294 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MARCH no, IS39. 



AND HORTICULTURAL RKGISTER. 



Boston, WeDSESDAr, March 20, 1839. 



AGRICULTURAL MEETING. 

 Tlie eighth agricultural meeting was liolden on Thurs- 

 day eveningat the Representatives' Hall 15. V. French, 

 Esq. of Brainlree was called to tlie chair. The meeting was 

 fully attended and a strong interest manifested in the ob- 

 jects of the meeting. 



The commissioner of agricultonil survey read the re- 

 port of tlie trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 JSociety awarding premiums on farms, amounting in the 

 whole to six hund«;d dollars. This report is in.serted in 

 f ill ill this day's Farmer;- and will be read with pleasure 

 and improvement. The observations contained in it on 

 the redemption of waste lands or peat meadows, on the 

 cultivation of root-crops, and on the raising of wheat will 

 particularly command the attention of the fiirmers; and 

 they are commended to the atteirtion of farmers particu- 

 larly as coming from an individual as thorough in his ob- 

 servations and as practical in his knowledge of agricul- 

 ture as any one among us. 



The meeting then proceeded to the discus.sion of the 

 topics assigned for the evening; which were vegetable 

 root-crops. 



The report abOTc named placed the value of rutabaga 

 f)r fattening cattle, for milch cows-, for swine and fur 

 horses at a very high rate. Jlr Brigham of Westboro ex- 

 pressed him?clf as strongly dideringfrom the opinions ex- 

 pressed in the report in respect to their value. He was 

 disposed to value roots at a high rate ; but there was dan- 

 ger that farmers might expect too muth froin them ; and 

 lie v\'ished to guard them against disappointment. lie 

 had in the course of Iris farming raised from 1000 to 1 100 

 bushels to an acre of ruta baga ; and of carrot? from TOO 

 l> 1200 bushels. 



He had used bis ruta bnga for cowi in milk. They 

 will not double the quantity of milk as the report stated; 

 but they will increase it considerably. lie thinks how- 

 ever that the quality of the milk is injure-Hjy their use ; 

 and that llie milk of cows fed upon them will produce 

 but little cream. He had found them of uje'in fattening 

 beef On the whole however he deemed ■ them greatlv 

 inferior to carrots. Carrots he estimated very highly. 

 They were difficult or rather expensive in cultiva- 

 tion, but if successful they amply repaid any expense or 

 labor bestowed on them. TIrey were an excellent crop 

 for horses. He did not coincide in the opinion, stated by 

 the commissioner, of Mr Merrill of Lee, who said that 

 for feeding horses he should prefer one hundred bushels 

 of carrots and one hundred bushels of Oats to two liun- 

 drcd bushels of oats; yet he deemed them- excellent and 

 murh the best root crop raised among us. He had found 

 it likewise much easier to keep carrots than to keep ruta 

 baga. Of their value for fattening beef or swine he had 

 no knowledge. 



Mr Dauforth of Pittsfield stated a case within his own 

 knowledge in which the raising of carrots cost at the rate 

 of eight cents per bushel. Other gentlemen staled that 

 they bad bef n produced in the stale in large quantities at 

 the nte of 6 I- 1 cents per bushel. 



Mr Abbot of Westlbrd was disposed to value rutabaga 

 much higher for milch cows than Jlr Brigham. In his 

 own experience for the increase of butt<r, where he had 

 tried rows in successive weeks upon pumpkins and ruta 

 baga, the increase of butter in the use of tlie latter root 

 was as 11 to 10 A gentleman of Portsmouth N. H. with- 

 in his knowledge had compared the value of carrots with 

 potatoes in f'lttenieg bci f ; and in tliis ixpeiiiueiit lliirtv 



bushels of potatoes proved equal to sixty of carrots. It I his seed corn without any preparation. Mr Bruce an, 

 would have been very instructive if Mr Abbot could have Mr Pease of Martha's Vineyard stated within their ,.k, 

 given the particulars of both of these experiments more knowledge the injury from tarring, so that the seed \v;i 

 fully; this we hope he will do, and we shall be happy to lost. There is undoubtedly some risk in tarring ^^ .. 

 make the N. £. Farmer the vehicle of such communica- corn. Too much tar may be applied. If the weaili. 

 ^'""^- should prove Very dry immedia 



Mr Perry of Bradford spoke next of the value of roots. 

 In relation to the keeping of vegetables he thought a good 

 deal depended on the nature of the soil in which the 

 cellar, where they were stored, was dug. It often hap- 

 pens, he says, that ruta baga will not keep in the same 

 cellar in which potatoes and carrots may be kept. Of 

 the value of ruta baga he gave an illustration by an anec- 

 dote in which he was a party. He had been aceuslomed 

 to supply a neighbor of his with milk. His neighbor in- 

 quired one time why the milk was not as good and as 

 rich as it had been. Now this inquiry was made at a 

 time when he had ceased to give his cows ruta baga, with 

 wli'ich before they had been liberally supplied. 



Mr Buckminster spoke highly of the value of roots; 

 but seems to be as hostile to potatoes as the late William 

 Cobbett ; from which it is but natural to in^fer that he has 

 no Irish blood in him. He deems grain crops an ex- 

 hausting crop and potatoes particularly so. He thinks the 

 evil complained of by which the rarlk was injured in 

 its taste was occasioned by giving the animals too much. 

 The clrairman stated that within his experience it 

 would be safe to feed a bushel per day to an animal, pro- 

 vided they were kept at the same time on salt-hay. 



Mr Buckminster pronounced potatoes a very exhausting 

 crop and the cultivation not to be encouraged. To an 

 inquiry as to the amount of potatoes usually raised per 

 acre he replied from one hundred to one hundred and 

 ftfiy bushels, and gave it as his belief that the crop in 

 Framingham did not exceed one hundred bushels. (We 

 think the farmers in Framingham ought to be indicted if 

 th.ey allow him to tell such a story as this about them an- 

 other year.) 



Air Bruce of Grafton was disposed to defend the pota- 

 to crop; and pleasantly remarked that if he obtained not 

 more than one hundred bushels per acre Ire should be 

 quite disposed to give them up. In his own cultivation 

 he considered 200 bushels a light crop— 350 bushels a 

 good crop. He had raised 5(14 bushels to] the acre, and 

 was accustomed to use 40 bushels of whole potatoes for 

 seed. He is accustomed to plant them in hills. He said 

 the crop of one of his neighbors had exceeded 700 bush- 

 els to the acre. These w-ere certainly cogetrt arguments 

 in reply to the Framingham farmers. 



Potatoes are without question an exhausting crop, and 

 relirrn little to the land, the tops amounting to a small 

 matter. In our practice they are far from being an amel- 

 iorating crop, because they are cultivated in the most 

 slovenly manner; they are in many cases not hoed more 

 than once, and the w-eeds afterward usually abound and 

 cover the ground with their seeds. This however is al- 

 together the fault of the cullivator and not the crop. In 

 neat and clean husbandry and at a yield of four hundred 

 bushels to the acre, (and with less than this even the 

 Framingham farmers ought not to be satisfied) they are a 

 valuable crop ; and an acre of potatoes will furnish a 

 great amount of most nutritious food for man and beast ; 

 though Cobbett in.^ists upon it they m-o nothing but so 

 much dirt and water. 



Mr Dcnney of Weslboro staled that he had fed his 

 cows with carrots and ruta baga ; and that in elianging 

 from carrots to ruta baga the quality of the milk imme- 

 diately became deteriorated. 



Some incidental conversation then arose in respect to 

 the preparation of seed corn with tar as a protection 

 against crows. Mr Denney recommended 1-2 pint of tar 

 to a peck of seed corn. Mr Buckminster prefers to plant 



may 



should prove Very dry immediately after planting, ii m.n 

 be prevented from coming up. But we have know n ii 

 in many cases successfully employed, though we do n i 

 consider it a certain preventive against the crows. V 

 once knew a man, who after having cleaned his hn. 

 with rotten-stone and rum, tipped the rcniiiinder into 

 stomach, by way we suppose of putting the saucer a. 

 clean. The crows when very sorely pressed by apji. 

 will sometimes swallow even the tarred corn. 



The chairman stated that the cut worm to which refer- 

 ence was also made does all his mischief from the l.''Mli 

 to the 20th of May. This is an interesting fact and will. 

 we hope, be the subject ol careful observation. 

 >>o time was left for the discussion of another sub|. , i 

 which had been proposed, that is, the cultivation of IVum 

 trees ; and it was decided that tliis and the subject oi' 

 ricultural improvements should be presented at the i 

 meeting 10 beholden on Thursday next at the usual lii 

 and place. 



The chairman expressed his strong satisfaction in these 

 meetings, and thought they must be highly conducive to 

 the public benefit. He even went so far as to insinuate 

 that they might be as conducive to improvement and the 

 public good as some of the sessions held in the same looin 

 by day light. On this matter we express no opinion. We 

 only say that the interest in these meetings has gone on 

 increasing from the beginning ; tliat it is a reUef to go in- 

 to a meeting where the sole object is the diffusion of 

 knowledge and the public improvement ; where the 

 waters are not perpetually lashed into a storm by some 

 miserable party passion or strife ; and that the informa- 

 tion and pleasure obtained have been an ample compen- 

 sation for the time oceupied. H. C. 



LEGISLATURE. 



The legislature have at last taken the bull by the hornsi 

 and are fully engaged in the discussion of the License) 

 Law, as it is termed, of the last session. The committee' 

 sat a long lime upon it ; but every feather it is believed wag 

 pulled out of the chicken, wh'ich they hatched, almost 

 as soon as he was brought into the house. Various amend- 

 ments have been introduced and piled one upon the other 

 to such a height, that there was so much danger of the 

 whole building tumbling by its own weight, that it wag 

 deemed necessary on Saturday to take all the old stuff 

 and commit it to seven master-builders to bring in a ncv? 

 frame on Monday morning This they have done ; but 

 whether with any more success than before remains to be 

 seen. 



The house of representatives have voted to include 

 wine among the prohibited articles, and to place it in the. 

 company where it belongs ; for in truth a large portion 

 of the liquor «vhieh goes under the name of wine is but 

 disguised brandy or rum with a liille coloring matter 

 thrown in. Whether this is introduced by the friends of 

 the old law from motives of conscientious duty; or by 

 the enemies of the old law with a view lo make it abso- 

 lutely intolerable, remains questionable. We have some 

 times seen three lubberly fellows get on to the same 

 horse. The consequence" was either that he could not 

 go at all; or becoming restive he would kick and rear 

 and throw them all oft". 



We cannot say we look at the subject with unconcern. 

 We have no wish to encroach upon any man's rights or hon- 

 est pleasures. Bill we do pray to God continually, that he 

 would deliver us from this curse of curses, drunkenness 

 and intemperance ; this vial of divine wralh, which seems 

 to embody the evils and miseries of all the seven vials 

 spoken of in the book of Revelation. 



We care not what measure is adopted so that the in- 

 fimous and accursed tippling shops and groggeries through- 

 out the land may be broken up; these prolific fountains 

 of evil as dreadful in its devastations upon society as the 

 lava flowing from the crater of Mount Vesuvius upon the 

 surrounding countr)' ; these dreadful vortices, turbid and 



