No. 10. 



Horticultural Beans. — Timber on the Praines. 



319 



years, and supposes one out of tvvonty-five 

 that are regularly employed in agriculture, 

 to die every year: for insurance against dis^ 

 eases and accidents. He considers five acres 

 of land, of medium quality, necessary for the 

 maintenance of each horse, and the annual 

 expense, including harness, shoeing, farriery, 

 insurance and decline in value, allowing him 

 to cost .$200, to exceed that sum about five 

 per cent., which is the only difference be- 

 tween the estimate of this illustrious and ac- 

 curate agriculturist, and that of a respecta- 

 ble committee of the Farmers^ Society of 

 Barioell district, South Carolina, who in a 

 report published in the Charleston Courier, 

 of the 23rd of February last (182.5,) state, 

 that 'the annual expense of keeping a horse 

 is equal to its value.' The same committee 

 also state, that, ' at four years old a horse 

 will seldom sell for more than the expense 

 of rearing him.' That 'the superiority of 

 the mxde over the horse, had long been ap- 

 preciated by some of their most judicious 

 planters ; that two mules could be raised at 

 less expense than one horse; that a mule is 

 fit for service at an earlier age, if of suffi- 

 cient size ; will perform as much labour ; and 

 if attended to when first put to work, his 

 gait and habits may be formed to suit the 

 taste of the owner.' This report may be 

 considered a most valuable document, ema- 

 nating, as it does, from enlightened practi- 

 cal farmers and planters, in a section of our 

 country where we may suppose a horse can 

 be maintained cheaper than in Maryland, or 

 any state further north." — Skinner on the 

 Ass and the Mule. 



Horticultural Beans« 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet, 



Accompanying this is a package of Hor 

 ticultnral beans, imported from Boston a 

 few days since, with a view to their gratui- 

 tous distribution, and under the impression 

 that they were not found in our market; I 

 have since met with them on sale, however, 

 at the warehouse of Landreth & Munns, 

 No. 6-5 Chesnut street; but as these gentle- 

 men assure me they are but little known in 

 this vicinity, and as the imported ones will 

 not be the less likely to thrive well from 

 having changed their locality, I should be 

 glad, if the editor will take the trouble to 

 do so, to have them distributed among such 

 cultivators as may wish to propagate them. 

 The writer has cultivated them many years, 

 and has found them uniformly hardy and 

 prolific, bearing till frost cuts them ofl: For 

 a string bean, I know of no other that equals 

 them for tenderness, richness, and delicacy 



of flavour; the pod is never tough when 

 properly boiled; even when the bean within 

 is of full size it still has a marrowy tender- 

 ness. What is called the Wildgoose bean, 

 comes nearest to it in tenderness and deli- 

 cacy, but this is not hardy, nor is it a good 

 bearer. The Red Cranberry bean is also 

 perfectly tender, and a pretty good bearer, 

 but lacks delicacy, and is pasitively strong. 

 The Speckled Valentine, or Thousand bean, 

 so abundant in our market, under the name 

 of " Snap-short," has a tender pod, and no 

 bad qualities when very young, and withal 

 is an excellent bearer; but if a single hand- 

 ful in the mess be a week too old, they are 

 tough, and the mess is spoiled — when ga- 

 thered thus young, they have moreover, a 

 green herbage taste, and wholly lack the 

 substance and richness of a good string- 

 bean. The " Horticultural" is a pole bean, 

 but it will well repay the labour of sticking, 

 by hanging in handfuls to the height of six 

 or eight feet — a single grain or two of corn 

 in a hill, answers tolerably as a substitute 

 for poles where the latter, from any cause, 

 are not attainable. Index, 



Philadelphia, Fourth nio. 23rd. 



Timber on the Prairies. 



It is a great object with the farmer on the 

 prairies, to turn his attention as early as 

 practicable, to the cultivation of timber on 

 his own land. The locust is thought to be 

 among the most valuable for this purpose, 

 botli on account of its rapid growth and du- 

 rability. Abram Smith, a writer in the 

 Prairie Farmer, says that he believes no 

 kind of timber will produce as many, or as 

 durable rails in the same number of years, 

 on the same number of acres, as the locust. 

 The seed should be scalded before they are 

 planted. In planting, he says " Drill them 

 in a shallow furrow and cover with a 

 plough — if in June, about two inches deep, 

 if earlier, cover shallower, if later, cover 

 deeper. As to the width between rows, I 

 think the best I have seen are about ten or 

 twelve feet apart. Cultivate potatoes, corn, 

 or tobacco between for two years ; then sow 

 oats for the third year — let the hogs harvest 

 it, and leave the straw on, which will be a 

 great help to the trees. The fourth year 

 you may cut several hundred stakes from 

 each acre ; the fifth year you may cut five 

 hundred (pole) rails from each acre, and the 

 same number each year forever thereafter. 

 And if you have planted your timber ex- 

 actly where you want it, I presume you will 

 not find fault with it for ' forever throwing' 

 up shoots,' or because 'it can never he ex- 

 terminated.' 



