DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND 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, SEPTEMBER 16, 1849. 



NO. 20. 



S. W. COLE, Editor. 



QUINCY HALL, BOSTON. 



J. NOURSE, Proprietor. 



KEEP THE PREMISES CLEAN. 



Every cultivator should keep his premises as clean 

 OS possible, for the important purposes of saving 

 manure and promoting health. Some discerning 

 persons remark that in the hot summer, while vege- 

 tation is in a flourishing condition, it is more healthy 

 in the country than in the city, but the reverse is 

 the case in September and October, as at this season 

 many vegetable productions have come to maturity 

 and are decaying, filling the air with noxious gases 

 and odors ; hence arise fevers, dysentery, and other 

 complaints, which are more common in the country 

 early in fall. We give this view of the subject, which 

 some have presented, and wo will make a few remarks 

 on subjects that claim the particular attention of every 

 cultivator, whether this view be correct or not. 



Keep the premises, particularly around the dwell- 

 ing, perfectly free from every substance that will 

 taint the air. Every decaying vegetable or animal 

 substance should be removed a good distance, and 

 then covered in earth, for the purpose of nianure. 



The pig-pen, though at a respectable distance, 

 should be supplied with loam to absorb all liquid 

 matter. All manure in the barn-yard should be cov- 

 ered with loam, sand, or mud, to save it from waste, 

 ftnd to keep the air pure, as, in the changes so com- 

 mon to the wind, the air is liable to be wafted from 

 the barn to the house. 



Cellars should be made as clean as possible, par- 

 ticularly as they communicate directly with the 

 dwelling above, and any foul air produced in them 

 is very liable to pass into the house. All vegetables 

 in the cellar that are tending to decay should be re- 

 moved immediately. It is best to ventilate cellars 

 thoroughly by opening doors and windows, and to 

 keep the door open as little as possible that com- 

 municates with the rooms. 



Ground plaster, and freshly-burnt charcoal, set 

 in vessels or strewed around in cellars, or other 

 places where foul air exists, or is liable to be produced, 

 has a very healthful effect, by absorbing gases. 



Necessaries often produce a foul atmosphere around 

 them ; and as the dwelling is near, the offensive air 

 is often wafted to it, and even when not perceptible, 



it is often operating injuriously. Some prepare 

 these conveniences and cover with loam or other 

 substance all night soil, so as to do away entirely 

 with all unpleasant and unwholesome effects. "When 

 this is not the case, charcoal, plaster, chloride of 

 lime, or other disinfectants, should be thrown into 

 the vault, to absorb all noxious odors. 



"Water from the sink should be absorbed in loam, 

 &c., for manure, instead of rising in foul gases, and 

 being blown into the house. There are some cases 

 of malignant and fatal disorders going through a 

 family, while all the rest of the neighborhood are in 

 good health. This is often owing to some local 

 cause, some foul puddle, pool, or stagnant pond, 

 near the dwelling, or a general negligence as to keep- 

 ing the premises clean. 



Decaying weeds, grass, potatoes affected with the 

 rot, potato tops, pumpkin and other vines, and vari- 

 ous productions, are undergoing decomposition in the 

 fall ; and in the aggregate the amount is large, and 

 filling the air with pestilential gases. Farmers may 

 do much good to themselves and the community by 

 burying all such substances, and converting them 

 into manure. Make them into a compost heap, well 

 covered with loam, to absorb the gases. 



FRUIT GARDEN OF A. LACKEY, JR., 

 MARBLEHEAD. 



On a recent visit to this garden, we were highly 

 delighted with the success of Mr. Lackey, and the 

 result of numerous experiments which he has made. 

 His attention has been mostly directed to the culti- 

 vation of plums and pears ; and as it was the season 

 of plums, we paid particular attention to this subject. 



Mr. Lackey has collected numerous kinds, foreign 

 and domestic, and is subjecting them to fair experi- 

 ment. After thorough trial, he has rejected some 

 that are not worthy of cultivation ; and yet he has 

 more than a hundred kinds on trial, some of which 

 arc new and very promising. The result of such 

 operations are highly useful to the community, and 

 Mr. Lackey deserves high commendation for his 

 zeal in a useful cause. He has entered into this 

 business with so much ardor, that, though young. 



