2dO 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MARCH 16, 184«. 



il nnd the morle of cultivnting it liilhcrto pur- ! am lias slated, allowed to run, but are tniighl only 



sued has been, to plow up a wheat stubbie, iEuiiie- 

 dialely after harvest, and sow the seed at the rate 

 of eight pounds an acre. It produces a larpe bur- 



to walk- lit the quick step. In point of utility they 

 are undoubtedly very far more valuable than the 

 race horse, and as such, thry will not fail to prove 



den which comes to use at the commencement of la great acquisition to the farmer 



the following May — a period when such a supply 

 of green food must bo of incalculable value, and 

 which will admit of turnips following in succes- 

 sion.' 



With this communication I received a small 

 quantity of the seed. I sowed the last of .\ugust, 

 and the vegetation was surprisingly quick. My 

 cattle fed incessantly on it ihrough the season, 

 starting favorably in the spring. But its thrift 

 was not of long continuance. I sowed the greater 

 part of the seed late in the fall, and it wholly fail- 

 ed. I e.vpect more of the seed, and think I can 

 correct my manner, and that it may prove brnefi- 

 cial. I am yours, 



Dorchester, Feb. 22(/. 



J. VV, 



For the N. E. Fanner. 



NEW AND VALUABLE IMPORTATION OF 

 STOCK. 



Mb Editor — Of all the improvements in our 

 agriculture, none, it is believed, are more impor- 

 tant than the introduction of all the finest breeds 

 of cattle, of horses, sheep, &c., which have been 

 produced by modern skill and science in Britain. 

 For numerous and extensive importation.s, no gen- 

 tlemen in our country have done more than Messrs. 

 Corning and Sotham, of Albany, this being the 

 sixth visit of the latter to England, his native coun- 

 try, and his fourth [extensive importation during 

 the last ten years, of the finest individualp, select- 

 ed by himself from the most celebrated Hocks and 

 herds of that country. These gentlemen have im- 

 ported upwards of forty head of cows, bulls nnd 

 calves, about one hundred and eighty Cotswood 

 sheep, and two cart horses. The principal part of 

 these cattle have been of the Hereford breed. The I 

 cows of this breed yield milk of the richest quality, 

 which contains a large proportion of butter; but 

 though of very superior quality, yet heretofore the 

 milk which they have produced, has not been in 

 that exuberant quantity that the Durhams, the 

 Yorkshire, or Ayreshire cowB prouuce. 'The oxen 

 are first rate for work. The Heref.ird breed pos- 

 ses.s also the very important propt 'y Af retaining 

 flesh and of fattening on ordinary fare, and in a 

 remarkably short space of time producing beef of 

 the finest quality. In these respects, the improved 

 Hereford breed are reputed to surpass all other 

 breeds known in Britain. During this last autumn, 

 at the Smithfield cattle market, in London, all the 

 annual highest prizes for fat oxon, were awarded 

 to the Herefords. 



The Cotswold sheep are celebrated for produc- 

 ing a large quantity of wool and mutton : the for- 

 mer not indeed of «o fine a quality as tho Merino, 

 yet admirably adapted for blankets, carpels, and 

 clothing of secondary quality, and a great variety 

 of uses ; the mutton is of very superior quality, 

 and they come to market earlier than any other 

 breed, more frequently yearling than at any other 

 age, and they possess the important property of 

 fattening on ordinary food. 



The English cart horse is a very important item 

 in our improvements. They are remarkable for 

 heavy draughts, and are fust walkers. The best 

 trained horses of this breed are never, as Mr Soth- 



Mr Sotham has brought out in the ship Hendrick 

 Hudson, Capt. Morgan, which Iils lately arrived at 

 New York from London, I'enus, a Short-horned 

 cow and bull calf Columbus of tin; same breed ; 

 and forty' hree Cotswold owes. They also pur- 

 chased " Major," the well known Hereford bull, 

 that has taken seven of the first prizes in England, 

 nnd was allowed by judges to be one of the best 

 bulls of any breed that England ever produced; 

 but he unfortunately died on board the vessel, after 

 being on tho ocean fortytwo days; also Cleopatra, 

 a beautiful cow, of the Durham breed, died a few 

 days after him. This was a public loss of more 

 weight than at first could be supposed. Unless 

 " Major" had been seen, his good points cannot be 

 described. Fortunately, however, for Messrs. Cor- 

 ning and Sotham, they havo several young bulls 

 and heifers got by liiiii. 



Our passage home was long and tempestuous, 

 and on the 6th of February and 14th particularly, 

 came on n succession of violent gales nnd furious 

 etornis, and it was in consequence of tho contiimal 

 rolling of the ship, that a portion of all these sni- 

 mals perished, being worn to death. 



[The paragraph here concerning the steam-ship 

 Caledonia, is of no consequence now that the fears 

 entertained for her safety have been dispelled by 

 the arrival of the Acadia.] 



I came home in the above splendid ship, the 

 Hendrick Hudson, which arrived at New York 

 March the 1st. We rested secure, under Divine 

 Providence, nnd amid the storms, in the most per- 

 fect confidence in the skill and experience of our 

 able commander, Capt. E. E. Morgan, and in the 

 superior strength and management of our ship. 

 WM. KENRICK. 



.Vonnnlum Hill, JVetelon, March '2d, 1842. 



A complete heading for any purpose should net. 

 er be performed in early summer, or while the tree 

 is in the most active stage of its growth. It caob 

 es a sudden stagnation of the juices, ond indues) li * 

 sort of paralysis. And if the tree does not die o \ i' 

 right, it grows no more, or but fecb'y, during^l ; !■' 

 remainder of the season. 



Yet for that moderate pruning, which aloiM A' 

 generally needful, June and July, and during 

 longest days ef summer, is the very best lime; 

 wounds of all kinds heal admirably at this peri 

 the wood remaining sound and bright; and evei 

 tree debarked at tliis season, recovers a new bi 

 immediately. 



Trees ouglit not to be pruned in February • 

 March, at the time the frost is coining out of tM 

 ground. 'I'liis is the season when most trees, and ► 

 particularly the vine and sugar maple, bleed mi 

 copiously and injuriously. It causes inveten 

 canker; the wounds turn black, and the bark, | 

 perliaps several feet below, becomes equally blaS 

 and perfectly dead, in consequence of tho bicedii 



The lower side limbs of young trees in the Da^ 

 sery, should bo gradually shortened, but not sud- 

 denly close-pruned ; they are essential for a lim 

 to strengthen the trunk, and to the upright and per- 

 feet formniion of the tree. — Kenrick'n .Veic Amo. 

 Orcharjist. 



l«st 



PRUNING. 



If the branches of a young tree, issuing aland 



above the requisite height, be made, by pruning, to 

 diverge from the trunk in every direction above the 

 horizontal, and the interior of these be carefully [ ,inue extending, every part being duly filled will 



GOOSEBERRIES. 



Gooseberries require a very rich soil ; and in ■ 

 airy situation or shade, they are but little liableB 

 mildew. In all low lands, and in confined situk 

 tions, in our climate, the fruit of the goosebeny 

 almost invariably mildews ; but never on the opet 

 hills, and in places exposed to drying winds, Thej 

 are raised from cuttings planted very early ill 

 April, in a moist soil: every eye should be cut q] 

 except the two uppermost above the surface, 

 autumn, cut oflT the lower shoot very close 

 shorten down the one left to six or nine inchi 

 The bushes must be so managed as to bo furnished 

 with limbs diverging in every direction, continuallj 

 increasing in number as they advance from tilt 

 centre. With this object in view, the young lead- 

 ing shoots of the last year are annually cut bad 

 to six or nine inches, and a proportion of the oth- 

 ers are cut quite close. Thus thu bushes will con 



kept from any interference with each other, for a 1 bearing wood, sufficient space being lea to admit 

 few years, little pruning will ever afterwards be | the sun and a free circulation of air. The largMI 



necessary 



Alany of my remarks in this section have refe- 

 rence principally to orchards of the apple, the 



peach, and the peer, cultivated as standards in our i ^ branch. Ibid. 



own highly favored climate, and on an extensive 

 scale, and are not intended as applicable to the ad- 

 mirable system of cultivatin'j fruit frees in pyra- 

 midial form, or en rjuinottitte. 



The complicated systems of the English for pru- 

 ning the apple, pear, peach and plum, are not, in 

 all respects, so necessary for us ; they are, in part, 

 adapted exclusively to a cold climate. It is not 

 necessary with us to lay open and expose every 

 part of the tree to the direct rays of the sun ; the 

 atmosphere being, in our climate, generally of it- 

 self suflicienl to ripen the fruit. 



Heavy pruning is seldom necessary or advisable ; 

 but when, as in the case of grafting, or of heading' 



prize gooseberries arn raised on vigorous yoi 

 bushes, which have not more than five or six brnni 

 es, and but one or two, or at most three berries 



t 



I it 



Msenne of Mind. — Sir Isaac Newton, one cro- 

 ning in winter, feeling it extremely cold, drew hi« 

 chair very close to the grate, in which a firo hid 

 been recently kindled. By degrees, the fire beinj 

 completely kindled. Sir Isaac folt tho heat intol 

 bly intense, and rung his bell with unusual 

 Icnce. John was not at hand ; heat last made 

 appearance, by the time Sir Isaac was almost titt^ 

 ally roasted. " Remove the grate, you lazy rU- | 

 call" exclaimed Sir Isaac, in a tone of irritation I 

 very uncommon with that amiable and placid phi- | 

 losnpher, " remove the grate, before I am burned ( 



>le» 



.1 



to death-" " Please your honor, might you not I 

 down for a new giowih, It becomes unavoidable, il j rather (/rnip iarA- your c/inir ?" said John, a littll 



should always bo performed in that interval between 

 tho time the frost is ciuning out of the ground in 

 spring, and the opening of the leaf. 



nggislily, " Upon my word," said Sir If 

 smiling, " I never thouglit of that." — Merry's Mb ii 



