o» 



N E W ENGLAND F A 11 M E R , 



AlCS. 4, 1841. 



AMI HORTICULTURAL RKOISTKB. 



Boeros, WrnsESDiv, AoonsT 4, 1841. 



MUCK AND DRAINING OF WrlT LANDS. 



As soon as llie l.iijin;; is "ver and the we.ds arc well 

 removed from lh« fields, llie fnrmer's altontion should 

 be i.irncd lo llie swomps nnd mud holca. VVh continue 

 to maintain ilmt lliu niost economiral way in wliich 

 farmers generally can improve their farms, is m go into 

 the wet m.adnws arid bring out pent, muck, mud and 

 the like, to llie greatest extent which their lime and the 

 water will allow. The onrly autumn is usually the dry 

 est season, and then the low grounds are firmer and in 

 belter condition lobe worked than at any olher part of 

 ihe year. Fear not to go into your muck holes in good 

 earnest. Take out n..t one year's supply only, o,' ma- 

 terials for manure, hut enough, if possible, to last seve- 

 ral years. E.^posure to the action <.f frosts and the at- 

 mosphere will renioro the acidity from what you dig up, 

 and will be rendering it more and mure conducive ['< 

 the ferlility o( your land-. An hundred cords of muck 

 piled up on your premises, will nnnu.tlly increase in 

 value (for two or three years,) mor(i than the amount of 

 interest on $500 —Get a supply .f muck in advance, so 

 as not to be obliged to use any that has been unimprov- 

 ed by age, for then you make manure heaps larger in 

 qucnliiy, and beltrr in quality, than if you use materials 

 that have but jusl been dug up from their wet beds 



The various ways in which the muck can be used 

 have been oAen stated— it may go into the hog-yard- 

 the barn-yard— the compost heap, and wherever ma- 

 nure is made. Every where, if iis qvialiiy be good, it 

 will help to increase that which you want mosl— ma- 

 nure — manure. 



In d.termining where you will obtain your muck, 

 look at your low lands, and ascertain whether you can- 

 not be usefully draining them, while you are at the 

 same time providing ihe article wanted. Very many of 

 our wet meadow lands, that now produce little or noth- 

 ,„g,_many that bear the coarse water grasses whicl 

 the' entile aro very reluclant to cat, may, by proper 

 draining, and by cultivation, be rendered the most pro- 

 ductive lands on our faims. Neatly all of them will 

 then yield the cullimUd grasses most abundantly, and 

 many oflheni are as well suited lo corn, rye, beets, and 

 other common crops, as any lands in the couniry. 



Where the spongy moss abounds, many springs are 

 sending up their waters near the shore, and good shore 

 ditches, going into the hard pan, should be cm. Gene- 

 rally, ditches near the shore are more clleclual in car- 

 ryingolfthB w.aters than others. Where the mud or 

 pealiad.ep, and where the sward is h.ose and fre« 

 from tough grass roots, all the upland crops can be rais- 

 ed with great readiness. It is by no means necessary 

 lo cover such lands with gravel ; though gravel, sand, 

 loam, clay, or any mixiiire of these, will increase the 

 ferlility lil ihe peat soils, nnd it is good husbandry to 

 cait from the uplands dressings for these black peaty 

 soils. 



Where iho mud is not deep— where I he hassocks or 

 bogs are prone t.. grow, a coating of gravel, loam, or the 

 like, even i( it be not thick enough to cover the bogs or 

 t>..r.cUe!', will in a year or two, without any manure, 



I deem it goorl economy to put on a thin coating of gravel j h lil storm, and the gnawings of the worm are added, 



j say of one inch or a little more, sow in hay seed, let 



; it work its way for a year or two, and then spread on a 



little more gravel, sand, or loam. In this way, while 



you are deepening ihe covering, you so top-dress n< lo 



improve your crops from year to year. — Do nvl neglect 



the low lands, it i$ those if any thut will give you a j/ro- 



Jit in cultication 



CROPS. 



The abundance— or rather the suptr-abundaiice— of 

 wel, in the months of April and May, caused the grass 

 to set very thick, and gave it a good start in the early 

 part of the season. But in Juno many fi. Ids suffered 

 lioin drought. The high and warm lands, generally, 

 in this State, became quite dry about the 20th of June, 

 and on them the crop of hay has been light. 



The accounts received lend us to the conclusion that 

 in the counties of Plymouth and Norfolk, the hay crop 

 is from an eighth to a sixth short of the average. But 

 in Worcester and Essex the crop is represented as be- 

 ing fully equal to the average of annual crops. For 

 while liie dry lands were )>inched, the moist lands were 

 nourishing an unusual growth. The wet or fresh mea- 

 dows furnish more hay the present season than they 

 have done in any one year fur some time past. 



The salt marshes have given, of the early varieties of 

 grass upon them, a crop double the last year's growth. 

 Ttie later grasses promise well, and the recent rain will 

 prevent any injurious incrustations of salt upon them, 

 which it was feared might be formed if the weather con- 

 tinued dry. The hay crop in the ea.slein counties of 

 the State, taking into the account all the varieties of hay, 

 is believed to be as abundant as it has been in most pre- 

 ceding years. 



Grain. But wbilo the grass has grown well, the 

 grains have failed. We have not seen a field of either 

 oats, bailey, rye or wheal, which promises to produce 

 grain enough to be worth tlireshing. We have not 

 heard ol any gi-od crop in the vicinity. The straw, eve- 

 ry where is small— rcry small. The causes may be 

 mostly hidden, but it is not dilfuult to point out some 

 circumstances that have been unfivorable. Where the 

 seed was sowed in Apiil, the grounds must have been 

 wet at the time of plowing and woiking: this would 

 render them heavy. Also, alter they were sowed, the 

 continued heavy rains so pounded them down ns to ren- 

 der the surface vorv hard. A crust on the surliice was 

 formed, which obtruded the action of the atmosphere 

 in the soil, and impeded the growth of the stalks. Jn 

 May, Ihe degree ol moisture was too great ; and in June 

 the grounds were baked. The consequence is, that very 

 little straw has grown, and on the feeble straw there is 

 very lillle grain. A few fields of winter rye may have 

 done tolerably well, but with this exeeplioo, the crop 

 of small grains, we are obli,jed lo report as exceedingly 

 llgln. — This failure is a serious loss to our farmers, for 

 i essentially diminishes the means of fattening beef nnd 

 pork. While it will >d>lige them to lessen the amount 

 of stock to bo wintered. 



Barley Worm. The barley this season has been in- 

 fested by a worm which is found in the stalk. Fur 

 several years this enemy destroyed the barley in the 

 eastern part of the Sl.ite ; hut during the Inst few sea- 

 sons we have seen nothing of it until the present sum 

 iner. The habils nnd history of this worm we are una- 

 ble to deseribii. Unless there bo some way of cheeking 



evils enough are named, to show why our hopes have 

 been dirappointed. 



Indiitn Corn. Though the cold and wet of the spring 

 were unf.ivorable to this crop, the appearan'-es at pres- 

 ent ae good. In some dry spots the leaves were roll- 

 ing for a few days last week, but now that rain has 

 come, the leaves expand ag.iin, and we may hope that 

 this crop will piove fair, if not abundant. 



Potatoes have probably sulTered much from the drought 

 and there can be no reasonable expectation of an ave- 

 rage crop. 



CANKER-WORM TROUGHS. 



A model of Mr Daniel Newhall's trough (see adver- 

 tisement,) for preventing the ascent of the grub, ha» 

 been left with us. As far as we can judge, it is likely 

 lo be quite as effectual as any means that we have 

 known tried for preventing destruction by the canker 

 worm. Some of the gentlemen who testify to ita effi- 

 cacy, are known to us, and their stntenients are to be 

 relied upon. — The oil in these troughs can hardly be 

 displaced by either winds or rains. If well put on, we 

 see not how the grubs can pass llieDi. 



Ml 



Mi 



IVvi 



giiie 



lUaaaachusetla Hortlonltural Society. 



KXHIBITIUH OF mUlTS. 



Saturday, July 31. 



From S.Jackson, Roxbury ; \\ hiie Dulch Currants- 

 large and handsome. 



From J. Lovett, Beverly ; large Red Gooseberries and 

 Seedling' Red Currants. 



From John Hovey , Early Harvest Apples, of fair 

 appearance. 



From K. W. Macondry ; specimens of the Early 

 Scarlet Cherry Plum. 



From Messrs Winship; good specimens of the Belle 

 magnilique and Plumstone Morello Cherries. 



I'loiii Hovey & Co. ; Franconia Kaspbcrriei. 



From Otis Johnson ; large and buauliful clusters of 

 Bhick Hamburg and Zenfondal Grapes. 



From A. U. Williams; vtry fine Red and White 

 Uuicli Currants. 



From J. F. .Mien; very fineforcid Peaches. 



Fine Tomatoes from J. L. L. F. Warren and S. Sweet- 

 ser. For the Committee, 



P. B. HOVEY, Jr. 



brinir in the upland grasses and will fiitnish an abun- its ravages, the custom of growing tins grain must b 



dant ero|i of very good hay Such land 



10 be thoroughly coveru<l and well manured, but this i: 



an expensive pn 



haa80<:ky that it cannot well be plowe.l and tilled ; we 



liny do better 

 , but this is 

 I lough and 



abandoned. Anollier dilTiculty — a rust upori the Ic 

 — beset our barley this ) ear, very early in the season ; 

 this by itsulf would have been aulTicicnt to ulinost ruin 

 iho growth of the crop And when ihe peltiiigs of the 



THE CROPS IN ENGLAND. 



We find the following in the Mark-Lane Express of 

 July 19: 



" The direct loss lo the farmer, and the consequent 

 injury to every class of the comuiunity, resulting Irom 

 a deficient harvest, are of such mngnilude as to render 

 ihe state of the weather at this fea.son of the year the 

 subject of universal observation nnd comment. The 

 change which took place after the protracted period of 

 dry weather experienced in June came most opportune- 

 ly, and has been productive of incalculable benefit. The 

 grain crops upon all the high and light lands have been 

 saved by it, and in every siluulion the crops of both 

 corn and hay, and espicinlly that invaluable esculent, 

 tho potato, have improved in an exlraordimry de^'ree. 



The continuation of heavy rains during the past week 

 had begun to excite a ilegree of alarm lest Ihe wheat 

 crop, now in its most critical slate, should sutler; hap- 

 pily, howi ver, a favorable change seems to have taken 

 place, and we most sincerely hope it may continue. — 

 Should the remainder of tliu season be genial, theru is 

 no reason to duLibt, from the breadth of wheat sown, an 

 average supply, even should the ucreablo rale not reach 

 an average. " 



Sumo entertain a notion that it is prejudicial to stir 

 the soil among corn in dry weather, and tliat weeds pro- 

 vent ihe evaporation of moisture by a hul sun^but the 

 reverse is the fact. Tho exhnuslion of moisture by a 

 plant, is in tho ratio of the surface of its leaves and 

 stalks prejciwed to the sun nnd air — Farmer's Cabinet. 



