410 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



July IS, 1831. 



Horticulture. 



Pinceedings of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society at a meeting, held in the Hall of the 

 Institution, on Saturday, July 9th, 1S31. 

 The following letters fiom the Rev. Henry Col- 

 man and Doct. P. G. Kobbins, were read. 

 H. A. S. Deabbokn, Esq. 



Dear Sir — I senil you with this my Crescent 

 Iloe for garden purposes, and particularly for weed- 

 ing and tliinning carrots, turnips, onions and small 

 jilai !s. I have found it very useful and better 

 adapted to these purposes, than any other known 

 to me. Its advantages are that while it loosens the 

 ground it leaves it sniooih ; by being pointed it Is 

 easily inserted among the |)lants ; and beingr curved 

 at the ends it enables you to extract by a side-stroke 

 weeds, which could not be removed by a forward 

 blow without destroying the plant. It is a small 

 affair, but is very convenient and will save trouble. 

 After laying it on the table of the Hortictdtural 

 Society as long a time as you think proper, please 

 appropriate it to your own use. It cannot be in 

 better hands. 



Very truly and respectfully, 



Yom- friend and servant, 



Henry Coi.ma.\. 

 Salem, July 9, 1831. 



SECURtTV AGAINST CANKER WORMS. 

 To Ihe PrcsidPiit ofrliB .Massaclmsilts llorticullur.il Society. 



Dear Sir — Last autumn, I communicated to 

 the New England Fanner, a method, which I had 

 planned two years ago, for protecting my apple- 

 Ireee from canker worms, by means of leailen gut- 

 ters filled with some fluid, over which the grub 

 could not pass. I liave tested the experiment, and 

 beg leave, as an act of duty and pleasure, to re- 

 port to you the result. 



In Oetidjcr, 1830, I applied gutters, (in the man- 

 ner mentioned in a foritier publication, N. E. Far- 

 mer vol. viii. page 385) anuiud the truidvs of for- 

 ty apple-trees and one Eughsh walnut tree; not 

 knowing that the latter was ever injured by the 

 grub. At first I filled the troughs with lamp oil. 

 The moment the insect plunged into the canal, the 

 oil closBil its spiracles, and all its vitality ceased. 

 The first fortnight in November, I was obliged to 

 clear the gutters as often as once in two or three 

 days, or the dead insects would have furnished a 

 bridge, over which the Zin'iig- could have passed. 



I found oil, though eft'ectual for my purpose, 

 too expensive ; — fi)r the rains would lloat it away. 

 I then tried a solution of salt and water, — also 

 stroll" lev. — These fluids, though not so immedi- 

 ately fata' to the enemy, soon overcame him. 



I have tlirt.e English walnut trees in my garden. 

 On one of thfcUi, as before stated, I placed a 

 guard. This was completely protected ; the others 

 were eaten, and one of them as completely iin- 

 leaved as it ever was in niid-wiuter. Although 

 my apple-trees, the present year, are not all in 

 bjariiig, (having been severely handled, from foes 

 without and foes within, the last five years) yet 

 their verdure is as i>erfr.ct aa I ever saw it, and 

 some of them promise tp yield abundantly. 

 With mncli esteem and respect yours, 

 Roxbunj, July 9, 1831. G. P. Robeins, 



Resolved, Tliat the thanks of the Society, hej 

 IH-esented to Capt. M. C. Perry, Commander of| 

 the U. S. Ship Concord, for a collection of seeds 

 whieh he kindly transmitted from the Mediterra-1 

 nean. 



Resolved, That the thanks of the Society, be 

 presented to Capt. Th. Holdup Stevens, Com- 

 mander of the U. S. Ship Ontario, for a valua- 

 bly collection of grape vines, and melon seeds, 

 obtained in Smyrna. 



Corresponding, Ca|)t. Th. Holdup Stevens. 

 Subscribing, Isaac Stone. 



The grape vines and seeds, presented by Cap- 

 tains Perry and Stevens, were divided amoiiir the 

 members, except one parcel, which will be distrib- 

 uted next Saturday. 



Ilnrlii-iillurnl llnll, 1 

 Siilurdiiy, July a, 1831. j 

 FRUITS. 



A basket of large and fine Gooseberries of dif- 

 ferent Varieties was presented by iMr N. Seaver of 

 Roxbury. 



Also a Box of the same from Mr A. D. Wiliiams 

 of Roxbury. 



A specimen of large Red Dutch Currants, by 

 Mr S. Walker of Roxbury. 



Six boxes of very beautiful honey taken from one 

 hive containing 36^. lbs. — made sine; May 16, 

 1831 — was presented from Mr Geo. Johnson of 

 Charlestown. 



FLOWERS. 



Fine Carnations from Mr Haggerston, of the 

 Charlestown Vineyard, Messrs Winships, of the 

 Brighton Nursery, Samuel Walker, of Ro.xbury, 

 John Lemist, of Roxbury. 



From Roderick Toohey, of ^Valtham, fine 

 specimens of Rhododendron maximum, and 

 Biguonia grantliflora. 



From Mr Pottee of Newton, a beautiful speci- 

 man of Yucca filamentosa, or Adam's thread. 



From Messrs Winships of Brighton, a large 

 collection of Flowers, and several fine plants of 

 the Gardenia Fhuida, in pots. 



From Mr G. W. Pratt, a fine specimen of the 

 Gloxinia caulescena. 



[Omission.] 

 The following notice which was pi-epared and 

 desigiicd for the New England Farmer two weeks 

 since miscarried by some accident. 



IIorticullui.il Hall, June 25. 



Fruits. — A large and very fine bunch of Sweet 

 Water Grapes, to appearance perfectly ripe at this 

 unusual period, was exhibited by John Prince, Esq. 



Samples of very fine large Gooseberries, by Mr 

 Z. Cook, Jr. and a specimen of very fine Black Tar- 

 tarean Cherries from Mr Fosdick of Charlestown. 



Preserved Fruit. — Collect your Gooseberries 

 about the middle of June and July, pick them as 

 you would for present use, and put them quite dry 

 ill bottles, the neck large enough to receive them 

 without bruising ; then place them in a kettle of 

 cold water, which boil, let them remain in this 

 water 10 or 15 minutes, then take tliem out, and 

 after they have remained long enough to get per- 

 fectly cool, cork the bottles closely, then put them 

 away in a cool place for use. Currants m.ay be 

 preserved green in the same easy manner. 



Fallen Fruit. — Be very careful to gather all 

 punctured or decayed fruit, whether on your trees 

 or on the ground, and give them to your hogs. 

 If you do not, the worms which they contain, and 

 which have been the cause of their premature de- 

 cay, will make their escape into the groiiml, and 

 I you will find the evils which await their visitations 

 •jvill increase upon you another season. 



ANECDOTES OF SHEEP, 



BY THE ETTRICK SHEI^UFRD. 



The Sheep has Sfiarcely any in irki^d cfiarnctcp 

 save that of natural alTuctioii, of which it pos- 

 seases a very great share. It is otherwise a stu- 

 pid, inditferent animal, having few wants aiirl 

 fewer expodieiiis. The old blatdi faced, or for- 

 est breed, bave far more powerful capaJiilities than 

 any of the finer breeds that have been tiitrodiiccd 

 into Scotland, and therefore the t'fW anccrlotes 

 that I have to relate shall be confined to them. 



I have heard <d' sheep returning from York- 

 shire to the Ilighbuids. This is perlain, that 

 when one, or a few sheep, get away froiir the rest 

 of their acquaintances, they return liomewarti 

 with great eagerness and perseverance. I have 

 lived beside a drove road the better part of my 

 life, and many stragglers have I seen bending their 

 steps northward in the spring of the year. A 

 shepherd rarely sees these journeyers twice. If< 

 he sees them, and slops them in the morning, 

 they are gone long before night ; n-nd if he sees 

 them at night they will be gone many miles be- 

 fore morning. This strong attachment to the 

 place of their nativity is m«"h more predominant 

 in our aboriginal breed, than ii> any of the otiicp 

 kinds with which I am acquainted- 



A shepherd in Blackhouse bought a few sheep 

 from another in Cravvmel, about ten miles dis- 

 tant. In the spring fidlowing, one of the ewes 

 went back to her native place, and yeaned on a 

 wild hill called Crawmill Craig. On a certain 

 day about the beginning of July following, the 

 shepherd went and brought home his ewe and 

 lamb — took the fleece from the ewe, and kepi 

 the lamb for one of his stock. The lamb lived 

 and throve, and never oflered to leave home, but 

 when three years of age, anil about to bave her 

 first lamb she vanished ; and the morning after 

 the Crawmel shepherd, in going his rounds found 

 her with a new-yeaned lamb on the very gair of 

 the Crawmel Craig, where she was lamlied her- 

 self. She remained there till the first week of 

 July, the time when she was brought a lamb 

 herself, and then she came home with hers of 

 her own accord ; and this custom she continued 

 annually with the greatest punctuality as long as she 

 lived. At length her lamb% when they came of 

 age, began the same practice, and the shepherd 

 was obliged to dispose of the whole breed. 



But with regard to their natural afieclion, the 

 instances that might be mentioned are without 

 number, stupid and actionless creatures as they 

 are. When one loses its sight in a flock of short 

 sheep it is r.irely abandoned to itself in that hap- 

 less and helpless state. Some one !il ivays attachei 

 itself to it, and by bleating calls it back from the 

 prGci[>ice, the lake, the pool; and all dangers what- 

 ever. 



There is another manifest provision of nature 

 with regard to these animals, which is, that the 

 more iiilios[)itable the land is on which they feed, 

 the greater their kindness and attention to their 

 young. I once herded two years on a wild end 

 bare farm, called Willenslee, on the border of 

 Mid Lothian, and of all the sheep I ever saw, 

 these were the kindest and most affectionate to 

 their young. I was often deeply affected at scenei 

 which I witnessed there. We had one very hard 

 winter, so that our sheep grew lean in the spring. 

 and the thwarter-ill, (a sort of paralytic affection) 

 came among them, and carried off' a number. 

 Often have I seen these poor victims, when fallen 



