1. XXI1.no. 35. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



275 



d there was no account of its first use ; but 

 icollccted having his attention first called to 



the scriptures, where it was stated that when 

 irophet Elijah called upon Elisha, he found 

 plowing with 12 yoke of oxen; upon which 

 ige a Dutch cominentator made the remark, 

 "no wonder Elisha was willing to quit plow- 

 br prophecying, if it required 12 yoke of oxen 

 ow his land." 



r Allen, of Pembroke, said farmers were not 

 rally flush in funds, and it would not do for 



to purchase every new implement that was 

 id: he had suffered somewhat by so doing, 

 .ool house was full, and he had begun to slack 



He had tried long and short plows, and found 

 lort one ran easiest, but the long one turned 

 attest. He uses the triangular [harrow, but 

 not like to have one used much on his ground. 

 ) rollers, he thought one made of a hard-wood 

 'as the best : he had one of that description 

 h had been in use 17 years. He considered 

 oiler a great improvement, and should recom- 



all farmers to use it. The care of tools and 

 iments is of great importance, but his practice 

 ntrary to his doctrine ; for, although he has 

 five barns, all his carts and implements are 

 11 housed. Tools work belter when cleaned 

 lOused after using, as they would be free 

 rust. 



; had a different opinion of the value of the 

 -rake from the gentleman who had spoken of 

 He thought their general use would lead to a 

 ess way of making hay. He had seen a man 

 rkshire county, who cut 100 tons with the as- 

 icc of three boys only. How he contrived to 

 it, he knew not; but he found he let it lay in 

 swarth until it was made, and then drew 

 ether hastily with the horse-rake, and as he 

 jht, must be carted into the barn in a slate not 



favorable for the quality of the hay. He 

 ;ht the ra4(ing was but a small part of tlie la- 

 ■f haying. 



■ Gardner, of Seekonk, was satisfied that the 

 !-rake saves him the labor of four hands if not 

 t. 



r B. V. French said the Chair was under a 

 .ke in regard to the introduction of the subsoil 

 : ho had one which he had used with much 

 fit for a number of years. He stirs the ground 

 8 depth of 17 to 20 inches deep. It was stated 

 iglond, that there was no soil but what was 

 filed by the use of it. In Scotland, where it 

 )een extensively used in connexion with thor- 

 draining, they now obtain DO bushels of oats, 

 e before only 30 bushels to the acre was an 

 ige harvest. 



dtlihlt Ink. — The milk which exudes from the 

 :hes of sumach, is the best indelible ink that 

 )e used. Break oflTone of the stems that sup- 

 the leaves, and write what may bo wanted 

 it. In a short time it becomes a beautiful 

 lack, and can never be washed out Selected. 



Seory. — A fact not understood, is of little value 

 r possessor. It is the explannlion belonging 

 which gives it importance. It is idle, there- 

 to oppose all theory — for theory is but the ex- 

 ion of causes in operation ; and it is imposei- 

 (jr a thinking being not to theorize, to some 

 It, upon every process passing in bis view. — 

 Oarlington. 



From the Farmer's Cabinet. 



DISEASE IN PEARS. 

 A general complaint has often been reiterated 

 that our finest kinds of pears burst and become 

 leathery when they are full grown, and instead 

 of ripening and furnishing a tender, buttery fruit 

 of delicious flavour and delicate texture, they be- 

 come black, tough, and worthless. U'his disease 

 attacks only those of the finest and most deiicnie 

 kinds: the coarse and inferior varieties are free 

 from it. It prevails only, so far as my observa- 

 tion goes, with old, or the older trees that are 

 pretty well grown ; the fruit of young trees that 

 are in the vigor of their growth and expansion, 

 and whoso lops bear a much larger proportion to 

 their roots, seem to be free from it. From which 

 I infer, that those trees whoso roots have penetra- 

 ted far and wide,- and deep in the soil, take up a 

 larger quantity of sap than they can dispose of 

 profitably, during the suspension of the growth of 

 the branches ; and after the pears have acquired 

 nearly their natural size, those of a delicate tex- 

 ture give way to the inward pressure, and are split 

 and spoiled, or greatly injured, while the more 

 coarse, tough and hardy descriptions, resist the 

 pressure, and are uninjured from this cause. If 

 the above theory should be found correct, the rem- 

 edy for the cure of the disease would sseni to be, 

 to trim the roots moderately, early in the spring of 

 the year, and particularly the tap root, or those 

 roots that pass more directly downwards where the 

 most moisture is found. I have seen much benefit 

 arise from pruning the roots of a pear tree belong, 

 ing to a friend, which every year since has produ- 

 ced an abundance of fruit of the finest quality, and 

 which has always taken a premium when exhibited 

 at the Horticultural Society; it is true the pru- 

 ning was done, not with the view of cutting the 

 roots, but of burying a lilack cat directly under the 

 boll of the tree, in compliance with a superstitious 

 suggestion made by an ignorant person, to bring it 

 into bearinif. The fact was, that the black cat, or 

 the cutting of the tap roots, which is more proba- 

 ble, brought the tree into luxuriant bearing, and it 

 has continued so for many years past. The great 

 benefits of ploughing an orchard, and by that 

 means cutting the roots, has often been noticed in 

 the increased quantity and quality of the fruit. 

 Mcintosh, an EHglish horticulturist of celebrity, 

 who recently wrote an interesting work on fruit 

 trees, says : " Pruning the roots is one of the ma- 

 ny modes of treatment practised on unproductive 

 and too luxuriant-growing pear trees ; and although 

 an old practice, does not appear to have been so 

 generally attended to as it deserves. This species 

 of pruning may be advantageuusly employed in the 

 case of trees which are sickly or diseased, owing 

 to their roots penetrating into a wet, cold, or other- 

 wise uncongenial subsoil, and also when the roots 

 penetrate too deeply even into a good or over rich 

 soil. In the former case are produced canker, 

 cracking of the bark and skin of the fruit, which 

 latter also becomes stony or gritty." 



The idea prevalent of latter years, that pear 

 trees should be grown in an undisturbed grass sod, 

 to keep the roots as cool as possible, as a preven- 

 tive of the fire blight, may have led us into an op- 

 posite error, by which the cracking and spoiling of 

 the fruit has been brought about, that is now so 

 much complained of: for when the sod is undis- 

 turbed, the roots remain untrimined, whereas for- 

 merly, pear trees of the finer kinds, being often 



grown in gardens, were dug about and tlie roots 

 more or less cut every year, and the disease now 

 complained of, was comparatively rare, if at all 

 known. Be this as it may, let the experiment be 

 cfTectually made the coming spring, of digging un- 

 der and trimming off' the tap, and some of the other 

 downward roots of the Butter pear trees, that hare 

 heretofore had their fruit burst and spoiled, and 

 those who make the trial, I hope will communicate 

 the result through the pages of the Cabinet. Should 

 any choose to bury a black cat underneath the tree 

 I shall not object; but let the trial be made on 

 some of the trees in the plain way, without piissey, 

 so that we may learn which way is be.<t, and know 

 whether the sacrifce is absolutely essential to pro- 

 duce the desired result. Poma. 



STRAWBERRIES. 

 I noticed a piece in a late number of your paper, 

 upon the cultivation of strawberries, in which the 

 writer appears to doubt whether there are male and 

 female plants. It is known to botanists that all 

 the plants of strawberries have both male and fe- 

 male organs upon each flower. But upon one plant 

 the male organs will so predominate that it will 

 rarely bear any fruit ; this for practical purposes, I 



call the male plant. It is easily distinguished, 



is a larger, stronger plant ; has larger and rougher 

 flowers than the other : all the runners from it pro- 

 duce the same kind of plants, with the like kind of 

 flowers. The male plant being stronger and not 

 reduced by bearing, spreads rapidly over the ground 

 and smothers the bearing plants, and the strawber- 

 ry bed becomes barren. Where strawberry beds 

 are mixed in this way, with barren and productive 

 plants, it certainly can be told when they are in 

 bloom, what parts of the bed will bear. Let those 

 U'ho would have productive strawberry beds, not ne- 

 glect to set out a majority of female plants, whatever 

 may be said to the contrary. One male to a doz- 

 en females may be sufiicicnt. Mr Longworth, of 

 Cincinnati, 1 think, first called the attention of the 

 public to the above facts. I have known them for 

 about twenty years, and have had productive beds. 

 I have seen beds where a single female flower 

 could not be found : and in the season for fruit, 

 twenty strawberries could not be found upon a rod 

 of ground. S. D. Martin. 



Colbyville, Kentucky, Jan. 1844. 



Premium Corn Crop. — The following statement 

 is from the Reports of the Kennebeck Co. Agricul. 

 Society, published in the Maine Farmer: 



" The land on which the crop was grown, had 

 been mown eight years in succession, producing, 

 when broken up, about one ton of hay to the acre. 

 In the spring of '43, about 5 cords of manure were 

 fpread on and harrowed in: 3 cords of it rotten 

 barn-yard manure, and 2 heap manure. The ground 

 was then furrowed, and three cords of hog-manure, 

 composed of mud or muck, potato tops and weeds, 

 was put in the hill, and mixed with a little dirt: the 

 corn was then dropped and covered. It received 

 two hoeings. 



I gathered 75 bushels of sound corn from one 

 acre. The soil is a clayey loam. In addition, I 

 raised about three bushels of beans. 



ninlhrop, Dec. 1843. E. C. Smkll. 



A woman came to a printing oflace to beg a pa- 

 per, "Because," said she, " we like to read the pa- 

 pers very much, but our neighbors do 7i'l take none." 



