lol. v.— No. "^'2. 



Ni:W KNGLAfSID FAKMEU. 



251 



^lieiiif MARSMICS. 



Fesse.vdex, — I read in your paper of the 

 1st. a coniiiiunication IVoiii tlie lion. Juii.n 

 LKs, from wliicli I learn t'roin snch int'orina- 

 3 ho has been able to obtain, "tlie unil'orm re- 

 al' diking out the sea from salt marshes has 

 decisively disadvantageous." Believing 



"ol'ji ,er investigation of this subject may lead to 



* mt 



usefi.l knowledge, by which those who ui' 

 ed to inalce the experiment may be able with 

 certainty to calculate upon the result, either 

 the situation of the marshes, or from other 

 es, is my inducement to communicate to you 

 esult of several e.\pcriments in this town, 

 early as l/^Jl', the proprietors of Flits and 

 Marshes in the Little IJarbor of Cohasset, as 

 ted tor the purpose of diking out the sea 

 the marshes, and to regulate the flowing of 

 ower flats for t!ce purpose of producing sedge 

 louch grass. The dam or dike was built, but 

 some accident or neglect was suflered to do- 

 In 179'3 the proprietors rebuilt the dam and 

 Ipletely succeeded in converting the meadows 



ler those inducements which were for ...Tly so of le.iMrkably sAoet juice, couM be pressed from 

 strong lor its culture. In quality it is surpassed a single joint, near Uic bottom of the plant; this 

 by other sorts. It was uncertain rJ,') years ayo as solves the inquiry respecting tiie object of the 

 to Its origin, though generally said to be from flies, and perhaps may lead to results of greater 

 .South America. Ol course I fear your correspond- importance. 



ent's question will not be satisfactorily answered ' Cullings from two or three of the lower joint* 

 in this particular. The nc.\t question your cor- were saved, for the purpose of having them com- 

 respondent asks is " as to a composition of lime, plelely pressed ; but this, on account of their ripe 

 sugar, &c. us a substitute for oil painting on state, their hard cane-like .'ibres, and mv want of 



liouses. 

 There was what was thought a very useful dis- 



proper moans, was found to be a diflicult task 



(This delayed, for a few day.s, the completion of 



covcry made by a French Chemist communicated the experiment, and during this period, it was 

 to a literary society,which was tr:inslated, abridg- found, that the juice in the°plant, had uuder^one 



ed and circulated in this country. Tlie materia 

 were sugar, rozin, oil, lime and skim miik. Th 



the acetous and putrefactive fermentation, which 

 prevents the ascertaining thf quantity and qnali- 



Prench writer spoke highly of it from /.{.» e j:;)m- j ty of the sugar, by evaporation and crystalli^a 



ence. In Connecticut particularly and here also it j tion, as had been determined. 



was considerably used. As the chemist gave the j Considering that sugar is an article 



in increas- 



niatcrials there could be no mistake but from dif- jing demand, that the daily improvements making 

 ference of climate. It very little if at all exceeded j in the old branches of agriculture, are reducing 

 commo7i u'hile wash, and cannot be recoinmended the profits of the farmer to minimum, and that su- 



*l 



ar, in smaller or larger quantities is found in 

 many vegetables; would it not be wise ii our ag- 



for use 

 There is however a combination of materials d 

 lUt 101) acres) into English grass which from Icorered by Mr Hall of Boston for which he is a- I liculturis'ts, throughout the union, to make expefi 

 time to the present, lia« yielded a more cer- bout to procure a patent. To this, probably, your j ments upon the cultivation of sugar. The quanti 

 ■ ' ' ' "'--'■ correspondent alludes, and herein we hope a bet- ' ... 



ter result. Yours, W. 



Dorchester, Feb. 2), 1837. 



crop than almost any other land. None of 



Imeadows extend further than 30 rods from the 



lud and abound with fresh water springs. — 



bre is also another body of meadows, near the 



pent harbor of Co!ias.«ct, from which the sea 



diked and with equal success, about the same 



These meadows naturally yielded red and 



top with a variety of other grasses. More 



sntly a mill pond lying between Cohasset and 



|11 has been diked, and with the same success, 



standing grass upon which the last year,when 



luplands it generally failed in consequence of the 



lught. sold for upwards of ;j50(.i. These are the 



Jy experiments known in this neighborhood, 



Im which it is thought we may fairly infer, that 



" some situations salt marshes may be diked to 



pantage. I would remark howevtr, that in one 



•tance an attempt was qiade to improve a piece 



these meadows by ploughing which did not suc- 



'•d. Yours, D. 



Cohasset, Feb. ].=>, Ifc27. 



LA PLATA POTATOES. 

 Mr Fesse.ndem, — I have seen no answer to 

 ur correspondent M. in your pa[)er of l~th Jan- 

 ry last. I should be as well pleased as he, or 

 u could he, to know the origin of what is now 

 ■lied the La Plata Potato. But such has been 



Mr Fessenden — Should you think the follow- 

 ing extract from the " I'ranklin Journal" worthy 

 the notice of your readers, you will gratify one at 

 least of your subscribers, by giving it place in 

 your useful paper. A FARMER. 



}yest Boylslon, Feb. 24, 1827. 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE PRODUCTION 

 OF SUGAR, AS AN APPPNDAGE TO 



COMMON FARMING. 

 It is a general, but probably an incorrect opin- 

 ion, that the sugar cane, saccharum ojjlcinarum. 

 and a tropical climate, are our whole dependence, 

 for an abundant supply of sugar. It is t'ue that 

 sunshine and heat, are essential to the production 

 of vegetable oils, salts, resins, &c. but it is equally 



qua 

 ty contained in broom corn, convinces me tliat 

 this plant is of sufiicient consequence to command 

 their attention, and to procure for it a general and 

 careful trial. The thing i.s deserving of experi- 

 ment, at the north as well as at the south. The 

 plant grows in every state in the union. It is 

 probable that the advantage will be with those 

 who have most heat and sunshine, provided the 

 people are equ.-illy industrious, and have this in. 

 dustry under tlieir guidance of equal skill and in- 

 telligence ; for, in all comparisons of this kind 

 there must be taken into the calculation, as in 

 many instances, they have power, to more than 

 compensate for some deficiency in natural advan- 

 tages. 



EXTRAORDINARY RISE OF THE RIO DE 

 LA PLATA. 



In April 179.3, a violent wind heaped up the im- 

 mense ujass of waters of this river to a distance of 

 true, that all these are produced throughoiit the j ten leages, so that the whole country was sub- 

 whole temperate zone ; and would it not be arro- i mersed, and the bed of the river remained dry 

 gant to say, that every discovery an'J improvement {in such a manner that it might be walked over 

 of which agriculture is susceptible, has been al-i with dry feel. The vessels which had foundered 

 ready made ? Agriculture, like all other ar^», when ' ""d sunk were all exposed again, and there was 



united to the scie 'res, will give resMJt,-- of which 

 we, at present, cannot form any conjecture ; and, 

 I am convinced that the time w ill come, when su- 

 apse of time since its introduction that I fear | par will be obtained from plan's not at present cul- 

 dditional knowledge can be had, however fer- j tivated for that purpose, and eapalde of being rais- 

 My ex]jerience ^d throughout an extent of country, not now sup- 



ntly w e may wish otherwise 

 s been as follows : — about '^5 years ago, I 

 Id that some one not far off hid a potato called 

 e Long Bed which pro.luced wondeifidly. I 

 nt and procured some of the seed. When the 

 le crop was gathered, the product was truly as- 

 mishing. They were large and linked together 

 [i such irregular &nd various forms, that most of 

 lie letters of thr; .alphabet might have been select- 

 d with tolersbie precision. When offered at the 

 able they were found so v/atery that it was soon 

 iniversally admitted that they were fit for cattle 

 nd swine only. 



After a fery years these began to decrease in 

 umiher and siz-^, and it was then said that the po. 

 ato had improved, and in the spring one end of it 

 pas mealy and fit for the table. Certain it is that 

 he great superiority of the crop has failed to of- 



as posed possible. 



These observations were sucge^ted by the fol- 

 lowing circumstance : late last fall, there had 

 been some sharp frosty nights, succee^ied by hot 

 sunshiny days ; on one of these, I noticed a vast 

 number of flies, of various kinds, swarming about 

 some bundles of broom corn, holcus sorghum, that 

 had been recently cut down ; it was evident that 

 they were allured by something in which they 

 were much interested. I at first imagined that 



found among others, an English vessel which had 

 perished in 17()2. Many people descended into 

 this bed, visited and spoiled the vessels thus laid 

 dry, and returned with their pockets filled with 

 silver and other precious articles which had been 

 buried more than thirty years in the deep. This 

 phenomenon lasted three days, at the expiration of 

 which the wind abated, and tlie waters returned 

 with fury into their natural bed. [Lon. Mec. Ma^.l 



Berkshire High School — The public will be 

 gratified to henr that a school of this character is 

 in a state of forwardness in Pittsfield, Mass. and 

 will be opened on the first day of June next. 



The large and beautiful ground, containing 20 

 acres, lately occupied as a Cantonment by the U- 



,L „ , , 1 k u a- 1 J I *i . IT L J "''^o -States, and sufficiently removed from the 



the heat and shelter, afforded by the stalks, had ; .,, . u ■ , c , ' 



. - , , ., . .... • .• village, has been purchased of the government for 



brought them together ; but upon examination, no 1, ■ , ■ , . , , ,, 



^, ., J ^ e .1 ,./, ; this purpose, and very expensive brick buildinffs 



remarkable degree of warmth was perceplib e : i ,■ \u « v.- , , r. t. ^ 



'^ ■' t_ • ,! are erecting thereon. A distinguished Professor 



heat and shelter therefore could not be their oh 

 ject ; food next occurred as the subject of their at- 

 tention, and upon carefully examining the stems, I 

 found that on twisting thera hard, a table spoonful 



iguished Professor 

 j of one of our Colleges has been engaged to con- 

 j duct the school as Principal, and the ablest and 

 best qualified assistants in nil the requisite branch- 

 es of education will also be employed. 



