401 



NE\V ENGLAND FARMER. 



From the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository. 

 ON RAl'-ING THK OAK FROM THE ACORN, 

 " AM) Tin: BEJT MODE OF DOING IT. 

 [by the editors.] 

 U i": verv extraordinary, that, notwithstand- 

 in<,' tlm Massachusetts .Agricultural Society has 

 lor thirty years offered great premiums for tiie 

 culture of the oak in |)lantations, and especially 

 since the legislature enjoined it upon the sever- 

 al agricultural societes throaghout the state to 

 oiler' premiums for the raising of forest trees, 

 but two claims should have been made. We 

 can only account for it on one of the following 

 grounds, either that the premium has not attract- 

 ed the attention of our farmers, or that they 

 have not sullicient spirit and enterprise, or that 

 they are averse from any new culture, how- 

 ever important and reasonable. We shall take 

 the article of White Oaks, which were selected 

 by our society, as being the most valuable tim- 

 ber of the Northern States. 



The premium offered in 1822, for one acre 

 planted with white oaks, and found to be in the 

 best state in September 1823, (tliatisat eighteen 

 months old,) was 100 dollars per acre. The 

 expense of raising seedlings of eighteen months 

 old would not exceed twenty dollars more, if 

 the follewing account be correct; indeed we 

 believe it would not exceed ten dollars, as we 

 can see no reason why the expense of planting 

 an acre of acorns should exceed the expense of 

 planting an acre of corn. There would be left 

 then of clear profit to the raiser of an acre of 

 oaks a profit of sixty dollars at least for two 

 years culture, and as is remarked in the follow- 

 in"- article, a crop of grain may be raised at the 

 same time sullicient to pay the whole expense. 

 Have we no man in the state wko is spirited 

 enough to set the example, and cirry aw.iy the 

 honor and prolit ? The acre of oaks ■■vill afiT- 

 -u.'(irrfs fee his, and tlioro is no mode in ,vhicli hn 

 could employ his land to so great advantage. It 



'¥o 



" The first year after planting the acorns, jbontinue to feel their prejudice, when woodland 

 the weeds must be kept down hv hoeing and is far the most valuable, and must constantly in- 

 hand-weeding, and this must he "done early in crease in its comparative value ? 

 the spring before the weeds get so strong as to 



hide the tender plants, which would occasion 

 many of them to be destroyed in cleaning. It 

 is also the cheapest as well as neatest husbandry 

 to take weeds down, before they grow too large ; 

 for though the ground may require an additional 

 hoeing "in spring, yet the weeds being hoed 

 down when young, a man may hoe over a great 

 quantity of ground in a day. Weeds cut in their 



From the Providence Gazette. 



Messrs. Editors — Observing in your useful 

 paper an account of the manner of preserving 

 peaoli trees from the fly in Virginia, by the 

 application of tobacco, I am induced to send you 

 the following, being the result of twenty years 

 experience. 



The fly makes its appearance here the first of 



tender state immediately die. Whereas, when Upni^ resembles a wasp in size and shape, and 

 they are old and strong, they frequently grow is of a pale blue color. The whole process of 

 again, especially if rain falls soon after, they the fly and worm is accurately described in the 

 perfect their seeds in a short time, and thereby 'Virginia account. My remedy is to hill up the 

 injure the whole plantation. idirc from around the trees, to the height of 12 or 



" The second year of their growth the com- 15 inches, and about 18 or 20 in diameter, pres- 

 mon plough may be made use of, to cultivate 'sing it close, to prevent its being removed by 

 and keep the ground clean, [or potatoes mighti hesvy rains. I removed the dirt about the 1st of 

 be raised between the rows if proper care he August. If not removed until November, no in- 



will not surely be said, that our f.'rmers cannrjt] underwood 

 spare uiiy of their land, when our great error 



taken not to trample on the plants. — Editors.] 



As these acorns sometimes fail, the author 

 proposes a nursery in the same field to supply 

 the deficiencies. 



" Having then given directions for the raising 

 of wood, I proceed," says the author, " to their 

 future management. And first, the rows being 

 four feet asunder, and the plants two feet apart 

 in the rows, they may stand in this manner for 

 twelve or fourteen years, when every seconii 

 plant may he taken out and sold for hoops or 

 poles. After every second plant is taken away, 

 let the roots of those taken away he grubbed 

 up to give the remaining plants more room 

 freely to extend their roots. The plants being 

 now four feet apart each way, they will require 

 no more thinning for seven or eight years, that 

 is, till they are twenty years old, when the 

 healthiest and most thriving trees must be mirk- 

 fiH to stand for timber, and the others cut dotvn 

 or poles, and their roots left to produce future 



jurv will result to the trees ; any substance im- 

 pervious to the fly will answer the purpose as 

 well as tobacco or dirt. OLD WARWICK. 



i.nf 



hea« 

 kac 



i!Oi 



i;; 



consists in 'holding mere than we can, or do 

 cultivate -u'cti. 



On the mode nf raising the Oak '■'■from Hunter^ 

 A'otes on Evcbjns S^Z-ja." 

 " Having the ground properly prepared, (by 

 breaking it up and reduc ng it to a fine tilth, 

 either by potatoes or repeated ploughings) and 

 having a suflicienl quantity of acorns, all gath- 

 ered from the most vigorous, healthy, and thri- 

 ving trees, proceed to the setting them in the, 

 following manner. In the month of February or 

 March [but in this country we say from experi- 

 ence, the months of November or December if 

 the latter month be open,] let lines be drawn 

 across the ground for the rows, at the distance 

 of tour feet from each -father; but if this be 

 thought too great an interval, the rows may be 

 made three feet, in which case the ac irns must 

 be put down at a greater dislance from each 

 other. Then having sticks pro[ierly rounded to 

 make the holes, (a common dihble) plant the 

 acorns in the rovvs at ten inches asunder. Let 

 them be put down about tvvo inches below 

 the surface, and see that the earth be properly 

 closed upon them to prevent mice or crows from 

 injuring the seed. In some places it is custom- 

 ary to sow acorns after the plough in furrows, 

 but where the ground happens to be stiff, great 

 care should be taken not to cover the seed with 

 ■too thick a furrow. 



'• The oak will grow and thrive on almost 

 any soil, if properly planted, though it canni/l 



be supposed that their success will be equal in 

 all places. A rich, deep, loamy soil is what 

 oaks mest delight in, though they will grow 

 exceedingly well in clays of all kinds, and in 

 sandii soils, in which last, the Jincsl grained tim- 

 ber is produced.'''' 



The author then proceeds to inquire, which 

 of the different modes of raising oaks produces 

 the best timber, from the acorn, the seed-bed, 

 or the nursery. Mr. Evelyn decides in favor 

 of planting the acorn, and Mr. Hunter adds, that 

 whoever will look at the woods which were 

 soziin, and compare them with those which were 

 planted from nurseries, will not hesitate a mo- 

 ment to declare in favor of Evelyn's opinion. 



What are the obstacles to our following this 

 excellent example of the great farmers of Eng- 

 land, in the age in which our ancestors emi- 

 grated? Is it because we are too im]>aticnt, and 

 unwilling to await so tardy a return ? Yet there 

 are constant pleasures in tlie annual growth cf 

 our forests ; they seem to be the work of our 

 own hands, at least of our own provi.lence and 

 care ; they are subject to fewer hazards, and 

 their profit is certainly greater than that of any 

 other employment of capital on land, or is this 

 aversion to planting the effect of an hereditary 

 prejudice against trees ? Our ancestors found 

 their extirpation, their greatest tabor, and do we 



From the Dartmouth (N. H.) Herald. 

 KEEPING HORSES. 

 Every gentleman, who is obliged by his health 

 or his business to keep a horse, complains of 

 the enormous expense incurred by it. If allowed 

 to 2at and waste as much as he chooses, a horse 

 wil consume from four to five tons of hay in 

 a 'ear, besides the necessary grain. But it is 

 assrted from actual experiment, that ten pounds 

 of jood hay, with two quarts of corn a day, are 

 emugh to keep a common horse in fine order. 

 T-n pounds of hay a day are 3G jO pounds, little 

 nure than a ton and a half a year — and two 

 qiarts of corn per day are about twenty three 

 bifihels a year. Call IvAy seven dollars a ton 

 at4 corn four shillings a bushel, and you make 

 the ^nnual expense of feeding a horse twenty 

 six or :even doUau, about half as much as it 

 commonly costs. 



To keep a horse in the cheapest and health- 

 iest manner, let him stan6 on green turf, dug 

 up pretty thick, and placed on the floor of his 

 stable — let him be carefully and faithf'ully cur- 

 ned every day. This is of more importance 

 than is sometimes imagined. It opens the pores 

 and preserves a healthful state of the skin, on 

 which, in horses as in men, depends, as much 

 as on almost any thing else, the proper and 

 healthy operation of the various animal func- 

 tions. 



Although the inferior animals are not, like 

 men. subiecf to unnatur.il appetites on account 

 of unnatural stimulants received into the stota- 

 ach, they unquestionably often consume more 

 food than is necessary to ma,intain their vigor 

 and spirit. This surplus it is economy to ascer- 

 tain and retrench. 



Corn is cheaper than oats for horses, because 

 there is more heart in a quantity of the same 

 price. It is better to be given two or thiee 

 times a day in small messes — and to be given 

 dry that the mastication of it may keep the 

 mouth in a healthy state. 



To measure hay the tare of a basket may be 

 taken, and the hay given from it in small quan- 

 tities through the' day, but chiefly at night. 



A horse that is not used should be fed with 

 corn but sparingly. It should be accasionally 

 salted. 



i- 



iJ 



