FARMERS' REGISTER— STEAM-BOILER— TREES, &c. 



381 



INQUIRY. 



From the Lynchburg Virrlnian. 



What has become of the fVeevil ? 



About twenty years past, the black weevil were 

 very numerous ; they decreased gradually, and I 

 have not seen one lor eight or ten years. The 

 white weevil have likewise been numerous till last 

 year, when none appeared; neither are any to be 

 seen this year. There is another kind of weevil 

 which I have known to do considerable damage ; 

 they are about one third the size of the white wee- 

 vil, of dark color, slender, and have feelers like a 

 wasp ; these have likewise disappeared for several 

 years. 



I have not this year seen a single Tobacco Fly. 



It is requested that inquiry be made throughout 

 the United States, through means of the newspa- 

 pers, whether or not these insects are yet to be 

 found in our land; and if so, where.' From an in- 

 quiry and investigation of thissubject, benefit may 

 arise other than that of gratifying curiosity. 



Amherst, Va. Oc<o6er 1833. 



they gained three pounds when fed on the former, 

 wliere they only gained two pounds when fed on 

 the latter. We are fully of opinion, that steam- 

 boiling food, for feeding all sorts of cattle, general- 

 ly increases the value of the food, as much as forty 

 or fifty per cent. 



We are induced to lay this down as a general 

 rule, that all kinds of food, AVhcther for man or 

 beast, is more or less improved on its nutrimental 

 qualities, by being boiled. This is evidently the 

 case, in regard either to grain or roots : and we be- 

 lieve that every kind of vegetable matter, even 

 green grass itself, will be found much improved as 

 a food for cattle, when it has been sufficiently sub- 

 jected to the operation of the steamboiler. But, 

 whether the additional expense thus incurred, 

 would, in all cases, be found overbalanced by the 

 additional value thus given to the food, must de- 

 pend on the result of experiments to be fairly and 

 properly made. 



STEAMBOILER. 



Extract froniThe Fanners' Assistant — by Jnhn Nicholson, Esq. 



This is an implement that no Farmer or Planter 

 should be without, as potatoes, particularlj', are 

 nearly doubled in value, for feeding and fattening 

 when boiled. Turnips and other roots, and pump- 

 kins, are also much improved, as food for cattle, by 

 a similar process. 



Boiled clover-hay is found very good for keeping 

 swine, during winter; and we are of opinion that 

 if milch cows were fed on it, during that season, it 

 would greatly improve the quantity of their milk, 

 and keep them in better order, than when fed dry to 

 them. We believe this to be well worthy of a fair 

 experiment, by having a vat, or box, to hold the 

 hay, sufficiently large for the purpose. 



A steamboiler is commonly made by setting a 

 kettle holding twelve gallons or more, in a furnace, 

 of brick or stone, and over this a hogshead, with one 

 head taken out, and the other bored full of holes, is 

 set so close that the steam of the kettle, when boil- 

 ing, can only rise through the holes, and thence as- 

 cend among the articles to be boiled in the hogs- 

 head, and pass off at the top. In this way a hogs- 

 head full of potatoes will be nearly as soon boiled, 

 as a small part of them only could have been, if 

 placed in the kettle underneath. 



As the kettle must be so closed as to prevent any 

 steam passing off, but through the bottom of the 

 hogshead or vat, a pipe or tube must be set in one 

 side, through which, with the aid of a funnel, the 

 water is to be poured into the kettle, as often as oc- 

 casion may require. When poured in, the tube 

 is to be stopped, with a plug prepared for the pur- 

 pose. 



Grain of all kinds may be steamboiled to great 

 advantage, for feeding and fattening cattle; but, in 

 that case, it is requisite to have the bottom of the 

 hogshead covered with a cloth, to prevent the grain 

 running down through the holes. 



By experiments which have been accurately 

 made, in Pennsylvania, upon Indian corn and po- 

 tatoes, used for fatting swine, it was found that 



TRANSPLANTING TREES. 



From the New England Farmer. 

 Mr. Fessenden : — Much difference of opinion 

 has existed, as to the advantages of spring and fall 

 planting of trees, &c. Spring being the season 

 when our feelings are the most awakened to plea- 

 surable sensations, and when we take the most sat- 

 isfaction in making our rural improvements, it 

 has, from that circumstance, probably arisen, that 

 it is generally selected as the season for transplant- 

 in^trees. 



Experience however has proved, that planta- 

 tions formed in autumn, are far the most success- 

 ful ; and in all climates where the excessive cold, 

 or the delicacy of the trees are not insurmountable 

 objections, the fall planting is to be preferred. It 

 allows a sufficient period for the ground to become 

 settled and compact about the roots; and the latter 

 become prepared, during the same space of time, 

 to throw out the small fibrous roots whose vegeta- 

 tion cominences at the first return of spring, un- 

 interrupted by any retardment which a spring re- 

 moval is calculated to produce. Their growth, in 

 such case, seems unaffected by the transition; and 

 the settled state of the earth, which allows the 

 young roots to extend themselves promptly, forms 

 a powerful protection against the effects of drought, 

 whereas, when they are removed in the spring, the 

 looseness of the earth, for a considerable period, 

 retards the advance of vegetation, and renders 

 them liable to much injury ; thereby causing many 

 trees entirely to fail, unless they are nourished by 

 frequent waterings. Cherry trees, of which a large 

 proportion perish in the spring, are generally 

 transplanted with success in the autumn ; but not- 

 withstanding my flither has, for more than thirty 

 years, stated these facts in public communications, 

 still many omit to pursue the course advised, and 

 gi'eat annual losses result to the public. 



With regard, however, to those fruits that have 

 been originally brought from warmer climates, — 

 such as the peach, apricot, nectarine, and almond, 

 which are natives of Persia, Armenia, &c. — it is 

 necessary for us to consult the operations of cli- 

 mate also ; and from a consideration of the attend- 

 ant circumstances, I have come to the following: 



they increased in weight one third faster on the I conclusion : — In localities south of New York, the 

 boiled, than on the unboiled food; or in other words, I fall is preferable for transplanting all trees : north 



