178 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



mighty progress in every branch of human industry, 

 and that if they woiild keep pace with the ajje, they 

 must bring to bear, individually and as masses, all 

 their energy, with constantly increased intelligence 

 and skill. 



IIovey's Magazine of Houticulture contains a 

 variety of interesting original matter, both by the. 

 editor and correspondents. 



Excelsior. — This popular journal, devoted to 

 temperance, literature, and general intelligence, 

 has recently appeared in a new dress, commending 

 itself to the public for its beautiful typographical 

 appearance, for its powerful aid in the cause of tem- 

 perance, and for its interesting miscellany. C W. 

 Slack, Editor. Weekly, at two dollars per year. 



Horn's Railroad Gazette. — This is a novel work, 

 very interesting to the traveller or man of business. 

 It contains maps or diagrams of all the railroad 

 routes in the United States, tables of distances, fares, 

 departures and arrivals of cars, with various other 

 useful matter. S. Horn, Editor. New York city. 

 Weekly, at two dollars per year. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 



Of Mr. James Munroe, Cambridge, Strawberry 

 Sweet Apple, the same as we recently received of 

 Mr. J. Owen, without name. It is an excellent 

 keeper, pleasant, but not large enough, nor of suffi- 

 cient character for the market. 



Of Captain Silas Allen, Shrewsbury, specimen 

 of Iron Pear, in excellent condition. 



Of Mr. Henry Vandyne, Cambridgcport, pears of 

 moderate size, in an excellent state of preservation, 

 rather poor for the dessert, but first rate for cooking. 



Of Mr. M'Intosh, stall 10-5 in the market, an apple 

 for a name, which proves to be the Shawmut, de- 

 scribed in the American Fruit Book. A very good 

 apple, keeping finely, but rather small for the market. 



From Brooks's stall in the market, Spring Pippin 

 Apple. Medial size; sugar-loaf form ; red, fair fruit. 

 Too hard to try ; a warm summer may soften them. 

 These are from the state of New York. A great 

 keeper. 



English Prepaiild Bone^Ianure. — This manure 

 is advertised on our cover. It is a new preparation 

 verj' convenient from its portable form. We advise 

 those who are disposed to make experiments, to try 

 this manure, and report to us the result of their ex- 

 perience. A small lot has been sent out for trial in 

 this country, and we hope that it will be fairly tested. 



CULTIVATION OF PEACHES. 



Eds. Cultivator : It is a general fact that the 

 peach will degenerate in quality on being produced 

 from seed. 



I had, from my agricultural or horticultural read- 

 ing, derived the opinion that the peach would di- 

 minish in quality if a continued reproduction from 

 seed wore practised. I ever doubted the correctness 

 of that opinion, as indicating imperfection in the 

 arrangement of nature ; and of late, I have been led 

 to doubt it still more. Passing through, near the 

 central part of this county, (St. Joseph, Mich.,) I 

 called at the residence of Mr. II. K. Farran, whom 



I afterwards found to be a very intelligent farmer and 

 fruit-grower ; and whose fine looking peaches, I 

 thought, offered quite an inducement to the cultiva- 

 tion of taste. Upon trial, I found them to be deli- 

 cious. I remarked, that I supposed he had obtained 

 his fruit by budding. Ho said, no, he raised them 

 from pits brought into the county with him ; that 

 they had been reproduced three times, and had im- 

 proved at each successive reproduction. I alluded to 

 the opinion of eastern cultivators of the peach. " I 

 know," said he, " they believe it degenerates, and 

 perhaps it does on most eastern soils ; but here," 

 continued he, '* is the homo of the peach." He 

 remarked, further, that " he had raised fruit every 

 year since his trees began bearing, and that a friend 

 of his near by had raised large quantities every year 

 for fifteen successive years." 



A lady of my acquaintance here, informed me that 

 she planted the pits of some very inferior peaches ; 

 and this year, the trees were burdened with the most 

 delicious peaches she ever tasted. I could adduce 

 numerous additional cases, on good authority, where 

 the same results have followed the planting of the 

 seed, or pits. CHARLES BETTS. 



Burr Oak Farm, Mich., 1849. 



We suppose a similar law prevails in the produc- 

 tion of peaches from seed, as in the production of 

 other fruits by the same mode. That the degeneracy 

 of a species should follow from this mode of propa- 

 gation, would be contrary to nature. But if we 

 plant seeds of our finest varieties of fruits, it is not 

 to be expected that all the varieties so produced 

 would be equal to the parent. Experience proves 

 that, in raising from seed, the proportion of those 

 kinds which are really first rate, is very small. — Eos. 

 — Albany Cultivator. 



Seeds from seedling or natural peaches generally 

 produce the same, and there is usually no degeneracy 

 in eastern soils, provided the culture is good. Seeds 

 from very fine budded peaches often vary from the 

 parent tree, and they are generally poorer, from the 

 influence of the stock, as the production of the 

 stock would usually be inferior to the kind budded 

 on it. — Editor New Eni/land Farmer. 



THE FIRST SAW-MILL. 



The old practice, in making boards, was to split up 

 the logs with wedges ; and inconvenient as the 

 practice was, it was no easy matter to persuade the 

 world that the thing could be done in any better 

 way. Saw-mills were first used in Europe in the 

 fifteenth century ; but so lately as 15.5.3, an English 

 ambassador, having seen a saw-mill in France, 

 thought it a novelty which deserved a particular 

 description. It is amusing to see how the aversion 

 to labor-saving machinery has always agitated Eng- 

 land. The first saw-mill was established by a 

 Dutchman in 1663 ; but the public outcry against 

 the new-fangled machine was so violent, that the 

 proxirietor was forced to decamp with more expedi- 

 tion than ever did a Dutchman before. The evil was 

 thus kept out of England for several years, or rather 

 generations; but in 17G8, an unlucky timber mer- 

 chant, hoping that after so long a time the public 

 would be less watchful of its own interests, made a 

 rash attempt to construct another mill. The guar- 

 dians of the public welfare, however, wore on the 

 alert, and a conscientious mob at once collected and 

 pulled the mill to pieces. Such patriotic spirit 

 could not always last ; and now, though we have no- 

 where seen the fact distinctly stated, there is reason 

 to believe that saw-mills are used in England. 



