302 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
8. Keen’s Imperial, or Neio Chili; a large showy 
fruit, of great repute in England, hut not so much 
esteemed here. 
9. Pine; the leaves small and delicate. There are 
two sorts, the red and the white, or greenish-tinted, 
of the most rich flavored fruit. The Methven Cas¬ 
tle belongs to this class. South America. 
10. Alpine, or prolific, or monthly ; commonly lasts 
from June to October; two sorts, white and red.— 
The Alps. 
11. One leaved; the pulp of the fruit pink colored. 
South America. 
We received twelve kinds of select fruit from the 
London Horticultural Society, in 1825 ; but continue 
to cultivate in our garden only the Methven and scar¬ 
let,—the latter coming in use ten or fourteen days be¬ 
fore the former,—both abundantly prolific. Some of 
our beds are six years old, and they have produced 
as abundantly this as in any former year. We as¬ 
cribe this continued productiveness to our pointing in 
horn shavings annually between the beds, and strew¬ 
ing upon the latter in autumn tan from the morocco 
leather factory. The Methven is in bearing about two 
weeks ; we have had 47 berries that weighed a pound, 
many that measured over four, and one that measured 
five and one-quarter inches in diameter. Our prac¬ 
tice is to clean the alleys and beds before the blos¬ 
soms show, to leave the runners till the fruiting sea¬ 
son is over, and after that to take off those that in¬ 
trude upon the alleys, and to dung and dig these. 
The strawberry multiplies rapidly by suckers or 
stolens, and may be transplanted as soon as the 
leaves have grown at the joints, although the roots 
are but imperfectly formed. If planted out in this 
month, they will give a partial crop the next season, 
and will be in high perfection the second year. 
Mr. Keen, near London, who appropriates acres to 
the growth of this fruit, recommends that the pine be 
grown in a light loam, though no kind will grow bet¬ 
ter in a stiff one. The imperial and scarlets like a 
similar soil. The hautboys like a light soil. The 
wood strawberry is generally raised from seed, and 
the alpine always. The seed is best sown as soon as 
the fruit ripens ; the plants to be set in fruit beds the 
spring following. Our own experience leads us to 
recommend, that the pines and scarlets be planted in 
a loose, rich, and pretty moist sod, our climate being 
dryer than that of Britain, and the strawberry de¬ 
manding a great supply of moisture when fruiting. 
The mode of planting is generally in beds contain¬ 
ing two, three or four rows, with alleys of two feet 
between them. The soil should be well dug and pul¬ 
verized, and the situation open and exposed to the 
sun. The larger growing kinds may have intervals 
of two feet between the rows, and of 18 inches be¬ 
tween the plants in the rows ; the smaller growing 
kinds may be planted closer. Keen cuts the runners 
three times in a season—we cut them but once, and 
leave then the new plants that take root in the beds, 
mostly to grow. His culture may be the most per¬ 
fect, but ours is attended with the least labor, the 
cost of which is there trivial to what it is here. Keen 
plants the pines and hautboys 2 feet by 18 inches 
apart, and the scarlets 20 by 18 inches. He found 
among the many different kinds of hautboys, one 
which had the male blossom on one plant and the fe¬ 
male on another ; and experience soon taught him, 
that to render them fruitful, it was necessary to mix 
the two kinds in his beds, in the proportion of one 
male to eight females. Mr. Langworthy, of Cincin¬ 
nati, and Mr. Downing, of Newburgh, think that the 
male and female blossoms grow on different plants, in 
os her kinds of strawberry; but our limited experience 
has not enabled us yet to confirm their opinions. The 
duration of most kinds with Mr. Keen, is three years, 
—the wood strawberry and alpine, two years. The 
latter bears fruit the first year after sowing. 
The general dependence, in the country, for the 
strawberry, has been upon those growing wild in the 
fields ; but independent of the fact, that this fruit can¬ 
not grow where the farm is well managed, the extra 
trouble of gathering them in meadows, is more than 
equivalent to the labor of taking care of them in the 
garden. 
With regard to manures for strawberry beds, such 
are to be preferred as are cool, and free from the 
seeds of weeds. Cow manure is preferable to that 
of horses. Bone dust and horn shavings are excel¬ 
lent, if not applied in too large quantity. A bushel 
and a half of either should go as far as a load of long 
dung. For top-dressing the beds in autumn, there is 
nothing better than tan, that from the morocco lea¬ 
ther factory being preferable. The tan smothers 
weeds, keeps the soil moist, the berries clean, and 
seems, withal, to afford the specific food of the plant. 
It is recommended to cover strawberry beds lightly 
with straw, in the spring, and burn it off, which de¬ 
stroys the seeds of weeds, &c. We have been cru¬ 
elly censured for this recommendation, by one who 
unwittingly burnt piles of straw upon his beds, and 
consequently destroyed his plants. 
On the proper time for cutting Grain. 
“When the base of the stem of grain,” says M. 
Biot, “ begins to become yellow and dry, if the corn 
[grain] be then cut down, though the grain is not 
ripe, it will continue to be nourished at the expense 
of the green matter [elaborated sap] of the stem, al¬ 
most, if not quite as well, as if it had remained uncut, 
and will thus ripen well; while, having been thus cut 
down early, much loss from shaking is prevented, be¬ 
side the chance from lodging from heavy rain and 
wind.” The editor of the Quarterly adds, “In a fine 
season, farmers cut down when they find the neck of 
the straw immediately under the ear, free of juice, 
when twisted round between the finger and thumb ; 
and do not wait until ‘ the lower part of the stems 
are yellow and dry,’ because they find in such a sea¬ 
son the straw to die from the ear downward. This 
fact, we conceive, does not militate against Mr. Bi¬ 
ot’s theory, for as the absorbing power of the ear at 
the top of the stem is always powerful, it must be the 
more powerful the nearer the ear approaches matu¬ 
rity, and, of course, the part of the stem nearest the 
ear should first become dry. In a bad season, on the 
other hand, the lower part of the stem first becomes 
yellow and dry, after which, of course, the crop is not 
allowed to stand ; for, in such a season, the ear never 
becomes mature, having, of course, less absorbtive 
power, whilst the vitality of the root is early destroy¬ 
ed by the combined effects of bad weather, and un- 
genial state of the soil.” 
On Smut in Wheat. 
The Quarterly Journal of Agriculture contains 
some lengthy and well written numbers on the diseas¬ 
es of grain, by Mr. John Donaldson—in which he no¬ 
tices the different theories which have had their day, 
and the different preventives which have been recom¬ 
mended ; and finally gives us his own opinion as to 
the cause and means of preventing these evils. We 
design hereafter to take a more extended view of 
these interesting communications; but our present 
object is merely to state the result of some experi¬ 
ments made by the writer, and to notice some of the 
means of preventing smut in grain, which he consi¬ 
ders the most approved. 
It is well to premise, that Mr. D. considers smut 
a parasitic plant, and that it is contagious, or in other 
words, that smut-powder abounds in minute seeds, 
capable of germinating and producing its like, when 
sown with wheat. To destroy the vitality of this 
smut seed, salt, lime, chamber ley, copperas, arsenic, 
&c. &c. used in steeps, have been employed, and 
proved more or less effectual. We select from the 
different receipts, two, on account of the facility with 
which they may be employed by farmers generally. 
One is, “ a solution of common salt in water, strong 
enough to carry an egg, sometimes mixed with nitre 
and copperas, in which the wheat is steeped, the light 
grain being carefully skimmed off, and dried with 
quick-lime and then sown. In Norfolk, the salt is 
dissolved in a small quantity of water, barely sufficient 
for the purpose ; the lime is slaked with this solution, 
and the wheat is dried with it in its hottest state, 
having been previously moistened with pure water.” 
The second, practised in the south of Scotland and 
north of England, is, to steep the seed in stale urine, 
free of any mixture. In a practice of this mode of 
prevention, for forty years, Messrs. Culleys never had 
any smut. A tub holding a bushel of wheat, with a 
tin bottom pierced with holes, is immersed in the tub 
containing the urine, and after the wheat is repeated¬ 
ly stirred, and the light grains skimmed off, it is 
thrown on a clean floor, encrusted with lime, and im¬ 
mediately sown. A short time only must elapse be¬ 
tween this preparation and the sowing, as the corro¬ 
sive quality of the volatile alkali with which the stale 
urine abounds, will destroy the vegetative power of 
the seed, especially if quick-lime be added.” 
Mr. D. gives the results of 16 experiments, made 
with wheat, variously prepared, and without prepara¬ 
tion. Seed sown without any preparation, produced 
but one smutted ear in 434; but impregnated with 
smut-powder, two-thirds of the ears were smutted. 
Impregnated with smut-powder, and then washed in 
urine, the product was one smutted ear in five ; and 
when lime was added to the washed grain, the pro¬ 
portion of smutted was only one to 11 The four 
next experiments were made with grain impregnated 
with smut-powder, and arsenic, vitriol and copperas 
employed to purify it; and the results were, in the 
order named above, 1 to 14, 1 to 4, 1 to 16, and 2 to 
1. Impregnated with chamber-ley and limed, the 
smutted ears were only in proportion of 1 to 47. This 
was far the most favorable result, though salt was not 
used in any of the experiments. 
Arthur Young made several series of experiments 
with steeps, which are detailed in his Farmers’ Ca¬ 
lendar. Fourteen parcels were sown on adjoining 
beds. We give below the preparation and results. 
No. Preparation. No. of smutty ears. 
1, Sown dry ; nothing done to it,. 377 
2, Washed well in clean water,. 325 
3, Washed in lime water,. 43 
4, Washed in a ley of wood ashes, .. 31 
5, Washed in an arsenic and salt mixture,.... 28 
6, Steeped in lime water 4 hours,. 12 
7, do m the ley 4 hours,. 3 
8, do in the arsenic steep 4 hours,. 1 
9, do in lime water 12 hours,.. 6 
10, do in the ley 12 hours,... 0 
11, do in the arsenic steep 12 hours,...... 4 
12, do in the lime water 24 hours,........ 0 
13, do in the lye 24 hours,. 0 
14, do in the arsenic 24 hours,. 5 
It would seem from the preceding results, 1, that 
steeping in lime water, or the ley of wood ashes, are 
either of them a pretty sure preventive of smut-—if, 
in the second place, the grain is continued in the 
steep 12, or rather 24 hours. Every farmer has ac¬ 
cess to one or the other, or both of these, without 
much expense; and if, as we believe, they are, as 
well as salt and lime, destructive to the seeds of the 
smut, there is no excuse for omitting to employ them, 
or for marketing smutty wheat. It is, however, to be 
borne in mind, that when smutty wheat has been 
brought to the barn, unless great care is taken, it is 
likely to effect somewhat the coming crop, notwith¬ 
standing the seed may have been steeped ; the seed 
of the smut being so minute and subtle as to adhere 
to bags, shovels, the floor, &c. and often to come in 
contact with the seed after it has been prepared. If 
wheat is made to follow after a crop of smutty wheat, 
a practice which should not be tolerated under any 
circumstance, the new crop will inevitably be smutty, 
as much of the smut seed will be scattered upon the 
soil, and will, of course, come in contact with the 
mouths of the young grain. But it is believed that 
the smut seeds lose their vitality, and will not grow 
after the first year; and that hence, if the seed is 
two years old when sown, the product will not be 
smutty. 
Available Means of Agricultural Improvement. 
Societies and premiums were tried in vain in Ger¬ 
many, to renovate agriculture, says Mr. Fleischman, 
and so was theoretical farming. “The practical 
farmer, uneducated and full of prejudice,” he says, 
“was not able to understand the principles of the 
new system ; the man of scientific education had no 
experience and knowledge of applying science to 
practice properly;” and so both failed, or improved 
slowly. At last, agricultural schools were establish¬ 
ed, and the science and practice were taught simul¬ 
taneously. “In six years,” he continues, “the in¬ 
fluence of these schools was felt throughout the whole 
country.” Rotation of crops was introduced ; the 
stock was increased and improved; the fertility of the 
land was renovated; prejudiced neighbors became 
convinced; they began to imitate, to read, and to 
think, and in a short space of time, the old system 
was abandoned, and the farmer soon saw and realized 
the advantages of the science of agriculture.” 
“ I look to the establishment of agricultural schools,” 
says our highly intelligent Otsego correspondent, “as 
belonging to an earlier state of things than agricultu¬ 
ral exhibitions. To him who has made no advance,” 
he adds with great truth, “ an agricultural exhibition 
is a source of mortification and a wounding of self- 
love—[because it throws his own labors and skill into 
the back ground]—but a school will awaken the spi¬ 
rit of improvement; and a few young men going 
forth from such an establishment, will be like a little 
leaven in the inert mass.” 
It requires but little reflection and foresight to pre¬ 
dict, with great certainty, that unless something is 
speedily done, by the people and the people’s repre¬ 
sentatives, to improve the state of our agriculture, 
the farmers of Europe will soon supplant—will under¬ 
sell us—in our own markets, in the products of our 
soil. We already find the bread-stuffs of Europe, 
and even of Asia, put in requisition to feed our popu¬ 
lation. From the low price of labor in Europe, and 
particularly from the recent improvements in agri¬ 
culture, which are doubling and trebling the products 
of agricultural labor there, the disparity in the actual 
cost, to the cultivator of these products, is constantly 
increasing against us. The venerable Fellenburgh— 
and may he yet enjoy a long and happy life—was the 
first to demonstrate the utility of combining the sci¬ 
ence with the practice of agriculture—of making 
farmers gentlemen, and gentlemen farmers—of com¬ 
bining intellectual with physical power, and literature 
with labor—in a school for the education of young 
men. The sagacious Frederick, king of Prussia, 
soon saw the advantages to the state, which were 
likely to result from schools like that at Hoffwyl, and 
soon established the great school at Moegelin, under 
the distinguished Thaer, and has since incorporated 
its principles into the common schools of his king¬ 
dom. Bavaria, Austria, and other of the German 
states, and France, have since established like schools; 
Russia has agricultural schools near St. Petersburgh 
