310 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APRII- 6, 1836. 



^jsw 2isr<g'cL^§a'2i> s^A^si^ssiEa 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 6, 1836. 



[j'NoTicE. — The business of the New England Seed 

 Store and New England Farmer will be conducted as 

 heretofore, in the name of George C. Barrett, to 

 whose address all orders, &c. may be directed until fur- 

 ther notice. 



FARMERS' -WORK. 



Culture of Potatoes. — From some experiments 

 which were made by J. \Vhitlaw,Esq., and given in de- 

 tail in the New England Farmer, vol. i. p. 53, and vol. 

 iv. p. 314, these two imporlant facts were made apparent : 

 1st, Large potatoes are belter for seed than small ones; 

 2d, It is best to cut off the butt and top end from each po- 

 tato, and cut the middle pieces into quarters before plant- 

 ing. • 



Mr Knight, the famous English horticulturist, has 

 found, that for a late crop small sets [seed potatoes] may 

 be used ; because the plants of the late varieties always 

 acquire considerable age before they begin to generate 

 tubers [new potatoes] ; but for an early crop, he recom 

 mends the largest seed potatcies ; and he has found tha' 

 these not only afford very strong plants, but also such as 

 readily recover when injured by frost, for, being fed by 

 a copious reservoir beneath the soil, a re-production of 

 vigorous stems and foliage soon takes place, when those 

 first produced are destroyed by frost or other cause. He 

 adds — " When the planter is anxious to obtain a crop 

 within the least possible time, he will find the position 

 in which the tubers are placed to vegetate, by no means 

 a point of indifference ; for these being shoots or branches, 

 which have grown thick instead of elongating, retain the 

 disposition of branches to propel the s.ip to their leading 

 buds or poiiits most distant from the stems of the plants 

 of which they once formed parts. If the tubers be placed 

 with their leading buds upwards, a few very strong and 

 very early shoots will be produced ; and not only the 

 earliness but the quality of the produce in size will be 

 much affected." — Hort, Trans, vol. iv. p. 448. 



M'Mahon advises to cut seed potatoes " a week before 

 planting, in order that the wounds should have time to 

 form a dry crust ; for, if planted immediately after being 

 cut, they imbibe too much moisture, many of them rot, 

 and the rest are greatly weakened thereby. Some advise 

 to wet seed potatoes, and roll them in pulverized plaster 

 of Paris, immediately before planting. 



Dr Cooper, in the last Philadelphia edition of Willich's 

 Domestic Encyclopedia, observes — " The best method 

 [with regard to seed potatoes] appears to be this: choose 

 your potatoes f<T planting of a moderate size, rather large 

 than small, for there is no good reason to be assigned for 

 breeding from diminutive parents; cut your potatoes 

 into sets, two eyes to a set; throw away, without hesita- 

 tion, into the hog-trough, all the diminutive and inferior 

 eyes, choosing your sets from the middle of the potato ; 

 do not cut the potato down the middle." 



Dr Deane observed, that if dung be used in raising po- 

 tatoes, it may be spread before the last ploughing, or else 

 laid under the sets. The latter method will give the 

 largest crop. Dung laid under the sets will produce more 

 than if laid above them, as Mr Wynn Baker proved by 

 actual experiments. The feeding roots should go into 

 the manure, not directly into the hungry earth below ; 

 and therefore need some loose earth to extend themselves 

 into. 



Mr Loudon observes, " the best manure for the potato 



appears to be littery farm yard dung, and the best mode 

 of applying it, immediately under the potato sets. Any 

 manure, however, maybe applied, and no plant will bear 

 a laiger dose of it, or thrive on coarser or less prepared 

 manure; even dry straw rushes, or spray [decayed 

 leaves] of trees may be used with success." 



The worm and grub attack potatoes. Loudon observes, 

 that the only remedies against these destroyers are change 

 of seed and soil. It has been said, however, that sifting 

 quicklime or unslacked ashes over the hills soon after 

 planting, will preserve against these insects. Care must, 

 however, be taken not to apply either of these substances 

 to the sets or roots when planted, lest they corrode them. 

 It is recommended to scatter a handful of plaster of Paris 

 over each hill, immediately after the first and second 

 hoeing. 



MASSACHUSETTS HORTICUIiTURAI. SOCIETY, 



Saturday, April 9. 

 A meeting was held at 11 o'clock, A. M.; the Presi- 

 dent in the chair. 



On motion of Mr Paine, it was Voted, That the Ex- 

 ecutive Committee be authorized to settle with Insurance 

 offices concerning the loss and damage to the Society's 

 property by the late fire. 



It was also Voted, That the same Committee be au- 

 thorized to engage a suitable hall or store for the meet- 

 ings and use of the Society. 



The chair announced the donation of a large invoice 

 of valuable and rare bulbs and seeds from Baron Von 

 Ludwig of Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, Honorary 

 Member of the Society. (Catalogue hereafter.) 



A letter was also read by the Corresponding Secretary, 

 received to his address from the above-named gentleman, 

 accompanying a short list of desiderata, which it was 

 requested might be fijrwarded in return. 



On motion of Mr French, it was Voted, That the thanks 

 of the Society be presented to the gentleman for his large 

 and valuable donation, and that his communication be 

 published in the N. E. Farmer. 



It was also Voted, That the Flower Committee pro- 

 cure from the members of the Society, or otherwise, the 

 seeds desired, and forward the same to Cape Town. 



Voted, That the Flower Committee take charge of the 

 seeds and bulbs, and make the same into packages, with 

 a catalogue of the same, and distribute the same in such 

 proportion and manner as may be most advisable to se- 

 cure a successful cultivation of the same, and report at 

 the next meeting. Adjourned to Saturday next, 11, A.M. 



Baron von Ludwig's Letter. 



St George's Street, ■) 



Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, ^ 



January 29, 1836.) 



Sir — I beg leave to inform you, that I had the pleasure 

 to receive, per the Levant, Capt. W. Caldwell, a letter 

 from Messrs H. A. Breed, S. T. Huse, and Hezekiah 

 Chase, dated Lynn, Sept. 22d, 1835, communicating at 

 the same time the honor conferred on rae by the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society, in electing me one of 

 their honorary members, and transmitting me a diploma 

 and your annual proceedings. 



I will thank you to announce to the President and 

 members at your next meeting, the assurances of my 

 grateful sense for this distinguished honor they have 

 conferred upon me, and of which I hope to prove myself 

 worthy, by rendering my services from this part of south- 

 ern Africa useful in promoting the views, interests, and 

 prosierity of your worthy Society. 



I therefore avail myself of the earliest opportunity, the 

 return of the Levant, to transmit in charge of my friend, 

 Capt. W. Caldwell, two boxes, one containing indigenous 



bulbs, (41 specimens, or about 1300 bulbs,) the other 291 

 specimens of indigenous and exotic seeds, (viz. 150 

 South African, 80 Australian, and (il East Indian,) to 

 your care, and which I request you will be good enough 

 to present in my name to the direction of your Society 

 I regret much that some fresh supplies of seeds and bulbs 

 from the frontiers and Caffratia did not arrive in time to 

 make up this present collection of seeds and bulbs more 

 extensive and complete, but I assure you that I shall 

 send some more by the first opportunity, through the 

 kindness of my friend, J. Chase, Esq. American Consul 

 here. 



On my obtaining any other horticultural or agricultu- 

 ral objects from Australia, East Indies, &c. I shall take 

 the liberty to send them from time to time, and should 

 [he direction, or any one of the members of your Society, 

 wish to get any particular plants, seeds, bulbs, &c. from 

 this Colony, I beg leave to request them to name them, 

 on which I shall be most happy in giving attention there- 

 to, and nothing will be more pleasing to me than to have 

 a constant intercourse and exchange of plants, seeds, 

 bulbs, &c. from this Colony, for indigenous plants, seeds 

 and bulbs of your country. As our Colony has only a' 

 few American shrubs, plants and bulbs, every one, even 

 the most common, will be acceptable. The most desira- 

 ble, however, would be the different kinds of American 

 Oak (Quercus), either the plants or the seeds, in a box of 

 earth, or immersed in tallow. 



With my best wishes for the advancement, success, 

 and prosperity of the Society, and the happiness of all 

 its respected members, 1 offer, my dear Sir, assurances 

 of my sincere esteem. Your most obedient servant, 



Charles Ferdinand Henry von Ludwig, 

 Phil. Dr., Ktiight of the IVurterrdiergian, Gold, Civil, 

 Merit, and Croion Orders, l^e. &,•€. 



P. S. — Capt. Caldwell has in charge, beside the two 

 boxes, one plant of the Zamia horrida (Caffre Bread 

 Tree), and one plant of the Testadinaria (Dioscoria), EJ- 

 ephantipes, commonly called the Elephant Root. The 

 Zamia should be planted about six inches in the ground, 

 and the Testadinaria only placed on the surface, and not 

 an inch in the ground. Neither of them should be 

 planted in a moist or damp situation, or kept too wet. 



By future opportunities, I shall sen^l some much larger 

 roots of the Testadinaria, male and female, as also some 

 other sorts of the Zamia. Von Ludwig. , 



To RoVt Treat Paine, Esq. Cor. Sec. Mass. Hort. Soc. 



Sale of Improved Durham Short Horns. — We no- ' 

 tice in a Philadelphia paper, Mr Powell's advertisement, 

 offering at auction his whole stock of Durham Short 

 Horns derived from his selections in England in 1831, 

 consisting of 10 young bulls and 9 heifers. The sale is ' 

 to lake place at Powelton, on the Schuylkill, opposite 

 Philadelphia, on Saturday, 23d April. 



For the following article we are indebted to a lady, 

 who will accept of our thanks in our own behalf, and on 

 account of the public, who will be benefitted by the dis- 

 covery which she has been so good as to communicate. 



To GET RID OF Red Ants. — Take green or dry sage 

 leaves, scatter them plentifully round the place infested, . 

 and allow them to remain during one season, and these 

 troublesome insects will certainly disappear. Several 

 who have made the experiment have found it successful. 



In Nantucket, r locust tree, in 1834, sprouted and grew 

 ten and a half feel high in one summer, and after the 

 bark was taken off il was sufficiently large for a large 

 cane. — Communicated. 



*,"We acknowledge a communication from a lady on 

 the subject of silk. We shall insert it in our next. 



