394 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



pT^^^in^^ii^ii^T^h^ the great uiilUy of proper 1 Any room where tliey will keep dry niul warm 



^ . .1 •_ .K_ r„M «.,,! oi^.-ltinr I tlii-oinrli f'np wintpiv will nrfSfirvP. tlioiii. (JllG mav 



applications to trees both in the fall ami spi 

 for the destructio.i of insects^. All the rough bark 

 shoukl be carefully remove.l, and the trunk and 

 large branches should be thoroughly washed with 

 Forsyth's composition, or a strong decoction of 

 tobacco, with a small quantity of quick lime, which 

 should be applied to every crevice which can afford 

 shelter for insects or their eggs.' Tbaclur's Orchard- 

 ist,p.\\G,2Jed. . 



In the autumn of 1828 we addressed a letter on 



through the winter, will preserve them. One may 

 be seen in iMr Shepherd's bar room, at Concord, per- 

 fectly sound, which grew in 1829, and many of 

 last year's growth. I will also call your attention, 

 Mr Fessenden, to the mode of cultivating early po- 

 tatoes in Denbighshire, Eng. found in Loudon's 

 Gardener's Mag. vol. ii. pp. 171, and pp. 317 ; 

 and I for one should be glad if you will give the 

 substance of those two articles, in the New Eng- 

 " il Farmer, at your leisure, as the Magazine is 



In tlie autumn oi iD^o «i; .uiui^i^=^.. "-.— — ■• -•, —j—- > -- j= 



the subject of this insect, to a gentleman, who was in the Hort. Society's library, you can refer to it at 



often benefitted the public, and obliged us by 

 communications on entomology. This gentleman 

 favored us with a scientific descrii)lion of the 

 curculio, which was dated Milton, Oct. 1, 1828, and 

 published in the JSTeiv England Farmer, vol. vu. 

 p. 81, 82. From this it appears that some broods 

 of the same insect attack the limbs, and cause 

 dark colored bunches or excrescences, and other 

 broods assail the fruit. The remedies which this 

 gentleman recommended were 



' 1. To extirpate the diseased nodes or excres- 

 cences in June, and burn them. 



' 2. To collect all fallen stone fruit, and give it 



to hogs : ^ . , , , 



' To which may be added that the fruit should 

 not he suffered to remain long on the ground ; 

 that it should be boiled or steamed in order effect- 

 ually to destroy the contained larvae : and that the 

 above processes should be xmiversaU;i adopted in 

 order to exterminate the destructive insect.' 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



leisure. Yours &c. Edward Cdrtis. 



Peppercll, June 21, 1831. 



P. S. If any members of the Hbrh'cu/^ura^ So- 

 ciclij wish for any seeds or scions from Montreal or 

 Quebec, and will make it known to me, through 

 you, I will make arrangements for obtaining them 

 at the proper seasons, as I shall spend the sum- 

 mer at those places. E. Curtis. 



FOR TUE NEW ENGLAND FiRMER. 



1 GREEN PEAS. 



Mr Fessenden — After having taken paina to 

 procure seed of the best varieties of vegetables, 

 and been to the trouble to cultivate them too, it 

 is very vexatious to have them either spoiled in 

 cooking, or by any other means impaired in good- 

 ness, or flavor. 



I am induced to make these remarks from my 

 own experience, and if il should add to the com- 

 fort of any individual, my object will be realised. 



Last spring at the proper time to plant early 

 peas, it was inconvenient for me to attend to the 

 business, therefore I said to myself, I will plant 



PRFSERVATION OF SWEET POTATOES, no early peas this year, hut depend on the mar- 

 *^" ,. .„,,r.,^ r_ _ i.„. r„.. .Uo ooi'lv !ini)' wliRii cnnvfinient. nlant 



APPLES, SQUASHES, &.c. 

 Mr Fesse.nde.n— -Many experiments having 

 been tried in the vicinity of Boston to preserve 

 the sweet Potato slips through the winter with- 

 out success, 1 have thought the following ob- 

 servations may be acceptable to some of your 

 readers. 



After digging my sweet potatoes last fall, 1 

 packed a quantity of the slips down in a barrel 

 with waste cotton, such as is obtained at the cot- 

 ton factories for making into coarse paper and bat- 

 ting, (at 2 cts. per lb.) with a layer of cotton and u 

 la/er of slips alternately, and then placed them 

 away in a warm room, which we keep from freez- 

 ing during the winter. On opening them in the 

 spHng, I found a part of them very fresh ; but 

 where they were too thick, they had created too 

 much dampness and rotted. I also packed down 

 two barrels of apples in the like manner, and lijiind 

 them in the spring much better preserved than 

 any I ever before saw. lam informed that the 



ket for the early, and' when convenient, plant 

 some for later u?e. Accordingly when the market 

 began to abound with peas, I procured a mess — 

 they were dressed in the manner usually practised 

 in my family ; but when I came to eat thereof I 

 discovered to my disappointment, that they were 

 destitute of all the good qualities of the pea. — I 

 made up my mind at once to do without peas un- 

 til my own were fit for use. — In the meantime 1 

 dined at an inn, where peas were served, they 

 also possessed but little nlerit — but today I have 

 had a real feast on green peas, which were gath- 

 ered in my own garden, about two hours before 

 dinner. 



Now I will come to the point, and say what 1 

 might (but for a desire to be particular) have said 

 at the beginning. 



Green peas lose their sweetness very fast by 

 remaining on hand after they are gathered ; even 

 one night is sufficient to extract tnucli of tieir 

 flavor. Cut here is a difliciilty to which a large 



any 1 ever Uelorc saw. i am i.ii.ji.mci. ...... ...v. „„,„.. ^... .....-.-- - ., ,i„„.„ 



New Jersey Quakers preserve their potato slips proportion of our city fnends will be oblige, to 

 irvleaves. As the cultivation of the sweet potato, submit.— A word on cooking and I come to a cicse. 



is now becoming so general in this quarter, 1 

 hope and trust there will he some mode discovered 

 to keep the seed without having to get them from 

 New Jersey every spring. And 1 feel confident 

 the one given above will be successful. I am 

 also inclined to think, that ground plaster, as 

 was mentioned in your -18tli number, will answer 

 tills purpose. 



I believe it is not so generally know n as it 



ought to be, how to keep winter siiuashes, almost 



any length of lime wanted ; you have only to hang 



them up in a warm dry room. I have tliem now 



perfectly fresh, and their flavor as good, or bet- the peas. 



terthan when they were taken from the vines. 1 A'cttVoii, June 24(,i, 1831 



Green peas should he boiled with a little s\lt, 



in a very small quantity of water, so that no mire 

 liquor should remain when done, than is needed 

 in the dish — for if a quantity of liquor is thrown 

 away, much of the richness of the pea is wastei. 

 Another way of proceeding, which is probabi} 

 as good or even better, is to take a piece of sal 

 pork, and half boil it in a large quantity of water 

 and then, pour off until you lia.ve just enough lef 

 to boil the peas, calculating by the way, to retail 

 just enough of the salt of the pork (with tht 

 help of the butter that may be used,) to seasoi 

 A Rustic. 



June 29, 1831. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Description nf a Method for propagating Fruit 

 Trees, and Forest Trees, not as yet, generally prac- 

 tised in Europe, or the United Slates. — The ac- 

 count of the method here in question is taken 

 from the Philadelphia Medical Museum, published 

 by Dr John Redman Coxe, vol. vi. p. ICo.* Similar 

 accounts are to seen in Sir George Staunton's Re- 

 lation of Lord r.lacartney's Embassy to China, and 

 other publications. Its familiarity to %he Chinese 

 is known from their introducing fruit trees, formed 

 in this manner, into their deserts. The state- 

 ment is the rather borrowed however, from Dr 

 Howison's report, as he practised the method him- 

 self, and suggests the propriety of using it to other 

 trees, not bearing fruit, when they do not pro- 

 duce seed in the country where they are cultivat- 

 ed. 



Of the Chinese Method of propagating Fruit 

 Trees by Mscission. By Dr James Howison.—' It 

 is said the Chinese do not raise fruit trees front 

 seeds or grafts, as \s cnstomary in Europe, but ii» 

 tlie following method. They select a tree which 

 tney wish to propagate, and fix upon a bunch, 

 wjich will disfigure it the least by the removal; 

 anl round this, as near as conveniently it may be to 

 itsjunction with the trunk, they wind a cord mad& 

 of straw, besmeared with cow dung, until a ball 

 is formed five or six times the diameter of the branch. 

 THs is intended as a bed into which young roots 

 nny shoot. Immediately under the ball the bark 

 is divided down to the wood for nearly two thirds 

 of the circumference of the branch. A cocoa 

 nn shell, or a small pot is then hung over the 

 hill, with a hole in the bottom ; so small that 

 witer therein will only fall in drojis ; by which 

 means the rope is constantly kept moist ; a cir- 

 cumstance necessary for the ready admission of 

 the young roots, and for the supply of nourish- 

 ment to the branch. 



When the vessel has been supplied with water 

 for three weeks, one third of the remaining branch 

 is cut ; snd the former incision carried deeper 

 into the branch, as by this time roots have struck 

 into the rope, and assist in giving support. 



After a similar interval, the operation is again 

 repeated ; and in about two months from the com. 

 mencement of the process, the roots are generally 

 seen intersecting each other on the surfiice of the 

 ball; which indicates that they are sufficiently 

 advanced to admit of the separation of the branch 

 from the tree.— And this is best done by sawing 

 it off at the incision ; taking care that the rope, 

 (which must have become nearly rotten) is not 

 shaken by the operation ;— and then the branch 

 is planted as a young tree. 



' It is conceived that a longer period would be 

 necessary to succeed with this operation in 

 Europe, because vegetation is so much slower 

 than in India (where Dr Howison made his exper- 

 iments ;) but he thinks that an additional month 

 would be adequate to make up for deficiency of 

 climate. 



' The advantages of this method are stated to 

 be, that a fi»ther growth of three or four years, 

 is sufiicient, when the branches arc of any con- 

 siderable size, to bring them to their full beariag 

 state ; whereas eight or ten years would be oilie*' 

 wise necessary. This he saw proved at Prinm 



' Dr. Coxe copied the above from the London. i?cjr». 

 sped, which took it from Trans. Soc. .Srts. in LonAOt^ 

 vol. xxv. 



