NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



287 



wheat, plough this in, and sow rye afrain, and 

 clover in March, and take off a crop of rye the next 

 season, and plough in the clover and stubhle for 

 manure. If this land is light, it might be greatly 

 improved at a small expense, if the materials are 

 convenient, by a compost mostly of peat, mud or 

 muck, that has been dug and exposed one year, 

 with eight or ten bushels of ashes, and one or two 

 bushels of fresh slacked lime to the cord, to re- 

 main a month or two after the ashes and lime are 

 added, and it should be shoveled over meanwhile, 

 and the lumps finely pulverized. 



We think ihe flowing of grass land late in No- 

 vember would not injure grass, if the water was 

 let off as soon as warm weather comes on. 



When the weather is wet and very warm, apple 

 stocks that are very thrifty may be budded the first 

 of September; but generally it is necessary to bud 

 them from the 10th to the 20th of August. Much 

 depends on the season. — Ed. 



all at once acquired a power to produce a pesti- 

 lence, before v,holly unknown. The ravages of 

 insects upon potato plants, with here and there a 

 solitary exception perhaps, as in the case of Mr. 

 Flanders, have been as great before the occurrence 

 of the potato disease as at any time since its ap- 

 pearance. For these and other reasons already 

 given, I still retain the opinion that the disease is 

 not produced by insects." I think this opinion 

 should be conclusive on this point. 



Very truly yours, J. W. Proctor. 



Danvers, Aug. 9, 1851. 



For the New England Farmer. 



TIME FOR CUTTING ASPARAGUS IN 

 THIS FALL. 



Mr. Cole: — Dear Sir, — I would inquire of you 

 what is the best time of the year for mowing aspa- 

 ragus that is left to grow when done cutting it in 

 June? The farmers in this vicinity usually follow 

 the practice of mowing it late in autumn, about the 

 last thing before the snow falls. I think I have 

 somewhere seen it stated that it should be cut ear- 

 ly, before the seed has had time to mature, as it 

 draws much strength from the soil while bringing 

 the seed to perfection, which by early cutting would 

 be saved for future years. Would the adoption of 

 this method prove injurious to the roots of the as- 

 paragusl By giving the desired information, you 

 will oblige, 



Yours truly, i. w. 



Winchester, Mass., Aug. 7, 1851. 



Remarks. — We suppose that cultivators gener- 

 ally cut their asparagus when it is most convenient 

 after it is fully grown; but we think it would be 

 much better to cut earlier, as suggested by our cor- 

 respondent; say when the plants are fully grown, 

 and the seed is forming. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE POTATO DISEASE NOT CAUSED 

 BY INSECTS. 



Mr. Cole: — I have just received from Dr. Har- 

 ris a carefully prepared communication dated Aug. 

 6th, on the potato disease, which I have handed to 

 the editors of the Observer, — concluding as follows: 

 "If the question be in regard to the agency of in- 

 sects in tlie production of this wide-spread pesti- 

 lence, there are altogether too inany that are im- 

 plicated in the charge. One adequate cause is 

 quite enough, and all that the case requires, and 

 this cause must be universal or coextensive with 

 the disease. It must be the same in Juirope as in 

 America, and alike under all circumstances, and 

 at all times. It will not do to say, that a cause 

 which has always existed, which has been in oper- 

 ation to a greater or less extent every year, has 



PRESERVING AND RIPENING FRUITS. 



Mr. Daniel T. Curtis, at the Horticultural Store, 

 Boston, has for several years past given particular 

 attention to the preservation and ripening of fruits, 

 and in these respects he has shown more intelli- 

 gence and skill than any other man in the circle 

 of our knowledge. He has frequently shown to us 

 specimens of pears ripened up to perfection, plump 

 and excellent, whilst others of the same lot, kept 

 in the ordinary way, were shrivelled and worthless. 

 We are pleased to learn that Mr. Curtis is disposed 

 to give his valuable discovery to the public, and that 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural Society have en- 

 couraged him to this commendable course. We 

 have often remarked that it requires more skill to 

 ripen pears well than to raise them, and we hope 

 that the discovery of Mr. Curtis will obviate this 

 great difficulty. The following document is from 

 the transactions of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, on this interesting subject. 



At a meeting of the Society, May 31, the fol- 

 lowing report from the Fruit Committee was read 

 by the chairman, accepted and ordered to be print- 

 ed: 



The Fruit Committee, to whom a communica- 

 tion from Daniel T. Curtis, in respect to a method 

 discovered by him for ripening and preserving 

 fruits, has been referred, ask leave to report at this 

 time, but in part, upon the subject committed to 

 them. Specimens of fruit, consisting mainly of 

 pears, have repeatedly, during the past year, been 

 placed upon the tables of the society by Mr. Curtis, 

 that had been preserved by him for a long time 

 after their usual period of maturity, that were 

 found on examination to be perfectly sound, and, 

 in some instances, to have retained unimpaired 

 tiieir juice and flavor. Among these pears were 

 specimens of the Seckel, Bonne Louise de Jersey, 

 Duchess d'Angouleme, and Easter Beurre. The 

 Seckels, though a kind peculiarly subject to early 

 decay, were perfectly sound, and retained in per- 

 fection the peculiar flavor of tliat variety. Of the 

 other varieties, the specimens exhibited were gen- 

 erally, though sound, insipid and tasteless, arising 

 from the circumstance, as Mr. Curtis stated, and 

 as their appearance indiraled, that they were when 

 packed, and subjected to his process, immature and 

 imperfect. These pears were exhibited by Mr. C. 

 as late as January and February, months after their 

 usual season of ripening, thus j)roving, as no signs 

 of decay were visible, that their season could bo 

 almost indefinitely prolonged. 



Mr. Cuitis has sent pears, preserved and packed 

 in his peculiar method, to Havana, to London, 



