27 a 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



pint sflass, potirin!» in clear unter till the or'^'^s 

 is hairi'ull ; tliPii ijrniliinlly add a small quaiilitv 

 of strong' inarinn acid, commonly called spirit of 

 salt, and stir the mixture uell together. As soon 

 as the ellervesceiioe thus excited subsides, add 

 a little more marine acid; thus continuins;' the 

 operation while any of the earthy matter ap- 

 pears to dissolve ; and till the liquor, after be- 

 ing' ivell stirred and allowed to stand for half an 

 liour, appears sensibly acid to the taste. AVhen 

 the mixture has suh-ided, if the li(j\ior above it 

 be colorless, that niatle or lime stone is the 

 liest which leaves the least in quantity of sedi- 

 ment or deposit at the bottom of liie glass, 

 This experiment is suHicient to determine 

 w hich of the samples tried is most proper for 

 the uses of agriculluro ; as pure calcareous 

 earth or lime, ^vhicll is the earth useful in ag- 

 riculture, will be entirely dissolved, but clay or 

 sand will not be sensibly acted on by the acid. 

 Where great accuracy is required in determin- 

 ing the experiment, lay a soft spongy paper, of 

 Which the \veight is exactly taken, in an earth- 

 en cclander — lor no metallic vessel, or imple- 

 ment (or stirring, &c. must be used in any part 

 of the process — and, pouring the saturated 

 mixture of earth and acid on it, let all the li- 

 quor filter through ; then pour a little clear wa- 

 ter over the earthy matter remaining on the 

 filter; and, when that water has al-o tiitered 

 through, dry the paper with the earthy matter 

 on it which remains undissolved, when the defi- 

 ciency found, on weighing them, from their 

 original weight, will discover what portion of 

 the marie or lime has been dissolved in the 

 acid. What quantity of earthy matter has been 

 dissolved, may be made evident to the sight, by 

 gradually adding to the liquor which has been 

 tiitered through the paper, a clear solution of 

 pearl ashes, or ashes of burnt wood ; this will 

 occasion a precipitation of the contained lime 

 or calcareous earth to the bottom of the vessel, 

 which precipitate must be dried and weighed. 



THE FARiMER. 



BOSTO;^ .—SATURD^iY, MARCH 29, 18-23. 



The Farmer's and Gardener's Remembrancer. 

 MARCH AXD APRIL. 



Sowing Grass Land. — Those cultivators who 

 propose to lay down land to grass, and have not 

 sowed their grass seed with their winter grain 

 should sow it about this time. Some say that 

 grass seed cannot be sowed too early in the 

 spring, and others advise to wait till the ground 

 becomes a little warmed and dried by the sun. 

 Should you thinlc it advisable to spring-harrow 

 your winter grain, which is a practice highly 

 recommended by liritish and American agricul- 

 turists, you can at the same time, harrow in 

 your grass seed. If not, sow it without harrow- 

 ing in damp calm weather. 



Accidental Mamke. — As soon as the ground 

 is bare of snow in the spring, turn out with 

 your boys, and parade over your pasture land, 

 (and your mowing lots if you ever permit cat- 

 tle to I'eed on them, which by the bye is not a 

 good practice) and with bats or long handled 

 mallets beat and spread about the droppings of 

 your cattle. 



Top Dke-ssivcs. — If you neglected to manure 

 your mowing Und with top-dressings last fall, 

 it may be done in the spring ; though it is gen- 

 erally held that manure is applied to grass land 



to the best advantage in autumn.* Dr. Deane 

 observed, '• If the applicatioa of top dressings 

 to mowing ground >vere generally practiced, 

 and repeated as it ought to be, instead of the 

 general, or rather universal neglect of it, it 

 would put a new face upon things. A vast 

 plenty of hay, double crops, two cuttings in a 

 year, and much increase of wealth to farmers 

 in general would be the happy consequences."! 

 .Sir John Sinclair recommends top dressing a 

 growing crop, when it is suspected that the land 

 is not rich enough to bring a I'ull crop to per- 

 fection, and directs that this should be done as 

 early in (he spring as the land becomes suffi- 

 ciently dry to bear the treading of a horse with- 

 out poaching ; and after the manure has been 

 applied, the land should generally be harrowed 

 or roiled. Soot, ashes, and other light manures 

 are thus most advantageously disposed o(.\ 



A few bushels of lime, thoroughly pulverized 

 and air slacked, are recommended as top dres- 

 sings for winter grain. Ashes too, either leach- 

 ed or dry, make a good top dressing for grass 

 or grain, as well as for Indian corn. Dry un- 

 leached ashes are best, but leached ashes are 

 valuable, particularly soaper's waste, which has 

 lime mixed with it. 



Sprin<, Ploighi.ng. — A prudent farmer will 

 manage his affairs in such a way as to have as 

 little ploughing to perform in the spring as pos- 

 sible. In general way it is thought that all the 

 land which it is intended to sow with any kind 

 of grain, in the spring, or to plant with pota- 

 toes, or Indian corn, &.c. should, by all means, 

 be ploughed the autumn preceding. You thus 

 take advantage of the beneficial operation of 

 frosts in the winter, which pulverize the soil to 

 better effect than any mechanical means. And, 

 often, when ploughing is well done in autumn, 

 it will not be necessary to renew it in the 

 spring. We have seen very fine crops of In- 

 dian corn, raised on land which had been strong- 

 ly swarded with grass, and had received but one 

 ploughing, which was given some time in the 

 summer or fall preceding the season in which 

 the crop was planted. But it is necessary in 

 such case that the ploughing be deep, and the 

 furrow completely turned, so that every parti- 

 cle of the grass may be buried. In great Bri- 

 tain, where labor is comparatively much cheap- 

 er than in the United States, spring-ploughing 

 is often dispensed with. A very eminent agri- 

 culturist observed that " the preferable method of 

 sowing oats, and especially in a clay soil, is to 

 turn the field over, after harvest, and to lay it 

 open to the influences of t'rost and air ; which 

 lessen the tenacity of the clay and reduce it to 

 a fine mould. The surface soil by this means, 

 is finely mellovped for the reception of the 

 seed ; ~ji:lnch it Zfould be a pity to bury by a sec- 

 ond plouglnng, before sorc'ing. We are taught by 

 experience, that this soil, ploughed before win- 

 ter, is sooner dry, than when the ploughing is 

 delayed till spring ; and as early sowing is a 

 great advantage, any objection on account of 

 the superficial crusting is easily removed by a 

 strong harrow, which would produce abundance 

 of mould for covering the seed."§ Sir John 

 Sinclair, likewise, says that '■'■ploughing lands in 

 spring., ■when sujjiciently clear, and prepared be- 





*Sce Messrs. Wells & Lilly's edition of Deane's 

 Geoigical Dictionary, p. 458. t Ibid. 



J Code of Agriculture. 

 i! Kaimes' Gentleman Farmer. 



fore -iiiinter, is an unnecessary increase of labor 

 He allow,s, however, that cases may occur. 

 which spring ploughing may be' advisable 

 oats, barley, &c. in order to subdue wee 

 Likewise, on hard, stony soils, or where 

 ploughing h;us been imperfectly executed, spi 

 ploughing becomes requisite. But whether; 

 land is ploughed in the spring or not, plougl 

 it in autumn has many advantages, among ^vh|^] 

 that of exposing worms and other insects, whi 

 infest the soil, to the intense frosts of winter,! 

 not the least. 



WoRKiNo Oxr.N. — It has been asserted t' 

 working oxen perform their spring work i 

 'better for being fed two or three times a 

 iwith a few cars of Indian com. This kim 

 I food is, however, thought by others, to possf] 

 a heating quality and they therefore prefer 

 I potatoes, which, they say, operate both as 

 and physic, and cool and strengthen the ani 



Tastire for Swine. — A lot v?ell seeded di 

 to clover has been recommended by good 

 mers as highly useful for pasturing swine, 

 quantity of land should be so proportiouei 

 the number of swine that they may keep 

 grass from going to seed. This will pre' 

 waste, and the shorter the grass is the swei 

 it will be, and the more agreeable to the pal; 

 of this kind of epicures. It was the opinion 

 Dr. Deane, that one acre of rich land in clovi 

 would support twenty or more swine, large ai 

 small, through the summer, and bring them w( 

 forward in their growth. The hogs should 1 

 well ringed, or, it is said by an English write 

 that shaving ofl' the gristle of young pigs wi 

 a sharp knife, will answer the purpose of pr 

 venting them from rooting, and be better for tl , 

 animals than ringing. Arthur Young, a famo \ 

 English writer on Agriculture, pastured six ,, 

 f«ur swine, of various sizes, on two acres ,.', 

 ground. The pig-pasture should have a go. ., 

 supply of water. A few sweet apple tre( 

 growing in the pasture, will furnish a kind 

 food, which will assist to increase the growt 

 and will in part fatten the swine. Hogs, ho« 

 ever, should not be turned into their pastuij 

 till about the first of May ; but those who ha< 

 not a clover pasture for their use may set aboi 

 preparing one as soon as they please. 



Pruning Fruit Trees. — Many farmers hav 

 been in the habit of pruning theiT fruit trees i, . 

 February and March, but this is wrong. "I 

 March the sap is retained in the roots, and th 

 bark adheres closely to the wood; consequen 

 ly, the wounds occasioned by the amputatio 

 of branches being exposed to the cold, penefrr 

 ting winds and frosts, before the circulation c 

 the sap, become dry, rotten and cankered, au 

 often crack open near to the main trunk. Ii 

 old orchards, particularly, if limbs of any con. 

 siderable size are lopped off, several inch* 

 from the trunk, before the sap is in active mo 

 tion, the fresh bark round the wood become 

 dry ; large cavities are formed, which rapidlj| 

 extend towards the trunk and heart, and tht 

 tree is soon deprived of its health and vigor. 

 In our New England climate, we have the clear- 

 est indications that the sap commences its circu- 

 lation about the 10th of April. From this peri- 

 od to about the last of May, whether the budt^ 

 are just opening or the blossoms fully expanded, 

 the pruning should be accomplished. "t The 



♦Code of Agriculture. 



+ Thacbcr's American Orchardist, p. 64. 



