20 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



best remedy which I have tried, as yet, is sprink- 

 ling the fruit and the ground -with slacked lime. 

 If the spiritual rappers, who profess to shed so 

 much light on benighted man, in the form of fan- 

 cy theology, would lend their aid in exterminating 

 this pest to the culture of the plum, there's a bare 

 chance that they might do some good ! And any 

 reliable facts from them, as a remedy for the po- 

 tato rot, would be handsomely rewarded by the 

 State. 



WASH FOR TREES. 



For the two previous seasons I have used ley as 

 a wash on about 20 young apple trees, simply pass- 

 ing a moist sponge once over the surface of the 

 bark. These treesgrew well, and only one seemed 

 injured by it, which finally died. I am. not certain 

 that the ley hastened its death, as the tree was 

 not vigorous, and might have died at any rate ; 

 but the dark and cracked appearance of the bark 

 led me to believe that it was injured by the wash. 

 On the whole, I think ley rather dangerous. The 

 past season I used a mixture, which seems to me 

 preferable — one certainly which I shall try again. 

 Fine soap-stone dust, with a little lime, was mixed 

 with strong soap-suds, to about the consistence of 

 paint, with a small quantity of yellow ochre stirred 

 in to improve the color, and applied with a brush. 

 The trees grow finely wiih this harmless coating, 

 and new, in November, are of a very uniform light 

 fawn color, the body of the mixture having been 

 washed off by the rains. I think this wash pos- 

 sesses all the good qualities of ley, without the 

 bad. 



THE DIS PEAR. 



I find this pear is highly valued in the market, 

 though not handsome, and sells for from 50 cents 

 to one dollar per dozen. As to quality, very few 

 pears equal it, and an extensive retailer of fruit 

 told me a few days ago, that, in his opinion, it 

 was "a great way ahead of anything else." Its 

 good quality is not denied, but Mr. Cole and other 

 cultivators say, "that it is uncertain, and 15 years 

 in coming into bearing." The obvious remedy 

 would be to graft it on the quince, or upon old 

 pear stocks. But a nursery-man says it isn't good 

 on the quince, though it might possibly bear ear- 

 lier, and that scions set in an old pear stock must 

 be fruitless for 15 years I For a pear so excellent 

 as the Dix, one having so strong a character, and 

 retaining it even in the last stages of decay, this 

 is discouraging. Can not some cultivators who 

 read your journal speak more hopefully of this 

 fruit? D. w. L. 



West Medford, Dec. 6th, 1853. 



Published in monthly numbers of 32 pages each, 

 by Alfred E. Beach, 86 Nassua St., New York, 

 Price 50 cents a year. 



Remarks. — Thank you, sir, and hope to hear 

 from you again. 



People's Journal. — This is the title of a new 

 paper, which we have just received. It is princi- 

 pally devoted to Agriculture and Mechanics ; and, 

 if the first number is a fair sample, the journal 

 will be no small addition to the rank of similar 

 publications. The number before us is profusely 

 illustrated, with forty engravings, some of them 

 very fine and of a large size. It is printed in an 

 excellent manner, and altogether presents a most 

 inviting appearance, which we hope will not fail to 

 secure it a large sphere of usefulness. 



For the Tfew England Farmer. 

 MANURES— BARN CELLARS. 



Mr. Editor : — I am much obliged to you for 

 showing such deference to my wishes in relation 

 to that long communication. It fills a little more 

 space than I expected : otherwise, with the excep- 

 tion of a few slight errors — the greatest one in the 

 " conclusion," where it should read, "the results 

 of the experiments q/our best practical chemists," 

 — it answers my sanguine expectations. But I 

 was sorry that you found it necessary to remark 

 on its great length , and shall regret that so much 

 of my worthless scribbling was mixed in with 

 those excellent extracts from our best authors, if 

 it prevents the reading of the latter. I divided it 

 as it was for two reasons ; 1st, it was a season of 

 little leisure, and I could write but a few lines at a 

 time ; 2d, some farmers' boys have but little leisure 

 for reading, and that mode of dividing would give 

 them ample stopping places. For one I prefer 

 entire articles, even to ten pages at once, rather 

 than be ten months, or even weeks, reading the 

 same number of pages. Indeed, I seldom read 

 anything that is '■'■ tobe continued^'' till it is discon- 

 tinued ; then, if it is interesting, it can be read 

 more understandingly and without the vexatious 

 suspense and anxiety that enters so largely into 

 the experience of readers of "Popular Tales;" if 

 uninteresting ,it is a gratification to know one is not 

 to be bored with it again. One reason for the 

 great length of the communication was, being un- 

 willing to omit regular reading for the sake of 

 finishing it, I continued to find, in every agricul- 

 tural book I took up, and every paper that came 

 to hand, something that seemed to prove that the 

 guidance of science is preferable to that of un- 

 scientific experience. 



Without waiting to see whether Mr. Silas 

 Brown and his friends — arrayed in their inviola- 

 able armor — turn upon me and overthrow me, I 

 wish to make another reference to him on his 

 " Barn Cellars, Restorative Gases," &c. A cor- 

 respondent of the Maine Farmer, Mr. Jabez D. 

 Hill, of Moscow, in a criticism on the above named 

 communication, says : — " It is true that the gases 

 from my dung heap have not succeeded in escap- 

 ing from the world ; but what individual benefit 

 do I derive from the fact that they have been con- 

 condensed in the great laboratory of nature 

 and descend with their fertilizing influence upon 

 my neighbor's swamp?" I thinkProf. Jolmston — 

 as capable of " accurate chemical experiment and 

 nice observation" as any man in America, — says 

 the gases are absorbed by plants in propnrtion to 

 their healthy, thrifty condition, nature herself 

 seeming to be partial to the fields of the best cul- 

 tivators. Your correspondent says: "I am not 

 able to comprehend what loss green manure can 

 sustain in a few weeks while lying in n conical 

 form as thrown from the window before the pro- 

 cess of fermentation takes place to disengage the 

 gases." Probably no one could comprehend the 

 loss sustained if the process of fermentation could 

 be prevented for the time. But it appears from 

 the sentence before the one quoted, tiuii the de- 

 composition of manure is hastened by the action 



