HHH 



THR GRVESEE FARMER 



December 10, 1831. 



is 150 feet long and 6 stories high ; No. 4 is 420 

 feet long, and 7 stories high. These mills run 

 04,320 spindles and 780 looms. They give em- 

 ployment to 900 operatives — 750 of whom are 

 females. They consume 2,600 bales of cotton, 

 eqaalto about 900,000 or 1,000,000 lbs., and pro- 

 duce about 100,000 a week, or 5,200,000 yards 

 yearly. 



The calico printing, connected with this large 

 establishment, is complete in all its details. — 

 They make no fugitive colors — all is permanent, 

 and fully equal to the best imported. They bleach 

 and print 3,000 pieces of 28 yards each, a week, 

 ■qual to 4,308,000 yards per annum. 



HEDGING. 



Information is solicited by our correspondent 

 " Ontario," upon the subject of hedging, and as 

 we hive no practical knowledge ourselves, we in- 

 vite those of our readei s who have, to make known 

 Uie results of their experiments to us, that we 

 may lay them before the public. In the mean time 

 we will communicate the results of our own .ob- 

 servations upon the subject for the benefit of our j 

 correspondent. Some years since we were im- 

 pressed with the idea, that in a few years hedg- 

 ing would be introduced as a substitute for rail 

 and board fences, in such sections of the country 

 as did not abound with stone ; but more recent ob- 

 servations have convinced us, that there has not 

 been any tree or shrub, as yet introduced for that 

 purpose, which will answer as well as rail or 

 board fence, either as being as safe or as econom- 

 ical. We borrow most of our ideas of hedging 

 either from the English or Irish, and in both those 

 countries, a considerable portion of their fences or 

 barriers between fields, are of this description. — 

 In making calculations upon this subject, many 

 circumstances should be taken into account. First, 

 (he climate. In England and Ireland the climate 

 is humid and temperate, free from the heat of 

 summer known in the United Slates, and which 

 is so favorable to the production of insects, and 

 also from the frosts of winter. The article most 

 commonlv used for hedging in these countries, is 

 that variety of thorn, known to our Farmers us 

 the English Hawthorn, the limbs of which are 

 small and thickly set with very sharp pointed 

 spines. The more common practice of making a 

 hedge is to set the thorns upon an embankment 

 raised by soil taken from a single or double ditch, 

 that is, a ditch upon one or both sides of the row 

 of thorns. In the climate of England and Ireland 

 She frost does not injure these embankments, 

 which would be the case in the northern sections 

 of the United States. From the moisture and cool- 

 ness of that climate the plants are not infested 

 with insects as they are with us, which frequent- 

 ly injure the growth of the plants, if they do not 

 destroy them entirely. 



Another circumstance we noticed in those coun- 

 tries, which was in favor of that kind of fen- 

 wa , that their cattle were much more 

 ,. id peai .ble in their habits than ours; 



and v, frequently iKit'i-ed them feeding in fields 

 adjoining crops, where the hedge dividing them, 

 would not have been the least hindrance to much 

 jf our stock, in short, it was thai kind of thick- 

 et which our cattle would have sought for in 

 i warm lay, and passed through for the purpose 

 jf brushing off the flics. 



The thorn seems to flourish better in England 

 and Ireland than on the continent. In France the 

 growth of it is much as in the United States. — 

 The plants are covered with moss,and have a stin- 

 ted appearance, are unequal in their growth, and 

 from the death of many of them, the um! : 

 and beauty as well as the usefulness of the hedge 

 is destroyed ; in short, we have never seen a gou. 

 hedge in France or America, neither one that led 

 us with a belief that th y could be advantageous 

 ly raised in either country, unless some dn • 

 plant than thorn was propagated for that pur- 

 pose. 



Although hedges are common in England, and 

 the cost of pruning or clipping tli3m much less 

 than it would be in America, yet, we very much 

 doubt, whether hedging even there, is the most 

 economical mode of fencing. A singe hedge oc- 

 cupies about four feet, and the roots occupy the 

 ground at least one foot on each side, so as m ren- 

 der it unfit for cultivation; a hedge and single 

 ditch occupy about nine feet, and one with double 

 ditch, or a ditch on either side, will occupy at 

 least from twelve to fifteen feet; and although this 

 ground may produce some grass, yet, the trouble 

 of keeping noxious weeds from increasing upon 

 it, is worth as much as the grass produced. We 

 noticed on many estates in England, fences made 

 from American oak, which had been imported 

 into that country, as pipe staves: they were split 

 very thin, and put up as picket fence, and from 

 the peculiarities of that climate, were very dura- 

 ble, and were by the owners considered more de- 

 sirable than hedges. From our own observations 

 we are not aware that any part of tne United 

 States holds out any inducements for the cult va- 

 tion of thorn hedges, unless for ornamental pur- 

 poses. At page 355, is a communication from J 

 Buel, Esq. of Albany, to the Editor of the New 

 England Fa-mer, giving his opinion as to hedges 

 made from the three thorned Acacia, in which hi 

 speaks favorably of this tree for that purpose: 

 and at page 382, will be found a reply to ii, 

 from E. Horsey Derby, of Salem ; in which Mr. 

 Derby does not agree with Judge Buel, but speaks 

 more favorably of the American Buckthorn, 

 (Rhamnus catharticus) but as we have not seen 

 sufficient experiment* with that to satisfy us, we 

 could not give an opinion on the subject We 

 have thought that if any shrub or bush common 

 in the northern states would succeed, that the 

 trailing nature of the gooseberry bush, would In 

 most likely to; but we have never seen that tried. 

 We mean a variety frequently met with in gar 

 dens, which produces a small and smooth fruit, 

 and ordinarily grows about three feet high, the 

 branches small and thick, and full of sharp 

 the limbs trailing to the ground where tin | 

 take root. Was it not that cattle and sheep ar 

 fond of tin- leaves, we think a durable hedge might 

 be formed from this bush, as it seems perfectly 

 hardy, enduring the severity of our winters with 

 out the least injury. 



Chlorine is ascertain to bean nl idol 

 that most subtle poison, Prussic acid. 1 lie Fin 

 King had better disclose his secret and get what he 

 can for it, — if not, the Yankees will discover (In 

 whole, and get it patented, ore the soldier of Aus 

 terlitz is aware of the " catching times" in vlueJ 

 he lives. 



I- ro.n (,:w) :. ■ . : iu«r. 



THE COUNTRY FARMER— NO. XI 



Horticultural Societies. 



Horticulture, Mr. Fleet, is a Member 

 of the Family of Agriculture, or so we 

 farmers consider it. At any rue they are 

 related like all the inhabitants of Nantucket, 

 and quite as much of an 'unit,' as the late 

 Cabi.iet, at Washington, eithei before Qi af- 

 ter the 'explosion.' When the brilliant A- 

 erolite dashes across the heavens, like a 

 rocket of the skies, the very ' congreve' of 

 the wars of the gods, — all eyes are turned 

 towards its trail of lire, an unit, monstrously 

 extended, filling all minds with wonder! — 

 But an explosion rends the air; — the splen- 

 did meteor is torn asunder, Hies off in frag- 

 ments, and ends m showers of meteoric 

 stones, which fall, far distant Is it an unit, 

 iiou, or, more puzzling still, is each piece 

 an unit ? A haid question lor political cas- 

 uists, with which we have nothing to do, 

 thanks to the blessings which rlow from hon- 

 est industry and hardy toil. 



In order to learn all that I could, by see- 

 ing what others hail learned, aim were learn- 

 ing, I have been travelling some, among my 

 brother F-irmers. and, as luck would have it, 

 happened to attend several of the annual 

 meetings of our Horticultural Societies. — 

 There can 'be no doubt, 1 think, that these 

 associations are actually productive of good ; 

 because, wherevei tne* are in operation, a 

 sort of neu impulse is given to the minds ol 

 cultivators of the soil, not only, but to those 

 of other members of the community, more 

 r less turned in aright diieciion. Thai is 

 to inquiry, attention to facts, and of course 

 to observation. If there aie faults, in thi 

 [dan of an) of them, experience may serve 

 to correct them, foi tins, altei all, is the 

 chiel school of wisdom. The idea of a ball, 

 a dancing party — a no a Fete [fate they call 

 it,] as a means of promoting and improvi 

 Horticulture, seems to me a little outol joint, 

 — an odd notion, and yet 1 an. not dispo- 

 sed to quarrel with it. Great cities, 1 sup- 

 pose, must have odd notions: oi, to adopt 

 the idea of Mr. Jefferson, gnat scabs. The 

 music, at any laie, was quite musical, and 

 so. 1 doubt not, did oui town cousins consid- 

 ei the dancing To give youi readers an 

 iuea of it, in the country, the Garden was 

 all lighted up like the grove of woods at 

 Camp Meeting time, all lull of bustle, peo- 

 ple every where, and all in great haste! I 

 doubt if we comiliy folks could learn any 

 thing about Farming, at such a place, and 

 yet I do insist upon it, that Horticulture and 

 Agriculture are nearly related. tl ough 1 could 

 not discover any Ihing that looked like it at 

 the great Ball. The prices, paid foi every 

 thing there, soon satisfied me that there ivere 

 ■ U histles,' in this world, besides Dr. Frank- 

 lin's, and began to raise doubts, m nn mind, 

 w hether they were all gardener*, that attend- 

 ed there ? 



At the next Horticultural Exhibition that 

 1 attended, on my w iy to the ' 1 u west,' in- 

 stead of a ball, they had a 'Dinner, 'served 

 up' at about our tea lime, just before dark ! 

 This puzzled me,to find out why ihey should 

 call ibis a dinner, till 1 saw that it was evi- 

 dently intended for the principal meal ol tin 

 day, and perhaps had been delayed, waiting 

 lor the Gardeners to get through with then 

 days' work. It was a sumptuous feast, with 

 abundance of \eiy line fruit, besides all the 

 eatables and drinkables tnat could be desi- 

 red, to keep men from enjoying good health. 



