334 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



May 4, is;;i. 



way as is directed for ciicumliers and melons. 

 They slionld bo sown at tlie same time, and at 

 similar distances, with this dillerence, tha: fewer 

 seeds will answer, as tliey may be thinned, till 

 eventually but two plants are left in a hill. 



Pumpkins will grow on any soil which is prop- 

 er for hoed crops, hut the land cannot be made too 

 rich for them. Loudon says, ' though the pumpkin 

 is commonly cultivAed in gardens in England, for 

 curiosity, yet in some of the country villages the 

 inhabitants grow it on dunghills at the backs 

 of their houses, and train the vines to a great 

 length over grass. 'Tl\c Far7tu7-'s Jlssistant thiitki!, 

 that pumpkins will grow better when planted by 

 themselves than when rai.'^ed, as usual, with 

 Indian corn. The hills in such cases should stand 

 about seven feet apart each way, and a number of 

 seeds should be planted in each hill, to make al- 

 lowance for what may be destroyed by insects. 



Peas are an important article in a kitchen gar- 

 den. For the early crop choose a dry warm soil, 

 well sheltered from the northerly winds. After 

 the ground has been well dug, raked and levelled, 

 mark it out in double rows, about 10 inches apart 

 and leave intervals of three feet for the early small 

 kinds ; four feet for the larger, and five feet for the 

 largest, so that when they are furnished with brush 

 or poles of length proportioned to tlieir growths 

 respectively, there may be a free pasage through 

 the intervals. Slake the drills three indies deep ; 

 and place the peas about an inch apart in the di^lls, 

 and cover them with a rake. It is recommended 

 when the first plants are up to put in another crop 

 for succession. In this way green peas may be 

 had from early in June till sharp frosts put an end 

 to vegolation, 



Bush beans.^Il is very desirable to have beans 

 early, and they should therefore be planted as 

 soon as the ground is warm. It is usually propei- 

 to plant a principal crop in the beginning of May, 

 and successional crops, about the middle ami to- 

 wards the end of tfie same month. For the early 

 choose a piece' of light ground well manured. 

 Make the drills about two feet and a half apart, 

 and an inch and an lialf deep. Place the beans 

 in the drill, 2J or 3 inches from each other and 

 draw the earth evenly over them. 



Pole Beans. — In raising beans whose vines 

 need support the following mode is prescribed by 

 the Farmer^s Guide. ' Let poles of a proper height 

 be fitted in the ground about 2 feet apart, in row 

 3 or 4 feet distant from each other — around each 

 pole let 4 or 5 beans be planted ; the poles should 

 iiavc small knots left on them, or pins put through 

 to support the vines. This way of planting gives 

 an opportunity of kee|)ing the soil loose around 

 the roots, and jirevents the injm'ies arising from 

 driving poles into the hills. Of the various sorts 

 of i)ole beans, one planting is enough ; for if you 

 gather as'the beans become fit for use, they con 

 tinue bearing all though the stunmer, especially 

 the Lima bean, which delights in heat, and which 

 should not be planted till the ground is quite warm. 

 The scarlet bean (multijlorus) is well worth cul- 

 tivating, both for use and oruSinient. 



POULTRY. 



Continued from paje 318. 



The order ansoes comprehends the duck, goose, 

 swan and buzzard under a regidar system. Mow- 

 bray observes, it would be pre.ferable to separate 

 entirely the aquatic from the other poultry, the 

 former to have their houses arranged along the 

 banks of a piece of water, with a fence and suffix 



ciently capacious walks in front ; access to the 

 water to be closed l)y doors at will. Should the 

 water be of considerable extent a small boat would 

 be necessary, and might be also conducive to the 

 pleasure of angling:. 



The Duck, {Anas hoschus .) The flesh of the 

 duck is savory and stimulant, and, is said to afford 

 nourishment preferable to that of the goose, being 

 less gross, and more easily digested. The flesh 

 of the wild duck, though more savory than that 

 of the tame, is supjiosed to be still more easy of 

 digestion. The ancients went even beyond our 

 reatest modern epicures in their high esteem for 

 the flesh of the duck, and Plutarch asserts that Cato 

 preserved his whole liousehold in health by diet- 

 ing tlieni on duck's flesh. 



Breeding. — One' drake is generally put to five 

 lucks; the duck will cover from eleven to fifteen 

 eggs, and her term of incubation is thirty days. 

 They begin to lay in February, or March, and are 

 apt, like the Turkey, to lay abroad, and conceal 

 their eggs by covering them with leaves or straws. 

 The duck generally lays by night or early in the 

 morning; white and lig.ht colored ducks produce 

 similar eggs, and the brown and dark colored 

 ducks, those of a greenish blue color, and of the 

 largest size. In setting ducks it is considered 

 safest to put light colored eggs under light ducks, 

 and the contrary, as there are instances of the 

 duck's turning out with her bill those eggs which 

 were not of her natural rolor. 



During incubation the duck reqiuies a secret 

 and safe place, rather than any attendance, and 

 will, at nature's call cover her Qggs, and seek her 

 food, and the refreshtnent of the waters. On 

 hatching there is not often any necessity fur taking 

 away any of the brood, barring accidents ; and 

 liaving hatched, let the duck retain her young upon 

 the nest her own time. On her moving with her 

 brood, prepare a coop upon the short grass, if the 

 weather be fine, or under shelter if otherwise : a 

 wide and flat dish of water, often to be renewed, 

 standing at hand, barley or any meal the first food. 

 In rainy weather, particularly, it is useful to clip 

 the tails of the ducklings and the surrounding down 

 beneath, since they aj-e else apt to draggle and 

 weaken themselves. Each duck should be cooped 

 at a distance from any other. The period of her 

 confinement to the coop depends on the weather 

 and the strength of the ducklings. A fortnight 

 seems the longest time necessary ; and they may he 

 sometimes permitted to enjoy the [lond at the end 

 of a week, but not for too long a time at once, 

 least of all in cold, wet weather, which wil! affect 

 and cause them to appear rough and draggled. In 

 such case they must be kept within awhile, and 

 have an allowance of bean or pea tneal mixed with 

 their ordinary food. The straw beneath the duck 

 should be often renewed, that the brood may have 

 a dry and comfortable bed ; and the mother her- 

 self be well fed with solid grain, without an am- 

 ple allowance of which, ducks are not to be rear- 

 ed or kept in pei-fection, although they gather so 

 much abroad. 



Ducks' eggs are often hatched by hens, when 

 ducks are more in request than chickens; also 

 as ducks in unfavorable situation.^, are the more 

 easy to rear, being more hardy ; and the plan has 

 no objection even in a confined place, and with a 

 small stock without the advantage of a pond ; but 

 the hen is much distressed as is sufiiciently visible, 

 and in fact, injured, by the anxiety she suffers in 

 witnessing the supposed perils of her children ven- 

 turing upon the water. 



Ducks are fattened, either in coufinciucut, wit 

 plenty of food and water or restricted to a po: 

 with access to as much solid food as they will 

 which last method is preferable. They f« 

 speedily, in this mode, mixing their hard meat 

 such a variety abroad as is natural to them, 

 particularly if already in good case ; and thei 

 no check or impediment to them from pii 

 but every mouthful tells, ami weighs its due we 

 A dish of mixed food is pteferable to clear gi 

 and may remain, on the bank, or rather in a 

 for the ducks. Barley, in any form, should i 

 be used to fatten ducks or geese, since it rcndei 

 their flesh loose, wooly and insipid, and deprives 

 of that high savory flavor of brown meat, whic 

 is its valuable distinction ; in a word reuderir 

 it chickeny, not unlike in flavor the flesh ot or^i 

 nary and yellow legged fowls. Oats, wholeo~ 

 bruised, are the standard fattening material fo 

 ducks and geese, to which may be added pea 

 meal as it may be required. The house wash i 

 profitable to mix up their food under confinrment 

 but it is obvious that while they have the bcneli 

 of what the pond afford?, they can be in no waiiti 

 loose food. Acorns in season, are much aflijetei 

 by ducks which have a range ; and they w ill tliriv. 

 so much on that provision, that the quantity ofli 

 will be inconvenient, both in cooking and upoi 

 the table. Ducks so fed are certainly inferior ii 

 delicacy, but the flesh eats high, and is far fron 

 disagreeable. Fed on butcher's oflTal thefleshre 

 sembles wild fowl in flavor, with however comid 

 erable inferiority. Offal-fed ducks' flesh does no 

 emit the abominable stench which issues frotn ol 

 fal-fed pork. When live ducks are plucked, onl 

 a small quantity of down and feathers should III 

 taken from each wing. 



' Ducks,' says Nicol, a Scotch writer on Hi 

 culture, 'are excellent vermin-pickers, whiil 

 caterpillars (such as are within their re 

 slug.s, snails, and others, and ought to be turd* 

 into the garden one or two days every week 

 throughout the season. Never keep them longei 

 in than two or three days at a time or else they tin 

 of their food, and become indolent. While her 

 they should be oft'ered no food,but may have a litll 

 water set dowji to them if there be no pond oi 

 stream in the garden. 



' They are very fond of ripe straw berries Oi 

 gooseberries ; and, while they can get at these wili 

 not seek after little snails or other insects ; but they 

 are most uscfttl before these come into season fc 

 them. There are some kinds of vegetables they 

 have a liking to, and on which they will fal' 

 if vermin be anywise scarce ; therefore when 

 this is perceived they should be turned out. Nevtr 

 turn them into the garden in the time of heavy 

 rains, or in continued wet weather; as in W 

 case, and particularly if the soil be stiff, they p«l- 

 ter and harden the surface, to the injury of saM" 

 crops and rising seeds.' 



The Quarterly Review, for February 1831, if 

 just been republished in this city, by Messrs UUf 

 & Wait, and contains dissertations on the folkw- 

 infT subjects : a Year in Spain — Memoirs of Oberlm 



Popular Specimens of the Greek Dramatic Poets 



Townson's Practical Discourses — Ancient Crim- 

 inal Trials of Scotland — Herschell's Treatise on 

 Soimd — Poor-Law for Ireland — Parliamentary Re- 1! 

 form — Published quarterly at $5 per annum. 



Several communications are necessarily deferred tbu 

 week. 



