84 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 6, 18%. 



From the Trenton Emporium. 



ESSAYS ON THE HORSE. 

 In my own immediate neighborhood I liave suc- 

 ceeded satisfactorily in showing the advantages of 

 a " blood Horse," in beauty, vigor, strength, and 

 above all in endurance. In the power I mean, to 

 support for the greatest length of time, the se- 

 verest labour and fatigue without injury. So that 

 now though common horses still continue among 

 us, yet few or none without some mixture of rac- 

 ing blood are raised here. I allow it is not expe- 

 rience of their better qualities alone, which has- 

 tened to this result. 



Groat aid has been derived from certain facts '^ 

 which are within every man's knowledge. Farm- j 

 €rs are like Lawyers, and Doctors, and Printers, ; 

 and stronger and more durable conviction is pro- j 

 duced by a single fact which speuks to the Pocket, 

 than by a hundred well written and finely spun 

 speculations. 



For instance, one of my neighbors has sold a 

 three year old colt for si.\ hundred dollars in casu, 

 a sum exceeding all that he could expect to re- 

 ceive from the produce of his farm otherwise. — 

 Another has disposed of a two year old for up- 

 wards of four hundred dollars, and the blood colts 

 generally are worti] from one hundred and fifty to 

 three hundred dollars. — A gentleman in a neigh- 

 boring state has received more than nine thousand 

 dollars for the produce of a single mare ; and an- 

 other for services performed by his horse, upwards 

 of thirty thousand dollars. — In addition to these 

 facts, I may be allowed to say that in our own 

 stale, in an a.'joining county, a famous horse of 

 the beit blood in our country, has just closed a 

 season, which will yield his owner very little short 

 of three thousand five hundred dollars. 



These facts, and very many others like them 

 ought to satisfy any practical farmer, that he 

 should neve/ neglect an opportunity of improving 

 the stock of his horses, and that if proper atten- 

 tion be paid to tliem, they may become the most 

 profitable part of his yearly produce — merino 

 sheep, and Aldorney cows to the contrary not- 

 withstanding. 



I have just seen an account of the sale of " blood 

 horses," belonging to the estate of the late Mr 

 Field of Virginia, who had taken great pains to 

 select and rear from the best stock in that state. 

 The sale took place on the first of September inst. 

 and attracted very considerable attention ; one of 

 the horses sold for three thousand f.re hundred dol- 

 lars. Phillis a mare sold for one thnusimd .six hun- 

 dred amljifit/ four dollars — a mare sixteen years 

 old the dam of the two preceding, for twelve hun- 

 dred andjive dollars — a filly of 12 months old, for 

 three hundred nniffty-seven dollars, and one other 

 filly only four months old for Jive hundred dollars ! 

 The two latter were also out of the same mare, 

 so that the dam herself, and her four colts produc- 

 ed to the estate the large sum of seven thousand 

 two hundred and sixteen Dollars .'.'.' A sum of 

 money about equal to the rent of 1.5 or 20 of the 

 best farms in our part of Jersey. 



I have said in a former number, that nature 

 seems to have endowed the race horse with a life 

 of longer duration than the common horse. In 

 proof of the truth of this statement I could adduce 

 the ages of very many of the celebrated horses, 

 both in England and in tlie United States — I how- 

 ever content myself with saying that Diomede 

 Jived to the age of thirty-one years, and Sir Archy 



the most famous foal-getter of llie South is now 

 twenty-two years old, and apparently possessed of 

 all his strength and vigor. 



A PARMER. 



From Corani's Champion. 



OYSTER LANDS. 

 Although natural oyster beds but rarely exist 

 except when there are eddies forjned by the pe- 

 culiar set of the tides, or some roughness at the 

 bottom from rocks or stones to which the spawn 

 may attach, yet by taking proper measures they 

 may be created artificially, as has loiig since been 

 proved in England. Oysters cast their spawn in 

 the month of May, which somewhat resembles 

 drops of melted tallow ; this floats about in the 

 water until it comes in contact with some substance 

 which arres's its prOj;res3, to which it injmediate- 

 ly adheres, and in 48 liours after the shell is form- 

 ed. Hence the great numbers of small oysters 

 frequently found adherent to brush fences exten- 

 ding into salt water, dock logs, &c. Now from 

 these facts it is obvious, that by sticking down 

 quantities of brush, or anchoring bodies of sap- 

 lings with all their branches, at the proper season 

 of the year, whenever the ground is suitablp for 

 the growth of these shellfish, and at the proper 

 time after the oyster has attained a s"ili!ble si^e, 

 raising this dredge, and scraping them oh' into tlie 

 water, beds may be founed much easier and 

 cheaper than by raising them from the natural 

 beds and replanting them. In thi.^ way their cul- 

 tivation mi Jht be extended in New-Jersey almost 

 indefinitely, where proper legislative encourage- 

 ment and protection afforded, and to the most in- 

 calculable benefit of her citizens. But as the plan 

 is new in our country (although well understood 

 in some parts of Europe) as it was not practised by 

 our ancestors, I shall probably only incur the ridi 

 culeofour Solomons for proposing it. and will 

 therefore, for the present, say no more on the sub- 

 ject. PONTICO. 



SUCCESS OF CORN IN DRILLS. 



I The best crop of Indian corn we have ever kno'vn 

 in this section of New-England was raised, this 

 year, by Capt. Benjamin Wyatt of this town. — 

 The corn is still on the cob, of course the exact 

 amount |jer acre cannot be ascertained ; but from 

 such data as has been taken we feel safe in rating 

 it between !iO and 100 bushels. The land was us- 

 ed for corn last year. Before iilantiug tliis year it 

 was well ploughed and manured. The dressing 

 was spread upon the ground. The corn was in 

 drills 4 feet apart, and t!ie stalks from 4 to C inch- 

 es fromeach other. Before harvesling, a measure 

 of four feet upon a row would include, on an av- 

 I crage, 10 good ears. This fact will at once show 

 the advantage of planting in drills. No person 

 would expect ten ears upon a hill, even were they 

 four feet asunder. 



We have observed that almost all the success- 

 ' ful competitors for premiums on crops of Indian 

 j corn, have planted it in drills, yet we seldom sec a 

 ' field thus laid out. Why this is so we know not. 

 It is stated that the expense of cultivating is about 

 equal in the two methods. Its being in rows must 

 give the corn a much better opportunity to draw 

 support from the earth ; and it seems fair to con- 

 clude the ground will be left in a much more uni- 

 form state. Another year we hope to see the two 

 methods fairly tested. [Penobscot Gaz.] 



VALJ 

 We were mu 



\ijLE IMPROVEMENT. 



;h gratified last week in having: 



V«L* 



opportunity of witnessing a newly invented thre^ ' 

 ing macliine, put in operation by water power, J ' '^ 

 the farm of Mr GilbBrt Waring, in this town, 

 The machinery is simple and economical 

 whole e:;pense not exceeding 25 or 30 doUarsj 

 Water or horse power can be applied with perl 

 ease ; and from what we observed, we hav< 

 doubt that a man and horse would be enablei 

 thresh with one of these machines from 80 to 

 bushels per day. The one in operation at 

 Waring's is of the smallest kind ; but it thresl 

 with a small head of water, three sheaves per vi 

 utc. On ex.-iQiining the straw, we were unabl 

 find any kernels remaining, though the wheat 

 quite damp and unmerchantable. — Saratoga Si 



HOME-MADE WINE. 



Last week we were presented with a glass 

 wine from the vineyard of Col. Carr, who was 

 merly in the United States service at Trenton, 

 jit was made at his vineyard, near Gray's Fe 

 ! Philadelphia, of the Powel Grape. This wine 

 a fine rich colour, nnd is very pleasant to the ta: 

 The Povvel Grape is said to be a native of 

 country ,and therefore stands the climate muchbi 

 ter than the imported Grapes. — It is also eX' 

 lent as a table fruit, and withal is said to be a g 

 bearer. With these advantages, it may be si 

 posed, that ere long the Powel Grape will be 

 tensively cultivated — and if capable of producii 

 as good wine as Col. Carr has succeeded in mak- 

 ing, it may perhaps drive from common i.^e tliose 

 perjiicious distilled liquors which have proven to 

 be so great an evil in the land. [Trenton Federalisl] 



FIRE PROOF CEMENT. 

 The French cement for the roofs of houses, te 

 preserve the wood, and protect it from fire, is made 

 in the following manner : Take as much lime u 

 is usual in making a pailful of whitewash, and let 

 it be mixed in the pail nearly full of water; in tbk 

 put 2i lbs. of brown sugar, and 3 lbs. fine salt; 

 mix them well together, and the cement is co». 

 pleted. A little lampblack, yellow ochr,-:, or other 

 colouring commodity, maybe introduced to change 

 the colour of the cement, to please the fancy of 

 those who use it. It has been used with great su* 

 cess, and been .-ecommended particularly as a pr* 

 tection against fire. Small sparks of fire, tliat fre- 

 quently lodge on the roofs of houses, are prevent- 

 ed by this cement from burning the shingles. 



[Charleston (S. C.) Courier. 



SHAGBARK WALNUTS, OR HICKORY J 

 NUTS. « 



Now is the time, as we are informed, to gatbW 

 them, and a short article on this subject may not 

 be amiss, for the best Sliagbarks in this country, 

 if not in the world, are to be found on Connecticut 

 river, and they were never known to be more abun- 

 dant nor of better appearance than they are th» 

 fall. The reason why they are usually gathered toB 

 late is to save trouble, and the reason why they 

 should be gathered 7tow is that their flavour, as well 

 as the whiteness that distinguishes a good walnut 

 from a poor one will be preserved. After a frost 

 the nuts are usually shaken off" or jarred off" bf 

 blows with an axe or beetle — and the shuck as it 

 is called comes off", of itself. Now it is nece.ssary 

 to knock them off" witli a pole. Then if they are 

 spread in some dry place,the shucks will separate a» 



