s 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aobicoltoral Wabbhouse.) 



. XXII.l 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 18, 1843. 



[NO. 16. 



N . E. FARMER. 



IL-STORM INSURANCE COMPANIES. 



"Iiesc, to us, are something new under the sun, 

 it a|)iioars by lale files of tlie Murk-lane Ex- 

 s, lliat they are no novelty in England, 

 ho Fanners' and Gardeners' Hail-Storni Insii- 

 :e Company," announce in that paper, " that all 

 ms upon thcni caused by the late terrific and 

 mitous hail-storm, "'ill be paid in the month of 

 ■ember," &c. This paper contains ]ong ac- 

 nts, occupying a number of columns, giving the 

 lils of one of the most awful and destructive 

 -storms which has visited that country for the 



century. So destructive was it to the crops 

 he districts over which it passed, that one cor- 

 JonilcMt says that it is probable the injury will 

 elt upon'tlie naticual grain market. In some 

 les the ice fell in large lump.<!, and proved alike 

 tractive to the crops and the glass windows. 

 ces of it were picked up weighing from two to 

 e pounds, pointed and jagged. The gardens 



orchards, the trees, fruits and flowers, gave 

 jle testimony of the violence of the storm. 

 ny farmers and gardeners will be completely 

 1C(I, but others, more thoughtful and fortunate, 

 p the benefit of having the damage done to their 

 ps and glass made good by the Hail-Storm In- 

 ance Company. 



This to us Feems odd, but why not insure against 

 1 as well as fire ? Instances are not unfrequent 

 en tlje crops are seriously injured if not destroy- 

 by hail, and oftentimes the loss bears hard upon 

 lividuais who depend upon a plentiful harvest for 

 • supp'irt of their family, and in case of a visita- 

 n of this kind, it would be very comforting to 

 ve the loss repaid. 



We are not going to recommend an association 

 this description, for we do not believe all our 

 ider.i are insured against fire, and this should be 

 ended to first, but it might prove a mutual beiie- 

 to those who have long ranges of green-house 

 16S, as well as farmers and others. 



The editor of the Southern Farmer gives the fol- 

 ding report of the conversation at a farmers' club 

 Richmond : 



"Tni: CcRiNG of Clover Hat. — Here we 

 id a diversity of opinion. One member of the 

 jb is an extensive and well-known hay-grower, 

 d his views accordingly commanded great attcn- 

 in. He premised by saying, that he conceived 

 e great object to be to cure as much with the 

 r, am! as little with the sun, as possible ; his 

 acticc was, to commence cutting just when the 

 ossoms began to turn brown ; after permitting it 

 lie in the swath about a couple of hours, he 

 agged three swaths together, thereby forming a 

 inrow, in whi^h the clover was permitted to re- 

 ain twentyfour hours longer ; it was then put up 

 to large shocks, which, as soon as they were svif- 

 :icntly cured, were carted to the barn or stack, 

 hese general rules were, however, much modified 

 ^ the weather. There was no portion of the far- 



mer's business that required the eye and critical 

 judgment of the master more than the curing of 

 clovsr hay. Seasons would sometimes come, in 

 which, in spite of the greatest care and precaution, 

 it would bo impossible to save the crop, except in 

 a very injured condition. This gentleman staled 

 that as good clover-hay as he had ever seen, he 

 had known to bo cured by stacking it, as fast as it 

 was cut, around two poles or rails, in such a man- 

 ner, that when they were drawn out, a perfect vent 

 would be left, by which the air might circulate 

 freely through the stack : in this manner, the hay 

 was soon sufficiently cured without losing a parti- 

 cle of its fine green color. Another gentleman 

 here remarked, that upon the same principle he 

 had frequently known clover in now lands to be 

 piled upon the stumps, and he fell assured that 

 any plan which might be used to enable the air to 

 circulate freely through a large mass, would afford 

 the means of curing clover-hay with the least pos- 

 sible degree of risk or labor. 



Another gentleman stated, that from a friend in 

 the county of Loudon, he had obtained the follow- 

 ing mode, which he had practiced for several years 

 with great success. In the evening he threw into 

 large cocks whatever hay had been cut during the 

 day; by 10 o'clock next morning, lie would find 

 the heap in a high degree of heat; he would then 

 throw it open and spread it, in which state he 

 would leave it for an hour or two, when he would 

 proceed to stack or house it. 



It was stated by another member, thai in the 

 valley of Virginia, which is as celebrated for the 

 quality as for the quantity of its hay, it was the 

 universal practice to permit the clover to lie in the 

 swath, as it was cut, for twentyfour hours ; it was 

 ihfn turned bottom upwards, and thus exposed for 

 an hour longer, when it was considered sufficiently 

 cured to be carted to the house, where it was salt- 

 ed in the layer, a gallon of salt being used to 

 about a wagon-load of clover. In that tection of 

 country, it was never considered fit to be cut until 

 at least half the blossoms had turned brown and 

 died. 



Another gentleman stated that last year he had 

 put in practice a plan that he had learned in Il- 

 linois, where it universally obtained. This was 

 simply to carry the hay as it was cut, and pack it 

 green, taking care to salt the layers as it was put 

 up. Layers of straw, if it could be conveniently 

 had, were interposed between the layers of hay. 

 Although in his experiment he had lost a small 

 portion of the bottom of his heap, in consequence 

 of his having packed it too close by trampling, the 

 balance was cured in a very superior manner, and 

 he was satisfied that when properly conducted, it 

 was the very best and cheapest mode of curing 

 clover hay. 



The better to settle the various questions that 

 arose both with respect to the corn and hay, par- 

 ticular members were selected by the club, and 

 requested to institute a set of experiments the next 

 season, and report the result as soon as practica- 

 ble. From the character of the individuals Bclecl- 

 ed, we hope hereafter to obtain information that 



will go far to set at re=t the contradictory opinions 

 on these subjects, which now divide the agricultu- 

 ral world." 



nVii/ is Ihert no Frost in a Cloudy .\'iglU ? — The 

 remark is frequently made that "there will bo no 

 frost tonight, for it is too cloudy." A correspon- 

 dent thus explains this phenomenon, so familiar to 

 all, but the why and wherefore of which few have 

 taken the trouble to ascertain : 



All bodies emit heat in proportion as they con- 

 tain it: two bodies of equal temperature placed 

 besiile each other will mutually give and receive 

 equal quantities of heat — therefore one will not 

 gain of the other. But a piece of ice placed in a 

 warm room, will receive much more heat from the 

 surrounding objects than it imparts, it will there- 

 fore gain in temperature and melt. The earth, 

 during the day receives much more heat from the 

 sun than it imparts to the surrounding space in tho 

 same time. But during a clear night, the surface 

 of the earth is constantly parting with its heal and 

 receiving none ; the consequence is, that it be- 

 comes so cold that the humidity contained in the 

 surrounding air, becomes condensed, and attaches 

 itself to objects in the form of i/ei*, in the same 

 manner that a tumbler or a pitcher containing cold 

 water, " sweats," as it is called, in a hot day — the 

 surface ie cooled by the water, and this surface 

 condenses tlie humidity of the contiguous air. If 

 the surface of the earth, after the formation of dew, 

 loses heat enough to bring it to the freezing point, 

 the dew becomes frozen and we have a frost. But 

 if it be cloudy, then the heat, radiating from the 

 earth, will be received by the clouds, and by them 

 the greater portion of it will be returned to the 

 earth : thus the surface of the earth very nearly 

 retains its temperature, which not only prevents a 

 frost, but almost always prevents even the forma- 

 tion of dew. — Kewmk Daily Mv. 



Brush Corn. — Brush corn is much cultivated, 

 and with success, in some towns on the Connecti- 

 cut river, in Massachusetts. The amount produced 

 on one acre, varies from eight hundred to one thou- 

 sand pounds, besides sixty or seventy bushels of 

 seed. The brush is said to be worth four or five 

 cents per pound ; in 1837, it was worth twelve and 

 a half cents per pound. The seed on an acre, at 

 thirtythree cents a bushel, is said to be equal to a 

 crop of oats. In Northampton and its vicinity, not 

 less than one thousand three hundred acres are 

 thus cultivated, worth, for the brush and seed, 

 $100,000. The seed usually weighs 40 pounds 

 per bushel. The manufacture of brooms in the 

 small town of Hadley, Mass., is estimated at $1C0,- 

 000 annually ; one man made 80,000 brooms in a 

 year. To a limited extent, this culture of tho 

 broom corn and its manufacture, might be yet more 

 extensively engaged in with advantage. The pro- 

 cess of cultivation is siniilar to lliat of maize or 

 Indian corn. — Berkskirt Far. 



It is 272 years since potatoes were introduced 

 into Europe. 



