NEW 



i^ 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, AT NO. 62 NORTH MARKET STREET, (at ithk AGiticuLTfRiL Warkiiouse.)-T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



NO. 15. 



VOL IX. 



BOSTOIV, FRJDAY, OCTOBER 1, 183 O. 



^©sasawsfstvSiisaissfSa 



Mr Fesse.nde.n — Among the miseries of the 



Fftt-mer and the Gardener tliere an; none so |iro- 



okiiig, none so iiijurions to the peace, and the 



eiujicr, as bad seeds and inisnamcd fruit trees. 



ViMOii^' the causes of the l:iUer, the iiio.«t i)r()m- 



nent is the .sell-coiifiileiice in personal sUill, and 



udgniont of fruits by tlieir bark and buds. Let 



hose wlio feel tliis contiilence, take warning by 



he following e.vamples of recent occurrence. 



Is it true, as I have understood from high au- 



oritv, that pear scions of Mr Knight's last trans- 



lission have been mistaken, even at that most 



ccurate establishment, the Linnoean Garden at 



lushing, fnr apple scioni*, and inserted as such 



uriiig the last year? If this is not so, I shall 



glad to be undeceived. 



It is true that an old, experienced, well educated 

 irdeuer inserted apple scions on a pear stock of* 

 5 years old, and the error was never detected till 

 pear shoot slarteii below. It is true, that an 

 curate, cautious, and thoroughly experienced 

 Itivator, after duo examination, took an unmark- 

 pear scion for an a[)ple and inserted it as such, 

 lese three facts have come to my notice. If 

 ;n very carefid and observing men have mis- 

 en two distinct species for each other, how can 

 feel any confidence in those who would haz- 

 the sending varieties of the same fruit on the 

 y fluctuating criteria of bark and buds ? We 

 3e there are no suih bold men now, jind tliat 

 race ceased with the pomologist, who, vritli 

 list in his pocket, scorned to consult it. 



AGRICOLA. 



FOR THE HEW ENGLAHO FARUEK. 



ST MICHAEL PEARS. 



R FessENDKn — In the 6th No. page 41, of the 

 ;ent volume of your useful paper, I observe a 



grjiph over the signature of a ' Subscriber,' 

 enting ' the unfruitfulness and the decay of 



St Michael IVar Trees, of which he has a 

 siderable miml)er of different ages, and almost 



very size on his farm ; and inquiring what 

 be the prol)able cause of tlieir unproductive- 



.' It is difficult even to conjecture what is 



cause, without a more definite knowledge of 



r aspect and situation ; whether growing in 

 >n sward, or under tilth, whether they have 



been bearers, or have recently become so. I 



\ 



make his own deductions. The trees are growing 

 on a fight sandy soil, and amnially cultivaterl as a | 

 kitchen ganlen. From the precocity of bearing 

 in this variety, and theii abmulant bearing, the in- 

 ference may be fairly drawn, that they are not of 

 long duration, and others ought to be coming on 

 ill sucrepsion. 



I send you herewith, a small samjilc, that yon 

 may judge, if the fruit has so deteriorated, what it 

 may have been in the ' green tree.' The sample 

 sent is selected ; the whole produce are not 

 eiiually large. Yours, very respectfully, 



ST MICHAEL. 



Plymouth, Sept. 27, 1S30. 



TH kTuPIN. ~ 



Mr Fessexden — Inclosed is the seed of the 

 Lupin Bean, used as a manure for the soil in Ma- 

 deira and the Western Islands. I believe it is not 

 uidike a flower, which is often seen in gardens and 

 flower pots in this country. The seed I forward 

 to you was received lately from the Western 

 Islands by Mr Smith, of Singsing, N. Y. 



It is said by the gentleman from whom they 

 were received, that this bean is extensively used 

 there as a dressing for land, and is much valued. 

 It issowel in October, and in April, when in the 

 white flower, it is ploughed in. Perhaps in this 

 climate it would not do so well as where the wint- 

 ers are ■milder. 



I do not know that you will be at all interested 

 in th 3 plant, but 1 take the liberty to inclose the 

 seed, jnd giic you a statement of facts. 



They were kindly given to me by the above 

 named gentleman, and shi uld any more particular 

 information be desired by yourself or any of 

 your readers, a letter directed to James Smith, 

 Singsing, N. Y. will bo cheerfully acknowledged. 

 Mr Smith is interested in the subject of agricul- 

 tural iini)rovement, and would be haj)j)y to spread 

 llirough the country in which he resides, or 

 ihrough New England, any useful information 

 vhich he may possess. G. D. A. 



Remarks by the Editor — Lupin is a genus 

 (f plants comprising a great many species, most 

 <f which are cultivated in gardens, on account of 

 heir beautiful flowers. 



In November, 1821, S. W. Pomeroy, Esq. ad- 

 ires.sed a letter to John S. Skinner, Esq. of Balti- 

 more, then I']ditor of the American Fanner, from 

 which the following is extracted. 



Among the various plants applied as grecu 



jedingly regret to hear frequently mentioned, dressings for the restoration of worn out soils, the 



so to see in your paper, that this delicious White Lupin stands pre-eminent in those cli- 



Aj,. JIB has of late become, in the vicinity of Boston, niates that will permit their growth between the 



liiifB af ncertain bearer ; and that the fruit, when any] periods of seed time and harvest. That a trial 



(Him'- 

 Jilt n 



in» 



[•oduced, is much deteriorated. I regret it the 



from the fear that the promulgation of these 



|i (which may arise from local causes) may 



to, or induce the neglect of the cultivation ol 



lexcellcnt variety, which in this section is ol 



Int acquisition. It is not more than 20 or 25 



since I have witnessed their cultivation here, 



lof course the trees are all young, or in thai 



le and vigor, and I have never known one ii- 



te of one being otherwise than an abundai: 



Ijr, and that with little variation every year. 



rom these and other facts your Subscriber ca 



may be had with them, I have forwarded half 

 a bushel of the seed, which I Uust you will cheer- 

 fully distribute for the henefl of our Southern 

 brethren. They were sent to me from Fayal ; 

 and the following account which I have collected 

 of the effects of their culture, will, at least serve 

 to convince us that the Earth ' ever subservient to 

 the wants of man,'' when exhausted by his insa- 

 tiable demands, requires from him but a little me- 

 chanical aid, to enable her still to spread his 

 walks with flowers and his table, with plenty 

 The island of Fayal, though in the same parallel 



of latitude with Maryland, is subject to a temper- 

 ature seldom above 30 or below 30 dcgrefts of 

 Fahrenheit. The soil is thin, and incumbent on 

 scoria: and other undccojnposed volcanic substances; 

 but naturally exceedingly fertile. For a long 

 |>eriod of time, every |iart accessible to the plough 

 lias been in tillage ; and, with the excc[)tion of 

 selected patches, sliifted for flax, un<Ier alternate 

 rops of wheat and Indian corn, (the latter being 

 the chief food of the laboring classes.) Such a 

 system of severe cropping, the sources for man- 

 ure very limited, and without the advantage of 

 improved implemohts or modes of culture, caused 

 a visible deterioration of the soil ; the crops les- 

 sened from year to yc;ir ; partial importations were 

 resorted to ; and tlic wdl borr, of the islan4Jie 

 came ijerionsly apprehensive of tlie most distress- 

 ing consequences. 



' Providentially some 1.5 or 20 years since the 

 Wliite Lupin was introduced from Italy, and 

 though it came by acciilent to a people strongly 

 bigoted to old practices of husbandry, the cultiva- 

 tion soon became general. 



'The wheat and corn arc harvested in August, 

 the land is soon after ploughed, and Lupins sown 

 on the surface, or but slightly covered, at the rate 

 nf two bushels per acre. In February they 

 flower, and are then turned in x\ith the wheat, 

 corn or flax in their several rotations. By this 

 management a progressive improvement of the 

 soil has become apparent ; there are no longer 

 apprehensions of famine ; a very reilundant jiop- 

 ulation subsists ; and besides supplying 10,000 in 

 the neighboring island of I'ieo, where scaPBC any- 

 thing but the vine is culli'.ated, a surplus is often 

 sent to other islands, and in some instances to 

 Lisbon. 



' Lu))ins are ranked by gardeners among the 

 hardy annuals, but I am not able to say what de- 

 gree of frost they will bear. From a single ex- 

 periment I am led to believe that, owing to the 

 drouglit to which our climate is subject, not much 

 advantage will be derived by so%ving them on sum- 

 mer fallows as a dressing for winter crops. Their 

 application to spring crops in those sections of 

 our country where they can be grown in se.ison 

 for that purpose, will probably become the first 

 object of experiments.' 



FUR THE !)£W ENGLAND FARMER. 



Directions for the gathering arid preserving herbs, 

 for medicinal and culinary purposes. — Kerbs arc, 

 generally, in their greatest perfection when the 

 foliage is fully expanded and they begin to flower. 

 At this time, in a fair, dry day, they should be 

 collected and carefully dried in the shade. When 

 perfectly dry they should be pressed into the 

 shape of a common brick by means of a curb for 

 that purpose. They should be, immediately after 

 taken from the press, papered, labelled and put 

 into a box, and kept in a dry place for use. 



The common practice is — The good woman of 

 the house collects such a number of herbs as she 

 thinks may be necessary and useful for her family, 

 without much reference to the state of the plants 

 or the season of the year. AVhen collected they 

 are tied with a string and hung up, or laid on a 



