2T0 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 14. 1S28. 



Poultry. — It is said tiiat hens may be made lo 

 lay eggs during the winter season, when their 

 laying powers are usually dormant, by the follow- 

 ing cheap and simple means : Dilute and mix tv\o 

 ounces glauber salts in a dish of cold porridge, or 

 any other food, and scatter the same well about 

 the poultry yard, so that neither of them shall eut 

 too much ; if the etfects are not apparent in two 

 or three days, repeat the dose at short intervals, 

 till the accumulation of eggs indicate that you 

 have gone far enousth. 



[From the Wincliester Republican.] 



THE VINE. 



Presuming it would not be unacceptable to your 

 readers, I offer a statement of my progress in the 

 cultivation of the vine. Having by long experi- 

 ence, discovered that the farming business is ex- 

 tremely precarious, owing to the ravages of the 

 fly, together with unfavorable seasons, &.c. Hav- 

 ing perused various treatises on the cultivation of 

 the grape, I determined on trying my success in a | 

 business to which I had been hitherto a stranger. 

 In the autumn of 1834, I employed a vigneron 

 from Switzerland, who represented to me that he 

 had been Iohl' acquainted with the business ; who 

 during the succeeding winter, prepared about two 

 acres of gron.id, of a south exposure, and of very 

 thin, unproductive and slaty soil, but such as wa.s 

 preferred by him, although I protested against the 

 location, and recommended other situations which 

 I conceived would be far more productive ; but 

 being a stranger to the business, I yielded to his 

 superior judgment. During the months of Febru- 

 ary and March 1825, I procured from Major Ad- 

 him, near Georgetown, 2<'00 cuttings, at thirty 

 dollars per thousand, exclusive of a considerable 

 number from gentlemen of this and the adjoining 

 counties, amounting in all, to about 3000. These 

 were planted during the aforesaid months in the 

 following manner : The cuttings, (about two feet 

 and a half long) were laid in rows seven feet apart 

 one way, and three and a half the other, in a hor- 

 izontal position, in trenches about two feet long, 

 one foot wide, and about one foot deep, allowing 

 from one to two buds to appear above the surface, 

 and filling up and packing pretty close with the 

 surface of the ground, which was carefully pre- 

 served for that purpose in excavating. The sea- 

 son proved unfavorable, and I presume that not 

 more than about one half vegetated the first year, 

 which produced a small quantity of grapes the 

 next season, (1826) ; and, in 1827, my vigneron 

 sold a considerable quantity of grapes, and made 

 about fifty gallons of wine. I have now increased 

 the size of my vineyard to between five and six 

 acres, continuing to reset wheic the cuttings had 

 failed to vegetp.te. All of them now appear in a 

 flourishing condition. It will appear by the fore- 

 going statement, that my first planting will have 

 been only three years ; and that planting, after 

 deductinop such as failed to vegetate, can only be 

 estim.-ited at about an acre. From the proceeds 

 of the last, I think I can safely calculate on from 

 five to ten barrels of wine the approaching sea- 

 son. Thus it will appear, that either the climate 

 the soil, or both, arc better adapted to the pro- 

 duction of the vine, than any which had heretofore 

 come under my observation ; as those of the Unit- 

 ed States, who have preceded me in the business, 

 jenerally stale the bearing as very inconsiderable 

 until the third year, whereas my first planting 

 bore luxuriantlf on the second. Plouglnno- and 



the cullivalion ol tlie i;rouuil, i riuil, i.s aiieuiiMd 

 with about the same labor as an equal quantity of! 

 ground in corn, and the cultivation of the vine is ' 

 also easy and simple. JOSIAH L' iCKHART. 

 Back Creek Vnlliy. Frederick ctnint.y, Va. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 1828. 



PEAS. 



Of the small early kinds of peas, one pint will 

 sow [according to Loudon] a row of twenty yards, 

 for the larger sorts for main crops, the same mea- 

 sure will sow a row of thirty-three yards. The 

 drills for the early sorts may be one inch and a 

 half deep ; and two feet and a halt, three, or four 

 feet asunder, according to the height to which the 

 peas usually grow. Peas that are to grow with- 

 out sticks, require the least room. For summer 

 crops and large sorts, make the drills two inches 

 deep, and four, five, or six feet asunder. The dis- 

 tances along the drill should be according to the 

 sie of the peas and the season. Tlir frame, three 

 in the space of an inch ; the charlton, hotspur, and 

 dwarf marrowfat, two in an inch ; the Russian 

 blue and middle sized sorts, three in two inches ; 

 the large marrowfat or Knight's, a full inch apart. 



Soil and situation. The soil should be moder- 

 ately rich, and the deeper and stronger for lofty 

 growers. Peas are not assisted, but hurt by un- 

 reduced dung recently turned in. A fresh sandy 

 loam, or road stuff, and a little decomposed vege- 

 table matter make the best manure. The soil for 

 an early crop can hardly be too dry. 



To fortvard an early crop. Sow in lines from 

 east lo west, and stick a row of spruce, liemlock, 

 or pine brandies along the north side of every 

 row, and sloping so as to bend over the plants, at 

 one foot or eighi;een inches from the (jronrid. As 

 the plants advance in height, vary the position of 

 the branches, so as they may always protect them 

 from the perpendicul-ir cold or rain, and yet leave 

 them open to the full influence of the sun. Some 

 cover during nights and in severe weather, with 

 two boards, nailed together lengthwise, at right 

 angles, which forms a very secure and easily man- 

 aged covering, but excludes light. 



Sticking; peas. All peas fruit better for stick- 

 ing, and continue longer productive, especially the 

 larger sorts. Provide branchy sticlis of such a 

 height as the sorts may require. For the dwarfs, 

 three feet high ; for the Charlton and middle siz- 

 ed, four or five feet ; for the marrowfat and lo'g- 

 er kinds, six or eight feet ; for Knight's and oth- 

 er tall marrowfats, nine or ten feet. Place a row 

 of sticks to each line of peas, on the most sunny 

 side, east or south, that the attraction of the sun 

 may incline the plants towards the sticks. Place 

 about half the number on the opposite side, and 

 let both rows stand rather wider at top than at 

 the ground. 



gislature to -the p...y„'r, ,,:„ „n ..r before the 

 first day of March A. U. lca>, shall before com- 

 missioners to be appointed for the purpose by the 

 governor,exhibit and try themost perfect machine 

 o machinery for dressin<r and reducing flax or 

 hemp without dew or watfr rotting to the state 

 fitted for manutacturini. a 't who shall satisfy 

 them by such trials as the.v ,liall deem proper that 

 the said machine or machines are fitted to effect 

 the objects aforesaid, an.l that the expense of con- 

 structing, erecting, keeping in repair and working 

 said machine shall not be too great for the purpo" 

 ses contemplated by this act, and who shall secure 

 to the citizens of this commonwealth the right of 

 employing said machine or machines free of any 

 charge whatever." 



We exfact the following from Arthur Voung's 

 Agricultural Travels in France, Spain, and Italy ; 

 Vol. ii. page 16,5 :—'• When Louis XIV. beggared 

 his people in order to place his grandson of France 

 on the throne of Spain, and to acquire Flanders 

 and Alsace, he would have rendered his kingdom 

 infinitely richer, more prosperous, and more pow- 

 erful, had he banished the naked fallows from half 

 a dozen of his provinces, or introduced turnips in 

 some others. There is scarcely a step he could 

 have ti.ken in such improvements of his agricul- 

 ture, which would not have given him more sub- 

 jects and more wealth than any of his conquered 

 provinces, every acre of uhich was purchased at 

 the expense often of his old acres rendered waste 

 or unproductive ; nor was one Fleming or German 

 added to his subjects but at the expense of five 

 Frenchmen." — Amfrican Farmer. 



A gentleman from Bridjiton, N. Jersey, about 

 40 miles south of Philadelphia, informs us that 

 Peach trees are in blossom, in the vicinity of that 

 place Penn. Gaz. 



It IS said the question of the N. E. boundary of 

 the United States, is referred to the umpirage of 

 the Lmperor <,f Rnssi.-i, th:.t an agent is to be ap- 

 pointed (rom Maine to manage the cause, and that 

 Judge Preble is a candidate. 



Cure for deafness — Equal parts of the juice of 

 house-leek, brandy, and sweet oil, put in a phial, 

 and hung up exposed to the sun for a month or 

 more. This dropped in the ear at night, and like- 

 wise on some wool to be kept in the ear, is a sure 

 remedy for the abo?e disease. 



He who lives after nature shall never be poor ; 

 after opinion, shall never be rich. 



LEGISLATIVE BOUNTY. 



Extract of a letter from a distinguished member 

 of the Pennsylvania Legislature, to the Editor of 

 the N. E Farmer: 



"The inclosed Bill has passed the Senate, and I 

 think will become a law. Such a machine as it 

 contemplates, would have in this State, eflTects 

 similar to those produced by Whitney's Cotton 

 Gin in Carolina." 



By the bill alluded to the sum of ten thoi's- 

 .\Nn DOLLARS is granted by the Pennsylvania Lc- 



To raise early potalos — Take the potatos whole 

 and cover them with horse litter of a moderate 

 warmth — let them remain there till they put forth 

 J shoots of four or five inches in lengt,':, which they 

 j will do in two or three weeks — then take them 

 [carefully fiom the litter, and put them perpendi- 

 cular, and equal with the surface, in a light dry 

 soil, with more horse manure. If the season be 

 j tolerable, they will vegetate amazingly fast. In 

 cold countries, the last week in April, or first of 

 I May, is early enough to venture them out. 



Age and Industry. — Mr. Silas Wilder, of Stir- 

 ling, in this state, aged eighty years, has made 

 since the first day of January, 1828, twenty-three 

 whole and twenty half rum barrels. His sight is 



j so good as to enable him to read witlinut ihc use 



'n-f glasses. — Mass. Spy, 



