NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 28, 18SJ(, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTOnTfRIDAY, JULY 28, 182G. 



PLASTER OF PARIS. 



The article by the Hon. Mr Lowell, with which 

 our paper of this day commences, will prove of 

 o-reat utility to many farmers near the sea-coast. 

 It will serve to correct a common, but erroneous 

 opinion that gypsum is never useful as manure in 

 the vicinity of the sea. The Editor, as Mr Lowell 

 has been a witness of its beneficial ef- 



Farmcr, and other books of husbandry, is called! 

 •'Cole-seed, Brassicn Rapa." Miller's Gardener's 

 Dictionary, says the ground for cole seed should 

 be prepared in the same manner as for turnips. — 

 Mr Hewson, the proprietor of the seed, who is Stc- 

 customed to its cultivation, says that one pound to 

 au acre is the proper quantify to sow. In England 

 it is used as winter food for cattle, but in New 

 England it will not endure the severity of winter. 

 It will, liowevcr, we have no doubt, be valuable as 

 fall feed for cattle,and will remain fresh and green 

 till frost has assumed nearly its utmost intensity. 



intimate 



fects in the experiments mentioned in hio vtiluable | i^y^ j^^p^ ^^^^^ ^^^ enterprising agriculturists will 



communication. A writer for the Massuchiisetis gj^.g ;j ^ ^^.■^g^^ 3^,3 make its properties and merits 



Agricultural Repository, vol. ii. page 17, in an ar- 

 ticle headed " Particulars respecting the history 

 nnd the use of the species of gypsum, called Plaster 

 of Paris ; especially as ii concerns Agriculture. — 

 By a Member of the Kennebec Agricultural Society," 

 makes the following observations ; 



" With respect to the soils and situations suited 

 for plaster, it is clear that plaster may be thrown 

 away upon wet soils and wet climates. It agrees, 

 however, in general with dry loams and hungry 

 soUs; it is favourable to hilly land, where tiie wat- 

 er cannot lodge; and it checks the baking of clays. 

 -^It is conmionly supposed to be useless near the 

 sea. As the sea winds are usually moist, cool and 

 salt; we shall not wonder, where these prevail, 

 that a manure, favouring moisture and prospering 

 with heat, and containing some principles analo- 

 gous in a certain degree with those of the sea salt, 

 should find little room for exercising its>irtues. — 

 It may, however happen in a great continent, 

 where dry winds and a dry atmosphere occur, tliat 

 plaster shall furnish instances of its success even 

 near the sea ; of which I have heard examples in 

 New Hampshire and the district of Maine. — Cli- 

 mates which are moist and deficient in summer 

 heat, {as Great Britain and Ireland,) are not a- 

 mong those where plaster has had the most numer- 

 ous advocates; nevertheless, in the southern .parts 

 of England, situations are found where plaster 

 meets the most flattering success." 



We are likewise informed that gypsum lias been 

 used with success on Long Island, and in the state 

 of Rhode Island ; and believe its utility depend; 

 more upon the nature of the soil, the season, and 

 the kind of crop than to the vicinity or distance 

 from the sea of the field to which it is applied. 



INSECTS IN PEAR TREES. 

 It will be perceived by a preceding article in 

 this day's paper, tliat a communication we receiv- 

 ed from His E.xcellency Gov. Li.ncoln has led to 

 investigation, and brought to light facts and dis- 

 coveries, which bid fair to prove very important 

 to those who cultivate fruit trees. It appears that 

 the Scolytus Pyri, the insect which has excited 

 so much alarm among orchardists, is not a stranger 

 in this vicinity ; and, in conse('|uence of the exer- 

 tions of Mr Lowell, and tlie late Professor Peck, 

 liis habits and haunts liave been detected, and an 

 easy remedy against his ravages has been dis- 

 covered. 



more generally known than they are at present, at 

 least in this section of the Union. 



DUTCH COLE. 



It will be seen by adverting to the advertising 

 columns of this day's paper, that some seed of this 

 vegetable is left for sale in this office. We pub- 

 lished some account of its uses in our last paper, 

 (vol. iv. page 409.) We presume that tlie Dutch 

 Cole is the same plant, which in Deaiie's N. E. 



Extracts from " Essays on Field Husbandry, 

 wrote from a Journal of thirty years' experience." 

 By the Rev. Dr. Jared Eliot, of Killingsworth, 

 Conn. Boston, printed and sold by Edes &f Gill, 

 Qxieen street, 17(10." 



receipt for burning cl.w. 



" Any sort of clay will do for ashes, but that of 

 a redish colour is accounted the best for that pur- 

 pose. 



" Dig your clay with a spade in spits, of the big- 

 ness of ordinary bricks ; dig two, three, eight, ten 

 or twenty loads of clay, more or less as you please; 

 take small billets of wood or faggots of brush, pile 

 it up in the form of a pyramid or sugar loaf, three 

 or four feet high, then take these spits of clay, 

 after they have dried in the sun, surround your 

 pile of wood with them, laying them close to the 

 wood, laying them one upon another till you have 



enclosed your pile of wnnfl, only lG;ivino' an hole 



on the side to put in the fire, and an hole on the 

 top to make a draught ; then surround again with 

 spits of clay from top to bottom as before,and then 

 again a third laying in the same order, then kin- 

 dle your fire ; when it is well got on fire, stop up 

 the holes with clay, the innate heat will fire the 

 clay till it grows so hot that you may put on wet 

 clay in great quantities ; but you must mind hot 

 to put on clay so fast, or lay it so close as to put 

 out your fire, for if you do so you must begin all 

 anew. If you desire to burn as much clay as that 

 the heap grows so higli that you cannot reach to 

 lay it up, you may build a stage with boards, by 

 which you may advance to as great a height as 

 you please. The pile must be watched and tend- 

 ed night and day, till it is fully burnt. 



" The author of the book out of which this re- 

 ceipt is taken very much commends clay ashes, 

 and tells what is a comfortable hearing, which is 

 that forty bushels of these ashes is a full dressing 

 for an acre of land. 



" The reader must take this upon trust ; if true, 

 it W'ill make well for Hartford, Wethersfield, and 

 those towns which abound in clay. 



" It may be tried with very little cost. By wet 

 clay above named we are to understand clay in its 

 natural moist state as it is taken from the pit. I 

 suppose that to burn large quantities of clay at 

 once in one pile, will be both cheaper and better 

 performed than when burnt in small heaps." 



SMALL FARMS. 



"The old Romans lived upon small shreds of land. 

 Roman history informs us of the quantity of land 

 there was in the whole farms of even the foremo.'.t 

 men and men of the first figure and highest rank 

 in their whole commonwealth. Manlius Curiiis 



Dentatus was three times chosen Consul, whu 

 was the highest ordinary office in the State, h 

 the Roman army, fought with and entirely rout. 

 Pyrrhus, drove iiim out of the country, and had 

 triumph for his victory. The whole of this gri 

 man's farm on wliich he lived, and from whicli : 

 drew his whole subsistence, was no more th; 

 seven jugera, which is about four acres and ; 

 half; being offered more by the government 

 refused it, saying that he was an ambitious a 

 dangerous person who was not content witli, 

 should desire more than seven jugera. 



" Tiie same Roman history informs of Luci 

 Quinctius Cincinnatus, that he was consul 

 Rome 459 years before Christ : He was also ii 

 time of great danger chosen Dictator, who by ; 

 office was above all other magistrates, he was 

 vested with sovereign and supreme power b( 

 civil, and military. In this exigency of the state 

 raisSd-armies, marched against the enemy, subi 

 ed them, made them pass under the yoke ai 

 token of subjection, triumphed for his victory, a 

 all this in sixteen days ; laid down his great ofi^ 

 and returned home to his little farm, which c< 

 sisted but of two acres and a quarter of land. I 

 farm was originally seven jugera, but to pay a di 

 which his son had contracted, he had been obi 

 ed to sell one half of it : Nor is he the only go 

 provident father consumed and wasted by a ra 

 ish spendthrift son. 



JAMESON ON SLEEP. 



Those who are temperate, and use proper ex 

 cise, will in general enjoy sound sleep. It 

 therefore, a subject on which much need not } 

 said ; a few remarks may perhaps be useful. 



People should consider it a matter of the utir t 

 importance, to go to bed at a reasonable ho 

 and always rise early ; this last will not only p 

 mote health, but is a source of profit. 



Children may be indulged in as much sleej I 

 they desire ; after about the seventh year tl I 

 often require correction in this respect, for t T 

 are certainly prone to sleep too much. The l l 

 rule is to get them early to bed , and oblige tl 1 

 to rise with the family ; this will bring them i ) 

 a good habit. 



People in the vigor of life, had better not ace 

 torn themselves to much covering in bed ; m 

 cionstitutions are injured in this way. They ou 

 got, in general, to sleep more than eight or 11 

 Ijours in twenty- four; and in warm weather 

 least, ought to sleep on beds reasonably hard. 

 ' The aged should be laid as free from noise 

 possible, their rooms ought to be warm, but 

 too close ; they should have plenty of woollen c 

 bring, and good soft feather beds, wlien they ■ 

 be had ; and in general, they should take a ii F 

 solid food before going to bed. Tteir sleep is - 

 perfect, and therefore they cannot easily sleep o 

 imucli ; a little sleep in general will be proper a: 1 

 jdiniier for them. 



All beds ought to be kept clean, often expo a 

 to the sun, and the clothes often changed ; nic f 

 in this respect is very essential, aud the hoiii- 

 keeper who keeps clean beds, free from bugs, ' [l 

 always be found a good house-keeper in other 1 j- 

 pects. 



Sleep is often interrupted for want of a Ii IB 

 nourishment in the stomach; to promote soip 

 sleep, the brain must be duly stimulated, so t|t 

 if you go to bed too languid, or over stimulat), 

 you cannot sleep, for there is a state of action \- 



