£74 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MAY 31. IS'!?, 



n^w m'^^iSx^^'^ 22ASissiii^a 



BOSTON, WEDNESnAY, MAY 31, 1837. 



PREJIIl'Jtl lilST 



For 1837, of the Mabsachisetts Societv for Pro- 

 moting Agkiciilture. 

 We are munh grntifii;(i in presenliiig, in this clays pa- 

 per, (see page 372) llie aljove naiiii;d very satisfactory 

 document. Wu are pleased with lliis exposition of tlie 

 intentions of llic Society, notwithstanding it does not 

 promise for next autumn, a Callle Show, Flougliing 

 Match, Address, Public Dinner, &c., in wliicli there 

 is a huge propcjrtion of Khow and expense, when coin 

 pared to llie useful results of such an exhibition. Tlie 

 objects proposed by the organization of the Society, and 

 the oslablishiiienl of a Cattle Show, &c. in Brighton, 

 have been in a great measure accomplished. They 

 have been shown in the precepts, ex'amples and other 

 modes of enoouingirig good husbandry, wliich have been 

 adopted and persevered in for many years, by the ven- 

 erable founders of tliat most useful and honorable In- 

 stitution. The numerous Counly societies, ivhich have 

 become common throughout, not only this Slate, but 

 New England, by copying the example of the Old Mas- 

 sachuseus Agricultural Sociely, and bringing more liclji 

 into the Jield, have, in some measure, superseded the 

 necessity of lieeping up the shoic. Hut the sulisla/ice, 

 the great main springs are called into action by liberal 

 Premioms. By them the Society virtually say to our 

 good yeomanry, we have often told you how to raise 

 fine crops, &c., and now we pro|)ose to pay you liber- 

 ally for producing them ; showing others how they were 

 raised ; and by what rnelhods e^cry cultivator may hope 

 to obtain similar products of skill as well as labor in the 

 most honorable as well as most useful of human em- 

 ployments. 



has attained a promising aspect. Tlie sun has resuu.cd 

 " specie payments," and discounts warmth and daylight 

 with as much liberality as if the banks were all good 

 for all that their bills promise to pay. Indeed, we think 

 we can perceive the dawn of agricultural, political and 

 commercial prosperity breaking from the clouds of ad- 

 versity ; and hope that the times will be the better for 

 having been bad; for though experience is a severe i 

 school master, nati<ins as well as most individm.ls will 

 rarely acquire wisdom from the lessons of any other 

 teacher. 



THE SE.\SOM. 



Since the present spring comirienced.it has been cold 

 backward and wet, beyond any of which we have any 

 record or remembrance. Not only has 



" Winter lingering chilled the lap of May," 



hut lias thi^ateiiud to nip the buds of June. Indeed, 

 what poets hirmerly called S/irinjr, when they chanted 

 sentimental sonn 'ts to her goddesship, (which were, 

 commonly, as silly as the prattle of a parrot, and as 

 soporific as a dose of paregoric) has now hardly any ex- 

 istence, except in said vapid ditlies. 



We are sorry to find spring thus expunged from her 

 customary location in the circle of ihe seasons ; because, 

 (among other reasons) we farmers have usually some 

 important business to transact with that personage. We 

 have a deal of ploughing, sowing, carting out and 

 spreading manure, A:c. &c., which is called spring 

 work. But in such seasons as that now current, and 

 just p^ii, spring work must cither be done in frosty, 

 wet, winter-like weather, or deferred till summer bursts 

 upon us, with the toils, cares and duties appropriate to 

 UipfiUl hloicn year. However, there is an old saying, 

 that •' a backward spring is a sign of a fruitful summer," 

 which we hope may apply lo that now commencing. — 

 There is a fair prospect of at least a good grass crop ; 

 and we have seen and heard yothing to the disparage- 

 ment of Engli^h grain, in this section of the country, 

 .though accounts i'rn:n the south, give a discouraging de- 

 ail of dismal prospects in ihe great wheat producing 

 States of Virginia, New York, Ac. 



Since the nliove was written, the sky has cleared, the 

 weather nioder.-ited, ihe season, as well as the times, 



Maple Sugar. — Mr David Campbell, 23 Brattle St., 

 has lelt at this office, a fine specimen of Alaple Sugar. 

 It appears equal to the best While Havana, and is per- 

 fectly grained, and of excellent flavor. The Sugar was 

 made in New Hampshire, and costs twelve cents per 

 pound. The last, was a good year for its manufacture, 

 and many tons excess of sugar was made over previous 

 years. It is principally brought to market in a crude 

 state, and commands in a season of plenty, like the pres- 

 ent year, from 7 to 9 cents per pound. But we see no 

 reason why large quantities of rectified sugar, like the 

 jpecimen before us, may not be made. The market for 

 it would be good. There are many who prefer to pay 

 an exira price for domestic sugar, if it can be obtained, 

 rather than use a foreign article. Under these circum- 

 stances, Maple Sugar, though higher priced, would hold 

 a fair and .successful compelilion with Louisianii or 

 West India produce. There are ojiwards of (0,000,000 

 pounds of this Sug.irmade in the United Slates annual- 

 ly; and a refinery, vvilh proper a|iparatus, we should 

 think, might drive a profitable business, in rectifying 

 nothing but the product of the maple. B. 



Wai-.teer's Show of Tulips. — We have taken the 

 first look at ij.e splendid show of Tulips, by Mr Samuel 

 U'alUer, Eustis street, Roxbiiry, and can assure those 

 who are curious to observe " nature's freaks," that it 

 will well repay tlieir trouble and expense, t* call and 

 see the endless variations vvli;ch cultivation has pro- 

 duced in this noted flower. -We do not desire to see a 

 'tulip mania' raging in this country, as it has in Eu- 

 rope in ages past, when fortunes were made and lost in 

 a day, by the rise and fall in value of half a dozen tu- 

 lips, (about us rational, by the way, as some of ihe spec- 

 ulations of the present time) yet we do hail with pleas- 

 ure, the first public exhibition of tulips in our country, 

 and sincerely hope Mr Walker will be handsomely re- 

 munerated fur the expense he has been at, in erecting 

 his tulip house, and otiii'r charges necessary in getting 

 up the show. The bed had not come fully into bloom, 

 and will not be in perfection, we should judge, until the 

 la.st of the week ; yet many first rate flowers were dis- 

 playing their gorgeous hues. 



The bed is finely arranged, the tallest growing in it 

 being in the centre, and lower sons in front. It con- 

 t lins 700 tulips, in about 20i) varieties. It will be in 

 vain for us to give a description ; all who have tb.i curi- 

 osity, must call and see for themselves. J. B 



.Appointmekts BY THE GovERSoK — Henry Colman 

 of Boston, lo be Commissioner for making an Agrieul 

 tural Survey of the Stale, and Edward Hitchcock, of 

 Amherst, to be Commissioner for making a further Geo. 

 logical Survey of the Slate, si'verally under Resolves 

 of April 12, 1837. 



[Jj* Boston now contains 80,S;G3 inhabitants. 



(Fort:.eNew Kiiglaml Farmer.) 

 KEtV ZEALAND FLAX.— (fA-rmiim tenor.) 

 Mr Editor: — I have la ely introduced a few of these 

 very rare plants from Trance, in the confident expecta- 

 tion that in many parts of our couniry, we shall moat 

 assuredly find a congenial climate and soil, and that the 

 plant may prove a most invaluable acquisition to our fa- 

 vored land. 



The Phormium tenax is a native of New Zealand, an 

 Island, or rather a group of Islands, lying between the 

 parallels of 35° and 4.j° of southern latitude. I send 

 you a leaf of the plant, a stout, strong flag, from 3 to 4 

 feet long, and near 2.i inches broad — but even in Eng- 

 land and in Ireland, the plant produces leaves fioin .5 

 to 8 feet hmg, and of a breadth in proportion. In ma- 

 ny parts of our country, they may attain to far grealer 

 dimensions. The plant is a variety of flag of an orna- 

 mental appearance. The hlo.ssorns which are produced 

 on a tall spike, are stated to be smaller, but more nu- 

 merous than those of the flag. 



In England as well as in Ireland, in latitude 52" and 

 53'', it has been long tried in several gardens, and there 

 found to he a perlcjlly hardy plant : Possibly, however, 

 it may not be able to sustain without pniteclion, the ex- 

 trenre rigors of the winters of the more Norlhern Slates. 

 As the leaves of the plant are gathered in auiumn, it 

 may perhaps requireth.it slight protection of a very thin 

 covering of moss, which we are accustomed to bestow 

 on many herbaceous plants, noi, however, sufficient to 

 smother and destroy, hut merely sufficient to break the 

 force of cold winds, and as a screen from the pernicious 

 rays of the sun during winter. I am unable, as yet, to 

 say whether such slight protection may or may not, be 

 required for the Plwrmivm tcnux, in some ol the States 

 of the North. So inconsideiable, however, is the ex- 

 pense of labor or of time, that I am per.-uaded an active 

 man would be capable of securing with a slight cover- 

 ing of moss, an acre of plants in n single day. 



The Phormium tenaz is a perrennial herbaceous plant, 

 the leaves resembling those of the flag. With very lit- 

 tle preparation, they form clothing, canvass and coidage. 

 The two last of which are stated to be incomparably 

 stronger than any thing of the kind, made ol hemp. — 

 The leaves of the plant grow in Ireland from 5 to 8 feet 

 high ; these are cut n the fall, and the next year will 

 produce a new crop. The plants may be raised from 

 seeds or from offsets, which arc very numerous ; these 

 however, should not be separated until the 4tli year. — 

 The leaves which are cut in autumn, are succeeded the 

 next summer by a new and luxuriant crop. Mr Salis- 

 bury has lound that a plant three years old, will pro- 

 duce 3(3 leaves, and G leaves have produced one ounce 

 of dry, available fibres, and at this rate, he has calcula- 

 ted ihat a single acre set out, the plants at three feel 

 asunder, will yield more than sixteen hundred pounds 

 of the prepared flax to the acre, wliicTi is a great pro- 

 duce compared either lo that of flax or of hemp and Ihe 

 fibres are separated with much less labor than cither of 

 these require. The leaves are cut in autumn when full 

 orown, and after being steeped for a few hours in stag- 

 nant water, they are passed between two rollers, the 

 upper one of which is properly l-iaded, which causes the 

 fibres lo separate, and these being washed in a running 

 stream, become inslaiuly while. The natives of New 

 Zealand make their most choice clothing of the long, 

 slender fibres, beautifully white, and lustrous as silk, 

 and of the leaves split, in strips and tied together, they 

 make fishing nets of extraordinary size. 



The government of Great Britain, fully aware of the 

 superiority and importance of this plant, have taken 

 great pains by acts of their legislatuie, lo encourage ils 



