186 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 5. 1827. 



it whicli the Committee saw) contains about nine- 

 ty acres. By the entwrprize of one of the family, 

 (Mr Be.njami.n PooR,)and the gooil management of 

 the tenmt, for a few year^ past, valuable improve- 

 ments have boen made, by draining- low grounds, 

 and stocking them with good grasses, and by 

 draining and tilling other low grounds, and thus 

 preparing them for valuable crops — by fencing — 

 and by providing;' and arranging the farm build- 

 ings, to render them convenient for conducting 

 the bu.siness of tlie farm. 



5. The farm of Col. Moses Newhali,, in West 

 Newbury. The principal part of this farm, called 

 the homestead, contains about 110 acres of natu- 

 rally good land, well situated for receiving the 

 most valuable improvements. These advantages 

 have not been overlooked. The uplands have been 

 enriched by the means furnished by the farm it- 

 self — the low grounds have been drained and 

 stocked with good grasses — and the whole ren- 

 dered very productive. The necessary farm build- 

 ings have been provided and well arranged ; and 

 his new and capacious barn by far the best that 

 the Committee have seen, is probably superior to 

 any in the county. An advantage being taken of 

 a moderate rise in the ground, at one end, many 

 tons of his hay are housed with ease, by being 

 thrown downwards, in the unloading, into a long 

 bay about seven feet below the brrn Hoor, instead 

 of the nearly universal practice of pitching the 

 hay upwards, on mows and hay lofts. On the 

 other side of the barn and corresponding with the 

 bay aboveraentioned, is the stand for tlie cattle, 

 just conveniently raised above the level of the 

 barn yard. Thus, one story about seven feet high 

 in the whole area of the barn is gained. Above 

 this story the barn rises about seventeen feet to 

 the eaves Its length is eighty-four feet. 



Col Newhall has given much attention to ma- 

 nure, increasing its quantity by collecting every 

 material within his reach, which by the cattle in 

 the stable and barn yard, and in the styes by the 

 treading and working of his swine, can be con- 

 verted most beneficially into that indispensable 

 substance in farming. The manufacture of combs 

 being extensively carried nn in his neighboihood ; 

 he by collecting the horn shavings and mixing 

 theia with loam, obtains fifteen or twenty loads of 

 valuable manure. This compost, spread as a top 

 dressing, on his very raoist land, has a powerful 

 effect ; — but applied to dry upland, he has found it 

 injurious ; — yet if used more sparingly, or a groat 

 er proportion of loam be mingled with the horn 

 shavings, upland as well as low land would doubt 

 less be improved. 



The stock of cows fifteen in number, and the 

 management of the dairy, in doors as well as out, 

 on this farm deserved particular commendations. 

 To keep up the milk of his cows at the season 

 when common pastures are failing, he feeds them 

 with Indian corn stalks, every night, beginning to' 

 cut them as soon as the ears arc in the milk, giv- 

 ing them as much of this food as they will eat up 

 clean, and continuing it so long as the stalks re- 

 main green and palateable. 



6. The farm of Mr David Gray, in Andover. — • 

 This farm from small beginnings, has increased to 

 about 100 acres in the homestead, and about nine- 

 ty acres, from one to two miles distant, principally 

 woodland. The homestead only was viewed by 

 the Committee. It consists nf land originally 

 rough, rocky, and hard to improve. These disad- 



vantages, however, have been surmounted by Mr 

 Grai's application of severe and incessant labour, 

 and by the means applied by the product of that 

 labour. His crops are good, and his lands are 

 managed with neatness aud good judgement. Mr 

 Gray has paid much attention to the cultivation 

 of apples, and has many trees of the Baldwin ap- 

 ple in a thrifty and bearing condition. He is of 

 the opinion, that this species of fruit is the best 

 within hii knowledge for our farmers to cultivate. 

 Upon a deliberate consideration of all the claims, 

 the Committee have unanimously agreed to award 

 the premiums as follows, to wit. 

 To Col Moses Newhall, 1st prem. $35 



' Messrs J. & P. I'erlev, 3d ' 30 



' Mr David Gray, ' 3d ' 25 



' Mr Nathaniel Pearson, 4th ' 20 



' Benj. T. Reed, Esq. 5th ' 15 



' Mr Isaac Patch, Gth ' 10 



The Committee thought these awards to be 

 merited by the industry, enterprii;e and skill of the 

 claimants ; persuaded, at the same time, that tliere 

 are other farms in the county at least as well, 

 some probably better managed, for which, had 

 their owners claimed premiums, some of those 

 above awarded would have been superseded. — 

 Hence the Committee hope that many other farm- 

 ers will be e.xcited to become competitors for fu- 

 ture premiums. 



In behalf of the Committee, 



T. PICKERING, Chainnaii. 

 Danvers, October 12, 1826. 



INSECT IN PEAR TREES. 



Mr Fesse.vden — I send you two bo.tes, one 

 containing an insect, and the other a chip from a 

 pear tree in which you will see the insect's borer. 

 When this insect was found by Major Bartlett of 

 this place, a notice of which you have copied from 

 the Ilamp. Gazette,* I examined two or three of 

 my half-dead pear trees, and found them bored 

 like tlie block No. 1, sent you. At the place I 

 have mnrivcd with my pen on the piece No. 1, I 

 found a worm like those you will find in block No. 

 3. The piece No. 2, I sawed from the top of a St. 

 Michael pear, about two thirds killed 'by this in- 

 sect, as I believe. I have only time given me to 

 say, if what I have sent you should throw any 

 lioht upon the cause of the destruction of the 

 pear trees, I Eliall be very happy. 



I am, in great haste, 



Your friend, 



.Yorthampior, 30th Dec. ie2i}. E. HUNT. 



Remarlis b;i the Editor. — The insect which our 

 correspondent was so good as to send us, appears 

 to be in its perfect or fully grown state ; but is a 

 little mutilated, probably on its passage. It had 

 lost its borer, proboscis, or needle, a part of its 

 tail, and one of its wings, of which it had four. It 

 appears to belong to the order which entomologists 

 denominate Neuroptera, and had four naked mem- 

 branous transparent v/ings, resembling net work, 

 and partly folded over each other. Its back lias 

 bright yellow spots or scales with indentations, or 

 notches between them. The intervals between 

 these spots and the head and belly of the insect 

 are dark brown. We discovered one of the larvae 

 or vvormsjin one of the pieces of the wood sent us, 

 which was very small, white, and resembled a mite, 



* See N. E. Farmer, pages 167, 175 of the cur- 

 rent volume. 



of the kind usually found in cheese. It is dlf. 

 ferent from the apple tree borer, as that 

 insect, in its perfect state, resembles a bug oi 

 beetle, and should be classed, if we do not rajl*' 

 take, with the order Coleoptera. The insect si 

 us resembles a hornet, but is somewhat longer, 

 We hope our correspondent at iMilton, and otb 

 who are versed in the science of entomology, 

 assist us in attempting to ascertain the sped 

 and iiabits of this insect, and suggesting, if poi 

 ble some remedy for its ravages. The insect, 

 the traces of its etfects on pear trees, may be si 

 at the office of the New England Fanner. 



FOREST TREES. 



Mr Fessekde.n — Vou, or any of your corre 

 pendents, will oblige ine by an answer to the ft 

 lowing queries (some of which, I am aware, ha 

 been partially answered in the New England Fi 

 mer) on the subject of gathering and planting see 

 from various forest trees, viz. the White and Piaj 

 Pine, Cedar, Rock Maple, Elm, and ButtonwoW 

 At what time in the year may seeds best be n-ath 

 ered from these trees ? — and when and at wh« 



depth should they be individually planted .' Hai 



land better be ploughed and harrowed, or only fut 

 ro'vcd and the seeds planted in the furrows ?- 

 Should cherry stones be cracked when planted i: 

 the spring, and at what depth buried .' — May th 

 English walnut be grown s'.x.essfully byins>rtin| 

 its buds in the native Walnut, — or is it bcLt(;r t 

 plant the Walnuts ? V.. 



Rockingham, (AT. H.) Jan. 1827. 



THE NETTLE. 



In the newspaper of the Bavarian .•\griri.i:iir! 

 Society, the nettle is said to have the follnvin 

 properties : eaten in salad, it relievos consuiiiitio; 

 it fastens horned cattle, whether ea'en ,Teen < 

 dricil ; it not only fattens calves, but improve 

 their flesh : it is an antidote to most malidies 

 sheep which cat it bring forth healthy, vigoroi 

 lambs ; it promotes the layhig of eggs in hens ; 

 improves the fat of pigs ; the seeds, mived wit 

 oats, are excellent for horses ; it grows all th 

 year round, oven in the coldest weather ; and tb 

 fibres of the stem make an excellent hemp. Th • 

 Bavarian Journal might have added,that few plan 

 force better or more rapidly, and that the tendc 

 shoots so produced make a delicate and high ill 

 voured pot-herb, resembling the points uf tli 

 shoots of pumpkin. 



The nettle is much valued in Holland, where ii 

 young shoots are used as pot-herbs ; its roots f( 

 dyeing yellow ; where the horse-dealers give th 

 seeds to horses to make them brisk, and give thei 

 a fine skin : and where considerable portions ( 

 fields arc planted with it, and mown five or si 

 times a-year, as green food. The acorn, in forei 

 districts, in Saxony, is successfully used to fattc 

 sheep during the winter. A writer in a Bavarie 

 journal recommends sowing borage, and when 

 is full grown plougliiiig it down as manure, th 

 good effects of which he has proved by long e> 

 perience. What renders it preferable to mostothe 

 plants for this purpose, is the great quantity ( 

 soda and other salts which it contains ; it may b 

 sown in April, and ploughed down in August, i 

 time to be followed by wlieat. 



[Philadelphia National Gazette.] 



Within the last few years upwards of 250,00 

 workmen, belonging to the manufacturing district 

 in Germany, have emigrated into Poland. 



