AND HORTICULTURAL RE G I S T E R . 



T?7.vrxr 



PUBMSHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. B2 NOKTH MARKET STREET, (AoEicotTOBAi- Wabeuoose.), , ^, . ,^ .„ ,,, ,„ ^,„ 



XXII.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 10, 1844. 



r.KO. 41. 



N . E. FARMER 



For tlia New England Farmer. 



HOW TO RAISE PLUMS. 



■ In llifl last number of the New Genesso 



er, tliore is an excellent entnrnolojtical article 

 echaiacier and habits of the eurculio — i de- 

 lve insect, that destroys piiiins before they 

 ilf developed. In conseijuenco of the insidu- 

 nd instinctive operations of the plum-weevil, 

 ind of Iriiit is really very dear in New Eni;- 

 nnd unless some certain method is speedily 

 ;d for protecting the tree from the depreda- 

 of this insect, good plums cannot be raised. 

 8Ve had some experience in regard to the in- 

 ;e of a marine atmosphere iu warding' off the 

 <s of the eurculio, — and am disposed to be- 

 tlml islands on the Atlantic shore, are dccid- 

 ihe best places for planting plum trees. Many 

 niTo, an old estate was demolished in Sum- 

 treet, the garden of which had several old 

 trees. The executor made me a present of 

 f them, if taken immediately away. The 

 id was frozen hard, and the roots necessarily 

 very compnclly secured in a perfect wheel of 

 -1 ea.th. In a word, the trees were in a pro- 

 winter slumber, and in that condition trans- 

 d in a boat to Rainsford island, down the har- 

 Being well set out, in the spring they awoke, 

 Mr Irving's Dutchman, from a long sleep, with- 

 eing at all conscious of a change of locality. 

 • blossomed fully, and bore a tremendous crop 

 h, luscious fruit, and have continued to do so 

 ' year since, undisturbed by the weevil. Last 

 m, Ihe wind shook off the plums when about 

 grown, but the eurculio seems not to have an 

 ng place where the atmosphere is iinpregna- 

 vith salt as strongly as it is on islands. A 

 ! number of young, thrifty trees, of different 

 »ties, are now doing exceedingly well at the 

 I place. But the great point is, the successful 

 iV3tinn of the plum in the interior — or in fact, 

 ly where. 



the early part of last August, I was invited 



.•amine Judge Longworlh's celebrated garden, 



le city of Cincinnati. Mr Longworth, the son, 



kindly pointed out objects of most interest, as 



assed along. By and by we came to a cluster 



II bearing plum trees. The sight was quite 



rent from the scanty crops 1 had been accus- 



d to see in the neighborhood of Boston. He 



irked that for years in succession, although 



blossomed splendidly, the young fruit had in- 



ibly been ruined by the eurculio, and not a 



men, therefore, of the true fruit could be ob- 



;d. Utterly discouraged with such positive 



uck, a brick pavement that extended from the 



le, near the trees, was carried out entirely be- 



1 them, for convenient purposes ; but had not 



I done before, for fear of injuring or interfering 



the functions of those particular trees. As 



had not perfected their fruit, owing to the un- 



itted annual visitations of the eurculio, nothing 



to bo lost by carrying out ilia bricks quite be- 



yond them. They were spared, in fact, as I un- 



derstood it, merely because they were grown and 

 ornnmental, not on account of their productive 

 qualities. 



The year following, to- their astonishment, they 

 ripened a splendid yield of plums, and have con- 

 tinued to produce in the same way ever since. 



Mr Lonjworth assured me that the eurculio, the 

 habits of which he had philosophically investigated, 

 would not venture upon a tree, from whence, when 

 they dropped, they could not instantly burrow in 

 the earth. Again — under a pavement they never 

 concealed themselves. In a word, they assuredly 

 avoid a tree thus murally protected. 



Accidentally, therefore, a sure mode of keeping 

 off Ihe plum-weevil has been discovered, that is 

 effectual in Cincinnati ; and the same laws enforced 

 in Massachusetts, v.rould unquestionably produce 

 the same gratifying results. At nil events, the 

 process is exceedingly simple, and within the reach 

 of every fanner and gardener. He must be ex- 

 ceedingly deficient in conslrucliveness, who cannot 

 pave round the trunk of a tree with flat stones or 

 brick — the outer border of which should exti-nd as 

 far as the limbs happen to spread. 



Hoping, Mr Editor, that these observations may 

 lead some of your readers to imitate the plan I have 

 been describing, it would afford me unfeigned 

 gratification to ascertain at some future day, that 

 the plum trees of this region have been made profit- 

 able by my suggesiions. 



Very respectfully, vour ob't serv't, 



J. V. C. SMITH. 



Boston, April 'id, 1844. 



(JJ=Dr. Smith has our thanks for the above com- 

 munication, divulging facts whose importance can 

 be best appreciated by those who have suffered by 

 the destructive eurculio, — and they are many. The 

 preventive described by Dr. S. is certainly worthy 

 of trial, and should it prove successful, one of the 

 greatest evils the fruit-grower has to encounter, 

 will have been subjected to his control. — Ed. 



see the experiment tried, but had no expectation 

 of any thing but a loss of seed, labor and soil. But 

 imagine my astonishment, (notwilJistanding a drier 

 season never was known, and almost a universal 

 failure of garden vcgrtnbles,) when I briield vines 

 remarkably thrifty, anil as fine s crop of cucum- 

 bers as any one could wish to raise, and they con- 

 tinued to bear for an iintisunlly long liin<\ I will 

 not philosophize on thu subject — but say to all, 

 try It; and instead of throwing your ashra away, 

 apply it where it wiH be of use, and you will reap 



a rich reward Ohio Firmer . 



Upon the foregoing, the editor of the MaineCuI- 

 tivatorsays: "We last season made trial of the 

 above plan, and found it to succeed admirably." 



Ewes and Lambs. — A difficulty is sometimes 

 experienced in making ewes own their lunjbs, and 

 oflener, perhaps, when cases of twin lair.Iis occur 

 shan at any other times. Those who de^^ire tp 

 rear all their lambs may find a benefit in sprinkling 

 a little fine salt over the disowned ones. This 

 will usually attract the mother, and when once 

 the operation of licking has been performed, there 

 is seldom any danger of desertion. A friend as- 

 sures us he has practiced this method with .iocided 

 success, and no injury to the lambs may be appre- 

 hended from the application. Sheep, whou about 

 to lamb, should be moved and disturbed aa little a» 

 possible, as all such disturbances, especially with 

 young or wild ewes, greatly increase Uie proba- 

 bility of their forsaking their young.— Jlnrahire 

 (Eng.) Agriculturist,. , . 



CULTURE OF THE CUCUMBER. 

 I will state a fact relatise to the planting of cu- 

 cumbers, which came under my observation, and 

 which is worthy of being known. I shall at least 

 give a further trial myself of its reality; though I 

 cannot conceive there is a doflbT rtraiiining on the 

 subject. Last spring, a friend of mine and myself 

 were planting cucumbers at the same tiiiic. I was 

 planting mine, as is usual, in gardens, by mixing 

 a small portion of stable manure with the earth, 

 and raising the hill an inch or two above the sur- 

 face of the ground. Observing It, he jocosely re- 

 marked, "Let me show you how to raise cucum- 

 bers." Never having much luck in raising them, I 

 cheerfully agreed to his proposition. He com- 

 menced by making holes in the earth, at the dis- 

 tance intended for the hills, that would hold about 

 a peck— he then tilled them with dry leached ashes, 

 covering the ashes with a very small quantity of 

 earth. The seed were then planted on a level 

 with the surface of the ground. I was willing to 



[mportance of Co-operation beltoeen th<^ Farm^ 

 and Chei'iist. — We believe that l.y far the greatest 

 obstacle to the advancement of scientific agricul- 

 ture liitherto, has been the want of cooperation be- 

 tween the farmer and the chemist. Each has tried 

 to move forward alone ; and we may aptly apply 

 to them the well-known story of the lame and the 

 blind, neither of whom alone could proceed with 

 safety, but when united arm in arm, the defects of 

 each were fully compensated for by the superior 

 advantages of the other. Thus the fanner, from 

 his knowledge of practice, is enabled to progress in 

 any given direction ; but, from his want of ac- 

 quaintance with the fundamental principles of his 

 art, may be justly considered blind; whereas the 

 chemist, however clearly he may see the end to be 

 attained, makes but a very lame progression, owing 

 to his ignorance of practice. Let the twr) but con- 

 sent to become mutually dependent, ami, proceed- 

 ing arm-in arm, the assured step of the wcll-prac- 

 ticed farmer will he guided in the right way by the 

 clear-sighted knowledge of the enlightened chemist.: 

 — Dr. Madden. 



For Candles. — Take 2 lbs. of alum for every 10 

 lbs. of tallow ; dissolve it in water before the tal- 

 low is put in, and then melt the tallow in the alum 

 water, with frequent stirring, and it will clarify 

 and harden the tallow so as to make a most beau- 

 tiful candle. — Selected. 



