5MPI3^ 



AND GAR DENE R'S JOURNAL. 



rtlBLISnCI) BY JOSEPH BllECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (AcRici'i.TURiL Wafeiioose.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



A'OI.. XV. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 10, 1837. 



Nf>. 44. 



^02^Jg^WlE,12'W!SsAI&a 



(Troni the Silk Ciilturist.) 

 AGKICIIl.TirRAI, ARCUmECTUKE. 



Though nothing rnntriluites more to the beauty 

 and value of a farm than hnnilsome hiii.'dingsi, yet 

 iiinst fanners are <rro?sly inattentive to their con- 

 struction, es|)ecially ilvvellina: houses. They sup- 

 pose that comfort and conven • nee are all to which 

 a farmer should aspire, and consider every thing 

 ornamental, as a wasteful expenditure.- It is trui-, 

 they admire the beautiful houses of the clerfty- 

 inan, the lawyer and tlie merchant, but ihiidc them 

 not adapted to the taste and occupation of the far- 

 mer, and conser|uent!y, instead of taking them for 

 patterns»in building, devise new plans, which, in 

 their opinion, arc better suited to their circumstan- 

 ces and condition in life, and which they think 

 are in accordance with a more rigid economy. — 

 The result is, the beauty of fsrms is marred by 

 the erection of buildings without symmetry er 

 taste — mere piles of lumber ami bricks, without 

 form or comeliness, which would puzzle an artist 

 to determine whether they were intended to be 

 burlesques upon civil, military or naval architec- 

 ture. 



It is a general opinion that an elegant dwelling 

 liiuise is necessarily an expensive one, and hence 

 most fjirmers content themselves with conven- 

 iencr, ami leave elegance to tho.'^e they sup[)ose 

 better able to imlidge it. That architectural ele- 

 gance consists more in dcsigiJ than dimensions, is 

 np|iarent from the fact, that many small, modern- 

 built dwelling houses i.re far more elegant than 

 larger ones of antiquated style of buildii;g, besides 

 being less expensive. The size of the dw.;lliiig- 

 house should be regulated by the family and busi- 

 ness of the intended occupant ; but whether it be 

 large or small, elegance, as well as convenience, 

 should be regarded ; and they may be easily com- 

 bined without subjecting the builder to extra ex- 

 pense. Every person, therefore, intending to 

 build, should not only " first set down and count 

 the cost," but employ n competent, scientific and 

 practical architect to make him a plan, and, after 

 i( is made, not sufler it to be departed from for 

 the gratification of his own whims, or those of his 

 wife. A trifling alteration in the plan of a build- 

 ing will destroy its symmetry, mar its beauty, and 

 make it unsightly to the eye of taste. 



Thus far, a handsome dwelling-house may be 

 erected with the same expenditure as a homely 

 one. The subsequent expense will vary, accord- 

 ing to the style in which it is finished, and" the 

 cost of the labor and materials beslovred ujion it. 

 In this respect, also,elegance ought not to be dis- 

 regarded, and the expenses attending it will be 

 ■found far less than is ordinarily supposed. Fifty, 

 or at must, one hundred dollars, expended in or- 

 namental work, will make a vast difference in the 

 appearance of a dwelling-house, and, in most ca- 

 ses, would he amply sufficient to make it elegant. 

 There are, in reality, but few things which can 



be charged to the account of eleirance — j)ortieos, 

 window-blinds, cornices, painting, &c. &c., are 

 as useful as they are ornamental, and no dwel- 

 ling-house should be considered finished without 

 them. 



The same is true, though in a less degree, with 

 respect to the construction and location of out- 

 houses. These nay he planned in such a man- 

 ner as to add much to the ap|)carance, as well as 

 the convenience of the farm, without additional 

 expense. Much elegance may also be coml)ined 

 with convenience, in the arrangement of gardens, 

 yards and avenues. Though these, scientifically 

 laid out, and tasteluUy decorated with shade trees, 

 evergreens and flowering shrubs, are indispensa- 

 ble to giving the beauty of the buildings its prop- 

 er eflx'ct, yet they require but a very small outlay 

 of money. A little labor, and a few dollars for 

 the purchase of rare plants is ail that is required. 

 If, therefore, architectural elegance and rural 

 beauty are attainable at so cheap a rate, should 

 not every farmer regard them in the construction 

 of his buildings, and the laying out of his grounds 

 — and will not the increased va!ue of his farm, 

 besides the gratification of bis taste, and the satis- 

 faction of liaving contributed his mite towards iin- 

 proving'the general aspect of the couniiy, a li'vd 

 him an ample indenmity against pecuniary loss ? 



ON THE CI :L.riVATIOJi OF RYt5. 



There is no dilTercnce between what is called 

 winter and spring rye. Winter rye, by sowing it 

 later and later each year in the fall, will ai quire 

 a habit and quality by which it may at length he 

 sown in the spring, and then it is Sfiring rye; or 

 take spring rye and sow it very late in the fall, 

 and then a little carlier,pach succeeding year, and 

 it will become confirmed in the habit of winter 

 rye. 



One circiimsiance favorable to the culiivation 

 of this kind of grain is, that it will grow year af- 

 ter year on the same soil without exhausting it, 

 |)rovi-_led the stubble be constantly ploughed un- 

 der immediately after taking oft' the crops. Anoth- 

 er circumstance peculiar to this plant is, that it 

 will grow very well, and produce the best grain 

 for bread on a thin gravelly soil, and will flourish 

 well too on the richest. 



There is an instance mentioned in the Farmer's 

 Assistant, of a gravelly soil being highly manured 

 and sowed with rye, in which the rye was twice 

 successively eaten off close to the ground by sheep 

 breaking in after it had acrpiired a lieight of about 

 nine inches the first time, and six inches the lat- 

 ter. These croppiugs, howoicr, only served to 

 make it grow thicker and stronger than before ; 

 and when harvested it produced at the rate of one 

 hundred and tvventyeight bns'iiels to the acre. — 

 The author of the above account supposed that 

 the crop would have been lost by lodging, had it 

 not been for the two successive croppiugs of the 

 shee|i, and suggests the e.i:pediency of trying sim- 

 ilar experiments with wheat. 



It has been remarked that winter rye may be 



sowed early in the spring, and used as pasture 

 during the season ; and that it may he sown at 

 the usual time, and serve for a sheep pasture, 

 awhile during the next spring without injury to 

 the crop. It may also be mowed for hay two or 

 three times during the summer, when sown in the 

 spring. But in such culture the ground .should 

 have much more seed than the usual allowam-e, 

 which for early sowing in the fall isa'iout a bush- 

 el to the aere, or a bushel and and half for later 

 sowing. Spring rye, it is believed, should have 

 this hitter allowance, and be sowed as early as the 

 ground can l>e well prepared. 



Rye, that is intended for family use, should, if 

 the weather will admit, be harvested even as eirt-- 

 ly as when the rye is yet in the milk, and left to 

 lie on the ground for some days to diy and har- 

 den. By such management the grain will make 

 a much whiter flour, though perhaps not quite 

 as heavy as when it stands till it is fully ripe. 



Wheii rye is sown successively on the same 

 soil, the stubble should be ploughed under as soon 

 as the crop is taken oflf, which helps to improve 

 the ground and seTves to destroy the seeds ot 

 weeds. It should then lay until about the first of 

 Septeml»er, then sowed, and the seed harrowed 

 in. So. lie iiavo supposed that m this way the 

 crops will increase in qunutity. 



Rye is subject to a di.stemper called the spur. 

 The grains which are aflfccted with it, are larger 

 than the rest, mostly crooked, bitter to the taste, 

 |. rejecting beyond their husks, dark colored, rough 

 ami deeply furrowed from end to end. This kind 

 of diseased grain sottietimes proves very <lestruc- 

 tive to those who eat it. In some parts of France 

 where the disease prevails most, the peasants who 

 eat it are liable to he attacked with a dry gan- 

 grene in the extreme parts of the liody, which 

 causes those jiarts to fall oft', almost without pain. 

 "The Hotel Dieu at Orleans," says Diihainel, 

 " has had many of these misqable objects who 

 had not any thing more remaining than the hare 

 trunk of the body, and yet lived in that condition 

 several days." It is not every year that the spur 

 produces these eft'eds, and it is said that if the 

 grain be kept a certain lime before it is eaten, it 

 will not he hurtful, it is thought, however, that 

 no very bad efl'ectshave been known in thi.s coun- 

 try from eating this kind of rye. 



When we consider that rye flour mixed with 

 corn meal makes a wholesome and valuable bread, 

 andca:i be raised on light soils, which under some 

 circumstances may be devoted to that cro|) better 

 than to any other; and when it is co isidered too, 

 that it is not an exhausting crop, the raising it 

 cannot he considered an nnimporlant article of 

 domestic economy. 



A Crop worth mentioning. — Isaac Jones, of 

 Orange, Ct. raised the last season on tliiee acres 

 of land, -250 bnsh«ls of corn (in the ear) and three 

 hundred bushels of potatoes. Will not some of 

 onr Vermont I'armers endeavor to tell as good a 

 story as this next autumn ? — Ft. Far. 



