684 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 10 



fl-eshet, and there it grows so rank and vigorous, 

 as to show that it delights in those inundatioiif--. 

 Again, it is not only perennial, but it fbrni;^ larger 

 and sironger roots every J'eur, and grows ranker 

 and stronger, and the period at which it may die 

 out is entirely unknown. But, forming a conjec- 

 ture (i-om such circumstances as are known, it is, 

 doubtless, a plant of many years duration. In- 

 deed, so stroiig a possession does it take of the 

 land, that afierfive years ijrowth it will be imprac- 

 tica.ble to reclaim the land tl'om it, but b}' the mat- 

 tock and grubbing hoe. No plough in this coun- 

 try can do any thing with it. These are rare 

 habits of the plant, and will strike every one as 

 rendering it invaluable; for no crass will be Ibund 

 profitable which requires much pains to cultivate 

 it, and keep it set upon the lands. And moreover, 

 if the seeds could once be had cheaply and abun- 

 dantly, it could not fail to prove one of the most 

 powerful restorers and fertilizers of our exhausted 

 fields and hill-sides, that has ever b.een tried;; 

 When once well set, all washing of the land 

 would be at an end ; and if sufi'ered to o-row uncut 

 and unfed for four or five years, to shade the land 

 in summer, and to spread its own substance on 

 the land to rot in winter, it could not fail to make 

 the poorest exhausted old field extremely rich. 

 It would require labor to grub up the roots and re- 

 claim the land ; but when done, the roots alone 

 would give a rich supply of manure. 



I have given 3-ou these facts from the record, as 

 I have kept a book, in which 1 have carelully 

 written the dates, circumstances, and results of 

 every experiment I have made. Although appa- 

 rerilly unimportant, the communication of tliem 

 may nevertheless, perchance, be productive of 

 some good ; and, if I should live, I may, at a fu- 

 ture lime, trouble you with soiije flirlher commu- 

 nications. 



JAMES DAVIS, M. D. 



From the Gardener's Magazine. 

 HORSE CHESTNUT. 



The following iTiethod of propagating this beau- 

 tiful tree was communicateii for the N. E. Farm- 

 er, vol. vii. p. 102, by Hon. O. Fiske, of Worces- 

 ter. 



For some 3'ears I took various means to obtain 

 the vegetation of this nut, but without success. 

 The last parcel I planted without eflect I emptied 

 on the grass until I was ready to institute some 

 other scientific process. In planting then) I acci- 

 denlally and very fortunately left one. It was in 

 leaf when 1 first disco\?ered it. By a careful re- 

 moval to a favorable soil it has become a fine bear- 

 ing tree. All the rest perished as heretofore. 

 Since this discovery I have not found the least dif- 

 ficulty. I endeavor to imitate nature in her plant- 

 ing the seeds of the forest. 



Soon after the nuts are gathered, not allowing 

 them to become dry, I make a slight excavation 

 by the side of some bank in my garden, and 

 spread them in, levelling them nearly with the sur- 

 face. Care should be taken to lay the side from 

 whence the root issues next to the earth. This 

 posture gives the root a more speedy access to 

 nourishment, and fiicilitates the exit of the stem. 

 I then cover them with leaves or some ligiii rub- 



bish, and replace as much earth as is necessary to 

 keep the covering in place. By the time the 

 ground is ready to receive them in the spring, I 

 find them sprouted without the loss of one in a 

 hundred. To disengage them from the earth, 

 after removing the covering I pass a siable-lbrk 

 under the mass, and genily pry them up, taking 

 out the nuts singly and carelully, lo prevent break- 

 ing the long tender root, and transplant them in 

 trenches. In this process I make the holes 

 with a trowel deeper than the extent of the root. 

 Afler partially filling them with light earth, I 

 dra,w up the nut to within about an inch of the 

 surface, leaving it just buried beneath it. I gene- 

 rally take them up the second year and cut ofl'the 

 tap roof, that they may he removed vviih more 

 ease and salety when large enough to be trans- 

 planted from the nursery. 



Thi^ tree is peculiar in its process, taxing the 

 patience o\' the cullivator in its early stages. The 

 annual growth is finished about the last of June, 

 when other trees are in their most vigorous pro- 

 tjress. In the fifth season the stature is dou- 

 bled. At this period it grows with the vigor and 

 rapidity of other trees. 



From tlie Village Record. 

 STRAWBERRIES. 



I have been intiuced to make the present com- 

 munication, from having been informed by a 

 j'oung man from near Salem, of the management 

 of a bed in his liither's garden, which he planted 

 about twenty years ago, and which still continues 

 very productive. It contains about two square 

 perches, and the present season twenty quarts 

 were gathered in a morning, and strawberries 

 measuring three inches and three-fourths round, 

 were fi'equenily found. The manner in which 

 this bed has been managed, and made so produc- 

 tive, is, as soon as the tiiiit is all gathered, mow 

 the vines close off, and cover the bed four or five 

 inches with rotten wood, drawn fiesh li-om the 

 land, where old logs have been left to decay. 

 The strawbejry vines will shoot through this co- 

 vering and there will be no farther labor necessary 

 but to keep (he running vines cut off, to prevent 

 their taking root; twelve inches square was the 

 distance at which the plants of the above de- 

 scribed bed were planted. 



Fxtract from Miscelhmea Curiosa, ptiblislied in 1707. 



Clayton's letters FRoai Virginia, in 1688. 



j^ Letter from Mr. John Clayton Rector of 

 Cnftun at IVakrfield in Yorkshire, to the Roy- 

 al Society, May 12, 1688, given an account oj 

 several nbservables in Virginia, and in his voy- 

 age thither, more particularly concerning the 

 air- 



Having oflientimes been urged to give an ac- 

 count of Virginia by several of the worthy 

 members of the Royal Society, I cannot but, as 

 ihr forth as I am able, obey commands whereby 

 I'm so much iiouour'd, and show my respect by 

 my ready compliance ; tlio' I am so sensible of 

 my own weakness and incapacity lo answer your 

 expectations, that belbre-hand I must apologize 



