258 



NEW ENGLAND FAIIMER, 



Mnr. 5, 1830. 



sboiilil appear on trees to which Dr Si-offord'b 

 remedy shoulrl be iipplied, in spring onh/, we should 

 not think thut ciruuiii^^lunee conclusive ^against 

 the luercuriul prcparution, unless it were ajiplicd 

 in due season, in autumn, and renewed in season 

 the spring following. 



run ThK NEW t:NGLAND rAKMCK. 



MR TIDD'S POTATOES. 



Mr Fessemik.-s — There lias been so much said 

 of laic, ill your paper respecting potatoes, and it 

 is usually so well filled with useful and entertain- 

 ing matter, tliat I have felt suinewliat reluctant to 

 trouble you by bringing my seedling potatoes 

 again into notice ; particularly as tln-re iins already 

 been several kinds introduced, and well reconi- 

 mcndcil by the mediiiin of your paper. But as 

 you, and Mr J{ls3lll, together wiili some of our 

 horticultural friends, have thonglit it would be 

 iutcresling to our friends in general to hear the 

 result of my second year's experiment, I have un- 

 dertaken to coiiimuiiicate such facts as have tran- 

 spired, and will, as 1 think, be interesling in con- 

 tinuation of my former coininuiiicalinn. ] 



This crop has proved very different from what | 

 was anticipated. I was much disappointed In 

 some of those kinds which gave the greatest pro- 

 mise the first year, and concluded not to make 

 any seleclion this year; but preserve a few of the 

 best of each kind for another year's trial, conse- 

 quently I can do but little more, at this time, than 

 follow the example of some of our popular legis- 

 lative committees, — " report progress and ask 

 leave to sit again." I 



Some of those kinds which bore the best the I 

 first year, and on which I bad |ilacc(i my greatest j 

 dependence, gave, this year, but a very ordinary 

 yield ; while some of tbo.-ie which did not appear 

 worth saving, produced abundantly. They were ! 

 planted on the 21sl and -22(1 of May ; the crop 

 would no doubt have been better if they had been | 

 planted fifteen or twenty days earlier, but circum- 

 stances presented me from giving iliem, as 1 wjis 

 desirous, my personal attention l)efore that time. I 

 A part of them were idantcd in my garden in 

 drills, and a part in a field between long reds and 

 blues, in hills. Those in the garden had .some ' 

 manure spread on the ground, but none in the 

 drills; those in the field had a shovel-full of com-, 

 jiost manure, composed of meadow mud, the dung | 

 of liorses, oxen, cows, and swine. The rows 

 were about three feet apart, and the hills three by 

 four. There was considerable ilifference both in ' 

 the shape and shade of the leaf, and, also, in lux- j 

 uriance of growth of the vine. The first indica- ! 

 tion of matiiriiy, by the vines beginning to decay, 

 I discovered, was on the 11th of July, which was 

 fiflytwo days from the time of planting, and in 

 sixty riays the vine was cnlirely di-ad ; and from 

 this time lliey continued to die daily, and were 

 dug from lime to lime as opporlimily onired. The 

 greatest yield was from a klihl pl.inied in my gar- 

 den. From a row sixteen feet in length, I hail a ' 

 heaping bushel basket, the basket will bold a bush- ' 

 cl oven full, so that I think there nmsi have been 



at least five perks. I Ii.kI i, |„.,.1< j„ „,„. i,i||^ |„ 



three hills two peeks, and from thai in all llie gra- 1 

 dations down to n single potato in a hill; in fiici,j 

 there were one or two hills in which I could mil ' 

 find a siiiKh- potato, nnd a few hilU did not vt-^e- ! 

 tale. Somi- of the kimls did ii<it increase in size, j 

 but grew as large the first, as ihcy ,lid ihe second ' 



} ear from the seed. The potatoes occupied aUout 

 an acre of ground, the <piuntily of seed planted 

 about two bushels and a half. Tlic crop is esti- 

 mated at one hundred and forty bushels. If we 

 lake Ihe ipianlity of seed [ilanted only into con- 

 sideration, this must he consiilcred u very exlraor- 

 dinary yield ; so much so, that one of my men 

 from New ilampshire, who helped both to plant 

 and dig them, said, he should not like to go home 

 and tell )iis friends bow large a quantity I grew 

 from so few and such small seed, for feor lliey 

 would not believe him. 



Out of the MO bushels, I have saved about 

 one hundred bushels of the largest to plant the 

 next year, and have kept the different kinds sepa- 

 rate in paper hags and wooden boxes. 1 have se- 

 veral hundred out of my fifteen hundred varieties, 

 that will yield as well, and many of them better 

 than the long reds. 



There is something both curious and interest- 

 ing in watching the progress of nature, when she 

 sports in her endless varieties, and it was quite en- 

 tertaining to bear the remarks and exclamations 

 of those who were einployeil to dig them. Foi 

 some time I almost despaired of being able to in- 

 troduce into notice any new variety that should 

 be worth cultivating ; for as soon as either of tli» 

 four men who were digging them found a hill wc'l 

 filled with promising potatoes, they were sure to 

 he claimed by name as an old acquaintance ; they 

 had either known them in F.iigland, Ireland, or n 

 New Hampshire, the places of their nativity, to Ijc 

 great hearers, and of excellent quality ; but I was 

 soon made quite easy on this lieail, for I found I 

 had a greater number of good bearers than they 

 could muster names. On the whole, I think I 

 have no reason to be discouraged, but on the con- 

 trary, have good hopes of being able to introduce 

 a variety, that shall yield to none in jmint of ex- 

 cellence. JACOB TIDD. 



Roxbury, Feb. 15, 1830. 



CULTURE OF MUSTARD. 

 E. Hersky Derby, Esq 



Sir — It is with pleasure I answer your request, 

 and confer the favor you wish in relation to raising 

 Mustard Seed. I have to state that it should be 

 sown in drills, two or two and a half feet apart, 

 and kept clear of weeds. 1 have raised at the 

 rate of twenty bushels per acre in this way. I 

 have been informcil by a gentleman in New Haiiip. 

 shire, that he raised five bushels on thirtysix jioles; 

 also by another that he raised on a small piece in 

 his garden at the rale of thirtyfivc bushels per 

 acre. I bought ten bushels of seed last fall at 

 the Shaker Village in Canlerhnryj N. H. They 

 staled that it produced as much as twenty bushels 

 to the acre. I raised seven hiishels last year, at 

 ihe rate of twelve bushels to the acre. It was 

 aft"erteil l.y the droiighl. The seed allud.-d if, i.s 

 our native red seed. I am inrlincd to think that 

 fifteen bushels is as much as it will average one 

 year wiih aiiolhcr. It will bring from $3 to .«:?,.')0 

 per bushel, cash. Should a premium he cillered 

 lo the person that should raise the most to the 

 acre, not less than fiflecii bushels, I think it would 

 be beneficial lo the Stale ; and wo may then ex- 

 peel good Milliard. 



Kespeelfidlv, yours &.C, 



lieverly, Ftb. ICi, 1830." JOHN I>. WEBBER. 



Iform in Peach Treis — A writer in the Tronlnn 



Federalist quoted with approbation by the Smiih- 



ern Agriculturist, recommends the following i 

 remedy against the worm in peach trees, (-r 

 triliota of Professor .Say.) — "A coinposiii. . 

 oyster-shell lime and Ian, equally iirojiorli. ; 

 and about half u bushel to a tree, put immeilial 

 round the trunk a few inches under ground. 



CULTURE OF HEMP. 



There were imported into the United Statei 

 the year 1826, goods manufactured from l._. 

 and exclusive of cordage, twine, ic, to the amo 

 of $1,787,75.1, and 88,116 cwt. of hemp 

 raw state. This last at §220 per ion, whici 

 the present medium market price of Russian hei 

 would swell the amount wliich the nation unnu: 

 pays, to the foreign cultivator and manufacture 

 lliis article, to more than two millions seven h 

 dred thousand dollars. I quote this fact to si 

 the extent of the national demand for hemp ; 

 its products, and to satisfy our farmers that ih 

 Ss liitle danger of glutting our markets with 

 necessary production, so long as they are able 

 compete with the foreign cultivator. 



The inquiry here presents itself— 



Are our lands adapted to the cultivation 

 hemp ? and, if they are, 



Can we sujjply our domestic demand, \ 

 ))rofit to the cultivator, at the ordinary inai 

 prices? 



The first point seems to be satisfactorily sob 

 Most of the siote.s, from Tennessee to Maine, * 

 ready grow hemp ; and in this slate it is siicc 

 fully and profitably cultivated, particularly in 

 counties of Orange, Saratoga, Wiwhington, To 

 kins, &.C, and upon most of the soils which y 

 a profit in the ordinary productions of agricull 

 This, like other crops of the farm, pays best u 

 a good soil, and under careful cullure. 

 diiiined reclaimed bogs, or swamps, and deep r 

 nfuvions, abounding in vegetable mailer, are 

 atMpted to llie growth of this invaluable plant 

 its strong system of roots peiietraic these fre 

 and find abundance of alinienl lo nourish and 

 ture the plant. It will do well on any soil 

 will grow good flax. But it will not rejiay foi 

 bor and expense upon lands either poor, habilu 

 wet, or on such as have not been previously i 

 jected to a complete slate of pulvcri/alion. 

 need no better hemp grounds than the flatS' J' 

 islands below and contiguous to ihiscily aflbn 



Ujmn the second point I have no prncl 

 knowledge ; and must therefore rely upon 

 authority of others, and upon estimates foiin 

 upon known data. 



We in llie first place derive evidence that 

 culture of hemp is profitable to Ihe .Aiiieri 

 farmer, from the acknowledged fact, that the qi 

 lily annually grown among us has greall) iiicr 

 ed, and probably quadrupled, within Ihe last 

 years. Few have abandoned its culture, • 

 commenced il uniler favorable cireum-taii> 

 while many are annuidly turning their aiientin 

 it. Men are not apt lo pursue a business \tl 

 does not pay them for their labor and expense 



In the next place we infer, that il is or inus 

 profitable, 



1. Because the price of foreign hemp is' 

 hanced in our markets, and the quiii 

 qncnlly diminished, by the high duties \' 



been imposed by ihe tariff". 



2. Because one liolf of llic ordinai'\ cX|h 

 of cleaning and preparing il for markei. ni.iv I 

 be saved by the u.so of the mwlv iiivel 



