NEW ENGLiANB FARMEH. 



Published by JohiN B. Russ£i<i>, at Ao. 52 .Yorth .Market Street, (over the ^o-. ,. ulturnl It'iirehuust). — Thomas *j. Fesskbi>en, [EUilo 



VOL. VI. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, FKBIiUAIiV I, 1828. 



No. 28. 



A GRICULTURE. 



FOB THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PAIJVTING OF THE BOSTON ELM. 



We have heen politely favoicd hv Messrs, I'hobburn & 

 Son, with a copy of Ihc fblluwing Letter, to the f^ecretary ot" 

 the Caledonian llorlicuhural Society, which accompanied a 

 painting of the (ireal Elm on Dostoit Common, presented by 

 Uiem to the Society. 



(COPY.) 

 PATR'CK NFIIX, Es^. 



jSIec Ctiletiwiian Hwt. Socicti/. 



Sir — G. Tliorburn & Son and the owners of 

 the Boston Elm, have much pleasure in forward- 

 ing by the care ol Capt. Peck, of the ship Camil- 

 lu", a copy of Uiat errand pvodiiclinn of nature 

 which still adorns the metropoli.s of Massachu- 

 setts. We send it with the hope thnt you will al 

 low it a place in the rooms of your valuable iiisti 

 tution as » token of the ?ood will that exists in 

 America for Ihc welfare of Scotland, the land of 

 BuR.vs, of CuK Riy , and of Walter Scott. 



We further beg the Society's acceptance of a 

 small bo.x contniniuir some curious specimens of 

 Indian Corn, in the ex:imiiiation of which you 

 will see some of Nature'.s jirettiest freaks ; also ;i 

 few.varieties of our most esteemed Melon seeds — 

 two or three sorts of Flower seeds, including two 

 beautiful newly introduced annutils from the west; 

 the Centaurea Americana and Euphorhia vuriega- 

 ta are delicate nnil will in the outset require the 

 aid of the hot bed. 



We have requested our friends D. Ferguson 

 ■& Co. of Greenock, to whom the boxes are con- 

 signed, to forward to you with despaleh, and hope 

 they may reach you in tjnod order. 



We are sir, yi>ur8, &c. 



G. THORBURN & SON. 



JVew York, Jan. 10, ISi!8. 



MULBERRY TREES. 



Mr Pessk.vdek — Having occasion to examine 

 a file of old news-papers, I find in the Boston 

 Evening Post, printed by Thomas & John Fleet, 

 April 1.3, 1772, the following notice of an attempt 

 to cultivate the mulberry tree ; it would doubtless 

 gratify the public, conlJ they be made acquainte 

 with the result of that experiment. 

 Plymouth. Jan. 25, 1828. Yours, J. T 



" The public were advertised in the supplement 

 of Messrs. Edcs and Gill's Gazelle of August 15, 

 17f!0, that a gentleman in Boston, had depos^iled 

 one hundred dollars in the hands of the Select 

 men of this town, to be by ihem distribtited as 

 premiums to encourage the raising of mulherry 

 trees in this province, in the following manner, 

 viz: To the person that shall have raised from 

 the eeed the l;irgest number of said trees in the 

 fall of the year 1771, beinff trto years and five 

 months old at least, 40 dollars. To the person 

 vvho shall have raised the next greatest quantity, 

 30 dollars. To the person raising the next Kirgest 

 number, 20 dollars : and to the person who shall 

 have raised the next greatest quantity, 10 dollars. 

 provided certificates are brought from a justice of 

 the peace, ascertaining the number and age of 

 said trees; and that. the persons receiving these 

 premiums gire the Selectmen their several obli- 



gations to spare to any inhabitants of this prov- 

 ince applying within eighteen nn'iiilis from the 

 date hereof, ten trees at least, for ;>. I l.iwful iiioaey 

 per tree, until they have parted with oiip h^rf of 

 the trees mentioned in the respective certificates. 

 Agreeable to the foregoing advcitisempnt. tue 

 Selectmen after examining aiuj couipiirin<r the 

 certificates which have been transinitteii to the.ii, 

 have adjtidged the first preiniiiiu to .Vlr Loainmi 

 15aldwin of Woburn ; the second preiniiiin to the 

 Rev. Mr Jason Haven of Deahim ; the third to 

 Mr John Hay of Woburn ; anil the fourth to Mr 

 George Sprigs of Boston : a'ld the Selectmen 

 hereby notify them that they will be ready, iit 

 their room in Faneuil Halt, on the three following 

 Wednesdays, at 4 o'clock, afternoon, to receive 

 their several obligations, and pay their respective 

 premiums, agrePJihl'e to the desire and engage 

 nient of the gentleman who has thus generously 

 excited the attention of the public to an article if 

 produce as natural to i>iir soil as it will be profit- 

 able to the farmer ; iind which it is hoped will be 

 so encDuriiged, as in a few years to afford sitste- 

 naT):e for such a number of industrious inser'ts.as 

 will make the article of raw silk no iuconsidera- 

 bla branch of e.xpoit from this province. 

 By order of the .Selectmen, 



WILLIAM COOPER, Town t Icrk 

 B»ston, April 8, 1772. 



N. B. Besides the trees raised by the persons 

 ■'beve named, many thousands have been raised 

 by those « ho uere ijot entitled to the bounty, -die 

 trees not being of the age prescribed in the ad 

 vertisement, though now fit to be transphmted ; 

 and if the farmers in the neigliboring towns are 

 made acquainted, a considerable number would 

 doubtess meet a quick sale. The mulberry tree, 

 as Dr Eliot in his essays upon field husbandry ob- 

 serves, is of the quickest growth ; is durable as 

 the red cedar, ard may be used for ship timber, 

 window frames, gate posts, &c. and is very fit 

 for chests ot draws, desks, tables and other join 

 er's ware. If luese trees are principally intended 

 to produce foo.i for the silk worm, it is best .hey 

 should be planted in hedge rows, as the leaves 

 may then be gathered by women and children. 



President of the Mass. Ag. Soc in a communica 

 tion publisiied in tlie current volume of the Ncv,- 

 England Fanner, pajte 8(3, says " I have alfead;, 

 ascertained that it will stand our winters better 

 than clover, having had a small patch of it, whicli 

 ha.s stood four winters without the slightest inju- 

 ry." Tlie Domestic F.ncyclopedia says •' Lucerne 

 thrives best in lieep, rich, pliable loams, whether 

 they abound in sand or gravel ; as vvell as in ali 

 good dry soils, and in the coldest climate." It ap- 

 pears to he a triven point among agricullnral wri- 

 ters, that Lucerne will grow well in the coldesi 

 climates ; but those which are mild are mo.sl suit- 

 able for it. Tills might he pre-suppnseil from the 

 circumstance nf its being a native of the south of 

 Europe. Lucerne is a deep rooting plant, and ot 

 course will noi only withstand drought but frost 

 belter than if i" had but a superficial hold of tlie 

 soil. 



LUCERNE. 



Mr Fessekden — 1 am much pleased with the 

 description given by your correspondents of the 

 value of Lucerne, and should like to be informed 

 through the medium of the Farmer, whether thin 

 gr^iss can, probably, be successfully cultivated, as 

 far north as the county of Grafton, in New Hamp- 

 shire. Soil of the description named by Judge 

 Biiel, is here found in abundance, but whether our 

 long and severe winters, will have any other, or 

 more injurious effect, than to shorten the term of 

 Its annual growth, and lessen the number of cut- 

 tings, I am not informed. 



Respectfully yours, 



Ptemont, A*, .fir. Jan. 21, 1828. J. S. 



Remarks by the Editor. — To the above query 

 we reply that in all trials which have been made 

 of this grass in this country, so far as our infor- 

 mation extends, it is not injured by the cold nor 

 the changes of our climate. John Lowell, Esq. 



PHILADELPHIA SOCIETY FOR PRO- 

 MOTING AGRICULTURE. 



Annual Meeting, JA-\UARr 15, 1828. — Be 

 Mease, Vice President, in the Chair, Th>; fol- 

 lowing officers uere elected. 



Prcndent — Ridiaru Peters. 



Vice PresHeiits — James Mease, ?JicholasBiddic, 

 Isaac C. Jonei, Wm. Phillips. 



Secretary and Librarian — W. S. Warder. 



Treasurer— \V . b.\. Walmsley. 



Corresponding C mmittee — Richard Peters, Jas, 

 Mease, Z. Collins, John Vaughan, Win. Phillips. 



Ci--'rf::rs — Rttiben Haines, Roberts Vaux, Ste- 

 phen Hiincon, Jeremiah Warder, Jolin.H, Fowel. 



The following communications and donations 

 were received : 



!. From Signor Barbieri, curator of the Botanic 

 Garden of Muntna, Italy, anaccouat of the Hibts 

 cus Roseus Tho'C, a plant which grows abundant- 

 ly in the marshes of Italy, and teaches to the 

 height of from 7 to 12 feet. It is perennial, pro- 

 duces many stems from each root, and beautifu' 

 blossoms from 18 to 22 inches in circumference. 

 It is applicable to all the uses of hemp and flax. — . 

 A specimen of cord and paper made from it, ac- 

 companied by a quantity of the seeds of the plant, 

 were sent by i\Ir Barbieri. The seeds germinate 

 easily, and the plants may be multiplied by divid- 

 ing the roots. The thready fibres of the stalk, it 

 is said, separate readily by maceration in watei, 

 or by being passed through channeled rollers. — 

 The common brake would, doubtless, answer this 

 object. The stalks cut when in blossom, produce 

 fibres almost as fine as silk, and very strong. As ' 

 this plant requires neither the annual sowing, nor 

 the same degree of attention, or expense for ma- 

 nure, as hemp or flax, it may lay claim to some ex- 

 clusive advantages over these vegetables. Exper- 

 iments can alone determine their comparative mer- 

 its. 



There are ten native and three foreign species 

 of the genus hibiscus in the United States ; the 

 h. roseus is not among either ; but it appears frooi 

 the communication of Signor Barbieri, that it is a. 

 variety of the h. palustris which grows abundant- 

 ly in the lower parts of New Jersey, the farmere 

 of which State have long since found it, whea 

 macerated and piepared, a good and cheap sub 



