VOi.. \i. XO. 38. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



299 



Early Fotatoks. — Mr B'.ilor: — It is railier 

 late 1 know to talk about raising potaloes, but I 

 have but little to say, and tl ink it woi-tli repeat- 

 ing early next f^jirin;;. About tlie first of S 'i teni- 

 bt-r last, ! (lined attjie bouse of lion. W. K. Low- 

 ney of Sebee, anj conUl not help observing Ibat 

 tlie potatoes were very fine ami fully ri])". lie 

 told ine that tbese potatoes were not planted ear- 

 lier tban bispriueipal rrop, wliicb probably would 

 not be fully ripe under tsvo or ibree weeks. Tbe 

 difference was in bis mode of prepariu/^ thein to 

 plant, wbieli is as fo lows : — Tbree or four weeks 

 before he is ready to put tbem into ilie ground, 

 lie select* as many as ho wants to plant for early 

 use, of s'jch as are of middling size, and puts tliein 

 into a large, box, and rovers them from 12 to 18 

 inelies deep with unfermented liorse manuie ; — 

 when ready to plant, he takjs tlietn out carefully 

 and puts tbem into the ground without breaking 

 tbe sprouts. He told me that potatoes will grow 

 from whole ones a week sooner than though they 

 were cut. '■'• S- 



Mechanic S,- Far.] 



Brow.n Brkad. — A writiM- in the Greenfield 

 Mercury recommends the use of rye meal with- 

 out sifting or separating tbe bran, for brown bread. 

 He says the bread will be very dark — almost 

 black — but, if mixed with the due proportion of 

 Indian meal, ami properly made, exceedingly 

 sweet and palatable. We have no doubt that such 

 bread would be found not only more palatalfle, 

 but more economical and more wholesome than 

 when the rye is bolted or sifu-d. I'liere are some 

 jioitions of New England, where tbe good house- 

 wives always make it in that way, and better bread 

 is no where made or eaten. 



imwiis of silk fabrics from power loo:i .s at work 

 in Massachusetts, have been e.vbibited to me, which 

 warrant sanguine expectations of entire success in 

 establishing the manufacture. 



Blight iiV Pear Trees. — The horticultural so- 

 ciety of Pennsylvania, reofived a rcmmmnication 

 nn the above subjei't, from the pen of jMr Samuel 

 Reeve, of Palom, N. J., the extensive cultivator 

 of fruit tribes at that place, the substance of which 

 is, to suffer tbe ground to remain in a cool and 

 even temperature of moisture, through the sutn- 

 mer, liy keeping tbe ground covered with hay, 

 stones, bricks, &c., some distance further out 

 than the routs coulimie to extend. — U. S.-Gaz. 



Grai.j. — I be Cleveland Gazitte, in s; caking 

 of the quantity of grain raised annually in ibe 

 Unitcd States, says that in 1831, the quantity con- 

 sumed in the cities and their neighborhoods may 

 have' been estimated at 7,338,800 bushels, and 

 that, sufiposing the population to be thirteen mil- 

 lions of .soul.s, the crop may be calculated at 96,- 

 700,000. 



A Serviceable Dog. — We notice in the ac- 

 count of the shipwreck and total loss of the brig 

 Carrol, on the 8ih u!t., near Ci\\>e Lookout, that 

 tbe lives of the passetigers and crew were saved 

 by a dog. Tbe boat bad been launched, but im- 

 mediately staved and sunk. The writer says : — 

 " We endeavored to get a line ashore ail the morn- 

 ing, but could not succeed, though only 40 or 50 

 yards distance, so strong was the under tow. We 

 bad been exposed 14 hours to overwbelmingseas, 

 hail andrf-iioiv and almost chilled to death, when 

 we tos.sed overboanl our dog Pilow, with a line 

 round his neck, who reached the shore but with 

 the greatest difii.-ulty. We were then able to get 

 a small cable I'aslened to the shore and vessel, by 

 which means we succeeded in g,dning the shore 

 with jiart of our baggage. Had we remained on 

 boaril six or eight hours longer, we should inevi- 

 tably have perished with the cold." 



Extract from Gov. Everett's Messagf.. — 

 A law wa.s [lassed at the last session of the Legis- 

 lature, to encourage the manufacture of silk. The 

 bounty provided has beun paid to several appli- 

 cants. Facts which have been developed in the 

 course of the year, appear to strengthen the hope, 

 exjiressed at the commencement of the last ses- 

 sion, that this branch of industry is destined to 

 jirove of iaimense importance to the common- 

 wealth. The difficulties in reeling, which were 

 supposed to constitute the great obstacle to the 

 introduction of the manufacture, have been over- 

 come, and macliiuery for spinning and weaving 

 of admirable efliciency has been contrived. S|)ec- 



Present aspect of Babylon. — Though no an- 

 tiquary, as I have said, I determined in my mind, 

 th;it I was jjassiiig along the walls of Babylon. 

 M:my fragments of bricks were lying among tlic 

 sand, some markeil with the character I bail no- 

 ticed in Hillah. All was barren around; although 

 at some distance, where the water was shallowest, 

 1 could see tbe grass ]ieepiug above them. By the 

 wall I had found a dry road to the base of the huge, 

 shapeless mound on which the lower is placed ; its 

 circumference is estimated at a little more than 

 seven hundred yards ; a narrow way divided it 

 tiom a still larger and more irregular hea)), upon 

 the side o( which stood, facing the tower, a small 

 mosque. If the dervishes, to whom these memo- 

 rials are erected, lived on the spots where llu^ tombs 

 now stand which are to be seen ov(M' the remnants 

 of Babylon, they selected well for the abandon- 

 ment of the world ; more forlorn s)>ots could 

 scarcely bo found ; for even in the great desert 

 there is verilure and flower — here is utter misery. 

 On tbe height of tbe first moiinil stands a well 

 built tower, of something less than forty feet high. 

 Such an erection in modern days would excite ad- 

 miration for its vvorkmausbif) ; with what aslon- 

 ishment must it he viewed in the supposition that 

 its age exceeds four thousand years. Huge heaps 

 of bricks lie about, melted into solid masses, as if 

 by tbe action of tire ; and the whole mound on 

 which tin' pillar stands, is covered with the frag- 

 ineijis of the wi'll baked bricks ; aufl this is the 

 teiu|ile of Belus, it is said, or the tower of Babel. 

 At any rate, be it what it may, it stands on the 

 plains of Sliinar, where Babylon once stood, and 

 most coiiqiletely as my eye wandered over the scene 

 of riesolation, did 1 feel the truth of the fulfilment 

 of the judgments pronounced against her ; yes, 

 " Every one that goeth by Babylon shall be aston- 

 ished." — Maj. Skhmer's overland Journal. 



MEETIiVC OP THE AGRICUI.TrRAL. SOCIETY. 



The annual meeting of the Hampshire, Frank- 

 lin and Hampden Agricultural Society was holilen 

 on Wcflnesday March ]5ih, 18.'?7,at vvhiidi time the 

 Hon. Samuel Lathrop was unanimously elected 

 President lor the year ensuing. — Messrs. H. G. 

 Bowers, Win. Clark, Jr., (Miarles Stearns, E^-q., 

 Timothy Smith of Amherst, and T. P. Hunting- 

 ton of Hadlcy — Vies Presidents. I). Stebbinsaiid 

 J. H. Butler — Secretaries. S. L. Hinckley, Treas- 

 urer. 



Messrs. Roswell Hubbard, Aaron Ashley of W. 

 Springfield, and Oliver Warner ,of Hadley — Com- 

 mittee on Agriculture. 



Messrs. Nathaniel Eager of \Vorlliiui;ton, Lucius 

 Chipp ami G oige Cook — Com. on JlniinaU. 



Messr.s. Klijah Powers, .Joseph Ijathrop and Jo- 

 seph Clark — Com. on Mnnvfactures. 

 PREMIUM CROPS. 



The first premium on the greatest quantity of 

 waste and wet land reclaimed, was anarded to 

 Rev. Dan. Huntington of Hadley. 



Do. on the greatest quantity of Corn raised on a 

 whole Farm, to William Clark, Jr. of Northamp- 

 ton. 



Do. on the greatest quantity of Corn from nti 

 acre of old land, to Henry G. Bowers of North- 

 ampton. 



Ahhoiigh many other premiums were offered on 

 Crops, no claims were maile therefor. 



The land reclaimed by Mr. Huntington, a few 

 years since was a most unpromising tract of about 

 twelve acres, which was "deformed and worthless 

 — a swamp of hogs, brakes and bushes — the haunt 

 of snakes, liogs and mud turtles — is now a hand- 

 some hiwn, fit for pastille or tillage." A descrip- 

 tion of the iiianagement may hereafter be laid be- 

 fore the public. 



The Corn I.,and of Mr. Clark was cultivated iu 

 his usual method, loilhout ploughing amo7\g the 

 Corn, or making hills, — by the aid of ashes snd 

 plaster, and no other manure used. The manage- 

 ment of Mr. Bowers is fully described in the papera 

 devoted to agriculture, and is the only true way to 

 ascerlaln the profit or loss of any land, in the mer- 

 cantile way of debt and credit. His claim was pre- 

 sented in such a busine.ss-like form, that we pre- 

 sume it must be gratify iiig to all lovers of system. 

 He has by diligent enquiry and examination, oh- 

 t.iined the experience of several corn grov^ers, with 

 the view of ascertjiiwing the cost of raising corn 

 with us, and then contrasting the same with the 

 culuire and value of the same at the west; we 

 hope he will In due time, publish the result, be- 

 cause we feel confident it may excite our Farmers 

 to a more critical, systematic and profitable mode 

 of culture. And when our farmers shall avail 

 themselves of the very liberal houniies ottered by 

 this Commonwealth, for the encouragement of the 

 manufacture of Silk and Beet Sugar, we trust the 



comf>laint of bard times will seldom be heard. 



jYorlhampton Courier. 



Experiment with Dutton Corn. — We omit- 

 ted so much of the article, by Mr. Bowers, giving 

 the result of his exfierimeiit with Dutton Corn, 

 publisbe^l last week, that perhaps the mode of con- 

 ducting the experiment i-s not plain. The roller 

 was used on the ground, and the seed prepared by 

 rolling in liot tar. The heat of the tar did not in- 

 jure the seed • — it all came up. The corn was 

 planted in hills two feet and a half apart, and four 

 stalks in a hill. The corn was not topped, and waa 

 cut up about the ^Oih of Sept. 



This experiment of Mr Bowers is worth atten- 

 tion. He obtained, it will be recollected, }0'i l-'J 

 bushels on an acre, with little or no more labor and 

 expense, than is usually attending the cultivation of 

 an acre of corn, where but 40 bushels are harvest- 

 ed. — Hampshire Gazette. 



Potash from the Beet. — M. Dubnnfaut, a 

 French chemist, has discovered that the beet after 

 extracting the sugar and molasses, will yield good 

 potash, but whether from the residium of the mo- 

 lasses, after distillation, or from the pomice we do 

 not understand. The produce is about one ])Ound 

 liom a hundred pounds of the beet root. At this 

 rate of yield, the beet annually manufactured into 

 sugar in Fnmce would afford about 15,000,000 

 pounds potash, worth fi-oni eight to nine millions of 

 Irancs, or from one and a half to one and three 

 quarters millions of dollars. So say the prints. 



