No. 9. 



American Agriculture. 



281 



more than fifty years; and since the forests 

 were in a measure destroyed by the axe or 

 fire, by the European settlers along the sea- 

 board and navigable waters inland, many 

 persons in the middle and eastern States 

 have cultivated this tree with a view to pro- 

 fit, and have not only supplied timber and 

 trenails to the shipwrights of the cities or 

 commercial towns, but have exported large 

 quantities to England and elsewhere. These 

 plantations seldom exceed an area of thirty 

 acres, notwithstanding the agricultural so- 

 cieties of several States have offered pre- 

 miums for their encouragement. Though 

 the Robinia had never been known to be 

 injured by any insect, towards the end of the 

 last century, in Massachusetts, it was gene- 

 rally attacked by the larvae of the Cossus 

 robinise, which gradually extended their ra- 

 vages to the southernmost points where this 

 tree has been propagated. In consequence 

 of this discouragement, the locust has been 

 but little cultivated for the last twenty years 

 in any part of the United States or in Cana- 

 da, except for the purposes of ornament or 

 shade. In a communication from Mr. Ste- 

 phen H. Smith, of Smithfield, in Rhode 

 Island, dated on the 2'2d of November, 1844, 

 he states that in the winter of 1817, he cut 

 from a lot a heavy growth of timber, princi- 

 pally chesnut. The soil on which it grew 

 is a rich loam, or a slightly tenacious sub- 

 soil. In the following spring he set out, in 

 the same ground, at equal distance, about 

 one hundred good-sized yellow locust trees 

 to the acre. They kept pace with the natu- 

 ral growth of the forest that sprang up about 

 them. In 1837, twenty years after, all the 

 wood was again cut ofi^the same lot, produc 

 ing twenty cords to the acre, the locusts 

 measuring at the stump from nine to twelve 

 inches in diameter, each tree making three 

 posts, seven feet long. The sprouts and 

 offsets now occupy one half the ground, to 

 the exclusion of a portion of the native tim- 

 ber. The borers have not assailed these 

 trees at any time. It may be reasonable to 

 conclude that the thick underwood has pro- 

 tected them from this enemy ; as those stand- 

 ing near, in open, cultivated ground, of like 

 quality, have not escaped. 



The soil in which the locust appears to 

 grow best is a light and somewhat sandy 

 loam, rich ratlier than poor; and to attain 

 any considerable size, it requires much room, 

 and an airy, but at the same time a sheltered 

 situation, free from the fury of the winds. 

 It has the quality of thrivintj for a time on 

 poor, shallow soils, which no doubt is owing 

 to its power of rapidly abstracting whatever 

 nourishment such soils may contain, by its 

 large, succulent roots, that run oear the sur- 



face ; but after a '{^■w years it becomes stunt- 

 ed and unhealthy, decays at the heart, and 

 never attains a size sufficient for any useful 

 purpose, except for fuel. The only trees 

 that will prosper on such soils and ultimately 

 become timber, are the resiniferous, needle- 

 leaved kinds, as the pine, the fir, the cedar, 

 and the larch. When cultivated for orna- 

 ment, this tree generally looks best planted 

 separately on a lawn, or in small groups in a 

 shrubbery, or along the confines of avenues 

 and plantations, where it is allowed to ex- 

 tend " its branches freely on every side, and 

 to assume its own peculiar shape, feather- 

 ing," as Gilpin says, "to the groond," — - 

 Brown'' s Trees of America. 



From the American Agricullurist, 

 American Agriculture. 



Value of Hen Manure. — The complaint 

 of the f^y on turnips and bugs on cucumbers 

 and other similar vines, is one of yearly and 

 sometimes of long occurrence. The mis- 

 chief done by these little pests is very pro- 

 voking, and frequently results in losses of 

 labour and good crops, which are very dis- 

 couraging to cultivators. I have lately been 

 informed by an intelligent and skilful culti- 

 vator, that the following preparation affords 

 an ample and complete remedy. Take hen 

 manure one part, reduce it as well as you 

 can to powder ; then with an equal part of 

 plaster of Paris, incorporate well together, 

 and sprinkle the mixture over the vines or 

 sow it over the drills of your turnips. 



Hen manure is free from the seeds of foul 

 weeds, and in consequence of the great abun- 

 dance of ammonia it contains, it possesses 

 a great efl^ect in pushing plants forward. 

 Hence for tomatoes, peppers and similar 

 plants, in our northern climate, it possesses 

 high value. It is well worth being saved 

 with care by farmers and gardeners for 

 every purpose of cultivation. Care should 

 be used, however, in its application, for if 

 given in too large quantities and placed in 

 too close proximity tjthe roots of the plant, 

 its effects are fatal. Its value for all pur- 

 poses is greatly increased by being mixed 

 with charcoal, or when this is not at hand, 

 with plaster. Every man who keeps hens 

 should have his hen-tiouse so constructed as 

 to save all the minnre, and save it dry as 

 may be, and he will find it no inconsiderable 

 item in his matters of rural economy. 



W. Bacon. 



Let every fanner at this season of the 

 year, look well to Jiis kitchen garden. No 

 labour is more advantageously expended than 

 in providing for a good supply of vegetables. 



