VOIi. Xin. NO. 33. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



251 



equally ncccss.ii-y for the fanner ? I would not 

 dispute vvitli either of these learned professions 

 for the monopoly of the dead languages, but for 

 the ever-living natural sciences — for mathemat- 

 ics, meelianies, chemistry, botany, and zoology, 

 and tlieir subordinate branches. I contend that 

 where the clergyman, or tlie lawyer, has one pro- 

 fessional occasion for their use, the farmer has 

 filly. By botany and chemistry, he learns the 

 physiology of his plants, the nourishment and 

 treatment they re(|uire ; and, by analyzing bis soil, 

 he discovers what is necessary to maintain and in- 

 crease its fertility. Zoology and natural history 

 teach him the characters and constitution of his 

 animals ; and mechanics, the structure and use of 

 his implements. In short, the whole business of 

 his life is a series of illustrations of the principles 

 of science, and his whole establishment is a sci- 

 entific laboratory. 



[To be continued.] 



Thomas G. Fessenden, Esq. 



Dear Sir, — We think the point has at length 

 been attained of obtaining a substitute for the 

 Lima bean, suited to a more Northern climate 

 than that very tender variety. The prolific Lima 

 is of recent introduction and not having been cul- 

 tivated beyond the litnits of two or three gardens, 

 is absolutely unknown to the American public — 

 It is white or ratlier cream colored, nearly the 

 same size of the small Lima but exceeding it in 

 thickness, and has a peculiarly rich appearance, 

 which is verified by its quality. It fully equals, 

 and it is even contended that it excels, both the 

 other Lima varieties in richness, is at least two 

 weeks earlier, and its produce is far greater, — we 

 think that we m.ty say four-fold. Like the Lima 

 it is used as a shell bean and we think from its 

 various advantages it promises to rival that variety 

 even lierc and to supersede it in more Northern 

 latitudes. We do not invite applications for it, 

 having only a small supply of two bushels, but in 

 the Autumn of the present year all applicants can 

 receive such quantity as they desire. The Dwarf 

 Bonavista Bean also deserves particular notice for 

 Its remarkabie richness and delicacy, and may be 

 considered as holding the same rank in this respect 

 among the dwarf or bush varieties, that the Lima 

 does among the climbers. It is exceedingly prolific, 

 but we cannot say whether it will succeed as well 

 in a more Northern latitude as it does here and at 

 the south. Yours, very respectfully, 



WILLIAM PRINCE & SONS. 



Lin. Bot. Garden, Flushing, Feb. 13. 1835. 



MAKING PORK. 



We have long known that apples would fatten 

 hogs, but until we received the following commu- 

 nication, it had never entered our mind, that ap- 

 ple pomace could be succesfully employed for this 

 purpose. The statement of our correspondent 

 would have been more satisfactory, if the weight 

 and value of the hogs, in the spring, or previous 

 to their having been put up to fatten, had been 

 stated. There is little doubt, however, that the 

 apple pomace contributed csscutialy to augment 

 the quantity of ))ork, and the more so in conse- 

 quence of the cooking process, and so far as it 

 did so, was manifestly a clear gain. — Cultivator. 



"While addressing you, permit me to give you 

 an account of my experiment on hogs this season. 

 On the loth October last, I shut up to fatten elev- 

 en hogs, about fifteen months old, and six shoats 



which were pigged the I5th May last, having given 

 to the whole nothing during the summer but the 

 wash from the dairy, with a small orchard of 

 about an acre and a half of ground, where they 

 ate the premature apples that fell. I proceeded 

 to fatten them by steaming six bushels of small 

 refuse potatoes with fourteen bushels of apple po- 

 mace, and one hundred weight of buckwheat ca- 

 nal [bran,] the whole incorporated together while 

 hot from the steamer with a wooden pounder, ad- 

 ding to the mixture the dairy wash, and supplying 

 them with a plenty of charcoal and pure water. 

 They were divided into three lots, and closely 

 confined. I continued to give them this mixture 

 until nine days before they were killed, during 

 which latter period they were fed with corn. 

 They were slaughtered on the first of December. 

 The expense of fattening, and the product, of 

 pork, pigs, &c. are as follows : 



30 bushels of small potatoes, at 2s. 6rf. $8 37i 



8 cwt. buckwheat canal, 8 00 



•21.J bushels corn given the last nine days, 14 43 



Apples pomace, say 00 00 



Total expense of food. 



S30 SOd 



Cr. By 36 cwt. 501bs. pork, at $5, $182 50 



50 roasting pigs sold during summer 50 00 

 8 shoats sold alive, 12 00 



4 do. on hand, worth 6 00 



Deduct expense, 



250 50 

 30 80 



Balance, $219 70 



Respectfully, THOMAS MIDFORD. 



Ball Farm, Hyde Park, Jan. 1, 1835." 



Geese. — Most of the farmers in this section of 

 the Island raise geese, or rather attempt to raise 

 theni. Owing to the want of attention, or a sys- 

 tem, they, like all domestic fowl raised by farmers, 

 are of no profit — consuming and damaging more 

 than they are worth. The male is allowed to run 

 with the female geese ; and, in consequence, they 

 often begin to lay their eggs so early, that it is 

 very difficult to keep them from being injured by 

 the frost. Generally, not more than half the eggs 

 hatch ; and the few and feeble goslings are left 

 exposed to all weathers, and soon die. As far as 

 my experience goes, I am of the opinion that the 

 gander should be kept from the flock imtil the 

 weather begins to moderate. The eggs should be 

 carried into the liouse every day as soon as laid, 

 and kept free from damp and cold until the geese 

 are ready for setting. They should be fed in their 

 pens, or not allowed to wander far in quest of 

 food. In fine, it only requires a little care and 

 judgment to raise a handsome flock of geese al- 

 most every year. Any fowl or animal that is 

 worth keej)iiig on a farm, is worth attention. — A'eip 

 York Farmer. 



Potash for Manure. — Dear Sir: There is 

 an inferior kind of potash, which comes at 20s. to 

 22s. per hundred, which is used as manure at the 

 rate of 1 lb. per rod, either dissolved in water, 

 and sprinkled on in a similar manner to that in 

 which the streets are sprinkled in cities, or mixed 

 with earth and spread on with the shovel. I un- 

 derstand it is extensively used. Will you ask for 

 information on this subject through the Farmer .' 



lb.] B. F, B. 



Cooking Potatoes. — Of all things which na- 

 ture produces, through the patient industry of 

 farmers, there is nothing which is so agreeable to 

 the palate as the potato, nor any one vegetable so 

 universally esteemed ; yet this is so frequently 

 rendered unpalatable by the manner of cooking 

 it, that but comparatively few arc acquainted with 

 the real flavor oi' this esculent root. Lovers ol' 

 mealy potatoes will do well to attend to the fol- 

 lowing method, communicated to us by a lady of 

 this town, whereby potatoes of a year old may be 

 rendered as delicious as new ones boiled in the 

 common inan;icr. Peel them, put them into cold 

 water, and let them remain two or three hours : 

 then boil them in water which has been salted, 

 observing that it boils when they are put in ; pour 

 oft' the water when they are done, shake them 

 well for a short time, put them on the fire again, 

 and at the expiration of ten or fifteen minutes 

 they will be ready for the table. — Lancaster Gaz. 



Raising Ducks an'd Turkeys. — In the Agri- 

 culturist of the last jear, appeared two articles, 

 one on the best mode of raising ducks, and the 

 other on turkeys. Two seasons have since passed 

 away, and the writer of this has been enabled to 

 test the efficacy of those directions, and, in every 

 instance that has come under his knowledge, they 

 have been attended with i)crfect success. The 

 directions for raising ducks were to feed them on 

 animal food and keep them dry. Individuals, 

 who have adopted this plan, have sent to our 

 markets from 500 to 700 ducks of the finest kinds, 

 and they have no diseases among them, and found 

 no difficulty in raising them. 



Two or three individuals who have tried the 

 experiment of driving their turkeys, when young, 

 to a'distance from the liouse, where the greatest 

 number of insects were to be found, and feeding 

 and housing them in the manner directed by the 

 Agriculturist, have stated that they have raised 

 from 100 to 300 turkeys, and they have pronoun- 

 ced it to be a method which, of all others, they be- 

 lieved best calculated to be attended with success. 

 — Southern Agr. 



Heat of the Earth. — M. Cordier has, for 

 many years, been engaged in making researches 

 into the interior of the earth, and he finds that, 

 departing from a peint 30 feet from the surface, 

 (the extent to which solar heat is communicated,) 

 the temperature increases 1 deg. F. for every 50 

 or 60 feet we go into the interior of the earth ; — 

 hence, if the temperature continued to augment 

 in this ratio, at the depth of a mile and three 

 quarters, or two miles, the heat would be equal to 

 boiling water, and at the centre of the earth it 

 would be equal to 450,000 deg. F,, or 4500 deg. 

 of WedgewQod's pyrmometer. Now 100 deg. of 

 Wedgewood is sufficient to melt all lavas and 

 most of the known rocks ; and according to this 

 theory, tiiis temperature exists at a depth of less 

 than a hundred miles. 



Economical use or Nutmegs. — If a person 

 begins to grate a nutmeg at the stalk cud, it will 

 prove hollow throughout ; whereas the same nut- 

 meg grated from the other end would have 

 proved sound and solid to the last. 



To SiAJN WOOD A FINE BLACK. — Drop a little 

 oil of vitriol into a small quantity of water, rub the 

 same on the wood, then hold it to the fire, until it 

 becomes a fine black, and when polished it will 

 be exceedingly beautiful. 



