NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Published by John B. Ku»SELi..at Wo; r)i ^\lortii .Market Wtreot, (over tiie Agricultural Warehouse.) Tbomas G. Pessewden Editor. 



VOL. V. 



BO.STON, FRIDAY, JULY 13, 1827. 



No. 51. 



AGlllCULTUllE. 



From Loudon's Gardener's Magazine. 



Sai-ing Gariten Seeds b;/ Gentlemen's Garden- 

 ers. Z?.'/ an Gill Gardener. 



H — Some gentlemen require tiicir {fardencr; 



save nil their own seeds, aud tliat from oie 



den, particularly if the fjarden is of considei a- 



2 ; and in case of failure from wet or t rv 



5, suchns the last, the gardener, if unfir- 



atcly he cannot save enough of seeds for 1 is 



, incurs his master's displeasure, if not his d s- 

 . My object is to show to those gentlen: in 

 t t!ie thing cannot be done beyond the con- 

 nest soi-ts of peas, beans, potatoes, &c. Mt ly 

 itlcmen are not aware that tlic seeds of tie 

 olc Irilje of Brassi.'^a plants, including all be 



eties of cabbage, caulifloner, brocoli, Brussd;: 

 outs, brocole, savoy, turnip, &c. &c. will 1 B- 

 oe hybridised by the pollen of the flowers co5- 



in contact promiscuously. As most of th( le 

 nts flower at the same time, not only the wis!, 



the bees, butterflies, and other insects, se 

 licient to eflect an intermixture of the polld. 



the whole be in one garden, the saving te 

 ds of such a variety of sorts .as are w-anted y 



gardener cannot possibly be accomplished ; a 

 appointment not easily to be endured must taK 

 ce. To have his cauliflowers genuine ani 

 ly, his brocoli of sorts (six at least) true, hs 

 ^bage early and l.nte, so as not to disappoinl 

 i at the time they are most wanted ; his tiir- 

 s of the different varieties, not to mention iet- 

 e, radishes, onions, carrots, &c. — which, it is 

 U known, are as easily hybridised by proximity 

 the Brassica tribe, — is not possible, unless the 

 rds aie saved from plants growing at proper 

 tances from each other ; and I maintain that 

 ■ limits of any garden, however large, do not' 

 jiit of their being placed at this distance. Per- 

 3s a garden of ten acres, (and there are very 

 V in the country wliich can boast of such an ex- 

 it.) may be thought by many to answer all llie 

 rposcs of seed saving: but it is a well known 

 t, t;iat an intermixture of the pollen has been 

 3Cted at a much greater distance than such a 

 rden will aflbrd ; consequently, disappointmertts 

 St ensue of a rafiire calculated to endanger the 

 rdener in his situation. The established nur- 

 y and seedsmen of celebrity round the metrop- 

 5 may always be depended upon for correctness 

 their different varieties of seeds, as their credit 



success in trade depends on their particular 



ention to that department of their business. 



t how do they maintain this credit? It may not 

 known to many gentlemen, that the nurseiy- 

 n do not save all their own seeds, for the very 

 ne reason that the gardener cannot ; namely, 

 the vvaiit of extent, ind yet there are several 

 rstties above €0, and some above 100 acres. 



wer seeds may w-ith greater facility be ob- 

 ned, where there is a Iar<re flov,'erjarden, and 

 season favorable for ripi ning ; but in many 

 ts of the country ten.'er annuals, when planted 

 t in the uo< er garden, will not in wet seasons 

 en their seei'i and seed-uods, and the withered 



rers that nrces^arilv acccmpany them are at 



' all times unsightly in such a situation. B:it sup- 

 ' pose beauty no object, sliU in a wet season, or 

 ; when by any other cause a crop fails, the garden- 

 i cr can have no alternative but to apply to the 

 nurseryman for a supply for the ensuing year ; 

 and that gardener must be hardly dealt with, if, 

 notwithstanding the reasons above stated, his em- 

 ployer insists upon his saving all his seeds. 

 , To conclude, I maintain that the business of 

 seed saving is quite a diflbreiit branch of horticul- 

 ture from that professed by gentlemen's garden- 

 ers, whose business it is to obtain and furnish for 

 their master's tables every tiling in as well as o<il 

 I of season, especially where farcing is carried on 

 to any extent, and not to keop things back to ma- 

 ture their seeds for another season. 

 I I am. Sir, &c. 



j A\ Old Gardener. 



It would bo easy to point out the utter impossi- 

 bility of any gardener saving the whole, or even 

 any considerable part of his garden seeds, and at 

 tlie same time having the sorts true to their char- 

 acters. How very easily varieties of the Brassi- 

 ci family may be contaminated, and v.'hat impor- 

 tint consequences result from their contamina- 

 tion, may be seen in a long account of a lav;. suit 

 oa the subject, in the Fanner's Magaiiine, vol. s. 

 f. a. A garden of 5000 acres would not be sufE- 

 cicnt to admit of a gardener saving the requisite 

 varieties of Broccoli with the certainty of having 

 ihora true, since it is proved that bees will go two 

 niles in quest of flowers. Hence the great care 

 of the London seedsmen in having tlieiv seeds 



Svivn in diflereiU parts of the country, distant 

 It. each other. We should, however, be "lad 

 first ,0 hear what can be said on this subject by 

 girdeners of more experience than ourselves. 

 [Editor.] 



BARN YARDS. 



These are small pieces of inclosed ground, con- 



uous to a barn, in which cattle are usually 



kejt. They should have a high, close, and strong 



fc ice, Uoih to shelter the beasls from the force of 



dtviiig storms, and to keep the most unruly ones 



m breaking out. By the lielp of these yards, a 



r may prouigicusly increase his quantity of 



nure, if he will be careful to take the right 



thods. 



the ground of a yard for this purpose should 



ol such a siiape as.to retain all the manure, or 



pi;vciit its being Washed away by rains. It should 



lowest in tlie middle ; or at least so high on 



the sides, that even the greatest rains shall not 



ry away any of the manure. This is a matter 



so much importance, that it may be well worth 



while to form the ground to the right shape, 



where nature has not done it. 



A yard should be larger or smaller in propor- 

 tion to the stock that is kept in it. A small one 

 is had, as the cattle will be more apt to push and 

 hurt one another. A large one is more favoura- 

 uieto ihs Uesign of making abundance of manure. 

 .Not ui.ly shoula ttie yard be contiguous to the 

 Darn, but as many of the other out-houses as con- 

 veniently may be should be placed on the sides of 

 the yard, especially those of them which aff'ord 

 manure or rr.bbish, as the hog-sty, &,c. ' 



tij 



Many, who have good farm yards, are not so 

 careful as they should be to make. the greatest 

 advantage by them, by confining the cattle con- 

 tinually in thorn, during the foddering season 



The practice of driving cattle to water, at a dis- 

 tance, is attended v.-ith great loss of manure. In- 

 stead of continuing in this absurd practice, the 

 well that servos t!ie house, or one dug for the pur- 

 pose, should be so near the yard, that a watering 

 trough may r.^ach from it into the yard. Some 

 have a well h) the yard ; but this is not so advisa- 

 ble, as the water may become imrregnated with 

 the excrements of the cattle, and rendered less 

 pal-teable. lie that has a large stock, may save 

 enough in manure in this way, in ono year, to pay 

 him for mafing a well of a moderate depth : Be- 

 sides securBig the advantage of having his cattle 

 under his eye ; and v.f preventing their- straggling 

 away, as they sometimes do. Innumerable are 

 the accidents to which a stock are exposed, by 

 going to wjicring places, in winter without a dri- 

 ver, Ks they commonly do. And oftentimes, by 

 means of sno-.v and ice, the difficulty is so great, 

 as to discourage them from going to the water ; 

 the consequence is, that they suffer for want of 

 drink, andtlis owner is ignorant of it. All these 

 things pleatl strongly in favor of the mode of wa- 

 tering I hiive here recommended. They should 

 not be let in!, even when the ground i^i bare-: for 

 what they get willm.Tko them to winter the v.'oreo : 

 and t!:ey vw'.I damage the fields. 



There shcjld be more yards than ono to a barn. 

 where div«K'.«crts of rattle ate kept. The sheejj 

 should Jiave a }'ard by themselves, at least ; and 

 the young stock another, that they may be wholly 

 confined to sucii fodder as the former can afford 

 them. But the principal yard may be for the 

 cov/s, oxen, calves aad horses. And the water 

 from the well may be led into eacli of these yards 

 by wooden gutters. 



If the soil of the yard bo clay, or a pan of very 

 hard earth, it will be the more fit for the purpose 

 of making manure, as the excrements of the cat- 

 tle will not bo so apt to soak deep into it. Other- 

 wise a layer of clay may bo laid on to retain the 

 stale, and the wash of the dung, which otherwise 

 would be almost entirely lost. 



Some farmers seem wel pleased to have a wash 

 run away from their barns upon the contiguous 

 sloping lands. But they are not aware how much 

 thsy lose by it. A small quantity of land, by 

 means of it, may be made too rich. But the quan- 

 tity of manure that is expended in doing it, if oth- 

 erwise employed, might be vastly more advanta- 

 geous ; especially if it were so confined as to be 

 incorporated with a variety of absorbent and dis- 

 solvable substances ; and afterwards laid on those 

 parts of the farm where it is most wanted. 



It is best, in this climate, that a barn yard should 

 be on the south side of a barn. It being less 

 shaded, the manure will make the faster, as it will 

 be free from frost a greater part of the year, and 

 consequently have a longer time to ferment in. — 

 The feet of the cattle will also mix the materials 

 the more, which are thrown into the yard, and 

 wear them to pieces,so that they will become short 

 and fine 

 After the yard is cleaned in the spring, the 



