NEW YORK FARMERS’ CLUB, ETC. 
197 
NEW YORK FARMERS’ CLUB. 
At the meeting on the 4th of June, Gen. John¬ 
son in the chair, a communication was received 
from Mr. Barbour on the present flattering pros¬ 
pects of the silk culture. 
Mr. Sharwood, of England, presented quite a 
variety of seeds for distribution. 
Dr/Ackerly, of Staten Island, communicated to 
the club his practice in agriculture on his farm of 
one hundred and thirty acres, particularly as to 
compost and muck . It was referred to the pub¬ 
lication committee. 
Poultry. — Col. Clark gave an account of a large 
poultry establishment he visited in 1819, at Wil¬ 
mington, Delaware. The owner supplied the 
Philadelphia markets on a large scale; his plan 
was, with large moveable fences to keep his fowls 
enclosed, and he plowed up the enclosed ground 
frequently, and changing his yard, planted the one 
left with oats—his fowls fed on it. He had twelve 
hundred, or perhaps fifteen hundred fowls in ex¬ 
cellent condition. They flourished in the plowed 
ground and oats, and by change of the ground ; he 
had comfortable, thatched sheds for them. It was 
a profitable business. 
Mr. Hodge .—Poultry running in wheat fields 
render a valuable service, and become fat; they 
destroy great numbers of grubs and insects, and do 
no harm to the grain, and I even think that it is 
benefited. The fowls produce more eggs too. 
How valuable are the races of our little migrating 
birds, giving us most delightful music, displaying 
their graceful forms in the air, and engaged con¬ 
stantly in destroying myriads of noxious insects! 
Dr. Harris, in his treatise on insects, states that a 
single pair of bluejays, having five young ones, con¬ 
sume two hundred grubs or insects per day ; this 
would be twenty thousand in three months nearly. 
Suppose, what is probable, one half of these are 
female, each of which lays about two hundred 
eggs, then the two jays and their young destroy in 
one season about two millions. Our wanton de¬ 
struction of the small birds ought to be stopped. 
Carbonate of ammonia will drive off caterpil¬ 
lars and the green fly. I have applied the solution 
of it to plants by means of the syringe (adding one 
gallon of water to two ounces of the carbonate of 
ammonia); but worms do not mind it at all. I 
here exhibit the span worm with a solution put 
upon it. It disregards it. 
Destroying Insect. Mr. Hodge .—In France and 
Belgium the farmers are fined/or not killing nox¬ 
ious insects. It would be better to give to chil¬ 
dren so much a quart for them! The proper 
time to attack them is when they collect in their 
nests. As to this span worm, he is easily shaken 
off a tree. 
Mr. Fleet. —Mr. Harvey, the landscape painter, 
hung on his trees large mouthed glass vessels part¬ 
ly filled with honey and vinegar, or with molasses 
and vinegar. These vessels caught chiefly in the 
night, large numbers of insects of great variety of 
kinds. It is a good practice ! 
Mr. Toivnsend .—I have three beds of cabbage 
plants. I burned their surfaces. I have one 
which I have treated with poudrette. On the 
burned bed I added ashes. In some spots of this 
bed insects are on the plants, while on my pou- 
drette bed no insect is to be seen; but the plants 
are very fine and vigorous. These plant beds of 
mine were all sowed at the same time, and in all 
other respects treated alike. 
Mr. Holmes .—A friend of mine makes a mop , 
dips it in spirits of turpentine, and applies it to the 
nests of the worm, and it kills them. 
Mr. Brown .—Guano has been found good for 
destroying vermin by fumigation. Also sulphur, 
tobacco, and red pepper seed. 
Col. Clark. Insects abound in earth, air, and wa¬ 
ter. Many of the races are carnivorous, devouring 
other insects. Many open little sluices in the soil, 
conferring on the farmer a benefit analogous to the 
celebrated modem process sub-soiling. 
STIRRING THE GROUND IN DRY WEATHER. 
This and the next month are those in which we 
usually have our most severe droughts, and where 
irrigation can not be resorted to, there is nothing 
like frequent stirring of the earth to obviate its bad 
effects. This in light soils, which suffer the most, 
is always easily effected; the best time for the 
operation is early in the morning and toward eve¬ 
ning, when the dew is on the ground. The most 
perfect instruments for this purpose, are, the cul¬ 
tivator with five double mould plow-teeth in it, 
followed by a triangled harrow of a proper width 
for the rows of whatever crop it is to be used 
among, full of fine sharp teeth made as long 
as the utmost depth to which they can penetrate 
the soil. The philosophy of frequent stirring the 
earth to obviate a drought is so fully explained 
at page 78, Yol. I., that we need not again soon 
repeat the observations then made. 
SHOW OF THE AGRICULTURAL, HORTICULTU¬ 
RAL, AND BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF JEFFERSON 
COLLEGE. 
I sit down to give you a brief report of our 
spring agricultural show, which came off yester¬ 
day. We have had a very interesting meeting, 
and the attendance, all things considered, was 
very full indeed. Several ocher calls of interest 
occurred, unavoidably, on the same day, in our 
neighborhood, drawing off a great many ; and the 
roads are insufferably dusty, from the long, severe 
and ruinous drought we have had, and still have. 
Nevertheless, we who do the work have great cause 
of complaint to make, that on a subject of such 
vital importance to their interests, as improvement 
in all things agricultural , planters show so muen 
apathy. On the occasion of a very interesting 
trial of the comparative merits of a number of ag¬ 
ricultural implements, which occupied a commit¬ 
tee appointed for the purpose, during two hours in 
the morning, there were but some fifteen or twenty 
planters on the ground ! But, from the many ex¬ 
pressions of regret, which I have since heard, for 
non-attendance, when it became known how much 
of exceeding interest they had missed, I am con¬ 
fident that at the October trial, we shall have a 
crowd. It is upon this part of the exhibition that 
I have most to say, as my time and attention dur¬ 
ing the day, were too much taken up to give the 
