258 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



FBB. 15, 1843. 



A FLOOD OF LIGHT. 



All darkness upon farming matters must flee 

 away — fur from '' The Sunny Hollow of Onnnda- 

 ga, near the confines of the old Indian reservation," 

 Jias sprung forth marvellous light. Sonic one in- 

 terested, gave us notice of its coming, which we 

 published on the first page of our paper of the 14th 

 Dec. last, under the head of "A New Bool; for 

 Farmers." It is well that we did so ; for had the 

 rays of this brilliant sun burst upon the world una- 

 wares, all eyes must have been blinded. For an 

 understanding of what the work was to be, we re- 

 quest the reader will turn to the prospectus in our 

 paper of the above mentioned date. 



We own Tht Book — Ihe promised book : 



"Prime Facts for ike Farmer, ihe Fruit Grower, 

 and the Public. Furnished by John Furman, Esq., 

 Farmer and J^urseryman, IVeslern JVetv York. 

 By M. R. Bartlett, New York," &c.* 

 Such is the title. This momentous book con- 

 tains 64 pages, and costs 25 cts. Wo paid 18 3-4 

 cts., si7i'er, for it, and took it to our office, expect- 

 ing to be able to give our readers a rich treat. 

 But — oh, damper to our cxultings ! Oh, death to 

 our hopes ! We found — yes, at the very thresh- 

 old of this temple of knowledge — we found, print- 

 ed in italics, these supplicating words: 



" Note. Publishers of papers, &c. who may 

 feel disposed to notice these 'Prime Facts,' are 

 respectfully requested not to make extracts from 

 the work, and thereby harm the sale. 



Proprietor." 



We beg pardon of "Proprietor" for extracting 

 Bo much ; but we couldn't well help it. These 

 few words show bo clearly his disinterested bene- 

 volence for "the farmer, the fruit-grower, and the 

 public,"' that we could n't help quoting them. 



Please, " notice these Prime Facts," if you will, 

 Mr Editor, (we shall most cheerfully,) but do " not 

 make extracts," (we do n't wish to make many,) 

 " and thereby harm the sale." We wont harm the 

 sale. We seriously say the work is worth its cost. 

 We have laughed more than three fourpences' 

 worth over it already ; — we have got our money's 

 worth in that way ; and we advise every rnan who 

 knows any thing about fruit trees and insects, and 

 the milch cow, to buy thu book, the very next time 

 he shall feel the want of a good laugh. "Harm 

 the sale"! no, wo will do no such thing. 



Seriously: Mr Furman, the farmer, whoso dis- 

 coveries and experience are made the groundwork 

 of this publication, may be a very worthy and de- 

 serving man, and withal a good farmer, and skillful 

 grower of fruit trees. We should have thought so, 

 without any misgivings, were it not that some for- 

 ty men, more or less, are mode to certify in his fa- 

 vor. l>ut even with this drawback, we are dispos- 

 ed to think he furnished matter that was worth 

 knowing, to the writer of the book. Had he told 

 his own story in his own words, he might have ap- 

 peared very well. But now, he is made ridiculous 

 in many of his reconnnendalions and opinions. He 

 is no farmer who wrote the book. 



But we will come to the contents. The "slob- 

 bers" in the horse is here said to be occasioned by 

 a " wild grass," growing from 3 to 00 inches liiali 

 at maturity, branching much at the root, with many 

 seed-stalks and many seeds. Its common name is 

 not known ; but " Prof. Gray, of Boston," says 

 "ihe botanical name of the plant is Digitaria san- 

 guinalis." The work contains a cut representing 



this grass. Wo think it likely to prove the same 

 that has been considered by Lovelt Peters, Esq., of 

 Westboro', as the cause of this trouble in the horse, 

 and of which he gave an account in our columns 

 years and years ago: the description of the leaf 

 answers to leaves which he sent to us last autumn. 

 We are by no means disposed to deny that Mr 

 Forman has discovered the cause of the slobbers. 

 Perhaps he is the first discoverer : but perhaps, 

 also, 'Squire Peters may contest successfully his 

 claim to that distinction. 



What the book says of the extent of the evil 

 effects of the slobbers upon the horse, we receive 

 only in part. But let that pass. 



And now, ye dairy-men and dairy-women, wo 

 have news for you. Open eyes, ears, mouth and 

 all, to take in the grand discovery. In future, milk 

 and butter are to be as plenty and good in dog-days 

 as in June, — at one time as another. Neither ex- 

 cess of rain or scarcity of it; neither short feed, 

 nor heat ; nor the distance from the time of the 

 coming in of the cows, nor any other cause, save 

 one, has any eflect in drying up your cows: for — 

 (we must quote one scrap more) — for, says the 

 book, 



" We are now prepared to say, and to prove 

 what we say, that the loss of the milk arises en- 

 tirely and exclusively from the slobber grass." 



So says Mr Bartlett, the writer ; but we do n't sus- 

 pect Mr Forman, the farmer, of saying any such 

 thing. But Mr Bartlett's word is doubtless ample 

 proof of his assertion ; therefore, farmers, kill the 

 slobber grass, and resign yourselves to the selling 

 of biittrr at sixpence per i^ound, next September. 

 But take comfort ; for the quantity is to be kept up 

 to the highest notch every week, and the quality is 

 to be uniformly good^ let what will come — "slob- 

 ber grass" alone excepted. 



Ye goslings — poor simple inheritors of your 

 mother's folly ! ye eat the " slobber grass." and it 

 is to you, says our book, " the poison "pally tvog" ■' 

 But, Mr Grunter, you are wiser; you avoid this 

 wonderful " slobber grass," we are told, as though 

 you knew it '' to be a certain death-dose" ! 



Poor little lambs! your mother's milk is poison- 

 ed by this pestiferous " slobber grass," and, as the 

 consequence, the book says you do not get your 

 proper growth, " by something more than thirty per 

 cent." B-a-a-h ! Poor lambs ! 



And now for the " Destruction of the Slobber 

 Grass, &c." The process is all described, and the 

 instrument is exhibited in a diagram. 



Take, then, a large cultivator and lengthen out 

 the teeth somewhat, and steel the edges, so that 

 you can keep them sharp ; also, put under the 

 frame three little wheels, to keep the instrument 

 from sinking more than about one inch deep ; and 

 then you will get something closely resembling 

 the "Patent Slobber-Grass Drag." Mark the word 

 " patent." 



And now for the use of this " patent" drag. 

 Plow your land in May ; harrow it, and then leave 

 it until the slobber grass has grown some ; then 

 go over it with this " patent" drag, having sharp 

 knives, and cut all clean, about one inch below the 

 surface, jn dry weather. By leaving your land in 

 fiillow, and by repeating the process of plowing 

 and harrowing and dragging, limes enough, and 

 sowing herds grass seed, you can kill all kinds of 

 poison grass and weeds. Wonderful ! A " patent" 

 drag, with plow and harrow, does all this ! Rocks 

 and stones and stumps all cut through, arc they. 



by these sharp drag-knives? Perhaps not; and 

 perhaps they are; — we can't learn from the book. 

 We don't like to quote more, but the summing 

 up of the effects of the process described, and the 

 indication as to either the length of time it is to 

 be continued, or as to the duration of its effects, 

 we know not which, are so lucid, that we must do 

 it, notwithstanding our reluctance : — 



'This kind of dressing, (?) honestly and judi- 

 ciously conducted, will secure the field against all 

 kinds of poison grass and weeds, even if heavily 

 ciiarged with the grass or the thistle, or with any 

 other poison vegetable, for four or five years, and 

 all the increase of labor and extra expense, and 

 will be more than counterbalanced in the quantity 

 and quality of the crop even of the first year's pro- 

 duce." 



li 



This is the sum of the whole matter. Astonish- 

 ing discovery ! Behold its economy ! Leave your 

 land in fallow; but plow, and harrow and drag over 

 and over again, for a summer or summers! — (we 

 can 't tell which.) What a saving in this, above 

 that of planting corn or roots, and working the land 

 well! Vou save planting, and hoeing, and weed- 

 ing, and what is more than all, you save entirely 

 the laborious and expensive work of harvesting, — 

 and yet you destroy the slobber grass quite as well, 

 no doubt, as you would do by growing a crop which 

 it would cost you many dollars to take off in the 

 autumn. 



To whom the credit of this invention belongs, is 

 a matter wrapt in deep mystery. V\ hether it conies 

 from the writer or the farmer, no intimation is giv- 

 en. We regret that we know not which of them tc 

 innnortalize. In this uncertainty, we chouse tc 

 suppose that the writer is the deserving one, am 

 that ho has been modestly silent upon his own iner 

 its. We do this the more confidently because o 

 the great improbability that any workin_f farms. 

 would ever have had time for the vast inlellectua 

 labor which it indicates. 



The next chapter of the volume of "Prime Facts, 

 is upon Plum Trees, and opens rich. In the com 

 mencement, the writer assumes the very novel an' 

 startling position, that " Trees have lice" I ! Thi 

 lice destroy the young leaves — those lungs of th' 

 tree — so that "the spring shoot is actually stifled.' 

 The sap is vitiated — (we must quote) — "andtha 

 portion of it which should have gone to feed th 

 decayed leaves and fruit," — [we learn here forth 

 first time, that sap .should go to feed decayed leave 

 and fruit) — "falls back to the junction of th 

 shoot and the branch from which the shoot put oufiin 

 in the spring, and makes there, in time, the ^Blach 

 Rot,' or ' Black Bunch.' " The louse, by eatin, 

 the leaf, makes the bunch! Let that pass. 



And now, learn a new fact in entomology : " Th 

 green louse becomes a winged insect," passes fioi 

 branch to branch, wounds the fruit, &c. Honor t 

 the discoverer of this metamorphosis ! " Can th 

 Ethiopian change his skin ?" 



We must go on. The plum tree has anothe 

 enemy — a "black bug, somewhere called the Cm 

 cula." Where? Where is the Curculio calje 

 " Carcula," excepting in this book of "Primitk 

 Facts" ? " Search and see." 



Next comes, " The Remedy for the Plum Tree, 

 Wonder of vvonders ! Where will be the end i 

 human contrivances? What honor and rewarcff" 

 shall be given to him, who has found out the way i 

 which we, throughout all America, can be coir 

 pletely rid of the destroyers of our plums. Y ■ ' 



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