IIG 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



about himself. He -will be sure to grumble any 

 how. 



Man, do smooth down your face a little, smile 

 now and then ; you look sour enough to turn milk 

 to cheese ! Awful ! 



O what a wretchedlymiserable companion is one 

 of these perpetual grumblers ! Run ! run ! take to 

 your heels ! run ! — Golden Rule. 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Met January 2r>, 1853. 



The meeting was called to order by the Secre- 

 tary, Mr. Walker, who stated that the first busi- 

 ness of the Board was to elect a chairman for the 

 ensuing year, when John H. Clifford, Governor 

 of the Commonwealth, was unanimously elected 



Mr. Gray presented copies of his essay on or- 

 chards. 



The reports of several of the County Agricultural 

 Societies were presented to the Board. 



Mr. Wilder presented a dried specimen of a 

 plant covered with seed, which he had received 

 from A. n. Ernst, late President of the Cincin- 

 nati Horticultural Society. The plant is the 

 Cajanus JIavus, near allied to the Lupines. -The 

 seed was introduced into the country two years 

 since by one of our ships, which found a Japan 

 vessel in distress, from which the crew, with part 

 of the stores, were taken and carried into San Fran- 

 cisco. This seed was among their provision stores, 

 and a small quantity was brought to Alton, Illinois, 

 by Dr. Edwards, and grown by Mr. John H. Lea, 

 a careful horticulturist of that place. The plant 

 presented grew in Cincinnati last summer. Mr. 

 Wilder read a statement from Mr. Teschemaker, 

 which describes this new plant as follows • "Shrub 

 erect, pubescent, native of the East Indies, Am- 

 boyna, Japan, &c. The seeds are good to eat, and 

 when young, very delicate. 



"The Cajanus JIavus or Pigeon T^ea, is cultivated 

 in most tropical countries. In some parts of the 

 West Indies it serves as a fence to sugar planta- 

 tions. In Martinique, the seeds are generally pre- 

 ferred to peas. In Jamaica, they are much used 

 for feeding pigeons, and are there called the Pigeon 

 pea, and the whole plant with its seed is much es- 

 teemed for fottening hogs and cattle. 



"The round seed,when soaked for about an hour 

 in hot water, .takes exactly the form and appear- 

 ance of the common white bean ; it gets very ten- 

 der and is good to eat, being quite mealy ; it is 

 oily, and this accounts for its quality of fattening 

 cattle. It is doubtful to me whether there is length 

 of hot weather enough to ripen the seeds here, and 

 at all events it would not stand the winter — but if 

 the seeds ripen well here it might be made an an- 

 nual produce." 



The seeds were distri]>uted among the mem- 

 bers. 



Mr. Wilder also presented an Essay on Educa- 

 tion by Dr. John Si'arr, of North Dartmouth, 



Mass., which was received and ordered to]:)e placed 

 on the file of the Board. 



Mr. Page reported on the Franklin and Plymouth 

 County Societies. 



^Ir. Nash reported on the Hampden County So- 

 ciety. 



Mr. Sprague read a report upon Neat Cattle. 



A committee on Publication was appointed, con- 

 sisting of Messrs. Walker, Wilder, Proctor, 

 French and Page. 



Mr. Proctor read a report on the Culture of 

 Vegetables as farm products. 



Mr. French reported' on thorough draining and 

 subsoil plowing. • 



The Secretary, Mr. Walker, read the annual 

 report required by act of the Legislature, and which 

 is to be laid before that body. 



The committee appointed to nominate a suitable 

 person to act as Secretary of the Board, reported 

 the name of Charles L. Flint, Esq., of New 

 York. 



The vote was taken by ballot, and Mr. Flint 

 was elected, and the Secretary was directed to no- 

 tify him of his election. 



Messrs. Walker and Smith were elected a Com- 

 mittee on Accounts. 



The paper of Dr. Hitchcock upon the forming 

 of Farmers' Institutes, and the resolution of Mr. 

 Nash, upon the subject of a State Chemist, were 

 referred to a special committee consisting of Messrs. 

 Proctor, Brown, Hitchcock, Nash, and Walker, 

 the acting Secretary, to be reported on at the next 

 meeting of the Board. 



And after an arduous session of about nine 

 hours, the Board adjourned, sine die. 



For the New En inland Farmer. 

 PEA FODDER. 



It is generally believed by farmers, that the 

 haulm of the pea crop is, if not wholly, very 

 nearly valueless as an article of food for stock. — 

 Such, however, is not the fact. I have made a 

 fair and impartial trial of pea fodder as a feed for 

 cows, and find that it possesses high value for this 

 purpose. lyast June there was on my fiirm a 

 small tract of land, on which there grew nothing 

 but red sorrel, and which I could not prepare 

 properly for a more exhausting crop, as I had pre- 

 viously appropriated all my manure t6 other crops. 

 Not wishing, however, to let it remain entirely 

 idle, and being desirous of limiting, as far as cir- 

 cumstances rendered the result practicable, the 

 growth of the sorrel, I had the land carefully 

 plowed, and after spreading a few bushels of 

 lime and plaster on the surface, previous to har- 

 rowing, sowed it in peas. As soon as the vines 

 had podded, and about one-half of the pods were 

 filled, I had the crop carefully mowed and made 

 in a bright day, turning them frequently to ensure 

 the benefit of the sun's rays, and throwing them 

 into small bunches at night, in order to prevent 

 the deteriorating efiects of the dew and rain. On 

 packing them away in the barn, a small quantity 

 of salt was sprinkled over a part of the mass, but 



