Yol. 1.— "No. 31. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



247 



From the New-England Farmer. 



FARMER'S WORK FOR JULY AND 

 AUGUST. 



Mowing ground. — There are but few ob- 

 jects connected with the management of a 

 farm of more importance than that of obtai- 

 ning good crops of rouen, after math, or sec- 

 ond crops of grass. If your mowing land 

 is in such good condition that you can hope 

 to obtain a good crop, be careful to keep it 

 from the intrusion of cattle, sheep and hor- 

 ses, for rouen in the winter and spring is ve- 

 ry valuble for ewes, young lambs, cows and 

 ■alves, &c. 



A witter in Hunters' Georgkal Essays, 

 recommends manuring mowing ground im- 

 mediately after haying, and especially if a 

 second crop is expected. In such case some 

 part of the fertilizing qualities of the manure 

 will be lost by its being exposed to a burn- 

 ing sun, but the manure, when first applied, 

 will protect the roots of the grass, and as soon 

 as the grass has grown a little its tops will 

 protect the manure : so that on the whole 

 rhis application may not be unprofitable. — 

 Composts composed in part of loam or rich 

 earth, are supposed to be better for manur- 

 ing grass land than unmixed stable or barn 

 yard manure; because such composts are 

 less liable to be deprived of their fertilizing 

 qualities by the sun, air and violent rains. — 

 Whenever manure of any kind is applied to 

 grass land it should be spread as evenly as 

 possible and a bush harrow should be drawn 

 over the surface, which will break the small 

 lumps remaining in the manure, and bring 

 it closer to the roots of the grass. Or as 

 Dr. Deane directed, 'when the land becomes 

 bound or mossy, so as to diminish the growth 

 of the grass, if be not convenient for the far- 

 mer to break it up, it should be cut or scar- 

 ified by a spiked roller ; or if the fanner does 

 not posses this, by a heavy loaded harrow, 

 when the ground is softened by rains, or by 

 rhc coming out of the frost. Then dressed 

 with some short rotten manure, suited to the 

 soil ; bushed and a roller passed over it. — 

 There is no danger of destroying the roots 

 of the grass by this operation. Though they 

 are broken they will be speedily renewed, 

 new offsets will be more plentifully formed, 

 and the crops will rise with renewed vigor.' 

 Hay. — It is to be apprehended that much 

 hay, the present season has been placed in 

 .•stacks or mows without being thoroughly 

 dried. The following extract from Young's 

 Calendar may afford a useful hint in such 

 cases. 'Mr Ducket's method of trying the 

 heat of his hay stacks well deserves noting. 

 He thrusts a scaffold bolt, or other stout and 

 long iron bolt into a hay stack [or mow] to 

 give an easy admission to a gun rod, with a 

 strong wormer at the end of it, with which 

 he screws out a sample, and discovers not 

 only the heat, but state of the hay; if the 

 stack [or mow] wants air he makes many of 

 these holes, which give vent to the heat, and 

 answer the purpose of a chimney.' 



Weeds. — Be careful not to permit any 

 weeds to ripen their seeds on your lands. If 

 you have not leisure to dig them up by the 

 roots you may cut them off with a scythe or 

 a sickle before their seeds are sufficiently 

 grown to vegetate. If the seeds of perni- 

 cious plants are never suffered to become 

 ripe you will be sure eventually to destroy 

 'hem. Even the Canada thistle, which is ve- 

 ry hard to subdue, will eventually disappear 

 ■ f you cut it down often enough to prevent 



its seeds from coming to maturity for sever- 

 al years in succession. 



Seeds. — Select the ripests and best seeds 

 from such plants as are most forward and 

 vigorous, and you will improve your breed of 

 vegetables, in a manner similar to that by 

 which the breeds of animals are improved 

 by the celebrated European breeds of cattle. 

 New and improved kinds of wheat, peas, 

 beans, &c. kc. have been introduced by ob- 

 serving among growing crops some individ- 

 ual stalks, pods, ears, &c. which were dis- 

 tinguishable from the rest by a greater de- 

 gree of health, luxuriance, productiveness, 

 earliness, or some other peculiarity ; gather- 

 ing and preserving them exclusively for seed 

 till sufficiently multiplied for propagation on 

 a large scale. 



Soiling. — This is a term applied to the 

 practice of feeding 'domestic animals on new 

 mown grass, or other green crops, in racks, 

 yards, stables fcc. Lorain says of this mode 

 of farm management that 'The farm yard 

 manure acquired by soiling, and that intro- 

 duced by the roots of the grasses, create in 

 the course of a single round of crops, such an 

 immense improvement in the soil, that after 

 the hay harvest commences, (which is great 

 in consequence of the grass saved by this 

 practice,) an almost perpetual harvest ensues 

 until the corn is cribbed. 



'Each crop is heavy in proportion to the 

 ground occupied by it. The labor greatly 

 exceeds what would readily be imagined by 

 those who have not observed the practice ; 

 still it may or ought to be partially introdu 

 ced ; especially by wealthy farmers, who 

 have many workers in their own families. — 

 Also by those who have but little land in pro- 

 portion to their labor they can readily obtain 

 from their children, fcc. 



'It should, however, be remembered, that 

 success is not to be expected, unless a full 

 supply- of green grasses, proper for this pur- 

 pose, have been provided. Also, the very 

 great trouble or perplexity occasioned by red 

 clover, in consequence of the cattle and hor- 

 ses being salivated by the second and third 

 crops of this grass. 



'Every farmer should soil his working 

 cattle and horses, whether he may or may 

 not enter into general practice of soiling. — 

 A very small extent of ground will be suffi- 

 cient for this purpose. This may lie so 

 near to his barn, that the trouble will belit- 

 tle more, if as much, asgoing to the pastures 

 after them. The grass and rich dung saved 

 by this practice will be very valuable to him. 

 'Notwithstanding the great advantages 

 that may be derived from soiling, it would 

 seem that it cannot be generally practised 

 even in the populous parts of this country. — 

 The quantity of cleared ground is more than 

 double as much as the population is capa- 

 ble of cultivating properly, without introdu- 

 cing the additional labor which would be re- 

 quired if soiling were generally practiced 



longs to the lemon tree in its usual state.— 

 Different seeds presented various stages of 

 progress. In some, the "sprouts" were just 

 breaking from the shell, in others the leaf 

 was out, and all the color was perfect. We 

 are not sufficiently conversant with the his- 

 tory of vegetation to know, whether such a 

 propensity to germinate has been frequently 

 observed in the lemon— we believe an in- 

 stance occurred some years since, in profes- 

 sor Coxe's garden, and perhaps the present 

 notice will elicit proofs of the frequent oc- 

 currence of what now appears a vegetable 

 phenomenon. It may be proper to state, 

 the lemons are from last year's blossoms. — 

 U. S. Gaz. 



Natural History. — The Editors of this pa- 

 per received from a friend in Missouri, pre- 

 served in spirits, a specimen of the reptile 

 called the Horned Lizard, or Horned Frog, 

 as it has been usual to call it, the existence 

 of which has until recently been by many 

 considered fabulous. This specimen was, 

 with some others, picked up in the prairies 

 of the Upper Arkansas, and lived from April 

 to December, 18S0, without either food or 

 drink. How long these animals could thus 

 live on the decomposition of the atmos- 

 phere has not beenyet determined, but it is 

 presumed by our Western friend, that in a 

 proper temperature they might be made to 

 live for years. It is said that the sprinkle of 

 a few drops of rain would kill them; and 

 the Indians say that on the approach of rain 

 the lizards may be seen seeking protection 

 and shelter under stones, logs cf wood, &.C. 

 — Nat. Intelligencer. 



Vegetable Phenomenon. — Yesterday, Dr. 

 Edward J. Coxe presented us with a lemon, 

 which grew at the country residence of Lew 

 is Clapier, Esq. On opening the lemon 

 longitudinally, it was discovered, that al- 

 most every seed had germinated, and from 

 two or three, roots had shot down, and bran- 

 ches risen upwards, with perfect leaves, ma- 

 king miniature lemon trees within the lem- 

 on. Not only was the shape of these entire- 

 ly developed, but the trunk, branches and 

 leaves, were of the rich green color that be- 



MANURE. 



Farmers might make a valuable addition 

 to their farm yard manure, by digging a hole 

 at a convenient distance from their kitchen, 

 about three or four feet deep, and sufficient- 

 ly wide to form a common receptacle for the 

 various matters originating in, and about the 

 house extending a paved gutter from the 

 kitchen to it, to conduct soap suds and oth- 

 er slops into it. When it becomes offen- 

 sive, the offending matter should be cover- 

 ed with earth. That which was thrown up 

 in digging the hole may be applied so long 

 as it lasts. Care should be taken to prevent 

 the water from withoutfrom running into it. 

 The receptacle may be hid from sight, by 

 planting an evergreen hedge around it, leav- 

 ing an opening at the back for putting in 

 and taking out the contents. 



STATISTICS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



Men, from 15 to 60 years of age 2,344,847 



Marriages, (3 out of 63 without off- 

 spring,) 90,000 



Deaths, every year, (every hour 49) 332,700 



Married women live longer than single. 



Average children to each marriage, in the 

 country 4, in the cities 3. 



More widowers re-marry than widows. 



Half of all children born die before they are 17 



Number of twins to single births 1 to 65. 



A greater number of old people die in cold than 

 in warm weather. 



The greatest number of births is in February 

 and March. 



The yankees of Bristol, Conn, made 30,000 



clocks, the last season, averaging $8 each ; a- 



mounting in the whole to $240,000. 8000 hands 

 are daily employed. 



