\5'o 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SJOVi' MUfSR at. 1* Si- 



Some tliroe yRars ago a mfirchant in New York, 

 while emptying a box of tea, observed tlierein a 

 few grains of corn. Conclu'ling that <-mn from 

 China must be something new under our sun, he 

 l.ad tliem planted, so they grew and multiplied 

 Last spring, I recrived from a worthy friend, a por- 

 tion of said corn— it's a new variety- so I gave it 

 the name of China's fall prolific, or tree corn ; as 

 it strikes off in two, three, and frequently four 

 branches, in appearance like a small tree, and pro- 

 duces an ear at the head ot each branch, whereas 

 the common corn shoots out tlie car froui the side 

 of the stalk ; it grows from eight to tt'n feet high, 

 produces an abundance of fodder, and is a large 

 white flint twelve rows long, and ears from ten to 

 fourteen inches long. I counted six hundred and 

 sixty grains on the ear; it was planted on the lOtli 

 of May, and had ears fit to boil on the 10th of 

 July. Its produce was curtailed by the long 

 drought, but notwithstanding I counted two thousand 

 one hundred and twenty grains, the product of one 

 stalk : being an increase of two thousand and one. 

 The Button (which is an excellent corn) planted on 

 the same day, on the same field, and received liic 

 same (juantity of manure, c -ogs ploughed and hoe- 

 ing, did not produce one half. The patch about 

 two hundred hills, was examined by many respect- 

 able farmers, who all pronounced it something new, 

 and something superior. 



The corn may be had of G. C. Thorburn, New 

 York, and at the store of VVm. Thorburn of Alba- 

 ny, price 25 cents per ear; the net profits to be 

 given tosouiO of the charitable institutions in New 

 York and Albany. Now, if there is a farmer be- 

 tween Maine and the Rocky Mountains who would 

 rather pay 25 cents for two gills of brandy, than to 

 buy one ear of this corn, which will plant 100 hills 

 —I say, if there is a man, he ought to be fed on 

 nothing but supaun and buttermilk as long as his 

 little soul and big carcass will hanf ^ gether. A 

 stalk, having the ears on, to show the manner of 

 growth, may be seen at the above stores. 



05= Every printer in Kings, Queens, Duchess, 

 Orange, and Albany counties, who is fond of Jtnnie 

 cake— -(for if my informant speaks true, it took its 

 name from a southern lass by the name of Jennie 

 Dawson, who was famous for manufacturing this 

 delicious article ; but that at a meeting of the 

 ■ Bachelor's Club, Jennie was voted out and Johnny 

 put in her place — I only hope that some of those 

 chaps who were concerned in an affair soungallant 

 may never taste one of those new made cakes, 

 . when anointed with fresh butter) — will please insert 

 ^ as much of this long winded story as they see fit: 

 and every printer who has children, who ere long 

 may be orphans, will please insert the whole, and 

 place it to the credit of the widow and the father- 

 less — he who is their Judge will register the thing 

 in Heaven, as Uncle Toby says. 



GRANT THORBURN. 

 HalMs Cove, Sept. 24, 1838. 

 Remabks.— We have s-rne of this corn for sale 

 at the New England Farmer office, but as we know 

 no more about it than what is contained in the 

 above statement, every purchaser must take it on 

 his own responsibility. J. B. 



MIDDLESEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Tlie Cnmmitke on Farms, Orchards, ^-c, ask leave 



to report, That they have been called on to visit 



ten farms in difierent parts of the county, and that 



they have visited the same. That they were much 



gratified to witness the improvements made and in 

 l»rogress on all of them, and particularly on their low 

 grounds and peut swamps, many of which are easily 

 converted into the most valuable mowing lands, 

 ami wi 1 well repay the expense of reclaiming 

 them. On most^f these farms good stone wall is 

 the only fence relied on to secure the crops. 



As your counnittee are restricted to four premi- 

 ums, and as some of the farms now offered have 

 already obtained prcmiimis from this Society, and 

 have been noticed in their reports, none will be 

 here particularly named, but those which we select 

 as best entitled to your bou.ity. 



We visited the farm of Mr Zaccheus Reed, con- 

 taining 80 acres of improved land, and 100 acres 

 ef wood land, lying in the town of Westford. Mr 

 Reed must have toiled without ceasing, to convert 

 a soil by nature so rough and forbidding, into a 

 fruitful field. Within a few years he has turned 

 ten acres of useless swamp land to good English 

 mowing. He has 800 apple trees which he has 

 raised from the seed and which he has since in- 

 ffrafted. Sells on an average, 100 barrels of ap- 

 ples — keeps 25 head of cattle— 30 sheep and two 

 )iorscs — raises tliis year by estimation, 50 bushels 

 of barley, .'JO do. of rye, and 800 bushels of pota- 

 toes. He has built 300 rods of stone wall six feet 

 wide on the average. It was built this width to 

 dispose of the surplus rocks on the farm. 



We think Mr Reed is entitled to the society's 

 first premium of .'S~5,00 



Mr Caleb Wetherboe, of Marlborough, has a 

 farm of 210 acres cleared land, and 100 acres of 

 wood land. Keeps generally 40 head of cattle. 

 Fatted hist year 14 hogs and ten pigs, and made 

 2200 wt. of butter. Sells usually 60 or 70 barrels 

 of apples. Mr Wetherbee sells but little hay. 

 Keeps a fine lot of cove's on hilly land made good 

 by nature for pasturage. And the refuse of his 

 dairy enables him to rear his swine at little expense, 

 and at present prices of pork he finds it profitable 

 business. 



He carts much soil into his hog and cow yards 

 to absorb the liquid manure, and has made a very 

 good use of a part of this as a top dressing for 

 his low lands ^^hich he is draining and rapidly 

 bringing in to produce English hay. We recom- 

 mend hTm as entitled to the society's second pre- 

 mium of $20,00 

 \Vm. Buckminister, of Framingham, has a farm 

 of about 200 acres — fenced principally with stone 

 wall. Within two years he has built 90 rods of 

 wall, and has removed the former fence back, so as 

 to leave the highway two rods and a half and three 

 rods, the former width. His is a stock farm, and 

 he raises but little grain on old ground — has sold 

 500 dollars worth of hay in a year, and 400 dollars 

 worth of beef. This year he estimated that he has 

 raised 200 bushels of rye on ten acres of land 

 which he has newly cleared and is bringing into 

 pasturage. He buys no manure, but enriches his 

 lands by ploughing in green crops, this is done 

 chiefly in autumn, turning in the alter growth of 

 grass, and thus loses no crop by the fallow process, 

 ily ploughing his orchards at this season and sow- 

 ing them down immediately to grass he avoids 

 the unprofitable course of raising grain or pota- 

 toes among his apple trees, and leaves the soil 

 lighter about the roots, and improves tlie trees 

 much less than he would do ia planting, sowing, 

 &c. - 



\ One orchard of five acres is now ,very full of 

 fair fruit and produces three fold more than it has 



formerly done, in consequence of his ploughing 

 among his trees. 



As he raises no grain on old ground for sale, 

 and keeps from 30 to 40 head of cattle to consume 

 his coarse hay, he calculates that he is annually 

 enrichinff his lands and bringing them to produce 

 larger quantities ot grass and hay— his chief ob- 

 ject of cultuie. He is yearly converting his poor- 

 est low lands into English mowing. 



He has more than an acre of Ruta Baga that 

 was planted the last day of Juno. The plants look 

 finely. 



We think him entitled to your third premium 

 of .* 15,00 



.Mr Stephen Howe, of iNlarlborongh, has a farm 

 of 90 acres ; most of it high land. It abounds in 

 rocks which he has been diligently putting up 

 into a wall. He has subdued and brought under 

 good cultivation a large portion of his farm ; cuts 

 30 tons of hay, with which he can keep 20 cows 

 in winter ; he makes on an average, 70 barrels 

 of cider, does most of his work himself, even the 

 building of his large walls. His buildings appear 

 in good order, and his farm seems to be well culti- 

 vated. 



We think him entitled to your fourth premium 

 of 812,00 



Your committee have examined the orchard of 

 Eli Rice, Esq., President of the society. It con- 

 tains a large number of trees, 154 in a thrifty con- 

 dition ; all of them ingrafted. Some have been 

 standing several years, others but recently set. 

 The trimming of these trees has been performed 

 more judiciously than in most other orchards under 

 our notice. 



We recommend this orchard as entitled to tlie 

 society's first premium of £15,00 



Mr Moses Sweetser, of South Reading, has a 

 very pretty orchard of 94 trees ; they are set in 

 perfect rows — are of very uniform size, and have 

 been very carefully attended to. &"r Sweetser 

 mows this orchard excepting about eight feet 

 square about each tree which has been dug and 

 kept light. We think he has trimmed off rather 

 too much of the tops and thus retards the growth. 

 We recommend to him the society's second pre- 

 mium of §12.00 

 Mr Asa Parker of Acton, has an apple orchard 

 of 125 trees in one lot, and 47 in another lot ; the 

 latter in low ground and much more subject to the 

 frosts than those on the hill. Mr Parker has well 

 cultivated the land about the trees, and they are 

 thrifty, but he has committed an error in grafting 

 his trees about five feet from the ground, first 

 where the limbs begin to spread and there two 

 scions are often left to grow on one stock, and he 

 will find the winds will trim for him those hand- 

 some shoots that he was loth to cut off when small, 

 and will leave him by and by, only half the top of 

 his trees. 



We recomm.end him as deserving your third pre- 

 mium of ^f^'OO 

 Mr Martin Rice, of Marlborough, has been at 

 tho trouble of planting 3500 or 4000 of the whitt 

 mulberry trees. Under your premium list, we 

 think he is to be considered the claimant for the 

 first premium of $15,00 

 Mr Sylvanus Howe, of Townsend, is the only 

 other individual who has made it known to us that 

 he also has planted a mulberry orchard. For his 

 care and trouble, without much prospect of imme- 



