70 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



sword for a pruning-liook, and noted ^eacli day's 

 work with minute care. Subsequently, when call- 

 ed to the Presidential chair, we are told that, "He 

 left witli his chief manager at Mount Vernon full 

 and minute directions in writing, and exacted from 

 him a weekly report, in which were registered the 

 transactions of each day on all the farms, such as 

 the number of laborers employed, their health or 

 sickness, the kind and quantity of work executed, 

 the progress in planting, sowing, or harvesting the 

 fields, the appearance of the crops at various stages 

 of their growth, the effects of the weather on them, 

 and the condition of the horses, cattle, and other 

 live stock." 



Many other distinguished citizens of our repub- 

 lic have since followed the example left by the 

 "farmer of Mount Vernon," and have testified to 

 its benefits. Their recorded praises would occupy 

 pages, and we will simply copy the opinions of one, 

 who, by his moral worth, his purity of character, 

 and his fidelity to the public interests, secured a 

 place in the hearts of his constituents and friends — 

 the lamented Daniel P. King. In a statement 

 made by him to this society, (see Transactions for 

 1845,) on the management and products of his 

 farm, he says, "I have long kept a sort of diar}'' in 

 which I have noted the employments of each day, 

 the time of planting, hoeing and harvesting, the 

 amount of crops, the cost of animals, current re- 

 ceipts and expenditures, &c. The advantages of 

 keeping a journal, to a farmer, are many. By 

 turning to the pages of past years, he will be re- 

 minded of work which should be done in its season; 

 he will see where he has erred, and profit from his 

 experience; he will know where his money, some- 

 times difficult to account for, goes." 



TH3 GERMAN PRUNE. 



Ripens about the 20th of 9th month, size large, 

 common specimens measuring four and a half inches 

 around, egg-shaped, but bulging prominently on 

 one side; suture invisible; color purple, with a deep- 

 blue bloom; stalk green, half an inch long; smooth; 

 adhering firmly to the tree, and inserted in a small 

 circular cavity that is filled by it; flesh adhering to 

 the skin firm; sweet, pleasant, dry, and of rich 

 deep-yellow color; stone free, flat, pitted slightly, 

 prominently convex on one side, with fluted edges, 

 and nearly an inch long. 



l^he above description of a valuable fruit is made 

 up from specimens now in hand, and among its 

 other good qualities, it adheres well to the tree 

 until rjpe; high winds disturb it very little; it is not 

 very liable to rot, consequently it can be dried to 

 advantage. Larger quantities are raised in the 

 valley of the Rhine for this purpose, and form no 

 inconsiderable item for exportation. It also bears 

 carriage without injury, and hence is an available 

 fruit to market people who live at a distance from 

 market. Two or three hundred bushels found their 

 way to the Philadelphia market, from the Pigeon 

 Creek District in this county during the past three 

 weeks, and readily commanded $2 a $3 per 

 bushel. 



The tree is thrifty in growth and will come into 

 a bearing state in four years from the sprout. It 

 is hardy in every respect, a great bearer, requiring 

 only the ordinary attention to preserve the fruit 

 from the curculio, and an annual crop can be de- 

 pended on. It blossoms late and thus escapes the 



frequent untimely frosts that peaches and other ear- 

 ly blossoms are subject to. It attains a large size, 

 and lives to a good old age. Hitherto it has been 

 propagated entirely by suckers, and its cultivation 

 has not extended far beyond the district where it 

 was first introduced. It is believed that this fruit 

 could be profitably cultivated upon an extended 

 scale; drying and boxing it for market similar to 

 the imported article. Your readers can be assured 

 that no one will regret planting a couple of these 

 trees on the sunny side of his dwelling, for orna- 

 ment as well as for fruit. a. b. 

 Chester Count i/, Pa., 1850. 



Phil Dollar Newspaper. 



CHEMISTRY FOR FARMERS. 



Chemistry is an important guide to the farmer, 

 and he will succeed best who understands and ap- 

 plies, in tilling his land, the important information 

 furnished by that science. There is not so ef- 

 fectual a barrier to agricultural improvement as for 

 farmers to continue their old customs purely be- 

 cause their forefathers did so. But prejudice is 

 fast dying away before the rays of intellectual illu- 

 mination, and "nature's noblemen" — her farming 

 community — may be found in many sections of the 

 country, who have seceded from the supposed in- 

 fallibles of those now departed — and who have 

 drank at the fountain of knowledge flowing through 

 the vineyard of reason and philosophy ; and they 

 have now arrived at the haven of law, cause, and 

 principle. See its results in the halls of Congress 

 — hear the immortal mind speaking through the 

 husbandman in tones that shall exert an undying 

 influence in the four quarters of the globe. 



In the cultivation of the soil it must never be 

 forgotten that animal manures require admixture of 

 milder materials to mitigate their force, for some 

 of them communicate a disgusting or offensive 

 quality to vegetables. They are charged with im- 

 parting a biting and acrimonious taste to radishes 

 and turnips. Potatoes and grapes are known to 

 borrow the foul taint of the ground. I\Iillers ob- 

 serve a strong, disagreeable odor in the meal of 

 wheat that grew upon land highly charged with 

 the rotten excrements of cities. The like has been 

 observed in tobacco raised in cow-pens ; and stable 

 dung has been accused of imparting a disagreeable 

 flavor to vegetables. 



The same effects may be illustrated in the animal 

 kingdom. Ducks are rendered so ill tasted from 

 stuffing down garbage, as sometimes to be ofTensive 

 to the palate. The quality of pork is known by 

 the food of the swine ; the bitterness of partridges 

 has been ascribed to the buds on which they live ; 

 and the peculiar flavor of water fowl is rationally 

 traced to the fish they devour. Thus, a portion of 

 the elements of manure and nutrimental matter 

 passes into the living bodies of animals, without 

 being entirely subdued ; for example, we can alter 

 the color of the cow's milk by mixmg madder or 

 saffron in the food ; the odor may be afl^ected by 

 garlic ; the flavor may be altered by giving the 

 animal pine, or wormwood ; and lastly, the medi- 

 cinal effect may also be influenced. 



There is no doubt but that the most wholesome 

 vegetables are changed by rank manures, so as to 

 hasten their decay. For example, several farmers 

 in this State have within a few days informed me 

 that potatoes "dressed" with manure, generally 

 decayed first. 



