454 



JSEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



windfiills, and either throw them over to the hogs, 

 or cook them, and mix them with the swill that 

 you feed to the hoga, and thus be sure to destroy 

 them. 



There is another way by which many of them 

 can be entrapped and killed. These worms some- 

 times leave the apple while it hangs on the tree, 

 and crawl down the trunk in search of some con- 

 venient place, to spin their cocoon, in which to 

 undergo their transformation, into a miller or moth 

 state. 



If you place a woolen rag in the crotch of the 

 tree, the worms, in their journey down, will be 

 very likely to come in contact with it, and finding 

 it warm and comfortable, will be likely to crawl 

 under it, and spin their cocoons there. 



They can then be discovered by lifting up the 

 cloth, and thus easily destroyed. It is worth 

 some little pains to diminish their numbers at this 

 time. — Maine Farmer. 



below the measurement. From the great loss of 

 roots, by their spreading so deep and wide, I had 

 little expectation of saving my tree, and still less 

 the grafts so recently set, but was most agreeably 

 disappointed in both. — Rural New-Yorker. 



MOUNTAIN BORER. 



The Hartford Times speaks as follows of an in- 

 vention by a Mr. Talbot of that city, called the 

 "Mountain Borer :" 



"Worked into its own machinery, is an engine 

 of GO horse power. This drives four piston rods, 

 horizontally, iyad these turn four half-circle plates, 

 of stout proportions, to which circular revolving 

 blades are set. These four plates are turned with 

 exactness about one-fourth of a circle and back, 

 and are set upon a revolving plate, of about ten 

 feet in diameter, and as thus set, cut a circle of 17 

 feet in diameter. The machine weighs about 80 

 tons, and is of stout proportions throughout. The 

 motion obtained by this invention is novel — en- 

 tirely new. By it the revolving knives, each run- 

 ning its quarter circle, cut completely from the 

 centre to the circumference, and they do their 

 work steadily and surely, cutting a round hole as 

 they are turned by the large or centre plate. But 

 we cannot describe the great machine so as to give 

 a good idea of it, and will not attempt it. We 

 say, however, that it stands among the greatest 

 inventions of the age, and will bore its way to an 

 enviable notoriety. It is to be taken to a rock at 

 or neiir ILulem, N. P., for an experimental trial 

 All the r;ire things in the Crystal Palace com- 

 bined, are not equal to this machine, in the way of 

 interest to the lover of true mechanical genius 

 and bold conception." 



DEPTH OF THE ROOTS OF TREES. 



In the spring of 1850, I removed an apple tree 

 which was growing on a gravelly ridge, to a place 

 prepared for it a short distance from whence it was 

 taken. The tree was six inches in diameter, had 

 been planted, I should judge about twenty years, 

 and had been top-grafted a few days previous to 

 its removal. The tree and most of the grafts set 

 in it are growing thriftily. 



In the place where the tree stood, I sunk a well, 

 and in the digging traced the roots of the apple 

 tree downwards to a depth of over twelve feet be- 

 low the surface of tlie ground. My attention 

 was called by the appearance of the roots, as the 

 workmen were going on with their work, and a 

 measurement was made. How much deeper the 

 roots could have been traced, I cannot tell, but I 

 was well satisfied that they did extend some little 



For the New England Farmer. 

 APPLICATION OF TAN TO POTATOES. 



Mr. Browx: — Early this month my attention 

 was called to a field of potatoes, several acres, on 

 the farm of Gen. Sutton, (which I believe yon 

 have visited this season,) presenting features so 

 striking as to be worthy of notice. The entire field 

 was plowed the last Autumn, with the Michigan 

 sod and subsoil plow, to the depth of about nine 

 inches, and manured with compost in like manner 

 throughout. In the Spring it was furrowed deep, 

 and the potatoes were dropped in continuous rows. 

 On one side of the field the potatoes were covered 

 with tan, before the dirt was put over them, taken 

 directly from the tannery ; on the other side, no 

 tan was applied. In all other respects they were 

 treated alike. When I first saw them, the 

 vines throughout appeared healthy and vigor- 

 ous, the only difference was, where the tan was 

 applied, they were higher and larger than the 

 others. This was explained upon the supposition 

 that during the dry weather of June and July, the 

 tan had checked the evaporation from the earth 

 below, and the sod that had been covered by the 

 subsoil, and thereby aided the growth of the po- 

 tato. At this time, no appearance of blight, or 

 discoloration of the vines, was to be seen on any 

 part of the field. To day, when I looked at them, 

 on that part of the field, where no tan was applied, 

 the vines were completely fallen and discolored, 

 presenting a gloomy aspect. Where the tan was 

 applied, the vines are still green and luxuriant — 

 only here and there a sprout otherwise — probably 

 where the tan did not completely cover. What is 

 to be the result of the application of the tan upon 

 the tubers to be formed, can only be determined 

 when the crop is matured. Perhaps they will all 

 be tainted with the rot, as most other fields in this 

 vicinity now give indications of being. I state the 

 facts, that the curious in these matters may look 

 for themselves, while the crop is in the field. It 

 is situated on the southerly side of Aborn Street, 

 in Salem, near the Gen.'s large barn. Probably, 

 when other cares will permit, the proprietor will 

 have more time to look after the humbler, but not 

 less useful and honorable pursuits of his well-cul- 

 tivated fields. 



The public are under great obligations to gentle- 

 men like Mr. Sutton, for many well conducted ex- 

 periments in cultivation. In this way, men of 

 wealth and public spirit can do much for the in- 

 struction of the farmer, even though, they do not 

 put their own hands to the plow, or shoulder to 

 the wheel. Mr. S.'s experiment in 1851, of ap- 

 plying various kinds of manure to the growing of 

 potatoes, published I think in the Journal of Ag- 

 riculture at that time, was highly creditable and 

 useful. If my recollection is right, those grown 

 on rotted tan alone, yielded most and of the best 

 quality. If it be true that tan can be used for the 

 growing or the protecting of potatoes, this is a fact 

 worthy of notice. In the village of South Danvers 

 alone, it is ascertained that about 12,000 cords of 

 hemlock bark are annually used in the tanneries . 



