134 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



KOVEMBER 3, ISafi. 



BOSTON. WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOV. a, 183G. 



FAUaiERS' WORK. 



LEiVES FOE Manure. — Few farmers are apprised of 

 the value of leaves, and the soil, which is formed by 

 their decomposition for manure, and litter for cattle. — 

 A correspondent of the Bath Agricultural Society, in 

 Eno-land, warmly recommends a species of manure, 

 especially for potatoes, which is very easily procured by 

 many of our cultivators, and we think, deserves more 

 attonlion and more frequent use than it has generally 

 rcceiv^'d. It is llie employment of fallen leaves, and 

 the mould which is formed by their decay, taken from 

 wocdlands. Tliis, the writer observes, he has found an 

 excellent substitute for other manure; and that the po- 

 tatoes raised from the application of rotten leaves were 

 more dry, mealy, and of a better flavor than those which 

 had been manured by other substances. 



In the New-England Farmer, vol. vi. p. 102 is a valu 

 able communication on this subject from a very respec- 

 table practical farmer, wlio dated Weston, Mass. with 

 the signature J. M. G. He stated in substance, that the 

 comfort of cattle would be insured by a supply ol leaves 

 for litter. That fallen leaves make a warm nest for hogs, 

 which will much assist in their fattening. The galher- 

 ing of leaves, where woodland is near, is much attended 

 to in the best cultivated parts of Europe. The Swiss, 

 who have to support a thick population on a rough and 

 rocky soil, gather leaves, wherever they are to be found, 

 in their apple orchards; by the road side ; and in their 

 small cities the privilege of raking up the leaves from 

 the side walks is paid for by the farmers. In Flanders 

 they gather great stocks of them, and their beautiful 

 cattle and horses have the benefit of most abundant lit- 

 ter. * * * 



" The gathering of leaves may be greatly accelerated 

 my suitable management: a cart with ladders fore and 

 aft and long slats of boards to go from ladder to ladder, 

 to secure the heaps, a sheet of tow cloth two yards 

 - square should then be laid on the ground, and the small 

 heaps be raked into it ; when full a man ties the corners 

 of the sheet, and hands it to a boy who keeps on the 

 cart and receives it; he unties the bundle and lets the 

 contents go, and keeps treading all the while ; in this way 

 a load is soon obtained ; and to the above tackling some 

 little brush may be added to the sides of the load to 

 build it up, and hold on the leaves. I have tried to use 

 baskets to load the leaves, but have found the above 

 sheet to work easier and quicker, and in order to make 

 it more durable, I have had a small rope sowed round 

 the edge of it, and let out about eighteen inches at the 

 corners, which makes it easier to tie, and secures the 

 sheet from getting torn. Such a sheet will cost about 

 one dollar. 



" In the use of leaves the hogs excel, for whether as a 

 litter in the covered part of their stye, or whether thrown 

 in moderate quantities in their yaid, when miry, they 

 soon work them and secure them from the power ol the 

 wind ; when used for littering cattle it is absolutely 

 needful to work them with the dung. When the floor 

 is cleansed in the morning the dung, urine and leaves 

 should be well worked and chopped together with the 

 shovel before they are thrown out upon the heap; if it 

 is not so done the wind will surely take hold, and disap- 

 pointment and diaaiisl ensue ; when so mixed, they will 

 soon dissolve in the ground, and seldom any trace of 

 them can be seen in the fall when potatoes are dug." 



The same ingenious and scientific cultivator observes 

 as follows : 



" I have fixed my styes in such a manner as to have 

 a small loft over them for leaves, with openings at the 

 sides to draw out the leaves with a rake and supply the 

 hogs occasionally with fresh Ultcr I have also enclosed 

 part of a shed in the barn yard to store up a quantity of 

 leaves to litter my cattle through the winter. The ad- 

 vantage is not confined to the mere addition of the 

 leaves to the dung hill ; it furnishes the means of pre- 

 venting the waste of the urine of the cattle, and renders 

 them more comfortable. 



A writer for the New England Farmer, vol. xi. p 329, 

 is of opinion that leaves for manure should not be used 

 too profusely. He thinks they should be used together 

 with straw and refuse hay in the proportion of about one 

 to four. And it may be the case that the tannin princi- 

 ple, and vegetable acids in leaves, when employed in 

 too great quantities may prove injurious in some soils 

 and for some crops. Further experiments on the sub- 

 ject are desirable. Perhaps a little quick lime scattered 

 over the leaves at the time of their mixture with dung, 

 or other manure, would neutralize and destroy such acids 

 as might otherwise prove injurious. 



Sterling, Oct. 22, 18 IG. 



Mr. T, G. Fessenden, — Sir, having noticed in the 

 New England Farmer of toI. xv. No. ii. p. 85, a de- 

 scription of seme corn raised by Mr E J. Pierce, on his 

 farm near Germantown, the present season, which I 

 should like to obtain for seed for another year, or some 

 similar, be pleased to give me the information, the name 

 of the town and likewise the name of the person in 

 New Hampshire where this seed was obtained last 

 spring by Mr Pierce and you will confer a favor on your 

 hnmble servant. MOSES SAWYER. 



We would be greatly obliged to any gentleman who 

 would give us the information requested above, and will 

 publish it, if obtained, in the N. E. Farmer. — Ed. 



Makl. — Professor Hitchcock of Amherst College, 

 has discovered extensive beds of Marl in Springfield, 

 West Springfield, and South Hadley, Mass. He says, 

 *' 1 have examined banks of this substance, which may 

 properly be called diluvial inarl, in West Springfield, for 

 a mile or two along the north side of Agawain river, 

 whero millions of rart loads of it may be obtained ; and 

 this is directly on the proposed route of the Rail Road 

 from Springfield to Albany. It occurs also, half a mile 

 south of the village of West Springfield, a little south- 

 east of the bridge, on the road to Sutfield ; and I have 

 no doubt but it underl.es most of the plain, extending at 

 least as far as Hartford. 



On the east side of Connecticut river, this marl ap- 

 pears in several places, along Chicopee river, near Ca 

 botviUe and Chicopee factories ; especially at the quar- 

 ries of stone, where it has been cut through by the ex- 

 cavations, in the north part of Springfield, on the 

 bank of Connecticut river, (Uily half a mile from South 

 Hadley Canal, the marl forms a high bank for a consid- 

 erable distance , and I saw it also a short distance south 

 of the centre of South Hadley. Indeed 1 can have no 

 doubt that it may be found, more or less abundantly, 

 beneath the sand and clay, all the distance from South 

 Hadley to Springfield. — Connecticut Courant. 



Terrible Accident. — On the 25th ult. a steamboat 

 called the Royal Tar, took fire in Penobscot Bay, and was 

 entirely consumed, by which calamity from 2Q to 32 lives 

 were lost; a great amount of property, specie, notes, 4c. 

 estimated in in all at about $120,000. Many animals 

 belonging to Macomber and Welch, were either burnt 

 or drowned. 



MASSACHUSETTS HORTICUI-TURAI. SOCIETY 



S?aturday, Oct. 29, 1836. 



EXHIBITION OF FROITS. 



Pears — By the Hon. John Lowell — Calebasse D'. 

 Hollande, the form that ofa Calabash or gourd— a melt- 

 in" swe4>t fruit, but too ripe to judge precisely of its mer- 

 its; Beurre Crapaud, a fruit of middle size and fine ; a 

 fruit supposed to be the Elton received of Mr Knight, 

 of medium size, nearly rounif, of a green color, melting 

 with an agreeable astringency ; Sylvanche Verte, unripe; 

 also the following kinds, all of which were received di- 

 rectfromthe Chevalier Parmenticr of Enghein ; Bezi 

 Vaet, Delices D'Hardenpont and Beurre Bronze, which 

 are to be reported at a f iture day. (See the Letter of 

 Mr Lowell below.) 



By Mr Manning — Green Pair of Yair, a good and 

 celebrated Scotch fruit; Belle et Bonne, spi'cimens rnelt- 

 mg rnd sweet but overripe ; Beurre Von Marum, a new 

 and oblong fruit of a yellow color, melting, of superior 

 flavor, evidently an uncommon fruit. 



By Mr Vose, President of the Society — Fine Urban- 

 iste, also another fruit without name. 



By the Messis Downing of Newburg, New York— Fine 

 specimens of St Mxhaefs ; also Bezi de La Motte, large 

 and good, St Germain, Sylvange, Gilogil, large and hand- 

 some, nnd most esteemed as a baking fruit; also Mabil- 

 le, large and handsome — hut not sufliciently mature for 

 trial. The MabiUe has been put down by some as a 

 Synonyme of the Napoleon, but the form and color of 

 this is different; also the Beurre Giisor Brown Beurre, 

 very fine. 



Apples By Dr. E. Wight, ofDedham. Thin Skin 



a fruit so named from the thinness of its skin — This 

 fruit is described as a very abundant hcurcT, and ripe from 

 October to December, a fruit over meiJium size or rather 

 larie, ofa while color, round but diminishiug a little at 

 the summit, Calville formed or ribbed at its sides, juicy, 

 tender and fine and flavored with a good share of acid. 



By Messrs Downing— Jonathan Apple, very beautiful 

 but not yet mature — this is celebrated whereeifer known 

 as a fruit of the very first quality ; also the Domiuie, a 

 large fruit, roundish and flattened, the stalk very short 

 in a deep depression, the eye sunk deep in a regular 

 cavity, nearly the whole fruit covered with stripes of red 

 flesh ye'lowish white, breaking, saccharine, relieved, by 

 a just and due portion of acid, a celebrated and excel- 

 lent winter fruit. 



By Gorham Parsons, Esq.— Bell flower, very fine ; al- 

 so the Fameuse or De Neige, beautiful red without and 

 snow while within, a fine fruit. 



Plums.— Imperative Violette, a fine fruit, heretofore 

 called in the vicinity of Boston and Salem as the Serai- 

 ana For the Committee. 



WILLI.\.M KENRICK, Chairman. 



To the Committee on Fruits — 



I send some specimens of new fruits, but no fair opin- 

 ion can be formed of them this season as my ground has 

 been as dry as ashes at the depth of two feel, as I found 

 by trenching. The Capiaumont, Urbaniste and Seckle 

 are hard and dry and mealy even, 



1. Calebasse D'Hollande, its form shews it genuine, 

 but it is dry and hard. 2. Beurre Crapaud, some have 

 been fine. 3. Supposed Mr Knight's Elton. 4. Bezi Vaet, 

 unri|e. 5. Delices D'Hardenpont, do. 6. Beurre Bronze, 

 do. 7. Sylvange Verte, do 



Very respectfully yours, 



J. LOWELL. 



Roxhury, Oct. 29, 1830. 



1 recommend the Beurre Knox as the best baking and 

 slewing pear I know, it is a great and constant bearer 

 and of noble size, juicy and sweet. It is not uniformly 

 good for table, sometimes excellent. 



