268 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



FEBRUARY ar, 1S39. 



(From the Genesee Farmer.) 



DICTIONARY OF TERMS USED IN AGRI- 

 CULTURE, 



AND IN THE SCIENCES MOST. INTIIMATELY CON- 

 NECTED WITH ITS ADVANCEMKNT. 

 (Conlinued.) 



Aquatic. Plants that live and flourish in the 

 water are termed aquatic. There arc also aquatic 

 animals and birds. All our lakes, rivers and the 

 ocean, furnish specimens of aquatic plants, some 

 of which are of great u.se and value. A large 

 part of the soda of commerce is obtained From a 

 sea weed, which, drifted ashore, is dried and burned 

 for the soda of the ashes. Hundreds of square 

 miles in the equatorial Atlantic, at some seasons of 

 the year, are covered with this marine vegetation. 

 Some sea weeds, as the alga?, that grow as they 

 float in the water, attain a length of .several hund- 

 red feet. The rice plant of the East Indies and 

 the Carolinas, is an aquatic plant, and probably 

 contributes as much to hun'an subsistence as any 

 plant on the globe. The wild rice, Zizania aquati- 

 ca, of our northern hikes and rivers, is of great 

 service to the native tribes of those regions, feed- 

 ing the immense quantities of water fowls of all 

 kinds that visit and bi*ed in those inhospitable 

 climes, as well as furnishing food to the natives 

 themselves when their usual stipplies from other 

 sources fail them. The flags, rashes, and other 

 grasses that grow in the waters of the lakes, or 

 other quiet waters, the pond lily, &c. are further 

 examples of aquatic plants. 



^Argillaceous. A t-erm applied to soils in which 

 clay forms a principal ingredient. It was derived 

 from argil or clayey, as aluminous from alumine. 

 In agriculture, argillaceous and aluminous are 

 words of the same import, and mean soils or earth 

 in which clay predominates. " .flnalysis" shows 

 how the proportion can be determined. 



Jirtfsian. A kind of well made by boring through 

 the successive strata of the earth until water is 

 found. This name is derived from Artois in France, 

 where the system of boring was first successfully 

 adopted. By penetrating the rocky crust of earth 

 in this way, the water frequently rises to the sur- 

 face, and flows a living stream ; in other cases it 

 rises so as to be obtained witliout difficulty. In 

 this country wells have been bored to the depth of 

 u thousand feet, and tliose of .500 or 7C0 are not 

 uncommon. Various .products are obtained from 

 the earth in this way. In Albany a valuable min- 

 eral spring has been reached by boring. The great 

 quantities of water at the Kcnhawa salines are 

 obtained from Artesian wells. Springs of carbo- 

 nated hydrogen, that burn with a perpetual flame; 

 and immense reservoirs of petroleum, (the Seneca 

 oil of commerce) have been discovered while boring 

 for salt or for fresh water. Artesian wells have 

 been sunk in the deserts between Cairo and Suez, 

 and abundant sujiplies of water obtained ; and 

 wherever the borjngs have been properly and per- 

 severingly conducted, eitlier in this or foreign coun- 

 tries, water has usually been procured. 



Artichoke. Two plants of this name are culti- 

 vated for food ; the first Ci/uiim scolymus,is chiefly 

 cultivated in Europe for culinary purposes. Tlie 

 part that is eaten is the receptacle of the 

 flower, divested of the unopened florets, and the 

 bristles that separate them. The head thus pre- 

 pared is boiled plain and eaten with melted butter 

 and pepper, and is decmel wholesome and nutritious. 



These botlom.i, as they are termed, are also mad^ 

 into a variety of dishes, stewed and highly season- 

 ed. The other plant, is die one known as the Je- 

 rusalem artichoke, Hdiantkus tuberosus, and is cul- 

 tivated for the root alone. It is a species of sun- 

 flower, grows wild in several parts of South Amer- 

 ica, and the root is potato shaped. The roots are 

 valuable as a food for animals, and are not unpala- 

 table to man. They are found in most of our gar- 

 dens, an improper place for them, as they are apt to 

 spread, and are somewhat difficult to eradicate.- In 

 this country few attempts have been made at their 

 field culture, but those have been profitable. In 

 highly cultivated grounds in England and Holland, 

 they have been found extremely productive, 70 or 

 80 tons of the roots having been gathered from a 

 single acre. Their flavor is much like that of the 

 former artichoke, when boiled and prepared for the 

 table, and they are very valuable for feeding hogs 

 and store pigs. 



(To be continued.) 



(From the Farmer's Cabinet.) 

 PLANTING TREES. 



Those who won't dig must beg, and those who 

 won't plant should not be permitted to partake of 

 the fruits of other men's planting. 



All of us have partaken of the fruits of the la- 

 bors of those who have preceded us, and we are all 

 under obligations to render some service to those 

 who may succeed us. 



The labor and expense of planting and rearing 

 a few fruit and ornamental trees, and shrubs, is so 

 trifling, that no one would suppose that the most 

 indolent and penurious person in the community 

 could be deterred by it from procuring and setting 

 out a dozen or more the ensuing sprinof. 



There is a pleasure and satisfaction connected 

 with the performance of such a duty as thi.s, which 

 furnishes an ample compensation for the expendi- 

 ture of muscle and money, independent of any 

 benefit to be hereafter derived from it. 



No person, it is believed, ever planted a fruit 

 tree, or grape-vine, without feeling a secret con- 

 sciousness that he had rendered a service of an 

 important character either to his own family, or to 

 others that might come after him. 



It is the peculiar characteristic of the truly pious 

 and good, to take pleasure in promoting and in- 

 creasing the comfort, the happiness and the interests 

 of their fellow men. 



" There is no part of husbandry which is more 

 commonly neglected than that of planting trees, 

 without which they can neither expect fruit, orna- 

 ment or delight from their labors. But they seldom 

 do this till they begin to grow wi.se, that is, till they 

 begin to grow old, and find by experience the pru- 

 dence and necessity of it. When Ulysses, after a 

 ten years absence, was returned from Troy, and 

 found his aged father in the field planting trees, he 

 asked him, ' Why, being now so far advanced in 

 years, he would put himself to the fatigue and la- 

 bor of planting that, of which he was never likely 

 to enjoy the fruit.' The good old man, taking him 

 for a stranger, gently replied, ' I plant against uiy 

 son Ulysses comes home.' The application is ob- 

 vious, and instructive both to young and old." 



Determine now without delay the trees and 

 shrubs you will set out in the spring, ascertain 

 where the best and handsomest can be obtained, 

 and sufl'er no ordinary circumstances to prevent 

 you from executing so important a determination. 



as that of doing some good in the world before vou' 

 are called upon to give up your stewardship, which 

 may possibly be before another annual period fof 

 planting trees comes round. 



Let parents encourage their children, and child- 

 ren plead with their parents, to progress with the 

 good work of planting fruit and ornamental trees, 

 shrubs and vines, as soon as the spring opens; and 

 then our farms and farm houses will soon exchange 

 that dull, comfortless aspect, which is so obvious Id 

 many places, for a more cheering and exhilarating 

 exhibition of the fruits of industry, care and good 

 taste, and travellers as tliey pass by will enquire, 

 Who dwells in this delightful place 

 Distinguished for its perfect grace .' 



R. 



(From the Albany Cultivator.) 



CUTTING CORN STALK FODDER _ THE 

 GRUB WORM — DOCTORING FRUIT 

 TREES— ROOT CULTURE. 



Willianistown, Mass. Dec. 20th, 1838. 



Hon. J. BuEL — Dear Sir — I have not the hap- 

 piness either to bear the honorable title, or to share 

 the enviable labors, of the professional fanner : yet 

 having been accustomed in early life to the occu- 

 pations of the field, for which I still retain a relish, 

 and having made it for several years my relaxation 

 to supervise the general conduct of a little farm 

 whose details are carried out by proxy, my sympa- 

 thies are in a measure with the cultivaiors of the 

 soil, and I feel a sufficient degree of interest in 

 whatever pertains to the improvement of any branch 

 of the great agricultural economy. '1 hat material 

 advances have been made within the last few years 

 in this most ancient and important of all the arts, I 

 think, admits not of a doubt ; and that the moat 

 considerable agent in eftecting such a change, has 

 been the prevalence of mutual information during 

 this period, I hold to be alike unquestionable. 



Entertaining opinions like these, it will not be 

 thought strange if I feel an inclination to contribute 

 my "mrtc,"(if indeed I turn not out to be more 

 miteless than the " widow,") towards the still further 

 promotion of what has been by some denominated 

 " book-farming." It is in compliance with such an 

 inclination that I submit to your inspectiim the fol- 

 lowing items, the " raw material" of which I find 

 in my "Farmers' Journal," If you deem them of 

 consequence enough to merit a place in your col- 

 umns, please to present them to your readers ; if 

 otherwise, give them a place among such other 

 " crumbs" {unfit for " the dogs,") as you cast under 

 your table, and pardon me for inflicting upon you I 

 the misery of giving them a bootless i)erusal. 



Item First — Cuiting Corn Fodder for Cattle. 

 Having occasion, about the middle of November, i 

 18.36, to pass through your city, and stopping for 

 an hour at Bement's Hotel, I had an accidental op- 

 portunity of witnessing the t peration of a " Green's 

 Straw Cutter;" and so well was I pleased at first 

 sight with its execution, tliat I proceeded immedi- 

 ately to Thorburn's and made a purchase. Feeling 

 a little bit streaked, as " Slickville" would say, after! 

 getting it home, lest some of the more " knowing 

 ones" among my neighbors, should take it into their 

 " bump of self-esteem" to underrate my wisdom in 

 parting with " thirty round dollars for a little ma- 

 chine," which Sampson would have pocketed just 

 in the way we common folks do a jack-knife, I 

 made some haste to get it into eflTsctive operation, 

 working up hay and straw for my horses, and stalks 



