258 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
August, 
tion and ripening of seed , is not so well appreciated. It 
has been justly remarked, that it requires more Strength 
of soil to form the half-ounce of seed on a single plant 
of the turnip, than to grow the large succulent bulb in 
the ground, though weighing fifteen pounds. Hence 
the great importance of never allowing a crop of weeds 
to draw the life from the soil in ripening a crop of 
seed. 
The importauce of cutting up and destroying weeds 
when only an inch high, before they have shaded and 
stunted the young crop, and when the work can be done 
with one tenth of the labor subsequently required, 
needs no reasoning to show its policy. The advantage 
of keeping the soil entirely free from the seeds of 
weeds, so that the necessary stirring of the surface may 
be entirely performed by the plough and cultivator, in¬ 
stead of by hand, is equally obvious. 
INDIAN CORN. 
M. W. Phillips, of Edwards’ Depot, Miss., writes in 
the July Cultivator, a very practical article on the cul¬ 
ture of Indian Corn. He is right when he says, corn 
will not fire, i. e. curl, in a garden, with deep tilth and 
good dressing, as in the field, where the roots are torn 
by deep culture. Experiment has convinced me, that 
so far as profit is concerned, there is no vegetable grown 
north of the tropics, that will yield the same quantum 
of food for man and beast, to the rod square, as Indian 
corn, particularly in a clay loam, well ameliorated by 
coarse manure. Six square rods of corn, planted four 
inches apart, in drills three feet apart, will, after the 
middle of June, this year, furnish a daily baiting of 
stalks or suckers to a cow, until the corn is ripe, when 
the remaining stalks will be still more nutricious, if 
cut as soon as the corn is hard. When thinned out to 
about eight inches apart in the drills, each stalk left 
will produce from one to two ears. The richer the 
soil, the less the necessity of hoeing, as it then con¬ 
tains an atmosphere of its own, which needs little aid 
from tillage, after the first hoeing. S. W. 
LABELS FOR FRUIT TREES. 
At page 382 of the Cultivator for 1844, is a descrip¬ 
tion of a zinc label for fruit trees, with directions for 
making the ink to write on them; thinking this the 
most desirable and economical plan I had seen, I, with 
a neighbor, made some of the labels as per direction; 
but we found that the writing, on exposure to the air, 
turned quite white, leaving the form of the letters, but 
becoming nearly unintelligible. This was owing, as 
we suppose, to the oxidization of the zinc; but we 
found, that the spreading a coat of copal varnish over 
the label, when the ink was dry, prevented the oxidi¬ 
zation, and the writing preserved its fine jet black color. 
Gum shellac, dissolved in alcohol, spread on in the same 
way, will preserve the name, but it becomes somewhat 
yellow. Varnish makes the best coat, i. e., it pre¬ 
serves the glossy black of the ink best. We prepare 
the labels as there directed, and after the writing is dry, 
spread on one coat of varnish with a small brush, and 
the work is done. If this ink proves durable, (and it 
cannot be washed out,j this is the best way to label 
trees I have seen. A label need not cost more than the 
fifth of a cent, including the copper wire, when made 
by the quantity, and it must last a great many years. 
Every lover of fruit and fruit trees will provide him¬ 
self with so important a thing as a correct list of his 
valuable trees, when it can be done so easily. H. 
Ohio, 1846. 
Carrots. —S. Brown, in the Boston Cultivator, says, 
11 We have fed two farrow cows with carrots from the 
time of housing to the present date, and the result is, 
they have given nearly twice the quantity of milk they 
would have produced without them, and of a richer 
quality; the butter made from them, churns quick, and 
is nearly equal to June butter.” 
FACTS AND OPINIONS 
Condensed from various Exchange Papers . 
Saw-dust round fruit trees, has been found emi¬ 
nently useful in keeping the ground moist in drouth, 
and in promoting the growth of the tree. Several bush¬ 
els may be applied to a tree. 
The Borer in Apple trees —W. Buckminster, at 
an agricultural meeting at the State House, Boston, «tated 
that the borer, which is a fly in its perfect stat*, lays 
ten eggs on the tree near the ground; that they hatch 
to young worms and enter the bark the first year; the 
next, they eat into the wood and ascend; and the third, 
come out and change to the perfect insect. He says the 
best remedy is to wash the trees with strong lye in July, 
after the eggs are laid, and before the worms have bu¬ 
ried themselves in the bark. 
Roots for Cows.—The Boston Cultivator says, that 
the disagreeable flavor of milk, and offensive odor in 
cellars, from the ruta baga, may be obviated by substi¬ 
tuting the cabbage turnep, or turnep-rooted-cabbage, 
below ground; that it will yield as much or more than 
the ruta baga, keeps well, imparts no unpleasant flavor 
to milk, and like a parsnep will keep well in the ground 
the severest winters, and be ready for use in the spring. 
The turnep-rooted-cabbage, above ground, is less valu¬ 
able. 
Onions—Pressing the earth. — A correspondent 
of the Michigan Farmer, says an onion bed was made 
on a very mellow soil of gravelly loam spaded eleven 
inches deep. One half of the bed was trodden by the 
feet of a boy; the other half untouched. The bed was 
merely weeded. The onions which grew on the trod¬ 
den part, “came up first, grew more thriftily, and were 
more than double in size and quantity those on the other 
half—being as good a yield as I ever saw.” 
Responsibility of Nurserymen. —An action was 
lately brought, in New-Jersey, against a nurseryman 
for having sold trees, a great number of which, on fruit¬ 
ing were found to produce natural fruit. The Judge 
ruled that the plaintiff could only recover the first cost 
of the trees,—and that the cost and labor in cultivating 
worthless trees, the rent of the land on which they 
grew, the loss of several years’ time, and the loss of sale 
of many bushels of fruit, were not to be taken into ac¬ 
count. The jury decided accordingly. 
Fruit Trees. —At a late meeting in Boston, John 
Owen of Cambridge, stated he cured the black wart on 
plum trees by cutting off and washing in salt water; and 
in another case, by washing with salt water only, the 
wart’s cracking off. S. Pond learned the value of salt 
for plum trees, by an inundation covering his grounds 
several feet with salt water, “ killing every thing but 
his plum trees, and giving them new life, health, and 
vigor.” Dr. Shurtliff, of Brooklyn, applied to unhealthj', 
unproductive plum trees, iwo quarts of salt each, in 
water; “ the trees became healthy, and the ensuing sea¬ 
son they bore too much fruit.” He continued the ap¬ 
plication, and was not troubled with black wart nor 
curculio. 
W. Buckminster said he had found roots of apple trees 
three rods from the trunk, that had been set out only 
sixteen years—a proof of the importance of a wide, 
deep bed of fertile soil. 
Young Lambs. —J. A. Morton, of Hadley, Mass., 
treats young lambs which have been chilled, by im¬ 
mersing them in a tub of warm water, the temperature 
a little higher than blood heat, rubbing them and keep¬ 
ing them in long enough to become warmed through. 
He then takes them out and rubs them gently with flan¬ 
nel till quite dry. He does not feed them, till by 
running about and exercise, a keen appetite is created. 
Protecting trees from mice. —A correspondent 
of the Gardener's Chronicle, mixes soot and milk till of 
the consistence of thick paint, and then applies it to the 
trees with a brush. This, applied once a year, he finds 
effectual protection against hares and rabbits. Would it 
not be equally so against mice ? 
