80 



NEW ENGLAND FAllMER. 



;cpt. 



lS-29. 



run TiiL xtv 



GARDENING OF THE GERMANS IN I'ENN- 

 SYLVANIA. 

 Having inciuiuiKil llie great cniigriilioii of Gor- 

 inans into IViinsylvaiiiii previuus to tlio French 

 war, I inny now give soniu Ijricf sketrluis of their 

 economy, farining, gardening, &.C., fur which tliey 

 were so justly udniiroil, as forty five or fifty years 

 a"o I was niiirh nniongsl lliuni as a s^invcyor and 

 conveyancer, wi-11 acqiiuintcd with many of the 

 worthies llial had crossed llie Atlantic, and learned 

 to undcrstatid their language intelligibly in busi- 

 ness. 



They lind come from a connirj- where necessity 

 liad oljligcd tliem to raise all llicy coidd from a lit- 

 tle land : everything ihey ilid was in llie liest man- 

 lier, and they would not undertake inoro than 

 they could accomplish in due season. — Tliey al- 

 ways washed their seed inheat in a tul) of water, 

 carefully skimming olf all that would swim, say- 

 ing it would jii-oduce chess. I have known them 

 to pick out hy hand the largest and best wheat 

 heads, and sow it on new ground, well jircpared, 

 to raise tlie best of clean secil ; then after the 

 wheat came ofl", put the stubble in with turnips-^ 

 flax the ne.vt spring — then wheat again — and sow- 

 grass seed on the snow eitlicr for mowing or pas- 

 ture for milch cows. They generally cleared a 

 small piece of land every year, for the iiurposc of 

 clean seed wheat, tiirnijis and good llax. Dutch 

 wheat used to command an extra i)ricc for super- 

 line flour. 



For ficcJ com, it would he the first they took 

 out of the tielil, selecting the largest, most for- 

 ward cars from su(di stalks as bore three, leaving 

 two or three thicknesses of husks on, and hanging 

 the ears lip in some building in that order, until 

 they shelled it to plant, and then only take about 

 one third of the ear out of the iniddlo, and never 

 ))lant any where the rows were crooked on the 

 cur. To jiievent birds or squirrels from taking it 

 up, ihcy would steep it in q strong decoction of 

 hellebore roots. 



Oats, after they were six or eight inches high, 

 they woulil roll them down flat, saying it kept 

 them from lodging, ninl they headed better. Suf- 

 fice it to say, that they rai.sed farbetter, and heavier 

 crops than farmers originally from any other parts 

 of Europe. 



As to 7nta(lows, they were the people that first 

 introduced IiuunATio.N into Pennsylvania. If they 

 had a stream of water that could be led over the 

 banks, it was a primary object to do it. They 

 kept their meadows dressed smooth and fine, and 

 destroyed all bad weeds, so that their hay was 

 clean and sweet. They were famous for large 

 barns to contain all their pi. luce, and to house 

 all their stock of creatures in stormy weather ; — 

 and very careful of their manure. When snow 

 was on the grouiiil, lliey carted the dung out of 

 their stables, direct on their wheat, and sjiiead it 

 very f ven, saying it preventeil its heaving out 

 with the frost ; and seeded llio fields for piuiluie. 

 They lived more on vegetables than any other 

 people, and made gardens accordingly. 



I iTiay ilescribo some of their modes of raising 

 and saving sccid. 



A medical gentleman in Charleston, .'^. C 

 commends to persons who maybe bitten I 

 mail dog, or any other rabid animal, to rejiair 

 mediately to the nearest jiump, and cause 

 wound to be freely ]>umped on, before apfilyin. 

 a iihysician, as this operation cleanses the wo 

 of the poison, and prevents absorption. 



their g-nri/r:: ;iC(M— saying it prevented the bug ; than before ; and at length hail time and stien 

 and I never saw a bug in a jiea kep; in that to take a walk before breukfiisl, and comple 

 manner. recovered his liealih. 



Of ctihhrtsre, for the earlv kinds, tliev sowed the' 



see.l on a s.affold raise.l fi've or six feet from the I' "»" "" "''^"valion of Swift, that be nt 

 groun.l to prevent the small rty from eating them. ^"'='' ""> '"»" "'»"'' '" f-r'-'-'"t''«s« a''J cniioei 

 After the small fiy was done, sow their winter and \ ^* ''" ■*>' "- ''«'' ■'■ » uiormng 

 sour krout cabbage broad cast, and where too 

 thick ))iill it out for their cows and pigs. 



Their way of saving cueumher seed, after the 

 first, orsu<-li nearest the root, began to he soft on 

 the vine, they would take them in, puncture the 

 blossom, and lay that downward on a slanting 

 board, stick the butt full of oats — which would 

 grow and extract the moisture. In that way the 

 cucumbers were dried in the house, and the seed 

 never tak^'n out until put into the ground. 



Mtlons, they could not dry in that manner, but 

 woulil scrajie out the seed with as nnicli of the 

 glutinous liquid as they could on a coar.sc pajier, 

 on a level board; tliere let them dry in the house, 

 and never siifier them to be washed, or dried in 

 the sun, saying it would weaken the vigor of their 

 growth : and they never would use seed more 

 than two years old. 



Since I have been away from amongst these 

 good honest peoi)lc, 1 believe that all my jiarticu- 

 lar acquaintance that had crossed the water, (and 

 learned their modes of farming and gardcJiing in 

 a country where experiments were older than in 

 •.\merica,) are dead. Hut froii^ what I have seen 

 in my last travels, it doth not appear that their de- 

 scendants have lost the knowledge of their fore- 

 fathers. Description cannot convey a correct idea 

 of tlie elegance of their management. Let any 

 of the best farmers in the Eastern States, at a 

 proper si-ason of the year, take a tour to Btlhlt- 

 hem, .Yiizarcth, Grealendall, and Christian Spring, 

 in Norlhampton county. All those estates belong 

 to the society of ^Moravian brethren — then go view 

 the large farms (private iwoperty) in JJerks and 

 Lancaster counties, — and they must admit them 

 to bo the best farms in all the United States, and 

 that the emigration from Germany was the tnaking 

 of Pennsylvania. SAMUEL PllESTON. 



Stockport, Pa. Aug. 7, 1829. 



fOL 



Large ff'atermelon. — We were shown, on . 

 iirday last, a walcrmelon, raised by Joshua Si 

 Esq. in this town, Middlefield snriety, wl 

 measured 4 feet 4 inches in circumference, 

 longest way, aiul 3 feet 2 1-2 inches the ot 

 and weighed 42 lbs. He sold it for $1, to 

 Alexander Sage, of ihiii town, I'pper Houses, 

 has been engaged in the raising of uelon^ 

 this market, and who ga\e thai price for it 

 the purpose of obtaining the seed. — Middi 

 (Con.) paper. 



Longtvitij o/Treta. — According to Masliam 

 other respected authorities, there are tree; 

 England, which may be supposed from the 

 which they furnish, to have existed a cenliir} 

 two before the Christian era. The celebr 

 Tortworth chesnut is considered not less 

 eleven hundred years old. In the reign of 1 

 John, more than .seven hundred years ago, it 

 called the old chesnut. 



A piiblio house in the village of Humiston, in 

 Vorkshirc, has a sign consisting of portraits, at 

 full length, and in full costume, of four person- 

 ages, as follows : — a king, a soldier, a parson and 

 a farmer — and the house is ycle|it " The Four 

 Alls." Out of the mouth of liis majesty arc the 

 word.s, " f govern all ; " the soldier says, " I tight 

 for all ; " the parson says, " I pray for all ;" and 

 the farmer finishes with " I pay for all." 



Q:ttct H''urk. — Asumof$30 was bet a few days 

 since, 'that Mr John ISilliiigs of this town, could 

 not make 36 horse shoes in three hours. — Mr li. 

 took up the bet and went to work. The tiixl li< 

 he finished 17 shoes, and in two hours and sixlren 

 minutes the wLolo iiunibor was completed. At the 

 end of 3 hours he had made 45shoos! — Saco Pal. 



Nothing is so great an instance of ilUnanni 

 (lattery. If youflatter all (he company, you pi 

 none — if you flatter only one or two, you at 

 the rest. — Siri/I. 



Straivberry Plants. 

 For sajp M Ihe Uri^liiou Nursery "CW i.lnnis of ihr I'ii 

 pip Strawlierrv, in fine unlcr fiir tran<pliitiiin^ — ai ^J, 

 100—37 I -2 CIS pf r doz. Also, Wilinors Superb. .Alpine 

 berry, I-)nu|bois, Dowitton. &r. Onlers for the nhove n 

 flircclcd In J. I!. Ivcssii.L, Seed Siore. 52 Nonli .M.irl 

 Boslon. where llif planis will be delivered, free of ch.Ti 

 Irniisporlailon. The plnnis are packed iu moss for Irau.- 

 linn to ai)^- pari of (he union. 



7^i/i> Roots. 



Fors.ile al Ihe Seed Slore connected wiih Ihc New Ei 

 Farmer, j'i iVniih Market .«ireei, 



.\ finccoUoctiou of Oiitrh Tulip Roots, nf bright rrd. ^ 

 white, pink, and splendid variegatell colors, at il,W per 

 — I'i I-'.; cissiiiKle. If 



J\'otice. 

 Subscribers to the New England Firmer nn> inrprmi 

 ihev can have iheir vnlumei neatly and faiihlulh- half 

 mill Iciiercd, at 75 cis per volume, by leaving tlieiu ; 

 office. 



A'no China Ten Sets, and light blue Dinntr i 

 Reccivc<l. a ^reai variet_vj)f iho above ; which, wiih .- 

 plele assortment of C'rnckerv, China, and (ilass \\'nie, . 

 fcrcd for sale, low, oi No. •! lloek .Si|unro. 



Early Rising. — The two hours every morniug 

 between six and eight, make oiiv day in every 

 week ; and in forty years, a man who gets up at 

 six, lives ten years longer, in one sense, than a 

 Of beans, they raised abimilniice, and had sove- 1 man who gels up at eight. . 

 rol betttT kinds Ihiin I have scrn of late years. -\ ])hysiciaii has said, that a patient of his, a 

 To save seed they would pick by hand the earliest young person who wasthoughttobo ilia con^iimp- 

 Inrge poils, hang them up in a bag, and not shell lion, look i^e'liintis he gave him upon early rising, 

 litem until wanteil to plant: — the same with I and every morning rose a few minutes earlier 



Poirder al 2s per lb. 

 nUPONT'S rOWOER. .junlitv warrBnie<t, for 

 CoBfUtmi's .imimmilion Siort, l'<5llroa<l st, ni rtUul. 

 SllOr, CAPS, &c, ol the lest </ua/i/y— cheap for en.-h. 



I'uhlishrd every Fridiiy. at J-' C«r annum, p.iviil le 

 end of the year— but lliose h1u> pay uilhin si.\u din, fr 

 lime of subscribiuKj are entitled to n deduction iif liiVv it 



ll_/' No paper ivdl be sent to adistaucc without p,i\in 

 iiig matle iu advance. 



Primed for J. II. Russri.i, by I. R Ruttj— !.v 

 nil descriptions of I'rintinfr can be exrcii'.ed to meet the 

 of customers. OrdiTsfor jtriutiiig reccivetl by J. It. Kv 

 al llie .'\s;riculiural Warehouse No. bi Nuitk Muj Let 



