vol.. XVII. NO. 41. 



AND HORTICULT[JRAL REGISTER 



825 



[For the N. E. Farmer.] 

 TO RAISE EARLY PEAS. 

 I Mr Knight, the President of the London Horti- 

 ultnral Society, lias described his method of rais- 

 ng early peas, which is as follows : — On March 

 St, the ground being previously prepared, part of 

 lie seed was sown as usual, in drills, where the 

 hnts were to remain ; at the same time, other peas 

 .f til • same early kind, were sown in circles within 

 hi^ nrcimiference of pots, ten inches in diameter. 

 riicso pots were filled with a compost made of 

 ■qual parts of thin turf, to which much lifeless 

 lerbage was attached, and unfermented horse-dung 

 vithout litter, and a quantity of ashes of burnt 

 peeds, containing a considerable portion of burnt 

 nould, eipiivalent in bulk to about one-twelfth of 

 lip i''!ier materials. Equal parts of fresh soil, with 

 iiitV'imented horse-dung with litter, and a small 

 (uantity of quick lime or wood ashes, would proba- 

 )ly operate as powerfully as the compost above de- 

 icribed. The whole was reduced to fragments, 

 ind well intermixed. The pots were filled with it 

 ,0 within an inch of their tops. On the surface of 

 his compost the peas were planted, and covered 

 rr'ilh common mould. The pots ren ained in the 

 )each-house till the plants were an inch high ; they 

 ,fere then removed into the open air, but were pro- 

 ected during the nights. 



In the last week in March, the plants were taken 

 rom the pots and planted in rows in the ground ; 

 learly the whole of the compost adhered firmly to 

 heir roots, and their growth was not checked by the 

 xansplanting. They were placed contiguous to 

 hose previously sown, and a small quantity of the 

 lompost was added and then the soil closed round 

 .heir roots. Sticks, &c. were provided in proper 

 .ime. On April 99th, the plants sown in the pots 

 .vere 15 inches high, while their neighbors, which 

 id.d been originally sown in the soil, were only 4 

 nches. These plants produced their fruit 12 days 

 ?arlier than the others, and gave a more rapid suc- 

 lession of crops. 



Mr Knight attributes this partly to the heat of 

 the unfermented manure ; it having been often ob- 

 served, he says, that snow does not lie so long on 

 ground manured the previous season with fresh un- 

 fermented horse-dung, as on ground not manured, 

 showing that the manure retains or produces a con- 

 siderable degree of heat, though it may not be sen- 

 sible to the touch of a warm-blooded animal ; partly 

 to the stimulant nature of the compost, and partly 

 to the favorable state of the soil in which they 

 were placed, as peas never thrive in strong soils, 

 particularly when it has been pressed down and 

 Boddened by rain. 



Russian Forests. — A modern traveller states 

 that a vast portion of the soil in the northern prov- 

 inces of Russia, is uncultivated — the land being 

 covered with almost interminable forests. The 

 boundless e.xtent of wood with which Russia is cov- 

 ered, may be inferred from the condition of one 

 government alone, in which, of 50,000,000 acres, 

 its whole extent, 47,000,000 consist exclusively of 

 forests. According to an estimate made in 1809, 

 which referred only to the North of Russia, these 

 forests appear to contain no less than 8,192,295 

 pine trees, fit to be masts, each being, at least, 30 

 inches in diameter. The accuracy of this estimate 

 has since been amply confirmed by actual survey, 

 in the course of which it has been ascertained, that 

 in the three northern governments of Vologda, 

 Archangel, and Olmetz, there are 210,000,000 acres 

 of pine and fir. 



Agricultural Statistics. — While the total 

 number of families in Great Britain has increased, 

 between 1811 and 1831, from 2,544,215 to 3,414,174, 

 or at the rale of 34 per cent, the number of fami- 

 lies employed in agriculture has increased only 

 frimi 895,998 to 961,134, or at the rate of 7 1-2 per 

 cent From a table designed to show the progress 

 of agriculture in England during each of the 

 years between 1760 and 1769, when the average 

 number of inhabitants of England and Wales was 

 6,8.50,000 souls, the quantity of wheat produced was 

 more than sufficient for the home use, by 1,384,5(11 

 qrs. The committee of the House of Commons 

 which satin 1813, stated in their report that, through 

 the improvements in cultivation, the produce had 

 been increased one-fourth during the then preced- 

 ing 10 years. The revenue drawn in the shape of 

 rent has been doubled since 1790. In Esse.x, farms 

 could be pointed out which were letjust before the 

 war of the French revolution at less than 10s. per 

 acre, and which rose rapidly during the progress of 

 that contest, until, in 1812, the rent paid for them 

 was 45s. to 503. per acre. This advance has not, it 

 is true, been maintained since the return of peace ; 

 in 1818, the rent was reduced to 35s. and at this 

 time is only 20s. an acre, which is still more than 

 double that paid in 1790. In Berkshire and Wilt- 

 shire there are farms which, in 1790, were let at 

 14s. per acre, and which, in 1810, produced a rent 

 of 70s., being a five-fold advance. These farms 

 were let in 1820 at 50s., and at this time pay 30s. 

 per acre, being 114 per cent, advance upon the rent 

 paid in 1790. The extent of land brought into cul- 

 tivation under inclosure acts, from the beginning 

 of the reign of George IIL to the end of 18.34, is 

 computed at 6,840,540 acres. A statement made 

 out in May, 1897, gives the territorial surface of 

 Great Britain, Ireland, and the adjacent islands, at 

 46,522,970 cultivated acres, 15,000,000 uncultivat- 

 ed, 15,873,403 unprofitable, being a gross surface 

 of 77,301,434 acres. 



Frozen Grounu. — It has long been supposed 

 that the sub-soil in districts lying in or near the 

 frigid zones, was permanently frozen ; but scien- 

 tific men have hitherto paid little attention to that 

 subject Professor Baer, of St Petersburg, has, 

 however, communicated some information to the 

 Geographical Society at London, which appears to 

 have awakened attention to the subject. A well 

 was not long since sunk at Yatusk, in Siberia, to 

 the depth of Ihrce hundred and eightytwo feet in the 

 frozen ground ! The inquiry is to be prosecuted 

 farther in Siberia, and measures are about being 

 taken by the London GeographicalSociety, to collect 

 information of the officers of the Hudson's Bay 

 Company, as to the extent of the layer of frozen 

 ground in Nortli America, the thickness it attains 

 in different parallels of latitude, and how much of 

 it disappears at the end of summer. Sir John 

 Franklin mentions, that at York factory, in lat 57^, 

 the summer thaw penetrated only to the depth of 

 three feet ; and on the shores of the Great Bear 

 lake, it reached only to the depth of twentytwo 

 inches. 



attention to the subject again, and to add my own 

 testimony in favor of the remedy. A few morn- 

 ings since, one of my cows was choked with a po- 

 tato. Living but a short distance from my friend 

 Conant, die author of the article alluded to, I sent 

 for his assistance, as I had never witnessed the 

 operation, lie came with a quantity of gunpowder, 

 took about as much as would be necessary to charge 

 a common fowling-piece two or three times, inclos- 

 ed it in paper, somewhat after the manner of pre- 

 paring a cartridge, and while I held the cow's head 

 up, he, with his hand, thrust the preparation down 

 her throat, as far as convenient. I held her head 

 up a moment, until she had broken and swallowed 

 the charge, which soon produced heaving ; but the 

 first trial did not succeed. After waiting a few 

 minutes, we repeated the process, which succeeded 

 admirably, and the poor, distressed animal was re- 

 lieved at once. She raised the potato, chewed and 

 swallowed it Let whoever has occasion, try the 

 experiment. — Vermont Telegraph. 



Agricultural Statistics. — During the preva- 

 lence of the wild speculations which swept like 

 a pestilence over New England, the industry of 

 Maine was diverted from the cultivation of the earth 

 to engage in the creation of paper wealth by the 

 transfer of lands. For the wise purpose of restor- 

 ing to agriculture those who had abandoned its 

 honest and healthful pursuits, the legislature of that 

 State offered a bounty for the production of wheat 

 The soil was suited to the nourishment of this 

 grain, and the climate-, although not remarkably 

 favorable, was not unpropitious for the harvest. At 

 a later period, a bounty was proposed for corn. 

 The success of this policy is proved by the result 

 The following table exhibits the quantity of wheat 

 and corn for which the bounties have been claimed 

 from the treasury during the past year, expressed 

 in bushels : — 



tVheat. Corn. 



York 80,856 403,614 



Cumberland 52,273 271,406 



Lincoln 45,301 126,498 



Hancock 24,164 1,777 



Washington 42,921 212 



Kennebec 126.933 366,765 



Oxford 126,386 245,914 



Somerset 19.5,4.54 89,276 



Penobscot 153,464 21,151 



Waldo 122,554 54,135 



Franklin 104,312 45,717 



Piscataquis 83,2^ 4,.538 



How TO RELIEVE Choked Cattlk.— It will be 

 recollected by the constant readers of the Tele- 

 graph, that some months since, John Conant, of this 

 village, published an article in the Telegraph, ad- 

 dressed to farmers, making known a method for 

 relieving cattle choked with potatoes or other sub- 

 stances. The object of this paragraph is, to call 



1,107,849 1,630,996 



The bounty paid for ivheat was $87,342 ; for 

 corn, §66,628 ; in the aggregate, $152,981. 



During the last year, the quantity of wheat rais- 

 ed in Massachusetts was 97,192 bushels. There 

 were 3,083 claimants of the bounty, amounting to 

 $9,492. From 85 towns no returns were received, 

 and the payments were distributed to 221 out of 

 the 306 towns. — JVational .'Egis. 



When the farming interest is depressed, every 

 other interest sufi"ers in proportion; and it is just as 

 necessary to keep that interest in a sound, healthy 

 and flourishing condition, as it is to keep open and 

 free the springs of existence itself. One of the 

 best means of effecting this desirable object, is to 

 make farming popular, and not to associate it with 

 the idea of unpaid or involuntary work of the hands. 

 — Daily Times. 



