188 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
grass,-'-' Dactylis glomerata , is grown in a few sections, 
but is not generally known. As a pas:ure grass, it is 
worthy of more general culture. It produces abundance 
of leaves, starts very quick after being eaten off, and 
grows very rapidly. It should be sown thickly, (three 
bushels seed per acre, is recommended by English wri¬ 
ters,) to prevent its growing up loo much in bunches or 
tussocks. 
The perennial rye-grass, Lolium perenne, is recom¬ 
mended for sheep pastures. We have tried this grass, 
and think highly of it for this purpose. The meadow 
fox-tail, Alopecurus pratcnsis, is well suited to moist pas¬ 
tures, and in England is esteemed one of the best of 
grasses both for grazing and hay. 
The sainfoin, Hedtjsarum onobrichis , is considered one 
of the most valuable herbage plants known in England. 
It belongs to the leguminosse family, but is in many res¬ 
pects quite different from any of the clovers. It is said 
to grow spontaneously on the calcareous mountains of 
the middle and south of Europe. It nourishes well on 
dry soils, and by means of its long fibrous roots, is said to 
find moisture even in the driest seasons. It is much es¬ 
teemed both for pasturage and hay, and is said to afford 
on some soils a greater amount of nutriment per acre, 
than any other plant grown for those purposes. It is al¬ 
so recommended for keeping the sides of hills from 
washing. The roots will live in the soil, and retain their 
vigor many years. 
A species of clover called in England, meadow-clover, 
cow-clover, or cow-grass, Trifolium medium , is perenni¬ 
al, and is much esteemed in pastures. It resembles in 
appearance, the common biennial red clover, T. pratense, 
but the leaves are narrower, and it grows to a less 
height. It is very desirable that this plant should be tri¬ 
ed in this country. “A poor sandy soil it is said, will 
produce a good crop of cow-clover, that would not pro¬ 
duce half a crop of the common red clover.”—Loudon. 
Several species of the Trifolium genus pass under the 
common name of trefoil. The most valuable of these is 
thought to be the French yellow trefoil, Medicago lupu- 
lina. It is perennial, or at least lives many years. It is 
well relished by stock, both in its green state, and when 
made into hay. It is thought of considerable conse¬ 
quence in pastures. 
4 
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o 
1 
9 
CUCUMBERS AND MELONS—PROTECTION 
AGAINST BUGS. 
while the dew is on, have some tendency to keep the 
bugs from eating them, but are not altogether effectual 
preventives. 
Several years ago we made trial of water in which hen 
dung had been soaked until the water fermented, for 
keeping off bugs from vines. An old hog-trough was 
carried to the piece, two or three shovels full of clean 
manure from the hen-roost thrown into it, with three or 
four gallons of water. It soon fermented, and the odor 
from it was very offensive. A half pint of this liquid was 
poured on each hill each alternate day. It kept off the 
bugs almost entirely, and made the vines grow astonish¬ 
ingly. They were melons, and produced the heaviest 
crop we ever saw. 
CULTURE OF STRAWBERRIES. 
The practice of placing flat stones under the branches 
of strawberries is frequently recommended. The object 
is to keep the fruit clean, and hasten the ripening and im¬ 
prove its flavor, by the radiation of heat from the stone. 
A writer in the Gardener's Chronicle recommends a very 
simple ami cheap substitute for stones. He suggests that 
tile might be made of the form shown in the annexed cut, 
i- 1 that would answer well, look neat, and 
1 I cost but little. It is advised that they be 
L ~\ 1 made about 12 inches square, preserving 
J j room for the average size of the stems. 
I After a season, in preparing new beds, 
! _j the runners might be placed at equal dis- 
[Fig. 62 ] tances, so that the bed would be entirely 
covered by the tiles, as shown in fig. 63. A bed 40 feet 
by 6, would require but 500, 
and their cost would be but 
little, as they could be made 
by any brick maker. We 
should think it hardly proper 
for the tiles to lie on the 
ground the whole season, as 
they might sometimes keep 
[Fig. 63.] the heat too much from the 
ground; but we should suppose they would answer a 
good purpose if placed round the plants, after the ground 
had been worked and got well warmed in the spring— 
they would keep the soil from drying up, and entirely 
prevent the growth of weeds and grass. 
AGRICULTURE IN NOVA SCOTIA. 
Cucumbers and melons for pickling, maybe planted 
till the first of July. New land lately cleared from the 
forest, is best for vines, if it can be had; next to this, a 
piece which was the last year in sod and planted with 
corn or potatoes, is to be preferred. It should be of a 
medium state of richness and dryness, a better crop, so 
far as our experience goes, being more generally obtain¬ 
ed from such land, than that which is extremely rich. 
Make the hills seven or eight feet apart. A very com¬ 
mon error is to make them too close, so that the vines 
have not room enough, and they smother each other. 
Hog manure, that is pretty well rotted, or that which is 
in a green state, well mixed with muck and leached ash¬ 
es, will do well. The manure of pigeons and hens is 
also excellent, but is very strong, and should be mixed 
with double its bulk of loam or muck. Dig the holes for 
the hills so deep that a peck at least of manure, may be 
put in without coming above the surface of the earth, 
level it off and plant the seed. To provide against the 
bugs and worms, it is best, to plant a large quantity of 
seed. If there is twelve to fifteen plants to a hill while 
they are small, no injury will be done; but they should 
be thinned to no more than three, just before they begin 
to run, and have got well out of the way of insects. To 
keep off the bugs, millinet-boxes are the best prevent¬ 
ives while the plants are small, arid.that is the time they 
are most likely to be injured. The boxes are cheap— 
made of pine boards six inches wide, merely nailed to¬ 
gether square—the edge of the boards on two sides groo¬ 
ved—the millinet drawn over and fastened by tongues 
driven into the grooves. They should be large enough 
to fairly cover the hill without crowding. Plaster, coal 
ashes, or leached wood ashes, Scattered over the plants 
We have received the third and fourth Reports of the 
Central Board of Agriculture for Nova Scotia. It ap¬ 
pears to be the duty of this Board to receive the reports 
of the local societies, and to submit in a general report 
of its own, a view of the operations of all. It appears 
that the number of local societies in the Province, is no 
less than thirty-eight, some of which have been in ope¬ 
ration for several years. The Provincial Government 
has placed liberal sums of money at the disposal of the 
Central Board which have been annually distributed 
among the societies of the different sections, for the en¬ 
couragement of agriculture, and the result seems gene¬ 
rally to have been highly flattering. A decided improve¬ 
ment is seen in their modes of cultivation, which has of 
course been followed by better crops. Improved imple¬ 
ments of husbandry have been introduced from Massa¬ 
chusetts, and in some instances from England and Scot¬ 
land, some of which, especially the Centre Draft Plow 
of Messrs. Prouty & Meat s, are spoken of as being great¬ 
ly superior to those which bad been in common use. 
Bulls of the Durham, Hereford, anti Ayrshire breeds, 
have been imported, and their progeny are said to be evi¬ 
dently superior to the former stock; those from the Dur¬ 
ham and Hereford bulls, in particular, are said to winter 
better than the common stock, are much more thrifty and 
better shaped. Sheep of the Dishley or Leicester, the 
South Down, and the Chevoit breeds have also been in¬ 
troduced, and are every where spoken of as succeeding 
well, and all are much esteemed, being decidedly more 
profitable than the common s ock. The Berkshire swine 
have been quite generally tried, and in most cases, are 
spoken of as superior to those formerly kept. Some st»V 
