812 



NIAV ENGLAND FAUMER, 



May M, 1830. 



It H iKiw ulioiil rii.'lite<-ii iiirliea in lit* i;.'lil, mill 

 dcsciilieiJ ns a lianly |iiTfiiniiil ; the wholi; plant 

 xiiiciolli^ of n l>caiitiriil j,'laiii-oiiri liUff, aiiit cuvL-reil 

 with a vi.ry fiiiti iiienl, oi-raninnully, liowevur, it 

 varies lii;e llie »V(ill fli)Wer-li'aveil ten wrek sli)rk, 

 with quite green leaves'. Tlie flower lias a ricli 

 %vliile a|>|iearaMre ami t^inelk slroiii; of lioiiey. 

 Tiie preeise perind nf its iii(roi>iietioii lo tlic gnr- 

 ileii is unknown. Mr Miller was the first wlio 

 wrote upon it iiroferi^ionally in 1731 — and Mr 

 Jones ol Cliel.*en, slates lliiit lie unw liriinches of 

 it in tlie Cliirlie.-sier tnarkirt in 17.53. Or Lettsoiii 

 alioiit llie year 1767, cnltivnted and iiitrodured it 

 inio gi-neral notice in the iiei<;liliorliooil nf Lon- 

 don. But the hite Mr Curtis lias done more to 

 reroinnieiid and difl'iise the knowled;;!' of it than 

 any of his predecessors. This vejtelahle is known 

 in (^)veiit Garden market, but is rarely seen in 

 Fiance. 



The youn^' .uprrii^ shoots and tlie stalks of the 

 unfolding leaves hianched liy ri«iiig tlirongli the 

 liiiinnil ground in a wild slate, or hy earlhiiig up 

 in the gHiden.s, are the jiarts iiseil, tind when boil- 

 ed and dres.scd, like asparagus, are not inferior to 

 tliat vegetable. Tlicy form also an excellent in- 

 grecient in soups. Sonieiirnes the ribs of the 

 large leaves are pulleil and dressed as asparagus 

 after the plant has ceased to senrl up young 

 growths. By forcing, it may be bad in iniich 

 perfection, from November till May, a period in- 

 cluding all the dead luoMths <if the year. Vege- 

 tables are sel'lom improveil by this process, but 

 this article forms an exception, the forced produced 

 in mid winter being nioro crisp and delicate than 

 those obtained in regular seasons. 



THOMAS SMITH. 



Philnd. Labyrinth Garden, April 27. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, MAY 14, 1830. 



BLANCHED SKA-KALE. 



Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, President of the Mass. 

 Hort. Society, lias kindly presented us with the 

 cuttings of siiine blaiiclied seakale plants, raised 

 by hiiii, at bis residence in l{o.\burv. These, 

 boiled and dressed like asparagus, were folly eipial 

 to thai vegetable as an article of diet. The plants 

 witre raised in rows, and we belieTe the mode of 

 cultivation was the same usually pursued for that 

 esculent. But the mode of blanching was pecu- 

 liar, and Beeins to present advantages over the 

 common custom of covering with earthen pots, or 

 earihing up, a.", in celery. The process was aoiiie- 

 thiiig like the following : — 



Two boards about 12 or 14 inches wide, and 

 10 or 12 feet long, were nailed together at the 

 edges, so as to form a right angle ; so that when 

 the edges not nailed were turned down, and plac- 

 cil on the gr id, they formed an angular cover- 

 ing like the roof of a house, the highest part be- 

 ing the ridge. Cross-boards, properly shaped, 

 were then iiailiMl at the ends, so as to prevent 

 warping, and complete the coveriig. These were 

 l>la.-ed over the rows, .'uid exeliided light from the 

 vegetables a.i enecliuilly as earthen po.s, and with 

 much less labor and expense of time and inaturi- 

 alri. 



The Seo-kale is not very generally cidlivated in 

 this country. J. LowKl.l,, K8<|. gnu- the follow- 

 ing tioticch of this vegetable, in an 'irticle funiier- 

 ly publiblied in the Ma-,8. Agr. Kepusitory. 



' The sea-kale is a plant of recent iiilrodiiction ! 

 in Europe. Perhaps its culture raiiiiot be tr.iccd ' 

 back bejond forty years. It is a native of the J 

 sea coast of the southern pans of England, where ' 

 it is found growing in ai.-a laud. 



' It is very hardy — grows in any tolerable soil — ! 

 is perennial, and costs not half the labor bestowed | 

 on asparagus, li may be raised from the seed or 

 from the root ; an ! fifty plants, occupying a very 

 smnll space, will supply a single family. In ilsj 

 tiiste it resembles the Cauliflower. The only la- 1 

 bor it reipiires is to cover it with sand or earib.or 

 with pots, or boxes, in March, so as to excluile the 

 light, and to blanch it and make it while. If not | 

 blanched, it is neither .so beautiful to the eye, or so' 

 tiuider or so delicate to the taste as if Idanched.; 

 It should be thoroughly boiled, and it is better if] 

 boiled in milk and water. It should be served up 

 like Cauliflowers, with melted butter. It comes 

 in at a season in which our vegetables in this 

 country are very deficieni. 



' If in England and France, where it has to 

 compare at the same table with green peas and 

 spinach, it is admired as a luxury, can it be possi- 

 ble that it will not eventually succeed with us.' 



' If III older countries, with milder and shorter 

 winters, in which they give you green vegetables 

 nine montlis in the year, they value such a plant 

 as Sea-kale, it must be of greater value to us, 

 whose soil is bound in frost from the lOtli of No- 

 vember to the first of April, and sterile to the first 

 of May. 



' It requires no manure as the asparagus does. 

 It is indeed injured by manure, and if our farmers 

 in the interior, hail a patch of it in their gardens, 

 they would have cnrlier succulent vegetables to 

 eat with their salt provisions than any other they 

 could raise.' 



MANUFACTURE OF HEMP. 



We have received by the politeness of the Hon. 

 Mr Everett, a Report to Congrc-s, on ^American 

 Canvas, Cables^ and Cordage,' which contains a 

 mass of information on the cultivation and uses of 

 Hemp. Some of the information contained in this 

 document has been already laid before our readers ; 

 but it contains much useful matter, which we 

 shall give at lengtli or in sidislaiice as soon as 

 practicable. 



EDINBURGH REVIEW. 



The hnndreth number of this valuable Journal, 

 was re-published by Messrs Wells & Lilly, Court 

 .Street, Boston, on the 1st inst. lis contents are 

 Providential and Prophetical Histories; Political 

 Economy ; Maw's Journal of Travels in South 

 America; Etru.scan History and Antiquities ; Wil- 

 son's Life and Times of Danicd Defoe ; Sugar 

 Trade ; Duties on Sugar ; The Oltoman Empire ; 

 Impolicy of Increasing the Duties on Spirits ; 

 .Sir R. Duiikin on the Coui-se of the Niger ; New 

 System of ('lire ; Soutliey's Colloquies on Society ; 

 Index. Published quarterly, at five dollars per 

 annum. 



FOR THE KKW ENOLAIID FARMER. 



COW^ CABBAGE. 



In the nionlli of May last, I had the favor of 

 receiving from DrjAniKS Mkask, of Philadelphia, 

 a parcel i f the seeds of the Cow Cabbage, (Cesn-- 

 rian kail, which he bad recently imported from 

 France. My respectable friend infiirnied me that 

 ' in the Provinces of Muynu and Brittany, where 



tlie variety is extensively cultivated, chiefly for cat- 

 tle, llie stalks live four years and grow ten feet 

 liigli. The plants,' he ob.^erves, ' may eland out 

 all winter in Europe, but as the cold of the Old 

 Colony might possibly kill the plants, they should 

 be defeiiiled by a sheaf of straw well secured at 

 lop. This trouble would be repaid by the early 

 food aflorded by the leaves in the s)iriiig to cows. 

 The plants in ibis town the last suiiMiier, from 

 the seeds sent by Dr Mfasl, discovered a very 

 rapid grow [h, and ottaiied the height of from 

 four to five feet before cheiked by frost. Little 

 care was taken of them, and all that were expos- 

 ed without defence wcrt killed by the winter frost, 

 though they yielded not till near the close of win- 

 ter. Fortunately, one of my neighbors, from a 

 curiosity to ascertain their worth, took up his 

 plants in autumn and put them into bis cellar. 

 They flourished well, and he cut the leaves and 

 young sprouts several times in the winter and 

 found them excellent for table greens. Vegetation 

 111 the plants was not checked while in the cel- 

 lar, and in April he transplanted tbeni into bis 

 garden, where they have flouri-bed luxiirianily, 

 throwing out new sprouts in great abundance, 

 wliich he has cut several times. One of Ike plants 

 is now six feet high, and its sprouts to the very 

 sumniil, arc covered v\itb yellow blossoms froiH 

 which a large quantity of seed will be produced. 

 This jdant appears to be endowed with surprising 

 prolific powers, and from the experiment jc-t re- 

 lated, our fanners have ample encouragc-ment to 

 cultivate the new article according to y irrtcom- 

 inendation in the New Englanil Farmer. 

 Respectfully yours, 



JAMES THACIlEi;. 

 Plymouth, Mass. May 8, 1830. 



MAMMOTH OX. 



The Newport Herald, R. I. states that an ox, 

 raised Mr William Bateman, of th;it place, weigh- 

 ed as fi)IIows, viz: fore quariers, 550, 561 — bind 

 (pinrters 459, 470 — tallow 241 — hide 150— total 

 2430 lbs. The ox was seven years old, and 

 weighed when alive 3,000 lbs. 



THE SEASON. 



The present appearances indicate a productive 

 season. Fruit trees were in blossom a week ear- 

 lier than the average time, and a fi>riniglit sooner 

 than in 1820. The apple tree has blossuined iin- 

 nsiially full — the same remark applies to the early 

 pear, plum and cherry — peach trees are not so 

 full as in some years. Grass appears lo be well 

 set, and looks flourishing. Winter grain bus es- 

 caped the winter kill, ami looks finely. 



J\'etcburyport Herald. 



The Chambersbiirg, Pa. Repository slates that 

 there is in the vicinity of that town a man named 

 Hill, who enjoys good health at the extraonlinary 

 age of 120. 



A Mr Lynch, lately g«vo two seamen $100 

 each, for saving bis adopted daughter, aged six 

 years, who fell into Ohio River from u steam- 

 boat. 



An experienced horticulturist infoiTiia uo, that 

 the development of the season in this vicinity, 

 has at no time within his experience lieen more 

 ra) id and promising. The show of blossoms is 

 very great. — Pal. 



K 

 ill 



