164 



Ni:W E.\GLA>D FAK3I!:i{, 



Dec. 11,1829, 



COMMUiriCATIOPTS. 



FOR TUK HLW K.IGLAHl) riRUtll 



clean. The broncbcH will be so interwoven, anil 

 BO strongly armed, the stock bo large and ttrong, 

 and tlio growth so rapid, that I expect a good 

 fence in three years, where they were put out e 

 yeiir ago. 



1 am so iniicli in doubt as to the best method of 



LIVF. FENCES. 



I do not know, Mr Editor, tliat th'si: will ever 

 become on object worthy the nttent,,,,, ..f those of j cli,Vi„g and irmnaging7tha"t "l giml7forbea7"nu"y 

 your readers whose fanns abound aiih solid ma- 1 remarks on this branch of the subjen until my 

 tenals for lences ; but as there «re many districts ; „ i„i^,„ ^^c better fortified l-v experience. Let 

 like the one in which I reside, Where there is ah- 1 „„ ex,,erimenter beware, however, how he adopts 

 eolulely no stone, and scarcely any timber ht for ^Uo English method of planting, on the inverted 



rails, the remarks I am about to! oflcr, may be of 

 eome service. ' 



I have tried several plants for live fences, and 

 in various ways, and have got soiiie knowledge 

 from my experience. I have saqslicd myself that 

 the English hawthorn, (crutiegu.t oxj/acanlha,) 

 is not adapted to our climate. U is coiiiparatively 

 feeble in growth and structure, alii 

 injured by the severity of our wiotcrs. 'J'lio privet 

 ~M{cs a pretty ornamental hetigc, if kept well 

 clipped. The .■Jiulhorry makes a prorital)le hedge 

 where the leaves arc .:onsumcd by tin; silk-worm. 

 The defoliations for this purpose induce a shrubby 

 habit in the tree. Mulbciry hedges Src suited to poor 

 bouse farms, where they would afford shelter, pro- 

 tection, and employnient for the iii:iiates. The 

 common thorn of our country, of \v 



earth thrown from a ditch. This wiil not answer. 



It is adajited neither to our hot summers, nor 



cold winters. J. B. 

 Albany, Dee. 1, 1829. 



SFIELTERIXG FARM L.\NDS. 



Mr Rlssell — The article " Sheltering Farm 

 liable to be Lands," published in your 19lh No. from the Ame- 

 rican Fanner, delineates with correctness the im- 

 portant advantages of this branch of rural econ- 

 omy. To show to your readers the practicability 

 and facility of sheltering their farms, I submit a 

 statement of my personal experience in this busi- 

 ness. 



On the 28th of Mny, 1827, I repaired to the 

 banks of the Hudson with an assistant, and col- 

 I have I lected a '(|uantity of the seeds of the soft maple, 

 at least four species in culture, under c\i)ericnced I (""'" '■"'"■'""J some species of the elm, (ulmusj 

 management, will make a good and clicap fence. ""J of the button wood, (plalanus occidentalii,) 

 But the dillic.uliy with me has been to make the I "'''c'l were then falling, the latter of the prece- 

 haws grow. I have tried various ineiJiDds with ; '"ng year's growth. They were planted the same 

 but partial success. Have subjected tliriii to alter- [J"y> ^ery thick, in beds of mould. They imme- 

 nate freezing and thawing. None have grown | diately grew, and the plants attained some size 

 the first year; very few the second, and some i ''"it year. Last week I transjjlanted several of 

 more the third. I am apj)reheiisive lliey become I ''"^ maples, .-is ornamental trees, which were from 

 rancid by laying in mass, and thus like the .seeds 1 '"" '" fourteen feet high. Some of the button- 

 of the magnolia, lose the vegetatijig principle. | "'oods are ten feet, and the elms six and seven. 

 Can any of your readers instruct me ill a success- I This, in 30 months from the planting of the 

 ful method of raisins the quii:k.-- ? I l-^^o u f..ii«o 1 seeds. Having fortui.ntcly left a belt of jiatural 

 of the native thorn, the plants of which were ta- 1 wood upon a part, of the north and north-west 

 ken from the fields and wooils. It is a barrier 1 ''o^'Jc's of my farm, I resolved to continue it on 

 against orderly cattle, and will soon be so against I ''i«' west. For this purpose, I set two hands to 

 the unruly. It does not rerpiire, to take care of ■ """""'^ 'ind jjlough a strip of sward, ten feet 

 it, hut little more l;U)i)r than a dead fence ; whilst \ hroad, adjoining the fence, and at ten proceeded 

 as the latter is constantly deteriorating, this is an- i with n third to take up young maples in the seed 

 nually improving. An experienceil hand, with a 'i^'' for I'l^mting it. We took up three hundred 

 proper hill hook, or pair of shears, will clip nearly plants in a space less than si.x feet square, of four 

 a hundred rods in a ilay. There is no difliculty | 'o eight feet high ; and the same evening, with the 

 in rendering it perfectly clo.^e. The greatest ene- I "'J "f 'I'C two men employed at the plough, and 

 my 1 have to encounter, is, the moles or field | ""'"''"" for two hours, had the whole pla'iited in 

 mice, which often shelter iimler the leaves and ) f'ght order. The jilanting was performed in 

 gra."*, and bark the ]dant» during winter. The i •'''** '"aimer — A line being drawn from, and par- 

 anticipations from using the hucklhorn as a mate- """' 'o the fence, a hole was dug with a grubbing 

 rial, 1 think v.ill not he realized, [r] hoe, at intervals of five feet. Eight feet from the 



There is yet another plant, which I think „.ill K"^!"^"' " ^'^'""'^''^ """^^ "as planted, corresponding 

 be founil to surpass all others for live fences ; viz.'""''''"' ''''^'' and a third row was placed bc- 

 the three thorncd, or horny locust, (^/erft/st/iia/n- i '"'''*^" ''"; t""> 'i a quineun.K form, or in the iii- 

 acanllios,) a native of our "forests. The seeds arel""^"'^' '^^"'^ ''""^fc is a space of about -U (let 

 CBBily iirocnred, grown with nuility, growth rapi/l, ''^''"'''•=" '''o nearest trees. I purpose to plant ],o- 

 Hpiiies abundant, long and imhirated ] wood bard' """"^ '.'"''' 'Reason, a hill between two tribes, so that 

 and strong. Although this plant has been rcrom- ' *'"" ''I' ^^'''' " P'""?'' l"twccn the rows. From 

 mended, and tried, I understand successfully, I ''"'' ''"'"."* "^ ''"f "''■'' ' ''"^ " "" ''onl't that in six 

 have never seen it in a mature finco. But the I >'""'■'* ''"•'' ''e'' will afror(raii ample screen, niu 



strong confidence I have in its (iincss, ha.s lnduce<l 

 mo to put nut some thou.--:ands of plants. 1 put 

 out a fiiiamity in the autumn of 1S28, in douhlc 

 rows. Not one plant in iOO failed ; and they 

 made so fine a growth during ilij summer, that I 

 wan indiiceil to rely upon one row, and have taken 

 up anil replaiite<I in aiiollipr situation, the resiihie. 

 I piirposi; to trim the plants two feet from the 

 gr<jund, which will enable mo to keep the soil 



fifteen years an abundance of fuel ; and as sprou,=. 

 grow vigorously from the stump, I think th.< 

 luttiiigs may bo repealed every fifteen yrar^< 

 thereafter. The expense thus far does not ex- 

 ceed $3. J. BrEI,, 

 Mbany Miraery, M>v. 28, 1829. 



Tin: potato! 



Mr Fr.8SENDE«( — I'lr/zled by conflicting ojiin- 

 ions in relation to the cultivation of this vegetable, 



I procured, some years ago, a -Ito volume, p 

 libhed by the British Board" of Agriculture, lxc 

 sively devoted to this subject, in the confident 

 [.ectation of liaving all my doubts colved 

 its perusal. It contained ))roper queries, j 

 pounded by the board to men of practical i 

 scientific know ledge, and the answers of the lat 

 I commenced the examination of this pondin 

 work, ami, as 1 thought, invaluable treasure, n 

 great ardor ; but my ardor abated as 1 pro^-rcsi 

 until it terminated in indiifcrcnce and disuppo 

 menl. I found the opinions and results so com 

 dictory and various, in relation to seed, soil, i 

 nure, cultivation, and product, that 1 felt my 

 more at a loss in regard to the subject than wl 

 I commenced reading. The committee of 

 hoard, whose province it was, from these mat 

 als, to have collected the best system of niana 

 ment, frankly acknowledged their inabiliiv to j 

 form this duty. I, however, learned one imj 

 I tant fact by my labor, viz. that the intrinsic va 

 III' a variety is not to be estimated by the size 

 its tubers; hut that, under like circumstances, 

 nutriment is often in an inverse ratio to the ' 

 uine of the vegetable ; or, to state the resul 

 ohcniieal analysis, that while the laree ox-nc 

 yielded only /onrieen per cent of nutritious mati 

 tlie small kidney variety gave about double, 

 nearly twenty-eight per cent. I consider this 

 suit worth remembering, even by the farmer y 

 {cultivates this crop for his swine and bullo( 

 I .\nd it is in consonance with what 1 have renin 

 I ed of the ajiplc. The juices are more conccni 

 j ted in the small than in the large fruit ; and 

 I far asmy memory scr\cs me, all the finer ci 

 fruits are under a medium size. This is parti 

 larly the case with the Styre, Golden and Do< 

 ton pippins, Foxley, Siberian, llar\ey, and 

 eider crabs. 



To return to the potato. Considerable pract 

 and careful observation, have suggested to 

 certain rules for the cultivation of this crop, wh 

 I submit to your disposal, with my reasons 

 adopting them. These rules direct, 



1. That small potatoes should be rejected 

 seed. 



2. That large ones should be cut into (rom t 

 to five parts or sets. 



3. That moist, (not wet,) and light, (hut rii 

 soils are best for the growth of this plant. 



4. That iinfermented dung, spread and tun 

 under with the plough, is the best manure. 



5. That grass leys are to be i)rel"erred, wl 

 convenient ; and 



0. That the crop should bo hilleil, or earth 

 only at the first dressing. 



1. 1 reject small potatoes as seed, because < 

 perience has taught me that such send up oi 

 feeble stocks, which can mature but a feohic p 

 geny. It seems to bo a law in the vegetable 

 well as in the animal kingdom, that a fi. M, ;.ar< 

 can jiroduce only a feeble otVspring. II. ,,, ? 

 deners select the largest and most perl. : ^ci- 

 and farmors the most perfect animals, to brc 

 from. 



2. Rut, it may be asked, if the small pot, 

 gives a fi-cbl» progeny, huw can you expect a It 

 ger iirndiicc from a small 3tt or cii/diig :' T 

 strength and vigor of the shoot which Ts to be 

 the new crop, does not depend upon the pola 

 but upon the <ye, or hud, already formed, aj 

 which !.■<, in fact, the embryo plant. In the lar, 

 tuber the embryo is largo nod healthy ; in t 



