340 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 16, 1823. 



WEKDING PASTUftt-S Ai\U MUWI.NU 

 .LANDS. 



[By the Editor.] 

 The weeding of pastures and mowing ground is 

 of much importance, though we believe, not inu ii 

 attended to. Weeds in grasslands injure t.u 

 farmer by tiic ground they occupy, Uie seeds they 

 disperse, anJ sometimes by injuring the quality ol 

 milk or the health of cattle. Small creeping 

 weeds, cannot be removed from grass lands on a 

 iargc scale without causin^' too much expense. — 

 But large plants, such as dock, fern, thistle, &c. 

 should be extirpated. " The weeds that appear 

 in grass-lands in this country, may be divided into 

 upland weeds and aquatics, some tew of which 

 are annuals, but a greater number, especially of 

 those that are most noticed are perennials. 



" Of the upland weeds those which have proved 

 to be the most troublesome are the upright crow- 

 foot. Ranunculus, commonly known by the name 

 yellow weed ; ragweed, ragwort, or Roman worm- 

 wood, Senecio ; the greater daisy, ox eye, or 

 white weed ; (.'hrysanthemum ; yarroiv, dandeli- 

 on, dock, thistles, sorrel and John's wort. 



" Some of these, pariicularly the two last, and 

 the daisy and ragweed, are conquered by a plen- 

 tiful manuring of the ground ; for where the land 

 is rich they are not found to flourish. Pasturing 

 the land with sheep is said to bo fatal to the daisy 

 and the crowfoot. 



" But the most effectual way to destroy these 

 weeds, is to break up the land, and employ it in 

 tillage. 



" When it is not found convenient to take this 

 method, the weeds may either be dug out or else 

 pulled up by hand, which, when the ground is | 

 moistened by rain may be easily done. It is to be 

 remembered that this should be done at or before | 

 mid-summer, that none of their ripened seeds, or i 

 any that may possibly vegetate, may be scattered 

 on the ground. 



" The aquatic weeds, such as flags, rushes and 

 the like, are not easily subdued by any of the 

 above methods, some of which have often been 

 tried in vain. Draining the land, which deprives 

 them of that degree of wetness which is suitable 

 to their nature, is an infallible method, and, per- 

 haps, the only effectnal one of destroying them. — 

 But liming the ground at the same time, renders 

 the operation more sudden and effectual. Or if 

 lime cannot be had, ashes and soot are good sub- 

 stitutes." 



We notice almost every day, packages of fruit 

 trees, from the nursery of Dr. Fiske, on their viiay 

 to other towns. It is gratifying to find so much 

 attention bestowed not only on the culture of 

 fruit, but on the choice of g-oorf trees. The nur- 

 sery of Dr. Fiske has been cultivated with great 

 care, and affords a sufficient choice to almost ev- 

 ery one who is desirous of trees. We regard it 

 as of great public utility, and hope the care and 

 labor of its proprietor will be well compensated. 



When the late .Or. Dwight, the distinguished 

 President of Yale College, first removed to New 

 Haven, ho immediately began to stock his garden 

 with fruit-trees. Ilia neighbors admonished him 

 of what they thought the folly of his undertaking, 

 saying that if ho cultivated fruit he need not e.\- 

 pect to enjoy it in such a town as Mcv Haven, for 

 it would be all plundered. He replied that there 

 were two courses, either of which might bo adopt- 

 ed — one, to have all their gardens entirely dcsti- 

 lute of fruit; the other, to make it so plenty, by 



Us general cullivaiiou, as that the depredations on 

 the garden of any individual would be so light as 

 not to be seriously felt. Ho thought the latter 

 course the preferable one ; and theiefore, he said, 

 ho should pursue his plan, with the hope that his 

 example would be generally followed. It ivas gen- 

 erally followed, and the consequence was such 

 as he predicted. — If this policy were generaHy a- 

 dopled Its good effects would soon be apparent — 

 It has been adopted to some extent in this town ; 

 and we trust it will be, to a still greater. The fa- 

 cilities for obtaining good trees are now so great 

 that it is in the power of every man who owns a 

 garden, easily to provide himself with choice fruit. 

 — ff'orcester Yeoman. 



Destroy Thistles. — Much has been said and 

 written on the subject of destroying the Canada 

 thistle ; and it has been proposed that bounties 

 for their extermination should be granted by Le- 

 gislatures. The following we have known put in 

 practice with complete success. Let them alone 

 till they are in full bloom, and then cut them with 

 a scythe. If they are cut when young, they pro- 

 duce fresh shoots, but if mown just before the 

 seed is formed, the stem contains a hollow by 

 which the dews and rain water descend into the 

 heart of the plant and it soon dies. If, however, 

 you cannot find leisure to mow them till the seed 

 is formed, you may even then cut them down, and 

 as soon as they have dried a liUle in the sun, rake 

 them into heaps and burn them. It is possible 

 that a few may spring up the next season, but two 

 or three cuttings will be sure to destroy them. 



in vinegar to tiie pit oi the stomach ; and gentle 

 friction which should be resorted to, alternately, 

 with the sprinkiing of cold water, from the begin- 

 ning of the process, at first with great caution, 

 over the lower extremities, and gradually extend- 

 ing it upwards to the left side of the body. 



" In particular cases, where the means before 

 stated prove ineffectual, it will be advisable to 

 open a vein, or to electrify the patient, by direct- 

 ing the shocks through the breast, so that the 

 fluid may pervade the heart. Meanwhile pure air 

 may be blown into the lungs, (as directed in the 

 treatment of drew ned persons) ; and if anxiety ap- 

 pear to prevail, blisters should be applied to the 

 chest. 



" When signs of returning life become evident, 

 the mode of treatment before pointed out must be 

 continued for some time, though with great mod- 

 eration. The cloths applied to the pit of the stom- 

 ach, should now be dipped in n ine, or warm vin- 

 egar ; common poultices applied to the injured 

 parts ; and when the patient is able to swallow, a 

 mixture of wine and watc , or balm-tea may be 

 safely administered." — Domes. Ency. 



PLACES OP SAFETY IN TIMES OF THUN- 

 DER AND LIGHTNING. 



[By the Editor.] 

 Dr Franklin's advice was to sit in the middle of 

 a room, provided it was not under a metal lustre 

 suspended by a chain, sitting on one chair and 

 laying the feet on another. It is still better, he 

 observed, to bring two or three mattresses or 

 beds into the room and folding them double, to 

 place the chairs upon them ; for as they are not 

 so good conductors as the walls the lightning 

 will not be so likely to pass through them. But 

 the safest place of all is in a hammock hung by 

 silken cords, at an equal distance from all the 

 sides of the room. Dr Priestly observed that the 

 place of the most perfect safely must be the cel- 

 lar, and especially the middle of it : for when a 

 person is lower than the surface of the earth, the 

 lightning must strike Jt before it can possibly 

 reach him. In the fields, the place of safety is 

 wilhio a few yards of a tree, but not quite near it 

 Beccaria cautions persons not always to trust too 

 much to the neighborhood of a higher and better 

 conductor than their own bodies, since he has re- 

 peatedly found that the lightning by no means 

 i descends in one individual track, but that bodies 

 I of various kinds conduct their share of it at the 

 I same time, in proportion to their quantity, and 

 conducting power. 



, During the rising or continuance of a thunder 

 ] storm, avoid touching the conductors of any build- 

 ing, or being very near them, especially at an 

 jopen window. Shun all trees where sithes,nnd oth- 

 er metallic implements of husbandly are hung up. 



Treatment of persons .■ilrucll with lightning. 

 j JleSHSeitatives. — " Spi inkle the face with cold 

 I water ; or expose the subject, if robust, to the in- 

 1 flucncc of the shower bath ; apply cloths dipped 



JVew Improvement We are informed that Mr 



Jedediah Richards, of Elbridge, in this county has 

 invented a machine for making window sashes, 

 which operates almost wholly with circular saws. 

 The stuff from which the sash is made, is not 

 planed at all — it is wholly fitted with saws from 

 the rough. Three sides of the stuff are cut at 

 one operation. It is supposed that at least one 

 fourth of the labor in making sash in this way 

 will be be saved from that of any other method 

 now in use. — Si/racuse Gazette. 



Planting of oaks. — If the country gentlemen do 

 not make it a point to plant oaks wherever they 

 will grow, the time will not be very distant, when, 

 to keep up our navy, we must depend entirely on 

 captures from the enemy. You will be surprised 

 to hear that most of the knees which were used 

 in the Hibernia, were taken from the Spanish 

 ships captured on the 14th of Februaiy ; and what 

 they could not furnish, was supplied by iron. I 

 wish every body thought on this subject as I do : 

 they would not walk through their farms, without 

 a pocket full of acorns to drop in the hedge side, 

 and then let them take their chance — Lord Col- 

 lingwood's Correspondence. 



Slings of Wasps or Bees. — Sweet oil, applied 

 immediately cures the sting of wasps or bees ; — 

 and if the sting is left in the wound, it should, if 

 possible, be extracted with hair pincers. Or chalh 

 may be rubbed on the place, or spirits of harts- 

 horn, or solution of any alkali, as pot-ash, pearl- 

 ash, or salt of tartar, or soda. But the simplest 

 remedy, and some who have tried it have assured 

 us that is is effectual, is to rub the part affected 

 with a raw onion. 



The New -York Statesman estimates the amount 

 nt wood consumed in the Steam Boats on the 

 North River as follows : — Thirteen Boats be- 

 tween New York and Albany require about L.^OO 

 cords of wood per week. The ferry bouts cross- 

 ing the Hudson about 1,400 more; besides the 

 nmount by the way boats to Singsing, Newburgb. 

 Poughkeepsie, Calskill, iSic. ; making a consump- 

 tion of more than throe thousand cords of pino 

 wood per week for generating steam on the North 

 River. — Con. Courunt. 



