3;) 8 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JUNE aa, 1836, 



^mw ^i^--2E>.&.^m sFAS^sffinms. 



IJOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 22, 1S36. 



PAHMERS' WORK. 



Thi; Season. — The prospects of thu season are nol 

 very flalteriiTg at present, but we linpe the apprehensions 

 of some, wlio prophecy nothing hut evil, may not he re- 

 alized to the extent of their forebodings. It is true that 

 Indian corn has adismal appearance, where ithas appear- 

 ed at all, and that some kinds of garden seeds liave rot- 

 ted in this vicinity withour germinating. The southern 

 papers give us lamentable stories of blighted crops and 

 blasted liopes. We might fill our paper with details of 

 this kind, hut shall piesent only a few brief extracts 

 from them. 



The Philadelphia Price Current of the 11 th inst. states 

 that the wheat crop in the interior of that State has sus- 

 tained great injury, and in some places been nearly des- 

 troyed by the Fly. The prospect is also quite unfavor- 

 able fir an average crop of Rye and Corn. In some sec- 

 tions the grub worm has been very destructive. The 

 National Gazette asserts as follows : 



A letter from Reading, dated June 7th, says, " It lias 

 now rained with us fifteen days, but as to its benefiting 

 tlie crops, particularly the wlieat it is all idle. I am now 

 confident tlicre will not be a quarter crop in Berks 

 county." 



A second letter says : " The wheat crop is daily be- 

 coming worse and worse ; the ravages of the fly are very 

 great." 



A third letter of the 3J of June, written by a person a 

 few miles out f om Reading, in Berks county, states, 

 that "in that neighborhood some farmers are ploughing 

 up their wheat fields — some pasturing them, and others 

 manuring them, and many purchasing wheat for seed 

 for the ensuing crop.' ' 



From Bucks, Montgomery, Lehigh, Northampton, 

 Lancaster, Lebanon, York, Cumberland, and oih«r ad- 

 joining counties of Pennsylvania, throughout Mary- 

 land, not only in the ferule western counties but all 

 Lower Maryland, both shores of the bay — tliroughoul 

 the rich wheat raising districts of Western Virginia, find 

 in Lnvver Virginia, south of the James river, the same 

 calamity is to be deplored. What the prospect is in Low- 

 er Virginia, between James river and Potomac, we are 

 rot informed. 



The Money Telegraph of jQne lltli says " The fly 

 has destroyed the wheat crop in this section of the coun- 

 try. Fields which looked very well a few weeks ago, 

 will not be worth the cutting. Tlie rye bids fair for an 

 average crop. The corn looks very bad. Owing to tlie 

 drought about the time of planting, it did not come up, 

 and the continued rain f)r eighteen days which succeed- 

 ed, caused the replanting, in many instances to rot in 

 the gnmud." 



Aciounts similar to the above are received from every 

 section of the Union, and though we hope that fear has 

 roagnilied both existing and prospective evils, there must 

 be cause for every provident farmer to make the most 

 of every method of providing food for man and beast be 

 fore we are overtaken by another long and inclement 

 winter. If our grain crops fall esse nlially short, we 

 fear there is no adequate resource but from importation, 

 but food for cattle may yet be obtained, and roots such 

 as riita baga and turnips, may, with the common bless- 

 ings of Providence be ruised in such quantities as to ban- 

 ish want from the habitations of the industrious cultiva- 



Among the substitutes fof hay whicii have been found 

 useful, Indian corn is probably to be preferred to any 

 other. An Jlddress to the Essex Agricultural Society by 

 the late Col. Pickering contains the followiiig remarks 

 upon this subject ; 



" Every farmer knows how eagerly cat tie devour the 

 entire plant of Indian corq in its green state; and land 

 in good condition will produce heavy crops of it. Some 

 years ago, just when the cars were in the milk, I cut 

 close to the ground the plants growing on a measured 

 space, equal as I judged to the average product of the 

 whole piece ; and found that, at the same rate, an acre 

 would yield twelve tons of green fodder; probably a 

 richer and more nourishing food thnn any other known 

 to the husbandman. And this quantity was the growth 

 of less than four months." 



* « » (1 It has appeared to me tliat the sort called 

 sweet corn, yields stalks of richer juice than the common 

 yellow corn. It is also more disposed to multiply suck- 

 ers, an additional recommendation to it, when planted 

 to be cut in a green state for horses and cattle, and es- 

 pecially for milch cows, and the lime of planting may be 

 so regulated as to furnisli supplies of food just when the 

 pastures usually fail. I am inclined to doubt whether 

 any other green food will alford butter of equal excel- 

 lence." • 



Col. Pickering recommended planting northern corn 

 in prefirence to southern corn, when fodder is the ob- 

 ject. He observed that " the green stalks ofour north- 

 ern corn are in^omparab'y sweeter than those of the 

 Southern States, at least when both sorts are grown in 

 the North." 



Corn intended for fodder may be sowed,, either broad 

 cast or in drills The former is the least trouble, the lat- 

 ter will give the greatest produce, and leave the soil in 

 the best order. If the land on which you propose to 

 raise your corn is mowing, or pasture, fresh ploughed for 

 the purpose, broad cast sowing will be best, as the sod 

 after being turned over should not be disturbed, and there 

 will not, probably, be much to apprehend from weeds. 

 If you sow broad cast, from 3 to 3 1-2 bushels to an acre 

 are recommended, though some say a large quantity will 

 be still better. If in drills you will run light furrows 

 about three feet asunder, three or four inches deep, and 

 drop the seed corn in the furrows about as thick as peas 

 are sown for field cultivation. The seed may bo cover- 

 ed with the plough ; and a harrow drawn lengthwise of 

 the furrows followed by a toller ("if you have one) or 

 perhaps yourliarrowturned bottom upwards for want of 

 a roller will complete the planting. 



" Honor to ichom honor," S,'C. — At a recent Conven- 

 tion of the Whig party at Utica, Hon. Jf.sse Bukl, so 

 well known for his labors in the cause of Agriculture and 

 Domestic Improvement, was nominated for the ofKce of 

 Governor, 



MASSACHUSETTS HORTICUI.TURAL. SOCIETY, 



Saturday, June 18, IVSIi. 



A meeting was held at 11 o'clock. A letter was read 

 announcing n donation of a painting, from John J 

 Low, Esq for the decoration of the hall. 



On motion of Mr Walker, it was voted that the thanks 

 of the Society he presented to John J. Low, Esq. for a 

 valuable donation of a painting, representing fruits, in 

 an elegant frame, and that the same be suspended in the 

 Society's Hall. 



Various kinds of melon seeds were received and dis- 

 tributed, being forwarded by the Rev. Mr Pierpont from 

 Constantinople. Adjourned for two weeks. 



FRUITS. 



From the President, E. Vose, Esq. very fine speci- 

 mens of Early Virginia and Royal Scarlet Strawber- 

 ries. 



Very large and fine Keen's Seedling, from Thomas 

 Hastings, East Cambridge Also, Keen's Seedling, large 

 and handsome, from J. L. L. F. Warren, Brighton. Roy- 

 al Scarlet's from Hovey & Co. 



For the Committee, 



P. B. HOVEY, Jr. 



(For the New England Farmer.) 

 Mr Fessenden; — In conversation with a friend, a 

 short time since, he observed that when a boy he lived 

 in the country with his grandmother, who as an article 

 of domestic economy was always supplied with a sugar 

 made from the juice of apples. He was only able to 

 state the fact, the process he knew nothing about. Would 

 any of your readers be so kind as to inform me whether 

 anything of that sort is made nowadays and the method 

 of procuring it and as an offset I will give him the fol- 

 lowing recipe for making a first rate writing ink. 



Take 8 lbs. of ground logwood, 4 lbs. pulverized nut 

 galls, 2 1-2 lbs. copperas, 1-2 lb. gumarabic; put the 

 whole into a copper kettle, add 12 galls, of pure rain or 

 river water, 4 galls, of first rate cider vinegar ; let the 

 whole remain over the fire two hours. But be very care- 

 ful not toletit boil; you may then pour the contents of 

 the kettle into a tub or any open vessel and stir it two or 

 three times a day and it is fit for use. If it should not be 

 thick enough you may add a little more but not too much- 

 if you do the ink will not flow , easy, as the coarse parti- 

 cles may be suspended and clog the pen. 



N. B. Many persons suppose that ink should look black 

 the moment it is written with, but not so, the ink should 

 be of a blue black at first and turn darker in a day or iwo 

 bccnuac am it dries. It absorbs oxygen from the atmos- 

 phere, which gives it a proper color. 



Yours, E.T. 



New Model FOR Railroads.— We have lately seen 

 a new model for Railroads, invented by R. H. Eddy, Esq. 

 to prevent the obstructions which now interrupt their 

 operations in the shape of snow, &c. It consists of stone 

 uprights, sunk six feet in the ground, and projecting 

 two feet out, on which rest jointed timbei-s for the rails 

 to run on. These timbers are preserved from any lateral 

 pressure by oak braces morticed into them. The rails 

 are to be secured in a different manner from that at pres- 

 ent employed, by which the wheel may have several 

 inches width of rim, and thus there be no fear of running 

 ofFthe track. The railroad, thus elevated two feet from 

 the surface of the earth, will be free from snow, and cat- 

 tle cannot walk between the rails. This plan appears 

 to be perfectly feasible — Daily Herald. 



An Englishman has just erected, on the river Theiss 



in Hungary, a mill in the form of a colossal man the 



head being the dwelling house, the eyes the windows the 

 nose the chimney, and the machinery in the body, driv- 

 en by a stream of water in a canal, in the form of an im- 

 mense bottle emptying into his mouth. — Daily Times. 



A fire was raging, at the last accounts, in the woods of 

 Searsburgh, Vermont, and was spreading towards Wil- 

 mington. Three dwelling houses, a barn, two saw mills, 

 and two bridges, had already been consumed in its pro- 

 gress. — Jb. 



The editor of the Pawtucket Chronicle has had a mess 

 of green peas, and he talks of it as forming a new era in 

 his life— /t. 



