110 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



moths, which deposits her eggs at night in the 

 dried blow of the apple, when about half grown. 



In the island of Jersey, a place famous for its 

 fruit, the depredations of the "/)2;?/7m-T<;orm" — as 

 they are there called — is entirely avoided by the 

 farmers placing among the branches of their ap- 

 ple trees, sometime in April, tufts of pea straw, 

 or what is better still, bean stalks, which have 

 been kept through the winter for that purpose. 

 In the cavities of these, the miller deposits her 

 eggs, which in due time becomes a grub, of an al- 

 together diflFerent character apparently, from the 

 apple-bred offsprings of the same miller. 



Those grubs never enter an apple, and what few 

 of them escape the keen observation of the black 

 hornet or the speckled girdler, find their way to 

 the ground, in which they burrow, lying dormant 

 for about ten months, when they become changed 

 to millers in time for the next crop of apples. 



I have seen in the island of Jersey, the apples 

 from a tree unprotected by the simple precaution 

 mentioned, literally alive with worms, while those 

 of all the other trees in the same orchard were en 

 tirely free from the plague. 



I have tried the experiment in South America 

 frequently, with the most complete success ; and 

 as I believe the North American worm is identical 

 with the apple-worm of other countries, I would 

 advise that farmers generally try the experiment. 

 It does not cost much, and if successful, is just as 

 good as a more expensive i-emedy. 



I am Dear Sir, very respectfully, 



Geo. S. Raymond. 



Office JVorthern Light, 

 Hallowell, Me., Feb., 1853. 



Remarks. — Thank you, friend Raymond, for the 

 above. We shall try it. If it is a remedy, it is 

 one of those simple ones which all may have. 



For the New Eng-land Farmer. 

 CHINESE FARMING. 



This oldest and most populous country in the 

 world, if I am rightly informed, has the least sup- 

 ply of cattle of any other nation, ancient or modern, 

 where agriculture has been successfully and sys 

 tematically pursued. How they replenish their 

 soil century after century, in the absence of one of 

 the main sources of producing manures in all other 

 countries, has long been to me a most embarrassing 

 question, and one object in this communication is 

 to solicit some remarks on this subject, from some 

 of your correspondents, who are adequate to the 

 task. 



I have been told that they have the art of im- 

 parting fertilizing properties to heaps or vaults of 

 earth, which serve as a substitute for the composts 

 of other countries. What chemical agents they 

 employ for this purpose may be useful for us to 

 know. 



I have seen it stated that all old lime and mor- 

 tar is by them carefully preserved for manuring 

 purposes. This policy I can understand, as I 

 adopted it to advantage long before I read of it 

 among this people, and was not a little gratified 

 thit I had stumbled upon a course which these in- 

 genious cultivators from time immemorial have 

 pursued. 



The ^-ay I came to think of making use of an 

 article so dry, and apparently dead and worthless, 



was from seeing how strong a lie it would produce 

 after being soaked in water for a short time. Aa 

 lime was difficult to be procured except in casks, 

 at too high a price for farming purposes, and as I 

 was satisfied my land needed the article, and as a 

 number of my neighbors were making large re- 

 pairs on their buildings, I daily obtained the priv- 

 ilege of removing what no one accounted of any 

 value. I soon carried off hundreds of loads, at 

 first somewhat at a venture. Some of it I left in 

 heaps, mixed with earth for future use ; most of 

 it, however, I spread on the land, lumps, flakes, 

 and all, where they melted away by degrees, in 

 the course of a few years. After this preparation, 

 a much less quantity of other manures was needed 

 for a good production. 



A Chinaman will sometimes replaster his house 

 sooner than he would otherwise do, for the sake of 

 getting the old refuse for his land. But this can 

 afford but a scanty supply, and after all, the ques- 

 tion comes up, how have the Chinese kept their 

 lands in a productive state, for so many centuries, 

 with so few facilities for enricliing them, which are 

 known to us? The natural richness of the most 

 exuberant soils will in process of time be dimin- 

 ished, and they must be replenished by some fer- 

 tilizing process, or scanty crops will be the portion 

 of the cultivator. . 



I am aware that rice is the staple article for food 

 in China, as well as in most parts of eastern Asia, 

 for the growth of which I believe manure is not 

 needed, as all rice lands must not only be watered, 

 but overflowed a portion of the year. The /nodus 

 operandi in the growing of this crop I conclude 

 is similar in all countries. The fields in the first 

 place must be entirely level, and they must be ac- 

 cessible to water, which must be let on and off at 

 different times, after the seed is sown. In the 

 southern States, the rice fields are mostly adjoining 

 fresh water rivers, where the tides rise and fall 

 suflBciently for thesupply of the fields. This is the 

 ordinary way of growing rice in this country. But 

 in some cases they lay up water in rainy seasons 

 to be let on when it shall be required. 



In India I am told this method is usually prac 

 ticed, and in China the same course is probably 

 pursued. 



As to the growing of the tea plant, I am wholly 

 unimformed respecting the kind of soil or dressing 

 it requires. 



But a large portion of China is in too high a 

 latitude for the culture of either rice or tea, and 

 the question still returns : 



How have the Chinese managed to keep their 

 lands in a productive condition for so many centu- 

 ries, with so few cattle, and without the usual 

 fiicilities for producing manures which are common 

 to all other highly cultivated regions? 



Agricola. 



Elijah M. Reed, of Tcwksbury, informs us that 

 he is now making butter from his Ayrshire cow, 

 and obtains one pound from four quarts of milk ! 

 She was Tm exhibition at the Middlesex Show in 

 October last, and was then an animal of fine ap- 

 pearance. He did not state to us the manner of 

 feeding in obtaining this product. One cow pro- 

 ducing this amount must be of as much value as 

 two, at least, ordinary cows. 



