, from 

 the pages of" an old work on gardening, a few- 

 curious recipes for the propagation and man- 

 agement of fruit-trees, which will amuse your 

 readers as much as did the article in the last 

 number of the Cabinet, entitled " Old Times 

 in Medicine." it is indeed surpassing strange 

 that the writers of such superlative nonsense 

 should ever have obtained readers, whose 

 faith would be strong enough to permit them 

 to receive it for truth, but our surprise is in 

 a measure abated, when we read at the com- 

 mencement of this work, " and for writing 

 and reading, it skilleth not whether the farmer 

 be able to do it or no; you shall not put him 

 to make reckonings of long time, neither yet 

 of more things than his memory may well 

 carry away." 



How blessed, indeed, are we who live in 

 this age of light and reason ! the reflection 

 ought to inspire us with a reverence for the 

 privilege of reading and writing, which we 

 enjoy, and instead of holding book-knowledge 

 in contempt, we cannot be sufficiently grate- 

 ful, that by it we are brought to see the egre- 

 gious folly to which those are liable, who are 

 deprived of these blessings. S. Dale. 



SPECIAL OBSERVATIONS. 



1. "If you hollow the branch of a cherry- 

 tree, taking away the pith, and after set it 

 again, it will bring forth fruit without any 

 stone. 



2. To n^ake cherries and peaches of an 

 aromatic taste and smell ; at the time of graft- 

 ing wet the grafts in honey, and put therein 

 a little of the powder of cloves, nutmegs and 

 cinnamon, and the fruit will have a taste of 

 them. 



3. To have medlars in their greatness, so 

 that one may be better than twenty others, 

 grafl them on a goose-berry bush ! and at the 

 grafting thereof, wet them. 



4. To have mulberries early ripe, grafl in 

 the increase of the moon, three or four days 

 before the first quarter, for how many days 

 the moon is old when grafted, so many years 

 will it be before the tree brings forth fruit. 



5. To have nuts without shells, take a ker- 

 nel which is sound, wrap it in wool, or the 

 leaves of the vine, and so plant it, and the 

 nut-tree coming thereof, will bring forth nuts 

 without shells. 



6. To cause an oak or other tree to conti- 

 nue ever-green, graft it upon a colewort ! 



7. Write what you will in the eyelet of 

 the fig-tree which you mean to grafl, and the 

 fig growing therefrom will contain the said 

 writing. 



8. The fig-tree will not lose his fruit if 



you cast about it pits while the seven stars 

 do appear, watering the foot with salt-brine. 



9. The pear-tree will have a fruit smelling 

 like roses, if you put into the cleft, at the 

 time of grafting, the leaf of a sweet-smelling 

 rose : by this piece of cunning, roses become 

 to smell of musk and cloves. 



10. To make peaches red, take up the 

 stone after you have planted it seven days, 

 open the shell, put into it some vermilion, 

 and plant it again : or if you grafl the peach- 

 tree upon the red rose-tree the fruit will be red. 



11. Pierce the body of the peach-tree and 

 take away the pith, and you will have peaches 

 without stones. 



12. To make the fruit of the bitter almond 

 sweet, water the tree with warm water, open- 

 ing the ground at the root. 



13. To make apples red, plant red roses 

 near them. 



14. Grafl the peach upon the almond-tree, 

 and you will have fruit, both peaches and 

 almonds, whose rind and kernel will be good 

 to eat. 



15. Graft an apple with a peach, and the 

 peach upon a pear, and you shall have strange 

 fruit, called peach-apples and peach-pears to 

 eat. 



16. To have peaches or almonds to grow 

 with letters written on them ; after that you 

 have eaten the peaches or almonds, steep the 

 stone two or three days, afterwards open it 

 softly, take out the kernel, and with a brass 

 pen write upon the rind what you please, but 

 not deep; replace the kernel, wrapping it 

 about with paper or parchment, and so plant 

 it, and the fruit growing thereupon will be 

 written and enfrraved !" 



Sugar Beet for Stock. 



" I HAVE raised the sugar beet three years, 

 and believe them to be the best root raised to 

 winter farm-stock of every description — hogs 

 in particular are exceedingly fond of them, 

 and they are of great use in fattening pork. 

 My best crop was raised in the following 

 manner. I ploughed my land deep in the 

 fall, cross-ploughed it and pulverized it with 

 a fine drag in the spring, throwing it after- 

 wards into one-bout ridges, two feet and a 

 half apart ; planted the seeds ten or twelve 

 inches apart; destroyed all weeds, and gave 

 them three hoeings ; and I believe these di- 

 rections will answer for the northern and 

 eastern states, at least. I soaked my seed in 

 strong nitre and water, rolling them in plas- 

 ter. The roots are superior food for milk- 

 cows ; they increase the milk, and give it a 

 pleasant flavour, and an excellent food for 

 evv'es with early lambs." — Cultivator. 



The writer might have added, the roots 

 need not be cut before they are fed to any 

 stock, even to lambs. 



