•^5S 



NEW ilNGLAND FARMER 



MAV il,lH48. 



Afli HORTICL'LTLBAI. RKOISTER. 



BolTOI>, WHDHESDAT, Mat 11, 1842. 



PUMPRfNS AND WINTER SQUASHKS. 



These moy bo laiscd »t «n small an expense as to 

 make ihcni clienp food Cor ealile and awiiie in llii> nionllm 

 of November and December. It is best to plant in liilln 

 8 feel apart each way — 7 to 8 liuiidred hills per acre. 

 A single cord of good manure, or but little more llinn n 

 cord, will afford a large shovel fall per hill on the acre. 

 A'cnllivator or a harrow run through the rows two or 

 three times, and the use of the hoe once or twice imme- 

 diately around the hHI, is all the labor that is required. 

 We do not mean to »ey that more manure will not cause 

 a larger yield, but only that where Jand is plenty and 

 manure scarce, that the quantity above named will an- 

 swer a good purpose. Wo think it better to put the 

 pumpkins and squashes by themselves, than to scalier 

 them through the corn field. If the corn is thick upon 

 the ground, vines do it essential injury, if you have 

 manure, you may plant a row of beans or a row of t-cjrn 

 between each two rows of vines, and all will do well. 

 In that case, the rows of corn beingf 8 feet asunder, the 

 corn does not «had8 the vines to their greet .haru), and 

 the roots of the vines beinj; 4 feet from the roots of the 

 corn, the corn is not robbed of its sustenance. Vims 

 generally do best on new light lands. Spots that have 

 recently been cleared of bushes, where there are many 

 decayed leaves, are favorable to their growth. Any 

 strong manure answer: well fortheni, but lliose compost- 

 ed with virgin soil from the woods, or with decayed 

 leaves and wood, are the best. 



Lnrge nod soft shelled [lumpklns, and larg-i^tiquashes 

 ara the most profilnblc to raise for stork. If ^^^u have 

 seed in abundance, it is best to put u dozen or tporo in 

 each hill; this gives a chance to have three vines left — 

 (and that is enough per hill) — afler the ravages of flies 

 and worms are over. 



Should you pick up the bones around the promises 

 and put one in each hill, the roots of the vinea will em- 

 brace it, form a sort of net work over it, and probably 

 you will get a heller crop (or their doing so : — let the 

 bone, however, not be placed in imnaediaio conlact with 

 the seeds you plant, but three or four inches below them, 

 or at one side of them. ;Ifin immediate contact with 

 them, the bone is liable to act too powerfully. 



In planting vines of all kinds, it is well to dig out B 

 large hole — say take out a bushel of earth or more, and 

 then work your manure and the earth thua dug out, 

 well together in filling up the hole. Plant from May 

 SOtb to June Sih. 



THE SEASON. 



The flmetra appear on the earth — the time of the tinging 

 of Lirdt has come,— The Pbeachi;b. 



Earlier than in must seasons, the earth has put on lier 

 robes ol green, bespangled with flowers of every hue. 

 Twelve month.s ago, we wore drenched with rains, 

 ciiilled by the North East gules — scarcely a wllJ flower 

 had opened its petals— and ihe earlrest fruit trees wr^re 

 no blossimie. Now, the pear, tho cherry, and even the 

 apple, in sheltered spots, are in full blo.ssom. Wild 

 flowers arc Bpread in profusion on the earth's surface) 

 the grass is green, and is well set. It is true that we 

 cannot tell much yet as to harvests, but at pretcat all 

 things in nature promise well. 



" The flowers appear on the earth." Mysterious 

 change ! A few we( ks rince, and all around on plain, 

 in valley and on hill, all wa^ sere and inanimate. Frosts 

 held the powers of vegetable growth in perfect aboyanr*. 

 Those frosts have now reiaxed their grasp. Flowers 

 and plants in countless numbers have come up from the 

 bosom of the earth, and are now gratifying man by their 

 delicacy and beauty of form and coloring, are pleasing 

 us by their fragrance, and are giving promise of grains 

 and fruits. Mysterious change ! No visible hand has 

 wrought it. Day by day, night by night it has gone on, 

 but no visible hand has wrought it. liut it has a cause : 

 The Maker and the Executor of Nature's laws, lias 

 spread this robe of beauty and promise over the hus- 

 bandman's fields and pastures. 



And He, the God of the reasons, invites the farmer 

 now to be sowing with a diligent hand. Hb encourages 

 us to sow in hope. This we mnij do, when we comply 

 with the coik/{(i(»i« on which the luxuriant harvest is 

 usually granted. We must till well — manure mill — seed 

 well — and then may we hope to receive sbundanily (rorn 

 Him on whom the eyes of all wait, that he may give 

 them meat in due season. 



"The time of the singing of birds has come" — and 

 let Ihemsing. Why stop their note3 with the murderous 

 gun .** WiiJi their,.xich and varied plumage, they give a 

 charm to earlh s scenes, while busily collecting the in- 

 sects and worms that would feed upon our crops. They 

 .arc given to man by the beneficent Giver of all good, to 

 assist in proteciing tho fruits of his labor from the depre. 

 dations of enemies too minute for his vision — too nume- 

 rous for him to subdue. Let iliem live — let them sing. 

 We preach often upon this subject : we do it earnestly. 

 And we urge it upon farmers and farmers' boys, not as 

 a /natter of taste and feeling merely, but as a matter of 

 interest and profit. Year-let the birds live. 



ber. Many w ish their corn to grow rapidly in June : 

 ffe have had our largest crops in B«a;ops yfU^f the June 

 ^growili has been sloie. 



BUTTER. 



"The Yankees keep up the price of butter in this 

 market. They boast in 13aslun ol receiving fresh Phila- 

 delphia butler twice a week. Wfiy don't the Yaokeea 

 make it fur themselves.''" 



So says and so asks the Philadelphia North American, 

 So say the citizens. — The Philadelphiana keep down 

 tha price of butler in this eilv, by sending tJieirs on hero 

 twice a week. Why do the Pennsylvanians make more 

 than they want for their own use .' So ask the Yankee 

 farmsre. 



CANKER WORMS. 

 Mr VV'iiiBhip, of Brighton, has sent us a message, say- 

 ing that a sprinkling of the suds of IVhale Oil Soap upon 

 thn trees, just as the canker worms hatch out, will de- 

 stroy them. 'I'hose who think to operate in this way, 

 must watch the irees very narrowly, and find the worms 

 while they are very smallj and make tlie application 

 then. The Whale Oil Soap can be obtained at Messrs. 

 Breck &. Cu.'s Agricultural Warehouse. 



CATERPILLARS. 

 Strip them from the trees while young. Take thoso 

 hours when they ore all in the nest and pull off all that 

 are within reach and put your foot upon them. Those 

 that are too high up in the'.reesfor reachingconvcnient- 

 ly, may be destroyed by swobbing them with struog 

 soap-suda or willi fnmp oil 



MELONS. . 



Tho water melon does best on a warm gravelly or 

 sandy soil — but if you plant on a dry gnivolly knoll, 

 (and that is the best sjiot that most farmers can select,) 

 then dig out a large fiole that will contain a wlietdharruw 

 load of roiten chips, or leaves, or wood, mixed with 

 some mniiiire and some fresh and good soil ; some muck — 

 swamp mud — may cnt»r into tho mixture. 



The musk melon does well treated in Ihe same way, 

 and it often will do well in a common rich garden soil, 

 without any particular care in planting. 



The editor of tho Kent (Maryland) News, says he 

 pulled from his wheat lot recently, a stalk of wheat 

 measuring three feet from the root to the lop of tho 

 blade. The crop in that section is very promising. 



MANURING CORN JN THE HILL. 



Wo do not like the common practice of putting eight 

 or ton cartloads only of manure to the acre for corn, and 

 pulling that all in tho hill. 'J'here is no profit in trying 

 to raise corn in ihis way. But if you are still bent upon 

 thu old course, we advise you to furrow out tho Innd 

 deep as possible, and get the manure down as far ns 

 you can from thu ellccts of the drying winds and suns. 



Whaio twenty loads of good manure per acre can be 

 used, we deem it belter economy to spread the whole. 

 J'ossibly the crop of corn may bo no larger — it moy bo 

 smaller ) — this depends much upon the season. But lire 

 labor is loss, the crop in the overage of years is as good, 

 and the land is left in a butter atale. 



Thui'O is a common belief that corn m.^nuted in the 

 hill, ripens earlier than that where all tho inanuro is 

 ■prcid. Our experience does not find this so. Tlio 

 corn will grow faster in June and July, when the nin- 

 niiie is in the hill, and will promise then to ripen earlier, 

 but we have not found it fulfil that promise in Scptem- 



The Peach Worm. — Various methods have bean em- 

 ployed to prevent the attacks of this insect. In tlw 

 spring, earth has been piled round the tree afoot high, 

 covering up all the bark that was tender. With the 

 same object in view, canvass or ropes mailo of hay or 

 straw, have been wound about the stern, and then coat- 

 ed will] wiiite-w^sh. Straw in an upright position, has 

 also been applied. Tan in small boxes has ant^wered 

 the same purpose; and its properties are also repulsive. 

 Lime and ashes have the same efl'ect. Common salt, 

 either alone or niixed with nitre, lias been found eflici- 

 cious, besides promoting the grontli and producliveneu 

 of the tree. Haifa pound has been scattered round it at 

 a time. Soot employed in the same way, is highly re- 

 commended. A,small red cedar, planted in the satna 

 hole witli a peach tree, has protected it by its otTcnsiva 

 odor. Charcoal in small pieces, heaped up, is supposati 

 to smother the worm by choke damp, and sulphur to 

 poison it with its fumes. Doubtless all are useful, but 

 ihe appendages should be removed when the warm laa. 

 son IS over. — \". Y. .Igricul. Sue. Trans. 



.Mildew. — Some varieties of the peach and nociarina, 

 arc subject lo a white mildeWy which appears on tho new 

 shoots about midsummer, checking their growth, but iu>t 

 allendcd with any ether ill effecls. It seems analogous 

 to ihc mildew on the grape and gooseberry ; and may 

 bo cured it is said by tho npplication of sulphur nattr. 

 A bolter course, however, for culturists in grnoril, 

 would be to stimulate the tree to make a handsoma 

 growth in the early p;irt of the season, and to take Do 

 further care. — lb. 



When young, we trust oucselves too much, and wa 

 trust others too litilo when old. Rashness is the errorof 

 youth, timid caution of age. Moiihood is Iho isthmus 

 between tho two exiremes — the ripe, the fertile season 

 ofsction, when alone ws can find the head to contrive, 

 united with the hand to execute. — Lacon. 



