V,.l. 



IX.— No. 3o. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



2S5 



, iitnmittoc arc sorry that, after so fine a year, 

 -houlii liavo preferreil a claim for the prc- 

 i carrots, or sugar boets, or parsiiiiis, or 

 in|)s. Abetter season fur raising them 

 ever occurs. As to En>;'.isii turnips, the 

 if them is so common and easy, and they 

 proved so tine this year, it is really surpris- 

 :hat no claim should have been presented. 

 it be because they have not been raised l)y 

 y in suflicicut quantity to gain the premium or 

 not rather that our worthy fiu-niers have ne- 

 ed to make application ? Whatever may be 

 [I as to their not beinjr in the habit of attend- 

 o mangel wunzcl, &c, it cannot be said of 

 ipg, which Iiave been cultivated always to a 

 ter or less extent, by almost every farmer. 



ONIONS. 



The committee award the premium of 20 

 ra to Mr Jos. Perkins, of Newbury, for his 

 of onions. The product by estimate was 

 btishels on an acre. Mr Perkins has suppos- 

 2A lbs. to the bushels. No standard weight 

 ;en by the society, but the cotnmittee believe 

 )S. to be about the average weight of a bushel. 

 Trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society. 

 NTLEMEN — In Conformity to the rules and 

 lations of your society, I send you a statement 

 e amount, together with the manner of cul- 

 l&c, of one acre of onions, the growth of 

 . The quality of the soil is a yellow loam, 

 las been cultivated with onions several years. 

 29, it was sown as usual with ouions, with- 

 iny dressing, and produced between 400 and 

 Ibushels. The 2d of December last, after 

 rop was off, there were three and a half 

 of barn manure ploughed in, in lidgcs. — 

 ;21st and 22d of April following, the land 

 'jloughed and harrowed, and two and a half 

 ds of seed was sown in drills about fourteen 

 s apart. The first hoeing and weeding was 

 June 11th, which cost five days' labor. 

 Bd was July 2d, four days' more ; the last 

 jing was done the 22d, which cost four do. 

 were harvested early in October, and be- 

 a 9,000 and 10,000 bunches have been 

 Bed, which, estimating 15 bunches to the 

 (I, (each bunch weighing 3i lbs. is a fair cat- 

 ion,) together with those that have been top- 

 ind sold by the bushel, there were 657 busli- 



JosEPH Perkins. 

 whury, mv. I2lh, 1830. 



claims have been sent in for the best crop 

 dian corn, — for the greatest quantity of reg- 

 is raised for consumption on the farm of the 

 ant, — for the greatest quantity on one acre 

 illet, of common beets, cabbages, dry peas, 

 sans, mustard seed, flax and hemp. 



THE LUCERNE GRASS. 

 lan advertisement in this paper it wdl be seen 

 mceme Seed is to be had at Cook & Corn- 



The seed here advertised is furnished by Mr 

 in English cultivator, now resident in this 

 nd it is very clean and of the best quality. 

 3 cultivation of the Lucerne is well worth 

 mention of the farmers of this region, and 

 infidently tru?t that among the good results, 



we expect from the Horticultural Society 

 going into operation among us, if it be not 

 f brought about, will be the introduction of 

 ne as one of the very best kinds of fodder. 



Wc do not profess to know much about it per- 

 sonally, but the testimony, wherever it has been 

 trieil, is strongly in its favor; and we take the 

 following notice of it from the Farmer's Assistant 

 a very useful publication, which we hap|)en to have. 



This grass was introduced from Franco into 

 Great Britain about 70 years ago; and was first 

 brought to this country by that distinguished pro- 

 moter of improvement, the late Chancellor Liv- 

 ingston. With the best ctiltivation and plenti- 

 ful manuring it will yield from 6 to 9 tons of hay 

 per acre, in a season. About 20 lbs. of seed per 

 acre, are required, if sown broad cast, which is 

 considered a more profitable mode of cultivation 

 for the farmers of this country, than drilling. It 

 may be sown with oats ; but it seems to be re- 

 garded as best to ^ow this seed by itself, after 

 deep and thorough ploughing. Mr Livingston 

 sowed it with success in September after an early 

 crop of potatoes ; and it may well be sowed imme- 

 diately after a crop of flax ; in both of which ca- 

 ses the soil is redticed to a fine mellow mould. 



The best soils for it are said to be of the drier 

 kind, such as a rich sand, or a gravelly, or sandy 

 loam. It grows well even in the coldest climate 

 though it is more productive under the more 

 temperate skies. It comes forward very early, en- 

 dures drought well, and if cut frequently will re- 

 new itself till late in the season. 



The first year's crop is not as large as the sub. 

 sequent ones, and it retains its vegetative vigor 

 about 10 years, when it should be ploughed in; 

 and the soil will be found improved for other uses : 

 it is as good as clover if not better, for this pur- 

 pose, making the ground rich, friable and light. 



There is one quality, in particular, which rec- 

 ommends this grass, for fresh fodder, to farm- 

 ers in the vicinity of market towns. If mowed 

 as often as the growth will fill the scythe, {as it 

 should be for this purpose) it will continue to 

 produce a succession till very late in the season, 

 Mr Young, a celebrated English farmer, says, 

 for fatting bullocks and pasturing swine this 

 grass may be very advantageously used. When 

 it is made into hay let it be cut while quite green, 

 and without much shaking, as the leaves fiill oft' 

 considerably when dry. A little salt added to it 

 when laid in the mow, would be a great improve- 

 ment.' — Troy Sentinel. 



Results of the late Census. — The Washington 

 Telegraph contains official returns of the popu- 

 lation in fifteen States, one Territory, and five Dis- 

 tricts, which we subjoin, together with unofficial 

 returns from four other States and one Territory. 



Free white F.-ee col'J 



petsnns. persons. Slaves, Total. 



Maine 398,255 J, 207 » 399,462 



New Hampsllire 268,910 6-23 269,533 



Vermont 279,780 885 280,679 



Massachusetts 603,094 7,006 610,014 



Connecticut 289,634 8,064 23 297,711 



Rhoile Island 93,631 3,565 14 97,210 



Mew Jersey 300,326 18,307 2,246 320,779 



Pennsylvania 1,291,906 37,747 381 1,330,034 



Delaware 57,605 15,829 3,305 76,739 



Maryland 291,093 52,942 102,878 446,913 



North Carolina 472,433 19,575 24«,4t5a 738 470 



Alabama 190,171 1,541 117,491 309,206 



Louisiana 89,191 16,753 109,631 215 576 



Ohio 928,093 9,586 937 679 



Indiana 338,020 3,562 34r58'' 



Michigan 30,843 253 27 • 31,128 



District Columbia 27,635 6,163 6,060 39,853 



District E. Florida 4,515 318 4,095 8,953 



District VV. do. S,,329 396 3,753 9 479 



District S. dn. 368 83 66 5173 



District N. do. 8,173 IS 7,,->S(> 15,777 



Georgia* 518,337 



I ennessee 6S4,829 



Missouri- 134,889 



Illinois* 161,055 



Arkansas* 30,380 

 • Unofliclnl 



SEED CORN. 

 I have been in the habit a mimberof yearsTsays a 

 writer in an eastern paper) of selecting the 4cst ear 

 of two that grows on a stalk of corn, ami have found 

 it annually to improve to a very considerable in- 

 crease. After pursuing the experiment for three 

 years, and establishing the fact in my own mind, 

 that by this method there was a constant and ac- 

 cumulative increase and improvement, I commu- 

 nicated the circumstance to my neighbor — he 

 was quite incredulous, and I invited him to a 

 thorough experiment. Wc took each our field of 

 equal quality of soil, and richness, lying side by 

 side, — planted them on the same day, and tilled 

 alike as we could ; the result was, that his, from 

 ordinary seed, produced nearly 40 bushels ; while 

 mine, from the selected and improved seed, gave 

 about sixty bushels per acre Genesee Farmer. 



Lafayette Land. — Mr Skinner of Baltimore has 

 written a letter to the American Farmer on this sub- 

 ject, from which wo extract the following passage : 



'.Permit me to make known, as interesting to 

 your readers in Florida, that the illustrious and much 

 beloved Lafayette has sent me, and requested me to 

 execute an unqualified power of attorney, to sell at 

 public or private sale, one half of his Florida Lands. 

 I have no doubt that, in distinguishing me by this 

 mark of his confidence and regard, his leading 

 object was to relieve the good people of Florida, and 

 its capital, Tallahassee, into which his land runs, 

 from all apprehensions of the check which might 

 ensue to the growth of that country, by having in 

 the heart of it a body of 24,000 acres of unoccupied 

 land. I understand much of it to be exceedingly 

 well adapted to the growth of cotton and sugar cane, 

 and of tobacco ; but I will give you a more particu- 

 lar description of it when better informed. In the 

 mean time my plan will be, as at present advised, to 

 sell alternate sections, on long credits, to practical 

 settlers, as far as may be, demanding only a small 

 portion to be paid in cash.' 



LoNOEviTV. — It is mentioned in the American 

 Almanac, among the memorable events of the last 

 year, that Donald M' Donald, a native of Scotland, 

 died at Lynn, Mass. aged 108 years. 



In the last number of the American Quarterly 

 Review, we find under the head of Longevity, some 

 very interesting conclusions drawn from the ' statis- 

 tics of mortality,' especially to the lovers of long 

 life. A few of them we shall state. 



Parr, an Englishman, born in 1035, was married 

 at the age of 130, retained his vigor till 140, and 

 died at 152. A Dane by the name of Drakenbery, 

 died in 1772, at the age of 147. A Norwegian by 

 the name of Surrington, died in 1797, at the age of 

 160. 



There is good reason to believe that longevity, 

 or rather the value of human life, is increasing. 

 Data as to this country have not been procured. 

 But in England, in 1801, the mortality was 1 in 45; 

 in 1811, it was 1 in 50 ; and in 1821, it was 1 in 58. 

 In France, in 1781, the mortality was 1 in 2.j; in 

 1802, it was 1 in 30; and in 1823, it was 1 in 40. 

 In Sweden in 1755, the mortality was 1 in 35 ; and 

 in 1775, it was 1 in 48. 



From these facts it appears that the proportion of 

 deaths to population is regularly decreasing in Eng- 

 land, France and Sweden. The Reviewer has no 

 doubt that the same is true in the United States. It 

 appears also that an improvement has taken place in 

 the salubrity of cities. In London, in 1700, the 

 annual mortality was one in 25 ; in 1751, it was 1 

 in 31 ; in 1801, it was 1 in 35; in 1811, it was 1 in 

 38; and in 1821, it was 1 40. In Paris, in the 

 14th century, the annual mortality was 1 in 17 ; in 

 the middle of the 18th century, it wass 1 in 

 in 25 ; and now it is 1 in 32. Other cities give sim- 

 ilar results. The facts are said to be authentic. If 

 so life is daily growing more valuable. 



