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PuUish td by JoHj> B. Rpssell, at JVs. 52 JVoHh Market Street, (at the Agricultural Warehouse) Thomas G. Fessenden, £</,-<or. 



VOL. YIII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1830. 



No. 49. 



MANGEL WURTZEL. 



Mr Fessenden — Having read a groat doal 

 within a year or two of the value of the Mangel 

 Wurtzel Beet as an article of food for cattle, I 

 this year, deterniiiieil to try an acre of them ; and 

 ))rocured seed of Messrs Tliorburii and Soa ; 

 about half of which were planted about the 2.5ll) 

 of April on a piece of land where corn was rais- 

 ed last year, and was well manured at that time; 

 and this spring had about 25 loads mostly from 

 the horse stable, ploughed in. The seed came ip 

 well, but the roots were immediately attacked by a 

 species of louse similar in appearance to those we 

 sometimes see on cabbage, which have destroyed 

 almost every plant of those planted at that time 

 The remainder of the seed was put in about tb« 

 20th of May, came up well as the first, but tin 

 plants are going the same way. Carrots sowi 

 alongside of them are in the same condition fron 

 the same cause, but parsnips look well. Now [ 

 want to inquire, whether these crops are liabfe 

 to be thus destroyed? Is there any remedy? 

 And what is the most sure and best crop that cm 

 be raised this season ou the same ground forfei 1- 

 ing cows ? 



An answer to these questions or any of then 

 would confer a favor on 



A YOUNG FARMER. 



Norwich, June 18, 1830. 



Remarks by the Editor. — The disorder meiitic - 

 ed above is new to us, as incident to Mangel 

 Wurtzel. Loudon asserts that no plant is less liable 

 to diseases than the Mangel Wurtzel. Litewise it 

 is stated in an article communicated to 'he Trus- 

 tees of the Massachusetts Agricultural Saciety, by 

 J. Lowell, Esq. [See N. England Farmer vol. iv. 

 page 30.5] derived principally from a French publi- 

 cation by the Abbe Rosier that the ' Mangel Wurt- 

 zel is attacked by no insect.' If the insect of 

 which our correspondent complains is the same 

 or similar to the cabbage-louse, the remedies re- 

 commended are lime-water, tobacco-water, a de- 

 coction of elder leaves, common soap-suds, &c, to 

 be applied, with a watering pot, but, perhaps they 

 would scarcely be practicable in field culture. 



With regard to ' the most sure and best crop 

 that -can be raised this season on th.e sa:ne ground 

 for feeding cows,' we should think turnips as prom- 

 ising as any. It is, perhaps, not too late for iiiil- 

 let or Indian corn sown broad cast, where fodder 

 is the object. 



CANKER WORMS. 



Mr Fessenden — My apple trees have, 4br some 

 years past been very much injured by canker 

 worms ; and I have diligently endeavored to find 

 out something to check their ravages. 



I thought of a plan for that purpose, last sum- 

 mer, and intimated it to a respected friend and far- 

 mer in my neighborliood : but deferred putting 

 my thought into action, because experienced men 

 said, 'the canker-worm's career has always been limit- 

 ed to just so nmny years. In 1830, j/om may rely 

 «7t it, the worms tcill not appear.' Last fall, how- 

 ever, the slugs began to go up. I faithfully tried 

 the old remedy, and tarred them autumn, winter 



and spring. Yet tliey have been more numerous 

 and destructive the present year than ever. My 

 apple trees now appear as if a blazing fire hud 

 raged among their leaves. 



On the third of this month I cut a strip of sheet 

 lead 4i inches wide, and of sufficient length'; for- 

 med it, on the handio of a pitchfork, like a tube, 

 and had it soldered : then jiassed a piece of rope 

 through it and bent it around an apple tree, draw- 

 ing the rope tightly while bending, till the ends 

 met ; cut tlie pipe open and lapped the ends ])ast 

 each other two indies, that they might be ham- 

 mered well together, and, by a proper cement, say 

 putty or something similar, be made water tight : 

 then brought it to a level, and tacked the upper 

 edge to the tree with small pump nails, about si.ic 

 inches apart. Here was a complete circular ca- 

 nal around the tree. I purjiose to fill it early in 

 the autumn, with winter-strained oil, spirits of tur- 

 pentine or some other liquid.— If this should not lay 

 an embargo on their commerce, it must at least stop 

 their navigation, for no slug will dare to sail over it. 

 A piece of sheathing paper, cut in proper form 

 and oiled, may be fixed over it to keep out the 

 rain. 



If the lead be rolled thin, the expeuse will not 

 probably exceed two shillings per tree. 



I beg leave, through your useful journal, to sub 

 mit the above experiment to my agricultural breth- 

 ren, for their consideration, with a hope, that if it 

 should not prove altogether successful, it may lead 

 to some better discovery, to protect ourajtple trees 

 from the blasting influence of canker worms. 

 Respectfully yours. 



Roxbw-y, June 19, 1830. P. G. ROBBINS 



SEASON AT ALBANY. 



' Our pear trees are suffering again sadly, as al- 

 so our apple trees. I have cut up this day fifty 

 peach trees destroyed, I believe, by the frost, after 

 they had blossomed and were in full foliage ; My 

 grape crop was destroyed at the same tinje. We 

 have had twelve rainy days in June.' 



A Remedy for the Stings of Bees, Wasps, 

 AND Hornets. 



Let the part stung be wet and rubbed over with 

 Sweet Spirit of Nitre a few times, as soon as pos- 

 sible, and if done within a few seconds of time, 

 the anguish is immediately relieved and inflatnma- 

 tion ))revented. 



The ancient name with the druggist was Spi- 

 ritis A"itri Dulcis, hut now Spts. ittheris nitrosi. It 

 might be well for those who handle Bees to have 

 a small phial of this cheap remedy in their pockets, 

 as the stings of Bees are often followed with bad 

 consequences, and have been known to prove fa- 

 tal. O. PARTRIDGE. 



Slockbridge, June, 1830. 



HORTICULTURAL ANOMALY. 



Mr Fessenden — 



I have noticed within the present month, an an- 

 omaly in the vegetable kingdom which I do not 

 recollect to have seen mentioned, and which I 

 deem worthy of record. 



It is that the blossoms of an apple tree emana- 



I'ting from buds inserted by inoculation the previ- 

 ous season, arc frequently double, and the petals 



jalso larger than their usual dimensions. I first re- 

 marked, these double blossoms on a portion of a 

 row of trees, of the Jlpi noir, and was primarily 

 impressed with the id(!a that possibly some buds 

 of the Chinese double flowering apple had been 

 mixed with thciri, but on further investigation I 

 found that the trees of the Yellow Harvest and 

 Transparent Moscow, had also double blossoms ; 

 those of the Transparent Moscow exceeded the 

 others in point of size, being as large as a medi- 

 um rose. It is to be miderstood that all these 

 trees had been budded in 1829, and were making 

 their first shoots this spring. The stocks are not 

 large, but are healthy and vigorous, and this di- 

 gression from nature in the formation of the.se 

 monstrosities is evidently attributable to the super- 

 abundance of sap forced into the buds. 

 Very respectfully, 



WM. ROBERT PRINCE. 



Linnean Botaoic Garden, ) 

 N. Y. June I, 1630. ( 



The following observations are prepared by the Editor 

 of the New England Farmer. For a large part of the 

 facts we arc indebted to Phillips' History of Vegetables. 



C,\EBAGE. 



Dr R. James says, cabbage is agreeable to the 

 stomach, if it be eaten slightly boiled ; for after 

 thorough boiling it binds, and much more so if 

 twice boiled. We here cannot pass over the advice 

 of Brii^t.Vni;; respecting the preparing cabbages 

 for the table. ' I must,' says he, ' expose an error, 

 which is no less common than pernicious, in pre- 

 paring cabbage. Most people, in consequence of 

 the ignorance of their cooks, eat it after it has 

 been long boiled, a circumstance which does not 

 a little diminish both its grateful taste and saluta- 

 ry qualities. But I observe, that those who have 

 a more polite and elegant turn, order their cabbage 

 to be slightly boiled, put into dishes, and seasoned 

 with salt and oil ; by which method they assume 

 a beautiful green color, becotue grateful to the 

 taste, and ])roper for keeping the body soluble. 

 This circumstance ought not to be forgot by those 

 who are lovers of cabbage.' 



Simon Pauli tells ns, that he knew a young 

 girl, who, in the space of fourteen days had an 

 inci edible number of warts taken off one of her 

 hands, by anointing them with the juice of cabbage, 

 which was allowed to dry on them. 



In the Economical Jomnat of France, the fol- 

 lowing method of guarding cabbages from the de- 

 predations of caterpillars, is stated to be infallible ; 

 and may, perhaps, be equally .serviceable against 

 those which infest other vegetables: 



Sow a belt of hemp seed round the borders of 

 the ground when the cabbages are planted, and 

 although the neighborhood be infested with cat- 

 erpillars, the space inclosed by the hemp will be 

 perfectly free, and not one of these vermin will 

 approach it. 



BROCCOLI. 



We have known broconli preserved from the in- 

 jury of the severest winters, by being taken out 

 of the ground late in the autumn, and replanted 

 in a slanting direction. This experiment was 

 made in the year 1819, with such success, that 



