316 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
have level roads, on which his horses may draw double 
loads with ease. 
2. The material for the construction of roads is very 
essential, and often entirely neglected. The surface of 
the earth is in many cases rich black mould or muck, 
very fine for the growth of potatoes and corn, but mak¬ 
ing horrible wagon tracks. It is however usually 
scraped into the highway for the very simple and co¬ 
gent reason that it is scraped easily, being so much 
softer than the harupan below, which though hard to 
work, would nevertheless be equally hard to get mud¬ 
dy. Sometimes, like the politician, who “steered be¬ 
tween right and wrong,” a midway course is taken, or 
rather both plans are adopted; that is, the muck is first 
scraped up into a high turnpike, and then a coat of 
hardpan covers the top—which does well for light 
wagons, but heavy ones cut through the crust into the 
manure below. One of the hardest and smoothest 
roads we ever saw, was the wide shallow ditch made 
by scraping the muck out, to form the turnpike, and 
thus leaving the clean hard-pan surface. What fine 
hard roads might be made in many places, by merely 
removing the black upper soil to enrich the adjacent 
fields. 
3. A third important item, is the removal of loose 
stones. The law of the state of New-York requires 
that all road-overseers should cause these to be thrown 
from the road once a month, but it is rarely observed. 
It is believed that if this were strictly attended to, and 
our roads kept smooth, wagons and carriages would last 
double the time they now do, to say nothing of the dis¬ 
comfort of being thoroughly jarred a thousand times a 
day, and the rack to horses, harness, and merchandise. 
A single stone, against which every passing vehicle 
thumps like a sledge, may alone cost a hundred dollars 
& year by broken or shattered wagons. 
The property invested in wagons in the state of New- 
York alone*, is probably not less than ten million dol¬ 
lars. If by keeping the roads smooth, by the removal of 
stones, this enormous sum would need renewing only 
once in twenty-five years, instead of once in twelve 
years as now, would it not be an economical operation? I 
If a hundred thousand farmers in the state, do fifty 
dollars worth of teaming on the road, each, per annum, 
the yearly aggregate would be five millions. If their 
loads could be doubled, by making all the roads nearly 
level, would not the clipping off of a few farmers’fields 
for the passage of the road, be a matter of strict eco¬ 
nomy to individuals, as well as a great public benefit? 
If besides, by all these improvements, bringing farms 
virtually nearer market and all other places of business, 
the price of land should rise, as it certainly would, at 
least to some extent, who would be the loosers? 
PRESERVATION OF APPLES. 
We think the following extract from Downing’s 
“ Fruits and Fruit Trees of America,” furnishes the 
best answer that can be given to the various inquiries 
we have received in relation to preserving apples. 
In order to secure soundness and preservation, it is 
indispensably necessary that the fruit should be gathered 
by hand. For winter fruit the gathering is delayed as 
long as possible, avoiding severe frosts, and the most 
successful practice with our extensive orchardists is to 
place the good fruit directly, in a careful manner, in 
new, tight flour barrels, as soon as gathered from the 
tree. These barrels should be gently shaken while 
filling, and the head closely pressed in; they are then 
placed in a cool shady exposure under a shed open to 
the air, or on the north side of a building, protected by 
a covering of boards over the top, where they remain 
for a fortnight, or until the cold becomes too severe, 
when they are transferred to a cool, dry cellar, in which 
air can be admitted occasionally in brisk weather. A 
cellar for this purpose, should be dug in dry, gravelly, 
or sandy soil, with, if possible, a slope to the north; or 
at any rate with openings on the north side for the ad¬ 
mission of air, in weather not excessively cold. Here 
Oct. 
the barrels should be placed on tiers on their sides> 
and the cellar should be kept as dark as possible. 
When apples are exported, each fruit in the bar¬ 
rel should be wrapped in clean coarse paper, and the 
barrels should be placed in a dry, airy place, between 
decks. 
BLIGHT SUPPOSED TO BE CAUSED BY THE BAR¬ 
BERRY. 
Mr. Editor—W ill a barberry-bush growing in a 
man’s garden on one side of the highway, blast wheat 
on the other side, or is it possible it will blast it 
at all? 
Eleven or twelve years ago, I brought, for the dis¬ 
tance of 30 miles, a root of the barberry, which I plant¬ 
ed in my garden. Having heard that it was a saying 
among the New-Englanders that it would blast wheat, 
I asked the person from whom I got it, whether he 
knew anything relative to the subject. He replied that 
he believed the idea erroneous, adding that he had 
raised wheat successfully on his farm for 20 years, and 
he believed that his barberries, (for he had three large 
bushes,) had no influence whatever on his wheat. 
My neighbor, on the other side of the road, sowed 
opposite to my garden, some four or five acres of wheat. 
The lot contained two kinds of seed. The kind sown 
nearest the road, and cornering towards my garden, 
was principally blasted, while the other kind was 
bright and a good yield. Hence, the conclusion is, 
that my barberry bush blasted the wheat, and that I 
ought to cut it down. I am informed that there were 
a few years since, two large bushes in town, cut down 
under the same pretence. 
Now I would not take $5 for my barberry bush, as it 
is an excellent medicine, a fine ornament, and the fruit 
makes excellent preserves,—yet as no man has a right 
to injure another, my bush shall be cut down, provided 
I can be convinced it is an offender. 
Zetto Barnes 
Fabius , Onondaga Co., N. ¥., Sept. 1 , 1846. 
Remarks. —The idea formerly prevailed pretty ex¬ 
tensively in some parts of New-England, that the bar¬ 
berry tended to blast grain, especially wheat and rye. 
In some districts where wheat was seldom grown, the 
belief that the shrub would blast rye, was quite com- 
mon. We recollect seeing the matter put to something 
of a test. Some bushes came up in a field near a wall 
which formed a fence between the field and the high¬ 
way. It was suggested to the owner of the lot that he 
had better dig up the bushes, as they would blast his 
grain. He, however, let them remain till they had for 
several years borne fruit. During this time the field 
was occasionally sown to rye, and the crop was strictly 
noticed to ascertain whether the bushes produced any 
effect, but none could be discovered—the grain being in 
all respects as perfect as had usually been produced on 
the farm, or on the same field before the bushes came 
up. We believe the notion of the deleterious effects of 
this shrub is now pretty generally exploded in the 
neighborhood to which we have referred. 
In the Genesee Farmer, vol. iv., p. 158, David 
Thomas states that Humphrey Howland, of Great- 
field, Cayuga Co., had raised excellent wheat, though 
“ a very large barberry bush grew within three rods ot 
the edge of the lot.” Mr. Thomas also furnishes an 
extract from a letter of a correspondent of his, near 
Philadelphia, in which it is stated that “ Seneca Luken3 
had a fine barberry bush which grew at the side of his 
wheat field without any perceptible injury to his crops.” 
Mr. T. also quotes from a writer in the New-York Far¬ 
mer, H. C., [Henry Colman?] who says, “for the 
two last years I have raised spring wheat in the very 
near vicinity of barberry bushes without any percepts 
ble injury.” No appearance of blast was discoverable. 
We think our correspondent is very fair in offering 
to cut down his barberry bush if it can be proved to be 
