NEW EMCJL.AND FARMER. 



Published by John B. Rcsseli., at A'b. 52 JVorth Market Street, (over tlie Agricultural Warehouse). — Tkomas G. Pessehden, Editor. 



VOL. VI. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, OCTOBEK 12, 1827. 



No. 12. 



HORTICULTURE. 



■ ESGLAMD FA 



Planting Acorns. — Mr. Miller advises to plant 

 acorns as soon as they aie ripe in October, which 

 will come up in the following spring ; because if 

 they are uttcmpteikto bo kept they will sprout, al- 

 though spread tiiin. Others advise that the acorns 

 be gathered as soon as they fall in autumn and 

 kept in a box, or boxes of sand till the following 

 .ipring ; then to open them, and carefully plant 

 those which are sprouted. But no time should be 

 .illowed for the sprouts to dry. Dr. Deane pre- 

 ferred the method last mentioned, and says, " 1 

 have tried that which is recommended by Mr. Mil- 

 ler without success." Kee also Deana's J^'cw Eng. 

 Farmer, Art. Oak. 



Useful knife hoard — An English writer says, 

 that, a common knife-board, covered with thick 

 hufflcalher, on which are put emery, one part, 

 rrocus marlis,l\ii-ce parts in very fine powder, mix- 

 ed into a thick paste with a little lard or sweet oil, 

 and spread on the leather about the thickness of 

 a shilling, gives a far superior edge and polish to 

 knives, and will not wear the knife nearly so much 

 us the common method of using brick-dust on 

 hoard. 



Mode of marking Sheep without injury to the 

 wool. All English writer gives the following : — 

 Mark on either side of the nose of the sheep, the 

 initials of the owner's na.aic, and on the opposite 

 side any number by which he way choose to de- 

 signate the particular sheep, by means of a small 

 iron letter or figure about an incli long ; which be- 

 ing dipped in conuuon oil colours, mixed with tur- 

 pentine to dry them more readily, is placed on the 

 part described, and will continue until the next 

 shearing season. The process is easy, and will 

 give the animal no pain ; the marks cannot be 

 readily obliterated, which is not the case with 

 tattooing or cauterizing. 



an highly offensive smell, which pervade the 

 whole plant ; and it differs from onion only by bc- 

 inof more powerful in its effects. When bruised 

 and applied to the skin, it causes inflammation, 

 and ruiscj blisters. 



The medical properties of garlic are various. 

 In dropsical complaints, asthmas, and agues, it is 

 said to have been successfully used. Some in- 

 stances have occurred in deafness, of the benefi- 

 cial effects of wrapping a clove of garlic in muslin 

 and putting it into the ear. As a medicine inter- 

 nally taken, it is usually administered as a bolus, 

 or made into pills. Its smell is considered an in- 

 fallible remedy against vapours, and as useful in 

 nearly all the nervous disorders to which females 

 are subject. An oil is sometimes prepared from 

 garlic, which is so heavy as to sink in water ; hut 

 the virtues of this pungent vegetable are more 

 perfectly and more readily extracted by spirit of 

 wine than in any other way. A syrup also is 

 made from it. 



The juice of garlic is said to be the best and 

 strongest cement that can be adopted for broken 

 glass and china, leaving little or no mark, if used 

 with care. Snails, worms, and the grubs or lar- 

 va? of insects, as well as moles and other vermin, 

 may all be driven away by placing preparations of 

 "■arlic in or near their haunts. 



Chapped or sore lips — May be healed by the 

 frequent application of Jioney water, and protect- 

 ing them as much as possible from the influence 

 of cold air. 



Obstinate Ulcers — May sometimes be cured 

 with sugar dissolved in a strong decoction of wal- 

 nut leaves. 



GARLIC. 



This vegetable, the Allium Sativtm, is a plant 

 with bulbous root, of irregular form, composed of 

 many smaller bulbs, called cloves, which are all 

 included within a white skin. 



The stem leaves are flat and narrow ; the up- 

 per part of the stem bears small bulbs, and the 

 stamens are three pointed. 



In warm climates, where Garlic is produced 

 with considerably less acrimony tJiau Great Brit- 

 ain, it is much used, both as a seasoning and as 

 food. The lower classes of French, Spaniards, 

 and Portuguese, consume great quantities of it. 

 The Jews also eat of it to excess. With us it is 

 in considerable estimation for culinary and other 

 domestic purposes. It has a very acrid taste, and 



CANADIAN, OR TREE ONION. 



This vegetable (the Allium Canadense of Bota- 

 nists) is remarkable for producing a bulb or onion 

 at tlie top of the stalk. 



The sleni of this plant is naked and round; and 

 the leaves are flat and narrow. 



These onions are well deserving of attention, 

 both as objects of curiosity from producing an on- 

 ion upon the stalk, and also for their use. When 

 pickled they are generally thought superior in 

 flavor to the common onion. 



They were originally imported from Canada ; 

 are perennial, and are propagated by planting the 

 bulbs in the spring or autumn. Either the bulbs 

 of the root or those on the stalk will grow. 



BEES. 



A late British paper says, Mr. James Boag, 

 timber merchant, Johnstone, lately breaking up a 

 log of American wood, about 24 feet in length 

 and 28 inches square, discovered in the very cen- 

 tre of it a hollow, in which was a considerable 

 number of bees, a quantity of honey, and a few 

 larva;. The imprisoned insects were of a longer 

 and more attenuated frame than the free tribes that 

 roam over the hills and valleys of Great Britain. 

 Every care was taken to preserve some of the in- 

 teresting foreigners alive, but they all died in a 

 short time after exposure to the influence of the 

 atmosphere, hardly tasting the sweets of liberty 

 till consigned to non-existence. The log contain- 

 ed several of these hollows of difl>rent dimensions, 

 and in all of them a number of living bees. 



Metallic Cloths. — At the late exhibition of the 

 products of national industry at the Louvre in Pa 

 ris, there was exhibited a waistcoat and several 

 other articles made of metal wire, which are said 

 in the report of the jury appointed to judge of their 

 merits, to have been "equal to cambric fineness." 



From (he Poughkeepsic Journal. 



SHEEP. 



It seems to bo generally agreed among the in 

 telligcnt farmers in this country, that sheep are 

 the most profitable stock a farmer can keep; anc 

 the prevalence of this opinion among the Dutch- 

 ess county farmers, has induced them to increase 

 their flocks, until they probably exceed in numbe; 

 the sheep to be found in any other district of the 

 same extent in the United States. Mr. Everett 

 of Boston, during the last session of Congress, ir 

 his speech on the woollens bill, estimated the 

 whole number of sliecp in the United States at 

 13,000,000. At the last census the returns of sheep 

 in this county amounted to a fraction short of 

 350,000. It is estimated, by those best acquaint- 

 ed with the subject, that the increase since th;i 

 period has swelled the number to at least 450,00.). 

 It will thus appear that Dutchess county, embra.: 

 iug a territory loss than thirty by forty miles i:- 

 extent, owns one twenty-ninth part of all t!i' 

 sheep in tlje United Ststes. 



Nor are the flocks of Dutchess less distinguisli 

 ed for the fineness of their fleeces than for the 

 largeness of their numbers. In no part of the 

 United States, wo venture to say, has more ca.-t 

 been taken to obtain the best sheep and insuri 

 the finest wool ; nor do wo believe there is :iu_ 

 section of the union in which better wool isgrov. i.. ' 



Persons who have paid most attention to thi; 

 subject, and are therefore best qualified to judge, 

 correctly, are of opinion that the wool grown in 

 Dutchess county the past year, besides what is 

 manufactured in the families of the growers, is 

 not less than 500,000 pounds, and that the aver- 

 age price may he set down at 40 cents. This will 

 give the round sum of §800,00(1, for the flsecD;: 

 only, after deducting what is consumed in the va 

 rious household manufactures, which probably a 

 mounts to more than half as much more. Tf tr 

 this be added another $100,000 for the salej o; 

 store and fatted sheep and lambs, it presents a 

 very imposing sum as the annual proceeds of 

 sheep in the county. Until within {he last ten 

 years, the wool atinually grown in Dutclie.ss, did 

 not, we presume, exceed the annual cousumplios 

 of its inhabitants for household manufactures. 

 Since that time, the increase of sheep has beoL 

 very rapid, and if the value of this descriplion o'" 

 stock is fully understood and duly apprecii.iod, 

 they will continue to increase more rapidly than 

 they have hitherto done. 



What has been the effect of this large increase 

 of sheep upon the other farming interests of the 

 county ? Has the quantity of grain, of butter ani 

 cheese, or of beef and pork annually sent toniark 

 et from this county, decreased in consequence oi 

 the largo increase of sheep ? Not so. On the 

 contrary, we are assured by those who have made 

 it a subject of inquiry, that the quantity of graii; 

 has increased, and we have little doubt that the 

 other items would be found on inquiry, to have in- 

 creased also. 



What then is the inference ? Why, surely, tka; 

 the county gains annually about 300,000 dollars, 

 in consequence of its zealous attention to increas- 

 ing the number and improving the quality of its 

 sheep. 



