308 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APUII. 6, 1835. 



[From the New York Farmer.] 

 SWIKE. 

 Mr Editor, — To iiKiuisitivo niiuds facts are 

 always instructive and vahiable. " What man 

 has tionc, man can do." This is a lesson of the 

 highest practical utility. The experiments of 

 others excite competition, and tlieir success en- 

 courages and animates our exertions. For these 

 reasons I jiropose to give you, from my agricul- 

 tural minutes, a few accounts of the success of 

 some individuals in fottening swine. I shall pot 

 refer to any examples of hogs which have been 

 kept to an advauced age, and on account of their 

 extraordinary size have been carried through the 

 coimtry for exhibition. Some of these have been 

 of an enormous size. But I propose to give you 

 the weight of some whicli have been fatted for 

 consumption, and their weight when dressed for 

 the market. I shall put down, where they are 

 , ascertained, the place and year where and when 

 they have been raised, their owner's names, their 

 age, and weight. 



1815 Eli Cooley, Deerfield, Mass., killed 



eight. They were all of one litter, and were 19 

 months old. Their weight is as subjoined — 577, 

 49-2, 520, 423, 492, 44-5, 405, 455 — lbs. total, 3809. 



1823 — P. Denton, Greenfield, N. Y., four 

 pigs, 9 months 17 days, wt.348, 318, 310, 308 

 —total 1284 



1824 — Oliver Chickering, Shrewsbury, 

 Mass. one, 19 months, 



G. Wheelock, do. one, 20 months, 

 1825 — Maskell Ware, Rhodestown, N. J. 

 one, 



1825 — Johnston, Bridgton, N. J. two 19 

 months, 



1828 — Enoch James, Deerfield, N. H. one 



18 months, 



1828— Smith, Hunterdon, N. J. five hogs, 

 the oldest 12 months, four less than 11 

 months ; largest, 329 lbs. ; smallest, 268 

 weight of the whole, 



1829_Stacy Hall, Portsmouth, N. H. one, 

 22 months, 



This hog gained 500 lbs in less than a year. 

 He was of the Byfield breed. 



1830 -Alanson Sessions, Cumberland, 



R. I. one, 

 one, 

 Richard Leisure, Swanzey, R. I. one, 20 

 months, 



1831 — John King, Medfoid, Mass., one, 

 30 months, 



Samuel Dare, Salem county, N. J. one. 



Weight alive, 1074 lbs. 



D. Howell, Madison, six hogs, wt. 427, 436, 

 449, 483, 492, 538— total 2825 



Capt. Mackay, Weston, t^vo hogs, 20 

 .months — wt. 



Farmer in Dunning street, N. Y. twenty- 

 nine hogs, average wt. each, 



1832 — Earl Stimson, Galway, N. Y. twen- 

 ty hog.s, average wt. each, 



1832 Asa Littl(^field, Framingham, Mass., 



one, 18 to 19 months, 



1834 In Nantucket, Mass. one. 



Increase in 267 days, 295 lbs. 

 1834 — Sable Rogers, Springfield, Mass. 

 one, 2 years old, 



1834 E. Thayer, Charlemom, Mass., one, 



12 months, 



1834 Pittston, Rensselaer county, 



N. Y. two, 15 months, 



1834 Lansingburgh, N. Y. one 



14 months, 



1834 — R. Benedict, Lagrange, Duchess 

 county, N. Y. sixteen hogs, average each, 

 1834 — S. B. Clapp, Lagrange, one 10 mo. 

 Called the Mocho breed : probably some 

 local designation. 



1834— Andrew Lake, Sharon, Duchess 

 county, N. Y., twentyone hogs, average wt. 



1834 Doty, Hempstead, L. I. two 



hogs, 14 months old, one, 

 one 

 The above were fed upon apples and milk 

 through the last of the summer; in the fall 

 upon Indian meal, how prepared is not 

 known. 



1834 De Wolfe, Deerfield, Mass., 



two hogs, one, 

 one, 

 1835 — Eben. Bunill, Jr., Lynn, Mass. 

 Three hogs, age not ascertained, but believ- 

 ed not to exceed 19 months : 

 one. 



412 



333 

 340 



351 



611 



578 



farmer, as well as a courteous and attentive land- 

 lord, has, through the kindness of Dr Hosack, a 

 boar from his stock, which promises extremely 

 well. He has likewise a cow from the improved 

 stock, of I. Whitaker, of England, of most ex- 

 traordinary excellence iu appearance and product ; 

 and much other stock, deserving the attention and 

 examination of every admirer of fine animals. 

 Meadowbanks, Jan. 7, 1835. H. C. 



432 



482 



492 

 610 



743 



Total 

 1825 — Solomon Williams, Deei-field, Mass. 

 one. 



1845 



482 

 528 



650 



584 



740 



1100 



716 



1.501 



682 



675 

 645 



712 



726 

 954 



1218 



400 



414 



678 

 470 



708 

 642 

 893 



Total, 1010 



Such results as the above are certainly remark- 

 able and encouraging. Much, undoubtedly, of 

 such success is owing to the particular breed of 

 hogs : not a little to the management and mode 

 of feeding. In no branch of husbandry has 

 there been greater and more acknowledged im- 

 provement than iu the race of swine, within in- 

 deed the memory of most of us. This improve- 

 ment, in the judgment of one of the most distin- 

 guished butchers and packers of pork in Boston, 

 has added hundreds of thousands of dollars to 

 Massachusetts. The origin of the Byfield breed 

 I perfectly well remember. A respectable friend 

 of mine, living in Byfield, one of the parishes in 

 Newbury, Mass., being at market one day in New- 

 buryport, found a small Chinese boar pig, recent- 

 ly arrived in a vessel from India or Canton ; 

 which he obtained and carried home in his pannier 

 or market cart ; for it was then common to carry 

 meat to market in two large square baskets, hun 

 on either side of the saddle, where the farmer 

 rode. From this animal he propagated the stock 

 with success, which has spread through the whole 

 country, and even to Europe, under the same 

 name. This could not have been far from the 

 year 1790, and this good man and excellent far- 

 mer is still living. Since that time various cross- 

 es have been made, and other valuable breeds in 

 troduced into the country. Without question, 

 the finest boar in appearance which I have ever 

 seen is owned by David Hosack, Esq., M. D., at 

 his magnificent establishment at Hyde Park on 

 the lluilson ; whose superlatively fine stock of 

 Improved Durham Cows, not surpassed, and 

 when the number is considered, not equalled by 

 any, which have come under my observation, and 

 whose adniirublo stock of pure Dishley bucks and 

 ewes, reflect the highest honor upon his public 

 spirit, and his truly patriotic liberality. Mr Caleb 

 N. Bement, of Albany, the keeper of an excellent 

 hotel in Market street, a spirited and intelligent 



old 

 saj 



[From the Genesee Farmer.] 

 PRTJIT TREES GNAWED BY MICE. 



Some years ago I had trt'o apple trees gnawed 

 all round under the snow by the mice. Unwilling 

 to lose them, I raised round them mounds of 

 earth ; and both putting out roots above the gnawed 

 parts, continued to grow, though with some 

 diminution of vigor. I found after a few years, 

 however, that they would never make good trees ; 

 they gradually declined, and both have long since 

 disappeared from the orchard. 



I have seen a tree which was treated in a differ- 

 ent manner. The bark above and belom the dam- 

 aged parts, was connected together by strips of a 

 live branch which were iidaid or grafted, so that 

 the juice could descend through the.se strips, and 

 deposit the new wood as formerly, on the lower 

 parts of the tree. This prevented strangulation : 

 and restored it to the full tise of its roots. 



The important difterence between these two 

 methods, should be better understood. In the 

 first place, the tree loses the use of all its 

 roots, perhaps after the first season, — for the 

 wood or alburnum in consequence of being un- 

 covered, must soon lose its vitality, and being in- 

 apable of transmitting the sap from the root tf 

 the branches. All below the girdled part thei 

 must become useless. The tree is reduced to thi 

 situation of ti ci(ttt?ig', depending for support en- 

 tirely on its new roots ; and as most of our frui 

 trees cannot be propagated in this manner, we an 

 not to expect that these roots can act with th< 

 same vigor as those which originated from Iht 

 primitive radical. The Chinese method of dwarf 

 ino- trees will fully illustrate this position. / 

 branch by girdling and moist earth is induced t< 

 put out roots ; it is then removed and planted ; bu 

 it always continues a dwarf, because it never ac 

 quires the strength and energy of the origina 

 tree. 



I would'remark that the case is different will 

 the willow and the Lombardy poplar, cuttings o 

 which root freely and grow vigorously. And fur 

 ther that when the bark of a fruit tree is partiall; 

 and not entirely removed, the tree may often b< 

 saved by raising a mound of earth which prevent 

 the lacerated parts from drying ; and even whei 

 the bark is wholly gone and it is intended to con 

 nect the upper and lower lips of the wound b' 

 strips or grafts, the tree as soon as the injury i 

 discovered, should be protected by earth or a ])las 

 tcr of some kind, from the drying effects of th 

 sun and air. 



[From the Tennessee Farmer.] 

 CLOVER. 

 As the proper period is near at hand for sow 

 iug this valuable grass, many of our readers wi 

 be desirous of obtaining information on the snl 

 ject, we have therefore thought it would be a( 

 ceptable to them, to receive the following obsei 

 vations, chiefly derived from the actual experieuf 

 of the editor. 



