U6 



NEW ENGLAND FAilMEK. 



May IS. 18->7. 



NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 

 This plant, (the Plioimium Tenax of naturalists) 

 is employed by the natives of New Zealand in the 

 manufacture of their apparel, conl;i»-e, and for all 

 those purposes to which iiemp snd flax are employ- 

 ed in other countries ; which hitter it also greatly 

 oxcels. Of this plant there are two sorts ; — one 

 bearing a red flower, the other a yellow. The 

 leaves of both are similar to those of the common 

 flax plant, but the flowers are smaller, ami their 

 clusters more numerous. The Zealanders obtain 

 the flax from them by very simple and oxpeditioup 

 means. The fibres are beautifully fine and white, 

 shining like silk ; the cordage made from it was 

 found to be much stronger than anything produc- 

 ed with hemp. Plants of three years old will, on 

 an average, yield 36 leaves, besides a considerable 

 increase of oft'-acts ; which leaves being cut down 

 at the time of clearing the quarters in the autumn, 

 are found to spring up again the following sum- 

 mer. Six leaves have produced one ounce of fibres 

 when scutched perfectly clean and dry ; at which 

 rate an acre of land planted with this crop, at 3 

 feet distance, plant from plant, will yield rather 

 more than si.xteen hundred weight per acre, which 

 is a very great produce, compiirod with that of ei- 

 ther flax or hemp. 



New Zealand flax may be scutched with little 

 labor or trouble. The leaves should be cut when 

 full grown, and macerated tor a few days in stag- 

 nant water, and then passed under a roller mach'.ne 

 properly weighed. By this process the fibres be- 

 come separated, and if washed in a running stream 

 they will instantly becomo v^hito. When the fibres 

 are thus scutched clean and dry, any kind of fric- 

 don will cause ihem to divide inio any degree of 

 fineness in the harle, so far even as to cotlonizc ; 

 whereby it is fitted to all the purposes to which 

 hemp and flax are adapted. 



A fine specimen of this plant may be seen at Mr 

 Ploy's nursery. New York. We are not aware of 

 any objection to its cultivalon in the United States. 

 It will grow in eillier a dry or moist soil ; on a hill, 

 or in a valley, but most luxnriantly where there is 

 abundance of moisture. We understand it was in 

 ;ultivation, last year, in several parts of England. 

 .JV. Y. Salurday Gazette. 



(t/^A fine specimen of the New Zealand flax 

 may be seen likewise in the extensive garden of 

 Gardiner Greene, Esq. in this city. — Ed. Farmer. 



CULTIVATION OF HEMP. 



Until we saw the following letter in Kites' Ro- 

 n-jsier of the 3Sth ult. we were not aware that 

 Hemp had become so prominent an object of agri- 

 culture, in our neighborhood, as it indicates ; and 

 4)resuming the facts stated by the writer arc cor- 

 •rect, we hope, ere long, to see the attention of 

 our farmers more directed to the ciiiltivation of so 

 important and profitable a crop th;in it has here 

 tofore been : more particularly as the raising of 

 hemp (even at one half the price stated iu the let- 

 ter, and in the absence of a foreign market for 

 our present staple articles of produce) -vill be 

 much more advantageous to our farmers t^an any 

 thing they can turn their attention to. The pres 

 ont season promises to be particularly favorable 

 to the cultivation of Hemp. ' 



Saratoga county, JVew York, April 10, 1827. 

 Dear Sir — Having observed many of yoar re- 

 marks on the products of agricuUure, which indi- 

 cate the deep interest you feel in the prosperity 

 oC that important branch of industry, and presum- 



ing that any information having a tendency to pro- 

 mote it, would be acceptable to you, I take the 

 liberty to submit to your consideration the follow- 

 ing statement in regard to the culture of hemp. 



In the spring of 182,5, a few bushels of hemp seed | the summer sun afforded by their branches, 

 were brought into this vicinity, which was sownUveary traveller has often blessed the liberalil 

 and planted for the purpose of obtaining seed : i tlie citizen who has converted the dusty roadi 

 the quantity of seed raised the first year was ] a fair avenue of green, and bordered his poi 



SHADE TREES. 

 The beauty of those portions of our high<d 

 which have been planted with trees, is ackn 

 edged by all who enjoy the pleasant shelter 



about aOO bushels. In the spring of J896 the aOO 

 bushels were sown and planted as before, and al 

 though both seasons were very unfavorable on ac- 



sions with the stalely plants from the foreil 

 Yet too often, to use the words of the historian.. 

 Lancaster, the sage advice of the Laird ofDalfc. '''' 



;ount of severe drought, there was raised about j baedike's death-bed admonition to his son 



l,2n0 bushels of seed, and about 25 tons of Uomp. 

 Hemp seed has sold, this season, generally, for 

 four dollars per bushel. There will be sown the 

 present season in this vicinity, six hundred acres 

 — which will probably produce 30,000 dollars 

 worth of hemp and seed. It does not require more 

 labour per acre than a crop of wheat. Hemp is 

 dressed hi) a machine ivilhout rotting and meets 

 with a ready sale in market. Last season one and 

 a half acres produced 160 dollars worth of hemp 

 and seed, exclusive of the premium for dressing. 

 The premium for dressing unrotted hemp is one 

 third. You are at liberty to make such comments 

 or such use of the above facts as yen think will 

 promote the general good. — Troy Register. 



DOOR YARDS. 



Some people pretend that a man's character 

 may be learned from the shape of his nose, or the 

 shape of his head. Honest people may bo per- 

 mitted to doubt whether this is so ; but that a 

 man's character, in some particulars, may be 

 learned from the appearance of his door yard, no 

 roasonnble man can doubt. It is suggestc 1 in 

 the new Williamstown paper, that one reason 

 why so many door yards are neglected, is that it 

 is a spot of doubtful jurisdiction, neither fallino 

 exactly within the scope of the Vv'ord "farm,'^ 

 which it is tiie province of the man to oversee, 

 nor being properly in the house, where the woman 

 roigns, but if there is any question of this sort it 

 ought to be settled without delay, for a slovenly 

 door vard is a pretty infallible indication of a slov- 

 enly farmer, a slovenly wife, and a slovenly house. 

 Old loaves, sticks, chips, bones and old weeds, a 

 broken, falling fence, in short any thing but o 

 neat door yard is a suspicious circumstance. The 



been neglected — " Jock, when ye hae naetl 

 else to do, ye may be aye sticking in a tree 

 will be growing, Jock, when ye're sleopin^ 

 father tauld me sae forty years sin', but I ni 

 found time to mind hira." A slight portion of 

 bor bestowed by each individual upon the marl 

 of his lands, would convert the dusty roads of 

 country into elegant and shady walks, equally 

 lightful to the eye, and refreshing to the o' 

 senses. In relation to utility, the planting of 

 ble elms or stately maples by the way side, 

 great claims. The larger part of those lat 

 which are subjected to the right of passage vi 

 ed in the public, are encumbered with stones, 

 overgrown by briars and weeds : they might 

 made productive of valuable timber, to be ui 

 when the fires scattered over the face of 

 country have dispersed the forests that have Ci 

 ered the soil, to the winds. 



It is not alone the way-sides that are ncglec 

 Those inclosures appropriated for the the sep' 

 chres of the departed, 



" The cities of the silent, unto tuhich 

 They must go down that are in goodness riph,'' < 

 arc usually places abandoned to every unsightly 

 bramble that roots in soil which should be conse- 

 crated from the intrusion. The burial grounds of 

 New-England, while, they dishonor the dead, res 

 proach the living. How much more fit to cher- 

 ish the recollection of lost friends, and to ia-. 

 spire appropriate reflections would they becomtjf, 

 if the remains of those we have loved and respeci 

 ted, were placed in their last repose beneath the 

 shadow of noble trees; if instead of exciting erao* 

 tions of disgust by their rudeness, they ornamen- 

 ted the landscape with objects of loveliness. 



he remedy for the wasteful neglect alluded to,' 



paper aforesaid suggests that " without entering 



on the delicate question of right, that this prov- i might probably be found by our Agricultural So- ^ 

 ince be made over to the ladies; and that they cieties, if they would offer premiums to the in-'. 

 Iiave full power to call upon any idle man or boy dividuals who vvould serve the public and them- 

 about the house to aid and abet them in its due selves by planting their lands bordering on the 

 regulation." highways, with suitable trees. The eflfect of such 



We think this a good proposition, for where | encouragement might soon be seen, and wouM be 

 there is neither an idle man or an idle boy, the I the best remuneration for the expenditure of an 

 door yard is as neat as wax work. — Springfield pa. j inconsiderable portion of those funds derived from 



the public treasury to be appropriated to promote 



BROOM CORN. 



Although the price of this valuable article 

 has been very \c>\\ since the last crop, those who 

 cultivate it are not discouraged, but will we un- 

 derstand, plant about the same quantity of land as 



the improvement of the face of the earth. 



[National ^Egis.] 



THE LOCUST TREE. 

 Not many of the natives of the forest rival the 

 last year. — Broom corn would probably become an j Locust in beauty and foliage, and none are more 



article of commerce, to some extent if Great Brit, 

 ain did not exclude it from her dominions. She 

 cannot raise a pound of it, but should it be import- 

 ed from the U. States, it would interfere with the 

 business of her brush and twig broom makers. It 

 is stated that one nobleman has estates from which 

 the sale of brooms made of birch twigs amounts 

 to 57,000 dollars a year. [Hampshire Gaz.] 



valuable for timber. Its durability and hardness 

 render it particularly suitable for application to 

 the purposes of the arts in ship building and nia- 

 chinery, and for the uses of rural economy in the 

 construction of fences. Unlike most other trees, 

 it invites the grass to grow under it : its small 

 and rounded leaves afford shade from the scorch- 

 ing rays of the sun, retain the moisture of shower.? 



