62 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



SEPTEMBER 3, 1S34. 



NEW ENGLANU FA R M E R . 



BOSTON, WEUNESDAY EVENING, SEPT. 3, 1834. 



NOTICE. 



The Committee on Fruits for the Horticultural E.xhi- 

 fcitiou, chosen Jast Saturday, are requested to meet a* 

 the Hall of the Society on Saturday ne.xt, at 10 o'clock. 

 S.A. Shcrti.f.ff, Cliairman. 



Gentlemen at a distance wlio are disposed to contrib- 

 ute to the e.xhibition, are requested to forward Fruits,- 

 &c. to Geo. O. Barrett, New England Farmer OlHce: 

 previous to the 1 (ith inst. 



PARMER'S WORK. 



SELECT SEED CORN. 



It is highly inipoitaHt that .seed corn slioiihi lie 

 selected from the best samples which oiin be ob- 

 tained. The reason why this practice is recom- 

 mended is this : the oflsi)ring of vegetables as well 

 BS of animals will, in a great measure partake of 

 the good or bad (puilitles of the parent. The fol- 

 lowing directions on this subject are from the ])en 

 of .Joseph Cooper, Esq. of Brunswick, N. J. 



" When the first ears are ri|)e enough for seed, 

 gather a sufiicient quantity for early corn or re- 

 lifanting; and at the ttjne you would wish your 

 corn to be rijie generally, gather a sufficient quan- 

 tity for planting the next year, having a particular 

 care to take it from stalks which are large at bot- 

 tom, ef a regul.ir taper, not over tall, the e.^rs set 

 low, and containing the greatest number of good 

 sizable ears of ili8 best quality ; let it dry speedily ; 

 and from the corn gathered as Inst described, ]ihuit 

 your uiain crop, and if any hills should be missing, 

 replant from that which was fust gathered, which 

 will cause the crop to ripen more regularly thm is 

 common, which is a great benefit. The above 

 uientioned I have ])ractised many years and am 

 eatislisd it lias increased the quantity and improv- 

 ed tlie quality of my crops beyond what any per- 

 son would imagine who had not tried the e.xperi- 

 tnent." 



Dr. Dearie observed that " some recommend 

 gathering seeil corn before the time of harvest, be- 

 ing the ears that first ripen. But I think it would 

 be better to mark llieni and let them riunain on 

 the stalks till ihey become sa-ples.s. Whenever 

 they are taken in, they should be liimg up by the 

 husks, ill a dry place, secure from early frost ; 

 ami they will be so hardened as to be in :io dan- 

 ger from the frost in winter." 



SEEDS FOR SOWING. 



The seeds of plants are in many particulnra tike 

 bird'.-! eggs, and as you W(>uld choose the finest 

 unliiials for breedurs, so let your vegetable stock 

 procceil from the best, soundest, and most vigor- 

 ous seeds. It is not sufficient that your .iceds 

 barely vegetate ; they should come strong and vig- 

 orous if you would have them produce fine crops. 

 The seeds of fruits an; best sown with the fruil. 

 Dr. Darwin observed, in substance, that when the 

 fruit, which .xiirrounds any kind of seeds can be 

 sown with tiiem, it may answer some good pur- 

 pose. Thus the fruit* of crabs, quinces, and some 

 hard pears may be all the winter uninjured if 

 covered only with their autumnal leaves, and will 

 'r.ontribule much to nourish their germinating seeds 

 in the spring. It has been recommended to bow 

 Uie seeds of cherries, peache,', and some other 

 fruits, wliicli are of a perishable nature as soon 

 i(fter the fruit is ripe as possible. If the seeds are 

 kept till the next spring tKey become dried through, 

 and the vegetative princij)!c is destroyed, it is a 



good iilan to keep small and rare seeds in their 

 pods till the season of sowing them. 



Mr. Cobhett says that "great care is necessary to 

 avoid the use of unripe seed. Even in hot weather, 

 when the seed would drop out, if the plants were 

 left standing, pull or cut the plants and lay them 

 on n cloth in the sun, till the seed be just ready to 

 fall out ; for, if forced from the pod the seeds are 

 never so good. Seeds will groM) if gathered when 

 they are green as grass, and afterwards dried in 

 the sun ; but they do not produce plants like those 

 coming from ripe seed. I tried, some years ago, 

 fifty grains of wheat, gathered green, against fifty 

 gathered ripe. Not only were the plants of the 

 former feeble, when compared with the latter ; not 

 only was the produce of the former two thirds less 

 than the latter ; but even the quality of the grain 

 was not half so good. Many of the ears had smut 

 which was not the case with those that came from 

 the ripened seed, though the land and the cultiva- 

 tion Were in both cases the same." Other writers 

 advise not to reap wheat infected with smut till 

 fully ripe and perfectly dry, and wheat, intended 

 for sei'd should, in all cases be allowed to become 

 quite ripe before it is used. 



With regard to seed-wheat, an English writer 

 observes as follows : " I never thresh the sheaves 

 which are to sufiply with seed till just when I want 

 to make use of it. 1 have a notion that the seed 

 keeps better in the covering nature has given it, 

 I mean the chaff, than it would without it ; and I 

 am pretty certain that it sprouts sooner in the 

 ground, the husk or bran being preserved in a 

 tenderer and more vielding state than it would be 

 were it exposed to the open air." 



WEEDS MADE USEFUL. 



There are some vegetable productions, denomi- 

 nated weeds, such as purslane, pigweed, brakes, 

 &c. whicli make good food for swine, and should 

 be gathered and given to them, whether they are 

 kept in pastures or in pens. But if weeds have 

 so fiir arrived to maturity that their seeds would 

 grow if they had a chance, it will be best to de- 

 stroy the principle of vegetation by suflering thein 

 to ferment in a compost bed. For this object yofi 

 ni.iy |>lace them in a heap in some unoccupied 

 spot, and cover them with soil. In this case it 

 will be well first to sift a little quicklime over the 

 heaps of weeds, ain^ then shovel over them a 

 quantity of soil to imbibe the gases produced by 

 fermentation. A good husbandman permits as 

 few vegetable and animal substances to decay or 

 IHitrefy in the open air as possible, but covers 

 them over with earth and quicklime, if he has it, 

 thus preserving his health by the same means by 

 which he fertilizes his grounds. 



J-'rom th*' l^oston Courier. 

 CHINESE MITLBBRRY. 



The Mulberry sei'd, furnished to several persons 

 in JMaR-iacliusetts, by the Missionaries in China, 

 have be('n extremely ]>rolific, and the prospects are 

 highly nattering for the manufacture of New I'^iig- 

 laiid silk. The following extract from an intelli- 

 gent and enterprising gentleman in Northampton, 

 received within a fesv days, will be read with in- 

 terest. " My prospects brighten every day, as it 

 regards the silk business. I receive encourage- 

 ment from every quarter. Gentlemen of the first 

 respectability, possessed of capital, are ready to en- 

 gage in it. My trees have grown wonderfully. 1 

 shall sell twelve or fifteen liundred dollars worth 

 this season • and shall propagate largely next sea- 



son, if my life is prolonged. I wish you would' 

 come up here and settle yourself down. You 

 would find it a delightful employment to produce 

 so rich a substance from the soil. It is a business 

 which competition cannot affect, excepting for the 

 better. For it is a fact that the more there are en- 

 aged in it, the better it will be for each one. 

 The time is not far distant, when New Englam) 

 will produce Silk, e(]ual in value to the Cotton oJ" 

 the South — of this no one can doubt, who has 

 given any attention to the subject. I liave already 

 calls from gentlemen from every quarter, to .see 

 my trees and obtain information about the busi- 

 ness. I am now planning a building to be erected 

 the coming winter for the feeding of worms — two 

 hundred feet long by twenty-four feet wide, two 

 stories high — which I shall place below the gar- 

 den ne.xt the woods. I have sold one thousand!' 

 trees to a gentleman for )?2.50, and to others $500 

 worth more ; my number will soon be taken 

 up." 



TURNIPS. 



Pitting Turnips". — .As the Turnip harvest is 

 approaching, we take the liberty of suggesting to 

 those who cultiv;-.te the Swedes, our method of 

 pitting them for winter. The pits are limited to 

 two feet in width, and of an indefinite length, and 

 are dug in a dry situation, seldom more than two 

 feet deep. When the pit or hole is filled with 

 roots as high as the surface of the ground, the tur- 

 nips are laid by hand, the tops out, and slojiing to 

 the centre, until they terminate in a ridge which 

 is generally about two feet above the ground. Tlie 

 whole are then covered with straw, and then with 

 earth. The important point follows : The crown 

 of the ridge is then ))ieiTed with an iron bar at 

 intervals of the yard, and the earth passed out, so 

 as to leave an entire aperture into the turnips, and 

 into each of these apertures a wisp of twisted 

 straw is loosely inserted. The roots w^ill heat, and 

 unless the rarified air is permitted to escape, the 

 turnips are apt to rot. The openings permit its ■ 

 escape, without danger of the frost doing injury. 

 With this ju-ecaution we have not lost one bushel 

 in a thousand. The same course would no doubt 

 be beneficial in preserving the Mangel ff'urtzel. — 

 Souiher7i ^s:ncidturisl. 



ITEMS OF INTELLIKENCE. 



[nr There will be no Cattle Show at Brighton this- 

 year. 



Northern Farmer. We regret to learn that the val- 

 uable paper with that title, printed in Newport, N. H. 

 is stopped, or suspended for the present, in consequence 

 of tlic want of patronage sufficient to warrant its contin- 

 uance. 



India Ruhhcr Bathiii<r Tubs. Since the India-Rubber 

 Company conunenced the manufacture of articles ot 

 dress at tlicir cstablisliment in Ro.xbury, there is scarce- 

 ly a domestic convenience that has not been successfully 

 made. Life-preservers, beds and over-coats, seem to be 

 only a small part of the business — even bathing-tubs 

 wliich have usually been of wood, metal, or stone, are 

 now sold at a pi ice so reasonable, that every man in com- 

 mcm circumstances might afTord to keep an ap])aratu»' 

 so conductive to health. They arc moreover so light — 

 so truly portable, that a tub might be constructed for 

 packing in a small travelling trunk, tliongh capable of 

 holding several barrels of water. 



Besides lecommending this valuable article for the 

 nurseiy in preference to aay other kind now in use, co 



