390 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JXIKE S,IA4S 



A.Nn IIOBTICULTURAI. RK013TF.R. 



Boston, Weduksdat, Juiie 8, 1842. 



CHEMISTRY. 



Doctiira ilisai^rte — and Faiiheiu too 

 Cheinislry \* bringing its nid ici liusbiindry. Mpn of 

 iciennn ore altninpling lo give lo practicnl fiirnirrs, prin. 

 cipirs nnil rules In ijuhlo llieni siifily nnd protilnbly in 

 the priiciici: of tlieir atl. Nul only liavo llii; sciomific 

 men o\ Eiimpo, ns Licliig and Johnson, rccpnlly Tur- 

 nialipd us wilh Ajjricullural clicminlric?, but Dr. Jark- 

 •on, in liis Rcpi)rl.-, am! in otluT w lys; Dr. Unii.i in lii^ 

 Muck iManual, and .Mr Gray in Ins recent publicaiion 

 upon farming and horlicullure, have here in our miilsl 

 bscn seeking to reveal many of the mysteries uf vegeta- 

 ble growth, and show us how wo can best rause the 

 eorlh to bring forth abnndantly. The laliors of men of 

 science will benefit every tiller of the soil sooner or la- 

 ter. Science can lend, nnd does lend, important aid to 

 art. 



Hut, fays one, the chemists themselves disagree, nnd 

 ihcrefoio I have no confidmce in them. Until they 

 can unite upon sTme principles as settled, how can the 

 ulcllered farmer find it prudent to take llie adiico of 

 any one among them all .' Some of their views must be; 

 erroneous. And how can wc delcruiinc which are so .' 

 Such Btatemc nla and facts constitutH a valid objection 

 to giving ourselves np to the oicliisivn guidance of any 

 chemist — they cinslitute a reason why, when we look 

 into an agricultural chemistry, we should keep in mind 

 the refills of our experience and observntions in the 

 field. We must judge whether tho deductions of sei- 

 enco, in the main, srcin reasonable and in a'^eordance 

 with what we already know. If they do, we mny get 

 viilual le hints from any and every ngrieullural chemis- 

 try; hints tlmt may help us— nut to forget our experi- 

 ence and blindly follow the chi rnisl — but to find ronsoi s 

 why wc Fuccccded or why wc faihd in years past ; 

 thus we may le:irn to go i n more nndeislni'dingly in 

 future. 



We value ifgriciiltural chemistry more as a science 

 which throws light upon tho farmer's past experience, 

 nnd enables him for gooil cause eiilier to retain unal- 

 tered or to hllghtly vary, and thus perhaps greatly im- 

 prove, bis past processes, than as a teacher whose in- 

 structions may throw experience into tho background. 

 We trust that the works of the chemists will lie read 

 ond i*tudi<'<i more and more extensively, nnd that com- 

 mon pcnsc, experience ami observation will be brought 

 lo bear upon and selci t from them such parts ns they 

 approve and can use with foir protni.se of improvement 



The fact that the chemists dinsgree on some poin'e, 

 must not be pressed too bard. For practical farmers 

 differ ns much in opinion ss do the chemists. One pre 

 fors to pl.int bis potatoes nptn old ground, nnd nnoiher 

 upon new. One chuMses to put the mnnuto ubove the 

 put.itoGS, while iiis neighbor will put the potatoes ohnve 

 the manure. One thinks it best to turn liis manure 

 down under tho preen sward, while others ran find no 

 benefit from it when thus pl.iced. A. will make n hijb 

 hill around bis corn, wbile H. will make noni-. i'o 

 that were one lo iindertnko lo gel from pruclUid farmtrs 

 . — genuinr stri/icd frricli mr.n — were he to try to get from 

 ihniii a set of rules lo g'liida him in the plnnting i T pota- 

 toes, in npphing manure, or in boeinir his corn, he 

 wonhl he in as great doubt what lo do nner ho bud cnn- 

 Bulti <l five or six of iliem, as ho would be after he had 

 read five or six (realises from lb* pens of tlioso who 



give ua lessons from the laliorotory. What is the inlu- 

 rencc ? Nol, surely, that those practicnl men know 

 nothing about their biisineus, nnd inn give no valuable 

 information — but that dillcient soils iiro not all to be 

 trented oliko; and consequently that each one must 

 learn by experience in his own fields what his own soils 

 require. Ilo mny get hints — may got instruction from 

 both the practical men and the seienlific men — but he j 

 tniist go to his own fields nnd liiere Unrn, by varying 

 his processes and noting results, what is the best course 

 fiir him, wilh his soil and in his circiimstanres. 



We often bear the wish expressed that scientific men, 

 nnd writ"rs upon ajricuUuie could settle souie princi- 

 ples nnd give a sot of rules for the husbandman which 

 might be siifehj reduced to practice by all fanners. The 

 wish is natural enough — but it is a wish for an impossi- 

 biliiy. All the science that the world lias ever bad, and 

 nil the treatises and parasnifihs that have ever been 

 written upon agriculture, if fad and studied ever so 

 faithfully by a man in his closet, would nol qualify him 

 to go on to a farm containing Iho common variety of 

 soils, nnd skilfully ndipt his manure and his mode of 

 treatment t.) each field, and to tlio difleicnt purls of each 

 field. If ho were a prni Ileal firmer, science and tho 

 cxperienae of olhrrs might ho of much service, ns aids to 

 his own experience — but they would be nothing more 

 than aids. 1 



On his own pren ises, rach firmer has an instructive 

 book alivnys open before him — ench springing, growing 

 or ripening crop, each mode of tillage, inr.li variety of 

 plant, each manure, each dilTerent soil — these, nnd 

 many other things, may be constantly giving him les- 

 sons, if he will but keep his eyes open nnd read. The 

 te.icliings of others will help him lo keep his eyes open 

 — will stimulate and direct inquiry, will cause him to 

 look closely, to reason, reflect,' compare, and thus get 

 useful information. 



As an instance of the honcfils which oiio practical 

 man may derive from reading .in account of what anoth- 

 er has done, wo will state that Hon. Win. Cl.irk, Jr. of 

 Nonhampton, eight or ten years ago, gave lo the public 

 bis process of seeding down light hinds !o grass by sow- 

 ing tho seed among the growing crop of Inilinn Corn. 

 The hint was taken by .Mr. Daniel Putnam, of Dan- 

 vcrs, wlio in five different years since, has biid down in 

 that way a portion of tiis farm to grass — nnd in no one 

 instance has be failed lo get a good result. We (editor) 

 have helped to sow the seed there, to work it in, and lo 

 lake off the crop ; and we judge tlnil in labor saved and 

 in the increase of crop above what would probably fiave 

 been obtained if seeded down with oats or barley, the 

 profit has been, or soon will be, not less than 10 dollars 

 per acre, on cadi of the eight or ten acr-'S. A great 

 poiril here is the ce.'Mainty wilh which the grass takes. 

 The neighbors have lost by drought and frost much ol 

 their grass, while Mr. Putnam has lost but liltle. Far- 

 mers from neighboring towns are coming to observe 

 and to inquire — and uppenrances arc that this inodu of 

 seeding drM^-n will be much extendi'd in tliut vicinity. 



One worthy fanner, who is strongly wedded to old 

 ways, nnd who lias bei n successful in getting more than 

 a gooil 1 ving, has watched the doings in Mr. Putnam's 

 fields for years, and as we supposed, without the slighi- 

 esi inclination to imitate his mode, has concluded to lav 

 down four acres to grass with bis coin crop this season. 

 To ibose who know the man, ;liis fiicl will be strong 

 evidence that the reasons fiir diparliiig from ohi woys 

 are very good. 



Such the results so far of reading tho statoincnts of 

 one practicnl man — an argument in favor nf reading. 

 And though wo have nol in our oxperiencr so palpable 



a case in mliicli a scientific man has sent out from til 

 labaralory a Etntement that has been turned to sue| 

 practical account, yet the statements of chemist! 

 constantly furnisliing facts and principles tlial lliroi 

 much light upon the fields we till. 



CEMENT. 



In tho New England Forinrr, vol. xir. No. 3, page 21 

 wc find the following statement : 



" The late conquest of Algiers by the French, hi 

 made known n new cement, uaod in the public wui 

 in th.at city. It is composed of two parts of ashes, th 

 of cl.iy and one of sand ; this composition, called by 

 Moors Fabbi, being again mixed with od, resists the 

 clemencies ol the weather belter than marble itself" 



Mr Dorr, of Roxbury, called upon us a few I'.ays age 

 to look up the above article in our back volumes, an< 

 stated ihal he used a cement made according to ll 

 above d.reclions, around the window casings ol a slot 

 house he was building about the time this article appei 

 ed, end it has proved as good as the statement repc 

 Bcnts ll is as hard e.s marble, and will slick to wa< 

 as well as to none. 



NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



Zamba, or the InsurTeefion — a dramatic poem by Mrs 

 E. Ricord. Published by John Owen, Cambiidse, li 

 whom we are indebted for a copy. Wo have had di 

 lime to read it yet. 



Cohbrtl's American Gardener — a new edition. Saxtoi 

 & Pierce are the Boston publishers. A spiriuil aiM 

 good work. 



By 



fine 



Su 



M.ASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIE'IV. 



EXHIBITION OF M.OWERS. 



Satiirdiiy, June 4, I -i li 

 John A. Kcnrick. Azalias, ten vnr. — Vi 

 K.ariy While Itiliai Honeysuckle. PoBony M.i 

 Bauksii ; P. Mouiaii papavracea ; P. lenniltilis ; I 

 sen; P. albicans pUno ; P. albiflora eiubesc* 

 Scarlet Ilawihorn ; Scotcli laburnum; Glycine sinenii 

 — (beautiful) — Aristulochia sipfio ; Caucasian lloiiay 

 suckle, iVc. 



Four Bouquets and cut Pa^onics, from John C. How 

 ard, Brookline. 



Cut Flowers of Magnolia, &e., from J. Carter, Rotani 

 Garden. 



Native Plants, from B. E Colling — Trillium rcrnuum 

 Corydalis f-hiuca ;. Thesium umhellatum ; .Aiuin In 

 pliylluin ; Aquileriia Canadensis ; Aralia niidiiuiiiis 

 Geranium inaenlutum ; Clirlidonium majus; C'livsli 

 riu inultiHorn ; Convnlnria fiifolin, >Vc. &c. 



Italian Clover (Trifiilium incarnatiim) — from Ctpl 

 Lovett, Beverly 



Bouquets fiom Wm. Kenrick, J Hovey, Misses Sum 

 nor, J. I,. L. F. Warren, S. Walker. 



Twenty beaiitifiil varieties of Geranium were eiliibi 

 ted, from the President ol the Society. The list of ihi 

 nances having been taken away, they cniinul be given 



rxiiiBiTioK OK rnoiTs. 

 By Dr. Howard— Miller's Burgundy and White Cl.»^ 



•elas Grapes 

 Vegetables - 



rery fine. 

 -Cucumbers, by J. I«. I. 



F War 

 JOHN A. KENK 



SIek Headache. — Two tea sponnsriill uf finely powdf 

 ed charcoal, drank in a half tumbler uf water, will it 

 less than fifteen minutes give relief to iha vick Inn Inchf 

 when caused, as in most rases it is, by nsupcrabiiiijanri 

 of acid on the stomach. — .V. Y. Herald. 



Common salt eight parts, ssllpotre one pari, \ 

 cil together nnd opplird to Ihe surface of the gro 

 necli-d with the trunk of the peach tree, will, i 

 destroy all worms nnd grubs nnd pioniote Ihe 

 tho tree. 



