698 FARMERS' REGISTER— LARGEST TREE— CULTURE OF BARLEY. 



Mr. Moor's land, which we have examined, is 

 about 60 acres, chiefly swamps and meadow hind. 

 In 1826 the produce was equal to keeping; one cow. 

 n 830, 1831, 1832, and 1833, there were from 40 

 to 50 tons of Englisli hay cut annually. This land 

 lies about half a mile east of Concord meetinf.^ 

 house, and is known to a large portion of the coun- 

 ty. The mode of cultivation has been first by ta- 

 king from the soil from 6 to 10 inches, then level- 

 ling with sand or gravel, and spreading manure ; 

 second, by ploughing and hoeing ; third, by lev- 

 elling the ground with the hoe and covering with 

 sand or gravel and manure. The last mode is 

 thought to be the best, it being less labor ; and fre- 

 quently covering it with a little gravel and ma- 

 nure, it will alsvays hold good. Some of this land 

 is worth from 100 to 150 dollars per acre; bearing 

 from H to 2\ tons per acre, which for seven years 

 previous the income was not one cent per acre. It 

 is difficult to ascertain the expense of reclaiming 

 an acre of this land ; but no man need fear to un- 

 dertake it, for it will amply compensate him for his 

 labor. Your Committee are of opinion, that if 

 more labor was laid out on swamps and meadow 

 lands, that do not produce any wood, and less on 

 high and rocky land that might produce wood, it 

 ■would be much for the interest of the farmer and 

 country at large. Although but two applications 

 ■were n^ade us to examine farms, your Committee 

 did not pass by any without casting an eye on them : 

 they are happy to say that many of the farms made 

 a fine appearance, and as they had two premiums 

 not disposed of, they would have been willing to 

 have awarded them if application had been made. 

 There vvei'e many farms which needed great im- 

 provements, and the Committee would recommend 

 their owners to double their diligence, that they 

 may obtain premiums ; they would also strongly 

 recommend to farmers and all otiiers a little atten- 

 tion to their door-yards, and the highway near 

 their houses. A little time spent in removing such 

 things as are not necessary, would add much to 

 the appearance of the situation, and to the conve- 

 f^ience of their visiters. 



THE LARGEST TREE IN THE WORLD. 



From the Cabinet Library. 



The boabab or monkey-bread (^j^dansonia di- 

 gitatd) is the most gigantic tree hitherto discov- 

 ered. The trunk, though frequently eighty feet 

 in circumference, rarely exceeds twelve or fifteen 

 in height; but on the summit of this huge pillar 

 is placed a majestic head of innumerable branches 

 fifty or sixty feet long, each resembling an enor- 

 mous tree, densely clothed with beautiful green 

 leaves. While the central branches are erected 

 the lowest series extend in a horizontal direction, 

 often touching the ground at their extremity ; so 

 that the whole forms a splendid arch of foliage, 

 more like the fragment of a forest than a single 

 tree. The grateful shade of this superb canopy is 

 a favorite retreat of birds and monkeys ; the na- 

 tives resort to it for repose, and the weary travel- 

 ler in a burning climate gladly flies to it for shel- 

 ter. The leaves are quinate, smooth, resembling 

 in general form those of the horse chesnut. The 

 flowers are white and very beautiful, eighteen in- 

 ches in circumference. The fi-uit, which hangs in 

 a pendant manner, is a woody gourd-like capsule 

 with a downy surface, about nine inches in length 

 and four in thickness^ containing numerous cells, 



in which brown kidney-shaped seeds are imbed- 

 ded, in a pulpy acid substance. The timber is soft 

 and spongy, and we are not aware that it is used 

 for any economical purpose. It is very easily 

 perforated, so that, according to Bruce, the bees in 

 Abyssinia construct their nests within it, and the 

 honey thus oI)tained, being supposed to have re- 

 quired a superior flavor, is esteemed in preference to 

 any other. A more remarkable excavation is 

 however made by the natives ; diseased portions of 

 the trunk are hollowed out and converted into 

 tombs for the reception of the bodies of such indi- 

 viduals as, by the laws or customs of the country, 

 are denied tlie usual rites of interment. Tiie bo- 

 dies thus suspended within the cavity, and without 

 any preparation or embalment, dry into well pre- 

 served nmmmies. The juicy acid pulp is eaten by 

 the natives, and is considered beneficial in fevers 

 and otiier diseases on account of its cooling proper- 

 ties. The duration of the boabab is not tlie least 

 extraordinary part of its history, and it has given 

 rise to much speculation. In it we unquestiona- 

 bly sec the most ancient living specimens of ve- 

 getation. 'It is,' says the illustrious Hund)oldt, 

 'the oldest organic monument of our planet ;' and 

 Adanson calculates that trees now alive have wea- 

 thered the storms of five thousand years. 



CULTURE OF BARLEY. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



Barley, like hops, is annually becoming of in- 

 creased importance in our agriculture. We are 

 told that more than two-thirds of the barley raised 

 in the United States is the produce of this state, 

 and that this is almost wholly grown in the north- 

 ern and western parts. The quantity marketed at 

 Albany and its neighborhood, in 1833, is slated at 

 450,000 bushels. This, estimated at seventy-five 

 cents a bushel, makes an aggregate of 337,500 dol- 

 lars. 



A lack of information in regard to this grain, 

 seems to be prevalent, by which a serious loss is 

 sustained by the farmer, which it is the object of 

 this article in soine measure to remedy. There 

 are two varieties of barley grown, one two, and 

 the other six rowed, which will not malt profitably 

 together. The brewer cannot, therefore, afford to 

 pay so high for these when mixed as he can for ei- 

 ther sort separate. One has a thick, the other a 

 thin skin. The first requires a longer time in the 

 process of malting than the latter ; and of course, 

 when mixed, the thin skinned is overdone, and 

 materially injured, or the process must be termi- 

 nated ere the thick skinned has developed all its 

 saccharine matter. Where the brewer buys di- 

 rectly of the farmer, he is in a measure enabled to 

 prevent this mixture, by keeping each sort sepa- 

 rate; though the farmer himself, not being aware 

 of the consequence, is not sufficiently careful to 

 keep the kinds distinct. But when the grain is 

 bought in by the merchant, or goes to market in a 

 canal boat, an indiscriminate mixture takes place, 

 and the value becomes sensibly diminished. The 

 loss in this way last year is stated at ten per cent, 

 upon the whole product, or equal to 45,000 bush- 

 els. 



We hope these hints will serve to induce the far- 

 mer to sow only clean seed of one variety, and the 

 merchant and boatmen to consult their interest, by 

 keeping the two kinds separate. 



Although wheat is^ and is likely to remain the 



