22 



NEW ENGLAND KARMEIl 



JULY 30. 1834. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 30, 1834. 



PARMER'S WORK. 



CraJline; Grain. Tiie iiso of the scythe and 

 rnidle for harvesting ".'rain is fraininn; ir,-ound in 

 llio New Enjrlarnl States ; and we tliink they will 

 eventually he; still more generally employed, when 

 till! advantages jiresented hy those impli.'nients have 

 heen further tested hy experience. The use of 

 tliese lahor-saving machines in the southern and 

 western States iss said to have been general for 

 many years, where their advantages are fully a|)- 

 preciated. We are told that a man accustomed to 

 the grain-cradle, will with tliat implement, cut, and 

 place in regular order for hinding into sheaves, 

 five acres in a day, or in less time than a good 

 reaper can cut one acre. This tlifl'erence is so 

 great that we helieve the scythe and cradle will he 

 universally adopted as a suhslitnte for the sickle, 

 except in cases where the grain is either very 

 thick and heavy, or much lodged and tangled, 

 and must therefore he hooked np and gathered 

 and cut off hy a process almost as tedious as count- 

 ing " each particular hair" on the hide of a hulFa- 

 loe. 



The late John Lorrain, in his valuable work on 

 husbandry, has the following remarks on this sub- 

 ject : 



" Custom has induced farmers generally to be- 

 lieve that it is an imiuoper and wasteful practice 

 to cut either wheat or rye with the scythe and cra- 

 ille. If the grain be neither lodged nor entangled, 

 it may be cut off as clean by the scythe and cradle 

 as by the sickle. If it be properly gathered and 

 bound, but little if any more loss will arise from 

 gathering it in this way. If the grain be cradled 

 in proper time, it shutters less on the whole than 

 when it is reaped and secured in the usual way. 

 It is readily granted that if grain be cradled and 

 reaped at the same time, it shatters niore by the 

 former practice. It should be recollected, howev- 

 er, that the very tardy progress of the sickle greatly 

 increases the shattering, by procrastinating the har- 

 vest so long that the chafl' opens, and much of the 

 grain falls out ; whereas the rapid progress of the 

 scythe and cradle cuts ofT the grain befure any 

 material loss from shattering can take place if the 

 cultivator commence in time. No evil but nnicli 

 good will arise I'nnn beginning early. This not 

 only prevents shattering, but also the risk of en- 

 countering (he various injuries to which the croj) 

 is exposed by useless delay. 



Several sorts ami varieties of implements for 

 cradling grain have been used and reconnnended. 

 Among these is one described and figured. New 

 Kngland Farmer, vol. vii. p. 33, invented by Pay- 

 son Williams, Ks<\. of Fitchburg, Massschusctts. 

 They are also for sale at the Agricultural Ware- 

 house, Nos. 51 and 52 North Market street, Bos- 

 ton, made according to the latest and most ap- 

 proved construction. 



Look to your Cattle, ^-c. Haying and harvest- 

 ing are now pressing avocations, but some other 

 things should not be neglected. Cattle, sheep and 

 horses in lields should be frequently inspected 

 and their wants supplied, or you will lose more 

 for want of care than you can gain by a summer's 

 hard work- See that the animals do not suffer 

 for want of shade, water, and good pasturage. 



Ticks on Lambs. About this time your laml)s 

 will be infested with ticks escaped from the sheep 



after shearing. To get rid of these troublesome 

 visitants you may <li|) the landj, back downward, 

 into a pretty strong decoction of tobacco, which 

 may be made from the stems for the sake of econ- 

 omy. After having destroyed the ticks as afore- 

 said, the residue of the decoction may be applied 

 to benefit slugs, ants, and other insects which in- 

 fest your fields and gardens. 



Save and dry Herbs for Medicinal purposes. 

 Among others we would recotmnend balm, cham- 

 omile, colt's foot, elder fiowers, liore-hiiunil, hysop, 

 maidenhair, mint of several sorts, penny royal, rose 

 leaves, rosemary, rue, sallVon, sage, snake root, 

 summer savory, tansy, thyme, &c. They should 

 be gathered in dry weather, while in flower, and 

 dried in the shade. 



From the Lowell JournaL 

 STINGLESS BKBS. 



An account has been published, which we have 

 copied into our paper, of bees from South America 

 without stings. There is a class of bees common 

 in this country without stings. They are small 

 bumblebees so calleil, and only a part of the tribe 

 are armed with this formidable weapon. The dif- 

 ference can only be known by ilie color of their 

 faces — or if any one prefers it, by actual trial. 

 Those who have stings look amazing black and 

 surly, while a white strip runs down each cheek 

 of the stingless sort, and gives them quite a gentle, 

 beneficent cast of coimtenance. We have seen a 

 country chap, " who knew bees," stand by a clus- 

 ter of fragrant flowers, " where the bee sucked" 

 and take them up one by one as he cliose to select 

 the right sort, to the great amusement of the by- 

 standers. After satisfying all that the bees would 

 not sting him, he explained the difference, and 

 other persons found by trial that they were per- 

 fectly harmless, even when provoked by careless 

 handling. 



ITEMS OP INTELIilGEKCE. 



Harvest — The present is a busy season with farmers, 

 Within the last fortnight, abundant crops of hay have 

 been well cured and safely housed or stacked. We do 

 not remember a season when the article was more plen- 

 tiful, or of bettor quality. 



Most of the wheat and rye in this region and in the 

 lower townships has been cut during the past week, and 

 much of it safely gathered. We learn that the crops 

 are very fair in quantity — and the quality of the grain 

 excellent. 



The growing flax and oats bid fair to give the 1ms- 

 bandmau an ample remuneration for liis labor this sea- 

 son. We have never seen the crops look more promis- 

 ing — the time for gathering is j>ist at hand. 



Corn and potatoes are both growing rapidly at the 

 present lime and appear promising. 



Alibough the spring was cold toalate period, the sum- 

 mer tl'.us far lias been very favorable to vegetation. — 

 IltintcnloH (S. J.) Gnzi'ttc. 



Ertrdordinary Rrrnnnitiun. — A man has lately return- 

 ed to England, after an absence of thirty -six years, who 

 was engaged, in the year 17118, with nineteen others, in 

 the murder of an innocent and inoffensive man. He 

 was iiinnediately recognized and committed to prison, — 

 .and his identity and guilt, it is stated, can be established 

 heyonil doubt. Of his nineteen comrades, eighteen, were 

 condemned and executed for that and other murders, 

 and the otiier was shot in attempting to escape from jail. 

 — V. i'. Commerriitl. 



Hon Edward P'verett has consented to deliver an Eu- 

 logy on Lafayette, before the Young Men of Boston. 



Grain. — Accounts from various parts, west and south, 

 represent that the wheat crop will lie great, and of good 

 quality. 50U0 bushels of new wheat have been received 

 in Nev.' York from North Carolina. Flour from this new 

 wheat is selling at $G,!jO per barrel. Western flour, 4,^7 

 to ^.'J.OO. Corn and rye have advanced a trifle in New 

 York. Corn is 70 to 71 cents, rye 05 to 6G. 



The wheat in Northampton meadow is much blasted, 

 and the crop will be light. The rye is also mueh injured. 

 The blast extends to some of the uplands in this vicinity - 

 The late warm, rainy, dug-day weather, has been very 

 favorable for corn, but quite unpropitious for rye and 

 wheat. Tlie wheat sown early, sutlers less than that 

 sown late. Haymakers have been troubled with what is 

 called catcliintr weather. — Hatnpshire Gazette. 



A Miss Decker, a young lady about seventeen years 

 of age, w<is literally burnt to death, by her clothes catch- 

 ing fire, near the Horse Head, Tioga co. Her clothes 

 caught wliile she was in the act of stooping, while near 

 the fire; and all her efforts to put them out were unsuccess - 

 ful. She then ran a distance of about sixty rods, to her 

 father, her clothes enveloped in flames, and parts of her 

 flesh were actually seen in a blaze.; making a noise sim- 

 ilar to meat in the act of frying. — Susqackaiuia lleg. 



Grain. — We noticed last week an arrival of .'lOOO bush- 

 els new wheat from North Carolina, which sold at iii!!,!'^ ; 

 since then two small lots have reached us. One was in- 

 ferior, and sold at 1 ,01 , and the -other good, sold at 1 ,15 ; 

 as the crop is all in at the south, and as they thrash it 

 out early, supplies will soon be large. Corn has been 

 brisk and sold at an advance, full 15.000 northern has 

 sold at 71 cents, and two cargoes southern at 70 cents. 

 Sales of oats at 38 a 40 ; rye (iO a GG. We have accounts 

 from all parts of our country that the crop of wheat is 

 most abundant and the quality never better. — JV. Y. pap. 



Monthly Strmrbcrries, Judge Darling of New Haven, 

 professes to suppl}' that market with strawberries, not 

 only all .summer, but half tlie fall. They are the niontli- 

 ly strawberry, the cultivation of which he has improved 

 so far as to furnish a daily supply. It is a beautiful and 

 delicious ft\i\\..— Boston Cciiiinel. 



Darien Railroad. — M. Justo Paredes, a merchant of 

 Panama, has petitioned for and obtained from the pro- 

 vincial assembly of that province, a grant of the exclu- 

 sive privilege of constructing a rail-road from the Atlan- 

 tic to the Pacific, across the isthmus of Darien. The 

 Kingston, (Jamaica) Chronicle speaks of tliis important 

 work as likely to be accoiniilished under the auspices of 

 Mr. Paredes, who is represented as enjoying a high rep- 

 utation, personal, commercial and political. 



HoiD Wise. Week before last, during a severe thun- 

 der storm, the meeting house in Chester was struck with 

 lightning, and it like to have shivered the venerable fab- 

 ric into a cocked hat. Some of the seniors of the village 

 were astounded, and began to question the utility of 

 lightning rods. ' There's no security here,' says one, 

 and ' I never had any faith in them are rods,' says an- 

 other. ' I've always been thinking that was only wast- 

 ing the parish money,' remarked a third, and '1 have no 

 idc you can stop tlie lightning from going where its a 

 mind to,' says the fourth. In the mean time somebody 

 had examined the rod. and found it in a suitable condi- 

 tion at the top to receive the shock, but farther than that, 

 it did not extend within twenty feet of the ground ! It 

 was so fixed as to attract the electricity at the top, and 

 then convey the fluid right into ibe meeting-house ! — 

 JS'vrthumpton Covrier. 



Gold Region in Georgia. — A correspondent of the 

 Georgia Washington News, says that, ' There has been 

 obtained from the very valuable deposite mine of Capt. 

 John Richardson, on Duke's Creek, Habersham county, 

 since the beginning of last winter, 11000 dwts. of gold. — 



