108 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 



vice vertn, and hence a condensaiion of the aqHcoua 

 panicles : ihc dew-drop ol evening is first seen upon 

 a blade of grass at its highest point. 



Heat and moisture are ncccs-nry to vegetation, and 

 thr more you can obtain ol' thete agents for your 

 plants, the more vigorously will vegetation be sus- 

 tmned. Lime, when applied to n sliH'soil, renders it 

 mure friable, ])oroua or mellow, and it becomes more 

 easy to cuhivalo : the plough docs not meet with the 

 same resiaance; the roots of the grass and weed? ate 

 more easily separated from the soil, and may therefore 

 be more readily destroyed, and a thorough tillage or 

 pidveriiation ol the land is thereby greatly facilitated. 

 Besides, we fmd that vegetation is most vigorous 

 where the soil is adapted to secure the largest amount 

 of these supplies; and cinisequently that soil which by 

 nature or cultivation is capable of imbibing and re- 

 taining the largest amount oi" these indispensable ele- 

 ments, has the greatest capacity for producing vegeta- 

 tion. A sandy soil appears too porous to retain heat 

 at night, to I'tomote to any important extent a con- 

 dens.tiion of the ntni'^spbere, and thus supply itself 

 With eulTicient moisture from dew — besides, it is too 

 readily drained; while a cl.iy or compact soil becomes 

 indurated upon its surface, and heat from the sun 

 oannot sulilcionlly penetrate it to be available for a like 

 ptirpose; but when these are properly mi.xed and com- 

 bined with other earths, such r.s lime, marl, or with 

 BUMure, the s'jil opens its pores to rereive the invigo- 

 rating infiuence of the suu during the day, and at 

 night the heated cxhalatl )ns escaping from it, produc- 

 ing n greater amount of dew, supply the plants, nest- 

 led in its bosom, w.th necessary moisture from the 

 pure and bounteous fountains of the atmosphere. 



Same farmers think that lime is injurious to wheat 

 land — that it makes the soil cold, and that their lands, 

 when dressed with it, are more apt to produce mildew- 

 ed grain than they were before it wai applied. That 

 this, in many instances, has appeared to bo so, I do 

 not doubt, because the soil, by its application, is ren- 

 dered more productive, and therefore we have mors 

 grass, which, under our present system of sowing 

 grass seod with wheat, is injurious to that crop, as 1 

 have con'indcd in a former paper. Tiill, in his ex- 

 cellent Tieatise on Blight, says, " Wheat being 

 iloublleaa originally a native of a hot country, it le- 

 quires by tie constitution a considerable degree of heat 

 to bring it to perfection ; and if much of that degree 

 of heat is wanting, it will be the weaker, and when 

 the solar rays caaiiol reach the lower porta of the 

 stalks, the lowest leaves and knots cannot do their 

 oTije;" and hence the maturity of the plant is pro- 

 tracted, because 'Hho lower parts of the stalks must 

 receive the greater share of heat, being nearer the 

 point of incidence of the sunbeams refiecitd by the 

 ground." Ueing deprived of this genial and necessa- 

 ry he.it, since it is shaded near the roots by grass, and 

 being imbedded in too moist and cold a soil, it has not 

 the piwer of elaborating its sap or evaporating its 

 fluids, and is therefore slow in ripening; and hence 

 the cro'i. becoming diseased, is frequently destroyed 

 by mildew. 



In the application of lime to land, much core and 

 close observation la required, to jjroduce the best re- 

 sults. The farmer should not be too generous: he 

 «ha Id not forget that lime and earth constitute mnr- 

 lar, and therefore his care should be only to apply so 

 much to his soil, if light, as will render it sufficiently 

 compact to retain moisture and heat; for a sandy soil 

 u composed ol spherical particles, and is too readily 

 ventilated and drained of its moisture, and being mix- 

 ed with lime, the interstices being closed, the soil is 

 gro;iliy improved. After several years of experience 

 «nd cna'ful observation, I am convinced that lime, 

 when applied to a sandy soil, renders it more compact 

 and much more productive: and that manuie, when 

 applied to it after a dressing of lime, will have n much 

 more lastins influence than it would hove had before 

 its application. Upon heavy soils, lime should be ap- 

 plied only in such proportions as will render it most 

 itiellow or friable : any thing beyond this, will be 

 found to be injurious. It is not material, as I apjjre- 

 licnd, whether it be put on in a hot or cold stale, be- 

 cause it is soon cooled under the atino.3pheric influence 

 ntier baina slaked, and c.innot be ploughed in after 

 li'iiif spread bcfire it becomes chilled. I usuaHy ap- 

 pi,. It in the spring, when preparing for corn, the 

 w>rking of which, and the preparation of the land for 

 ttfjsoquent crops, thoroughly mix it with the soil. I 

 obtiiin the lime when ready to apply it, have it placed 

 ill a situation convenient for water, whore it is imme- 

 diately slaked; and as it falls, it is carted out and 

 spread upon the Ir.nd previouely ploughed, which, after 

 I>cing hnrtjwed, is struck out Bitd planted. I have 



applied it in other ways, but the results were never so 

 satisfactory. 



I have been told by some farmers, that the greatest 

 benefits from the use of lime on their land ore exhib- 

 ited in about secen years alter its application; some 

 say in four years; some contend that they have seen 

 its efTocls the second year, and others soy that they 

 never sasv any effect whatever from its application, 

 although they put it on in generous quantities. Now, 

 I verily believe nil these statements to be true, and J 

 account for this singular anomaly in the following 

 manner. In the latter instance, the lime was plough- 

 ed in so deep that it was never mi,xed with the soil, 

 and therefore produced no effect ; and in the former, 

 the admixture took place probably in one, four, or 

 aeven yeas after it was applied. In some cases, it is 

 said, land has been injured by it. I am inclined to 

 believe that in those cases the farmer has been too 

 gencroui, and would recommend as a corrective, that 

 he plough deeper, and thereby mix more earth with 

 hislinie. He will thence have the advantage of a 

 deeper soil. As the quantity best nd.ipled to improve 

 most soils, I would recommend from forty to fifty 

 bushels unslaked to the acre. 1 have found excellent 

 results on sandy, clayey, and loamy soils, from the 

 application of that quantity. As I have never farmed 

 limeslono or red shell soils, I cannot advise respecting 

 them. 



I theref )re repeat, mix your soil well with the lime 

 which you may put upon it — pulverize it thoroughly — 

 destroy nil natural vegetation, if you wish to raise 

 naturalized crops — exercise a sound judgment as to 

 time and method, and you will seldom have reason to 

 compla:n, in this partof Pennsylvania, at least, either 

 of an ungrateful soil, or an unfavorable climate. 



KENDERTON SMITH. 



The Flowers of Summer. 



In writing our sketches of the flower garden, we 

 have not had leisure to examine what we said in our 

 'irsl volume on the same subjects; and possibly some 

 things may be repeated. 



faonid is a splendid genus, and 17 apeciea were 

 known in IS29. The single flowers arc gone in a 

 few days, but the double are inore durable. Tie ear- 

 liest kind that we hove seen is P. IcnuifuUa, which 

 spreads llr uigh the ground, and in a few years forms 

 a stool of teveral feet in diameter — flowera single, of 

 the brightest crimson 



Soon after appears P. movtan, n shrub from China, 

 growing to the height of three feet in England, and 

 attaining the same stature in this climate. A well 

 grown " tree" (for so it is called) may be three feet 

 or more across, presenting a magnificent display in all 

 its varieties that have come under our notice, though 

 the flowers vary in color. It is hardy, and starts to 

 grow very early in the spring. 



P. officinalis was introduced from Switzerland in 

 1548, and has spread into some fine varieties. The 

 double sorts are the common crimson, the rosy, and 

 the whitish, or the ff^Z'zVrtn^. Sabines crimson is one 

 of the finest of the single sorts. 



This plant and P. corallina are the only two spe- 

 cies credited to Europe, the eastern Side of thot conti- 

 nent having furnished most of the speciee. P. albiflo- 

 ra (called the Chinese) though herbaceous, sometimes 

 attains the height of 4 feet, and is very thowy. Four 

 double varieties of thia species ore now blooming in 

 our gorden, viz' Humei, Whitleii, frnginns, and 

 Reevesii — the last, a blush color, fading after it opens. 

 This species grows freely from seeds, springing up in 

 many parts of the garden, but requiring several years 

 to bring them into bloom. 



The glutinous locust (liohimn tisrnsct) produces its 

 pink flowers in abundance; ond but few trees are more 

 ornamental. Itincreases eulTiciently from its horizon- 

 tal routs. It is a native of the Southern States, 

 though hardy here; and is classed with timber trees, 

 sometimes growing 40 feet high, according to Elliott. 

 In this northern land, however, it has the habit of a 

 shrub— 10 or 1-5 feet high. 



Ph'daihljtiius. This genuB of six or eiglit species, 

 produces only while flowers. P. kirsutus is much 



taller than P. coronarius, though Loudon only ml» 

 ed it 3 feet high ! The flowers are also much lai^ "' 

 and whiter, but scarcely so fragrant. The varii 

 called " double flowering," has not a tenth of itsfla 

 ere double. Another called " nanus" i« hardly woi 

 cultivating. Both these varieties belong to P. eo\ 

 narius, which is a native of Europe. 



The flowering ash (Ornus europaa) at the hei| l^"' 

 of 5 feet bloomed with us this season for ths fi r 

 time. The flowers are white, very small, and gri •" 

 in panicles. 



The Iris is finely represented in this month, 

 large kind with light blue flowers, is remarkable 

 its delicacy; and appears to be a variety of I germa 

 ca. Four tall sorts with yellow flowers also shine c 



,iiii" 

 ,(11* 



111 



iBiyi 



laii 

 ttJeill 



ii 

 jji^tini 

 fi'il' ' 



l,pH 

 liabi! 



||I>1B 



Uti 

 itkn 

 ^liii 



pill 



While most of the species exhibit their blossoms cc *'"'" 

 spicuously on their summits, one called the blue RiP ' ' 

 sian, hangs its flag half mast high — down among t 

 leaves. Two bulbous species from Spain (the Spt. 

 ish and the English) have run into many varieties — 

 of each kind have been advertised; but though sor 

 of the Spanish Iris, are beautiful, others have a lui 

 or dingy aspect, and are not worthy of cultivatio ""'' 

 All the sorts that we have seen of the English 1 

 however, are splendid. 



Wistaria speciosa, a twining shrub, with blue pn 

 pie flowers in dense racemes, isa native of the Sout 

 but endures our win;ers. It deserves a place amoi 

 line plants. 



Spiraa aruncus, 4 feet high, is very showy; f 

 though its white flowers are small, they are ve 

 abundant. Its inflorescence is also singular. In o 

 opinion, it is finer than any herbaceous species fro 

 the eastern continent; and a worthy congener of 1 

 American variety of S. luliata. 



DracocepJialum rvyschiamim resembles the Hysso 

 but its flowers are a fine rich blue. It is sn old i 

 habitant of the gardens. 



Jasminum hvmilc ie the only species of the gen 

 that succeeds here in the open border. It is al 

 sometimes damaged by the winter; but when tl 

 frosts are not very severe, its yellow star-like flowe 

 make n pleasing display in the following season. 

 is probably o native of Italy. 



Wc have two varieties of Chionantlms vitginict 

 now in flower both nearly of the same oge, but tl 

 broad leaved kind is the taller, with fewer blossom 

 Tlie narrow leaved variety is loaded with bloom. Th 

 is the white Fringe Tree. 



The fine purple flowers of Vcrlascum jmrpvreu 

 may be seen by early risers, but they begin to shriv 

 as soon as the sun shines out with power. 



For Lilies, Pinks, Roses, &c. see New Genese 

 Farmer Vol. 1. f 



Spurious Rata ISagaSeed. 



Messrs. Editors — Lost season one of our met 

 chants bought a quantity of ruta baga seed, and sold i 

 out to a number of farmers in this vicinity. It came u 

 well, and the plants appeared like genuine till otter th' 

 second hoeing, when the roots were about as Ini f^^ 

 as a man's finger, the tops then all branched out ai.^ 

 run up to seed; so that the crops were an entire fail 

 ure, much to the disappointment end loss of thi 

 farmers. 



On inquirj', it was aecertnincd that the seed vim 

 raised from small ruta bngas, and was surrounded oi 

 mixed with mustard when growing. 



Now, I wish to ask whether the mustard caused the 

 degeneracy of the ruta baga seed, and if not, what 

 did ? If you, or your correspondents can explain thia 

 matter, it may be of service to others. We farmers 

 are, at best, slow enough to adopt any new article or 

 system of culti\ation; ond when failnie or disappoint- 

 ment occurs, it often tends to tfhcck, if not entirely 



