i2 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



JU1.T «0, 183C.. 



KOTES ON PARMINU, 



FP.OJI OUR MKMOrxAiNDUM BOOK. 



Roots. — The roots of in iny plants will creep 

 aside to avoid hail earth, or to approa<:li good. — 

 Biiffon. Darwin says, roots put out no ahsorhent 

 vessels where they are not stimulated hy proper 

 juices ; and that they elongate only where they 

 tind proper nntriiueut. — Pliy 17. Where the 

 .soil is rich and iiicl n>.v, the roots of most plants 

 are longer than the stems. Sir 'iliurell traced the 

 fibres of the roots of ivlieat five feet deep, on the 

 side of a marl pit ; also the root of aturni|i, drawn 

 by hand, tv ; feet and a half in length. The im- 

 [)ortance <( extended roots and of tilling the 

 ground to the vigor and productiveness of a plant, 

 may 'le evinced in our tillage fields, where the 

 out-'i.Ie rows, or outer border of grain is generally 

 inferior, because the roots cannot so freely extend 

 into the adjoining grass grounds, and because the 

 ground is often less perfectly tilled. Cobbet has 

 given a forcible illustration in this matter ; several 

 rows of turnips were drilled one foot apart, along 

 side of a ridge, which was ploughed and harrow- 

 ed, when the turnips ought lo have been hoed, 

 but which were not hoed at all. The third row 

 of turnips from the fresh ploughed ridge were 

 double the size of the rows beyond it ; those of 

 the second row were double the size of those in 

 the third ; and those in the first row were much 

 larger than those in the second. This difference 

 was imputed whrlly to the influence of the fresh 

 ploughed adjoining ridge ; and this inflnence ex- 

 tended to the third row, so as to double its pro- 

 duct, and conso(iuently the roots of the turnips 

 growing in the third row must have extended three 

 feet to reach the ploughed ground. These faults 

 admonish the farmer to plough well, and to use 

 the cultivator freely among his hoed crops. 



.Norfolk course. — Norfolk is a sandy district, 

 and, until the introduction of the turnip culture, 

 was one of the least productive counties in Eng- 

 land. The culture, and the improvements conse- 

 quent upon its introduction, have rendered it one 

 of the most productive. The course of crops is, 

 1. Turnips always with manure ; 2. Barley or 

 oats and grass seeds ; 4. Grass tw o years ; 4. 

 Wheat or rye. Mr Young thinks but one plough- 

 ing should be given to a two years lay, in the fall, 

 lor winter grain, and but one in the spring for 

 (with us) corn or potatoes. — See Youtis;'s .\"orfoUi, 

 l>- 62. The only variation which modern improve- 

 ment has made in the Norfolk course, is to sow, 

 iu some cases, peas on the sod, and follow with 

 wheat in autumn. The rotation is a judicious 

 o le on our sandy lands, where turnips are sufji- 

 ciently cultivated ; but as this culture is too limit- 

 ed in all cases, Indian corn may be advantage- 

 ously substituted, or superadded, with manure, as 

 the first crop in the course. Peas, as a fallow 

 crop, to he followed hy wheat, U|)on a two years 

 lay, is preferable to a naked fallow. 



JVorfolk maxim. — Never take two crops of white 

 corn (i. e. small grains, as wheat, rye, barley, 

 o.its, &c.) in succession. — See as before, p. 364. 

 Mr Young thinks the pre-eminence of Norfolk 

 husbandry is principally owing to a strict adhe- 

 rence of this maxim. This maxim should be 

 amended so as to read, " never take two crops of 

 any kind in succession," and the result will be 

 lound correspondingly beneficial. 



Arable system. — Mr Berckham asserted it as a 

 fact, of which he had not the least doubt, that 

 tillage, well managed, would support as much 



live stock, on the seeds, turnips and straw, as the 

 same land would do all under grass; eonseqnent- 

 ly the corn is all gain to the public, I am certain 

 it would, adds rdr Young. He spoke of pasture 

 that would support two bullocks of 40 stone (560 

 lbs.) on the acre. — Young's JVorfolk, p. 367. Kef- 

 erence was had to sandy soils, adapted to al- 

 ternate husbandry ; and we believe the remark 

 will hold good here, where the lands are well man- 

 aged, though the high price in manual labor may 

 make some difference in the result. 



Summer fallows were common thirty [now six- 

 ty] years ago, iu Norfolk ; and seeds [grass] were 

 then left three years. Now no such thing as sum- 

 mer fallows are known, and seeds are left but two 

 years. The number of horses is lessened ; plough- 

 iugs are not so frequent ; often hut one for barley, 

 and some trust to scarifying, and have succeeded 

 well. Those and other improvements have in- 

 creased the product one fourth or one third. — lb. 

 367. It is a fault with some of our best farmers, 

 who have ado|)ted the alternating system, that 

 they leave their grass too long, three, four or five 

 years, till the clovers, which are to impart fertili- 

 ty to the soil, have in a measure disappeared. 

 The clover roots penetrate and bre k the soil, 

 which is always loose and permeable while they 

 are imder decomposition. 



Jl/(i/-/ is applied in Norfolk at the rate of from 

 eight to one huinlred loads |)er acre ; if the less 

 quantity, it is often repeated. Seventy loads per 

 acre will last fifteen or sixteen years. This is -said 

 on the authority of Young. 



Planting — We have said that the forests of 

 England have all been planted by the hand of 

 man. To give an idea of the «xteut of tiiese 

 plantations, we state, that in twenty years, Mr 

 Coke planted 718 acres to forest trees of various 

 kinds, with 2,123,000 plants. Mr Bevan planted 

 96,000 trees. 



Shrinkage of Grain. — Wheat, gathered rii)e, 

 lost in fortynine days, nearly one tenth of its 

 weight ; barley, in forty days, lost one seventh of 

 its weight. This was in Septendier. In October 

 wheat lost, in twentyfour days, 2 lbs, 1 oz. 1.5 dr. 

 per bushel of 70 lbs. In January wheat lost, in 

 thirtyone days, at therate of 2lbs. 15 dr. per bush- 

 el. — Georg. Ess. vol. % p. 117. Grain stacked 

 till April, sustained a loss of nearly 35 per cent. 

 — Farm. Magazine, XVIII. 26. Indian corn, 

 gathered dry and shelled in October, had lost in 

 the May following nearly seven jier cent in meas- 

 ure. 



Advantages of a light soil. — An open soil, if 

 not to light in its own nature, will always produce 

 plentiful crops. It readily receives the air, rains 

 and dews, [and lieat] mto its bosom, and at the 

 same time gives the roots of plants a free ])assage 

 in quest of food. This is the true reason why 

 land well tilled is so remarkably fruitful. — Georg. 

 Ess. 1, p. 22. — Cultivator. 



RuTA Baga. — A writer in the Maine Farmer, 

 states that, from liis experience and observation, 

 he is satisfied that ruta baga is good fodder for 

 horses, and that by a free use of them, horses are 

 not liable to founder, as they sometimes are from 

 eating grain, when warm. This, we believe, is a 

 new discovery, and one of much importance; our 

 farmers will profit hy it, as the culture of ru- 

 ta baga in tljis section, is increasing very fast. — 

 Bangor Far. 



(From the Allinny Cultivator.) 

 Improved plan for setting gate and fence posts. — Wa- 

 ter lime as a substitute for Paint, and for topping out 

 chimneys, and plastering walls of houses. 

 J. Bdel, Esq. 



Sir — Being desirous of giving publicity to 

 any facts that may be of use to the comtnunity, I 

 am induced to communicate the result of some 

 experiments made with the above mentioned ob- 

 jects in view. 



Something greatly desirable in setting gate 

 posts is, to have them fixed in the grotind with the 

 greatest solidity and firmness, and at the same 

 time have the part beneath the surface preserved 

 from decay. — This end maybe obtained in this 

 manner : The hole for receiving the post is dug of 

 a sufficient width to allow a space all around the 

 post of from eight to twelve inches, and of a depth 

 of from two to three feet. 'J'he post, which should 

 bo of hard and well seasoned wood, and of a size 

 that will not render it liable to bending, is placed 

 in the hole, and supported in an upright position 

 and the hole filled u|i with cobble stones, the larg- 

 est of which would pass through a ring of five 

 inches in diameter. A thin mortar, or grout, is 

 then formed of two parts sand and one part water- 

 lime, and being of a consistency to run freely, is 

 (>oured 6n to the stones and entirely fills up the 

 interstices between the stones, and in a few days 

 firmly fixes the stones to each other and to the 

 post, and the whole becoiries as one solid piece of 

 stone of the required shape to surround the post, 

 without leaving space for the admission of water. 

 This operation is the same with that in making 

 cisterns of a certain kind recently invented and 

 patented by a citizen of this state. 



It will be observed that this manner of setting 

 posts for farm gates dispenses with resorting to 

 anchors and braces to give the required firmness. 

 For setting fence posts this plan will perhaps be 

 advisable only when of the best seasoned cedar, 

 some of which, of the red species, are known to 

 the undersigned to exist in a sound state at this 

 time, that were taken from the stump in the year 

 1745. 



As a cheap and valuable substitute for paint for 

 outhouses, the same article mentioned above, has 

 been used to a considerable extent in this vicinity, 

 and with the most decided success. The ingre- 

 dients are the most simple and easily procured, 

 though one is of a nature that would not at first 

 be considered as suitable for uses of this kind. To 

 give greater adhesiveness to the cement, or water- 

 lime, when it is to dry in the open air, milk that 

 has had the greater part of the cream taken from 

 it has been used. This and the cement are tised 

 instead of oil and white lead, or other paint. When 

 a different color from the nattnal, (a dusky white) 

 is desired, a small proportion of common paint is 

 added to give the color. One ])eck of cement, 

 which costs one shilling, and five jjoiinds Spanish 

 brown, costing about four times that amount, will 

 form a paint, and of a very good color for an or- 

 dinary sized barn. This is for one coat, ami for 

 two about twice the quantities will be necessary. 

 It forms a durable paint and effectually jireserves 

 the boards from decay. Cement in this vicinity 

 of Albany costs about two dollars ])cr barrel. The 

 nearest manufactory is that of Messrs J. Van Eps 

 & Co., Amsterdam, whose cement is of the 

 lightest color, and therefore, best fitted for paint. 



Chimneys when laid up wholly with quick lime, 

 are subject to having the top bricks become loose 



