1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR 
305 
Egg Plant .—My plants were moderately early. A 
few flowers fruited during a few auspicious days in Ju¬ 
ly ; otherwise the whole usual season of fruitingj thus 
far, has been too cold for that delicate process. 
So it was in 1847. Plants that did not fruit before 
the 24th of July, did not fruit at all, although the her¬ 
bage was large and fine. A large portion of the fruit 
of this crop rotted in 1846, in exact coincidence of time 
and appearance with the potato disease. 
Green Fleshed Melons.— The foliage of this vine has 
suffered less than in 1846 and ’7, in consequence of the 
higher range of temperature during a chill, and the less 
violent character of the wind ; but the process of fruit¬ 
ing has suffered much more than in these years from 
the almost uninterrupted continuance of cool weather. 
A few fruits set late in June, hut scarcely any since, 
until within these last few days. So it was last year 
during the whole month of August. A Te w gentlemen 
about me who have melon beds in highly sheltered situ¬ 
ations, especially such as enjoyed the aid of bottom 
heat arising from large compost heaps,iaave done bet¬ 
ter. 
Water Melons .-—This is the tenderest ©f all melons. 
Early plants that were forwarded in hotbeds, looked 
well to the end of June and set considerable fruit. But 
they are now nearly all dead, root and branch. A few 
cold bed plants transplanted with entire safety, are but 
just alive now, and without the aid of a long and warm 
autumn, must entirely fail as a crop. 
Peppers. —These exhibit some fine fruit set early. 
Others are now just setting, but between these there 
are few that are intermediate. 
Squashes, Summer. —-Tills squash sets in unfavorable 
weather almost as freely as the cucumber, but in the 
growth of its fruit it is the tenderest of all vines. Al¬ 
most all my early specimens perished by rotting at the 
extreme end, by becoming covered all over with small 
carious spots, or by becoming prematurely ripe and 
stinted. There is no more delicate exponent of good 
summer weather than the rapid and healthful growth 
of the fruit of the summer squash. 
Squash, Winter. —This, though hardier than the pre¬ 
ceding, will probably be a failing crop. I expect to 
see the fruit present in autumn, (as in 1846 and 1847,) 
small carious spots on its surface, gummy exudations of 
an offensive smell all over the skin, and (as would be j 
expected) a tendency to early decay. 
All this again is the result of sudden changes of the 
weather at critical periods in the growth of this plant. 
Tomatoes. —-I had about 700 hills that began to ma¬ 
ture fruit about the middle of July. All the first ripe 
fruit for nearly the first ten days was unfit for market. 
By the 25th they were in fine bearing, when they sud¬ 
denly received a most violent shock from cold weather, 
so that on the first of August nearly every hill was de¬ 
foliated in the centre almost as badly as on the 10th of 
September ordinarily. My fear was that, in these cir¬ 
cumstances, they would, as in some former years, die 
outright. But they now seem to be a little revived, so 
that they begin to throw out young shoots from the na¬ 
ked branches in the centre of the hill. The' market 
gardeners have long been in the habit of importing a 
few early tomatoes, from the city of New-York. But 
never before have I seen the spectacle of the Utica mar¬ 
ket supplied with imported tomatoes almost to the mid¬ 
dle of August. 
5 . Hardy Fruits. 
Apples are few this year generally. 
Pears, with me abundant for my trees. 
Plums— not one to be found. 
Quinces , so far as we raise them at all, are abun¬ 
dant. 
6. Tender Fruits. 
Grapes.— Those that were covered during the win¬ 
ter are in fruit. The springs of 1847 and 1848, unlike 
those of many preceding years, exhibited no frosts suf¬ 
ficient to cut off grapes after the buds broke. 
Peac&es.-—None. 
I ought to observe that the preceding doleful account 
of the season, especially in regard to tender plants, re¬ 
quires some abatement on account of the unusually 
bleak exposition of my garden. But with this slight 
qualification, it will hold true of Oneida county gene* 
rally for the present year. 
It is important to compare the preceding morbid in¬ 
dications, in the culture of tender plants generally, with 
that of the potato particularly. From such a compa¬ 
rison, it will appear that the state of weather that pre¬ 
cedes the potato disease, simultaneously, similarly 
and usually equally, precedes a diseased condition in 
every other tender plant usually cultivated among us, 
the soil, time of planting , care in the culture, being 
substantially the same in each case. 
If such be the fact, how can we avoid the conviction 
that similar causes of disease, be they what they may, 
are in action in each case. C. E. G. 
Utica, August, 1848. 
Answers to Inquiries. 
Early-Cut Hay. — u Does early-cut hay, when fed 
to cows, prevent or lessen their difficulties in calving 
or cleaning ?” This question is asked by a correspon¬ 
dent at Clarendon, Vt., who states that for several years 
past, he has fed his cows in the winter on hay cut chiefly 
in the month of September. He states that the cows 
have generally been in good order in the spring, but 
that they have frequently had difficulty in calving. He 
has given them rye meal, which has proved useful; but 
beans, mixed with corn meal, and wet up together, have 
been most effective in causing the cows to cleanse well. 
In answer to the above question, we think most dairy¬ 
men will agree that early cut hay is better for cows 
than that which is ripe. Hay from green grass, keeps 
the animal system in a more natural condition; it pre¬ 
vents that tendency to constipation of the bowels, 
which at the time of parturition is very likely to pro¬ 
duce fever, and lead to the difficulties mentioned. 
Bed-Bugs. — “ A Subscriber,” Granby, Ct. To 
prevent these troublesome insects, use bedsteads that 
have no holes through them, and which screw together 
so tightly as to leave no cavities; use board slats in¬ 
stead of cords; and if there is any appearance of bugs, 
apply corrossive sublimate and cheap rum, whiskey, or 
alcohol, to the places where they are likely to lodge 
themselves. It may be applied with a feather, and 
once a week will answer. If the bugs come out of the 
wall or floor, set the bedstead where it cannot come in 
contact with the wall, and occasionally use the above 
solution around the bottom of the posts and on the floor 
where they stand. 
Specimen of Muck. —S. W., North Easton, N. Y. 
The muck, of which you sent a sample, would proba¬ 
bly prove useful as a fertilizer on the soil you describe. 
“ Argillaceous Earth.” —S. W. The sample sent 
contains much sand, a little alumina, and a little iron—■ 
no lime. It might be of some service on a loose, san¬ 
dy or gravelly soil. 
Extirpation of Couch or Quack Grass.—S. W. 
Work the ground thoroughly when it is moderately dry. 
A spring-tooth horse-rake, with large teeih has been 
used for cleaning out the roots and gathering them in¬ 
to piles, with good effect. 
Best Time for setting out an Orchard.— S. W. 
In general, we should prefer spring; but if the ground 
is dry and not liable to be thrown by frost, fall planting 
does very well. 
