NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



.'W.J 



liere were six hundred and fifteen bushels, 

 rimmed fit for the market, besides five or six 

 ushels defective or rotten, and unfit. The 

 reight of a bushel 59 lbs. Expense of, culti- 

 atioD : 



Ploughing and harrowing ^3 00 



Manure 13 00 



Seed 50 



Ridging and sowing 2 00 



Thinning 2 75 



Hoeing 2 60 



Harvesting 5 00 



pZ 75 

 Sir, we are yours, with great respect, 

 SILAS LITTLE, 

 JOSEPH LITTLE. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SATURU.4Y, MAY 17, 18'23. 



The Farmer''s and Gardener's Remembrancer. 



MAY. 



Give no quarter to noxious insects. — Our 

 ;1iinate and soil have, of late years, developed 

 ;xtraordinary propensities to increase and mul- 

 iply the petty plunderers which tenant every 

 ;lod, pervade every particle of earth, float in 

 jvery breeze, make their domiciles in every 

 iseful vegetable, and tease, torment and destroy 

 many of our most valuable domestic animals. — 

 We have already (p. 293) recommended some 

 ipplications for the purpose of checking the 

 avages of insects. We would now mention 

 mother substance, which is valuable as well for 



nure, as for its property as a preservative 

 igainst insects. Soap suds is highly recemmend- 

 id, by good authority, as very efficacious in both 

 hose capacities. Yet, we apprehend that it 

 s commonly thrown away by people who call 

 jihemselves excellent economists. Many a tidij 

 lody makes use of soap suds in the manutacture 

 bf puddles, generally located near the steps of 

 the front door, which appear very agreeable in 

 jonsequence of the contrast, thus exhibited, be- 

 .ween the nastiness without, and the neatness 

 within doors. When not conveyed by proper 

 pipes, troughs or channels, to some general re- 

 pository of liquid manure, (according to our di- 

 •ections p. 281) they should be preserved either 

 ,n pits sunk in the garden and lined with clay, 

 or in tubs, barrels, hogsheads, &c. Or if more 

 onvenient, make a large trough from the but 

 of a pine, or some other suitable tree, and di- 

 rect your washer woman to save her suds in 

 that recipient. Thus, with a little pains, you 

 get great gains; for a little care, is a great af- 

 fair, as " Poor Richard" might have said. And 

 when proper times and opportunities occur ap- 

 ply this kind of liquid manure to your iVuit- 

 trees, your garden vegetables, &,c. and we will 

 pay all the damage which insects do after such 

 application ; that is to say, provided, Neverthe- 

 less, that our informants have not deceived 

 us relative to the good efl^ects of said applica- 

 tio , ; of which, however, we have no appre- 

 hension. 



The Rev. Mr. Falconer, one of the corres- 

 pondents of the Bath Agricultural Society, in 

 treating of soap suds as a manure, and an anti- 

 dote to insects, has the following observations : 

 " This mixture of an oil and an alkali hss been 

 more generally known than adopted as a reme- 

 dy against the insects which infest wall fruit 



trees. It will dislodge and destroy the insects 

 which have already formed their nests and bred 

 among the leaves. When used in the early 

 part of the year, it seems to prevent the insects 

 trom settling upon them ; but whether by ren- 

 dering the surface of the leaf disagreealile to 

 the animals, and thus repelling them, nr by 

 neutralizing the acid they deposit, and thus 

 preventing the leaf trom contracting into u nec- 

 essary form for their reception. I cannot pre- 

 sume to determine. One of the modes by which 

 this mixture indirectly contributes to the ferti- 

 lity of the ground may bo by its destruction of 

 the insects which prey upon the plants. . 



"• It is also, I think, to be preferred to lime 

 water,* or the wood ashes and lime which Mr. 

 Forsyth recommends for the destruction of in- 

 sects. It is prclerable to the" lime water, and 

 the lime, because lime loses its causticity, and 

 with that its efficacy, by exposure to air, and 

 must consequently be frequently applied ; and 

 to the dredging of the leaves with the fine dust 

 of wood ashes and lime, because the same effect 

 is produced by the mixture without the same 

 labor, and is obtained without expense." 



The same writer directs to make use of a 

 common garden pump for spi inkling trees with 

 soap suds, and says if the water of a washing 

 cannot be had, a quantity of potash, dissolved 

 in water, may be substituted. He declares that 

 " the washing of the frees twice a week for 

 three or four weeks in the spring will be suffi- 

 cient to secure them from the injuries of these 

 insects." A long paper on the use of soap suds 

 as a manure is concluded as follows : " On the 

 whole then, this must be considered as a valua- 

 ble manure, as it can be obtained easily, at 

 small expense, and in large quantities ; and 

 when its nature is well understood, will proba- 

 bly be no less esteemed by the farmer than 

 horse dung. To the gardener, as well as to 

 the farmer, it is useful, mixed with mould, as a 

 fertilizing compost ; or when fluid may be ap- 

 plied to his fruit trees, as a wash fatal to the 

 noxious brood of predatory insects." 



Tbe writer of the article above quoted men- 

 tions no particular kinds of insects which may 

 be destroyed by this mixture, but says " it will 

 dislodge and destroy the insects whicli have al- 

 ready formed their nests and bred among the 

 leaves." Caterpillars and canker worms are said 

 to be very tenacious of life, and probably might 

 not be immediately destroyed by the applica- 

 tion here recommended. But pure water alone, 

 if thrown with some force against their habita- 

 tions, with a forcing pump, would disconcert if 

 not destroy those evil doers. 



If soap suds alone are competent to the de- 

 struction of these insects, of course other more 

 troublesome and expensive applications may be 

 omitted. Besides, the mixture recommended 

 would be worth applying, were it merely on 

 account of its properties as a manure. It might 

 be well, in order to make assurance doubly sure, 

 to mix with your suds decoctions of elder and 

 tobacco. We are of opinion that a little tar or 

 turpentine thrown in with the above ingredi- 

 ents would make the compound more efficacious. 



Mr. Yates, of Albany, recommends the follovv- 

 ing prescription for " doctoring off" caterpil- 

 lars. " Take a handful of worm wood, one of 



* .Some gardeners recommend the use of lime water, 

 but it is not commonly employed, being found hurtful 

 to the blage.—^gricvlluTRi Reforl of Scotland. 



rue, and two of Virginia tobacco ; (a sufTicient 

 (piantity of tobacco alone will do, but not so 

 well,) boil these together in about two pails 

 t'ull of rain water for nearly baif an hour, strain 

 it through a cloth, and with this liquor S[)rinkle 

 the trees. He performs this with a barrow en- 

 gine ; but the oiieration should be performed 

 when the caterpillars or worms have left their 

 nocturnal ncst or web, and are dispersed on the 

 trees. Repeat the operation two or three times, 

 and they will drop down and expire."* 



When caterpillars or worms are in their nests 

 (which is generally the case in cool, rainy or 

 cloudy weather, or early in the morning after a 

 cool night,) we are told that spirits of turpen- 

 tine, or common fi<h oil, applied by a sponge 

 attached to the end of a pole, will kill every 

 caterpillar within the sphere of its influence. 

 But as we said before, if soap suds will answer 

 according to the recommendations, we do not 

 peiceire the necessity for ransacking the whole 

 store-house of nature for other and more expen- 

 sive remedies. We should think it advisable to 

 strain or decant any liquid substance which shall 

 be applied to the leaves of trees or other vege- 

 tables, for a glutinous or muddy substance might 

 close the pores or impede the perspiration of 

 the leaves, which are the lungs of plants. 



Worms which attack the Roots and Trunks 

 OF FruitTrf.es and other Trees. — John Prince 

 Esq. of Roxbury, published a communication 

 relative to these insects in the Mass. Agricultu- 

 ral Repository, vol. iv. From this it appears 

 that Mr. Prince had lost many apple trees by 

 means of " a small, white, ringed worm, about 

 three quarters of an inch long, with a dark col- 

 ored head, (1 believe the same which attacks 

 the peach tree,) attacking them at and just be- 

 low the surface of the ground. The remedy is 

 the same pointed out in an article, published p. 

 317, 3d col. of Our paper. The following is 

 likewise recommended in the Mass. Agricultural 

 Repository : " Take equal parts of quick lime, 

 cow dung and clay, which by the addition of 

 soap suds and urine, should be reduced to the 

 consistence of common paste. To make it more 

 adhesive add a little hair. Let the whole stem, 

 from the roots to the branches, be enveloped 

 with a coating of this composition, and occa- 

 sionally, repeated, and it will scarcely be possi- 

 ble for the fly or worm or insects to injure the 

 trunk of the tree ; and it will at the same time 

 prove conducive to its health and vigor. It 

 might even be recommended to make the ap- 

 plication to all young trees, at the time of trans- 

 planting, especially in places where the worin 

 is known to prevail." 



Lice infesting yocn(; Orchards. — The follow- 

 ing is a communication on this subjest, which, 

 we believe, was first published in the Mass. 

 Agricultural Repository, vol. iii, p. 1 14. Tho' 

 it has been frequently republished it may be 

 new to some, and serve as a remembrancer to 

 others of our readers. 



'• This insect, called lice, is in form like half 

 a kernel of rye, (but not more than one twenti- 

 eth part so large) with the flat side sticking to 

 the smooth part of the tree. They resemble 

 blisters; and are near the color of the bark ol 

 the tree. These blisters contain from ten to 

 thirty nits or eggs each, in form like a snake's 

 egg ; which, in a common season, begin to 



Thacher's Orchardist, p. 97. 



