NEV/ ENGLAND FARMER. 



25.^ 



rcn^e. One huadred pounds cut July 18tli, 

 70. sixty pouuds. 



riic Black g;ras3 (Juncus Bulbosus) grows 

 ncipally where the water is iVL'shoned by 

 earns from the uplands. It is tiie most valua- 

 : salt grass wc have and but little inferior to 

 land grass, »c know no means of artificial in- 

 ;ise. One hundred poun<ls cut July 18th, 

 ve ;>fl pounds. 



We have too far trespassed on the time 

 tlu; readers to do more than allude to some 

 those grasses which hare been introduced 

 ) proved unsuitable for our culture. 

 The Wild Oat grass (Avena Elatior) with the 

 e Ray or Durnel grass with which it is said 

 be contounded, are often seen in our pas- 

 es and meadows, but animals seldom touch 

 mi. They have a strong woody fibre, ami 

 ord little nutriment though well spoken of 

 ith of us as well as in Europe. 

 The Burnet scarcely shews itself for a year 

 .1 then disappears. 



The Succory has been praised by Mr. Arthur 

 lung, that distinguished agriculturist who sent 

 to General Washington. It has been intro- 

 ced here, is disliked by cattle, and has he- 

 me one of the most troublesome intruders in 

 r fields. These with the St. Foin and Lu- 

 irne and many others have passed away and 

 m to have ceased with us to excite expecta- 

 ID. Of the Orchard grass or cocks foot [Dac- 

 lisGlomerata] the trials I have witnessed do 

 It enable me to speak so decisively as one of 

 i Trustees, Mr. Prince, does who approves of 

 It may be considered as in a course of ex- 

 iriment. 



My desire, Sir, in the preceding, has been to 

 'i in exciting an attention to the best means of 

 Iture for our grass lands. The process of 

 wing grass seeds was far from universal with- 

 the recollection of many in this country and 

 lamentably insufficient now. Its neglect has 

 ;en complained of even in Europe. It has 

 en contended that nature would furnish ac- 

 rding to her own capacity the power of in- 

 ease in this particular. Thus the soil was to 

 ! furnished with the means of promoting veg- 

 ation by labor and art. But here these were 

 stop and the stimulating principles were to 

 aporale and be wasted and one or two good 

 ops lost in waiting for this slow process. 

 But the blindness of this doctrine is vanishing 

 2tore the light and improvement of the pres- 

 it age. We learn from experience that the 

 nrth presents to industry and skill her ceaseless 

 GTorts, and never pauses but from our neglect. 

 Table showing the loss of weight in drying grasses. 



1822. 1823. 



)0 lbs. of Green white Clover,* gave — 17 1-2 27 



JO lbs. of Redt Cloyer, »ave 27 1-2 25 



JO lbs. of Herd's Grass, gave 40 39 



M lbs. of Fresh Meadow, gave 38 44 



JO lbs. of Salt Grass,J g-ave 39 60 



30 lbs. of 2d crop, or Eng;. Rowan, gave 18 3-4 19 



The White Clover of 1822, was taken in the shade, 

 'bat in 1823, from a light warm soil exposed to the sun. 



t The Red Clover in 1823, was taken in the first year 

 f its product, in close growth and for that reason falls 

 iiort of 1822. 



J The Salt Grass of 1822, was, I have reason to sup- 

 ose, a second growth which accounts for the differ- 

 ncfe of the two years. 



I If enabled, experiments will in these cases be here- 

 fter given, so as to fix the result with sufficient accu- 

 acv. 



100 lbs. of Corn Stalks, gave 2i 25 



100 lbs. of Spiked Oat Grass, gave 50 



100 lbs. of Red Top, gave 4C 



too Ihs. of Rhode Island, gave 40 



too lbs. of Couch Grass, gave 4!J 



too lbs. of Marine Black Grass, gave "H 

 1 am, gentlemen, with high res|)ect, yours, 

 J. WELLES. 



TO THE EDITOR OF TttE AMERICAN FARMER. 

 BUDDING. 



Salem, (Ind.) .Tan. 11, 182-1. 



Dear Sir, — I have practised a mode of bud- 

 ding fruit trees, for some years past, which 1 

 do not recollect to have seen described in 

 print ; it has succeeded so far very well with 

 me, and may prove new and useful, to some of 

 your readers. It is, budding from cuttings, 

 taken from bearing trees in February, and pre- 

 served in boxes of sand in a cellar, until wanted 

 in the same manner as if intended for grafting. 

 They will keep, in this manner, sound, until 

 the middle of June, and perhaps longer, and 

 which may thus be transported to any distance ; 

 while cuttings in July, (and buds are seldom ma- 

 ture enough for budding, before that time,) 

 can with difficulty be preserved a few days. 

 As soon as the sap rises freely in the spring, 

 (say the middle ol^ April,) you may commence 

 budding with these winter cuttings, with as 

 much success as at any other time of the year, 

 which may be continued until June or July. — 

 Budding is a neater and pleasanter operation 

 than grafting, and this mode places them upon 

 an equal footing with grafts in March ; I contin- 

 ue the wrapping of coarse yarn on, seven or 

 eight days, then head them down, and by the 

 winter, the buds will have grown, (if the season 

 proves favorable) two or three feet in length. 

 I find it an injury to prune the bodies of stand- 

 ards too closely below the buds ; the first season, 

 the new bud cannot, (until it has attained the 

 same size,) imbibe and assimilate to itself all 

 the sap that rises, which must, if all the conduct- 

 ing limbs are pruned off, stagnate and disorder 

 both body and roots; will sometimes destroy 

 the stock altogether, or make the body eventu- 

 ally, less than the top or budded part; merely 

 shortening or cutting out too luxuriant shoots, 

 I conceive best, the first summer. In my nur- 

 sery, I prefer budding on the leading top shoot 

 at the height of four or five feet, as soon as it is 

 three eighths of an inch in diameter; at that 

 height, the juncture of the two growths being 

 more complete in such, than in those of larger 

 growth. One man may bud three hundred in a 

 day, and with an assistant to tie after him, twice 

 that number; in this manner, of those which 1 

 bud myself I do not lose five in the hundred. 

 Your obedient servant, 



C. HARRISON. 



N. B. I have only attempted budding apples 

 and pears in this way, but have no doubt, it will 

 succeed equally well, with stoned fruit. 



ANCIENT AGRICULTURE. 

 From the earliest accounts of the eastern na- 

 tions, we have reason to think, that agriculture 

 has at all times been understood by them in 

 considerable perfection ; seeing they were al- 

 ways supplied not only with the necessaries, 

 but the greatest luxuries of life. 



As soon as the descendants of Abraham were 

 settled in Palestine, they generallv became hus- 

 bandmen, from the chiefs of the tribe of .Fudah 

 to the lowest branch of the lamily of Benjamin. 

 High birth or rank at that time did not make 

 any distinction, for agricullnre was considered 

 as the most honourable of all cm[)lovmen(s ; 

 witness the illustrious example of Gideon, Saul, 

 and David. 



The Chaldeans, who inhabited the country 

 where agriculture doubtless had its birth, carried 

 that art to a degree of excellence nuUnown in 

 former times. They cultivated their lands 

 with great assiduity, and seem to have found 

 out some means of restoring fertility to an ox- 

 hausled soil, by having plontitu! harvests in 

 succession ; on which account they were not 

 obliged as their predecessors had been, to 

 change their situations in order to obtain a suf- 

 ficiency for themselves and their numerous 

 flocks and herds. 



The Egyptians, who, from the natural fertil- 

 ity of their country, by the overflowing of the 

 Nile, raised every year vast quantities of corn, 

 were so sensible of the blessings resulting from 

 agriculture, that they ascribed the invention of 

 that art to Osiris, their chief God. They also 

 regarded Isis, their second deity, as the discov- 

 erer of the use of wheat and barley, which be- 

 fore grew wild in the fields, and was not ap- 

 plied by the people to the purposes of food. 

 Their superstitious gratitude was carried so 

 far, as to worship those animals which were 

 employed in tillage ; and even to the produce 

 of their lands, as Leeks, Onions, &c. 



The divine honours paid to Bacchus in India 

 were derived from the same source, he being 

 considered in that country, as the inventor of 

 planting vineyards, and the other arts attendant 

 upon agriculture. 



It is also related of the ancient Persians, on 

 the most respectable authority, that their kings 

 laid aside their grandeur once every month to 

 eat with husbandmen. This is a striking in- 

 stance of the high estimation in which they 

 held agriculture ; for at that time arts were 

 practised among that people in great perfection, 

 particularly those of weaving, needle work, em- 

 broidery. The precepts of the religion taught 

 by their ancient magi, or priests, included the 

 practise of agriculture : and it was a maxim of 

 the Zendavesta, the oldest book now in the 

 world except one, that he who sows the ground 

 with care and diligence, acquires a greater de- 

 gree of religious merit, then he could have 

 gained by the repetition often thousand prayers. 

 [Connecticut Courant. 



Antidote to Mice. — Mr. Macdonald of Scalpa, 

 after sustaining considerable loss by the depre- 

 dations committed by mice, thought of placing 

 at the bottom, in the middle, and at the fop of 

 each heap of corn, some branches of wild 

 Thyme, and since his stock has been untouched. 

 He found the same success in preserving cheese 

 and other provisions. It may be concluded from 

 thence that it will be easy to drive mice from 

 bake-houses and places where they do mischief, 

 by sprinkling some drops of the oil of Thyme 

 [peppermint] which produces a stronger smell 

 than the plant itself. — European Magazine. 



Durability of Cedar. — The Farmer's Journal 

 asserts that the durability of cedar is established 



