Vol. 1.— No. 11. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



83 



SELECTION. 



A Great Mistake. 

 Many persons suppose that no more improve- 

 ments can be made in agriculture — that even 

 subject has been sufficiently discussed; and 

 therefore nothing more need be said or writ- 

 ten. It might suffice, to rebut this assertion, 

 to say that it is neither more nor less than say- 

 ing — ■' the agriculture of the United States 

 has attained a state of perfection." Gut it is 

 a great mistake. Agriculture has scarcely 

 passed its infancy in this country. We speak 

 of agriculture in general. There are a few 

 farmers who have made advances far beyond 

 ihe mass of husbandmen ; but thev areoxcep 

 Linos which prove the general rule. Pray 

 how many farms in the United States, of the 

 same number of acres, (250) have sold as much 

 produce as the Orange farm during last year ? 

 Are we wide of the mark in saying, not one 

 in Maryland, not ten in the Union ? How ma-l 

 ny have produced hall" as much ? The Orange 

 farm sold last year nine thousand six hundred', 

 dollars worth of produco. Let it not be ask- 

 ed, " to what kind of produce is the Orange 

 farm devoted," for all farmers are at liberty to 

 ^o and do likewise ; hut let the question, how 

 many farms produce as much ? be answered. 

 If none, or few, which is ti.e fact, then how 

 can it be said or rationally supposed, that no 

 further improvements can bo made in our agri- 

 culture ? The truth is, that by attention to 

 small things, economising in time, making the 

 most of every thing, and gathering up the 

 fragments, the proprietor of Orange farm 

 makes dollars, where most farmers would make 

 cents. Go to that farm ; look at its arrange- 

 ments and management. There you will see 

 nothing lost: neither time, which is money, 

 nor labor, which products money. There 

 every particle of matter that can he converted 

 into food for man or 6east is availed of. One 

 half the nutriment of fodder is not lost by 

 passing the stomachs of catile undigested, in 

 consequence of improper feeding, but the whole 

 is saved, by preparing the fodder by cutting and 

 steaming ; so that not only all the nutritive 

 matter is saved, but the food is rendered more 

 palatable lo the animals. The intelligent ma- 

 nager of that firm allows no animal to be fed 

 on long or raw food. Another peculiarity in 

 his management is worthy of notice. There 

 is not on Orange firm an unproductive ani- 

 mal, or a useless thing. The very dog that 

 basks in the sunshine and barks back the poa- 

 cher, has Ins regular hour of duty in the wheel, 

 pumping water, cutting straw, turning the grind- 

 stone, ifc. If there are no useless animals 

 to foed, neither arc there any worthless build- 

 ings to keep in repair for show. On passing 

 Orange farm, the traveller would suppose, it to 

 he the comfortable residence of some comfort- 

 loving, unambitious farmer, who has enough, 

 because ho wants no mere — being just able to 

 pay his taxes, and " make both ends meet'' — 

 yet Orange farm produces nine thousand dol- 

 lars a near ! How. it wiil'be asked, does this 

 farmer produce so much mure than any other. 

 We answer emphatically, by discarding* as 

 fallacious, the idea of perfection alluded to at 

 the head of this article ; by believing, that e- 

 ven his system is far Irom perfect ; and by con- 

 finually bending his attention to improvements. 

 IT, therefore, agriculture in this country is not 

 susceptible of immense improvement, why do 

 not our farmers produce as much as *he skill- 

 ful one of Orange farm ? Taking this farm as 

 the acme of perfection, surely it will be ad- 

 mitted that all our farms of equal soil may be 

 made equal to it; and i," so, has the subject of 

 Agriculture been sufficiently discussed ? need 

 nothing more be published ? are there no more 

 improvements to be made ? — Am. Furmer. 



Another Great Mistake. 



Many farmers suppose, that the small sum 



"hey pay annually for a newspaper or an agri- 



<>uUoral paper, is so much money given away. 



Mi^veUotlmie to tetfd i>,sqys one ; jt notorf-' 



ger possesses novelty for me, says number; ij 

 cannot afford to take it says a third. Now lei 

 us suppose a case — an extreme one, it is al- 

 lowed, but perfectly applicable to such rca 

 soners : 



Suppose the art of printing, writing, and 

 the mail, to be struck from existence — what 

 would he the condition of the farmer? We 

 leave the answer to farmers themselves, satis- 

 fied that there is not one intelligent man in the 

 United States, that would not freely givo dou- 

 ble the sum they now contribute to their sup- 

 port, for their restoration. The press is like 

 many other blessings — it confers its favors im- 

 perceptibly. Every farmer is benefited by the 

 press without knowing it. He receives infor- 

 mation, which at the time is not noticed ; but 

 it is precious seed accidentally scattered in the 

 soil, which at the proper season will yield him 

 valuable fiuit. We need not descend to par- 

 ticulars; but refer every farmer to his own 

 case. Has he not obtained some new and val- 

 uable mode of cultivation ; some method of 

 correcting an evil, or preventing loss ; some 

 new article of cultivation ; some new material 

 for improving land ; some remedy for disease 

 in his stock, through the medium of his pa- 

 per, which has enabled him to make or save 

 more than the cost of the paper? We can 

 name many persons who have informed us 

 that they have made and expect to make ra i 

 ney by taking the American Farmer. Some 

 have said th it they have made more than 

 one thousand dollars from information derived 

 from a single article in our columns, and we 

 will venture iln assertion, that ihere is not a 

 single individual who has taken the Farmer 12 

 months, that would be divested of the infor- 

 mation thence obtained, for double the cost of 

 it. Then is it not a very great mistake to say 

 that you cannot afford to take an agricultural 



paper. — ft. 



From Lire New York farmer. 



An Economical Method ov raising Early 

 Potatoes. 



In the month of February and the first part 

 of March, let the potatoes intended for faun 

 ly use be pared somewhat deeper than usual 

 — Save the parings by spreading them on the 

 cellar floor, or any other place where they 

 will not freeze or dry up. About the 20th of 

 March prepare a hot or forcing bed in the or- 

 dinary way, with fresh stable manure. Spread 

 over the manure an inch or two of sand, or 

 light earth ; then lay your potatoe parings 

 with tho skin up close t<* each other, so that 

 the whole, forcing bed may be covered, and co 

 ver the parings with light earth two inches- 

 deep. Water tho bed frequently, and protect 

 it from the frost by covering with mats or 

 straw when necessary, and let it be exposed 

 to the sun and air in moderate weather. When 

 the plants are two or three inches high, trans- 

 plant them into rows or dril's two and a half 

 feet apart, and ten inches from each other in 

 the di ill, and yod will have potatoes earlier 

 and of a larger size than in any other way. — 

 The time of preparing the hot bed and of set-! 

 ting out the plants will vary according to the 

 time when the last frosts are expected, and ac- 

 cording to the care taken to protect the plants 

 after they ate set out. 



The writer of the above has made the ex- 

 periment three years in succession with uni-j 

 formly pleasing restilts. The potatoes wore 

 what am called in Pennsylvania, Mercer or! 

 Neshanock ; any other early kind may answer! 

 as well. The same kind of potatoes were! 

 planted at the time the parings were placed! 

 in the forcing led, in the ordinary way, byj 

 cutting and whole, and those from the parings! 

 were earlier and larger than those raised in 

 the common way. From experience he is 1 

 satisfied that it is useless if not injurious to 

 plant more of tbe old potato than is sufficient 

 to cause the bud to germinate. 



The greater part of the potato usually plan- 

 ted may thus be saved and Used for the cat-; 

 (Te. Ij. 'is rt.evertheress tftougftt finporfanl td 



select the largest and most perfectly formed 

 potatoes for seed, because they will afford pa- 

 rings suitable for planting, and will probably 

 improve the stock, which will degenerate if 

 small and deformed one* are used fur seed. 

 Princeton- (M~.J.) Feb. 1st, 1831. 



Beurre D'Aremeerg. 



This very excellent variety was introduced 

 into our country, from Flanders, about eight 

 years since, and has become pretty widely dis- 

 seminated throughout the middle and eastern 

 states of the Union. The Gloux Morceau, 

 which was sent to England from Flanders, at 

 tho same time with th'.s, has been cultivated in 

 several English nurseries and private collec- 

 tions for this kind, and in some instances the 

 error originated there, has been extended to 

 this country, hy trees sent from them. Tho 

 Gloux Morceau, although of great excellence, 

 is rather inferior in quality to this. 



I extract the following description from the 

 Pomological Magazine : 



•' This pear is truly characteiized in the Hor- 

 ticultural Transactions as deserving ' to be 

 placed at the head of all the pears in cultiva- 

 tion.' We certainly do not know any variety, 

 which can upon the whole be said to equal it . 

 for its flavor is not only excellent, and its flesh 

 tender and juicy but It is hardy, a great heal- 

 er, and will keep till March. It is usually cul- 

 tivated as a dwarf, being grafted on quince, and 

 trained against an east or west wall, but it suc- 

 ceeds perfectly well as an open standard. — 

 Summer Melting Pear. 



This is a tree of the niost vigorous growth^ 

 and flourishing appearance, shooting erect in- 

 to astutely form, the fruit is of a fair size 

 ripens early in August, and has by some, been 

 considered tbe best pear of its season. After 

 it comes into bearing, it increases annually in 

 fertility and the quantity a' its produce, but it 

 attains considerable size bofore it produces 

 freely. 



I received the original tree of this variety, 

 in 1802, from a person then resident in Calti 

 more, who was very curious m fruits, and who 

 had a number of French larieiies of pears. — 

 (t was on a quince stock, and soon bore fruit-. 

 which was larger, handsomer, and more mel- 

 ting than any I since had on pear stocks. — 

 Prince's Manual. 



RAW SILK. 



The following facts from the worts of K- 

 Randall, esq., in the library of congress, being: 

 a view of the silk trade, and the measures «; 

 the British government relative thereto, will 

 show Ihe immense value of this article of eoni- 

 nerce 



Dining the term of seven years, from 1821 

 lo 182", there were imported into Great Bri- 

 tain. 21.157,510 pounds of raw silk, which, at 

 $5 Ihe pound, cost $120,787,580- It also 

 appears from the same work, that during the 

 like number of years, Ihere was imported of 

 (his article from Italy alone, to the value of 

 §59,881,2-33. 



SILK WORM-1. 



In the Legislature of MassaGhusetls, on 

 Thursday ,the Committee on Agriculture made 

 an interesting repoit to the House, in favor ot 

 encouraging the cultivation of Mulberry trees, 

 and the raising of Silk Worms. The tepoft 

 concluded with a resolve requesting the Gov- 

 ernor to cause a book to be compiled on ihe 

 subject, and distributed to the towns in (he 

 commonwealth ; six hundred dollars wa9 ap- 

 propriated to defray the expense. 



LEGENDS OF NEW ENGLAJSD. 



This is the title of a volume just published 

 ia Hartford, Conn., for the appearance of tvltich 

 we have looked with some anxiety. A copy 

 has not reached us yet ; we hope it will come 

 .soon. It is by John G. Whittier. He is a fine 

 poet and a chaste prose writer. We anticipate 

 much pleasure from a perusal of " Legends $f 

 New EnglttirdV 



