Jo. 6. 



Cultivation of the Currant. — Farm Leases. 



189 



[eep the surface of the soil loose and clear 

 •om weeds, by occasional hoeings during 

 bie summer. 



Pruning. — Next to a good rich soil, pru 

 ing is the most important thing to be at 

 3nded to; neglect in this respect, will be 

 are to cause disappointment to the cultiva- 

 )r who expects large and fine fruit. The 

 ranches will shoot up thick and weakly,* 

 nd, if not attended to, and the superfluous 

 lies cut out, the bush will be so crowded as 

 ) produce only a quantity of half formed 

 lusters, with a few small berries. 



It is known to many cultivators, though 

 erhaps not to all, that the currant bears its 

 uit both upon the young wood of last year's 

 iowth, upon that of the second and third 

 ear, and also upon the little spurs which 

 iring from the older shoots ; but it is only 

 pon the young and vigorous wood of the 

 receding year, that fruit of superior size 

 nd beauty is obtained. 



Insects. — The currant has but few ene- 

 lies in the insect tribe; the most injurious 

 i the borer, (JEgeria tipuliformis,) which 

 its its way up the centre of the stems, 

 lusing great debility, and eventually nearly 

 sstroying the plants, or at least incapaci- 

 Lting them from producing any thing but 

 ery small and poor fruit: the bushes are 

 [so in danger of being broken by light 

 inds or with heavy crops of fruit. The 

 sst preventive for this insect is to keep the 

 [ants in a vigorous state, and well supplied 

 r ith strong young wood, as it is only in the 

 ider brandies that the borer commences its 

 ivages. When they once take possession 

 f the bushes, cut out all the old shoots, es- 

 ecially such as are in any way decayed, 

 ad encourage only strong new wood : the 

 phides, or plant lice, occasionally infest the 

 saves, but these may be easily destroyed by 

 tie or two washings of whale oil soap. — 

 lag. of Hort. 



A journal of Bruges seriously announces 

 lat the Belgian pigeons are threatened by 

 le directors of the French post-office. Regu- 

 ir communications between Paris, London, 

 irussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and other 

 ities, by means of pigeons, are now esta- 

 lished, and some of these aerial couriers 

 re daily despatched in different directions 

 fter the closing of the Exchange. They 

 tate that the French post-office authorities 

 itend to prosecute these pigeons as the 

 earers of letters, contrary to the law which 

 ives to the post-office the monopoly of the 

 onveyance of letters less than one kilo- 

 ramme, (21bs.) in weight. 



* That is, if they are suffered to grow ia bunches, 

 istead of one main stem, like a small tree. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Farm Leases. 



The Cabinet for October contains an 

 excellent paper on the " Improvement of 

 Agriculture" — "all true, depend upon it" 

 The only wonder is, that any improvement 

 should ever be made or even thought of, 

 without the security of a lease ; and yet, 

 how often do we hear land owners complain 

 of the difficulty they find in obtaining a ten- 

 ant that will do justice to their farms, while 

 they themselves are helping to skin the 

 land, and pocketing one half the ill-gotten 

 gains, without the least compunction of con- 

 science. But in this chapter of misdeeds 

 there are redeeming clauses; I know of 

 some who no longer inquire of their ten- 

 ants, " how much manure must they have?" 

 but "how much will they have?" having 

 discovered, that in just the proportion in 

 which the land and the tenant are benefit- 

 ed, so are they themselves advantaged, 

 even in a pecuniary point of view; after 

 which, the satisfaction of beholding the 

 smiles of both, is above all price. Allow 

 me to add a few more extracts, corrobora- 

 tive of the article above alluded to, and to 

 subscribe myself thy friend, S. B. 



New Jersey, 28th of Eleventh mo., 1842. 



" In Scotland, the leases are generally re- 

 stricted to nineteen years. The tenant is 

 now left at liberty to treat his ground as he 

 may think fit during the earlier part of his 

 lease, so as to give full scope to the employ- 

 ment of his capital, his industry and skill : 

 being, towards the closing years of his occu- 

 pancy, bound merely to such a system as 

 may prevent him from scourging the ground ; 

 so as to protect the interests of the proprie- 

 tor. The result of this system is seen in 

 the more judicious arrangement of rotation 

 of crops ; in the spread of science, and the 

 application of the skill of the mechanic ; in 

 the improvement of the implements of agri- 

 culture ; in the extensive outlay made by 

 the tenant in draining, &c, and the man- 

 agement of fertilizing manures. On the 

 other hand, we need not look far abroad to 

 perceive where the landlord cannot and the 

 tenant dare not, expend money in fertilizing 

 the land held from year to year; to note, 

 where the owner's absence, ignorance or ex- 

 travagance, chills the efforts of tenants in 

 the work of improvement; ' where the good 

 old landlord' has been succeeded by the 

 stranger spendthrift, and the tenant's im- 

 provements have been made to minister to 

 his extravagance; where the speculating 

 purchaser has made his investment a good 

 one, at the expense of those farmers whose 

 liberality best deserved his praise; where 



