AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 62 NORTH MARKET STREET, (AoRicniTOBAt Wabehoosk.) 



Jl.. XMT.l 



BOSTON, WEDNKSDAY EVENING, JUNE 19, 1844. 



[NO. 51. 



N . E. FARMER, 



From Ihe Albany Cullivalor. 



" KNOWLEDGE IS POWER." 



Never waa lliis imiUo more signally illuslrated 

 an in the advantages derived by intelligent far- 

 ers from the aid of science. Even a slight nc- 

 inintanoe with chemistry and geology, is produc- 

 /e of prgfit to the pocket, ns well as pleasure to 

 mind. 



Yim may be somewhat surprised to find me 

 rming on the hard soil of Connecticut, instead of 

 aching mathematics in a ship of war," said a 

 ortliy friend to me lately ; '' I am somewhat siir- 

 ised at the transition myself," he continued ; " but 

 le truth is, that upon leaving the ship on a visit 

 imeward, I bought a copy of Liebig's newly pub- 

 ished book about Agricultural Chemistry, for the 

 urpiise of reading on my journey ; and so much 

 as I instructed and entertained, that I de'.ermined 

 ) take hold of the old farm once more, and en- 

 eavor to practice on the doctrines taught by that 

 ;ientific Gorman. I have done so for a couple of 

 ears, and the result niore than realizes my expec- 

 itions. I'y economy in increasing the quantity 

 nd improving the quality of manures, and by ap- 

 lying more manure and better cultivation, our 

 orn crop is more than doubled — aye, almost tre- 

 iled ; our potato crop is much improved in (]uality, 

 nd greatly in quantity ; and our meadows pro- 

 luco hay enough to leave a handsome surplus, 

 vhere formerly the cattle we now keep would have 

 bund rather 'short commons.' But the greatest 

 mprovement in reference to the cattle and niea- 

 iows, results from adopting the plan which I saw 

 Tientioiied in the Cultivator, as pursued by Hon. 

 Fosiah Q,uinc_v, of Massachusetts. The old stone 

 fences running through our farm, were a nuisance 

 :n my siglit, forming ready harbors for noxious ver- 

 min and weeds, besides occupying considerable 

 ground. I determined to follow the Qiiincy fash- 

 ion, (and those Quincies have many good traits 

 about them,) by soiling our cattle, and thus render- 

 ing division fences needless. I thus keep the cat- 

 tle in better order on the products of much less 

 land, and save additional quantities of manure that 

 would alone pay me for all the trouble I have in 

 housing the animals. By under-draining, I have 

 reclaimed considerable marshy land, making it 

 now productive; and the peat-bog of twelve acres, 

 formerly a mere nuisance, is now one of the most 

 valuable parts of our farm — furnishing us with 

 abundant material to throw into our hog-pen and 

 cnwyard, for forming compost, in connexion with 

 an occasional sprinkling of lime to promote decom- 

 position. I should not forget that even the weeds 

 with which the old farm was infested, are now 

 made tributary to the improved mode of cultivation ; 



some well-meaning doubters, who are always slow 

 of faith,) are now satisfied there is something in it 

 less ridiculous than tliey formerly supposed. So, 

 with this brief account of myself, since you last 

 met me on board the line-of-baltle ship, do you 

 wonder that I have now relumed with increased 

 interest to Ihe (dd farm, where I learnt to plow in 

 the same fields that were cultivated b/ my ances- 

 tors, from the early settlement of Connecticut ?" 



.^3 one of the multiplying evidences of the bene- 

 ficial results of agricultural publications — as an 

 example worthy of imitation by many of our far- 

 mers, young and old — the foregoing sketch is at 

 your service — in the hope that young men who are 

 inclined to abandon farming in the hope of better 

 fortune otherwise, will at least '' rtail, reflect and 

 jui/^re," before they abandon their farms, however 

 " worn out" or unprofitable those farms may have 

 been. Farmers who practice on such doctrines, 

 have little need of crossing the Rocky Mountains 

 in search of lands in Oregon. Ruo. 



injured, and yielded an abundant crop of remarka- 

 ble sound, ripe corn." — ^Ib. Cull. 



PRESERVATION OP CORN FROM FROST. 

 Mr S. N. Hawes, of Shoreham, Vt., relates a 

 remarkable case of the exemption of a piece of 

 corn from frost, which he thinks is to be attributed 

 to the plentiful use of long barn-yard manure, in 

 connexion with the stalks of a crop of corn which 

 had grown on the ground the year before — the 

 whole having been plowed into the soil. He says : 



"I plowed deep, strewing the old crop of stalks 

 in the furrows and covering the whole entire. I 

 had a raiik and extra growth of a large kind, which 

 required a longer time to mature; and some of the 

 last days of August or first of September, the earli- 

 est ears had commenced hardening, when we had 

 one of the severest frosts I ever witnessed at that 

 season of the year. I had much anxiety respect- 

 ing my corn crop, which I visited early in the 

 morning; but the crackling of the frozen grass at 

 every footstep, prepared my mind to behold it in 

 ruins. Yet determined to know the worst, I 

 pressed on, mounted the fence, which surrounded 

 it, and to my surprise, not a panicle of frost was 

 visible upon it ! 1 looked around upon everp side ; 

 all bore a wintry aspect. I looked again upon the 

 crop before me ; it bore the appearance of having 

 been wet by a gentle but profuse shower. I sprang 

 over the fence, determined to pass through it ; but 

 ere I had pone half a dozen rods, was glad to re- 

 treat, and before I could effect it, was completely 

 drenched. I again remounted the fence, where I 

 could take a view of every sije : it was alike sur- 

 rounded by a heavy frost. As I stood pondering 

 upon the apparent phenomenon, the fact flashed 

 upon my mind, that the process of decomposition 

 from tie extra quantity of long manure, particu- 

 larly the old crop of stalks, was still going on to 



POINTS OF A HORSE. 



It was formerly said that a horse should have 

 three qualities of a woman, three of an ox, tlireeof 

 a mule, three of a deer, three of a wolt', three of a 

 sheep, three of a fox, three of a cat, and three of a 

 snake. Mr Hooper, of the We.«tern Farmer and 

 Gardener, gives the following interpretation of 

 this, t'rom Denton Otfut, the animal manager : 



"Three points of a woman — deep chest, full 

 bosom, long hair. Three of an ox — eye, nostril, 

 joints. Of a mule — hoof, strength, perseverance. 

 Of a deer — head, legs, hair lays well. Of a wolf — 

 breast, loin, lope. Of a sheep — face, patience, 

 mildness. Of a fox — ear, tail, foot. Of a cat — 

 walk, action, leap. Of a snake — sight, memory, 

 and moulting." 



Offut, whose name is mentioned above, we are 

 told, is much distinguished in Kentucky, for liia 

 success in taming animals. Hia rule, (as given 

 in the Farmer & Gardener,) seems to be simple 

 and rational. His first object is to confine the 

 animals in a small space. Then approach them 

 slowly and quietly — induce them to eat salt from 

 the hand — rub them oil over with the [hands 

 — always moving the hand with the direction of 

 the hair — speak softly and soothingly to them, rub- 

 bing them at the same time about the face and 

 head. Feed them only moderately, so that they 

 may be always ready to take food and water. 

 Never strike them a blow. 



To prevent a horse from lying down in harness, 

 ho says, "tie him down with a rope, so that lie 

 cannot get up, and keep him so ten hours. Then 

 let him get up, and work him for an hour. Give 

 him water from your hand, and feed him; this 

 tends to make him like you, removes fear, and re- 

 stores confidence." 



for, cut frequently,, (as all weeds should be, till that degree that the heat completely counteracted 

 they are exterminated,) they form material for ad- the action of the frost. Near the middle of Ihe 

 ditional nianure, when drawn into the hog-pen or day, (which was extremely warm and clear,) 1 trav- 

 cow-house for litter. It is satisfactory to find that elled a mile in length, visiting every field on the 

 many in our neighborhood, who at first smiled m- same level w,th my own, and all without dislinc- 

 creduously at my notions of book-fcrming, (and also ! 'ion w^^fe entirely destroyed. Mine remained un- 



GUANO. 



The British papers represent the guano business 

 to be about the best going. A vessel of .5(10 tons 

 was ten weeks on ita passage to Africa, seven in 

 loading, and nine in roUirning to Liverpool. The 

 guano itself cost nothing. The proceeds of the 

 cargo were £4,000, or $20,000 ; the expenses, 

 $2000. A British man-of-war has been ordered 

 to the coast of Africa, for the protection of this 

 trade. — Boston Post. 



The scientific and enterprising agriculturists of 

 Europe, are availing themselves of every artificial 

 expedient to make their land productive : they ac- 

 cumulate tlie refuse and ofial of the world for this 

 noble purpose. Several years ago, we remember 

 to have read that the bones of the thousands slain 

 at Waterloo, which were consuming by exposure 

 to the open air, were collecled and shipped to 

 Great Britain, there to be ground into powder and 

 useil as manure. Liquid nianure, the drainings 

 from stables and cow. pens, is the most valuable of 

 all manures ; yet there is not one farmer in twenty 

 in this country, who saves it. — Far. Month. Visitor. 



