80 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Teb.. 



Owl, and well known in Massachusetts. Au(lul)on 

 says it receives its name from the sound of its love 

 notes, bearing a great resemblance to noise pro- 

 duced by filing the teetli of a large saw. These 

 notes, when coming, as they frequently do, from 

 the interior of a deep forest, produce a very pecu- 

 liar effect on the traveller, who not being aware of 

 their real nature, expects, as he advances on his 

 route, to meet with shelter under a saw-mill at no 

 great distarjce. In "Ogilby's Anieriea," pviblished 

 in 1G71, we find our birds, ealied by him common, 

 and peculiar, thus enumerated somewhat after tlie 

 manner of Spencer in his Faery Queen. 



' The Princely Eagle, arxi (he so;iri;i» Hawk, 



Whom in (heir unknown ways theres non can ehaJk — 



The Ilunjbird for some Cineefis rich ciige more 111, — 



Than hi the vacant wilderness to sit. 



The swilt winged Swallow .sweeping to and fro. 



As swift a.s arrow frnn} Tartarian bowe. 



When as .\urora's infant day new sprm;^?, 



When the morning n!0»nliii<r lark her sweet lays sings; 



The harmonious 1 hriish, swift Pigeon Turtle dove. 



Who to her mate doth ever constant prove, 



Turkey, Pheasant, Heath cock Partridge rare. 



The Carr'in tearing Crovi', and hurtful stare, 



The long-lived Raven, ihe ominous Screech Owl, 



Who tells, ^.3 old Wives say. disasters foul. 



The drowsie Madge, that leaves her day !o-?'d nest. 



And love^^ lo rovt, when day birds be al rest, 



The Eel inuriUerinf; iferon and greedy Cormorant, 



That neir ifie Creeks, in moorish marshes haaiit. 



The bellowing Bittern, with Ihe long leg'd Ciane, 



Presaging Winters hard and Death of Grain, 



The silver Swan, that tunes her mournful breath, 



To sing the Dirge of her approaching,' death, 



The Tattering Oldwires and the cackling Geese, 



The feardil Gull, thafshuns the murlhering Piece. 



The strong winged iVIallrrrd, with the nimble Tea), 



And ill shajie't l.oone with h s harsh notes doth squeal, 



There Widiiins, Sheldrakes, and Hutnililies, 



Snipe-, Dipiiera, Sea Larks in whf je millions flees." 



The belief that swallows became torpid at the 

 approach of winter, and buried themselves at the 

 bottom of ponds, ]>elongs to the past history of 

 our birds, being very generally believed by orni- 

 thologists previous to the nineteenth century. In 

 our nest communication we shall speaU. of the 

 .brumal or winter retreat of the swallow. 



Danversport, Jan. 1, 1853, s. p. f. 



For the New Enirland Farmer. 



WARTS ON PLUM TRESS. 



Frequent complaints continue to be made by 

 correspondents of agricultural papers, and others, 

 of the black bunches on plain tvees, and as many 

 inquiries for a remedy. Cutting off the bunches 

 and burning them in the fire is every where pre- 

 scribed as t!iat remedy, and more than tliirty years 

 of personal practice, and observation of the prac- 

 tice of others, enables me to say that remedy is ef 

 fectual. It is easy and simple, though sometimes 

 a little severe on the tree. It may he it is too 

 simple, and that a compound drug of many foreign 

 hard-named materials would be more attractive, 

 the appliciition of which would be ten times the 

 labor that the ready use of the knife requires. If 

 the dt^predation of the curculio could be as easily 

 prevented as the black warts, plums would be vast- 

 ly more abundant than they have been. The last 

 seas )n, however, my plums suffered but little, and 

 my cherries much less t!ian ever Wbfore iTnm tlie 

 bite of the curculio. [ attributed this to the very 

 frequent high winds that prevailed about the usual 

 time that the plums Jind clierriesget their wounds. 

 High winds clear tiie atmosphere of musquitoes 

 and may partially d.)^tlie same of the insects or 

 bugs and millers that sting fruit. 



Peach and cherry trees suffered much the past 

 season by the great flow of gum. On examination 

 of the bark about where the gum oozed out it wa& 

 found dead, and the v/ood dead or aSected under 

 it. Whether the Sow of tlie gum is caused by r., 

 worm or not I cannot tell, though it appears to me 

 that irritation from this source affects it. Upon, 

 that supposition I use the knife, gouge or chisel to- 

 remove the dead bark with the gtJm, and leave the 

 wood naked to the sound line of bark and wood ; 

 and if done thoroughly the gum ceases to flow — 

 tlie wound becomes dry and is soon covered with 

 the growing wood. I had a young, thrifty cherry,, 

 the Yellow Spanish, several years ago, badly affect- 

 ed and nearly girdled by dead bark, which I re- 

 moved with the gum and to such eztent that I ex- 

 pected to lose the tree. The gam ceased to flow 

 tind the tregjsooa healed over sound and has growii 

 vigorous and large. No gum has till the past sea- 

 son made its appearance. On examination the 

 same state of the bark and wood as formerly ap- 

 peared — the same remedy applied, and thus far 

 with the same good etS>ct. Whetlier the cause b& 

 a worm, or a disease or cancer of the wood, so to- 

 speak, the free use of the knife appears to be the 

 efficient remedy. On peach trees the effect of re- 

 moving the dead bark and gum and leaving the 

 naked wood to the air has had the same good ef- 

 fect, so far as my liuiited experience has gone. 



Kures McIntire. 



Parsonsfidd, Me. 



For the Ne;f England Farmer. 



NORTHERN SPY APPLS. 



De.\r Sir : — In answer to your inquiries about 

 the Northern Spy apple, I am not fully prepared 

 to give all tlie information you desire ; but as faz 

 as 1 have been able to test it, I am confident that 

 it will do well with us in our northern climate. — 

 The tree in the nursery is a very strong and hand- 

 some, upright grower, rather long jointed, but as 

 it grows older the head thickens up, making it one 

 of the handsomest trees grown. I have two hun- 

 dred of them set out in my orchard now, five years 

 from the bud. There can be no loss to any man 

 setting an orchard of them, even if they should 

 not tneet his expectations in fruiting, as they are 

 the handsomest growing apple tree I have ever 

 seen, and the stocks would be worth more than 

 any others, to work other kinds of fruit on, being 

 so very thrifty. To have them fruit well, I think 

 they vfant a very strong soil, with high cultivation. 

 The specimens sent were grown upon scions set in 

 young, thrifty Baldwin trees five years since, this 

 being the second year they have Iruited, l^earing 

 about one-half the quantity there would have 

 been of Baldwins upon the same tree. The ap- 

 ple grown with us is much heavier and firmer and 

 keeps better than it does grown in New York. I 

 do not consider it in prime eating until May, and 

 then I think it the best apple I have ever eaten. 

 It will keep well until July. Yours truly, 



TopsJich/.Jan., 1853. W. G. Lake. 



Old Farmer's Almanack. — Number sixty-one of 

 this old favorite is published for the year 1853. It 

 is well printed and filled with useful and interest- 

 ing matter, and interspersed with blank leaves, so 

 that the farmer will find it exceedingly convenient. 

 Published by Jenks, Ilickling & Swan, Boston, 



