60 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



April, 1842. 



By some the wad U attiibiited to u noxious 

 and venificial jiriiiciple in the soil, which deterio- 

 rates the vital fluid, and corrodes the sap vessels 

 in passing throiigli the tree ;— by others to a re- 

 dundance of nourishment which distends the 

 cutaneous vessels, and the irruption of which 

 operates astlie cause of the disease in question 

 by extravasation of the sap, and the formation of 

 fungi or ivarls upon the limbs. 



Tlie most philosophical solution, however, it 

 must be admitted, is that which attributes the 

 tvart to the labors of an insect, or fly, which iit- 

 tacks the tender cuticule of tlie tree, and perfo- 

 rates it In order- to (intl a nidus for its eggs and 

 young. This position is corroborated by the 

 fact, now generally well ascertained, that in all 

 these warts orfunp;nu3 excrescences there are eggs 

 which produce maggots, and also by the gene- 

 rally well known fact that the amputation of dis- 

 eased lirnbs, if timely adopted, is certain to effect 

 a cure. 



The Hon. Rufus M'Intire. oflhis State, recom- 

 mends this practice as iiifdlihle, if adopted be- 

 fore the disease is too far advanced. His views 

 upon this subject are predicated upon well known 

 physiological principles, and well worthy the 

 attention of every one who is anxious to secure 

 his trees from the evil to which we allude. 



H. D. WHITE. 



Windham, Mc. April 7, 1843. 



From the American Farmer. 



Calture of the Sugar Beet and Mangel Wurt- 



zel. 



As the culture of both these varieties of beets 

 is precisely the same, we shall treat both under 

 one general head. And before we proceed to 

 lay down our plan of treatment, we will say to 

 our agricultural brethren, that it they consult 

 their interest, or give heed to the comfort of 

 their milch cows, they will at once proceed to 

 make arrangements for entering into the culture, 

 though their fir.st experiment may be made upon 

 hut a single acre. At three [loimds to the acre, 

 that quantity of ground will produce upwards of 

 n thousand bushels, and wlren we say that we 

 have seen beets, of either variety, weighing more 

 than twenty pounds, we think we cannot be charg- 

 ed with exaggernlion when we assume three lbs. 

 as the average uiieht (jf an acreable product. — 

 With this hriif iiiinnluction, we shall now pro- 

 ceed to give such diiections as we believe will 

 ensure a good crop. 



PREPARATION OE THF. GROUNn. 



As soon as the ground is sufHciently dry for 

 the purpose, it should he iilonghcd up with a 

 strong team and heavy plough, as deep as possi- 

 ble. The ploughing completet^let the harrow 

 reduce the clods by being passe"over the ground 

 lengthwise and cross-wise. The ground thus 

 prepared should be permitted to remain until 

 just before it is time for jiutting in the seed, 

 when manure — well rotted is best — should be 

 hauled on and evenly spread over the surface, 

 at the rate of twenty double horse cartloads, say 

 forty bushels each, "to the acre. As spread, this 

 manure should be ploughed in about three 

 inclies deep. .Vs soon as this second ploughing 

 is finished, the ground sliouhl bo thoroughly 

 harrowed to render the tilth tine, after which 

 the roller should be passed over it, when it will 

 be in a condition for seeding, which operation 

 should be jjei formed as pooii tliereafter as possi- 

 ble, as it is all-important to put the seed into a 

 fi-csh bed. 



TIME rOR PLANTING. 



For a general crop, from the first of April to 

 the 20lh of May, is the period when the seed 

 should be sown, though good sized beets could 

 be raised, In strong ground, at a much later pe- 

 riod, say the last of May. We, however, recom- 

 mend early planting. 



OF THE son,. 



The soil best adapted to the growth of beets, 

 is a deep loam, or rich sand moderately dry. 



METHOD OF PLANTING. 



If you have a drilling machine, (and if you 

 have not one, we would advise you to get one,) 

 all you will have to do is to put your seed in it, 

 and ijfter staking off your ground in rows two feet 

 apart, to drill in your seed. But if you have no 

 machine, then get a wide mouth bottle, or tin 

 horn with the large end stopped, ]int your seed 

 into one or the other, and after having a drill 

 made an inch deep, go along the drill with your 



bottle, or liorn, in hand, and drop the seed there- 

 from, about four inches apart, let a hanil follow 

 the dropper with a rake, and coiVer over the seed 

 as dropped, reversing the riike and iircssing down 

 the furrow with its back. 



Ill this way, two smart, active hand.s could 

 put in an acre a day. With a machine four 

 acres may be put in, in the same time with ease. 

 The machine makes the furrow, drops the seed, 

 covers them, and rolls the ground all at the same 

 time. 



PREPARATION OF THE SEED, AND (JUANTITV TO 

 THE ACRE. 



Make a decoction of horse dung, in suflicient 

 quantity \.o float the seeil ; into this put in the 

 proportion of four ounces of saltpetre to each 

 gallon. In this soak the seed from 24 to 48 hours, 

 when they will be fit for drilling. As you take 

 them out for that purpose roll them in plaster; 

 2 lbs. of seed to the acre is about the right quan- 

 tity, though 1 lb. sowed with great care would 

 answer. 



AFTER CULTURE. 



After the beets come up and are three or four 

 inches high, let careful hands go througli them 

 and thin them out, so as to stand from eight to 

 twelve inches apart in the rows. And as the 

 beets generally come up double, one must be 

 drawn out, otherwise they are liable to grow 

 crooked, or lap over each other, and materially 

 lessen the product. At the time this thinning is 

 going on, the beets should have the ground stir- 

 red around them and between the rows, so as to 

 loosen the earth, and cut up every vestige of 

 weeds or grass. 



If a small cultivator, 18 inches wide, were to 

 be procured, to run between the rows, it would 

 lessen the cost of culture wonderfully, as then 

 the hoes would only have to stir the earth around 

 and between the roots. The great object in cul- 

 tivating these root.s, is to keep the grass and 

 weeds down until the leaves expand sufiicieiitly 

 to repress their growth. In a woril, keep the 

 earth loose and clean ; but never hill. If the 

 cultivator bo passed tliree limes through them, 

 and the hoers weed between and around the 

 roots that number of times effectually, the busi- 

 ness of culture will be found to have been per- 

 formed. 



PULLING THE LEAVES. 



Late in the summer, when pastures begin to 

 decline, and afibrd but little succulent food to the 

 milch cattle, the leaves of either of these beets 

 will hefoundto furnish a most e.xccllent resource, 

 as they may be stripped of all their foliage, except 

 the crown leaves, without injury to the root, at 

 least three times between that time and their be- 

 ing harvested. In stripping their leaves, they 

 should be pinched off with tlie finger Hndtlinmb. 



For the Monthly Visitor. 

 Are Sheep a Beuelit to the Soil I 



Mr. Editor: — The i|uestion at the head of 

 this article is often discussed, and pretty confi- 

 dent opinions given pro and con. Without pre- 

 tending to discuss the matter myself, I will give 

 two or three fads which go to establish the af- 

 rirmative, and leave it to the aftention of some 

 of your correspondents who understand the sub- 

 ject better. 



When 1 was in Lebanon, Me. some three years 

 since I learned that a young genflenian of sci- 

 ence, (name forgotten) who had a mind to try 

 some agricultural experiments, had taken a farm 

 in town, which had been much reduced by over 

 tilling. He had put a large flock of sheep upon 

 it, which, to appearand^ was bringing it up sur- 

 prisingly. The pastures, especially, were very 

 much improved. His reasoning was, that a sheep, 

 by the oil in her wool, and by the manure left, 

 would dress her size of ground in a night, by 

 lying upon it. 



Another man, who lives not far from the State 

 House in N. H., is a firm believer in the sheep's 

 being an improver of the soil. He thinks tliat 

 they are a benefit to mowing lands, if turned 

 into them in the fall, by scattering the manure, 

 so minutely divided, among the grass roots. 



Will not some of your wool-growing corres- 

 pondents give the results of their experience 

 upon this s-iibject ? BOW. 



Gardening. There is not in life a more de- 

 lightful occupation than gardening. To breathe 

 the jiiire mild air of spring, to prepare the beds 



and borders for vegetables, plants and floweiii ; 

 to sow the seed and set out the various slips and 

 cuttings, arranging every thing with order and 

 taste ; look earnestly tor the first leaf and bud 

 and flower; to watch their growth, to enjoy their 

 beauty and fragrance, to show them to one's 

 friends, to talk about them, to have them admir- 

 ed, and to know that all is the work of your hands 

 or directions^this is an enjoyment, scarcely to 

 be equalled,and accessible, in this country, to all. 

 Let none then neglect to secure it. We always 

 thought it evidence of a good wife, to see her of- 

 ten in the garden and fond of inspecting and at- 

 tending to its proper cultivation and manage- 

 ment. Depend upon it she is a bles.sing to her 

 husband and fiimily. We would advise our 

 young friend.s, who want to marry, and they are, 

 in truth, a goodly number, to avoid those young 

 ladies who seem to have an aversion to the primi- 

 tive, useful and beautiful art of gardening. We 

 never knew a lady or gentleman, who was ex- 

 tremely fond of flowers and shrubbery, who had 

 not a warm heart and generous disposition. 



Mississippi Giuirdian. 



Trees and Shrubs 



Considered toith reference to their Importance trt the 



Economy of J^'ature and to Man. 



From a forthcomin'' work on the " Trees of America," 



bv D. .1. Browne, C. E. 



Few objects can be more innocently pleasing 

 anil of more importance in the economy of na- 

 ture, and to man, than the various vegetable 

 productions of the earth. The large proportion 

 wliich its surface bears to its herbage, and the 

 immense extent of the forests in comparison 

 with that of meadows, pastures, prairies or plains, 

 seem to indicate that trees and shrubs act an 

 important part in the economy of our globe. In 

 countries uninhabited by man, the influence of 

 forests must he on the climate, on the soil, and 

 on the number of wild animals, and herbaceous 

 vegetables. In civilized countries, to those influ- 

 ences must be added tlie relation in which they 

 btand to man. 



It appears highly probable that the greater 

 part of the surface of our globe has been, at 

 one time, covered with wood ; because, among 

 other reason.s, coal is found in nearly all coun- 

 tries in both hemispheres, from the equator to 

 the poles ; at all events, it is certain that this has 

 been the case with the greater part of the tem- 

 perate regions of the globe at no very distant 

 period. The wholo of the American contiuent 

 was, until lately, almost entirely covered with 

 trees and shrubs, and presented few naked sur- 

 faces, except those of the prairies, alluvial de- 

 posits on the banks of its larger rivers, and oil 

 the tops of the highest mountains; and what 

 was so recently the condition of America must, 

 we may reasonably suppose, have once, at least, 

 been that of every other part of the world. 



Tlie influence which a predominance of forest 

 must have in a country uninhabited by man must 

 have extended to the animal.s, the herbaceoua 

 vegetables, the soil, the waters, and the climate. 

 To wild animals of every kind, especially to 

 those of the more ferocious tribes, forests have, 

 in all countries, furnished shelter, and, in a great 

 measure, food — birds, insects and reptiles are 

 more common inhabitants. Herbaceous plants 

 are, for the most part, destroyed by dense for- 

 ests ; but some kinds are encouraged by the 

 thickness of the shade, and the moist heat which 

 prevails among the trunks and the branches of 

 the trees. But the great influence of forest 

 scenery in a wild state is on the .soil ; and, in 

 this jjoint of view, natural forests may be regard- 

 ed as a provision of nature for preparing the 

 surface of ihe earth for the cultivation of the 

 chief productions which constitute the food of 

 man, and of domestic animals. It would be in- 

 teresting to show how the soil is furnished with 

 that organized matter, so essential to the growth 

 of perfect plants, by the decay of leaves, and ul- 

 timately, by the decay of trunks and branches. 

 The waters of a country, the rivers and lakes, 

 are invariably affected by the state of the woods 

 of that country. These woods, and their mossy 

 beds, must, in all cases, act more or less as a 

 sponge in retaining the water which falls on 

 them ; and water must thus be supplied more 

 gradually to the rivers, in countries covered with 

 wood, than in those which are cleared, and reg- 

 ularly drained. A striking instance, illustrative 



