JNEW ENGLAND FAM.MER. 



PUBLISHED BY WlLLlAiM NICHOLS, ROGKKS' BUILUI.NGS, C().N<;iU:!;S Sl'REKT, (I'OURTH DOOR FROM STATE STREET.) 



IF. 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, MAY 29, 15524. 



No. 44. 



CtoiTcsflonUrncr. 



the F.dilor nfthe Kar England Farmer, 

 5IB, — I foriiu-rly stated lo you, but I believe only 

 11 my recoilectiou, a mode of constructing ovens to 

 nomize fuel ; and referred to the Papers of the Bath 

 1 West of England Society, for an exact account «( 

 m. I have now found uiy original extract from tliose 

 pers, and enclose a copy. 1 have not made a com- 

 ative experiment, to ascertain the proportion of fuel 

 ed ; but those who have been accustomed to baking 

 common ovens, and of the size suited to private faui- 



, pronounce the saving in these new ones to be very 

 at, not less than two thirds, if not three fourths of the 

 al quantity. Yet the heat is found sufficient to bake 

 ves, not of wheat flour only,but those of rye and Indi- 

 ;orn meal, of eight or ten pounds weight, baked as is 

 imon in New England, in deep earthen pans. Three 

 h ovens have been constructed for members of my 

 1 family ; and their experienced superiority to oth- 

 has occasioned a call for directions for a fourth. 



T. PICKERING. 

 ■alem,Mayn, 1824. 



tract from a communicalion of Lewen Ti'k- 

 VELL, Esq. on the construction of Cottages for 

 he laboring classes, published in the " Papers rf 

 he Bath and West of England Society.'''' Vol. 

 ■{. p. 338. 



In the other corner is placed an oven made 

 of one brick in thickness (2j inches) both 

 lotlom and sides, and not more than one ii' 

 adth (4|'' inches) on tlie top; t!»o whole' 

 be bedded and furrowed on all sides, 

 ve and below with four inches of well 

 imed wood ashes.'"* — "Wood ashes be- 

 a bad conductor of caloric, and thence 

 iping in all heat, such an oven will not re- 

 -e more than a third part of the fuel usuailj' 

 pi^umed in the operation of heating. I had 

 e an oven that being surrounded and in con- 

 ity, with very thick walls on ever/ srde, 

 into whose substance the unseen tire pass- 

 in continued progress, it required twenty 

 Vots to heat it. Of this I soon grew tired, 

 built another as above described, of the 

 e dimensions, and which (the fire not being 

 3red to pass beyond a single brick) would be 

 ted at any time (although divested of pre- 

 js warmth) with three of such faggots, and 

 erally in about a sixth of the time of the 

 iier. 



.'\s small sized ovens made at the potteries 

 ne entire piece, it would be singularly ap- 

 priale to bed them in these ashes, to pre- 

 t a migration of the heat beyond their own 

 rnal parts." 



The process, T suppose must be this: — Having de- 

 incd on the size of the oven, build up the sides as 

 5 they are to rise perpendicularly ; then leaving a 

 e on all sides of four inches, commence the exterior 

 se of bricks, and raise them to the same height : 

 pour in and ram close the ashes : and con- 

 ng to build the interior and exterior courses of 

 c work, four inches asunder, introduce the ashes as 

 is shall be found convenient. The mason will 

 notice, that the whole foundation of the oven is to 

 {•jvered with the rammed or bard-pressed ashes. 



T. P. 



LEACHED ASHES AS A MANURE. 

 To Ihe Editor of the JVtw England Farmer, 



Sm, — I noticed in your paper of the 8th inst. 

 a communication from one of your correspond- 

 ents requesting some information " relative to 

 the usefulness of leached ashes as a manure." 



As I wish (b obtain all the knowledge I can, 

 respecting the art and science of agriculture, so 

 I would ever be ready to impart any informa- 

 tion 1 may possess concerning the same, that 

 can bo beneficial either lo individuals or the 

 community. 



Leached ashes, I think may be used as a ma- 

 nure without any fearful apprehensions of the 

 after consequences. I have annually made use 

 of a quantity of them for several years past, 

 without any visible injury to my land. The 

 manner in which I have used them, is by mix- 

 ing them with my compost manure, putting 

 about one load of ashes to three loads of manure. 

 With this I manure my corn in the hill, and be- 

 lieve that a load of it consisting of one fourth 

 part of ashes is equally as valuable as the same 

 quantity withont them ; and where I use this 

 manure, [ have nothing to fear from the rava- 

 ges of worms, as it is a sure preventive against 

 iheir destructive depredations. I am always 

 careful not to use any of this kind of manure 

 with my potatoes, for although it will cause 

 tnem to flourish and grow, they are always scab- 

 by and rough, and not so good as those raised 

 with other manure. 



1 lately conversed with a gentleman of my 

 acquaintance upon this subject who owns a pot- 

 ash establishment, and who is an experienced 

 fariner. He informed me that he had a high 

 opinion of the value of leached ashes as a ma- 

 nure, anJ that he made use of large quantities 

 of them b^th for his grass and corn. He told 

 me that ht had a piece of ground which for- 

 merly prodiced scarcely grass enough lo pay 

 the exjiense of culling and haying it, and natu- 

 rally subject 10 bushes and red moss, which now 

 produces grass of the best quality most abun- 

 dantly. This change he attributed altogether 

 lo leached ashe; which had been spread upon 

 Ihe land from time to time. 



He told me thai he made it his rule lo ash 

 this piece of ground once in three years at least, 

 for if neglected longer it would get back to its 

 original stale. He also informed me that he 

 mixed them with his barn yard manure, and like- 

 wise spread them on his pasture land to good 

 advantage, and from the experience of many 

 years, he was fully satisfied that they were not 

 an injury to the land. CULTIVATOR. 



Worcester County, May, 1824. 



LICE (;N APPLE TREES. 

 Extract of a Letter from Joshua IV. Carr, Esq. lo the 

 Editor, dated Bangor, Me. May 8, 1824. 

 " Enclosed is a piece of Apple Tree bark, on 

 which is a specimen of Zicc, wliich are very de- 

 structive to apple Irftes in this quarter. I sus 

 pect they are peculiar to the eastern part of 

 Maine, as I have never learned that Ihe orchards 

 in Massachusetts were infested with Ihem. Our 

 trees flourish finely, until they are four or five 

 years old, when most of them are attacked by 



this insect, and unless they are scraped off, soon 

 destroy the tree. While-washing, ashes, and 

 tobacco juice, do not appear to have any eflect 

 upon them, although applied the last of June, 

 when lliu young ones first appear. Perhaps 

 some of your correspondents, better acquainted 

 with cultivaling orchards, than \ve are in lljs 

 country, can prescribe a remedy, wliich will 

 confer a favor on many." 



HEDGE FENCES. 



Extract of a Letter from .James IVhitelair, Esq. to the 

 Editor, dated Rijegale, Vt. Mat/ 17, 1824. 



" As timber is becoming scarce, which makes 

 fencing very expensive, we must soon have 

 something to supply its place. We have stone 

 sufticient in many places, but in others they are 

 scarce. In Scotland, the land of my nativity. 

 Ihe lands are principally inclosed with thorn 

 hedges, which in three or four years after plant- 

 ed make a sufficient fence, and with a little care 

 will last an age. Will you insert an article in 

 the New England Farmer, inquiring of your 

 correspondents if any of Ihem have made trial 

 of raising hedges, and request them lo stale of 

 what sort of shrubs they are composed, Ihe 

 mode of procedure, and their success? Their 

 replies may lead lo some useful information. 

 We have thorns here which are suitable for Ihe 

 purpose, and may easily be multiplied." 



MILLET. 

 Exlraei of e: Letter jroia Mr. Joel Mdrich, lo ihe Edi- 

 tor, dmtd Smithjield, R. /. Maxj 20, lS-14. 

 "Being on the Hon. Josiah Quincy's farm, in 

 the month of August last, if 1 understood his 

 farmers correctly, they informed me that a ievr 

 days previous they sowed a very large field of 

 Millet. I am desirous to be informed at what 

 time that was cut, the manner of cutting and pre- 

 paring it for fodder, and Ihe advantage to be de- 

 rived from that manner of raising fodder. The 

 information may be given through the medium 

 of thy paper, or in any way most convenient to 

 thyself." 



From the Port Folio. 



ON MILLET. 



To the President of the Pennsyhania .Agricultural So- 

 ciety. 



I recommended, in the early part of the last 

 year, the cultivation of Millet for fodder, and 

 stated the success I had met, in its use as a food 

 for neat cattle. I have since cultivated it much 

 more extensively, and have been confirmed in 

 the impressions I had conveyed, as to its ma- 

 nagement — its product — and its value, when ap- 

 plied lo Ihe support of horses, and black cattle, 

 although I am satisfied, that it is not so well fit- 

 ted for the use of sheep, as clover hay. The 

 unusual drought of May and June, materially 

 affected the growth of early sown Millet — Ihe 

 heavy rains in July and August injured as much 

 in many cases, the quality of its fodder. I sow- 

 ed ten acres of land in good tilth, with Millet, 

 red clover, and orchard grass seeds : they were 

 all lightly harrowed, and carefully rolled. As 



