NEW EMG1.AND FARMER. 



J Published by John B. Russell, at JVo. 52 J^ortk Market Street, (at the Agricultural IVarehouse). — Thomas G. Fessenden, Editor. 



VOL. YIII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1829. 



No. 



AGRICULTURE. 



FOB THE NEW ENGLAND FARIHER. 



CUTTING BUSHES. 



■'"IIr Fesse:«den — The season of the year is 



'f ' nearly at hand, that our forefathers iiBcd to 



us that the practice was, " down country," to 



bushes in the old of the moon in August and 



teniber, wlien tlie sign was in the heart. This 



be as good a general rule, perhaiis, as any ; 



I am confident that the rationale of tlie theo- 



) cut bushes soon after they have done 



H'ing for the season ; or when the sap has be- 



le stationary. — If cut sooner, the pressure of 



will either throw out new shoots, or form 



sets to be in readiness for an early start the 



g following ; and if cut too late, or after the 



has descended, the root will be supplied with 



ts resources for a new effort when the proper 



on arrives for it to vegetate. 



is well known that some vegetables are tnucli j 



e tenacious of life than others, and even ilie 



e vegetables are much more easily destroyed 



jfome states of tlieir existence than in others. 



!re is nothing in the process of vegetation that 



nuch exhausts the vital energy of plants, as 



of maturing their seeds, {which seems t) be 



ultimate design in all vegetables.) The is 



/•e conspicuous in some plants than in others, 



)ieunials seldom survive the winter after they 



e made a successful effort to provide for the 



ipagation of their species; and this is corrdjo- 



:d from the fact, that some biennials will ly- 



16 perennials by cropping the flower steins so 



o prevent their seeding — this I have often wit- 



3ed in the Foxglove, (Digitalis purjmrta)r 



t must have occurred to every strict observer of 



economy of vegetables, with what facility the 



inion bramble-bushes of our fields and hedg- 



especially the Rubus nillorus, or high black- 



ry, and Rubus strigosus. or red raspberry, are de- 



yed both root and branch, if cut wlien loaded 



h ripe fruit, or soon after it has fallen. 



The same general law of nature is inanifesr in 



animal kingdom, especially in some orders of 



cts, which die soon after making provision for 



continuation of their species. 



t is curious to observe to what a luxuriant 



wth some vegetables will attain, even when 



rounded by an almost impenetrable thicket of 



er plants of inferior size, and all dependent en 



same soil for nourishment. This is the case 



li the Meadow Lily in my garden, which has been 



subject of some remarks in the two first num- 



8 of the present volume of the N. E. Farmer, 



ich produced this season fiftytwo blossoms, 



t 46,) and now contains the same number of 



sules, as can be proved by the testimony of 



ny of my neighbors. The soil in which it 



ds is naturally cold and moist, but now raised 



ttle above the common surface which forms a 



about three feet wide, and appropriated as a 



,l,d of miscellany, that is, a little of almost every- 



ig is permitted to grow for the sake of va- 



»>■ 



The phenomena so often exhibited by various 

 cies of vegetables located in the same soil, and 



all drawing a conijietency of nourishment, and 

 that even to a luxurj', must be explained upon the 

 principle of vegetable apjjetency, which is nearly 

 synonymous with the oflice of the gustatory 

 nerves, or organ of taste in animals. Hence, the 

 very same nutriment that would be taken up with 

 avidity by one sjiecies of plants, would, by the ab- 

 sorbent vessels of another, be received with indif- 

 ference, or even rejected like tartarized antimony 

 from the human stomach. The above remarks 

 are corroborated from the fact, that we often see 

 particular plants die without any apparent cause, 

 while others inserted almost in the same spot, con- 

 tinue to flourish as though nothing had happened, 

 and this.probably from the nutriment peculiarly 

 adapted tg its taste or appetency, being withheld 

 fran coVringin contact with its radical absorbents; 

 or othe'rlvise from soLue chymical process, it might 

 hive imbibed deleterious particles, which, like ac- 

 [ cilenlal poison in tho human stomach, it could 

 rot eject. 



As the sulfaces of vegetables, like the animal 

 body, are furnished with inhalcnt, as well as per- 

 spirable vessels, covering their trunk and leaves, 

 especially the under surface of leaves, it may be 

 reasonable to suppose that they often suffer from 

 unfavorable states of the atmosjihere, besides that 

 of cold, as when impregnated with foreign sub- 

 stances hot congenial to their taste or appetency, 

 (for all absorbent vessels, whether animal or vege- 

 table, have'a choice in whatever they receive,) 

 and even the very tread and effluvia of some in- 

 sects, may doan irreparable injury to the health of 

 s\::\\ delicate organization. 



While touching ujion plants, and insects, I shall 

 close these remarks b}' suggesting an improvement 

 upon the article in the 52d number of the last vol- 

 ume of the N. E. Farmer, where a novel method 

 is recommended for protecting vines from insects 

 by placing a jiiece of board flat on the ground 

 for every square rod planted with cucumbers, for 

 the slicker of a toad. Upon trial, I suspect, we 

 shall often be disappointed in not finding a faithful 

 toad that has seen it in the way of his duty to take 

 the post. In such a case would it not be advisa- 

 ble to procure a sufficient number from the fields 

 of such as may be foimd on dry land, and place 

 them in the above situation .' and if they are too 

 shy, or show too much uneasiness, it would be 

 but little trouble to run a narrow boardr ound the 

 vines, so as to confine them in the desired limits ; 

 and who can tell, without an experiment, but 

 toads in this situatioji, may be bo far domesti- 

 cated as to become permanent settlers upon 

 condition that they may havo a life lease of the 

 premises ? 



This reminds tne of the old domestic toad, 

 mentioned by Mr Pennant, that lived under the 

 stepstone of a house in Devonshire, facing the 

 garden, for upwards of forty years, and might 

 have lived several years longer, says the writer, 

 had he not, by venturing too far from home in the 

 daytime, received a wound from a raven, which 

 ultimately caused his death in about a year after. 

 This old Rana, if not a real professor of Ento- 

 mology, must have been an experienced veteran 

 in the science of Anti-bug-ism. T. A. 



Leinpster, Aug. 11, 1829. 



FOB THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ECONOMICAL AND GOOD BEER. 



Take 7 quarts of good Molasses, - $0,63 



12 oz. Hops, ... 12 



1 pint of brewers' yeast,. - 3 



$0,78 

 The above is the proportions of each articla 

 for twenty gallons of hoji beer. — Put 12 ounces 

 of hops into about 7 gallons of water, boil one 

 hour, or till the leaves settle at the bottom — put 

 7 quarts of good molasses into a 20 gallon cask 

 — then put in the liquor that the hops were boiled 

 in, (and strained) — then add some cold water, and 

 give it a good shaking — add a pint of brewers' 

 yeast, and shake and stir it well — then fill up the 

 cask with cold water, put in the bung, and give it 

 another shaking and rolling — then place the cask 

 where it is to stand, take out the bung, let it re- 

 main out 24 hours, — then bung it up tight, and 

 let it remain one week, when it will be fit for use. 

 — If bottled, 3o much the better. 



The actual cost of the article is less than one 

 cent per bottle. 



Charlestown, Aug. 11. 



T. G. Fessenden, Esi^. 



Dear Sir — I felt hurt on reading in your pa- 

 per of Friday the 7th Mrs Griffith's letter to 

 Gen. Dearborn, in which she observes that she 

 had sent me the model of her improved Bee Hive 

 to be jiresented to the Horticultural Society. I 

 am hardly willing to think she would have cou- 

 sented to t'~3 p'lblication of her letter previous to 

 some inquiry being made respecting the model, 

 as I presume she could not have supposed that 1 

 had received it, and failed to present it agreeably to 

 her request. 



The following are the facts so far as relate to 

 my agency in this transaction. Last fall Mr3 

 Griffith, with some friends from Boston, called 

 at my house. I was from home at the time, and 

 had not tho pleasure of seeing her, which I very 

 much regretted. On my return, 1 was informed 

 that Mrs Griffith, among other things, noticed 

 my Bee Hives, several of which were made of 

 straw, and she remarked that straw was not a 

 good material for the construction of a hive ; it 

 gave the bee moth a better opportunity to lodge 

 the eggs than when made of wood. — Some time 

 after, in conversation with a friend and corres- 

 pondent of Mrs Griffith's, I observed that my 

 bees for a number of years had done better in 

 my Straw hives, than in hives of wood ; in tho 

 latter I had lost several swarms by the bee moth, 

 and had met no loss in the former, but had been 

 successful without a single exception, and felt 

 sorry Mrs Griffith had not been informed of this 

 at the time she made the remarks upon my straw 

 hives, for I considered she had done more to ob- 

 tain a knowledge of bees, their habits, general 

 character and propensities, than any person in 

 this, and I am inclined to believe in any other 

 country. 



Not loijg after, the facts respecting my straw 

 hives were communicated to Mrs Griffith by her 

 correspondent, and in a postscript of her letter in 

 reply to her friend, she observes aa soon as Eh« 



