AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



VOI<. XVITLl 



PUK!JSHED BV JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NOKTH MARKET STREET, (Agricultural Wabehouse.) 

 BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 28, 1S39. 



[NO. 8. 



N. E. FARMER. 



NOTICES OF FARMS— MINUTES 3Y THE 



WAY, &c. 

 ybtke of the Farm of E. Phinney, Esq., concluded. 

 The orchard on this farm is equal if not Biiperi- 

 or to any ne have seen. It contains from 400 to 

 500 trees, principally Baldwins, Russets, and Rhode 

 Island Greenings. It produced a very abundant 

 crop last year, but this year there is scarcely an 

 apple upon it. It was planted somewhere about 14 

 or 15 years since. The soil is g'cnerally a light 

 rich loam, upon a gravelly, and in some places a 

 rocky foundation. The trees were taken from the 

 nursery in autumn, and placed intrenches until the 

 following spring. They were planted near the 

 surface, and in many instances, upon the surface, 

 without digging any holes, and the dirt placed up- 

 on the roots. The orchard is situated on a side 

 hill, having a south and southeast exposure. Many 

 of the trees were severely injured by the hard win- 

 ters of 18ij5and '36, which caused the destruction 

 of some of them. Their places have since been 

 supplied with young trees. The mice injured some 

 of the tree.- a number of years since, by gnawing 

 the bark, so that in soirio cases the trees were com- 

 pletely girdled, and to all appearance lost. At in- 

 genious method was devised to save them. Hav- 

 ing prepared some large scions, five or six of them 

 were inserted in each tree below the wounds in the 

 bark, and tlien connected with bark above 'i.j ,h.i 

 com.-Ecn operation of side grafting : in this • way 

 the sap was conducted from the roots to tlie top 

 and the trees saved. We saw some of the trees 

 thus operated upon : the scions had increased to 

 the diameter of 3 or 4 inches, and had nearly come 

 in contact with each other : we should doubt, how- 

 ever, whether the trees would be long lived, as 

 the old wood must be unsound, and an early decay 

 must be the consequence. The trees appeared 

 now as vigorous as any of their neighbors. The 

 orchard has never been laid down to grass, but kept 

 in constant cultivation. The trees are finely shap- 

 ed, having been pruned with a skilful hand, and 

 just high enough from the ground to ivork under 

 without inconvenience : the trees are about two 

 rods apart : in some places they nearly cover the 

 ground. We do not remember how many barrels 



at 10 to 12 cents per pound. The crop was. said 

 not to be so heavy this year, but to us it appeared 

 very great. There is also a small house where 

 the more delicious foreign grapes are grown. 



The plums had suffered severely from the curcu- 

 lio, and most of the trees had lost their fruit. — 

 There is a disease upon the currant bush, which 

 we have noticed in many other places as well as on 

 this. The bush lo.ses its leaves prematurely, and 

 the fruit becomes withered and worthless. We 

 have in vain sought for the cause. Can any of 

 our readers inform us, and prescribe a remedy .■' — 

 The vegetable garden is large and well stocked 

 with every variety : what is not consumed in the 

 family is marketed or fed to the swine. 



Mr Phinney has taken great pains to improve 

 his breed of swine, and probably there are none su- 

 perior in the State. As we have a promise from 

 him of a description of his pigs and piggery for the 

 N. E. Farmer, we shall not enlarge upon this sub- 

 ject. He prefers a cross of the Berkshire and 

 Mackey to any other, and most of his pigs for 

 slaughter are of this description. He has tho full 

 blooded Berkshire, .Mackey and other breeds, and 

 mixes to suit himself. We noticed a sow iatfely 

 imported from England, called the Essex half blackr 

 the hinder part of the animal is jet black, and the 

 forward half white. There are some good points 

 about her, and she may prove a valuable acquisition 

 to his stock : not having recovered frorh her sea 

 voyage, she doe.s not np|oar now a< ^he will aftsr e 

 few weeks of good keeping. There is an old sow 

 here, quite an object of curiosity, (we do not rec- 

 ollect the breed,) that weighs 900 lbs., a monstrous 

 overgrown animal: she had been turned out of her 

 pen to enjoy her liberty a little, which she did not 

 however, seem to appreciate much, as all the room 

 she wanted appeared to be enough to turn round 

 and lie down upon. She looks as though she might 

 be the parent of a most numerous offspring, but we 

 understood she was without issue, having appar- 

 ently no inclination to form an intimacy with the 

 other sex. '1 he number of swine is about 140, the 

 care of which employs one man constantly. 



The barns and other buildings for the accommo- 

 dation of stock are convenient and comfortable, 

 with sufficient room for the hay and grain produced 

 on the farm. About 100 tons of hav are cut an- 



the quantity of meadow manure. One cord of this 

 composition is considered about equal to one cord 

 of stable manure alone. 



In making our observations upon this place, we 

 feel as if it was not in our power to do it justice, 

 as v/e spent but a few hours upon it. Ev( ry part 

 of it sliows, that by ssience, industry and skill, it 

 has been rendered worthy of being ranked among 

 the first of well cultivated farms in New England, 

 and its proprietor worthy of all praise for the lauda- 

 ble example he has set for the imitation of his ag- 

 ricultural brethren. 



JK'otice of Improvements nn the Farm of Col. Ahel 

 Moore, Concord, Mass. 



The traveller who has been accustomed to pass 

 from Boston to Concord by the old road or turnpike, 

 has, without doubt, noticed the large tract of mead- 

 ow lands southeast of the village, which a few 

 years ago was an unproductive waste, or large por- 

 tions of it, and still there remains much to be sub- 

 dued ; yet those who have an eye upon agricultur- 

 al iii:f rovements, must have observed with pleas- 

 ure, that every year encroachments have been made 

 upon these unproductive grounds by the hands of 

 fhe cnitivator, and the land which was considered 

 nearly worthless, producing nothing but alders, 

 dogwoof!, branches, skunk cabbage and other use- 

 less trash, is now burdened with heavy crops of 

 grass, corn, oats, &c. 



FaRaing up tlie turnpike from Lexington to Con- 

 dl.ttf"^ were struck with the vast differencn he- 

 tween that which had been subdued, and that which 

 was in its natural state, as they were divided only 

 by a ditch. Finding this part of the meadow be- 

 longed to Col. Moore, we called upon him, and 

 were politely asked to look over his farm. He 

 owns a large tract of this meadow, which with some 

 dry, gravelly hills to the north, amounts to about 

 230 acres, all in one body. He informed us that 

 he had 30 acres of reclaimed meadow, which for a 

 grass or any other crop, he was not afraid to com- 

 pare with any 30 acres in the coimty of Middlesex, 

 that might be selected from one or a dozen differ- 

 ent farms. This we thought to be a strong asser- 

 tion, but from what we saw of his grounds, and the 

 crop secured in the barn, cannot see how it is pos- 

 sible to obtain larger crops than he has. He cut 

 last vear from 84 rods of this meadow, by actual 



