54 



NEW ENGLAiND FARMER. 



and I huve seen iiitoxic;ilion produced by them, 

 given fresh-g-alhered, and in too great quantity ; 

 and had not bleeding been had recourse to, 

 death would have ensued. All that is necessary 

 to be observed in the early season, is, that the 

 supply of roots be moderate at a time, and hay, 

 straw, or chaff, given bctiveen the servinsfs 

 with mangel wui-zel ; as the season advances, 

 the quantity of roots may be increased, and the 

 dry food diminished. Milk and butler from 

 mangel wurzel are peculiarly sweet and line ; 

 and beef, produced (rem feeding with this root, 

 is excessively ji'icy and rich flavored. 



The root will not require such BTicessive deep 

 land as many have imagined, its chief growth 

 being out of the ground ; and though much ben- 

 eliled by frequent hoeing, it is by no me, mis light 

 to earth it up, as by that plan the growth is re- 

 tarded till fresh fibrous roots arc thrown out in 

 Search of nourishment near the new made sur- 

 face of the surrounding cr.rth. 



Nor let the grower of mangel vvurzel shrink 

 from giving his field an ample supply of good 

 rich manure, as his well fattened land will re- 

 turn him five-fold profit if he gives it with an 

 unsparing hand. 



And now, though last, not least, for the culti- 

 vator's consideration, mangel wurzel is not sub- 

 ject to the depredations of the turnip beetle. — 

 Neither will that farmer be troubled with smut 

 in his corn who sfee|)s his seed wheal in a solu- 

 tion oi sulphate of copper. 



On setting Cutting Instruments. — The thanks 

 of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, 

 Manufactures and Commerce, were voted to 

 George Peverley, Esq. of Queen-Square, Lon- 

 don, tor a communication on the use of soap 

 instead of oil in setting culling instruments on 

 a hone. It sets quicker, gives a good edge, re- 

 moves notches with great tacilily. and is a much 

 more cleanly material than oil. The operation 

 is pertbrmed as follows : 



Having first cleaned your hone with a sponge, 

 soap and water, wipe it dry ; then dip the soap 

 in clean soft water, and wetting also the hone, 

 rub the soap lightly over it, until the surface is 

 lightly covered all over; then proceed to set 

 in the usual way, keeping the soap sufBcienlly 

 moist, and ad<ling from lime to time a little 

 more soap and water, if it should be found nec- 

 essary. Observe that the soap is clean and free 

 from dust before you rub it on the hone ; if it 

 is not so it is easily washed clean. Strap the 

 razor after setting, and also again when you put 

 it by, and sponge the hone when you have done 

 with it. — TillocK's Philosophical Magazine, 



JVcK) Green Color.— Mr. Charles M. VVillich, 

 of London, in a letter to Dr. Tilloch, says 

 " I formed a strong decoction of tobacco by boil- 

 ing it for some time in pure water; then added 

 solution of sulphate of copper, [copperas] and 

 precipitated with 'ub-carbonate of potassa [pot- 

 ash of commerce.] The precipitate, when dry, 

 is of a light green color. Mixed with linseed 

 oil it became darker and brighter, and very like 

 n rich grass green. Dissolved in nitric aCid it 

 forms H green solution. It also tinges sulphuric 

 ftcid of a green color. 1 do not find that it is 

 acted upon either by water, alcohol or ether. 

 Mr. Tilloch adds that he had been favored 

 with specimens of this new green, both dry and 



mised up with linseed oil— that it is a most 

 beautiful color, and will probably prove highly 

 useful in the arts. 



Preservation from Lightning. — Sir Humphrey 

 Davy, in his fourth lecture at the Royal Institu- 

 tion, recommeads the follon'ing means of escap- 

 ing the electric fluid during a thunder storm. 

 He observed that in countries where thunder 

 storms are frequent and violent, a walking-cane 

 might be fitted with a steel or iron rod to draw 

 out at each end, one of which might be stuck in 

 the ground, and the other end elevated eight or 

 nine feet above the surface. The person, who 

 apprehends danger, should fix the cane and lie 

 down a few yards from it, By this simple ap- 

 paratus, the lightning descends down the cane 

 into the earth, and secures him from injury. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SATURDAY, SEPreWBER 13, liie3. 



0:^Siibsciibers who have not paid for the frst vol. 

 of the Farmer, are requested to forward us the amount 

 due immediately ; and those who wish to save 50 cents 

 must pay for the second vol. by the 1st of October. 



COMMUNICATION. 



Mr. Editor — Much has been said in your 

 valuable paper in regard to the use of Lime as 

 a manure. You will greatly oblige nie by stat- 

 ir.ij in your next paper whether Lime mixed 

 with common sea ooze, or mud, will make a 

 manure for top dressing, and if so, in what man- 

 ner it should be done ? 



Is Lime alone a good fop dressing ibr grass 

 seed ? and if so, in ivhat quantities and at what 

 seasons of the rear should it be applied ? 



Yours, A SUBSCRIBER. 



ANSWER. 



Sir John Sinclair informs us in his Code of Agricul- 

 ture, page 24, of the Appendix, that " Sea Sleech [sea 

 ooze] is of a most enriching nature, and adds to the 

 staple of the soil. It is used as a top-dressing in spring, 

 for crops both of grain and grass, more especially for 

 the latter. It is an excellent material for composts, 

 particularly for thin soils." Sea sand is likewise re- 

 commended by the same and other writers as a good 

 ingredient in composts, and quick lime is always con- 

 sidered as the most important ingredient in composts, 

 especially when Sny kind of earth composes another of 

 its ingredients. If the compost is intended for a sandy 

 soil, sea ooze Would be best ; if for a clay soil or stitf 

 I loam, sea sand should be preferred. We believe that 

 I sea ooze would make a good top-dressing without 

 i lime, but would generally be better with lime. Try 

 j it both ways. Quick lime applied as a top-dressing 

 to grass, without any mixture, would scorch it, and so 

 would lime water, according to Sir H. Davy. There- 

 !ipre quick lime alone should not be spread on grass 

 ! land with a view to an immediate increase of the crop 

 1 of grass. Mr. Arthur Young, in his prize essay on nia- 

 j nures, says, " lime should be spread on a layer [of 

 gL'uss] one full year before ploughing, that it may have 

 1 time to fix itself firmly on the sward. If ploughed too 

 I soon it falls to the bottom of the furrow, and will be 

 the sooner lost ; for it continually sinks. The same 

 observation has been made in Perthshire ; they do not 

 plough till it has taken a firm gripe of the ground.— 

 The same was the result in Lancashire. Three years 

 before breaking up a ley [a piece of grass ground] part 

 was limed with three hundred bushels an acre ; and 

 another part only one year before ; the former produc- 

 ed ten for one of the seed ; the latter six for one." 



Indeed it is obvious to common sense as well as t 

 sound philosophy, that you should not apply quick ( 

 scorching lime to any green and groioing pLants unle 

 you wish to destroy them. Quick lime made into 

 compost with several times its bulk of earth, well mi: 

 ed, and suffered to remain a few days that its acrimor 

 may be blunted, will be a safe and beneficial applic 

 tion to wheat ;* and no doubt would be of service 

 grass. Before using quick lime as manure let the cm 

 tivator ask himself this question : Would red hot er 

 bers be injurious if used in the way I am about to u 

 my hot lime ? If so, let him cool his hot lime by mixii 

 it with some substance proper for that purpose, or i 

 posing it to air, or water, or both. lie may scatt 

 hot cinders on a naked fallow, and so he may hot iim 

 but he should recollect that it will take longer to cc 

 the latter than the former. And he may spread h 

 cinders over moss, peat, brakes, or other useless or p( 

 nicious vegetation ; or he may use hot lime for t 

 same purpose, but the hot lime will be the most effic 

 cious as a burning substance, because it will give o 

 a more lasting heat. 



We would wish those who use lime as a manure i 

 to despair of its efficacy because it produces no imn 

 Hate beneficial effect. It must become perfectly m 

 before it will be serviceable as a manure. Quick lin 

 by a long exposure to the atmosphere, imbibes an ( 

 cess of carbonic acid [fixed air] and becomes what cl 

 mists call a hyper-carbonate. " It unites with t 

 carbonic acid floating in the air, and whti. there i 

 scarcity of aliment in the soil, it seizes and secures I 

 food in the atmosphere, and afterwards dispenses it ; 

 cordin" to the calls and necessities of vegetation." 



■ Sec JV. E. Farmer, vol. , 



,42. 



^fn Enemy to the Agricultural Interest. — A frienc 

 the Editor inlbrms that many of his potatoes have, 1 

 season, been devoured by a large white worm, w- 

 a red head, that eats into potatoes, particularly in 

 land, and leaves many of them completely hoU. 

 with scarcely any integument except the pellicle 

 paring. The worm, he says, is commonly called 

 muck worm, and is often found in door yards un 

 half rotted chips, &c. If any of our friends or cor 

 pondents would give us further information relativ 

 this insect, and point out some means of destroyin 

 or guarding against its ravages, they might benefit 

 public, as well as oblige the Editor. 



FOREIGN. 



Spain. — The last accounts from Spain would Icai 

 to believe that the Spaniards do not mean to yield t 

 right of self-government to tbreign intermeddlers w 

 out at least achieving something worthy of the Cc 

 in which they are engaged. On the 16th of J 

 they made a sally from Cadiz, which the Spanish G 

 eral has thus officially described : " 1 he entrenchmi 

 and parapets of the first line of the besiegers were 

 ciipied by main force by our soldiers, and the i-e 

 ance of the enemy, which was fruitless, cost him d 

 Our troops drove the French before them, and conJili 

 uod to advance, trampling on the French dead, ui 

 the object of our sally being accomplished, I cai 

 the return to be sounded. It was not expedient 

 give the enemy time to bring up his cavalry, a kin 

 torre which we want. Our gun-boats rendered 

 most important assistance by the skilful fire which t 

 kept up. All the troops maintained the best order 

 discipline, and displayed the greatest bravery. I 

 Cassano, who was severely wounded and taken by 

 enemy, <vas treated with a ferocious barbarity 

 »ives the lie to the pretensions to generosity and no !j 

 noss of conduct, which the Frendi advance in 1i n^ 

 mendacious bulletins." 



An extra gazette, published by the Spaniards, stt 

 that " the French acknowledge their loss in the 

 gagemcnt to be 500 men, while, however, they re 



