318 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APRIL, 1-1, 18 (7. 



BOSTON, WEUNKSDAY, APRIL ]a, 1837. 



Marl. — It w<iuldbe well ifevery cultivator was aware 

 of the importanl fact, tli.it whoever finds marl, finds a 

 mini; of great Talue. It is one of the be5t and most 

 general manures in naturn ; proper for all soils and all 

 crops. Marl is usually found under miss or peat, ["n 

 low, sunken lands, and tspecially nigh the sr-a or large 

 rivers. It has been sometimes discovered by unt liills, 

 as those inseets bring up small pieces of shells from 

 their hoi s. It may be known by the application of a 

 mineral ucid, and even good vinegar will cause an effer- 

 vescence. 



" To find the composiiion of a marl, jiour a few oun- 

 ces of diluted muriatic acid into a Florence flask ; place 

 them in a scale and let them be balanced : then reduce 

 a few ounces of this dry marl to powder; and let this 

 powder be carefully weighed, and gradually thrown in- 

 to the flask, until after repeated additions, no farther 

 effervescence is perceived. Let the remainder of the 

 powdered marl be weighed, by which the quantity pro- 

 jected will be known. Let the balance tlien be restored. 

 The dillerence of weight between the quantity projec- 

 ted and that requisite lo restore the balance, will show 

 the weight iS air lust during the effeivescence. [That 

 air proceeds from calcareous earth alone, which con- 

 tains fortyfour per cent, of this carbonic acid air. Sup- 

 pose five hundred grains of marl lose fortyfour grains 

 by the escape of air, then that marl conlained one hun- 

 dred grains, or one fifth part of the whole weight of 

 limestone. — T. C. ] If the loss amount to twenty or 

 twentyfive per cent, of the quantity of marl projected, 

 the marl essayed is calcareous, or marl rich in calcarc. 

 ous earth. Clayey marls, or those in which the argilla- 

 cous ingredient prevails, lose only eight or ten per cent, 

 of their weight by this treatment, and sandy marls about 

 the same proportion. The presence of much argilla- 

 ceous earth may be judged by drying the marl, after 

 being washed with spirit of salt, when it will harden 

 and form a brick."— Domestic Encyclopedia, 



will never use the drugs again The drugs, if you take 

 them freely, leaves a burning at the pit of your stom- 

 ach, wliich the real mustard does nbt." 



Penmsvlvani* Horticui.ti.r.»l Society — We have 

 received a list, issued by the Horticultural Society es- 

 tablished in Philadelphia, offering premiums for culina- 

 ry vegetables, fruit and flowers, for 1837, to the amount 

 of about three hundred and fifty dollars. " The object of 

 the Society, in offering these piemiums, is simply to 

 escite a spirit of emulation among cultivators, to im- 

 prove the varieties of fruits and vegetables, and dissem- 

 inate a knowledge of ihe art of gardening." And with 

 such munificence and zeal on the part of the Society, 

 they cannot fail to realize that object. Great good will 

 be accomplished by these premiums. " The spirit of 

 emulation among cultivators," is a revolutionizing spir 

 it, and radical in its effects. It will make the garden of 

 Pennsylvania beautiful beyond comparison, and fills her 

 barren places with vernal beauty. 



" In quick succession 

 Various crops will crown the garden's fields." 



Such will be the fruits of a spirit of emulaiion. Ao-- 

 ricuUural and Horticultural pursuits, fostered by such 

 encouragement, and aided by knowledge and scientific 

 industry. Where is the Massachusetts Societv, with 

 her liberal list of premiums .' Let not Pennsylvania 

 outstrip her in this good work. 



In addition to the above, a premium of Five Hun- 

 dred Dollars is offered in the following terms: 



BLIGHT IN PEAR TREES. 

 The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, anxious to 

 promote the discovery of a preventive for the disease 

 usually termed blight in Pear Trees, offers a premium 

 of FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS, to be paid the per 

 son who shall discover and make public, an effectual 

 means of preventing its at'ack. The premium not to 

 be awarded until after the expiration of three years from 

 the publication of the preveniive, nor until llin Society 

 shall be fully satisfied of its efficacy. Communications 

 on the subject may be addressed" per mail to David 

 Landrkth, Cor. Sec. Philadelphia. 



the Roundabout weighed 12 1-2 pounds ; head 21 1-4 

 lbs.; bone of the head 3 1-4 lbs.; feet and legs 8 3-4 

 lbs. I have heretofore given my method of fatten- 

 ing. 



Said pig was weaned upon apples, and kept upon a 

 very small quantity of grass, with two quarts of raw po- 

 tatoes per day through the summer. I h.ive no doubt 

 that wo can make our hogs as large and as fat upon ap- 

 ples as any thing else, only it requires longer lime than 

 it would to fatten them upon corn. We cannot spare 

 the corn, especially during the present seas.in, ihere- 

 fure we use that which will. yield ihe greatest profit. [ 

 have been thus particular in the weight of the hog, in 

 order to ascertain the comparative weight of offal, and I 

 know of no other way to come at the facts, except by 

 weight and measure. I also wish that oiher farmers 

 would communicate the results of their cxjieriments in 

 the Farmer, that ilie public may know what is the most 

 economical method to pursue, for I think we are rather 

 deficient in actual experiments, ahhouglt we have plen- 

 ty of theories. PiuL WlKGATE. 



Hallowell, 3d month, 18th. 



N. B. Perhaps it would be well to just mention that 

 the pork was of uniform thickness, generally about 3 

 inches; in the very thickes: parts it was four inches.— 

 Maine Far. 



Working Oxen— We are told that laboring cattle 

 will perform their spring work wiili more vigor and less 

 apparent fatigue, if they are fed two or three times a 

 day with a few ears of Indian corn. Some, however, 

 prefer giving them small quantities of raw potatoes, 

 which are said to be more cooling than corn, and to an- 

 swer the purpose of physic as well as that of food. Per- 

 haps it may bo well lo change their diet occasionally, 

 from the roots to the grain ; and these, with regular 

 meals of good English hay, will, in ordinary cases, be 

 sure to keep them in good working order. 



Mostard Sbed. — The common mustard seed which 

 grows with very litlle cultivation, and is easily gather- 

 ed and cleaned by those farmers, who have floors lor 

 threshing wheat or fl.ix sued, — is worth money. Mr 



Cobbelt makes the following remarks on this article : 



" Why buy mustard, when you can grow it in your gar- 

 den ? The stuff you buy i,< half drugs, and injurious to 

 health. A yard square of ground, sown with common 

 mustard, the crop of whicli you would grind for use in 

 a little mustard mill as you wanted it, would save you 

 some money, and probably save your life. Your mus- 

 tard should look brown instead of yellow; and as to the 

 taste, the real mustard has certainly a much better than 

 that of the drugs and flour, which go under the name 

 of mustard. Let every one try it, and I am sure he 



Mistake Corrected. — The Dedliam Patriot of the 

 Gtli inst., contains a quotation from Fessenden's Silk 

 Manual, which is attributed to the Editor. But the 

 Editor's notice is a distinct article, immediately follow- 

 ing the " Publisher's Kotice," from which the Patriot 

 selected a specimen of our supposed address on biddin" 

 adieu to the Manual. The passage quoted, was writ- 

 ten by Mr Chari.es Bosson, a young gcnllcmen, who 

 is interested in the concerns of the. office of the N. E. 

 Farmer, and has on other occasions, proved an able 

 coadjutor to the Editor of the JV. E. Farmer. 



Boston PirjCERv.— About six miles from the city, in 

 West Cambridge, is the Boston Piggery. At least 

 700 hogs are here constantly kept in pork condition, 

 entirely on the offal t'rom the dwelling houses in Bos- 

 ton, every one of which is visited in tu-n by the citv 

 carts. The offal increases, and the conlraclor calculates 

 that it will be sufficient hereaaer to fatten 1000 hogs.— 

 He now receives four cartloads a day, and pays the city 

 $.3,500 a year, or about $2,75 a load. He receives $3 

 a day for what the hogs leave. The city Treasury lo- 

 ses $1000 a year by the operation, and it is said tha 

 man makes three times that sum. The pig pen is an 

 enclosure of fifteen acres, with places of shelter from 

 the storm. As the hogs attain their size, they are slaugh- 

 tered on the spot— the fal barrelled up, and the lean 

 sold in the city. According to the rule in the country, 

 the contractor should furnish each family in the city, 

 once a year with a spare-rib, fi.r the food furnished the 

 P'S,gery.— Springfield Repub. 



O" The Boston Courier says that tiie prices for all 

 descriptions of Flour, continue to decline rapidly. The 

 arrivals of southern have been large, and holders have 

 found it very diflicult to make sales of any magnitude, 

 as purchasers are looking for much lower prices, and 

 take only what they want for immediate use. 



Jj^Agricdlture. — Wc refer our readers to an excel- 

 lent article on this subject, commenced on page 31G of 

 this paper, and extracted from the American (Quarterly 

 Review, foi which Weeks, Jordan & Co., 121 Washing- 

 ton St.. are Agents. 



Apple Pork. — Friend Holmes: — I here give an ac 

 count of a small apple porker of 1836. He was fifteen 

 months old ; of the Newbury white and Bedford breed ; 

 weighed 312 lbs. The leaves weighed 22 1-2 pounds; 



Effec/of Carpets —A German traveller complains 

 of the universal custom of covering floors with carpets 

 in England. He thinks they occasion diseases of the 

 lungs. "Observe," says lie, " a beam of light which 

 falls into a carpeted room, and you see the whole at- 

 mosphere loaded with numberless minute hairs, which 

 retain all their own characteristics when inhaled, and 

 must therefore act as foreign bodies. The English, ea- 

 ger admirers of cleanliness though they be, constantly 

 breathe this air, rendered impure by these millions of 

 little shreds mechanically suspended in it ! It is almost 

 impossible that this should remain without injurious 

 consequences, more particularly where there exists a 

 morbid tendency in the air passages." 



Mass. Legislatdre, — The resolve for an Agricul- 

 tural Survey of the Commonwealth, was taken up in 

 the orders ef the day : the amendment submitted by 



Mr Turner was rejected— yeas six, nays twentylhree. 



The resolve was then read again, and on motion of Mr 

 Fairbanks, the question on its passage was taken by 



yeas and nays, and determined in the affirmative yeas 



26, nays 3. So said resolve passed lo be engrossed in 

 concurrence. 



