NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



269 



ore durable for posts, than that plant. It will 

 •ow on any soil, and rapidly on soils entirely 

 iTcicnt from those in which it is usually found, 

 have them growing in pure sand, without tliR 

 asl apparent mi.\ture of loam, -nnd on a barren 

 avel — a gravel, which will scarcely siippnrt 

 1 have large trees in such soils 18 lo 'J 1 

 chos in circumference and thirty feet high oi 

 irteon years' growth."' 



Mr. Lowell asserts that the English Larch has 

 en found by experience to be much superior 

 the American tree of the same genus, being 

 a much quicker growth, and advises to iin- 

 rt the English Larch, and some other varie- 

 is from Scotland. 



Dr. VVillich's Domestic Encyclopedia gives a 

 etty long and very favorable account of this 

 je, Tol. ii. p. 435. 



From the Ameiicaa Farmer. 



SEEDS. 

 .many, February 21, 1824. 

 Appreciating the importance of good seeds, 

 th to the farmer and gardener, 1 send you, Mr. 

 nner, some hints on this subject, suggested by 

 iperience and reading, which may be of inte- 

 it to some of your readers. 

 1. To raise good seeds, care must be taken not 

 :y to select from the choicest plants, but also, 

 it bad or different kinds of the same family, 

 not suffered to blossom in their vicinity, as 

 fecundating farina of the poorer sort.', which 

 i:arried by winds and by insects, will deterio- 

 (e the seed of the good. Hence, no two 

 'ds of cabbage, turnips, beets, &;c. should be 

 kered to seed within ten or twenty rods of 

 h other, and it will be better, if they are 

 into different enclosures. And hence, if we 

 uld preserve from a tine variety of melons, it 

 lecessary to plant them at a distance from 

 er varieties. The brassica, (cabbage,) fam- 

 not only mix among themselves, but are said 

 le affected by the pollen of the cauliflower, 

 3 and turnip. 



. Seeds should he gathered as sooti as they are 

 ', both to prevent waste and damage. 

 . They shoidd be preserved in a dry and tera- 

 ate place, accessible to air; and, where it is 

 venient, kept in their pods or husks till want- 

 for sowing. This may be done, with most 

 Is of annuals cultivated in the garden. It 

 vents injury from heat or moisture, and pre- 

 /es them in a healthy condition. Miller 

 le this experiment. He divided parcels of 

 uce, parsley, onion, and other seeds, one 

 tion of which he put into vials which he 

 metically sealed ; the other portion into bags, 

 kept the whole one year — when planted, not 

 of the seeds grew, which had been kept in 

 vials, while all of those which had been 

 t in the bags grew well. An experienced 

 -lener tells me, that the seeds of many annu- 

 will, if preserved in the pods, &c. retain 

 ir vegetative power for two or three years, 

 :reas, if taken out, they will seldom grow af- 



Kbe first year. My experience and obser- 

 )n of the habits of plants, confirm this re- 

 k. 



When should seeds be sown ? Repeated fail- 

 in the seeds of perennials and biennials, 

 legetate, when sown in the spring, led me to 

 suit the economy of nature, and to adopt 

 laws as my guide. I found that the maple, 



beech, ash, and other forest trees-several shrubs, 

 most of the bulbous flower roots, and a large 

 portion of the biennial and perennial flowers, 

 shed their seed upon the ground in autumn, and 

 (bat the seed thus sown, if slightly covered, 

 vegetated either immediately or in the follow- 

 ing spring, and that if these seeds are llioroiigh- 

 ly dried, as they must be by being wintered in 

 the house, they either will not grow at all, or 

 l.iy dormant in the earth for a year or more. 



6. The pods of melons, cucumbers and pump- 

 kins, improve by being kept till they are three 

 or four years old. At that age they produce 

 earlier, and more fruit, and run less to vines. — 

 The benefit of age may be partially obtained, 

 by washing the seeds well, when taken from the 

 fruit, to cleanse them from mucilage, or by car- 

 rving (hem loose in the pocket, some days or 

 weeks before they are planted. 



6. Wheat is said to be improved, as seed, by 

 being kept a year ; and, what is an important 

 benefit, will then produce a crop without smut : 

 Nay, more — 1 am induced to believe, that the 

 crop will escape from the injuries of the fly al 

 so. For I am almost a proselyte to the opin- 

 ion, that the nit is deposited in the down of 

 the kernel, before the grain is harvested, and 

 that the same warmtli which causes the seed to 

 vegetate in the earth, hatches the insect there 

 also. I am inclined to favor the hypothesis, and 

 not without evidence, that the seed of botb the 

 smut and the fly, lose their reproductive power 

 during the lapse of ,i twelvemonth. I will not 

 venture to say, that liming seed is as efficacious 

 against the fly, as it is against smut ; but thus 

 much I can say, that I always lime my seed 

 wheat, and never have it injured by smut or 

 fly, while many fields in my neighborhood are 

 annually devastated by the one or materially 

 injured by the other. 



7. Seeds may be preserved in a healthy state 

 according to the nature of their essential oi 

 and the nature of the shell or covering, which 

 envelopes the embryo plant. Miller says, " the 

 seeds of cucumbers, melons and gourds, which 

 have thick horny coverings, and the oil of this 

 seed being of a cold nature, continue good eight 

 or ten years ; and radish, turnip, rape, &c. 

 with other oily seeds, (whose coats, though 

 they are not so hard and close, as the others,) 

 yet abounding with oil, which is of a warmer 

 nature, the seeds will keep good three or four 

 years; whereas, the seeds of parsley, carrots, 

 parsnips, and most other umbelliferous plants, 

 whose seeds are, for the most part, of a warm 

 nature, and have little oil in them, do lose their 

 growing faculty often in one year, but seldom 

 remain good longer than two years." 



8. Steeps. The experiments of Duhamel and 

 others, show that steeping seeds in any liquor, 

 or mixture, with a view of invigorating the germ, 

 is always without benefit, and often attended with 

 injury — the seed containing the best nutriment, 

 and all that is requisite, to extend the root, and 

 unfold the seminal leaves. Steeps may be ben- 

 eficially used to accelerate germination, to pre- 

 serve the seed from grubs and other insects, 

 and to destroy the seeds of insects, and parasit- 

 ic plants, which may adhere to it. Corn soaked 

 in a strong decoction of the roots of black 

 hellebore (sometimes called itch weed,) and 

 strongly saturated with nitre, has, with me, re- 

 sisted the attacks of insects, birds and squirrels. 

 A steep of tar water, will also protect seed in 



the ground. Lime and alkilies are most effica- 

 cious in destroying the eggs of insects, &c. — 

 The best method I know of to facili(a(p early 

 I vegetables, is to pproiitthe seeds, before plant- 

 ing, between two sods of earth, placed in the 

 kitchen corner, ami occasionally wot wi(h warm 

 water. The larger kinds may hv. laid in loose,, 

 the smaller wrapjied in papers. They will 

 sprout in from 24 to 48 hours. J. B. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



IMPROVED DURHAM SHORT HORNS. 



De.\r Sir, — I have less hesitadon in sendino- 

 to you, the pedigree of my improved short horn 

 stock, as you have in the 43d number of the 

 Farmer, noticed the purchase I had marie, of a 

 calf begotton in England, by Mr. Champion's 

 celebrated bull Biaizk, and produced at Wye, 

 by White Rose. You will perceive, that I could 

 have no motive to seek better blood although 1 

 was glad, to avail myself, ofthe liberal intention, 

 of my friend at Wye, to exhibit in Pennsylvani;!, 

 a very beautiful calf, begotton by the bull, 

 which Mr. Champion say?, in his letter to you, 

 ofthe Gth April, 1822, " is considered the most 

 complete animal I ever bred for symmetry and qua- 

 lity," on a heifer, which he also says, excels for 

 correctness of frame, neatness of bone, and un- 

 common appearance lor milk. 



I always considered White Rose, a fine animal; 

 and you may recollect, 1 proposed to purchase 

 her alone, at the time you offered to me, the 

 bull Champion, and the other heifer at cost. I 

 confess, I have a strong predilection, in favor 

 of WelhcrnlPs slocli, not only as lie was one of 

 the purcliasers of the Comet, and of some ofthe 

 finest cows at Colling's sale, but as Mr. ^V'illiains' 

 extraordinary bull Denton, was bred by him, 

 and as all the heifers of his stock, which 1 have 

 seen are good milkers. At your suggestion, I 

 applied to Mr. Champion, and offered a price, 

 much higher, than that which, he had received 

 for the bull, you imported, or than he had ask- 

 ed for such an one, as he supposed, would satis- 

 fy me. He answered, " 1 regret it is not in my 

 power to send you a bull, possessing the many 

 qualifications you expect, the description you 

 have given of Denton, it is impossible for me to 

 equal." I proposed to pay to Mr. Champion 

 more than he had demanded, as I did not sup- 

 pose, that he would send to America his finest 

 bulls, at sixty guineas, at the moment he was 

 selling Brigade Major, and Blaize, at one hun- 

 dred and one hundred and fifty, upon his farm. I 

 have no doubt from the points, and shape of Wye 

 Comet, and the pedigrees of some of his stock, 

 that he possesses as fine cattle, as any man in Eng- 

 land, although I confess, I was of a very differ- 

 ent impression, until I had seen this calf by 

 Blaize. If you have any doubt, of the valuable 

 properties, of the " Improved Short Horns,'''' as 

 milkers, quick feeders, and small consumers 

 — I should be glad, to convince you on my farm, 

 that in the early maturity, and all these essen- 

 tial items, their e.xcellence is determined, by the 

 degree of^ affinity, lo the pure blood. 

 I am, dear sir, tnost truly your's, 



John Hare Powfx. 

 PoweltotL, Philadelphia Co., Feb. 17, 1824. 



We understand there are two men now in 

 this town who sweep chimneys for a small com- 

 pensation by means of brushes fastened to wires. 

 [Portsmouth Journal. 



