AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



^ 



FUHLISHCn BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Acimcultukal Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



vol.. XV. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 8, 1837. 



NO. 35. 



fFor Ilie New England Farmer.) 

 BUTTERNUT SUGAR, 



Mr Editor : — Wljile the attention of many of 

 our Northern fariiieis seems to be turned to the 

 cultivation of the sifcf/s of life, and while they are 

 making e.Nperinieuts with the Frenc'.i Sugar Beet, 

 Apple Molasses, Potato Sugar, Potato Molas.ses, 

 Sugar from Wheat .starch, &c. &c., it may |ier- 

 haps be useful to commuMirate to the lovers of 

 domestic sweets, a piece of intelligence with which 

 I have some reason to think the public in general 

 are unacquainted. 



It is said by one of the authors of " the Dis- 

 pensatory of the United States of America," print- 

 ed in Pl.'iladelphia, in 1834, that tl.e Butternut 

 tree, sometimes called White Walnut, oil nut, &c., 

 (the juglans cinerea of Eaton and others, and the 

 juglanscathartica of Michaux) if ptmctured just 

 before the unfolding of the leaves, furnishes a 

 richly saccharine juice, from which sugar may be 

 obtained, nearly, or rpiite as good, as that obtained 

 from the sugar maple. 



I have myself made no experiment wi.h the 

 sap of the Butternut tree, but several intelligent 

 farmers with whom I have conversed, assure me 

 that in the spring of the year, the tree is abund- 

 antly juicy ; but they were not aware of the sac- 

 charine nature of the juice or sap of the Butternut 

 tree. 



In conversation today wiih an intelligent gen- 

 tleman from New Hampshire, he told me that a 

 Clergyman of his aciiuaintance, and of undotdited 

 veracity, related an experiment by which be ob- 

 tained in one season, from one butternut tree, 23 

 pounds of sugar, which was much whiter than that 

 obtained from maple. But my informant added, 

 that the tree was a large one, and that it was tap- 

 ped in so many places, that the tree was killed by 

 the severity of the operation. The death of the 

 maple tree, he said, was also sometimes produced 

 by too severe tapping. The injury to the tree be 

 says may be avoided by ta|)ping with an auger in- 

 stead of an axe ; by tapping in but few places in 

 one season, and by fitting a plug of green wood 

 into the auger hole and driving it in tight, as soon 

 as the sap has done flowing. If this course is ta- 

 ken with the tree, be says the bark grows imme- 

 diately over the wound and closes it up, and no 

 part of the tree dies in consequence of the tap- 

 ping. 



Mr Editor, though in general I am not fond of 

 publishing mere hearsay stories, in matters of 

 science, till I have seen them proved by actual 

 experiments, and have foujul then) to be true, yet 

 in this case I think the testimony of the very re- 

 spectable authors of the " Dispensatory of tlie U. 

 S. of America," with the addition of the collateral 

 testimony before mentioned, makes an amount of 

 evidence which is worthy of some altenlion. And 

 as the dispensatory before mentioned is not in the 

 hands of the public generally, nor even in the 



hands of all of the faculty, and as in so large a 

 work an isolated fact, more important to the far- 

 mer, than to the physician, is liable to be over- 

 looked or neglected ; and as the time for tapping 

 the trees and making sugar from them, (if made 

 it can be) is near at hand, I have concluded to 

 send you these hasty lines at the presetit time, that 

 you may print and circulate the information they 

 contain, early enough to benefit the sugar ma- 

 kers in the sugar makitig season of the present 

 year. 



The Butternut, or white Waliuit, is a kind of 

 tree which is of very rapid growth, and may prob- 

 ably be cultivated to any extent which is desired ; 

 the fruit is agreeable to many, and is a good rem- 

 edy for the whooping cough, if eaten freely. Tiie 

 extract of the bark of the root is a useful cathar- 

 tic, and the wood is valued for its beauty, its du- 

 rability and its exemption from injury by insects. 



I have frequently seen a kind of white sugar, 

 where the sap had dried into the stump, on the 

 enj of a log of hickory wood ; but whether any 

 variety of hickory would at the proper season, af- 

 ford sap enough to be worth attention, I cannot 

 tell at present. 



If any of your correspondents who happen to 

 see this communication, are in possession of facts 

 on this interesting subject, and should be disposed 

 to send them to you for |iublication, I should feel 

 equally indebted to them for letting us know the 

 truth ; whether the truth confirmed or contradic- 

 ted the statements which I have seen, and which 

 I have already related to you. For though I 

 should be glad to be instrumental in making the 

 public more extensively acquainted with an im- 

 portant siveet, the knowledge of which may be 

 useful to ourcotmnon country, yet if this couunu- 

 nication shouhl only draw forth the publication 

 of facts, by means of which the truth iu relation 

 to this subject may be ascertained and j)ublic!y 

 circulated, my object in writing will he accom- 

 plished. Respectfully yours. 



Asa M. Holt. 



East Haddam, Conn. Feb. 19, 1837. 



(Fertile New England Farmer.) 

 Mr Editor: — We occasionally see or hear 

 something about the value of peat. Will some of 

 your intelligent correspondents be kinil enough to 

 tell us how the best kind of peat may be distin- 

 guished in the " fields or meadows and marshes 

 around us ?" And also inform us what is the best 

 method of curing it to make it useful for fuel. 

 Yours, &c. 



An Enquirer. 



[For tile New England Farmer.) 

 Mr Editor : — &ir, I have taken some pains to 

 cultivate Grapes, but the rose bugs have generally 

 cut off my crop. Will you, Mr Editor, or will 

 some of your kind correspondents be kind enough 

 to tell me of some metiiod by which I can pre- 

 vent the depredations of these voracious intruders. 



A LOVER or GOOD UR.APKS. 



(Fur the Ne\\' England Farmer.) 



Mr Fessenden ; — Your correspondent, Mr 

 Keith, has the thanks of at least one, for introduc- 

 ing the subject of heaped measures. I have been 

 almost at the point for son?e time past, of making 

 the same inquiry through the N. E. Fai-mer. It 

 seems to be equally the interest of buyer and sel- 

 ler, that there should be a definite measure of the 

 kind, ahd I hope the subject will not suffer a long 

 rest, until something is done. As there are so 

 many kinds of vegetables and fruits that come un- 

 der this kind of measure, it would seem absolute- 

 ly necessary that a measure should be established. 

 But as potatoes are so extensively used, an estab- 

 lished weight likewise for them in many cases 

 might be moreconvenient. I have felt the incon- 

 venience of the present way of measuring, as al- 

 most every odc else must have felt it, and i write 

 not with the view of enlightening any one's mind 

 in the case, but simply that the subject may not 

 be' drop[Ked here ; and I shall close with an ear- 

 neat expression of a wish that some one, whose 

 place it may bo, would feel sufficiently interested 

 to introduce it before the Legislature at its pres- 

 ent session. Yours, &c. C. N. 



West Bot/tston, Feb. 13, 1837. 



[For the New England Farmer.] 

 Ekozen Potatoes. — Sir: — Are potatoes that 

 have been frozen, if boiled soon after having thaw, 

 ed, better or worse for hogs or catlJe. I never 

 should have thought of asking the question, but 

 for two or three weeks have been feeding a cou- 

 ple of shoats on froziui ones, and if it can be pos- 

 sible, 1 should say they do better than tUey did on 

 the same quantity before they froze. 



(For the New England Farmer.) 



Tanning Ski.vs with the Fur on. — Will you 

 or some of your correspondents, who possess the 

 information, give a method through your journal, 

 of tanning skins with the fur on, to make them 

 soft and nice as rabbit and cat skins. 



(Kurlhe New England Farmer ) 



LiCE on Cattle. — Mr Editor : I should like 

 to be inlormed, through the medium of your [)a- 

 per, of the way most effectually to destroy Lice on 

 young cattle; and which will be, at the sametiine, 

 least injurious to the cattle themselves. 



A Subscriber. 



Bt the Editor. — A writer for the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, whose comnmnicatiu!) was publish- 

 ed in vol. i. p. 307, gives the following method tor 

 destioying the above mentioned insects: 



" 1 have found that a strong ilecoclion of tobac- 

 co, washed over a beast infected with virmin will 

 generally drive them away ; it sometimes makes 

 the beast very sick a short time. 



But a better Wiiy is to mix plenty of strong 

 scotch snuff in train oil, and rub the back and 

 neck of the creature with it, which will e lectually 

 kill or drive away all vermiu from a quadruped. 



