388 



N E V/ ENGLAND FARMER 



JUNE 7, 1S4 



From the Providence Chief. 



PREMIUMS OF THK RHODR ISLAND AG- 

 RICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 No. I. 



I wish to direct the attention of the farming por- 

 tion of your readers to the advertisement of a Cat- 

 tle Show and Fair, to be holden in Pawtu.\et, in 

 September next, issued by tlie Rliode Island Soci- 

 ety for tlie Encouragement of Domestic Industry, 

 in Inro-e show bills, and published in the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, of the 3d of .May. The amount of 

 premiums offered by the Society is largo, being 

 nearly eiglit hundred dollars. 



The Standing Committee, I conceive, have shown 

 a commendable sagacity in the selection of sub- 

 jects for experiments and competition, and the pre- 

 miuiTiS are sutliciently large in some cases to tempt 

 the cupidity, if they do not stimulate the ambition 

 of our farmers to greater improvement in many 

 branches of husbandry. Under the head of" Grain, 

 Vegetable Crops, and Agricultural E.xperiments," 

 the premiums otTered amount to three hundred and 

 seventynine dollars, and there is not a subject in- 

 dicated that is not more or less important to every 

 farmer in the State, as will be perhaps more obvi- 

 ous by a slight review of some of them. 



First — " For a satisfactory, and the most satis- 

 factory statement in writing, of the e.\pense of 

 raising any hind of grain crop, showing the least 

 cost per bushel. Tlie soil and subsoil on which 

 the crop is raised, must be named, and the cost 

 stated as follows: Rent of land for one year; 

 quantity, and kind of manure ; plowing, harrowing, 

 and rolling — days at; Planting and sowing — days 

 at; harvesting — days at ; tilling — days at. First 

 premium, .$12; second do. ."JS ; third do. .$6." 



We ask the practical farmers if they can tell 

 the actual cost per bushel of raising any pf our 

 commonly cultivated grains, at a given rate of la- 

 bor, rent or interest of land, ami in seasons of 

 mean feitility ? For the want of established data 

 of this kmd, all the plans and calculations of the 

 husbandman are involved in doubt and uncertainly. 

 Until such, and many kindred data be fi.xed, with 

 all the accuracy thiit the nature of the case admits 

 of, there can be no such tiling as .systematic hus- 

 bandry in our State. At a given price for cotton 

 and labor, the manufacturer can determine within 

 t.'ie fraction of a cent, the cost of every quality of 

 cloth, and hence it depends upon the contingencies 

 of the market solely, whether his labors are to be 

 rewarded with profit or subject to a loss. 



The farmer is equally subject to the contingen- 

 cies of the market, and in addition to those of the 

 weather, with so far as we have been able to learn, 

 nothing but vague and unsatisfactory guesses as to 

 the cost to himself of every cultivated crop. With 

 these views, we conceive that he will confer no 

 slight obligation upon the agricultural community 

 who shall determine with rigid accuracy, the cost 

 per bushel of raising corn, rye, oats, barley, and 

 wheat. Let a fair average yield per acre of each 

 crop be assumed, and all the other elements of an 

 exact experiment are at the command of the experi- 

 menter. 



It is of nearly equal consequence to determine 

 the cost of producing other farm crops, such as po- 

 tatoes, carrots, onions, ruta bagas, sugar beets, &c. 

 But the premiums offered by the Society are re- 

 stricted to given crop^, and the importance of the 

 object, independent of the temptation of the pre- 



miums, should induce competition in the settlement 

 of a question which bears directly upon the inte- 

 rest of every farmer. M. 



For Ihe N. E. Farmer. 



CURCULIO IN THE PLUM. 



Bramlree, Mnij 2dth, 1843. 

 Mr Putnam — On a visit to an eminent horticul- 

 turist in the State of New York, in June last, he 

 remarked that he hnd great faith in the application 

 of salt under the plum tree as a sure remedy for 

 the Curculio on the fruit. He remarked that he 

 had never succeeded with the plum till the pre- 

 vious year (18-11,) when his yield of fruit was quite 

 satisfactory. lie then shew me his plum trees, 

 which were free from the puncture of the insect, 

 except one tree, which was overlooked, and which 

 was punctured as usual. It may be as well to 

 give his whole letter to me in answer to inquiries 

 as to when and the quantity of salt applied — and 

 the season, I trust, is not too far advanced for cul- 

 tivators of this luscious fruit to try this experiment, 

 as it is cheap and expeditious. 



" Flushing, 4//i month, 1S43. 



" Thy letter of the 27th ultimo, was duly re- 

 ceived, and in reply to thy inquiries about salt for 

 plum trees, I cannot say how small a quantity will 

 answer, for I have always put it on so as to make 

 the ground look white, a little further than the 

 branches extend. The salt may be put on any 

 time before the fruit sets. I do n't think 1 had ten 

 plums stung this year, except on the one where I 

 put no salt, and on that one, there was not a plum 

 but what was stung by the Curculio. I have the 

 fullest confidence in it. It is necessary to observe 

 some care, if there i-hould be other plants under 

 the plum trees, as the salt will destroy them. 



Thine, respectfully, L VV." 



There have been a number of communications 

 made to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 

 respecting the Curculio, which show the solicitude 

 of the public to rid Ihemsflvcs of that pest of one 

 of our most delicious fruits. The authors of some 

 of them have devoted much time and labor to the 

 subject: — one communication has been put into 

 my hands from an esleemed friend of horticulture, 

 from the county of Worcester, which I shall lay 

 before the Society at our next meeting, wherein 

 the habits of the Curculio are quite fully described. 

 'J'his must have been a work of time, patience and 

 careful observation. 



P.ENJ. V. FRENCH, 

 Chairman of the Committee on Fruits of the 

 Mass. Hart. Society. 



We are sorry that the above communication did 

 not find its way to us in season for insertion last 

 week, when Mr F. intended it should be published. 

 But though late, it may be well to try the effect of 

 salt around the trees, even now. — Ed. N. E. F. 



Those who have the care of the young should 

 make it an essential part of education to render 

 every thing as cheerful as possible for them. The 

 infant mind is intuitively susceptible of gladness, 

 and equally abhorrent of gloom, and whatever pic- 

 ture is jirescnted to it early, leaves a shade which 

 will influence every hour of its future existence: 

 and in fact, it is highly necessary for its after posi- 

 tion in life, to lay up a store of bright and cheer- 

 ing recollections, to enable it to bear up against 

 the disappointments which all experience — Selected. 



For the New England Farmer. 



SALT AS A PRESERVATIVE OF SQUA, 

 VINES. 

 Mn EniTOR — I noticed a communication in »l 

 paper of May 24, over the signature of " A Fan • 

 of Middlesex," relative to the use of salt brini 

 squash vines to prevent the depredations of 

 hugs, which was suggested to hia mind by 

 flourishing condition in which he saw a lot 

 squashes at Phillip's Beach, Lynn. Now, sir 

 know something about this lot of squashes as » 

 as many other lots that have been raised in tl 

 neighborhood, and the great secret about the ni 

 ter is not so much that the salt has an effect 

 keep the bugs away, as that the squashes arc 

 ways planted very early, and as the late frosta 

 spring do not do so much injury in that neighbi 

 hood as in Middlesex, the farmers get the squash 

 up and of a good size before the bugs make thi 

 appearance ; and as the leaves are tougher, t 

 bugs do not destroy them aa much as when t 

 plants are more tender. 



I notice this, sir, because I think some may re 

 too much on the salt to do the work which if ti 

 prevented by early planting, I think must be do 

 by hand, and thereby lose the crop of squashi 

 If the " Farmer of Middlesex" will visit Pliilli| 

 Beach now, he will see squashes up and alreai 

 nearly beyond the reach of the depredations of II 

 bugs. Another Farmer of Midulesex, 



May 25, J 843. 



05^" Another Farmer of Middlesex" mi.^appr 

 hends the true point of inquiry in legard toll 

 marrow squashes on Phillips' Beach last year. V\ 

 oursclfsaw those squashes in the latter part of Ai 

 gust, and it was our own remarks last year, tli: 

 suggested the article of May 24. Now we had i 

 reference to the escape of these squashes from tl 

 yellow or striped bug, that destroys by eating tl 

 first leaves of the vine. Our own vines, and thos 

 of many other persons, escaped that enemy. Ear 

 planting and good cultivation may have acted i 

 protection against the yellow bug. But the grei 

 harm to our vines for the last two years, has cun. 

 from a more formidable and deadly enemy — from 

 worm in the heart or pith of the root and the vim 

 This worm is the oflTspriug of a fly that deposite 

 eggs on the stalk of the vine in June, which soo 

 hatch, and the young go into the vine and rev( 

 there; and the consequence is, that the large floui 

 ishing vine of four, five or six feet in hmglh, with 

 crs and dies. It was this enemy that the Marroi 

 squash escaped on Phillips' Beach, and this varic 

 ty (the " Marrow,") escaped that enemy no wlier 

 else within the limits of our own observation 

 Why did it escape there') This is the question 

 Why did it escape — not the yellow bug — but thi 

 U'orm at ihe root ? Had the salt of the seashon 

 any thing to do with it .' This is the point of in- 

 quiry. Let salt and brine be tried, but let it bi 

 cautiously, so not to kill the plants. — Ec. N. E. F. 



Beesxeax. — The neatest way, saya the Farmer'^ 

 Cabinet, to separate beeswax from the comb is, t 

 tie it up in a linen or woollen cloth or bag, with . 

 pebble or two to keep it from floating; place it it 

 a kettle of cold water, which hang over the fire; 

 as the water heats, the wax melts and rises to thi 

 surface, while all the impurities remain in the bap 



