ml^^^- 



DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE IND ALL ITS VARIOUS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES 



Honor waits, o'er all the earth, The art that calls her harvests forth. — Bryant. 



VOL. I. 



SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 1849. 



NO. 17. 



S. W. COLE, Editor. 



QUINCY HALL, BOSTON. 



J. NOURSE, PiiopRiETOtt. 



PEARMAINS- PIPPINS. 



Pearmains. — According to an article in the Eng- 

 lish Gardener's Chronicle, the original signification 

 of pearmain, when applied to an apple, was pear- 

 shaped. This meaning seems to have been lost. In 

 our boyhood, we found that this name was given to 

 apples that had a pear flavor, and we believe this 

 has generally been considered the meaning of the 

 word in this country. But of late years, this term 

 has been applied to many apples that do not resem- 

 ble pears either in form or flavor. 



Pippix originallj' signified a kernel of the seed of 

 apples, pears, and quinces ; but early authors ap- 

 plied it to seedling or natural trees, in contradis- 

 tinction to grafted or budded trees, as appears from 

 the following from Mascal : " As often as pepin- 

 trees be removed to a better grounde, the fruite 

 thereof be so much amended ; but the fruite which 

 doth come of grafting doth always kcpe the forme 

 and nature of the tree whereof he is taken." 



According to the manner of using the word pip- 

 pin, by many in the present day, it means nothing 

 more nor less than apple, though some, in applying 

 it to natural or seedling trees, continue its use for 

 the same purpose as the early authors on pomology, 

 and it would be well if this ancient signification 

 could be continued, to prevent the too frequent use 

 of the word seedling, which is filling our fruit cata- 

 logues from the multiplicity of new fruits designated 

 by the originator's name attached to this term. Its 

 application to a seedling tree is in accordance with 

 its original meaning, — a seed. 



NEW YORK STATE FAIR. 



This grand exhibition will be held at Syracuse, 

 September 11, 12, and 13. The premiums offered 

 are liberal, and the list very extensive, filling nearly 

 five columns of the Albany Evening Journal, amount- 

 ing, as some have estimated, to six or seven thousand 

 dollars. As the aff'airs of the New York State Agri- 

 cultural Society have been conducted on so liberal a 

 plan, and competition invited from different parts 

 of the Union and from the Canadas, this society 



assumes the character of a national association, and 

 the fair seems like a great national jubilee. 



An address is expected by Professor Johnston, of 

 England, who is distinguished for his works and 

 lectures on agriculture and science. President Taylor 

 has accepted an invitation to be present at the com- 

 ing fair, and it will doubtless be the greatest exhibi- 

 tion, both in the show and the concourse of people, 

 that has ever occurred in this country. 



The railroad companies in the state of New York 

 offer unusual facilities to persons attending the state 

 fair, and for the transportation of animals and other 

 articles for exhibition. "When shall we witness so 

 liberal a course in New England ? 



MARL. 



Marls are composed of carbonate of lime, with, 

 various kinds of earth or loam. They are known by 

 their effervescence on the application of acids, which 

 drives off the carbonic acid gas. In New Jersey 

 marls abound, and they have been used with aston- 

 ishing success in renovating the worn-out sandy 

 lands. In New England, but very little attention has 

 been paid to this subject, though marl beds are found 

 in many parts, and thousands of farmers have this 

 valuable fertilizer upon their own premises, who are 

 not aware that they possess so valuable a treasure. 



Marl is useful on all soils, excepting such as 

 already abound in lime. We hope that farmers will 

 examine into the resources which they have on their 

 own farms, as they will often find at hand the means 

 of their renovation and improvement. "We copy the 

 following article from a prize essay on "Renovating 

 Worn-Out Lands," by Edward Stabler, of Sandy 

 Spring, Md., for the American Farmer : — 



Marl. — I can say but little from experience in 

 the use of calcareous manures ; but am fully satis- 

 fied, both by information derived from others and 

 from personal observation, that wherever it abounds, 

 it might be made a mine of wealth to the proprietor, 

 and the adjacent districts which admit of water 

 transportation. 



The only apparent reason why they are not more 

 BO, is either ignorance of its great fertilizing proper- 

 ties, or a lack of the necessary enterprise and indus- 



"Ill 



III! 

 111. 



■•In 



Mil 

 III* 



