SF'^Hj^^STD Ii«^IEIEIims, 



A i^ O G A U D E N E R' S JOURNAL. 



l-UBLISriEI) BY JOSEPH BRKCK & CO., NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (Ac^cultura l Wabkhouse.)-T. G. FESS ENDEN^EDITOR^ 



V vJl,. XV. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 8, 1837- 



NO. 31. 



il<SB2SWILirW2a^l£>3 



(For the New Kngland Farmer,) 

 NEWr KIND OP INDIAN CORN. 



Nkwburv, JAN. 30, 1837. 

 iMn l''i.ssK.N-nKN — Dear Sir: — I send you a 

 few ears (if Com, as a .sample of a kind which I 

 have raised for the two la:*! years. It was Ijroii^'lit 

 to this town from Rochester, N. 11. some four or 

 five years since, hy a Mr Clark, and is known 

 with IIS by the name of the Clark corn. It has 

 in )roved much since first introduced aiiionjcst us; 

 it is principally ten and twelve rowed ; at least 

 three weeks earlier than the common kind, and 

 wi' produce 3-4ths as much, planted in the coni- 

 in ,1 way ; but if planted as it should be, not e.\- 

 ceeding three feet apart each way, inakiug about 

 4000 hills to the acre, the yield will be about ecjiial 

 to any kind we plant. It will weigh at least si.x- 

 tv pounds to the bu.'^hel, and will measure more 

 from the ear wlien shelled than any kind I ever 

 saw. One bushel o( selected ears produced 1-2 

 bushel and 3 1-2 quarts; one bushel not selected 

 1-2 bushel and 2 (juarts, making an average, at 

 least of one bushel .-md 4 quart.s, from two of ears. 

 In 183.5, I planted 1-2 an acre at the common dis- 

 tance, s;iy 3 1-2 feet, land a gravelly loam, which 

 produced more than forty bushels to the acre. In 

 1S36, the same piece was planted about three feet 

 distant, say 2000 hills, more than 200 of which 

 were destroyed by worms and dry weather, still 

 I harvested about 35 bushels of ears of sound ripe 

 corn. Several ot'iers planted the same kind the 

 past year, and obtained a good cro|). We think 

 it the best kind which has ever been introduced 

 into this part of the country. A few bushels se- 

 lected expressly for seed, can be had, if appiieil 

 for, at the office of the New England Farmer, No. 

 52, North Market Street, Boston. 

 Yours, Respectfullv, 



DANIEL ADAMS, 3d, 



[For the New Ent;lan(l Farmer.] 

 HEAPED MEASURES, &«•. 



West RciBunv, Jan. ^3, 1837, 

 'Sin. FiuSSK.NDE.N — Dkau Sia : — Can yon in- 

 form me the number of cubic inches that make a 

 bushel in measure, of potatoes and apples ? I 

 cannot learn that there is any standard foe such 

 measure. I called on Mr Stephens, Sealer of 

 weights and measures in Boston. He told me that 

 172S inches made a bushel ofstrick measure, and 

 that was the nidy bushel he was acquainted W'ith. 

 I have received apples the last season from differ- 

 ent owners to make cider — say three or four ow. 

 ners, in one cheese, and there has been no uni- 

 formity in their measuri!. 1 have some boxes and 

 bins to receive apples, which 1 wish to take the 

 measurement of, but do not know the number of 

 inches to give the bushel. I have a wagon with 

 side boards, which I sent into Boston the lust sea- 

 son, with potatoes, level full — the purchaser 

 .measured them with his baskets and made sixty 



seven bushels. Mhe same wagon returned with 

 eastern potatoes, level full, measured with their 

 baskets on board the vessel, and I paid for eighty 

 bushels; — difference of measr.re, thirteen bush- 

 els. If you go into the market to purchase pota- 

 toes, apples, turnips, or anything measured in this 

 way, one man will give you more, another less. 

 This kind of measure ought to be unitorm, as well 

 as that of grain, as one man must lose, and anoth- 

 er gain. A neighbor of mine, who pretends to 

 understand this rounding measure, measured eight 

 half bushels of apjiles, and we turned them into a 

 square box. This measure was 2583 inches to 

 the bushel. 



It wouki be well for the Legislature to say how 

 many pounds, or liow many cubic inches shall 

 make a bushel of all those articles which come 

 under this kind of measure. And I would sug- 

 gest that the metisurenient would be the less la- 

 bor, as a bushel wmild be about the right ipinnti- 

 ty for a man to handle — and having once been 

 measni-ed in baskets level full, of uniform dimen- 

 sions, the quantity is determined, and the weigh- 

 ing unnecessary. 



Respectfully, yours, &c. 



■ WILLIAM KEITH. 



Bv THE Editou. — .\ unitorm standan! in meas- 

 ures of capacity for app'es, potatoes, &c., a[(pears 

 to be much wanted. Heaped or rounding meas- 

 ure, is mere guess-work, and reminds one of the 

 sum set by Jonathan to the school master: — If 

 40 chestniit rails make a load, how many pine rails 

 will it take to make a dnrnal great pile ? 



The bushel f-r stricken measrue, or the stand- 

 ard measure for grain, pulse, &c , as settled l>y 

 decision;!, and, if we mistake not by statutes, hi 

 some, if not the greatest nuiidier of the Slates in 

 the Union, is called the Winchester bushel, which, 

 according to cnactmeuts of Parliament, is IS 1-2 

 inches in diameter and 8 inches deep ; and con- 

 tains 2143 cub,^ inches. But we do not learn 

 that any attempt has been made, to fix anything 

 like a standard bushel for heaped or rounding 

 measure. The subject is impiu-tant, ancj we sbould 

 be happy to receivi; further commuflications from 

 such friends and corresfiondents as have taste and 

 capacity for investigations of this kind. 



ELM TKEKS. 



The good people of this village have tione much 

 towards ornameining the streets for the last twen- 

 ty years, by planting the Ehu, ami other ornamen- 

 tal trees, but sad to relate, there has been a gross 

 and contiiuied tnistake attending these praisewor- 

 thy attftnpisto beautify our beloved village. The 

 mistake has been simply and oidy in cutting off 

 the tops of the trees, and leaving hardly a branch 

 or twig upon tlieni. 'I'his prai tice, although so 

 long continued, and attendeil with the like fatal 

 results to the trees, has not as yet dispelled the 

 mistaken theory of the mode of planting them. 



The great mass of the people have an idea that 

 the roots of all trees contain the sap, or nouris 



ins fluid, and that the body and branches are sup- 

 plied with sap only in the warm months of the 

 year, and in the autumn the sap returns to the 

 roots, from whence it came, there to remain dur- 

 ing the cold months, like toads and lizards, out of 

 the way of frost. As strange as this may sound 

 it is the exact representation of the theory of half 

 of our elm-planters. They say, " you must cut 

 oft' as much of the top.s, as you have saved of the 

 roots in taking it up, or you will be sure to lose 

 your tree, for there will be a deficiency of sap to 

 nourish it," .\ moment's reflection would do 

 away such flimsey theory, although half the com- 

 munity approve it. During the winter months 

 tlie sap remains dormant or inactive, though dis- 

 tributed equally to the body, limb and root, and 

 requires the he.at of spring to set the sap in mo- 

 tion. 



There is but one reason that can be given in 

 support of topping Elm trees, ami that is, the 

 winds will have less effevX upon a straight pole 

 than it would upon the full top of a tree. One 

 year's staking will preclmie the necessity of top- 

 ping, and tlien the stake may be removed. 

 " Firmer he roots l»im the ruder it hlow," 

 What should we say of a nursery-man who sent 

 us Fruit trees, trimmed and topped in the form of 

 a bean-uole, as we have seen the loails of Elm- 

 trees that have been brought to the gieen for the 

 last twenty years ? We should call him a knave 

 or a fool. 'l"he leading shoot or top should never 

 be cut or shortened in any tree whatever. Some 

 of the bead may be thinned out where there ap- 

 pears to be too much, but this should be done with 

 ■'reat caution. 1 here give a transcript from an 

 old English work, called the "Complete body of 

 Husbandry," which further treats of the absurdity 

 of iop|iing trees. 



" As the Elm ,so ill bears cutting off its upright 

 branches it does but badly take the toiijiitig Iht a 

 poll u-«l. ' lis one of the worst trees for this u.se, 

 but some will cut it in that manner. In this case 

 many die in the separation, and the rest, though 

 Uiey seem to bear it at first,, commonly grow liol- 

 low .i„/iM after, and decay entirely." 



Now. here is authority from our father-land, 

 showing that there, tooy had practice had crept 

 into the mode of planting trees, although it is 

 adopted to such an extent; — and the caution 

 ought to have a sidutary efl'ect on our limited 

 mi^ans of knowledge in planting trees. 



if any one doubt the truth of any of the forc- 

 goinir statements, let bim just give his name, and 

 I will appear, in propria persona, Uy convince him, 

 by showing bim a host of Elm-trees, planted un- 

 der the toppii.r system and then i;gain others plant- 

 ed with all their heads duly aliacbed, when 1 

 think he will no longer doubt on a subject that 

 can be made so plain. Mkdiccs. 



— Old Colony Reporkr.]' ' 



The man who yields, even a slight a.-^sent when 

 his friend is caUKimiated, must be regardl-d as 

 ,! wholly unworthy of ; onlidence and esteem. 



