310 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



The Bucks County, Malay, Cochin China, and 

 various large India breeds, and other extremely large 

 races, are, generally, of coarse flesh, and the eggs are 

 of coarse texture and unsavory. A friend remarked 

 that his neighbors complained that the eggs from the 

 large India fowls, ■which he sold them, were of a 

 dark color, coarse, and less palatable than others ; 

 and he requested us to take some eggs of the large 

 fowls, and try them with others, and report our opin- 

 ion. We cooked them with the eggs of Dorkings 

 and common hens, and we found that the color was 

 darker, the texture coarser, and the quality inferior 

 to the other two kinds. The difference was great. 



We know not what new kinds may be made, and 

 we would not discourage the production of new 

 varieties, as some maj' be produced under a judicious 

 course of breeding, or incidentally, for ought that we 

 know, that may combine many excellent properties. 

 But in breeding from the coarse India fowls, and 

 retaining their peculiar properties, we think no great 

 improvement will be made. 



Some of the native varieties of domestic fowls, 

 like some native cattle, are superior to many of the 

 foreign races ; and by selecting some of the best from 

 different flocks, in order to avoid breeding in and in, 

 a cross of fine fowls may be produced. 



We have alluded to only a few breeds, and made 

 only a few remarks on them, not intending a full 

 description, with a view to show the ditSculty, or 

 rather impossibility, of selecting a race that would 

 be regarded as best for every body. We have made 

 those remarks, presenting various subjects for con- 

 sideration, with a view to call forth the opin- 

 ions of our correspondents. The subject, though 

 small in its details, is very large in the aggregate, as 

 may be shown by statistics. 



After all that is done to render a tree productive, 

 some kinds will bear but sparsely, as they are natu- 

 rally poor bearers, and it is impossible to change the 

 natural habits of a variety. 



For the New E)i(/land Farmet: 

 BARREN APPLE-TREES. 



Me. Editor. Dear sir : I have been looking in the 

 New England Farmer for something to make barren 

 apple-trees bear ; but I have looked in vain. I can 

 hear nothing in relation to that subject. I have a 

 tree on my farm that is young and thrifty : the trunk, 

 Within a foot of the ground, is thirty- four inches in 

 circumference : it blossoms full, but never bears. If 

 you know or can hear of any remedy, please to insert 

 it in your paper, and much oblige 

 Your friend, 



JAMES MILLIKEN. 



Charlestown, N. H., August 30, 1849. 



Editorial Remarks. — To cure barrenness in 

 fruit trees, change the soil. If the soil is clay, or a 

 cold, muddy soil, remove a part around the roots, 

 and put instead gravelly or sandy loam. If the soil 

 is now too light and porous, change a part for a more 

 compact soil. Apply several kinds of manure, such 

 as ashes, lime, or old lime mortar, soap suds, sink 

 water, plaster, soot, &c. Another aid to produc- 

 tiveness is moderate pruning, to expose the branches 

 to air and sum. Clipping off a part of the present 

 year's growth, in July, tends to the production of 

 fruit buds. If a tree is not sufficiently vigorous, 

 manure and cultivation will render it more fruitful. 



For the New England Farmer. 



Mr. Cole. Dear sir : I have a young, thrifty apple- 

 tree orchard, containing one hundred and thirty 

 trees, of about fourteen years' growth. For the last 

 five or six years, the trees have been infested, as most 

 trees are, more or less, with the borer. Last spring, 

 I undertook an experiment for the purpose of exter- 

 minating the foe from this orchard, if possible. The 

 course pursued, and the result, I will give you in 

 detail. 



On the 13th of last April, I put around the 

 base of the trunk of every tree, from one to two 

 shovels full of house ashes. This was pressed down 

 around the tree as hard as possible. I then put a 

 quarter of an ox cart load of swamp muck around 

 each tree, covering the ashes around the trunk to 

 the depth of about four inches. This I also pressed 

 down, leaving the surface smooth and hard. 



From that time until the 14th of the present 

 month, I made many and careful examinations of 

 every tree ; and in no single instance did I find any 

 sign or indication of the working of borers. On 

 the 14th of this month, supposing that the time 

 had passed for the miller to deposit her eggs, I 

 commenced removing from each tree the muck and 

 the ashes. 



On examining the first tree, I found, about four 

 inches below the surface of the muck, the chippings 

 or castiiigs of a borer pressed hard against the ashes, 

 the chips having become almost as hard as the bark 

 of the tree. I proceeded to search for him, and im- 

 mediately found him in what seemed to me a sad 

 predicament. He had excluded himself entirely 

 from the air, and was in a lean, soft, flabby condition, 

 head downwards. The chips he had apparently last 

 made looked old, as if he had given up work for a 

 considerable time before. 



This first tree and first borer was a fair sample of 

 the whole, for out of almost every tree in the orchard 

 I dug out from one to ten borers. I found them all, 

 as it Avere, in a perfectly safe trap, and many of them 

 were actually dead. The result then shows most 

 conclusively to my mind, that the borer was obliged 

 to give up work, in consequence of the muck and 

 ashes being pressed so hard around the trunk of the 

 tree as to exclude the air, and prevent him from 

 throwing out his chips. Since then, there is no sign 

 or indication whatever of the miller having left the 

 trees from April to August, and consequently could 

 not have deposited any eggs the present season, I 

 feel confident that I have killed every borer, unless 

 some may have escaped my observation. 

 Yours truly, 



E. SANGER. 



Sherburne, August 25, 1849. 



Editorial Remarks. — We are happy in present- 

 ing a new mode of assailing one of the most formida- 

 ble foes that the fruit-grower has to contend with. 

 This experiment appears perfectly successful, and it 

 presents itself as something that appears reasonable. 

 The ashes and muck scattered around trees in a 

 light soil, or one of common moisture, will, as a ma- 

 nure, abundantly pay all the expense of procuring it. 

 So the expense of killing the borer in this way will 

 be but a mere trifle. We hope that many will try 

 this mode another season, and let all who attempt it 

 make thorough work. 



