VOL. XIV. .\o. .ta. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL, 



203 



ow the water in which the roots of the grass 

 ro fixi'tl, was 43 (leg. 



'Ill general, those waters wliieh breed the best 



uro the best fitted for watering meadows ; hnt 



St of the benefits of irrigatiou may be derived 



rn any kind of water. It is, however, a gen- 



prineifde, that water containing ferruginous 

 iregnalions, though possessed of fortilizing 

 cts, when applied to a calcareous soil, are in- 

 ions on soils that do not eli'ervesce with acids ; 



that calcareous waters, which are known by 

 earthy deposit they aflbrd when boiled, are of 

 St use on silicious soils, or other soils contain- 

 no remarkable quantity of carbonate of lime." 

 would now request the Hon. Judge to hear 

 testimony of the celebrated Sinclair, as may 

 found in the "Code of Agriculture," and as 

 article may fall into the hands of some far- 

 rs, who may not have that book at band, I 

 II take the liberty to file as evidence in the 

 e the whole of the seventh section of the third 

 pter on " Irrigation." 



Water is cmployeil in various ways for the 

 irovement of laud. First, by the jM-ocess of 

 at is strictly called irrigation, when water is 

 le to trickle over the surface. Second, by 

 ding, when it covers the soil completely fbr a 

 iod of time ; and third, by ivarping, when the 

 er merely acts as a conductor of the warp, or 

 d, by which the improvement is effected. We 

 II consider these several processes separately, 

 inning with irrigation. 



This subject embraces the following particu- 

 : — The objects to which irrigation is applied ; 

 methods of conducting the process ; the cir- 

 istances necessary to be considered previous 

 he plan being undertaken ; the- water best cal- 

 ited for that purpose ; the proper soils and 

 soils for irrigated meadows ; the effects of cli- 

 e on irrigation ; the e.xpense j the profit; the 

 ises best adapted for water meadows ; the 

 'k ted upon them ; the making and preserving 

 er meadow hay ; the objections which have 

 n urged against irrigation ; the advantages 

 nding it, and the im))rovement of which it is 

 leptible. 



(To be continued.) 



(From the Conconl Freeman.) 

 TURP ASHES. 



t is a very comirion impression among far- 

 's, that the ashes made from a turf fire are 

 ■d for nothing, and they are therefore thrown 

 ly, and what might aid in increasing that gold 

 le of the farmer, his manure heap, is thought- 

 ly wasted. Now, sir, let me tell you my ex- 

 ience in this matter, with some little advice, 

 i if those of your readers who may follow it, 

 not realize the truth of the old adage, 'a penny 

 ed, is a penny got,' then I am willing tliat they 

 uld turn back to their old ways. 

 Vbout ten years since I came to live on the 

 ce I now own. As there was but little wood 

 iched to the homestead, 1 ihought it woulil be 

 natter both of convenience and economy to 

 ■ply myself with fuel chiefly from my meadow, 

 ich was near at hand, and which cut most e.\- 

 ent turf. Having always heard that the ashes 

 3 worthless, I should have thrown it away, but 

 [ was one d.iy digging about my trees, I thought 

 'ould throw a little of it round each, and cov- 

 »g it with earth from my hoe, I left it to work 

 its deed of good or evil. Well, I followed 



this system in my orchard ihe season through, 

 and I must say that an orchard never throve better 

 — so jnuch was this the case, that I was well 

 convinced it must be the effects of nuuuire, and 

 as nothing else had been brought on, I very easily 

 concluded tliat some fertilizing pro])crlies did 

 exist in turf ashes, prejudice to the contrary not- 

 withstanding. From that time to this, every 

 spring anil fall when I have dug round my trees, 

 I have strewn these ashes plentifully about each, 

 and covered them with earth, that the wirul should 

 not blow them away — and I nmst say my faith 

 in their virtue is stronger than ever. In one other 

 way have I made use of them. At the first hoe- 

 ing (or vv'eeding) /of my corn, 1 apply a handful 

 or two to each hill as fast as I proceed with my 

 rows, and while they nourish and strengthen the 

 young plants, ! f)elieve it protects thein from the 

 greywomi — fbr I have never had my cornfield so 

 free frotn that destructive insect, as since my use 

 of these ashes. 



As my experience has been spun out into quite 

 a homily already, I shall close by advising my 

 brother farmers who burn this article of fuel, to 

 test its efficacy as a manure. If the result does 

 not substantiate my positions, I will give up 

 preaching on Economy. 



Lexington, Jan. 18, 1836. 



Cut Fodder Cut or chaff your hay, straw, 



corn-tops or blades, and even your stalks with a 

 straw cutter, and you will save a great portion 

 which is otherwise wasted, or passed through the 

 animal without contrH)Uting to its nourishment. 

 One bushel of chaffed hay at a mess, given in a 

 trough, three times in tweatyfour hours, is suffi- 

 cient for a liorse, ox or cow. A bushel of chaffed 

 hay, lightly pressed, weighs from 5 to 5 1-2 lbs. 

 A horse, or a horned beast, thrives more on 15 

 lbs. thus given, than on 24 or 25 lbs. (including 

 the waste) as commonly expended in the usuiri 

 manner of feeding in racks; to which troughs, 

 properly constructed, are far preferable. 



Feeding your stock by weight and measure of 

 food, will not only save your provender, by its 

 orderly distribution, but frequently save lives of 

 animals, too often starved by niggardliness, or 

 gorged and injured by profusion. If it be true, 

 as it is, that "the master's eye makes the horse 

 fat," it is equally so that the master's eye prevents 

 the horse from being pampered, bloated, found- 

 ered, and finally wind-broken and blind. — Judge 

 Peters. 



whose introduction has adiled many millions to 

 our population, di^rives its origin frouj a small 

 bitter root, which grows wild in Chili and Monte 

 Video. 



Wonders FitoM Cultivation. — There is scarce- 

 ly a vegetable which we now cultivate, that can 

 be found to grow naturally. BufFon has stated 

 that our wheat is a factitious production, raised to 

 its present condition by the art of agriculture. 

 Rye, rice, barley, or even oats, are not to be found 

 wild, that is to say, growing naturally in any part 

 of the earth, but have been altered by the industry 

 of mankind from plants not now resembling them, 

 even in such a degree as to enable us to recognise 

 their relations. 'J'he acrid and disagreeable opi- 

 um graveolens, has been transferred into delicious 

 celery, and the colevvort, a plant of scanty leaves, 

 not weighing altogether half an ounce, has been 

 improved into cabbage, whose leaves weigh many 

 pounds, or into a cauliflower of considerable di- 

 mensions, being only the embryo of a few buds, 

 which in their natural state would not have 

 weighed as many grains. The potato again, 



Agriculture — We presume that tlu; business 

 of Agriculture was never more profitable in New 

 England than now. Our fiirmcrs are rapidly 

 becoming rich, that is, those who are industrious 

 and economical — and we know no class of citi- 

 zens more deserving. The Claremont, N. H. 

 Eagle giv(!S the following instances of agricultural 

 prosperity in the valley of the Connecticut : — 



" Some of the best and most productive farms 

 in the country may be found in the valley of the 

 Connecticut. Their produce in the market al- 

 ways commands a high price. The amount of 

 butter, beef and pork, sold since the 1st of Octo- 

 ber last, by the fiirmers of the single town of Bar- 

 net, Caledonia co., Vt. brought the surn of $26,340 

 88. During the four months mentioned, they sold 

 349 head of beef cattle for $5,745 ; 68,137 lbs. of 

 butter for $12,876 11 ; and 123,571 lbs. of pork for 

 $7,719. One fanner sold three thousand pounds 

 of butter and the same of pork — 1,600 lbs. of the 

 butter having been sold at an average of 30 cents 

 per pound. The butter that was sold in Barnet 

 in the month of October, averaged about a shilling 

 per pound, while that carried to the Boston mar- 

 ket, brought, during the same time, from 22 to 26 

 cents — which, one would think, ought to pay 

 handsomely for the cost of transportation. An- 

 other of the Barnet farmers sold 836 lbs. of butter, 

 made from nine cows, at thirty cents per jiound, 

 amounting to over two hunilred and fiftysix dol- 

 lars. Truly, the Barnet farmers have been living 

 in fine clover during the past season. Several of 

 them carried off premiums offered for the best 

 butter by the Massachusetts Agricultural Society 

 at their last exhibition — and one of them, the 

 first premium of fifty dollars. We gather these 

 facts from a statement in the last number of the 

 Vermont Farmer." 



Leeches. — The Massachusetts Rledical Society 

 have endeavored to promote the propagation of 

 foreign leeches in this country ; it being deemed 

 an object of great inijjortance, that they may be 

 more generally attainable in all p.irts of the coun- 

 try, and that they may be procured at a lower 

 price, than those which are imported. They have 

 therefore offered a premium of five hundred dol- ; 

 lars, for the best sample, of not less than one 

 thousand leeches from a foreign stock, bred in this 

 Commonwealth, and have appointed a large com- 

 unittee to. v'eceiye- applications. We should sup- 

 pose that so liberal an offer would be sufficient to 

 induce persons, conveniently situated for making' 

 the experiment, to become competitors for the pre- 

 mium. If the exjieriment should succeed, the 

 sale of the article might be a profitable source of 

 income. — 'JMih. 



Western Lakes^-^TIic depth of tlie water in 

 some of the great lakes in the West, is. represented 

 by travellers as being very great.. There are parts 

 of Lake Superior, as well as Huron and Michi- 

 gan, where the depth of the water is 150 faliionis. 

 The deepest water in. Lake Erie is about 35 fath- 

 oms. In Lake St. Clair the water is- quite shoal,, 

 larely exceeding four fathoms.. 



Mr Brooke, a liiaveller in Norway, says, that the; 

 milk everywhere gr&ws richer, as you go nortiu. 



