30 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



ArcrsT 6, i^s*. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEK. 



BOSTON, WEUNESDAY EVENING, AUG. 6, l»34. 



In o.a- puperof tliis day, pa!,'e 27, wiH ''« l""'"! 

 an ahstnicl fruni a Suame of Was^aoluisetts ibi- tlie 

 ..reveiilioii „f tresp.-isses in Orcliai-ds nnd Gardens, 

 &c Tliis is rfpublished at lU". rcqiii'St ot tlit; 

 Mass. Hort. Society ; and Editors of r.-i|»-rs IVien.l- 

 ly to llurticidtni-e are res|iP(-tndly solicited to yive 

 the abstract circulation in tli.'ir columns, lost ig- 

 norance of tire law :nay be llmnglit to palliate if 

 not excuse its violation. 



We think Trespassers on Orclianls and Garilens 

 ought to be con.si(lered as crlu.inals, deserving- ot 

 Mio^re infamy and severer punishment than alniust 

 any other de|n-edalors on iir.)p''i-ty ; tur reasons 

 which we set fortli at smne length, vol. xii, p. 54 

 of N. E. Farmer. Civilized society ought to make 

 a common cause of hunting down human vermin 

 of this description, who not only injure the mdi- 

 viduals on whose property they .leprcdate; but the 

 community at large, by discouraging fruit-growers, 

 and rendering their pursuits improhlable by de- 

 priving them of the due reward of tlieir skill and 

 industry. 



FARMER'S \VOKK. 



Mowing Ground. There are but few objecls 

 connected with the management of a farm of more 

 rtance than that of obtaining good cro|is ot 



of 



1 m portc 



rouen, aftermath, or second crops of grass, 

 your mowing land is in such good condition that 

 there is any prospect of obtaining a second crop of 

 grass, be careful not to sufTer it to be fed by cattle, 

 horses, or sheep, for rouen in the winter or spring' 

 is very valuable. 



If your grass ground has become bound out as it 

 is called, or in other words moss prevails to the in- 

 jury of the grass, and it is not convenient to break 

 it lip, or it is not suilalile for ploughing, on ac- 

 count of its being too moist, stony, &c. it shoiihl 

 be cut or scarified by a spiked roller, or if such 

 an implement is not at hand, a heavy loaded har- 

 row. Then strew some seeds of herds-grass, or 

 other good gra.ss-seeds over it, and give it a good 

 dressing of some sort of compost or other manures 

 suitable to the soil. There is no danger of des- 

 troying the roots of grass by tearing the turf with 

 a harrow. Though- they are broken they will he 

 % speedily renewed ; new otT-scts will be formed and 

 tlie cro|) will rise with renewed vigor. 



Dr. DeaiU! observed : " It is ridiculous to think 

 of taking many crops of liay from any piece of up- 

 land, in uniiiterrnpted succession without afl'ording 

 •t any manure, for it docs not imbibe the richness 

 of the atmosphere so plentifully as land in tillage. 

 Grass laud should therelbre, once in two or three 

 years at least, have a good dressing of good rotten 

 dung or compost, lint the best way is to do it 

 every year." Autumn is the time for applying the 

 manure, according to long approved practice 

 But a writer in tlie Gcorgical Essays reccmimends 

 ■doing it immediately after the first mowing, when 

 a second crop is expected, which will niulonbted- 

 ly be the larger. Whenever it is done, a bush har- 

 row should be drawn over the surface, which will 

 break the small lumps remaining in the manure, 

 and bring it closer to the roots of the grass. IJy 

 tJiis management four or five tons of hay may lie 

 the annual produce of nn acre. Or if the surface 

 be not dunged, the cro|) should be foil otTonce in 

 three years ; that the excrements of the cattle may 

 recruit the soil. 



If, however, the soil is of a nature, which will 

 admit of ploughing, and of head crops it will be 

 bad husbandry not to plough and cultivate grass 

 ground with a regular course of rotation, other- 

 wise the mowing lots " are apt to become consoli- 

 dated by time and the hoofs of cattle, and aie close- 

 ly matted and hard bound by the inmimerahle roots 

 of the grass and weeds; many of the Ibrmer are 

 enfeebled by age, and iimltitndes hastening into de- 

 cay. Tliis with a great variety of useless, as well 

 as very injurious plants, forms a surface on which 

 may be fi>uiul the best and worst of plants, togeth- 

 er with all the intermediate grades between those 

 wide e.xtremrs. The.se spring in regular succes- 

 sion from early to late."" 



Seeds. Select the rijiest and best seeds from 

 such plants as are most forward and vigorous, and 

 yon will improve your breed of vegetables in a 

 mtmner similar to that by which the breeds of an- 

 imals are improved by tiie celebrated Euro|)ean 

 breeders of cattle. New and improved kinds of 

 wheat, peas, beans, &c. &c. have been introduced 

 by observing among growing crops some individu- 

 al stalks, pods, ears, &c. which were distinguisha- 

 ble from the rest by a greater degree of healtli, 

 luxuriance, productiveness, earliness, orsonie oth- 

 er peculiarity ; gathering and preserving them ex- 

 clusively for seed till sufiiciently ftiuhiplied for 

 propagation on a large scale. 



Soilins. This is a term afiplied to the practice 

 of feeding domestic animals on new mown grass, 

 or other green crops, in racks, yards, stables, &c. 

 This jiractice cannot be profitably introduced, ex- 

 cept in cases where \\. is an object to make the 

 most of a small spot of land in the vicinity of some 

 lar"e anil populous place ; and labor can be obtain- 

 ed at a reasonable rat;'. Wr. Lorrain observed of 

 sidling as follows : 



" It should be remembered that success is not 

 to be expected, unless a full supply of green grass 

 pro|)er for liiis purpose has been provided. Also 

 the great trouble anil perplexity occasioned by red 

 clover, in consequence of cattle ami horses being 

 salivated by tlie second and third crops of this 

 grass. 



" Every farmer should soil his working cattle 

 and horses, whether he may or may not enter into 

 the general practice of soiling. .4 very small ex- 

 tent of ground will be suflicient for that purpose. 

 This may be so near to his barn that the trouble 

 will not lie much if any more than going to the 

 pastures after them. Tlie grass and manure saved 

 by this process will be very valuable. 



" Notwithstanding the great advantages which 

 may be ilerived fidin soiling, it would seem that it 

 cannot be generally practised even in the popu- 

 lous parts of this country. The (piantity of clear- 

 ed ground is more than doiilile as much as the 

 population is capable of cuhivating propi'ily, with- 

 out introducing the additional labor, which would 

 be required if soiling were geiicr.illy practised." 



RURAi., Economy. 



Destroying Insccis by Decoction of Chamomile 

 Flowers. In th<! Irish Gardener's Miiguzine, it is 

 saiil not only "that dixoctions, or the leaves dried 

 and powdered of the common cliamoinile (Anthe- 

 mis nobilis), will destroy insects, but that "noth- 

 ing conlriluites so much to the health of a garden 

 as a number of chaiiiomile plants dispersed through 

 it. No green-house or hot-house should be with- 

 out chamomile in a green or in a dried state ; either 



the stalks or flowers will answer. It is a singular 

 fact, that if a plant is drooping and ap|iareiitly 

 dying, in nine cases out of ten, it will recover, if 

 you place a plant of ch;imomile near it." 



This is important if there is no mistake in the 

 matter. We wish chamomile as a remedy for in- 

 sects might he tried in the various wa\s above 

 mentioned, as well as others which the ingenuity 

 of a scientific cultivator may suggest, and the re- 

 sult made known to the public. — Ed. .W. Ji. Farmer. 



Weeds, i;c. for Manure. A writer for Loudon'* 

 iMagazine observes as follows : "Amongst the most 

 active plants employeil as manure I have loimd 

 the [wild s[-ecies of the genus] Sinapis* idoughed 

 in fresh. Other weeds, such as nettles, thistles, 

 ragwort, &c. produce crojis superior to farm-yard 

 dung. Potato stems, I'resh ploughed in, ou clover 

 lea for wlieat, 1 have found to pioihice crops ex- 

 ceeding by two hoUs [12 busheU] [ler acre in 

 quantity, with more iu-oportion;ite weight of straw, 

 the other parts of the same field manured with 

 farm yaril dung, but otherwise under the same cir- 

 cumstances. The stems from three acres of good 

 potatoes will manure an acre lor wheat to much 

 better purpose than fifteen tons of barn-yard dung, 

 the usual quantity allowed in that part of the ro- 

 tation ; clover after wheat being the crtq) which 

 generally i)recedes fallow. Under the head of 

 "green manure" I may nieiuion an experiment I 

 this year made with pea-straw converted into dung 

 without the aid of cattle. Having something of 

 that sort on hand about the middle of last May, 

 and being in want of some loads of manure to fin- 

 ish a potato field, I had the peas threshed at the 

 mill, and the straw and chaff carried to the si<le of 

 a potato field, and made up like a large liot-bed, 

 giving each layer of straw an anqde watering. 

 Fermentation soon commenced ; and by the filth 

 day, the moss was so far decomposed as to he ea- 

 sily filled into the carts. The efiiuvium in filling 

 was almost intcderable. It was in this stale hijd 

 into the bottom of the drills ; the sets of potatoi-s 

 were planted above, and the earth ploughed over 

 the whole. Notwithstanding the dry nature of the 

 ground, and the dry state of the weaiher in the 

 summer months, the part of the field manured 

 with decomposed pea-straw yielded a better retuiii 

 than where fiirm yard dung was applied." 



•Lorruiii's Husbandry, p. 166. 



"By the Kditor vf N. E. Fanner. U'lit- weed al)uvc iticiiliou- 

 etl as ihe vvilii species of the Siiiupis (of which coiniiioii nai.^- 

 lard is a variety), is very Irouljiesome to our Neiv EncflaiHi 

 fanners. Dr. Di'atie has Ihe foilowiuij notices ol'il; "'Cliarjocli. 

 Siruipis, a well liiiowu and irout>leson»e weed, ll Is known h\ 

 llic names chrfalock, calloek, eaiiock, and while lape, [also 

 chariicti.] It is similar to radish. The young plants so nculy 

 resemble turnips, llint they are scarce!}' distiiig;uislialdo, unless 

 il Ije by the taste. Bloriiuier nientiiais a field ot bailoy, mow- 

 ed when ihe charlock was in blossom, which took olT only llit- 

 lops of the blades of tiarley ; and which gave ihe barley an o|i- 

 iioriuiiilv to g;et al)ove ihe weeds, and so il produced a go<". 

 croii. lie supposes cow dung increases il more ilian any oth; ^ 

 manure; and recommends leediug fallows with shii'p whm 

 llicv are inleslcd wiili this weed. Il is- well knovvjr that shitp 

 will eat this weed rather than turnips. The seeds will live in 

 lire earth many yeais, and ai'ierwards vegetate by means < f 



liliasc. 



" Grain shouUl be sown thick where there is danger of its 

 being injured by charlock, so that the crop may overtop the 

 weeds. Barley sown thick will certainly prosper in such a sii- 

 uaiion." 



The utility of ploughing in this weed as manure is demon- 

 strated by the mode ot cullure adopted by Mr. John Keely of 

 Haverhill, Mass. in raising a premium crop of rye. See Trans, 

 of Essex Agr. Soc. likewise iV. E. Fanner, vol. xii, p. 4. 



