94 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCTOBER 1, 1S34. 



NEW ENGt,ANI> PARMER. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCT. 1, 1834. 



Those of our Subscribers who are at a distance and 

 are indebted five to ten years will oblige*us by remitting 

 the amount due by mail. Would all those be prompt in 

 payment we will make some important improvements 

 in the Farmer. 



ARTICLES AFLO.'.T. 



The last number of tlie lialtimorc Farmer cont.iins !he 

 following notice : 



Strayed or Stolen — Several of our parngraphs and 

 even "pretty considerable" articles. They have fre- 

 quently been seen in the premises of our editorial breth- 

 ren, but without our mark. Whether they break into 

 tliose premises or are inveigled or filched we know pot, 

 but one thing we have already observed with some 

 emotion, that some of thi se are travelling about with 

 /ote marks attached to them. We respectfully request 

 that they may be branded with the words " Farmer and 

 Gardener" and then we care not whither they travel. 

 .The last one we noticed thus disguised was one lu .nded 

 " Geology." It was last seen in the New England Far- 

 mer, branded " Acw York Courier and Enquirer." 



We beg leave to assure our brother editor of the Far- 

 mer and Gardener that if we had been in possession of 

 the shadow of a surmise, the ninety-ninth part of a yan- 

 kee guess, that the article in question was from his pen, 

 we should have designated it as his property. We would 

 as soon clip or counterfeit the current coin of the coun- 

 try, as wittingly alter or deface the stamp or te.xtiire of 

 a literary manufacture. In the case adverted to above, 

 we could have had no motive inducing such a misde- 

 meanor ; for if we had coveted the ciedit of having been 

 the author of '• Geology" we should not have branded 

 it " JVew York Courier and Fynquirer,'' We found it on 

 the wing of a southern newsp.aper and gave it a puff. 

 en passant, with no recollection of having seen it be- 

 fore, no intention of giving credit where it was not due, 

 but re-published it together with its mark, as it came into 

 our hand. 



We believe that nobody's patience has been more tres- 

 passed on by the paltry purloiners of paragraphs than 

 that of our humble self Many a newspaper is sent to 

 us by way of exchange, with its editorial columns tricked 

 out with our selections and lucubrations without any inti- 

 mation of the source from which they were derived. Those 

 newspapers, though not worth to us a cent in a century, 

 we have not i/c( obliterated from our exchange list, but 

 we have that measure in contemplation, and hereby be 

 it known to all whom it may concern, tliat we shall 

 hereafter take due notice of the pilfering propensities of 

 certain mis-managers of newspapers, whose heads and 

 type an* manifestly of the siinie metal, under the head 

 STRAVKo or STOLEN AKTicLKS ! Moroevor if Messrs. A. 

 B. C. &c. do not abandon their said piratical practices, 

 we will issue a decree of non-intercourse between their 

 oftices and that of the New England Farmer, and no 

 longer furnish them gratis with materials and ammunition 

 for undermining or bombarding our own establishment. 



with it, alter which add the remainder. The heat of 

 the whole of the liquid ought to be such as we can with 

 difficulty bear the hand in it. Then gently pour the 

 limewater on the grain, placed in a tub, stirring it with- 

 out ceasing. The liquor should at first be three or four 

 fingers' breadth over the wheat. Leave the grain to 

 soak 24 hours, turning it five or six times, when it may 

 be sown. 



Grain limed by immersion does not incommode the 

 sower, like that which is limed in the ordinary way. 

 The lime adheres like a varnish to the surface of the 

 grain ; its germination is quicker, and as it carries with 

 it moisture enougli to develope the embryo, the wheats 

 will not fuflc-r for want of rain ; insects will not attack 

 it, as they cannot bear the alkaline taste of the lime. 



STEEP FOR SEED AVIIEAT. 



A jDDicious practical farmer has recommended to us 

 the publication of the following process, as affording the 

 best preparation for seed wheat. In order to destroy 

 smut in the seed to be sown, take or 7 gallons of water 

 for 4 1-2 bushels of seed, and from 2 lbs. (J oz. to 2 lbs. 

 10 oz. of quicklime, according as its quality is more or 

 less caustic, or to the greater or less degree of smut in 

 the grain. Boil a part of the water and slake the lime 



FRUIT IiADDER. 



• The following simple and useful Ladder, for gather- 

 ing fruit has been recommended to us by a correspon- 

 dent in Maine It consists of two upright posts, from 7 

 to 10 feet long, (more or less, at the option of the con- 

 structor,) inclining towards each other, about 4 feet 

 apart at the bottom, and one foot at the top. The 

 rounds of the ladder pass through the posts, and are 

 about a foot apart. They are made somewhat larger in 

 the middle than at the places where they are inserted 

 into the posts, to give greater strength to the machine. 

 A third post is added to these, tlirough which the top 

 round of the ladder passes, permitting the post last men- 

 tioned to turn thereon, so, that its lower end may be set 

 at a greater or less distance from the other two posts, or 

 rather from a straight line drawn between them; This 

 ladder may be made light and portable, and possesses 

 the advantage of supporting itself without leaning on 

 any other object. 



J hiessiiig in disguise. A farmer belonging to South 

 Reading has reported to us the agreeable news, that the 

 severe frost in May last destroyed all the cankerworms 

 in that neighborhood. 



ITEMS OP ECOKOMY. 



Weeding. Farmers and Gardeners are apt to suspend 

 the use of the weeding-hoe too early in autumn. In 

 consequence of such an oversight, purslane, pigweed 

 and other vegetable intruders obtain an ascendancy, 

 which causes much trouble and expense to the cultiva- 

 tor. Every weed which escapes extirpation becomes 

 the parent of a numerous progeny of pestiferous plants, 

 which monopolize and injure the soil, and greatly in- 

 crease the expense of tillage. 



Eiddancc of Rats. Near Edinburgh a farmer, who 

 was troubled with rats caught 400 by placing a large 

 copper kettle in his eorn-loft, filling it about half full of 

 water, and strewing a thin sprinkling of chalT over it. 

 By a few boards, extending from the wall to the kettle, 

 the rats would jump among what they took. to be a fine 

 lot of grain, and were drowned. 



To preserve Hams. A writer in a southern paper 

 states tliat he has for more than twenty years past kept 

 meat hanging up in his smoke-house through the sum- 

 mer season, and no fly, bug or worm has injured it. 



To prevent such injury I take a strong ley made of 

 wood ashes, 1 commonly boil it to make it stronger than 

 it usually runs ofl'; then I take my bacon and smoked 

 beef, having two or three gallons of the ley in a large 

 iron bottle, and take each piece of the meat and di|) it 

 into the loy so that it is completely wetted with it, tlien 

 1 let it dry ; then I hang the meat in its former place. 

 By this process I have invariably found that it kept meat 

 free from bugs and worms, and no taste of ley is ever 

 perceived even on the outside. 



Jlcorns, are sometimes given to poultry, and would be 

 valuable for fowls if they were dried and ground into 

 meal. Acorns can be preserved in a state fit for vegetation 

 for a whole year by involving them in bees-wax. Other 

 seeds may be conveyed from distant countries by the 

 same means. . Miller advises to plant acorns as soon as 

 they are ripe in October and they will come up the fol- 

 lowing April. If they are attempted to be kept above 

 ground through the winter, they are apt either to sprout 

 or to lose the germinating principle. 



Care for Dysentery. Boiled milk, thickened with flour 

 has been recommended as a remedy for dysentery when 

 taken in its first stages. Boiled milk without flour i.^ 

 too harsh. 



Remedy for Cholera Morbus. A friend assures us that 

 the following simple prescription for dysentery or chol- 

 era morbus has been frequently tried, and when used in 

 season with uniform success. To half a tumbler of vin- 

 egar add as much salt as the vinegai will dissolve, and 

 take it fasting. It will operate as a cathartic, and if the 

 stomach is quite foul as an emetic likewise. 



Method of preserving Cheese from Worms and Mites. 

 Grains of whole pepper put into a vessel in which 

 cheese is kept, it is said will preserve it against these 

 insects. Probably pods of the common red pepper (cap- 

 sicum) wotild answer the same purpose. 



Implnnents of Jlgricultiire. Every good husbandman 

 will laj' it down as a rule to have an inventory of all 

 his agricultural implements and other articles necessary 

 for the cultivation of his farm, and frequently inspect 

 them that he may be sure the requisite repairs are made 

 in due time. An implement, likewise, that is not want- 

 ed during the season, ought not only to be carefully 

 housed, but before it is put aside it should be well clean, 

 ed, made perfectly dry, oiled, or if made of iron painted, 

 and kept so as to be ready when wanted. 



MARKETS. 



Boston, September 2!U/(. Hops. Some parcels have 

 been presented for inspection and contracts for first de- 

 livery made at 14 a $18. 



Wool. The sales during the week have been con- 

 fined to such lots as have been required to supply tin. 

 immediate wants of manufacturers ; the entire sales of 

 fleece and pulled will not exceed 25,000 lbs ; prices are 

 without much change; the stock of pulled wool is very, 

 limited, of fleece there is a fair supply, but the quantity 

 in nrarket is unusually snrall for this season of the year. 



-Vfio York. Hops begin to come in pretty freely, but 

 foreign accounts have not giverr confidence to shippers, 

 iirrd consequently there is not much activity ; small salesi 

 have been rrrade of eastern at 20 cents. 1 



ITEMS OP laiTELIilGEKCE. 



The Augusta (Geo.) Courier, mentions that a cottOX 

 factory started its spindles on the 10th inst. It is in. 

 tended when in full operation to run 2,000 spindles 

 All the machinery is made in the company's own work' 

 slroj). 



Premium. A premium is about to be offered by th< 

 New York Insurance offices, on those ships which sai 

 without ardent spirits, which are useless to a sailor ix 

 extremity. 



When vessels have been shipwrecked during cold an« 

 tempestuous seasons, it has always been observed tha' 

 those mariners who partook of spirituous drirrk, expired 

 at their duties, while the strictly temperate being leal 

 .sensitive to external influences, generally survived An'' 

 intelligent captain once remarked in our presence, that ' 

 coffee was the best to animate a jack tar to buffet out » 

 storm, and to endure the chilling blasts of winter. — Paw- 

 tucket Chronicle. 



