ft I,, hii.no. a*. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



189 



i-nnt striii;; in it, — for small ones, tlie silver 

 with a liorse-liair in it, is best, 

 hen ii chicken lias been cut, it is necessary 

 e letting it run, to put a ;)ernianent marl: up- 

 otlierwise it would be impossible to dislin- 

 I it from otiiers not cut. I have been accus- 

 d to cut off the outside or the inside toe of the 

 oot — by this means I can distinguish them at 

 tance. 



is very common, soon after the operation, for 

 hicken tn get wind in the side, when the 

 d is healini;, between the flesh and the skin ; 

 1 escape by making a small incision in the 



lose fowls make the finest capons which are 



ed early in the spring; they can thus be cut 



e the hot weather comes, which is a great ad- 



ige. 



ever attempt to cut a full-grown cock ; it is a 



S3 and cruel piece of curiosity. I have never 



n one to live. 

 ; nut discouraged with the first difficulties ; 



practice they will disappear; every season 

 ivill find yourself more expert, until the cut- 

 of a dozen fowls before breakfast, will he a 

 I matter. 



e object in giving publicity to this, is to have 

 narkets of Philadelphia well supplied with ca- 



: they have ever been esteemed one of the 



est delicacies, preserving the flaver and ten- 

 ess of the chicken, with the juicy maturity of 

 In the Paris and London markets, double 

 jrice of common poultry ia obtained for ca- 



/^A friend, sometime since, requested of us 

 5 information on the subject of making capons, 

 we publish the above article for his benefitand 

 rs. We would observe that if any one wishes 

 blain the instruments alluded to, we can pro- 

 Ihem through our agent in Philadelphia. We 

 hardly find it in our heart to recommend the 

 nice of caponizing under any circumstances ; 

 it is particularly objectionable when undertaken 

 inskilful hands. In a note to a communication 

 his subject, the editor of the Farmer's Cabinet 

 the following judicious suggestion, which we 

 ily approve : 



■ It would, we think, be advisable for every be- 

 ler to operate first and repeatedly upon a dead 

 I. Not only do our young and inexperienced 

 ;eon8, but tlin-ie also, who are elder and most 

 ful, when they have a difficult and important 

 ration to perform, prepare themselves immedi- 

 y for the case, by a thorough cxamioation over 

 Bad subject." 



lorse Raddish. — It is easy to have a supply of 

 se raddish all winter. Have a quantity grated 

 ile the root is in perfection, put it in bottles fill 

 fith vinegar, and keep it corked tight. 

 Vote. — It is very much improved by keeping it in 

 I way if kept from action of air. 



^ppU Poiton. — Several families in the vicinity 

 flaggerstown, Md., have suffered severely by poi- 

 communicated by eating npph butler preserved 

 letotarlkenpota. New ware should be well scal- 

 1 before it is used. 



Never carry your notes in your pocket-book, for 

 ! desk or trunk is a more appropriate place. 



ALTEIiN.VTION OF CROPS. 

 Alternation of crops is unquestionably one of 

 the best and most economical means of preserving 

 fertility and of increasing the profits of the farm. 

 All crops exhaust the soil more or less, of the gen- 

 eral elements of fertility, though all do not exhaust 

 to the same extent, nor do all exhaust it alike of 

 certain specilic properties. It is believed that eve- 

 ry plant requires a specific food, which other fami- 

 lies do not stand in need of, and which they do 

 not take up. This is evidenced by the fact that 

 wheat cannot be profitably grown on ordinary land 

 two successive years in the same soil, without a 

 great falling off in the product. And it is now 

 laid down as an axiom in good husbandry, that two 

 crops of any small grain should never be taken 

 from the same field in successive years, because 

 they draw too largely upon the same specific food. 

 But after an interval of four or five years, in which 

 grass and roots intervene the specific food of the 

 wheat crop hag so accumulated in the soil that 

 this grain may then he again profitably grown up- 

 on it. So with all other crops, not even except- 

 ing the grasses. The law of nature's change in 

 the products of a soil is so palpable, that in Flan- 

 ders and Holland, where flax is one of the profita- 

 ble staples, they do not think of cultivating this 

 crop upon the same ground oftener than once in 

 ten or twelve years. Our farmers, some of them, 

 seem to appreciate these truths in reference to til- 

 laje crops, without duly reflecting that they apply 

 as well to grain. Meadows, too, deteriorate ; in a 

 few years the finer grasses run out ; because the 

 soil becomes exhausted of the particular food which 

 affords them nourishment ; coarse or innutricious 

 plants take their place, and the herbage becomes 

 inferior in quality, and greatly diminished in quan- 

 tity. Upon an average, old established meadows 

 would yield double their present crops, if judicious- 

 ly alternated with grain and root crops. The 

 terms " suitably divided into meadow, plow, and 

 pasture lands," which are generally employed to 

 recommend larms on sale, are an indication of 

 bad husbandry, and very often betray the secret 

 which compels the owner to sell. Excepting in 

 very stony districts, every acre of land which will 

 produce good grasses, may, by being rendered dry 

 and rich, be mode to produce good grain and roots. 

 In the convertible system of husbandry, permanent 

 meadow or plow lands are almost unknown — every 

 field produces in turn, crops of grain, grass and 

 roots. 



There are three classes of crops which alternate 

 beneficially with each other, viz; — Ift, Grain or 

 corn, or dry crops, which ini-.ture their seed and 

 most exhaust the fertility of the soil ; 2d, Grass 

 crops : and 3d, Root or green crops, embracing 

 turnips, potatoes, beets, clove.?, &c. In old mead- 

 ows and pastures, not 0^,'iy the better grasses dis- 

 appear, and coar-'^;. Vjefbage and mosses come in, 

 but the ;mi becomes too compact and hard to ad- 

 mit the Tree extension of (he roots, and the genial 

 influence of the sun, dew, and atmosphere, which 

 are primary agents in the process of vegetable nu- 

 trition. Tillage corrects ihese evils. It clears 

 the soil of weeds, and converts them into sources 

 of fertility; it breaks and pulverizes the soil, and 

 fits it for the return of the grass crop at the close 

 of the rotation ; while the vegetable matters of the 

 sward contritnite to augment the grain or root crop 

 which ia to follow. All green crops are more or 

 less fertiJizu.i? when buried in the soil ; but clover 



is to be preferred, aa well on account of its enrich- 

 ing properties to the soil, as that it also affords hay 

 and pasture. The practice of sowing clover seed 

 with grain crops is adopted by some fanners every 

 year. Judge Buel followed this plan, but he plow- 

 ed his field the following year. The food which 

 this clover affords to the coming crop, richly com- 

 pensates the cost of the seed and sowing, to say 

 nothing of tlio pasture it gives in autumn. Hence 

 tillage is admirably calculated to fit and prepare 

 the ground for grass — while grass, in return, di- 

 rectly or indirectly, furnishes an abundance of food 

 for grain or roots. The fertility of a soil depends 

 essentially upon its powor to absorb water by co- 

 hesive attraction, and this power depends, in a 

 great measure, upon the state or division of its 

 parts — the more divided they are, the greater is 

 their absorbent power. The crop upon a hard, 

 compact soil, will suffer from drought ; but if this 

 soil is finely pulverized and ^roken, it will suffer 

 much less. The first ^ii^Hk compared to the 

 rock, which receives moistl^^Kon its surface on- 

 ly ; the latter to the spon^^which receives and 

 transmits moisture to its whole mass, and which 

 retains it for a long time. — Piscatitijnis Farmer, 



PEACH TREES. 



We copy the following from the Louisville Jour- 

 nal : 



Messrs. Editors — I recollect seeing, a short time 

 ago, in some one of the agricultural papers, an ar- 

 ticle about peach trees, recommending to cut 

 them down or dig them up, when affected with the 

 yellows. This prescription is like cutting the 

 throat of a sick animal, fearing lest it should die 

 of the disease. If the cause of the yellows is re- 

 moved, and the sick animal cured by proper reme- 

 dies, natural health is restored to each. 



The only enemy of the peach, as I believe, is a 

 small whitish worm, with a brown head, about an 

 inch and a quarter long. Destroy the worm in any 

 way you may, and the health of the tree is restored. 



I have some Heath peach trees, obtained from 

 Mr Wm. Morton, of Lexington, Ky., which are now 

 more than twenty years old. From neglect, they 

 occasionally have had the yellows, but destroy their 

 enemy, and the health of the tree is restored. 

 Scoop the earth from about the root of the tree, ao 

 as to form a bowl 8 or 9 inches deep ; the tree in 

 the centre ; the bowl to be 18 to 24 inches across ; 

 do this about the first of September ; let it remain 

 so until the first of December ; then fill the bowl 

 level with wood ashes; I have used leached ashes 

 with uniform success; 1 have no doubt that lime 

 will do as well or better than ashes. By exposing 

 the roots to tlie sun and air, the propagation of the 

 worm is checked : it gives birds (particularly a kind 

 of wood-pecker or sap-sucker,) a chance to pick 

 them out. If the first attempt does not relieve the 

 trees, repeat it ; search for the worms and destroy 

 them, or the trees cannot flourish. My old trees 

 are as healthy at this time as young trees can be. 

 Your ob't serv't, 



LEWIS SANDERS. 



Essex Jgrieullural Fair for 1844.— We are 

 glad to loam, (savs the Salem Register,) that the 

 next annual e.Mhibition of the Essex Agricultural 

 Society will be bolden at Ipswich. It is several 

 years since this part of the county has been thus 

 honored, and we think the citizens here will mani- 

 fest a great interest in the exhibition. 



