VOIi. Xtir. NO. 33. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



181 



Froin the Baltimore Farmer 4" Gardener. 

 PUMPKINS. 



, Frederick County, Mv. 21, 1834. 



I HAVE deferred writing to you until «his time, 

 that I might be enabled to give you a more cor- 

 rect account of the crop of pumpkins raised by 

 Mr. H. of Selbock, tlian I could from my own re- 

 collection of what I had heard of it. The land 

 upon which this crop was raised, is alluvial, lying 

 upon the Monocacy river, and separated from the 

 main body of the farm by a long pond or swamp ; 

 the whole piece containing by estimate, 9 iicres, ii 

 acres of which are rendered unproductive by the 

 trees which closely surround it. It was all in the 

 spring of the year prepared and planted in corn, in 

 drills 9 feet between the rows, and one half, or 

 about 4 acres, planted with pumpkin seed among 

 the corn, the residue was reserved for, i.ud sown 

 in turnip seed, in the space between the corn. 

 The yield of his puni|)kin crop was so great, as to 

 induce him to keep an exact account of it, and the 

 product was thirty-three ox cart and wagon loads, 

 containing 4427 large pumpkins, and one wagon 

 load of small and broken ones. The crop of corn 

 was estimated nt 70 bbls. or 350 bushels ; he made 

 no turnips "in consequence of having procured seed 

 that was neither turnip, radish nor cabbage seed, 

 as I to my sorrow experienced, having obtained 

 some of the same seed in Fredericktovvn. 



There are none of our farmers, 1 believe, who 

 are ignorant of the value of puujpkins as food for 

 cattle, or who do not know that they may be easi- 

 ly raised ajnong their corn in nearly as great abun- 

 dance, as if they were the sole possessors of the 

 soil, without subtracting one iota from the product 

 of the corn crop, yet how many are tlieri; who 

 raise them for the purpose of feeding cattle, or for 

 any other purpose ? All soils that wiM yield 5 or 

 6 bbls. per acre, will produce fine pumpkins, and 

 no crop can be cultivated, gathered and preserved, 

 with so little expense and trouble. The cost of 

 seed is too trifling to be estimated, the cultivation 

 of the corn among which they grow, is all the care 

 they require while growing, and when ripe you 

 pick them up ready for use ; of what crop can the 

 same be said ? Our wheat, rye, tobacco and oats, 

 demand undivided possession of the soil, and of 

 care in their culture, and when they have attained 

 their maturity, require much labor and expense 

 before we can avail ourselves of the fruits of our 

 labor ; the grain nuist be cut and threshed ; the 

 tobacco, cut, housed and fired, stripped, hulked 

 and packed, and the roots dug ; 'while all the care 

 and trouble the pumpkin asks, is, that you cast the 

 seed in the ground in the spring of the year, and 

 in the proper season pick up the golden fruit ready 

 for use. The ease with which they may be pro- 

 duced, is not their .only reconnnendation ; every 

 thing, biped and quadruped, will eat and grow fat 

 - on them — hogs, horses and cattle, geese, ducks, 

 turkies and chickens, even fastidious man. 



The care they require to preserve them is in 

 keeping with their other qualities, thrown in a 

 heap in a shed, or on a barn floor with a covering 

 of straw or other loose litter, to protect them from 

 the frost, and they will, keep like apples, furnish- 

 ing you with delicious food for your stock of all 

 kinds for one-third of the year, and at the very 

 time they most <fant it, from December to the be- 

 ginning of March. 



Will our farmers who have not tried them be 

 induced to make the experiment ? I fear not — we 

 are all too prone to travel the same road our fore- 



fathers trod, and to cultivate the same crops in the 

 same manner, that we have been accustomed to 

 see and practise from our boyhood. 



I will save all the pumpkin seed I can, and send 

 you what I may have to spare, and will also en- 

 deavor to procure you soine from Mr. H. 



You are at liberty to make what use you think 

 proper of any part of this scrawl, with the exception 

 of my namCjWhich 1 would rather should not appear. 



ORCHARDS AROUND FARM HOUSES. 



It is expedient that every farm shoidd have 

 some portion of orchard ground attached to it. 

 The most convenient and guarded situation for it 

 is immediately behind the house, so that the back 

 kitchen door may open into it. It tnatters not 

 whether it be on the north or any other side of 

 the building. Many think that an erchard should 

 be in n low sheltered spot, but this is a serious mis- 

 take. Fruit trees succeed best in a moderate high 

 and open situation. Shelter from wind is certainly 

 necessary, but this protection must be obtained oth- 

 erwise than by planting in a dell. A deep mellow 

 loam is most suitable for an orchard. It does not 

 require to be richly manured, provided it is fresh, 

 unexhausted, and sufficiently dry. Whether the 

 subsoil be gravel or stone, provided such beds be 

 not too near the surface, it will be no detriment to 

 the trees ; but if of a tenacious clay, wliieh is re- 

 tentive of moisture, then draining must be resorted 

 to, in order to free the soil from a supeifluous 

 Uioisture. This must bo done effectually, other- 

 wise it will ever be a subject of regret to the 

 planter. A sloping surface is better for all i)lants 

 than a deail level, not because a heavy or long 

 continued rain or melted snow runs off the sooner, 

 but because that portion of it which sinks into the 

 ground gradually passes downward in an under- 

 current, leaving.no portion to stagnate in any one 

 place, and to become prejudicial to the roots. 

 The most profitable kind of orchard is that which 

 contains all kinds of hardy fruit trees and bushes, 

 and where the land is solely appropriated to that 

 pm-pose. This kind resembles gardening more 

 than farming, and is therefore unsuitable to large 

 farms, but quite applicable to small ones, to which 

 an acre of orchard, requiring no horse labor, would 

 be of essential benefit. In such orchards, half 

 standard apples are planted in rows eighteen feet 

 from each other, the trees being twelve feet apart. 

 In the same line with the apple trees are planted 

 either gooseberries or currant bushes, or what 

 sometimes pay equally well, filberts. The latter 

 are not allowed to riseliigher than about four feet, 

 and are kept spurred in, exactly like the white cur- 

 rants. Gooseberries gathered green for tarts pay 

 the farmer better than when ripe, and are not 

 nearly so troublesome in the carriage to market. 

 As such an orchard is not to be grazed, two feet 

 of the soil on each side of the rows is kept bare, 

 and always free from weeds. On this a quantity 

 of rotten dung may be laid every winter, and raked 

 off in the spring, upon the intermediate strijis of 

 ground to be planted with potatoes, or sown with 

 onions, turnips, scarlet runners, or any other crop 

 which the cultivator can most advantageously dis- 

 pose of in Ids neighborhood. The earliest and 

 surest bearing api)les should be preferred. A few 

 of the earliest pears may be mixed, as the Petit 

 Muscat. The most hardy and profitable kind of 

 plum for a farm orchard is the cotnmon damson, it 

 being always in request for baking, preserving, or 

 for wine making. — Jour. Agr. 



TIME OP GERMINATINCi. 



Some seeds, such as those of the cofi'cc plant, 

 require to be sown immediately on being gather- 

 ed, otherwise the nutrient matters contained in 

 the shell become too hard to be dissolved in water. 

 Others, as holly berries, require to he kept for 

 about twelve months to mellow. It is said, and I 

 believe in inany instances proved, that seeds, such 

 as those of balsam, if kept for several years, are 

 more apt to produce double flowers, in conse- 

 quence, it would appear, of their imtrient matter 

 being more condensed. 



The period between sowing and germinating is 

 very diflerent according to species. Mustard, for 

 example, will germinate in one day, or less, if 

 stimulated with chlorine ; cress in two days ; tur- 

 nips in three days ; lettuce in four days ; parsley 

 in about six weeks or two months ; the peach in 

 one year ; and the rose and filbert in two years. 



It has been proved by experiment that seeds 

 gathered before they are quite ripe, germinate 

 sooner than very ripe ones, obviously because the 

 nutrient matter is less hard and more easily di- 

 luted with water ; and on the same principle, I 

 have proved by experiment that potatoes when 

 saved green for planting and kept in bran, will 

 come several weeks earlier than others. It would 

 be worth trying the roots of the dahlia and marvel 

 pf Pern on the same principle. Though seeds 

 when gathered before they are quite ripe germin- 

 ate sooner, it does not follow that they will pro- 

 duce the best plants. — Rennie. 



From the Sorithern Agriculturist, 

 DESTROYING TREES IN STREETS. 



However much King-street may be iujproved iu 

 appearance by the removal of the trees, which grew 

 near the side walks, there is good reason to doubt 

 whether this policy should be extended. Vege- 

 tation is the only known means for destroying car- 

 bon'.c acid gas, and this gas is produced in im- 

 mense quantities whenever the population is dense. 

 It is deleterious, and nature restores the purity of 

 the air which it injures, by means of vegetation. 



Sir Humphrey Davy says, " carbonic acid is 

 formed in a variety of processes of fermentation 

 and combustion, and in the respiration of animals, 

 and as'yet no other process is known in nature, by 

 which it can be consunjed, except vegetation." 



On philosophical principles, it is very probable 

 the numerous trees and gardens in Charleston, 

 have contributed very much to the purity of its 

 air, and the health of its inhabitants. On the same 

 principles, it is probable, that the destruction of 

 trees, &c. would be attended with an opposite con- 



sequence. 



B. 



CORN SHEI.I.ER. 



The Free Press states that Mr. A. L. Norcross 

 of Hallowell, has invented a machine to shell corn, 

 which is superior to any thing else of the kind, in 

 its simplicity, cheapness and thorough operation. 

 Its cost is but $3, consisting of but one wheel 3 

 feet in diameter, and a cyliniler one foot in diame- 

 ter with a fender attached to one side of it. A boy 

 12 years old can work the tnachine with perfect 

 ease, and thoroughly strip the ears of corn as fast 

 as they can be dropped in one by one. — The Age. 



Rice Griddle Cake. — Boil one large cup of whole 

 rice quite soft in milk, and while hot stir ina little 

 flour, rice flour or Indian meal ; when cold add 

 two or three eggs and a little salt. Bake in small 

 thin cakes on the griddle. ^ 



