'1 ublished every Saturday, by THOMAS W. SHtTAlU), Rogers' Building, Congress Street, Bosto 

 ,1 



■| 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



at »;j,.')(J 



Vol. I. 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 0, 



per anu. in advance, or $j,uu at the close of the year. 



1822. ~~ ~ 



No. ]J 



'M FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS RELATING TO 



" GRICULTURE &: DOMESTIC ECONOMY 



The American Farmer of August 30, 1822, 

 ontaius a letter from Professor Green, of IVas- 

 »u Hall, Princeton, N. J. on the insect, com- 

 lonly called the Hessian Fly, and a fly called 

 eraphron, which sometimes destroys the Hes- 

 ili an Fly, in which are the following remarks: 



.*' " I fear the amateurs of Natural History will 

 e able to assist but little in the extermination 

 f so formidable an enemy to our wheat crops. 

 s the Hessian Fly. If the devastations made 

 y this insect are ever arrested, it will in all 

 robability be done by the practical farmer.'' 

 " There is a curious fact connected vs'ith this 

 abject, not generally known to farmers, and 

 hich has led to some little mistakes. There 

 a fly, called the Ceraphron^ by naturalists. 

 ;hich is often seen in swarms among the wheat 

 bout the same time the depredations are made 

 y the Hessian FI3'. This insect is not quite so 

 jrge as the other, and may be distinguished 

 rem it by the wings, which are four in num- 

 er ; the common fly being furnished with two 

 nly. The Ceraphron, so far from being inju- 

 ious to the crops, is a great protection to them ; 

 it it deposits its egg within the body of the 

 irva or germ of the Hessian Fl}', which it 

 ventually kills for its own support ; so that 

 ■hole crops of wheat which might otherwise 

 ave been destroyed are thus saved, .\fter the 

 eraphron has deposited its eggs, their wings 

 re thrown off, so that it appears like the com- 

 lon ant ; and this curious fact has led many to 

 elieve that the Hessian Fly is nothing more 

 lan a species of that insect." 



' I VIRTUES AND USES OF F.I.DF.R. 



'j Extracts from Pomarium Brittanicum, an His- 

 "'* jrical and Botannical account of Fruits known 

 ,i|i Great Britain — by Henry Phillips, 

 •: I " Sir J. E. Smith has remarked, that this tree 

 iiil?, as it were, a whole magazine of physic to 

 > I ustic practitioners. 



; 1 "• The bark, leaves, flowers and berries, are 

 tjised with advantage in medicine. The leaves 

 re said to be purgative and emetic, and are 

 ipplicd externally for the piles and inflamma- 

 ions ; an ointment is made also with them a« 

 veil as the flowers ; the latter are used inward- 

 y as a carminative.* Infusions made from the 

 lowers while fresh, are gently laxative and 

 iperient ;t when dry they are found to promote 

 he cuticular secretions,| and to be particularly 

 ^ryiceable in erysipelatous and eruptive disor- 

 lers.§ Sydenham directs three handfuls of the 

 Bner bark to be boiled in a quart of milk aod 

 water, till only one pint remains, of which one 

 naif is to be taken at night and the other in th 

 Horning; and this repeated every day for those 

 jfflicted with the dropsy. Boerhave recom- 



*' Wind-expelling, and promoting insensible perspi 

 ation. 

 t Opening. 



:j; Separation of fluids from the skin. 

 * Diseases of the skin. 



mends the expressed juice of the middle bark, 

 given from a drachm to half an ounce, as the 

 best of hydragogues,* when the viscera are 

 sound. 



" Elder-flower water, the oil of elder, and 

 elder-syrup are also used as medicines^ 



" The berries are esteemed cordial, and use- 

 lul in hysteric disorders ; and are often put into 

 gargarisms for sore moutlis and throats. 



" The fungous excressences, which are often 

 found growing on the trunk of the elder tree, 

 bearing the resemblance of an ear, black in the 

 inside, and of a whitish color on the outside 

 (called auricula: Juda'oniinl) are accounted good 

 tor inflammations and swellings of the tonsils, 

 sore throats and quinsies. 



'• The wine made from elder berries is too 

 well known by families in the country to re- 

 quire any encomiums ; it is the only wine the 

 cottager can procure, and, when well made, is 

 a most excellent and wholesome drink, taken 

 warm before going to bed. It causes gentle 

 perspiration, and is a mild opiate ; and may he 

 taken safely, and with advantage, by those of 

 costive habits. 



" If a rich syrup be made from ripe elder- 

 berries and a few bitter almonds, when added 

 to brandy it has all the flavor of the very best 

 cherry-brandy. 



" The white elder berries, when ripe, make 

 wine much resembling rich grape wine. 



" The buds and the young tender shoots are 

 greatly admired as a pickle. 



'• The leaves or tne elder tree are onen put 

 into the subterraneous paths of moles, to drive 

 those noxious little animals from the garden. 

 If fruit trees, flowering shrubs, corn, or other 

 vegetables, be whipped with the green leaves 

 of the elder branches, insects will not attack 

 them. An infusion of these leaves in water is 

 good to sprinkle over rose buds, and other flow- 

 ers, subject to blights and the devastations of 

 caterpillars.'' 



FATTENING ITOGS. 



Steam or boil potatoes with oats or pea meal 

 and while hot pound or mash them tine, and 

 have several tubs or vessels to receive them in. 

 Before they are given to swine let them be- 

 come thoroughly sour, and they will cause them 

 to fatten much faster, and on a less quantity 

 than when they are fed with food which ha.- 

 not fermented and become acid. 



RULES OF HUSBANDRY. 



Extracts from an Address to the Essex Agricultural 



Society, by Andrew Nichols, Esq. 



1. Cultivate no more land than can be thor- 

 oughly ploughed, well manured at once, and 

 kept free t'rom weeds. 



2. Never keep land many years under the 

 same crops. 



3. Never lay land into grass, except it be 

 well prepared, and in a very rich condition. 



Suppose for example you possess a field o; 

 arable land, containing eight acres; how can it 



* Medicines which purge watery humorE. 

 1 .lews Ears. 



be most advantagi'oiisly managed ? According 

 to the author who lays down the foregoing 

 rules, plough up annually, in autumn, two acres. 

 Let It be cross [duughed", harrowed, highly ma- 

 nured, planted with corn or potatoes, and well 

 tended the followiiii; spring and summer. In 

 the spring next following, iilougli it twice, and 

 sow it with grain and clover. In this way, by 

 keeping the land in rotation, one year under 

 Indian corn or ])olatoes, one year under I'.nglish 

 grain, and two years under clover, it wouhrpro- 

 duce the most abundant crops, and be continu- 

 ally growing better, as the large tap roots of the 

 clover especially would greatly ameliorate and 

 enrich Ifie soil. After going through this rou- 

 tine several times, the land Would be in an ex- 

 cellent condition to lay into grass, thus to re- 

 main til another portion of land could be treat- 

 ed in tl e same manner. Keeping in view these 

 principles, every farmer can readily apply them 

 to other crop", which it is therefore unnecessa- 

 ry to meitioii. 



IRRIGATIOSt. 



FaUs of water have been estimated in England 

 to belworlh as much for watering the lami, as 

 l"or r^ills and factories. It is well known that 

 evenlthe temporary streams formed by the melt- 

 ing Slows in the spring, if caused to "run a lew 

 weel^ over dry, gravelly soils, will render them 

 highV productive of grass the whole season. 

 Yet our urooks and rivulets are sullered not on- 

 ly to, ru" o waste, but even to render barren 

 extensive ,,„e.o oi" i.,.„, i ,,,,; ,iH„itv,_ 

 Vvherever dere is a fall ol water running 

 through land suitable for the purpose, let it be 

 divided, and Carried as high on each side as it 

 will run freel;.; throw the intermediate space 

 into ridges abo<t twenty feet wide; along the 

 top of each let asmall stream of water bo pas- 

 sed occasionally ; sjve the whole a dressing of 

 ashes, or lime ; aul it will produce the most a- 

 bundant crops of gras, without any further ex- 

 pense. Admitting tbciefore that the expense of 

 preparing land in this nanner should amount, 

 :n the first instance, to ;n hundred or even to 

 two hundred dollars an aci^, it would still prove 

 cheaper than most mowing land which can be 

 kept productive only by fvequent expensive 

 manuring. Such land would contribute the 

 whole of its productions to enrich the other 

 ■ larts of the farm; a consideration of no little 

 .mpoitance in estimating its value. — ibid. 



THE WILLOW. 



Advantages may be derived from planting- 

 low, rocky or boggy lands, which are generally 

 covered with alders and other useless bushes, 

 with common wdlows. These trees not only 

 produce wood, (wb.ch when dried is better than 

 ivhite pine,) faster than other trees, but greatly 

 meliorate boggy soils, and bring in a better kind 

 of grass, which makes excellent pasturage. — 

 They serve to shelter the cattle, while feeding, 

 rom the exhausting effects of a burning sun. 

 riiey prevent rapid evaporation, and probably 

 iltract showers ; consequently increase the size 



■ adjacent stream^, nd there' v i-rtilize soils 

 far beyond the reach of their shadows, liesides, 



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