AND 



VOl^. X.1II. NO. bO. 



p^^^hicl. emanate from decaying animal and 

 vegetable matter, instead of permitting them to 

 pass into, and contaminate the air he breathes, 

 causes the ..tmosphere to be healthy, and supphes 

 his crops with an invaluable food— J. Mc '■, "' 

 the London Gardener's Chronicle. 



From the Loudon Gardener's Chronicle. 



EXPERIMENTS WI-HI DIFKERENT MA- 

 ' NURES ON THE POTATO CROP. 

 The fMlowing experiments on the application of 

 various manures to the potato crop, ^vere tned last 

 season, and as the mode of culture adopted differs 

 from the usual practice, a few words ot e.xplauatmn 



HORTICULTURAL REG ISTER. 



395 



THE BIRDS AND THEIR USEFULNESS. 

 ".iudi Atleram Partem" 

 (r7»Wc were perfectly astounded upon reading 

 the following remarks by the worthy and much re- 

 spected editor of the IJos.on Courier. While we 

 hardly dare to controvert what he says in respect 

 to the robin's characteristics, we must express our 

 surprise that we should have so Ion? cnlcrtmned a 

 belief which the editor of the Courier considers 

 fallacious. But our friend Bucking-ham generally 

 looks well to the strength of his armament before 

 he commences an attack, and ho may be as well 

 fortified in this case as usual. Let him not, how. 

 ever, think to escape without a shot from some quar- 

 ter The robin's friends are legion, and we anxious- 



' ' Our 



e ,1.0 i.ainl nriiclice a tew WOrOS 01 tApiai"".'"" ler. 1 nu luum o ■■■-•• -o 



nTh s bSt' ne essary. The land was of ,y waitto see what defence they can make 

 on that buujeci are iiei. ; „ „„^„.„„.i„ _„•..,:„„„ „,„ ;„ fnvor of the birds— bul 



on tnat soujci,i a,^ ••-- j- _ j . 1 



very superior quality, consisting ot a moderately 

 tenacious clay, through which a considerable por- 

 tion of an impure carbonate of lime is interspersed. 

 It had been previously many years in grass. 1 lie 

 potatoes were planted on the 15th of April. The 

 ridaes were five feet wide, five sets being placed 

 across the ridges, being thus nearly a foot distant 

 across, and nearly eighteen inches m the other di- 

 rection. These were covered about three inches 

 deep with the earth out of the furrows. Before 



prejudices are in favor of the birds— but, "/a< 



j,istHia, raal c<Eium"— let justice be done, &.c. : 



From the Boston Courier. 



"The popular impression that robins and other 



birds feed upon caterpillars and canker-worms, we 



believe to be entirely unfounded. What a robin 



nii.ht do, in case he should be in extraordinary 



hun.er, we do not know. We have often seen 



birds eat the long red worm, which is bo plenti uI 



in wet. black mould, usually called the angle- 



the youn- shoots had reached the surface through _^^^ ^^^^^ „.^^^g „hich live in the earth 



their covering, the various manures were spread on ^^^ ^^^^^^._^^^ ^^_^g ^^ it, 3,„f„ce in search of 

 the surface, in the proportions stated below. An ■ ■ • 



additional covering of earth, two inches deep was 

 then put over the ridges. The application of he 

 manures and the covering of earth took place the 

 same day, on the 20th of May. «" '"e loth of 

 June the .'spaces between the rows across the ridg- 

 es were loosened by the hoe and drawn up to the 



ailU bUliicmi'v.-' " - — 



food, or to breathe the upper air ; but we have nev- 

 er seen one eat a caterpillar, a canker-worm, or 

 any other worm that infests the branches of trees 

 or the tops of other vegetables. We haye w..tched 

 pretty carefully, the operations both ot birds and 

 worms for a number of years. Robins and cat- 



2 cwt. 

 2 cwt. 

 2 cwt. 



, 8 cwt. 



Produce per acre. 

 Tons. Cwt. 



19 11 



16 

 15 

 17 



13 



19 



5 



15 



14 

 10 

 13 



17 

 3 



10 



exhibits the results : — 



Kind of manure. Quantity per acre 



G"»""' ,« T\ 



Bone du=f, 18 bush. 



Nitrate of soda, 

 Nitrate of potash, 

 Muriate of ammonia. 

 Salt and quick-limo, 

 in equal quantities 

 Farm-yard manure, 10 tons, 

 No manure applied. 



The farm-yard manure was that of the preceding 

 season, which had remained over in the yard, and 

 was well decomposed. Each of the other ma 

 „ures was mixed with a small PorUon of dried 

 earth a lew days before being applied. The com- 

 mon salt was obtained from a provision store, and 

 contained a considerable portion of animal matter, 

 asblood and pieces of fat, though its effects in com 

 bination with the lime, were not very great. Phe 

 whole of the manures applied were successful, ir^ 

 so far as having considerably overpaid the original 

 outlay. Another circumstance I may here men- 

 Tn as worthy of observation :-The produce of 

 two equal portions of the crop to which no nianure 

 had been applied, the earth in one case having 

 been hoed between the plants and J-wn up o 

 their stems, and the other not, showed clearly the 

 advanta<re of the former treatment, the difference 

 rn^TodJcebeingno less than on^toii^and^tliree 



quarters per acre. 



fruit on which the bird can feed ; and yet, who ever 

 saw a robin eat a caterpillar ? We expect, as 

 soon, to see a caterpillar make his dinner upon a 

 robin. 



The robin is truly an exceedingly pleasant com- 

 panion. His song is the most cheerful of any, al- 

 ways excepting that of that merry chatterer, the 

 bob-o.link ; and he gives us a concert every day 

 through half the year. But his concerts are not 

 -Tiven^ratis. He contrives to get his pay for tfie 

 Tvhole season in cherry time. He is the most bo d 

 and arrant swindler that walks on two legs. He 

 is a hypocritical, uncivil, unprincipled, unchristian- 

 like thief. He sings among the branches of your 

 cherry tree, and then steals your cherries, or makes 

 a dive at your strawberries. He is a dainty ras- 

 cal too, for he seldom takes a whole cherry. He 

 'only pecks off the side next the sun, as soon as it 

 begins to turn red, leaving the remainder to perish, 

 unfit to be eaten by man or bird. 



We have no canker-worms within our borders- 

 no thanks to the robins ; and the few caterpillars 

 that ventured upon our trees, we have destroyed 

 without the aid of birds, to whom the intrusion of 

 the worms was doubtless a matter of indifference. 



THE SYCAMORES. 

 A friend residing in the town of Dedham, has 

 made a discovery in relation to this noble tree, and 

 the cause of their decline in health and strength, 

 which of late years has excited so much mutual in- 

 quiry and investigation. We copy port of a hasty 

 note received from this gemleman on Saturday, 

 and hope that the investigation which he has un- 

 dertfiken, may yet be further pursued. He writes : 

 "Do you find anything in your ' exchanges ' 

 about the sick sycamores this year ? \ closely 111- 

 vesti-'ated the state of our old buttonwnods at Ded- 

 ham,'"last week, and I think I have made a discov- 

 ery, of which, if no one else speaks, 1 will tell the 

 Transcript. Fiosls, according to what I havo 

 seen have nothing to do with it. The proofa 

 seem' to me indubitable, that an insect (say a sin- 

 <Tle insect to a dozen leaves or more) of the Rose 

 Aphis size, or perhaps a little larger, by poisoning 

 the leaf-stalk, gradually causes the leaf itself to 

 shrivel, as I have observed, though no frost be nigh. 

 I think I cannot be mistaken, for with mine owii 

 eyes 1 have seen the enemy, and I have remarked 

 the partially embrowned stem, too, from which de- 

 pended the as yet perfect leaf, whilst, near by, 

 others had begun to wither, having their foot- 

 stalks seemingly fully empoisoned. Thus, of 

 course, the growth of the tree is checked, save, 

 indeed, at //,e top, where there is always the great- 

 est vitror, and where the most powerful head-cur- 

 rent (il- I may so call it) of sap, sets the work of 

 the envious and malignant poisoner at defiance. 

 This effect has been remarked during the two or 

 three past summers, and it is again clearly visible 

 all over the country, and even on Boston Common. 

 At Dedham, by the way, it should be stated, that 

 we liavehad no frosts, save enough once or twice to 

 whiten the meadows a little, since the leaf-buds 

 bean to expand, which they did most freely, 

 though late, and the time they took to do it, is not 

 to be wondered at, when we consider how much 

 two or three years of suffering has weakened the 

 poor trees."— Best. Transcript. 



There are no gains without pams.— Franklin. 



.S(rat/;6fiTiVs.— Great efforts are making in the 

 western coumry to perfect the culture of the straw- 

 berry Mr Culbertslon, of Kentucky, residing on 

 the banks of the Licking river, keeps (50 hands con- 

 stantly employed in picking strawberries, and sends 

 125 bushels daily to the Cincinnati market— «ost. 

 Trans. [A large story, that.] 



Value of Agricultural Papers.— Mr Alexander 

 McDonald, in the American Agriculturist, says : 

 " I have been a subscriber to agricultural papers 

 for more than 20 years, and have paid for them 

 over $100; and though I cultivate but a smal 

 farm, I am fully convinced that I have never laid 

 out money, as a farmer, that has yielded me the 

 same interest as that invested in the purchase of 

 these valuable journals. It is not that a farmer 

 can in such works learn everything he may want 

 to know, or that he will be told every thing that re- 

 lates to his every-day business ; but one of the 

 crreatest advantages to be derived from their peru- 

 sal is, the turning the mind to reflection- the cau- 

 tions given— the suggestions^^ hinted at— and the 

 general principles inculcated." 



The Ctdture of Pumpkins and Squaslies on Grass 

 land, is spoken of in Mr Ellsworth's report as an 

 excellent mode. Holes wore dug and filled with 

 manure proper for vines, and the seed planted. 

 The vines did not begin to run till after the grass 

 was mowed for hay. By the time the meadow was 

 wanted for fall pasture, the squashes were fit to be 

 taken from the vines. The product indicated that 

 an acre, of 'JO hills, planted by this mode, would 

 give about 18 tons of pumpkins or squashes. 



