346 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



fares of life, a being of beauty and power — capa- 

 ble of grasping the mysteries of the universe, 

 and of holding converse with the stars. It was 

 of such materials that the armies were formed 

 which won at Cressy, at Agincourt, and at Wa- 

 terloo ; and it was with seamen taken in part 

 from the same degraded class, that the fleets 

 which won imperishable glory to the cross of St. 

 George at Campei-down, and at Trafalgar, were 

 manned ! For the American farmer there is a 

 future radiant with glorious promise. He feels 

 that he is a man, and capable of verifying, by his 

 character and deeds, the truth of the poetical 

 axiom, that 



"A bold yeomanry is a country's pride," 



and that to be restricted in thought and opinion, 

 and confined in activity by ignorance, is a spe- 

 cies of mental serfdom at variance with the in- 

 stincts of his nature, and antagonistic to the 

 principles of that freedom which is one of the 

 chief guarantees and safeguards of the govern- 

 ment under which he lives. No man enjoys bet- 

 ter advantages for mental improvement than the 

 farmer, and by no class of men, as a general 

 thing, perhaps, are these advantages turned to 

 more profitable account. The multiplication of 

 text-books and even of exhaustive works on the 

 sciences immediately connected with agriculture, 

 and the institution of societies, clubs and public 

 lectures — all designed for the promotion of the 

 chief interests of the art — bring within his reach 

 all the means that can reasonably be desired. 



Knowledge thus brought to his fireside, must 

 liave a most salutary influence, and, in time, be 

 productive of great good, by elevating the mind, 

 strengthening the understanding, and purifying 

 the afl'ections which link together in indissoluble 

 bonds, the great brotherhood of man. 



"Corruption in the great mass of cultivators," 

 •says Jefferson, "is a phenomenon of which no 

 age or nation has presented an instance." Of all 

 men the farmer has the best opportunity to culti- 

 vate his taste and improve his mind by study. 

 The long winter evenings, and occasional hours 

 for relaxation from labor through the year, afford 

 ample time for this, and for this purpose they 

 will by most persons, be improved. The cultiva- 

 tion of the mind is of greater importance than 

 the cultivation of the soil, so far as solid enjoy- 

 ment and genuine happiness are involved. 



Skippers, &C. — To exterminate skippers and 

 •eggs make a strong decoction of elder leaves and 

 young twigs, and immerse the ham into it, boil- 

 ing hot, for a minute or two. No bad taste or 

 flavor is given the meat, while insect and egg is 

 utterly destroyed. Applied cold it will be found 

 just as eff'ective on the live animal. The leaves 



and twigs scattered about a room, and renewed as 

 they become dry, will drive out roaches and other 

 kindred insects. I have driven ground-moles 

 from particular beds in my garden, when trouble- 

 some, by inserting green leaves in their back 

 paths. 



CULTIVATION OF OUR NATIVE PINES. 



The White pine, (Pinus Strobus,) called in 

 England the Weymouth pine, was one of the first 

 American trees introduced into that country, 

 where it has always been highly prized as an or- 

 namental tree. It has been more thoroughly ap- 

 preciated in England than in America ; but no 

 person doubts its value, either to be planted as a 

 timber or forest tree, or as an ornamental append- 

 age to one's estate. According to Gen. Dear- 

 horn, who devoted a great deal of attention to 

 tree culture, "the cones of the White pine must 

 be gathered early in autumn, as the scales open 

 about the first of October, when the seeds are re- 

 leased, which being furnished with a membranous 

 wing, are speedily scattered by the winds to a 

 great distance. The cones when collected should 

 be laid in some dry place, where the scales will 

 open, and the seeds can then be easily shaken 

 out." 



The time for sowing them is when the ground 

 is first open in the spring, which is usually about 

 the first part of April, on beds of well pulverized 

 soil. They may be planted still earlier than this 

 in pots, which can be placed in any change of sit- 

 uation that may be required. In England it is 

 usual to cover the young plants with nets to pre- 

 vent birds from picking off" the tops of the little 

 seedlings while the husks of the seeds are upon 

 them ; also to screen them from the heat of the 

 sun. The young plants should be kept quite 

 clean, and occasionally watered in a careful man- 

 ner, so as not to deluge them and harden the 

 earth round about them. If they come up too 

 close, the plants should be thinned out in sum- 

 mer, and the surplus removed to a separate bed, 

 protected by shade, and watered freely but care- 

 fully. They should be set in rows, four or five 

 inches apart, with about the same distance be- 

 tween the rows. 



When the plants are a year old, they should 

 be transferred to other rows in the nursery, about 

 two feet apart, and the same distance between the 

 rows. Here it is customary to let them remain, 

 until they are to be planted out. The best time 

 for planting them out in our climate is during the 

 first half of May. It is advisable not to allow 

 them to attain a considerable size before they are 

 planted out, as the smaller the plants, if not too 

 small, the better they succeed. When large 

 plantations are to be made, it is best to raise the 

 plants on portions of the same ground, as it 

 somewhat retards their growth to suflTer a com- 

 plete change of soil. It is also beneficial to their 

 growth to transplant them once in two years, as 

 by this process they obtain better roots, and ac- 

 quire, by habit, the power of sustaining the ope- 

 ration with impunity, so that they may be after- 

 wards transplanted into any soil with complete 

 success. In all cases, when transplanting them, 

 care should be taken not to cut or wound any 

 portion either of the roots or branches. — Hovei/s 

 Magazine. 



