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THE N E U GENESEE F A R M E R, 



Vol. 1, 



Culture of Fruit. 



Believing it will not be unacceptable to our rcaderoi 

 we purpose to devote a little space to remarks on some 

 of the varieties of fruit, witb the cultivation, propaga- 

 tion, diseases, and enemies to which they are subjec*. 

 With comparative few exceptions, almost nothing has 

 been done in thii region by farmers and others, to- 

 wards supplying themselves with the best kinds. We 

 have known very intelligent men, who did not seem 

 even to have ever seen the finest varieties, and who 

 cultivated largely very inferior ones, believing them to 

 be the best, known in the country. To introduce 

 more generally the finer fruits, and to facilitate their 

 culture, if our present object. 



Much is said of the prodiirtions.of tropical climates, 

 and of other countries; but there is every reason to 

 believe that the fruits of our own country, and of this 

 part of it, are not inferior to any. The reputation of 

 the fruits of other countries, is in a great measure ow- 

 ing to the privations and hunger of the travellers who 

 describe them. A keen appetite, rarely gratified, adds 

 greatly to the flavor of inferior productions. Our re- 

 sources at home, if but known, would be much more 

 highly appreciated than they now are. 



By a selection of proper varieties, good fruit may be 

 hod throughout the year; and during a large part of 

 the time many highly delicious ones will be afforded. 

 The apple alone, will fill the yearly circle, if early, 

 long keeping, and intermediate varieties, are properly 

 selected. Pears afford a succession of delicious fruit 

 through the latter part of summer and the whole of 

 autumn, andby alittle care, till spring. Pcaehesmay 

 k« made to furnish a constant supply from the middle 

 of summer till frost. Apricots ripen through the 

 course of one month or more in the middle of siun- 

 mer, furnishing a fruit but little inferior to the peach, 

 and at a season before the larger ones appear. Straic- 

 berries, raspberries, dierrics, and several others, fill up 

 the early part and middle of summer. 



We shall briefly notice a few, among many, of the 

 best and most desirable varieties. 



Among apples, the Yellow Harvest is one of the 

 best early varieties. When fully ripe, it is a yellow, 

 flattish apple, of medium size, somewhat acid, of a 

 fine flavor, and ripens about the time of our wheat 

 harvest. It is a good bearer, and should be in every 

 collection of fruit trees, however small. Woolman's 

 Early, is similar in shape, rather smaller, is shaded, 

 or clouded, (not striped) with purplish red, of a deli- 

 cate and rather breaking texture, and of a slightly acid 

 and agreeable, though not uncommonly rich flavor. — 

 The fruit ripens from wheat harvest until a month la- 

 ter; the ripe fruit is dielirtguished by a change of col- 

 or from green to red. The Early Sweet Bough ie 

 well known, and is one of our most valuable varieties, 

 not only on account of its great excellence, but its 

 uniform productiveness. Biiffingtm's Early ripens 

 two or three weeks after the Yellow Harvest, and is 

 remarkable for its delicate texture and its very fine 

 sub-acid flavor. It is flat, nearly white, with a very 

 slight blush next the sun. The Summer Queen is ra- 

 ther too acid for most palates, but is the best early ap- 

 ple for cooking, being of a remarkably rich flavor. It 

 is a good bearer, the fruit somewhat conical, and stri- 

 ped with orange-red. The Strawberry apple, which 

 ripens early in autumn, is unsurpassed by any apple 

 we have seen as a table fruit. It is very slightly acid, 

 of fine texture, juicy, and of an exceedingly agreeable 

 flavor. It is of medium size, its shape is oblong-coni- 

 cal, and is striped copiously with dark red. The Fall 

 Pippin is one of our finest autumn and early winter 

 apples, is often very large, weighing frequently a 

 pound, and in rare instances, has weighed nearly a 

 pound and a half. When ripe it is yellow, and of a 

 Am very slightly acid flavor. It is liable in unfavor- 



able seasons, to spots of mildew, which diminish its 

 size. The Spilzciihcrg, Rhode Island Greening, and 

 Tallman Siceeting, are well known, and are among 

 our best winter apples. The Svnur, though common, 

 is less known, and is hardly equalled in quality by any 

 winter apple. Many consider it superior to all oth- 

 ers. The Belljiower is of first rate excellence, quite 



acid, very rich in flavor. It is oblong, and conical at the 

 apex, yellow, and when well grown, rather large in 

 size. The flavor of the Newton Pippin is hardly 

 equal to many others, but it keeps well till spring, and 

 retains in a remarkable degree its freshness at that pe- 

 riod. The Roxbury Russet, though hardly of first 

 rate excellence, possesses eminently the quality of 

 keeping, and may be preserved without difliculty till 

 mid-summer. Those who wish to preserve apples a 

 long time, would find it much easier to procure and 

 raise this variety, than to waste their time and eflorla 

 in endeavoring to keep our more common varieties. 



The introduction of European apples into our coun- 

 try has proved in most cases of little value. Many 

 fine varieties appear to lose in a great degree their val- 

 Hible qualities, by the change of climate. A few, 

 however, among many imported varieties, wc have 

 found tobeexellent and worthy of cultivation. Among 

 these may be mentioned the Alexander s Gravenstcin, 

 and Ribston Pippin. But still they do not equal our 

 best native varieties. The Swaar and the Spitzcn- 

 berg still stand pre-eminent. 



Most of the varieties which we have just mentioned, 



are cultivated to a greater or less extent by many of 



our farmers. But the best among the peach, plum, 



cherry, &c. , appear almost wholly unknown to them. 



(To be Continued.) * 



Lettuce. 



CoEBETT, whom GouRLAY Stigmatized as "a quack 

 in every thing," was a shrewd, though often an inac- 

 curate, observer; and in reading bis "American Gar- 

 dener," we arc sometimes surprised at his reckless 

 blunders, and at other times pleased with the justness 

 of his remarks. His account of the Camellia proba- 

 bly betrays more ignorance than was ever shewn by 

 any other writer on gardening, within the same 

 space. 



Our object at present, however, is not to criticise 

 that work at large, but to notice his paragraph on Let- 

 tuce : — 



" This great article of the garden," he says, " is 

 milky, refreshing, and pleasanter to a majority of tastes 

 than any other plant, the Asparagus hardly excepted. 

 So necessary is it as the principal ingredient oiogood 

 salad, that it is, both in France and England, called 

 " ealad," by great numbers of people. It is good in 

 stcics ; good boiled with green peas; and even as a 

 dish boiled as cabbage is, it is an excellent vegetable." 



He continues; — "I never saw a really fine lettuce 

 in America. The obdtoclcs ore, the complete impos- 

 sibility of preserving plants of the fine sorts in the 

 natural ground during the winter; and the great heat 

 which will not sutler these sorts to learc, if they be 

 sowed in the natural ground in the spring." 



America ie as easily written perhaps, as any other 

 name of four syllables. Cobbett's knowledge of even 

 the United Slates, of which he speaks so familiarly, 

 appears chiefly to have been confined to narrow circles 

 round Philadelphia and New-York. The great heat of 

 our parching summers was an idea that seemed to haunt 

 him; and the long continued rains of a north-easter, 

 or the refreshing coolness of the west wind after a 

 thunder shower, appears not to have left a trace on 

 his memory. Good lettuce, however, may be grown 

 on land properly prepared and cultivated, at any time 

 from Spring till Autumn, inordinary seasons. It is a 

 fact capable of proof to every one who has eyes to ob- 

 serve the weather, that one of the principal defects of 

 our climate, is excessive moisture; and that from this 

 cause, our crops generally suffer much more than they 

 do from the opposite extreme. But Cobbett's notion 



is refuted by the following remark of Loudon's : — 



" The lettuce, unlike the cabbage and spinach, is a 

 vegetable which can be grown to as great perfection in 

 a warm, as in a temperate climate, provided it be grown 

 on rich soil, and abundantly supplied with water. — 

 Hence the lettuces of Paris, Home, and Calcutta, are 

 as large and as tender as those of London and Am- 

 sterdam." 



In speaking of Cos lettuce, Cobbett says, " When ' 

 you cut one of these from the stem, and pull off ita 

 leaves, you have a large lump of white enough for a . 

 salad for ten people. Every body knows how to sow 

 lettuce — seed along a drill in the spring, to let the 

 plants stand as thick as grass, and to cut it along with a 

 knife, and gather it up by bandfuls. But this ie not 

 lettuce. It is herbage, and really fit only for pigs and 

 cows. It is a raw, green Dandelion, and is not quite 

 so good." 



We should not have suspected, that lettuce by stand, 

 ing too thick, change into Dandelions I — yet we fully 

 agree that head lettuce is a superior article. To have 

 it early, the seed should be sown in a hot-bed; and as 

 soon as the danger from severe frosts is over, the 

 plants should be set out in a border thoroughly prepa- 

 red. Cobbett advises "not to put them in a place /uW 

 to the sun, but in the east border or the west border;" 

 and adds, " Be sure to make the ground rich." 



Loudon says, lettuce " is sown monthly, or oftener, 

 throughout the year, in order to have a successional 

 supply, and thinned out or transplanted to increase 

 the size and oucculency. The latter quality is greatly 

 increased by watering in summer; and blanching, an- 

 other desirable property, is promoted by tying up the 

 leaves when the plant has attained about two-thirds of 

 its usual size." In doing this, however, great care 

 should be taken not to break t>r bruise the leaves; and 

 not to tie them too tight which would cause them to 

 rot. Indeed, after giving them a curling form, they 

 can hardly be left too loose. 



We wish not to interfere with the prerogatives of 

 others, and hope that all our readers will eat lettuce in 

 the manner that is found most palatable, — whether with 

 sharp vinegar applied to the crisp leaf, or with cream 

 and gravy, previously applied in a scalding state. Our 

 method, however, varies a little from what we have 

 seeeneslewhere. We cut the lettuce fine and sprinkle 

 it sufficiently with powdered sugar, (rejecting that 

 which comes from unpaid labor.) Cream is then 

 poured on, and vinegar, just enough to impart a zest. 

 To our palate, this is delicious. Please to try it t 



Ridging for the Ruta Baga. 



The Ruta Baga, in common with most other root 

 crops, succeeds best on a deep as well as a rich soil; 

 and a frequent cause of the partial failure of many 

 cultivators, is the want of suflicient depth and rich- 

 ness. This difliculty may, in a great degree, be obvi. 

 ated by ridging. This throws a large portion of the 

 fertile surface together, and gives quantity and depth 

 at each ridge. Ridging also proves beneficial where 

 soils are liable to prove too wet. 



As a large portion of the soil of our country ie a 

 clayey loam, we would recommerKi those who poes^fs 

 such soil, except it be deep and rich, and in a dry sit- 

 uation, to prepare their ground for ruta baga as fol- 

 lows : — Plough ridges by throwing two furrows to- 

 gether, about two feet and a half apart, fill the inter- 

 mediate furrows with manure, then split the ridges 

 with the plough, throwing the earth upon and form- 

 ing new ridges over the manure, Pass a roller over 

 the whole to flatten them, and then sosv the seed in 

 drills along the tops of these flattened ridges. This 

 treatment, with subsequent cidtuie, can hardly fail to 

 ensure a good crop. * 



Breaking Steers— Inquiry. 



Messrs. EniTORS^Will you, oranyofyour corres- 

 pondents, inform us how to prevent steers from being 

 sulky when breaking them for the yoke ? I find it to 

 be a very serious difficulty in learning them to work. 



E. H 



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lias 

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