CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
159 
became reconciled to confinement, in spite of its 
extra diet. The only plan, therefore, is to keep 
them in high condition during the winter, by liberal 
hand feeding. The best practice is not to kill them 
with the knife, like other poultry, but to dislocate 
their necks, leaving the blood in them to remedy the 
dryness of their flesh, which is the great fault an 
epicure would find with them. They should also 
remain in the larder as long as possible before being 
cooked. It was formerly the fashion for farmers’ 
wives and daughters to make tippets and muffs of 
the smaller feathers, which much resembled chin- 
chilli fur in appearance, and were both elegant and 
useful. 
(ffanfring-eft €orrgg:ponfrgnte. 
MANAGEMENT OF PEACH TREES. 
Mr. W. D., of Morristown, N. J., is of the opin¬ 
ion, that, where pruning standard peach trees is so 
little practised as in New Jersey, thinning out the 
fruit, is an excellent plan. The peach tree, he 
says, is very apt to overbear • and when loaded 
down with fruit, its branches are very weak at the 
forks, split, and fall to the ground ; thus, not only 
destroying a considerable quantity of its fruit, at 
the most unwelcome period, but often greatly dis¬ 
figuring the tree ; whereas, by thinning out the 
fruit, when quite small, injuries of this kind, would 
be obviated. But, in large orchards, this would 
prove a tedious process and somewhat expensive. 
Mr. D. is not an advocate of root pruning ; for, 
in removing the dirt, he contends, that the larger 
roots must be more or less mutilated, or bruised, by 
the hoe or spade, which certainly can be of no ad- 
I vantage; and besides, in orchards, that are culti¬ 
vated by the plow, there will be an abundance of 
root pruning, without resorting to other means. 
WOOD ASHES BENEFICIAL TO MEADOWS. 
Mr. S. R. Gray, of Salem, N. Y., informs us 
that, in the fall of 1845, he sowed 25 bushels of 
unleached ashes on two acres of meadow, situated 
on a hill side, facing the west, which had been 
mown annually for thirty years. The last crop of 
hay from this ground, preceding the application of 
the ashes, did not exceed half a ton to the acre • 
but the next year after (1846), it was more than 
double that quantity. The year following (1847), 
the hay crop was mown three weeks earlier than 
usual, and was more than one fourth heavier than 
that of 1846. 
Mr. G. attributes the increase of the last crop, in 
part, to the influence of a small stream of water, by 
which one half of the meadow was overflowed dur¬ 
ing the early part of the season ; yet he concludes 
that, the principal cause of the increase, was the 
application of the ashes, which he thinks amply re¬ 
paid the cost. 
DISEASE AMONG CATTLE—A REMEDY. 
Our estimable correspondent, John Brown, 2nd, 
of Lake Winnipisiogee, writes us, that, between 
March and June, 1835, he lost eight of his cattle, 
by a disease, which, according to some of the symp¬ 
toms given, we should judge, was the garget in 
the limbs , otherwise called hide bound , joint yel¬ 
lows , and constitutional rheumatic lameness. He 
tried various remedies, but with no good result, 
until Ihree others were taken with the samediseasei 
when he procured some garget or poke-berry root 
( Phytolacca decandra ), with which he pegged them 
in the dewlap (the loose skin, or lappet, under the 
neck), and effected a cure. 
The nature of the disease here referred to, to¬ 
gether with the operation of “ pegging,” will be 
given, at length, in our next article on “ The Cow 
—her Diseases and Management.” 
GRAFTS- FROM THE OLD WYLLIS APPLE 
TREE. 
OtrR friend, R. L. Colt, Esq., of Paterson, N. J., 
informs us, that he has lately received some grafts 
of the “ sweet or old English pearmain,” taken 
from the venerable tree now standing on the “ Char¬ 
ter-oak Place, at Hartford, in Connecticut, which 
was brought from England, by George Wyll-is, the 
elder, about the year 1637. It is now regarded 
as one of the oldest apple trees in the country, and 
is a mere wreck, as it were, nothing being left of 
it, but a small segment of bark and wood, not more 
than 3 or 4 inches thick, and a few branches ap¬ 
parently without life. It has evidently been a very 
large tree, probably nearly 4 feet in diameter. 
Last year, it bore a few very fair apples, of a 
pear^like consistency, which were quite rich in fla¬ 
vor, though seemingly sweet, and answered admi¬ 
rably well for cooking. Being desirous to perpet¬ 
uate this fruit, Mr. Colt has taken great pains to 
procure scions from the original stock, and engraft 
them on healthy trees of his own, having no faith 
in the idle theory of varieties running out. 
Ground Ivy, or Ale Hoof, a Pernicious 
Weed. —Mr. F., of Fairfax county, Va., inquires 
whether there is any way to exterminate ground 
ivy ( Glechoma hederacea ), otherwise called “ale 
hoof,” “tun hoof,” and T£ Gill-over-the-ground.” 
He is satisfied that it cannot be killed by plowing 
nor digging; for, a very small portion of the plant, 
left in the ground, will spring up and grow, and 
even the small knots, on the vines, will take root 
at every joint. 
This weed, in Virginia, forms a complete mat, 
wherever it is suffered to grow. In gardens, or¬ 
chards, &c., it becomes so firmly rooted, that it is 
almost impossible to eradicate it from the ground ; 
and in meadows, the grassy turf affords but little 
opposition to its progress. 
Remedy for the Borer in the Apple Tree.— 
Mr. J. M. C., of Perth Amboy, N. J., writes us 
that he has found an effectual remedy against the 
attack of'the apple-tree borer ( Saperda bivitatta), L 
first by scraping away the earth from the roots of 
the tree, and extracting the worms from the wood, 
with a sharp-pointed instrument, or chisel, and then 
plastering over the roots and wounded parts of the 
trunk, with common mortar, formed of lime and 
sand, after which, the earth is put back and the 
tree treated in the usual way. 
Scarecrows. —E. W. A., of Panama, N. Y., 
states that he has succeeded in preventing crows 
from pulling up corn, by placing about his field, 
when planted, ears of corn, stuck on pointed stakes, 
from 5 to 10 feet in length. The crows, he says, 
will only devour the corn on the stakes, leaving that 
in the ground untouched. 
