102 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



SEPT. ar, 184: 



AMI HORTICULTURAL RK6ISTER. 



BosTO», Wednesdat, Sept. 27, 1843. 



EDITOR'S FAREWELL. 



My good wishes for ihn New England Farmer and 

 the imerests to which it is devoted, will remain as 

 strong, I trust, in future, as they Imve been for tlie last 

 three years, though I am no longer editor. This change 

 is ent rely voluntary on my part, and is made with per- 

 fect good feeling and friomlship tnward*tlie worlhy Pub- 

 lishers, Messrs. Joseph J3reck & Co. My cornertinn 

 with the paper has been in all respects pleasant ; and 

 now in leaving the charge of it, I fervently desire the 

 prosperity and happiness of the publishers and printers, 

 and can freely commend ihera for integrity, prompiness, 

 and gentlemanly deportment. 



My time in future will probably be devoted mostly to 

 active business, which will prevent my following up a 

 course of agricultural reading, with any thing like regu- 

 larity. But I trust that I shall be able, as I am disposed, 

 to contribute something to the columns of the Farmer. 

 I lake leave of my readers as Editor, but expect yet to 

 give them my thoughts and opinions, from time to time, 

 as a contributor. And 1 will here ask all the friends of 

 this, the oldest agricultural paper in New England, to 

 be liberal in their contributions to Air Breck. This pa- 

 per, in the hands of ray predecessors, was made liighly 

 instructive and useful. Its back volumes are the best 

 history eilant of New England Agriculture. I wil' 

 hope that the numbers of the last two years and an half, 

 are not so meagre and deficient as to badly blot the pa- 

 ges that went before, and make the paper unworthy of 

 continuance. The paper will go on, and it is to be 

 hoped that it will be the organ through which the sound 

 practical farmers and the men of science will communi- 

 cate their knowledge to the public. " Esto perpctua"— 

 may it live and flourish forever. 



To the editors and publishers of our exchange papers, 

 I owe, and gladly pay, my thanks, fur many friendly 

 notices and favors, ftlay tliey all use wisely and rever- 

 ently the power they have to direct and control public 

 opinion and to form public character. May usefulness 

 guide them on their way, and pmsperity follow upon 

 their footsteps. From the pens of Mr Gaylord, of the 

 Albnny Cultivator, and of Mr Allen, of the American 

 Agriculturist, there have recently come unexpected no- 

 tices of my editorial labors, for which I wish publicly to 

 thank them. Mr Gaylord ranks first among the practi- 

 cal agricultural writers of the country ; and the Albany 

 Cultivator has not its equal among the agricultural jour- 

 nals in the United Slates. I will not conceal ii, that 

 praise from such a source was sweet to me. Long may 

 his pen continue to give its wise and discreet counsels 

 and instructions. Mr Allen, too, holds a strong and 

 vigorous pen, and produces a valuable paper— one that 

 is doitig a good work. I thank him, too, for what he 

 has said of me, and give him my best wishes. 



During the earlier, and also in the latter part of my 

 editorial term, the claims of the bereaved or of the sick 

 among my near kindred, have made large demands upon 

 my time, and tlie paper has sufl'ered in consequence. I 

 do not claim to have performed lully and well tlio du- 

 ties of Editor;— certainly I have fallen much below my 

 own conception of what should be done. But I am not 

 here censuring my own labors alone ; for renj few of 

 the papers of the day are any where near as good as they 

 should be. 



I do leava the editorial chair in the conviction that 

 thepageaof the Farmer, while under my supervision, 



have been kept as free from malter offensive to good 

 morals, good t.isic, common sense, and praclic.il husband- 

 ry, as most other papers— much more so than many of 

 thern. 



In taking a retrospect of my editorial career, I find on- 

 ly a little that 1 should wish to undo— but much, very 

 much, has been omitted. Now that other hands are to 

 take the place of mine, I donbl not that more will be 

 done, and that the subscribers to the Farmer will re- 

 ceive a better supply of instruction from week to week, 

 than I have been accustomed to furnish them. 



To all subscribers and friends, I wish skill, perseve- 

 rance, and success, in cultivating both the material and 

 ibe spiritual soil— and that from the one they may reap 

 abundantly of the best of earth's perishing fruits, and 

 that from the other they may pluck the imperishable 

 flowers of virtue and holiness. 



ALLEN PUTNAM. 



SEEDLING PEARS, 

 Among the varied productions upon the Horticultural 

 Society's table on Saturday last, were two varieties of 

 Seedling Pears, from Mr D. AVilbur, jr., of Somerset, 

 Bristol eounty, both worlhy of general cultivation. One 

 variety called the Early Wilbur, of superior fiavor ; 

 somewhat larger than the Seckel, of a brownish russet 

 color; flesh melting, with a very small core. The oth- 

 er variety, called the Hull Pear, is a very desirable 

 fruit ; melting ; full of juice ; of a Larger size than the 

 Andrews ; and would compare well with the Bartlett in 

 excellence, but of different flavor. We are glad to be- 

 come acquainled with any new variety of superior Pears 

 which have been produced in our own climate, as, no 

 doubt, they will prove bett.r bearers and more hardy 

 than many of the foreign sons. We hope to obtain 

 some of the scions in the proper season. J. B. 



SEEDLING GRAPE. 



The members of the Horticultural Society were agree- 

 ably surprised at the close of their exhibition on Satur- 

 day, by the presentation of a cutting, on which were 

 three fine bunches of seedling Grapes, from Mrs. Cre- 

 hore, of Quincy, which were pronounced by those who 

 were present to taste, to be superior lo the Isabella, Ca- 

 tawba, or any other seedling nalive grape yet produced 

 in our country, that has been tested in this vicinity. 

 One essential quality of this grape is its early maturity, 

 being now in eating, although we think in a week's' 

 more time the flavor would be improved. The size of 

 the berry is about the same as the Isabella; sweet and 

 juicy, with very little pulp ; color similar to the Cataw- 

 ba; bunches full. This accession to our collection of 

 fruits, was received with much enthusiasm. To be in 

 possession of a grape which matures before the frosts, 

 and at the s.ame time of superior flavor and better qualil 

 ty than the Isabella, is a very important desideratum. 



J. B. 



(HTAt a meeting of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, held Sept. 23d, 1843, the President in the chair, 

 it was — 



lotcd, 1 hat the thanks of this Society be presented 

 to the adics and gentlemen who so generously contrib- 

 ute.! plants, flowers and fruits to the fifteenth Annual 

 Lxhibition of the Society. 



Fotnl, That the thanks of this Society fee presented 

 to I hi> Cornmiitee of Arrangements, and particularly to 

 Nimiiel Walker, Esq., the chairman, for the manner in 

 which they execuicd their duly, in the decoration of 

 till' llail, and oiher arrang-ments, which added so much 

 to tlie interesl of the Socieiy's exhibition. 



KBEN. WIGHT, lice. Scc'ry. 



OHIO VINEYARDS. 



We have a! I heard of the vineyards of Mr Longwotj 

 in the neighborhood of Cincinnati. The Cincinrl 

 Gazette jrives the following account of other succesJ 

 plantations of the vine in the same region : j 



" We lately visited the vineyards and orchards of 

 John K. Mottier,al Delhi township, four miles bel. 

 the city. His place comprises about eighty acres, ai 

 13 situated on one of the niinieious beautiful, breezy hii 

 that skirt the Ohio above and below the city. Mr ; 

 has paid particular attention to the culture of cho 

 fruits, particularly the grape. He has six acres who 

 devoted to grape-vines, and a more beautiful sight of I 

 kind never met our eye. The vines are planted out 

 hills, in rows, the roots being three feel distant frc 

 each other, and the rows six feet apart. The vines 

 one vineyard are thirteen years old, and in another or 

 four. They are trained to posts seven and a halt f 

 high, and intertwined from hill lo hill. He finds loc 

 posts most durable, and when firmly set in ihe groui 

 they will support the enormous crop of grapes and 1, 

 for many years without resetting. 



Mr M. cultivates none but Ameri. an varieties whi 

 are hardy, and of course need no proleclion in the w 

 ter. He runs a plow or cultivator between the ro 

 once or twice during the season, to keep the wee 

 down and the earth light and in good order. 



The vineyard v^as commenced in 1829, and the vir 

 began to yield fair returns in two and ihree years, a 

 during the whole period he has lost but a single cr 

 from the efl^ect of frost, drought, or any other cause. I 

 finds a norlhern exposure preferable to a southern,!, 

 vines on the latter somolimes sufl'ering partially fro 

 spring frosis, but never in a northern. The Swiss vin 

 dres,sers tell us that in Switzerland and Germany, 

 they save the crops of three years out of five, lb, 

 think they do well. 



About fifteen hundred gallons of wine were made la 

 year, for which he finds ready sale at one dollar n g: 

 Ion. The Calawba affords a white wine, in good rcpu 

 with connoisseurs, resembling Rhenish ; the Ca| 

 grape makes a red wine, more like Burgundy. H 

 vines this year ai e in a very promising slate, and shnu 

 nothing untoward occur, he thinks will yield him fro 

 two to four ihousand gallons of wine to the acre. 



Mr M, is also largely engaged in Ihe culture of strav 

 berries, and sold last summer about five thousand quart 

 We noticed, also, a small cluster of the common an 

 Spanish chestnut. Of the former, he has many tw 

 years old from the seed planted by himself— also, peca 

 nut trees, basket and golden willow, (used in trainin 

 his grape.vines,) cedars from the seed, allheas, rose, 

 and a variety of ornamental young trees and shrubberj 

 There are, besides this, some half dozen other simila 

 vineyards crowning the hills about the city, and thos 

 of our citizens who have not looked into the mallei 

 will be surprised at the amount of American wine mad 

 here ; and the preparations for extending the businessc 

 chiefly by Germans from the valley of the Rhine." 



Qj'The report of the Horticultural exhibition of Sat 

 urday last, is unavoidably postponed until ne.\t week 

 A large portion of this week's paper is devoted to ih. 

 report of the Society's annual exhibition, which we sup 

 pose will be dry pieking. As the N. E. Farmer is gen 

 erally— we hope always— preserved and bound up, thes. 

 reports will be valuable for future reference. 



Wm. Carmichael, Esq., of Maryland, raised this yea) 

 upon twenty acres of land, one thousand and twenlysij 

 bushels of Mcditeranean wheat, being a fraction below 

 51 1-2 bushels to the acre. 



