826 



NEW K N G L A N D FARMER, 



APRIL, ao, 1836. 



sfji'jy S3s?^'&^sf3' ^s,m.Wim^=. 



BO:iTON. WEDNESDAY EVENING, APUU. 20. 1836. 



PAUMERS' WORK. 



Pasturing Stock. — Do not tuin your ciuUe to grass too 

 early in liie spring Dr Dcano was of opinion thiu the 

 2()lli "f Miiy, was, in our climate, quite early enough to 

 permit cattle to go to pasture ; and some farmers think it 

 best to keep working oxen and horses to h.iy, &c. at least 

 till tlic first of June. It is not right to turn all sorts of 

 cattle into pastures together. Milch cow.'', wi rking oxen 

 and fatting beasts should have the first feeding of an in- 

 oiosure. Afterwards sheep and horses. When the first 

 lot has beeo fed off, it should be shut up, and the manure 

 which has been dropped should be beaten to pieces, and 

 well .scattered. Afterwards tije second pasture should be 

 treated in the same manner, and the rest in course, feed- 

 ing the wettest pasture after the driest, that the soil m.ay 

 not he loo much broken up by the catties' feel. ■ 



Dr Deane observe-d, that '• Something considerable is 

 saved by letting ill sorts of gracing aninuils take their 

 turns in a pasture. By means of this, nearly all the her- 

 b.ige produwd will be eaten; much of which would 

 otherwise be lost. Horses will cat the leavings of horn- 

 ed catlle ; and slieep will eat sonic things thai 'both the 

 one and the other leave. 



" Let the slock of a farmer be greater or less, he should 

 have at least four inolosurosof pasturi! land. One inclo- 

 sure may bo fed two weeks and then shut up to grow. 

 Each one will recruit well in six- weeks; and each will 

 have this time to recruit.- But in the latter part of Octo- 

 ber, the cattle may range through all the lots unless some 

 one may become too wet and soft. Feeding pastures in 

 rotation is of greater advantage than some are apt to im- 

 agine. One acre, managed according to the above direc- 

 tions, will turn lo better account some say who have 

 pra.ctised it, than three acres in the common way." 



An English writer says, in turning out horses to grass 

 in the spring, it is usual to cliooae the forenoon of a fine 

 day to do it in ; the natural consequettce is, the horse 

 nils his belly during the sunshine and lies down to rest 

 during tlie cold of tlie night, thertby probably exposing 

 himself to disorders. Ir] some parts of Yorkshire, a bet- 

 ter practice prevails ; the Jiorse is turned out at bed-time ; 

 the consequence is, he eats all night, and sleeps in the 

 sunshine of the next day." 



It will not be proper, when you have turned your cat- 

 tle to grass, to overlook or neglect them. You should 

 see every animal every day, if you rise an hour before 

 the Bun for that purpose. 



The botlom of an old hay stack is said to be excellent 

 manure for pasture land, as besides the nourishment it 

 aftords it contains a quantity of grass seed.;, v/liich fur- 

 nishes a new set of plants. It should never be suffered 

 to mix with manure for grain, or corn lands, as it will 

 cause them to bo overrun with grass and other plants, 

 which though useful in a pasture, are weeds in arable 

 land. 



Prepare seeds for Planting.— Nol only Indian corn, but 

 peas, oats, buckwheat, and probably most other seeds 

 are benefitted by wetting tliem in water, and then rolliu" 

 them in plaster of Paris previous to planliu". 



Pasture fur Swine— A lot of land well seeded down 

 to clover is wanted by good cultivators fur piisluriu" 

 «wine. The quantity of land should be so proportioned 

 to the number of swine that they may keep the "rass 

 from going to seed. This will prevent waste, and the 

 shorter the grass is the sweeter it will be, and llie more 



pleasant food lo the animals for whose use it is destined. 

 <rho pig pasture should have a good supply of water, and 

 running water is to be preferred to still water, but the 

 latter is better than none. Hogs should not be permitted 

 to run in their summer pasture till about the first of 

 Alay; and ihey should be well linged, or the gristle of 

 their noses shaved off before they are allowed that liberty 



Potatoes for Sioine. — Select a warm early piece of 

 ground, near your hog-pen, of about a quarter of an 

 acre, more or h'ss, and having made it rich, with hog or 

 liorse man6re, plant it willi early potatoes, which will 

 probally answer to begin to dig in July. These will, 

 especially if steamed or boiled; be found useful in bring- 

 ii:g forwaril fattmg hogs before Indian corn is ripe. 



(['"orllie New England Farmer.) 



OsAGi: Orange, {Madura aurantica) — The Osage 

 Orange is a native of Missouri and Arkansas, where it 

 rises in elegant proportion to the height ol 00 feet. The 

 tree is deciduous and hardy, as it has endured the rigors 

 of the last seven winters near Boston, and is one of the 

 most ornamental of all our native trees. The leaves are 

 ovdl, lanceolate, of a beautiful shining green, and bear 

 ■striking resemblance to those of the orange, and the 

 wood also, like that of the orange, is armed with long, 

 sharp spines. The trees are dioecious, or some male and 

 some female, therefore requiring more than one tree for 

 the pro luction of fruit; but these, however, cannot be dis- 

 tinguished when young. The fr<jit is beautiful, but not 

 eatable ; of the size of a large orange, of a golden color, 

 and the trees, when laden witli the fiuit, are splendid. 

 The wood, produces a fin-e yellow dye. It is valuab'e 

 fur furniture, as it receives the finest polish. It is remark- 

 ably tough, strong an*d elastic, and is therefore called 

 BoiB Wood, being preferred by the Indians lo all other 

 wood fir bows. !l is also supposed to be (he most dura- 

 ble timber in the world, and for ship building is esteemed 

 preferable to live oak. 



Even the leaves so beautiful, may, it appears, be con- 

 verred to very important use, since, according to a me- 

 moir lately presented to tlie French Institute, they are 

 valuable as food fjr silk worms. 



On the best authority, 1 am assured that the trees of the 

 Osage Orange, when set at the distance of 15 inches 

 asunder, make the most beautiful as well as the strongest 

 hedge fence in the .world, ihrough which neither men 

 nor animals can pass. William Kekrick. 



mioton, April 18, yS'AQ. 



[It will be seen in another column that trees of the 

 Osage Orange may be obtained at the Nursery of Wil- 

 liam Keniick, at Nonantum Hill, in Newton.] 



Boggy Peas — Several farmers have informed us that 

 tliey have completely destroyed bugs in peas by pouring 

 on them a sufficient quantity of boiling water to cover 

 them, and letting them remain a few hours before sowing. 

 The peas will be iojuied if they remain long in the water 

 before they are sown. The hot water will cause the 

 peas to vegetate much sooner, and on that account it 

 may be well to apply it to peas'thatare not buggy, when 

 it is desirable to forward their growth. Peas that are 

 not bugjy, or those in which ihebugs are destroyed, and 

 sowed near others that are buggy, will, from that cause, 

 be liable lo be injured by bugs. Some would suppose 

 that boiling wa'er would destroy the vital principle of 

 peas, and so it probably would if a few pfas were put 

 into a large quantity of boiling water ; but if there be 

 barely enough to cover the peas, they will cool the water 

 considerably before it penetrates the peas. — Van. Far. 



Tlio.se who may turn in clover-leys^this spring should 

 top dress with lime, even if it be but ten bushels to the 

 acre. — Ball Farmer. 



IVIanufacthre of Salt. — At the Andcrton Works 

 near Norwich, a new method of making salt has been 

 discovered, and pans have been put up on a small scale, 

 to try the eiTect, which has proved so far satisfactory. — 

 A fresh water boiler in the midst of the brine directly 

 over the fire, the brine receiving at once tho whole of the 

 htat from the boiler and the fire ; the overplus steam 

 which is generated is applied to another pan ; by which 

 means a high temperature is obtained for 16,000 surface 

 feet, which by the old mode would require four fires; 

 immense amount of labor, and wear and tare is saved^ 

 iVlr W. Garrod is the inventor, and has taken out ijie 

 patent. It is expected that more than five tons of salt 

 will be made by one ton of coals; by the old method not 

 more than two and a h; If or three, can be produced from 

 the same quantity of fuel. — English paper. 



Sowing Locust Seed, — Considerable difficulty has 

 been experienced in propagating the locust from seed,, 

 from the circumstance of their not readily vegetating. 

 This may sometimes be owing to the fact that they do 

 not always come to perfection here, buttfiis is generally 

 in consequence of not taking the necessary care in pre- 

 paring them, 'i'lie following method for this purjiose 

 may not be generally known, or if known it is not at- 

 tended to. It will insure success, and cause the seeds 

 to grow as readily as beans or Indian corn, 

 ^lace a quantity of the seed in a vessel holding a quart 

 or two, pour on boiling water, and let it stand twentv 

 four hours. Then decanfit, and it will be found that a 

 considerable number are softened and swelled by the 

 operation. These are to be separated from the rest and 

 planted; and to the remaining unswollen ones another 

 portion of hot water is to be added, which also is to re- 

 main twentyfour hours, and a second selection made, to 

 be planted as before. In a few days nearly the whole of 

 the seeds will be thus prepared. — Far. ^ Gar. 



Flannels. — As the genial sunshine of spring advan- 

 ces, those accustomed to wearing fiannel under-garments 

 are too much disposed to lay them suddenly aaide. This 

 is an error of great magnitude. Keep them on till the 

 east wind is no longer elaborated ; till the flowers are 

 blooming in the fields, and a uniform atmopheric tempe- 

 rature is established. A multitude annually are hurried 

 to an early grave, in the very meridi.iii of life, in conse- 

 quence of not understanding, or by neglecting this simple 

 and important advice. — Medical Journal. 



Remarkable Productions of Dukes Countv. — A 

 letter from Mr A. C. to Hon. Leavitt Thaxter, a member 

 of tho Senate in the Massachusetts Legislature, from 

 which we have been permitted to make extracts, states, 

 that in 1834 the writer sowed two feet less than one rod 

 of ground with onion seed, and in the fall he gathered 

 six bushels, besides using from the same bed as many as 

 he wanted during the season. " In 13135," says the same 

 writer," my Grape Vine (Isabella) when five years old, 

 from a cutting, yielded about one and a half bushels of 

 grapes. ' 



Professor Cleaveland, of Bowdoin College, has beeu 

 appointed by the Board of Internal Improvements to 

 make a Geological Survey of the Slate. We are grati- 

 fied lo learn that the survey has been Entrusted to a gen- 

 tleman of so much science and practical skill. We hope 

 he will actept the appointment thus tendered to him by 

 the Board. — Maine Age. 



QyThe business of the New England Seed Store and 

 N. E. Farmer will be conducted as heretofore, in the name 

 of George C. Barrett, to whose address all orders, &.c. 

 may be directed until furlher notice. 



