402 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JUI^Y 1, 1835 



AGRICULTURAL. BOOKS. 



We have been requested liy a ooiresponilent of 

 the Genesee Farmer, to riirnisli a list of agricuUu- 

 ral books, suitable for a farmer's library. Tliis 

 we do cheerfully, remarking, by the way, that the 

 number of American books is very limited ; and 

 that in selecting those of foreign origin, we must 

 take much chaff with the wheat. The elemen- 

 tary principles of husbandry are pretty general in 

 their ap[)lication, while the practical operations of 

 difterent countries must necessarily be variant, 

 not only on account of difference in climate and 

 soil, but in productions for the market, price of 

 labor, liabits of the people, &c. No Eujopean 

 system of practice is therefore exactly adapted to 

 our wants, though it niay embrace nuich that is 

 highly beneficial. 



Independent of the memoirs which have been 

 published by the Agricultural Societies in Penn- 

 sylvania and Massachusetts, and by the Society 

 of Arts and Board of Agriculture in New York, 

 the American works on Agriculture, that we have 

 been acquainted with, are, to name them in the 

 order in which they appeared, 1. Dean's New 

 Eng'and Farmer; 2. Boardley's Husbandry; 

 .3. Arator, a series of Agricidtural Essays, by 

 John Taylor, of Virginia; 4. A Treatise on Agri- 

 culture, by Gen. Armstrong; 5. The r'armer's 

 Assistant, by John Nicholson ; 6. Lorrain's Hus- 

 bandry ; 7. Essay on Calcareous Manures, by E. 

 Riiffin ; and 8. The Com|)lete Farmer, by T. G. 

 Fessenden. These are all worthy a place in a 

 Farmer's Library, as well as the memoirs first 

 named. Of Nos. 1 and 7, new revised editions 

 have lately been published .at Boston and Rich- 

 mond. Of the others copies are scarce, and the 

 memoirs, we believe cannot be purchased. No. 4 

 is a work of merit, comprising a great mass of in- 

 teresting matter, detailed with great conciseness 

 and perspicuity. No. 6 was written by an excel- 

 lent practical fanner, who blended a great deal of 

 useful reading and nice observation with an ex- 

 tensive ]iractice. The writer was a self taught 

 philosopher, who scrutinized narrowly into cause 

 and efTect, and we believe was a very successful 

 farmer. The es.say on calcareous manures, is an 

 invaluable treasure to'all who can avail themselves 

 of lime and marl, as sources of fertility. No. 8 

 is principally a judicious compilation from the Ag- 

 ricultural papers of our country. A new edition 

 is now in press. There are several American pub- 

 lications which treat of the orchard and the gar- 

 den, which it is unnecessary to enumerate, as they 

 may be found in all our seed shops. 



Of foreign publications upon husbandry, we 

 1 should recommend the following, in the order we 

 name them : — Low's Elements of Practical Agri- 

 culture; Lawrence on Cattle; Davy's Agricultu- 

 ral Chemistry ; Sinclair's Code of Agriculture, 

 and, (last, only on account of its expense,) Lon- 

 don's Encyclopedia of Agriculture. The Farm- 

 ers' Series, published by the British Society for 

 difTusing useful knowle<]gc, afibrds an evcellent 

 compendium of British husbandry, though but 

 partially adapted to our country. 



But neither foreign nor Atnerican books ought 

 to supercede the Agricultural periodicals of the 

 day. These abound in communications from our 

 best farmers and detail the imiirovements which are 

 continually developeing in rural labor. We ven- 

 ture to say, there is not a farmer in the Union, of 

 common intelligence and enterprize, who is ambi- 

 tious to improve his con<lition, and who takes an 



a<rricu!tural |ieriodical, that is not more than remu- 

 nerated for his subscription, by the useful infor- 

 mation which he acquires from it. They are gen- 

 erally printed in a form to be easily preserved and 

 they ought to be preserved. We subjoin a list 

 of such as are known to us, for the benefit of the 

 readers of the Cultivator: — 



Published Qitarlerlij. — The New York Quarter- 

 ly Journal of Agriculture, at New York. 



Monthly. — Southern Agriculturist, at Charles- 

 ton, S. C. ; Farmer's Register, at Shell Banks, Va.; 

 New York Farmer, N.York; Cultivator, Albany; 

 Tennessee Farmer, Tenn. ; Fesscnden's Praftical 

 Farmer, Boston : Rural Library, a monthly publi- 

 cation of 32 8 vo. pages, N. York. 



Semi-inonlhly. — Farmer and Mechanic, Cincin- 

 nati, Ohio. 



Weekly. — Genesee Farmer, at Rochester; N. 

 England Farmer, at Boston ; Maine Farmer, 

 Winthrop, Me. ; Yankee Farmer, Cornish, Me. ; 

 Ohio Farmer, Columbus, Ohio, Southern Planter, 

 Columbus, Georgia. 



Devoted to Horticulture particularly. — The Hor- 

 ticultmal Register, by G. C. Barret, and American 

 Gardener's Magazine, by Hovey & Co., both 

 monthly 8vos., ],ublished at Boston. 



Devoted to Silk culture. — The Silk Culturist, 

 at Hartford, Conn., and the Silk Worm, at Al- 

 bany. 



To orchards and the vine. — Coxe on fruit trees ; 

 Thatcher's Orchardist; Prince's Pomological Man- 

 ual; Kenrick's New American Orchardist, and 

 Prince, Adlum, Loubat and Rafinesque on the 

 Vine. 



The Quarterly Journal of Agriculture and New 

 York Farmer are from the same press, as are the 

 New England Farmer and Practical Farmer. 

 The Rural Library is a re-publication of American 

 works on husbamlry and gardening. 



We can neither give the prices of all the books 

 we h.ave enumerated, nor refer to the bookstores 

 at which they can to be had. The periodicals 

 may be obtained, by addressing the editors of the 

 respective works. — Cultivator. 



They appear about every 17 years, varying accord- 

 ing to heat and other circumstances. They are 

 in no way injurious to vegetables except what is 

 done by the hole bored iti the wood by the female 

 to deposit her eggs. They are the favorite food 

 of squirrels and many large birds. The Indians 

 consider them a delicate food when fried. They 

 have been used in New Jersey instead of grease 

 for making soap. They never deposit their eggs 

 in pine twigs of any kind. 



We are inforjned that they have appeared ir 

 Suflield within a few days in great iiumbers.- 

 Wcstjield Herald. 



I.OCUST. 



An insect called the seventeen years locust, or 

 technically cicada septemdecim, has made its ap- 

 pearance within a few days in the north part of 

 this town. They appeared first in the orchard 

 back of the house lately occupied by Gould Lew- 

 is, where they may be seen in great nutnbers, 

 also in the garden of Reuel Danks, and on the 

 bushes along the road between those two places. 

 Many trees arc entirely covered with them, as 

 thick as plums ever are upon plum trees. In 

 the heat of the day they are exceedingly musical, 

 making the air resound with their melodies. 

 They appeared in the same place 17 years ago this 

 season. 



The following is we believe a very true ac- 

 count of this insect. '1 hey emerge from the 

 ground towards the end of April, aiul always in 

 the night. On their first coming out they have 

 the appearance of bugs without wings, but the 

 back soon bursts and theperrct fly appears. They 

 begin to lay eggs usually about the last of May ; 

 these are deposited in clo.se lines two inches long 

 in the tender twigs of trees. As soon as the 

 young attain their growth in the grub state they 

 fall to the ground and make their way two or 

 three feet below the surface, where they change to 

 the form they have on coming from the ground. 



■it.: 



Locusts, the scourge of some parts of the land 

 have made their appearance in this vicinity. In 

 the region of Mount Tom, a few miles south o) 

 us, tliey have just made their exit from crevices 

 in the ground as " thick as blackberries." It it 

 now about seventeen years since the eggs were 

 deposited there and true to a proverb, they arf 

 " on hand" ready to serve their customers. The 

 trees and shrubs are loaded with an exuberanct 

 of this new fruit and although the kind is not ex- 

 actly what is wanted, yet we hear no conjplaint! 

 about a lack of quantity. Hogs and hens ea 

 them and it is said that they make to a FrencI 

 palate, most excellent soup. There is considera 

 ble nutricious matter in them, their bodies beinj 

 about the size of awalnut. They live upon veg- 

 etable matter and ]n-omise to take charge of al 

 the surplus produce in the vicinity of Mount Tom 

 What with the busy hum of locusts and rattle o; 

 snakes, that elevation has musical as well as sting- 

 ing attractions. — JVorthampton Courier. 



I.IQ,UID MANURES. 



In the preceding volume of this work, pagf 

 134, there is a very interesting article on the pro- 

 )iriety of using liquid manures for purjroses o: 

 horticulture ; a solution of soot and water is there 

 in recommended, in the proportion of six quarts 

 of the former to a hogshead of the latter. — This 

 mixture has been found to exercise a most saluta- 

 ry influence on Peas, Asparagus, and a variety oi 

 other vegetables to which it has been applied 

 We do not doubt the fact stated, and would here 

 observe that the soap suds made in a farmer's fam- 

 ily, which is mostly thrown away, is one of tht 

 most effective manures tb.at can be applied to veg- 

 etables and flowers of all kinds. Fnun an expe- 

 rience of several year.s, we can testify to its invig- 

 orating effects, and reconnnend its use with co)ifi- 

 dence. There are but few families, anywise ex- 

 tensive, who do not make a sufficient quantity o; 

 this article, in the course of the year, to keep a gar- 

 den of tolerable size, not only in good condition 

 but rich enough to secure good crops of vegeta- 

 bles. — Baltimore Farmer and Gardener. 



POTATOES. 



Farmers who have old straw to spare, will fine 

 it greatly to their advantage to spread a coatinj 

 of it over their potato ground after their potatoci 

 are hoed, as it will often contribute materially t< 

 the growth of the plant by keeping the soil moisi 

 It will likewise be useful in shading the newlj 

 formed tubers from the rays of the sun, espcciallj 

 in dry sandy soils where potatoes are apt to ac 

 quire an unpleasant bitter taste from the action o 

 the heat upon them. Most farmers have some oh 

 lialf rotted straw about their barns, and a fev 



