VOL,. XX. NO. 41. 



A N D H O R r I C U L T U li A L R E G I S T E R . 



Ki.'i 



died &pplo Iroos, in soiiio instances, of nrarly throe 

 feet in circuinloronce, and destroyed ihcni. 



Ai tint) ini9cliiet \a seldom durio but in tlio se- 

 verity of winter, when these vermin are driven tn 

 Uio roots of the trees for shelter, and nro deprived 

 of their ordinary subsistence by the frostand snow, 

 the most ctVectual way to prevent their injury is, 

 in the month of November, just before the wiiiicr 

 tcts in, to clear away all the rubbish and furze | 

 from around the roots of younj; trees, leaving the ' 

 ground bare, and then to put a coal of dry ashes 

 all around. The roots of the tree then allbrding | 

 them no shelter above ground, ond they having a I 

 natural aversion to burrowing in ashes, they will 

 be driven for shelter to some other place, and your | 

 trees will thereby in a great measure be preserved 

 from their mischief. The ashes also willubun-j 

 dantly compensate you for the trouble and expense, | 

 causing your trees the year following to liirive and 

 flourish exceedingly. 



Another method of some use is, in the early part 

 of winter, after tlic first snow, to shovel s.now 

 around the roots of the tree?, and then tread it 

 down hard, by which it will freeze, and becnnic 

 solid like ice, through which they chnnot easily 

 penetrate. But this method is by no means sure, 

 as they will freq'iently burrow under the ice, and 

 sometimes injure the roots underneath, and in the 

 least thaw pass up and injure the tree. 



But after the injury has been done, and your 

 tree has been completely girdled, and all the bark 

 eaten off round the tree to the hard wood, I know 

 of but one remedy, to presarvc the tree alive, al- 

 though many experiments have been tried. A 

 tree girdled 'n this mT^ner, having ni niPiP" of 

 conveying the sap and nourishment from the roots 

 up into the body and branches above, must wither 

 laod die. The usual wny among farmers is, in 

 isach cases, to dig up the trees and set out new 

 loncs. Sometimes they are cut off and headed 

 down below the place eaten, and new wood, in 

 length of time, will shoot out and make a second 

 itree. 



But it occurred to me that if any artificial way 

 T could be discovered to renew or make a communi- 

 cation of the circulating vessels of the lower sec- 

 tions of the bark and sap eaten off, with llio upper, 

 so !:■ to convey up the juices and nourishment from 

 the roota into the branches, the tree might be made 

 e and flourish. 



cordlngly choosing a fine thrifty tree, about 

 inches in circumference, as soon as the 

 was off the ground in the spring, which had 

 I completely girdled by the mice, and all the 

 Abark eaten off all round to the hard wood, more 

 than four inches wide, like a belt; I took a sharp 

 knife and eveneil the edges of the lower and up- 

 per circle of the bark eaten off; then took a scion 

 from the tree, about the bigness of a pipe stem, 

 and an inch longer at each end than the space 

 where the bark had been eaten off around the tree, 

 split the scion lengthwise, and shaved the split 

 side down, so as to fit to the body of the tree, be- 

 ing very careful not to disturb the bark of the sci- 

 on ; then cutting away the lower circle until it 

 came to fresh bark, made a perpendicular slit ore 

 inch down towards the root of the tree, then crossed 

 this at the bottom with a horir.ontal slit, half an 

 inch on each side, as in budding; then gently 

 peeled up the bark on each side, and fitted the low. 

 er end of the scion in, and squeezed the bark down 

 woond it ; then fitted the upper end of the scion 

 into the upper circle of the bark eaten off, in all 



respects as I had dono the lower. In this miinncr 

 I pliiced six scions all roiiiiii thi' body of the tree ; 

 then covered it over an inch or more thick with 

 Forsaith's composition, ami hood the dirt up all 

 round tho roots of tho tree to keep it moist. 



The tree did not put out its leaves so soon, nor 

 so vigorously at first, as the other trees ; but by 

 (he middle of summer it flourished very well, and 

 in tlie fall there was no apparent difference be- 

 Iween it and tho surrounding trees. It bore soni".- 

 I'ruit the lust year, and is now covered with young 

 fruit, and appears as healthy and flourishing as 

 any tree in the garden. 



In the fall of the year after this operation, I 

 opened the roots of this tree, ami lore away the 

 plaster, and to my surprise, l.toiind that four of 

 the six scions had taken, and grown to the size of 

 nearly an inch in diameter. The other two did not 

 take, by which means the tree is a little flat on one 

 side. I lately opened the tree again, and have 

 found that it will soon be covered with bark again, 

 except the side where the scions did not take. 



This experiment I have known to have been 

 tried several times since with equal success. Mr 

 Isaac Davis, of Roxbury, a very intelligent and re- 

 ^pectable farmer, in the spring of the year I80il, 

 treated in the same manner a largo spple tree, of 

 more than tweiityseven inches ini circumference, 

 which had been eaten off all around for a space of 

 more than four inches. The tree flourished, and 

 bore fruit the last year, and is now covered with a 

 great abundance of fruit ; and is extremely thrifty, 

 having recently examined it for the purpose of as- 

 certaining its present state. Mr Davis made use 

 of common el-" n>nrtar in hi^ ?X|; -.iir.Gnt, instead 

 of Forsaiih's compoeitioo, which he thinks answers 

 as good a purpose. 



Knowing, sir, the interest you feel in every 

 thing that tends to improvement in agriculture and 

 husbandry, I have taken the liberty to address to 

 yon the aforegoing experiments and observations, 

 which, ifinyniir npininii shool-l lie dfomnd nf nub 

 lie utility, you are requested to communicate in 

 any manner you think most useful to society. 



I am, with the highest sentiments of respect. 

 Your most ob't and very humble serv't, 

 LUTHER RICHARDSON. 



Roibury, June 10, J8I0. 



VALUE OF URINE AS A MANURE. 



To show the fertilizing effects of urine as a ma- 

 nure. Sir John Sinclair says : 



"Every sort of uiinc contains the essential ele- 

 ments of vegetables in a stale of solution. The 

 urine of a horse being so much lighter, would be 

 more valuable than its dung, if both must be con- 

 veyed to any distance. Tlie urine ot six cows or 

 horses, will enrich a quantity of earth sufficient to 

 top-dress one English acre of grass land; and as 

 it would require 4/. worth of dung to porform the 

 same operation, the urine of a cow or horse is worth 

 about 1'2 shillings per annum, allowing 8 shillings 

 per acre as the expense of preparing the compost. 

 The advantages of irrigating grass lands with cow 

 urine, almost exceeds belief. Mr Ilarley, of Glas- 

 gow, who keeps a large dairy in that town, by 

 using cow urine, cuts some small fields of grass six 

 times ; and the average of each cutting is l.'i inches 

 in length." 



This fact furnishes strong proof, from the very 

 best source, of the great value of urine as manure, 

 and it suggests a most striking truth to the mind 



of the agriciillurist, in tho fact of the imiiionse Iosh 

 auHtniiied by hiin, in permitting thu u-iiiu of his 

 stock to go to WBHlp — a truth which we think 

 should make hiin seriously consider upon the pro- 

 priety of adopting some practicable plan, by which 

 it may bo saved, and iiiado to contribute to the 

 fructification of his soil. As most stables and 

 barnyards are constructed, the major part of all 

 liquid manures are now lost to the owners ; but by 

 a little atteiitiiin in hauling loam and leaves into 

 tiic latter, and giving the proper form to thorn, a 

 very large proportion of that iiiado by tho cattle 

 would be absorbed, and thus preserved for tho pur- 

 poses of the spring crops. — Wmer. far. 



From tha Ailiiny CultiTalof. 



CUTTING UP CORN. 



Messrs. Gaijlord (f Titrker — It has been the 

 practice of moat fanners for a few years past, to 

 cut up their corn at the bottom, and stack it in the 

 field. But I find there is a difference in the mode 

 of doing it. Now I will give you and your readers 

 the manner in which we do it. Two of us take 

 five rows, and commence cutting; when we get an 

 armfull, wo set it up on the middle tow, around a 

 hill which is left standing, to make the stack, nev- 

 er laying it down at all: when the stack is made 

 of suflicient size, we take a band of straw, turn the 

 tops down, and bind around it, and it is done. We 

 are convinced that we can cut up b field of corn in 

 this way in less time than wo can in topping, bind- 

 ing and slacking it in the old way. Where we 

 cut it up and lay it down 'n KmiHIea nn'l I'mn bsro 

 to go and bind thein, and draw them together to 

 stack, we have found it to be an ugly and tedious 

 job ; besides it takes about double the time and la- 

 bor to do it. As to the economy of cutting up 

 corn, I think there are few farmers that will ques- 

 tion that point: the abundance of catlle fodder 

 which is saved, is enough to induce any farmer to 

 uo it ; besides tins, we liave the ground clear lor 

 the spring crop. I know there are some fanners 

 who object to this manner of curing corn, on the 

 ground that corn gets ripe better when topped than 

 when cut up at the bottom. Now as to that I Uiink 

 that the ni.ijorily of farmers will bear nie out in 

 ■saying thai corn cut up at the bollnm will ripen 

 better, be sounder and heavier corn than in any 

 other way in which it can be cured. 



Talking, a short time since, with a practical far- 

 mer and gardener of this place, (Leman Stone, 

 Esq.,) he said, " that corn may be cut up a great 

 deal earlier in the season than mos^ people think," 

 for he says "as quick as the kernel begins to grow 

 hard in the centre, it will do to cut up, and then 

 the stalk which is green will retain the juice, which 

 is carried to the car, and both the ear and the stalk 

 are preserved in a much belter condition than 

 when the stalk is left to dry up before it is cut up." 



If you or any of your correspondents have a bet- 

 ter way of cutting up corn than this, I wish you 

 would give it to us throuffhthe columns of the Col- 

 tivalor. Yours, with respect, 



LEVI DURAND. 



Dtrly, Conn., Stpt. 25, 1841. 



To Preserve the Wood of Wktd Hark. Let the 

 wood remain a while in water in which alum, cop- 

 peras, or other salt has been dissolved. Boiling 

 the spokes of wheels a while in vitriol water, will 

 secure tliem from decay where they enter the hubs. 



