162 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 



From Mr. O. V. Hills, Leominster, a specimen of 

 apples, medial size, roundish-oblong, mostly red, of 

 a pleasant quality, and remarkable for long keeping. 

 Mr. Hills makes the following remarks on this 

 variety : — 



I send you a box of apples : they are called Priest 

 Sweeting by some, and Blue Sweeting by others, in. 

 this section. The oldest trees, in this neighborhood, 

 ■were on the farm of a Mr. Priest ; and it may have 

 originated on his place, as I am unable to trace it 

 any further. This variety is much esteemed as a 

 late-keeping -winter sweeting in this vicinity, and 

 there are many bearing trees of it in town. It will 

 keep as long as the lloxbury Russet, and the trees 

 bear bountifully every other year ; it bears in. even 

 years. Of the iiavor of the fruit you can judge on 

 testing it. 



Of Mr. Henry Little, East Mansfield, Tough Apple, 

 •R-hich he values for its late keeping. As the best 

 specimens were tried by a self- constituted committee, 

 Avho have made no report, we cannot give an opinion 

 on this fruit. 



Of Mr. John Owen, Cambridge, a pleasant apple, 

 a late keeper, raised in that vicinity. 



"VVe have had several late ap]ples this season ; but 

 as some ■were rather past their time, and in some 

 eases we had only one or two specimens, and but 

 little information as to their growth, and bearing, and 

 general fairness, we cannot judge of their compara- 

 tive value, nor how they will compare with other 

 late kinds previously introduced to the public. Our 

 notices may lead to further investigation and trial. 



From Colonel Libbeus Chase, Cornish, N. II., a 

 few trees of the Shad Bush, {Swamp ri/riis,) in some 

 places called Sugar Pear, which are very acceptable, 

 as we wish to try the effect of cultivation on them. 

 We have seen the fruit of this shrub very fine in its 

 wild state, and perhaps it may be improved by culti- 

 vation, and become one of the most valuable kinds. 

 Other fruits have been greatly improved by culture, 

 and by seedlings. In some cases, the pear has suc- 

 ceeded well on the Shad Bush, and the subject is 

 worthy of more extensive trials. Ileports on trials 

 of this kind will be acceptable. 



Of Mr. Salmon Buckminstor, I^ynn, an early blue 

 potato, ii'om New Hampshire, which he represents 

 as very early. We will give it a fair trial with many 

 other early varieties, and beg leave to report at some 

 future day. 



IMPORTANCE OF ROOT CULTURE. 



Mil. Editor : As I vmderstand your now publica- 

 tion (the Wool-Grower) is intended for the benefit 

 of the farming community, I propose to give my ex- 

 perience in the use of roots for cattle and hogs. 



I grow beets, carrots, ruta b:\gas, and parsnips, 

 and tind there is no difference in the expense of cul- 

 tivation of either. I find that the sugar beet pro- 

 duces the most milk, and the carrot and ruta bagas 

 ai-e best for fatting. 



But the ruta baga is far the best for that purpose, 

 and I am surprised that so valuable a root is not 

 more generally grown in this country. I have fed a 

 farrow cow on ruta bagas and ordinary hay, for two 

 months this winter, and she made good beef, although 

 I milked her a great part of the time ; and I have 



fed a breeding sow on them, and them only, for the 

 last two months, and my neighbors say that she is 

 too i-AX. for breeding. But I consider that the parsnip 

 is a most valuable root for cattle ; and hogs prefer 

 them to any other root, and we hear the carrot ex- 

 tolled, but no one grows the parsnip, and yet they 

 are easier to raise, and certainly more valuable. But 

 I am aware that they arc a hard root to get up — a 

 general complaint against them. But you can leave 

 them in the ground all the winter, and dig them in 

 the spring, and save housing them, which is no small 

 consideration ; and they come in well between hay 

 and grass — the very time that they are wanted. 



If any one thinks proper to try them, I know he 

 will not repent it. Sow early, in rows eighteen 

 inches apart, and thin them to eight inches in tlie 

 rows. Any good wheat soil will suit them. 



W. W. 



Dauien, Genesee Co., N. Y., Feb., 1849. 

 — Wool-Grower. 



Remarks by the Editor New England Farmer. 



The cultivation of the parsnip, as food for stock, 

 has not been generally tested. It is a hardy plant, 

 and the yield, under good cultivation, is very large. 

 This root is sweet and nutritious, and it is doubtless 

 one of the most valuable for stock. In the Island of 

 Guernsey, England, this root is cultivated very ex- 

 tensively for all kinds of stock, and with excellent 

 success. It grows to a large size, sometimes attain- 

 ing a yard in length. We hope that more attention 

 will be given to the parsnip, that its true value may 

 be better known. 



CURIOUS FACTS IN NATURE. 



Almost all animals come into the world covered 

 with clothing adapted to their condition. Man is an 

 exception, because he can clothe himself. He is not, 

 however, the only exception ; nor is he the only 

 animal that can clothe itself. The larvre or grub 

 of that species of moth which is called the " clothes 

 moth," manufactures, as soon as it co:ncs into the 

 world, a coat for itself, of hair or wool, and, for the 

 protection of its tender skin, lines it with silk. This 

 is a curious and singular fact. If this coat were the 

 insect's natural covering, it would grow with the 

 insect's growth ; but it is artificial, and some pro- 

 vision, therefore, must be made for its enlargement, 

 as the grub increases in size. If additional length 

 only were required, the task would be easy; the 

 covering being cylindrical, all that would be necessary 

 would, indeed, very easily be effected by adding a 

 ring or two at the top or bottom. But the coat must 

 be widened, and this is an operation which is not so 

 easily performed ; but the little insect, as if it had 

 Icanit the art of tailoring, accomplishes its object 

 with equal ease and success. It begins, as an ex- 

 perienced workman would do, by making two slits, 

 one on each side, in order to give additional width, 

 and then introduces two slijis of the same materials, 

 to fill up the same space ; but it foresees, or at least 

 acts as if it foresaw, that if the slits Avcre made on 

 each side from one end to the other at once, the coat 

 would fall off: it proceeds, therefore, with caution, 

 and at first slits its garments on each side only half 

 v.'ay down, and, when it has completed the enlarge- 

 ment of that half, proceeds in like manner to enlarge 

 the other. What more could be done by a skilful 

 tailor ? And be it observed that this operation is 

 performed, not by imitation, for it never saw the 

 thing done ; nor by practice, for it is its first attempt. 

 The facts are curious, and worthv of attention. 



