mw ENGL.AND FARMER. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATION! 



Foil THE NEW ENGLAND FAKMEK. 



From Andrei!) Parmentier's MS. Essay on the cultiva- 

 tion of the Vine. 

 [This small work with which I have been occupied for 

 some time is delayed in its publication, for some answers 

 to inquiries made in Europe about some particular facts. I 

 have thought that the public ought to be acquainted with 

 the use of Plaster of Paris on the vine. I had promised 

 if I was not prepared for the publication of this work, to 

 publish it in the American Farmer, New England Far- 

 mer, and New York Farmer." I requested many gen- 

 tlemen who have honored me with their confidence, not 

 to prune their vines until spring. — A. P.] 



ON THE BLEEDING OF THE VINE. 



This arises from the aqueous sap coming out 

 drop by drop, from tlie section made in pruninjf 

 the vine. When the bleeding of the vine takes 

 place on a bud, it is generally spoiled ; it is to 

 i prevent this that the cut should be made in s up- 

 ward direction, beginning by the part opposite to 

 the bud, as may be seen in the printed direction 

 for vines which accompanies all vines sent from 

 my establishment, and which will also be figured 

 in the Essay on the cultivation of the vine. 



In all tlie publications and treatises on the 

 cultivation of the vine in Fiance, and in other 

 countries, there is no mention made of any rem- 

 edy or preventive against the bleeding of bfi 

 vines, after pruning in the spring. It is tlie cause 

 very often that the cultivators are obliged to prune 

 iu the fall, which is very much against the true 

 method of cultivation of the vine. Every culti- 

 vator must have observed how many times, after 

 the pruning in the fall, very fine fruit buds, uni- 

 ting both ripening wood and strength are destroy- 

 ed in the spring by the frost, the wood being more 

 apt to be frozen after pruning, than it would 

 have been if the pruning were performed after 

 the more heavy frosts are over, (the covering of the 

 I vine will not always save those fine buds ;) it is 

 1.1 only in very mild countries that the vine is pruned 

 in the fall, and this is only done on the red or 

 black grape ; these generally, being more able to 

 support those prunings than the white grape. 

 I Having been much occupied in endeavoring to 

 'prevent this loss of sap, I tried first sawing the 

 branches of the vine; this really obviates the 

 bleeding because by the operation of sawing the 

 vessels of the sap become obstructed. The con- 

 '' trary happens where the pruning is done by a 

 'sharp pruning knife as it is almost always done 

 for the sake of greater neatness in the work. I 

 'was not satisfied with this manner of operation, 

 ,and I owe the following discovery by analogy 

 ifrom having remembered that to prevent the 



1' 'The American Farmer, edited and owned by J. S. 

 Skinner, Esq. Baltimore, is a weekly publication ; price 

 5 dollars. The New England Farmer, edited by Thom- 

 as G. Fessenden, Esq. Proprietor, J. B. Russell, Bos- 

 ton ; price 3 dollars; and the New York Farmer, edited 

 and owned by J. Fleet, Esq. price 3 dollars. These 



' publications are extremely valuable, and should be in the 

 hands of every cultivator or farmer. I will with pleasure 

 receive subscriptions for any of Ihese, by sending, free of 

 postage, the amount of one year's subscription m advance. 



I -A. P. 



] bleeding of the sap from cucumbers after trim- 

 ming, my old gardener in Europe used powdered 

 plaster. I followed this idea and the result was 

 completely successful. In pruning' the vine in 

 March, (a little sooner in more favorable parts,) I 

 rub a little of the powdered plaster of Paris, (it is 

 probable that Nova Scotia plaster would answer 

 the same jiurpose, but I have not tried it,) on the 

 part of the vine, which is cut, and this entirely 

 obstructs the vessels because there is a very little 

 moisture when the cut is made, and when the sap 

 begins to flow, it finds the sap vessels so well 

 stopped up that none of the fluid makes its appear- 

 ance on the surface of the section, and if the prun- 

 ing (which I have tried) was done even at the 

 beginning of May, the immediate and sufficient 

 application of powdered plaster would stop the 

 bleeding of the grape. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FAKMEK. 



QUERIES. 



Mr Fessenden — Possessing a small orchard 

 of pear, apple, and peach trees we wish to ascer- 

 tain the most proper method of the cultivation of 

 those trees. Any one who will answer the follow- 

 ing queries will confer a favor on 



A YouNO Farmer. 



Hanson, Mass. May 1, 1830. 



Which is the most proper season for the en- 

 grafting of apple trees .' 



Also which is the most proper season for inocu- 

 lating or budding them .' 



What is the best method of preserving the scions, 

 if they are to be kept for a longtime before en- 

 grafting them .' 



Will a scion of a pear tree flourish if engrafted 

 on an apple tree .' 



Is there any method of defending the peach 

 tree against the numerous sorts of insects that 

 yearly attack it? 



Is any injury done by trimming the quince 

 tree ? 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



STRUCTURE OF THE PLOUGH. 



Mr Fessenden — From experience, and from 

 the best information I can obtain upon the subject 

 from experienced men, I am satisfied of the fol- 

 lowing facts, viz : that the detached or knife coul- 

 ter, set so as to cut 2 inches in advance of the 

 point of the plough, and half an inch clear of the 

 land side, so as to leave the land as smooth and 

 even as a plank, requires one fourth less power of 

 draught than the best lock-coultered plough. 

 And that the Hitchcock Patent Ploughs, leave the 

 land in a much more loose and friable condi- 

 tion than any other. So much so, that we con- 

 sider it equal to a light harrowing ; consequently 

 its work is one fourth better. Now a good plough 

 on many farms will turn 400 acres ; on any farm 

 200. The customary price for a good plough 

 is 75 or 50 cents per day, and an acre is a day's 

 work on an average. Now 200 acres at 50 cents 

 per acre is $100, the saving of one fourth of this 

 in draught is $25 ; the work one fourth better is 

 $25 = $50. Therefore, I say that the Hitchcock 



plough with the knife coulter, is worth $50 more 

 than one of the old plough.^. But as this estimate 

 I of 25 cents per acre, may be said to be too high, 

 put it at 5 cents per acre, 200 X 5 = 1000 or 

 $10; from this it appears that v e may as well 

 give ^$10 for the Hitchcock Plough, as to take an 

 old fashioned one as a gift, or perhaps it would be 

 as well to get the Hitchcock Plough and try it, 

 and in the mean time, set the old plough up on 

 the wall in some airy place to dry, in order if the 

 others prove as good as they are recommended to 

 be, that we may follow the example of Elisha, the 

 son ofShaphan (when the prophet Elijah found 

 him ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen,) which 

 was to burn them up. 



One more fact and I am done. In regard to 

 shares, we calculate that if we break one the first • 

 day it is used, and wear out another, and so on, 

 through a year's work, breaking one half of the 

 shares and wearing up the other, (the shares at 50 

 cents each,) the cost expended in a given time will 

 not exceed the blacksmith's bills for that time, to 

 say nothing of travel and attendance. 



Yours, J. MEARS. 



Dorchester, April, 1830. 



MERRIMAC COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SO- 

 CIETY. 



The following are officers of that institution, 

 viz : Joshua Darling, President, Samuel Folsom, 

 Vice President, Thomas D. Merrill, Treasurer, 

 John^.Y^«-st, Secretary, Joshua Darling, Joseph M. 

 Harptir, John George, John Eastman, and Reu- 

 ben Porter, Directors. 



At a meeting of the Board of Directors, Pre. 

 miums on Farms were awarded, and the follow- 

 ing gentleman appointed a viewing committee. 

 Thomas II. Pettengill, Salisbury, Chairman, John 

 Farmer, Boscawen, Joseph C. Thompson, Ando- 

 ver, Jonathan Eastman, Jr. Concord, David M 

 Carpenter, Chichester, Robert Lane, Sutton, Ste- 

 phen Libbey, Hopkinton, David Morrill, Canter- 

 bury. 



"riie following are some of the Premiums voted 

 by said Society. 



For the best farm $5, and one year's subscrip- 

 tion to the New England Fanner. 



Next best, 4 dollars, and 1 year do do. 



Tfext best, 3 dollars, and 1 year do do. 



Next best, 2 dollars, and 1 year do do. 



Best kitchen garden, 1 dollar, and one year do, 

 do, &c, &c, &c. 



From Transactiom of the Essex Agricultural Society. 



MANURE 



Is essential to successful husbandry ; yet in 

 few instances is half the amount made which, 

 with little trouble might be made. Of what is 

 made a large portion is wasted by exposure to the 

 sun and rains. We shall say nothing of the advan- 

 tages of barn cellars and vaults because they are 

 deemed too expensive. But we will suggest a few 

 simple rules, which every farmer may observe. 

 Litter your stock with whatever of coarse fodder, 

 or refuse hay, or leaves, you can procure for 

 their comfort and your interest. The best farmer 

 that Switzerland ever produced (Kliyogg,) took 

 care that his cattle should stand knee deep in lit- 



