No. 6. 



AND GARDENER'S JOUKNAL. 



Ill 



butisonJnll, together wiib miicb other siul)', nnd bos 

 nevcrcost me n ehilling for rapiiirB. A ninii cnn, in 

 Dtiohoiir, cut '10 bushi:l8 with it ; but ihie senaon I de 

 sign getting a pormble horfc imiwct, which, when 

 nttiichcd to it, can cut up a sninll 'haymo-.v' of corn 

 eiiilke in a obort time. And now Iriciid, have I settled 

 that ''pint" — $5'J0 saved in hny.-fnt cattle, plenty of 

 milk, loie of butler to sell every «cck at Is. Gd. to 

 2fl. per lb., while it is scarce, nnd any quantity of 

 manure to return to that laud whii-b my noighbora 

 told me I would ruin by taking olT that cane brake, 

 tmd fat leania to draw it. I had designed mentioning 

 other subjects, but as this has been extended beyond 

 its designed limits, I must pnetpoito their considera- 

 tion until some future tlin '. 



I remain very respectfully yours, 



JNO. W. SMITH. 

 iTfldcrg's Furm, Matimee Cilij, 1842. 



Tiie subjoi' ed article from the Farmer's Gazette, 

 published at New Haven, is entitled to particular at- 

 tention as from one ol the most iuieUigeut friends of 

 Agricultural Improvement in the state of Connecticut, 

 upon v/hose carefulness and exicincsg in experiment- 

 ing and reporting bis experiments, entire reliance 

 may be placed. — Ed. 



VSE OF PL.\STSR. 



Mr. Storek — In answer to the inquiry of your 

 Bubscrib r from Cbeshiro, as to the best lime to sow 

 Plaster of Paris, I will give the result of my observa- 

 tion and experience, and dtt'ul the mode a- d the time 

 of its application, wiihout in every instance stopping 

 to assign the reasons, since that w.iuld render my 

 cuminiinication of an unreadable lensth. By the way, 

 tbe inquiry in iis form, is as pertinent as it would be 

 to ask, •* when is the beat lime fur a man to sneeze ?" 

 OS If a mail migiit sneeze but once a year. 



A vague impression bas prevuilcd that this article is 

 of little value asa manure near the sea shore ; yet no 

 detailed experiments have been tried which at all favoi 

 that idua. On the contrary, when they have been 

 carefully made, results directly the reverse have been 

 obtained. 



The truth is, as suggested in ibe report of the Ex- 

 ecutive (Jommittee of tbe Agriculiural S >ciely pub- 

 lished in your paper last fall, and, as stated in tbe 

 " Transactions of the Society for promoting Agricul 

 ture in Conneciicu ," referred to by you in your Inst 

 number, too little attention is paid to the manner in 

 which plasler is ground. 



All the ground plaster 1 have been able to find in 

 this city is brought in casks from Mi'ne, and is little 

 finer than sand. In that condition it is of trifling 

 value. 



Plaster will in time be dissolved in some two tbou- 

 BBud times it* weight of water ; but if in that slate in 

 what time, if ever, it will receive tbe requisite quanti- 

 ty of water, in such condition and at such temperature 

 as will dissolve it, I leave it to your readers to conjec- 

 ture. One thing is certain, tl'iat it is of no value un- 

 le8^ dissilved, since ii is supposed that its utility 

 arises in a great measure from its uniting with nnd 

 absorption of ammonia from snow and rain. This it 

 is evidumt it can not do while it remains in the form of 

 Band- If however the article is perlccily floured — is 

 ground 60 fine that it has a rich oilv feeling and no 

 grit can be perceived between the fingers, it is per- 

 fectly obvious to any one who w.ll obscive and reflect, 

 that it ie far better adapted for immediate and power- 

 ful etfect. Not until plaster thus ground is provedby 

 Bctual and careful exp«rirnein to be of no value on the 

 Eea coast, shall I at all doubt that the opinion which 

 now prevails arises from causes here pointed out. 



To me this is the more obvious from an examination 

 o{ the extent of this opinion. Around our city, and 

 no far in the interior as ground plaster is carried from 

 here, this btlief exists. Twenty miles northward, 

 where the article is obtained fr m Moore's ^^^J's in 

 Berlin, in ils modt perfect c(nditi"n for use, it ie con 

 Bidered indispensable. So also in the western and 

 north-western portions of tbe cuunty, where it is pro- 

 cured from Derby, and is said to be well ground, it is 

 used in very considerable quantities, and with evident 

 benclit. 



Pliifter may be sown to advantage on meadows in 

 the fall, where it is not liable to be washed away. It 

 then cjoibnes with the oinm utia in the snows and 

 abundant rainsof winter nnd spring. If not sown in 

 the fall or winter, it is well to sow it upon a light snow 

 if psjtibls in tbs spring- Permit m«8l93 tc remiirk: 



ibol ibis is tbe bcBt time to sow graee seed, — clover 

 lor instance, — on grain lands fown in tbe fall previ 

 ou.-i, when from any circumsionce it is not ditnied ex- 

 peilient lo bow the grass seed with the grain in the 

 fall. 



On the ground sown with ernes eced, it ia itupor- 

 tiini that the young pinnis uhould receive tbe bcmfit 

 "I ile application as curly as may be in the spring. 



Many pert,. no have tiied plaeieron pn^turc giounde, 

 and have found as lliey think, no arivantnge from its 

 use ; nnd why ? Tbty bow a part of a lot on which 

 caiilo run at large, expecting of conrte the feed im the 

 part thue sown to be much fresher nnd fuller through' 

 the scas.in ; but as they in fact find the herbage short- 

 er and apparently loss ibriliy, they very naturally in- 

 fer that the plaster does no good. More careful at 

 tentiun would conviice them that there 's more in 

 this matter than they dienin of. The cattle soon as 

 certain the part on which tbe plaster was sown, on ac- 

 count oi the superior svvcrtnefcs and succulence of the 

 lieibage, and are found feeding coutinunlly upon it 

 This 1 have seen benulifiilly illusirnled on my own 

 farm, by sowing in ditrercnt years diflerent lots out of 

 a range in wiich my stock was pastured. The cattle 

 always made their head quarters in the lot which had 

 received the plaster, and kept the feed ehort in that 

 while it was abundant in the others. 



On pastures it is nlso well to sow earlv, because of 

 the more frequent rainsof the spring. Some farmers, 

 however, whose pastures are nb-uudant in tbe spring, 

 nnd early summer, reserve their plaster until near the 

 close of summer, in order to induce a fresh growth 

 for fall feed. Many also, who have tried sowing ear- 

 ly in the spring, and also in the fall, think that they 

 derive more advantage in that way, than from sowing 

 an equal quaniity at one time. 



Seed corn should be soaked in a solution of salt- 

 petre and rolled in plaster. Aa soon as it is fully up, 

 ibe corn »-hould have a carelul boein^, and about a 

 teaspoonful of plaster to each liill, or about one bushel 

 to the acre. It should be scattered nround the corn 

 as much as is conveuieul in putting it on. If sown 

 broadcast, the immediate eft'ect is less, but the final 

 result isr.boui the same. 



Potttoca should either be wet and rolled in plaster, 

 or a email quantity should be thrown into the hill upon 

 the Feed before covering. Here I can not but beg of 

 our farmers not to expose their seed potatoes to the 

 rays of the sun, even for a single hour, since, unlefp 

 the land be moist or the season prove exceedingly 

 wet. tbe crop may be entirely rm'ned by eo doin2, and 

 will under any circumstances be greatly retarded and 

 lessened- Poiatoes are bei'efited by larger quantities 

 tiinn are requisile for corn, and tbe npplicaiion to them 

 nfler hoeing should be liberal. From my own expe- 

 rience, and thaio'' my neighbors, I consider plaster 

 indispensable for this crop. 



The fa'mers of this countv are yet to learn tbe se- 

 cret of raising potatoes, if, as I am led to believe, the 

 average crop is less than two hundred bushels. Five 

 hundred bushels have often been obtained from the 

 acre in other parts of our stale ; and w' y not in this 

 counly 7 Some of oui best land ought to produce as 

 much as any other. 



I have never perceived any beneficial cfTocts from 

 the direct application of plaster to rvc, oats, or whrat, 

 altbouiirh those crops have been exccedinely fine on 

 lard which had previously been improved by the lib- 

 eral use of plaster. 



Turnep seed may with advantage be mingled with 

 plaster at the rate of a bushel of plaster to the acre, 

 and be sown broadcast in the fulJ. The crop will be 

 ereatly benefited, and the seed easily and evenly sown 

 if due care is exercised. 



Plaster may also be used with great benefit on buck- 

 wheat. The seed should be prepared ns seed corn, 

 nnd plaster should be sown broadcast upon the young 

 plants as they appear. 



From n series of experiments in my garden !nsi 

 season, with plaster saturated wiih urine, I am satir- 

 fied that a great nf cession of the most powerful ma- 

 nure may be made to the farmer's stock, by strewing 

 plas er in stables and elsewhere, .'^o as to absorb all the 

 urine. In this w.iy, if hia mauuie when thrown from 

 his stable is protected from the rain, even by a slied 

 only, he may oblnin a great amount, little if any infe 

 rior to tbe boasted poudrctte which sells at two dollars 

 the barrel. 



I wish it to be distinctly understood, that when I 

 recommend Plasler of Paris, and speak of its effects. 

 I refer only to that which is ground ns fine as the 

 finest flour. No other, a'' I view it, is worih the 

 trouble of patting on to the Innd. 



CHARLES ROBINSON. 



.Vfic Hazen, Marili 23d, 1842. 



>VUite Weed, or 0.v-Kyed Daisy. 



Mn. KniToit — Will jou or some of your correspon- 

 dents liavc llic goodness to inform me of the best meth- 

 od of exterminating white weed liotn fields aiidpastuio 

 '"nJs! A YoLNti Fak.M£h. 



We know no belter w.iy than to cullivnte the land 

 a year or two, and then l.^y it down with clean seed. 

 In a barn yard where tins weed in mixed with the hay 

 that is used, the manure will of course he filled with tho 

 seed; or where manure is purclia.scd from city stables, ' 

 as ill tlie neighborhood of Boston for example, where 

 this weed abounds, this manure is undoubtedly in many 

 cases surcharged with the seed. If the land is culti- 

 vated wilhcorn forcxamplc, and kept thoroughly clean, 

 and the ensuing year sowed with grain, w Ithout ma- 

 nure, and laid down as we observed above with dean 

 seed, it will be mainly extirpated; but if any appears 

 among the grass, we know no other way than to root 

 it out thoroughly as fast as it appears by hand or hoe. 

 Some fiirmers do not object to it as hay. Cattle and 

 horses will eat some portion of it « hen cut early ; but 

 its free growth very much diminishes the crop of hay ; 

 and putting before them the best mixture you can find of 

 herds-grass, red- tip and clover, and an equal quantity of 

 white weed in the best cured state, and we think tliey, 

 brutes as they are, will have no dilFicnlly in making a 

 choice. We in such cases, if left to us, should be very 

 apt to Ibllow our nose. 



Swiss Bulls and Co«s, 



Tho Swiss Cows htve been much celebrated for 

 their milking qualities, and a friend of ours, who has 

 resided in Switzerland, has spoken of them in the 

 most extravagant terms as exceeding any thing known. 

 We concluded that he had never stood by the pail and 

 that bis glasses were of tbe very bighcsl magnifying 

 power. Another friend of ours, from these represen- 

 tations, was induced to v/rito to Felleiiberg, at the 

 celebrated school at Hofwyl. in order to procure aomo 

 of this stock. The difficulty of procuring and tend- 

 ing the animals at that time, prevented tbe euccets of 

 the application. From Fellenbcrg's Icltcr. wbich was 

 at one time in our possession, we inferred that tbe 

 statements commonly made of their yield, were not q 

 little exaggerated ; and tbe product of the cows, iliougU 

 very large, was not unsurpassed. If we understood 

 the measures, their average yield in tbe beet of tho 

 season, was about sixteen quarts per day, and from 

 seven to eight quarts through ibe year. Tellenbcrg 

 seemed to have no disposition lo exngerate their good 

 qualities. The breeders in England will, beycnd a 

 doubt, bring them to a fair trial, and determine the 

 question of their superiority. 



" Swiss Bulls. — Wo are naihorisod to make known . 

 that four first rale two year old Swifs bulls, purchased 

 for Sir Francis Mackenzie by Professor Agateiz, of 

 iN'eiifcbatel, and wbich, after a search of many nmiitl-s 

 iiy the best judges, were selected with'Uil regard to any 

 limitation of price, ns the very Lc^t all Swiizerliind 

 could produce, ate n"W on their viay down tbrRliino 

 for London, wbeie Sir F. has desired that nil ama- 

 teurs may have an opportunity of seeing them. Two 

 of ihem aie deetincti lor Scotland ; the oilier two Sir 

 F. wishes to dispose of in England, at whatever may 

 be deemed a fair price, even should be not be rtmu- 

 nerated for his expenses and their cost, as he feels cer- 

 tain from what be has often seen in Swiizciland of the 

 beauty of their two breeds of cattle, combining grrnt 

 milking with fattening qualit es — n thing so very de- 

 sirable—that their blood could be ciossed most ndvnn- 

 lageoiiely :o the improvement of our short-horns and 

 other breeds, 1'he best proof of their milking quali- 

 ty is, that no other cow is kept in Lombardy at tl o 

 Parmesan cheese making dnries — and their shape will 

 be seen by all good judges to show good fattening 

 qualities. They will leave Basle about the 15th of 

 May by steam, nnd may be expected in Lnndni about 

 ilie'2lltb. Mr. P. Honbnry, letter, 15 Albany, will 

 give infornmiion ns lo w lore tbey cnn be seen, or at 

 (311, Lombard-street. Tbey can remain in London 

 but a very short time."— CAaJcan de Talhouct. May 

 Oih^ 1842. 



