THE CULTIVATOR. 
159 
the border, like the centre of a coal-pit. Around these he piled his dry- 
est turf, and having fired the interior, fresh turf was added, as circum¬ 
stances seemed to warrant, till the pile became quite large. In-this way, 
with comparative little labor, he had obtained his 5,000 bushels of ashes, 
which were principally intended as a top-dressing for his grass lands. So 
abundant did the gentleman consider his resources of fertility—in his peat 
earth and peat ashes,—his sea weed and his fish—in the dung of his ani¬ 
mals, from his oxen to his poultry,—and in the litter and wash of his yards 
and kitchen.—that he calculated confidently, and we believe bn safe 
grounds, that he would be able to manure well one hundred and sixty 
acres of land annually. 
These hints cannot but be acceptable to farmers on the seaboard; and 
the highly commendable example which we have given above, we trust 
will stimulate them thoroughly to try these neglected means of enriching 
their lands. We shall offer further remarks upon this subject in our next 
number. 
Berkshire Cattle Show. —We attended the twenty-seventh anniversary 
of the Berkshire Agricultural Society, and witnessed with great pleasure 
the many demonstrations it afforded of the growing utility of that associ¬ 
ation upon the social, moral and intellectual condition of the county — 
Its anniversaries have lostnone of their interest—none of their usefulness. 
Perhaps three thousand people were present: and few, if any of them, we 
believe, went home without having acquired some useful knowledge in 
their business, or some new stimulus to useful exertion. We believe 
there is no district of our country which can boast of more and better 
schools than Berkshire, or that has sent abroad more and better teachers. 
This successful effort at intellectual improvement, we are persuaded, is 
in a great measure to be ascribed to the influence of her agricultural so¬ 
ciety upon the feelings and enterprise of her citizens. 
BLIGHT IN PEAR TREES. 
The Rev. Mr. Reed, of Poughkeepsie, has communicated to the Phila¬ 
delphia horticultural society his mode of preventing the blight in pear 
trees; and we must confess his theory is a plausible one, and seems in a 
measure to be confirmed by his practice. It is to impregnate the soil 
about the tree with iron, where this mineral does not already exist, which 
is effected by putting a bushel of blacksmith’s cinders about the roots of 
each tree In several trials made by Mr. Reed, in the course of many 
years, the experiment uniformly succeeded, and the trees became healthy 
and productive. Mr. Reed also alludes to the practice of hanging old iron 
upon the branches, as a means of preventing blight. We remember to 
have seen this practised in 1802, in some cases with apparent success, 
and in others without any sensible benefit. This difference in result may 
have arisen from the circumstance, that in the successful cases the iron 
was-highly oxidized, and of course was carried to, and blended with, the 
soil, by the rains; while in other cases this effect was not produced. 
If iron is beneficial in preventing blight in the pear, it must be so in 
one of two ways: it is necessary as natural and essential aliment to the 
plant, or is destructive or offensive to some species of insects which prey 
upon and destroy it. We are yet inclined to the opinion that the blight 
is caused by animalcule, that is, insects too small to be detected by the 
naked eye, which subsist upon the sap, or at least vitiate and poison it. 
We know that a family of these insects has destroyed whole forests of 
firs in Germany, at different periods; and analogy would seem to authorize 
the conclusion, that there are species which prey upon the pear, and 
other kinds of trees. The trials which we have made of washing the 
bole of the pear tree with chloride of lime, though they do not positively 
confirm this opinion, go far to strengthen it. The presence of iron in the 
soil, as well as the application of chlorine to the bark of the tree, might 
impart to the sap a property obnoxious to the animalcule, and thus pre¬ 
serve the tree; besides so far as our observations have gone, ferruginous 
soils, or soils charged with iron, are most exempt from insect depredations. 
If we assume the other position, that iron is part of the alimentary food 
of the pear, and that blight is caused by the want of it. We are met by the 
formidable objection, that while the cause is radical and continuous, the ef¬ 
fect is periodical or temporay. Natural causes always produce like natu¬ 
ral effects. 
Mildew on the gooseberry and grape. —We find in Mr. Reed’s com¬ 
munication a suggestion in regard to mildew on the gooseberry and grape, 
which in a measure corroborates the correctness of the opinions we have 
heretofore expressed on this subject. The suggestion is, that salt will 
prevent the mildew on gooseberries, and probably on the grape. A pint 
of strong brine, put at the root of each plant in the spring, he informs us, 
has not only prevented mildew on the gooseberry, but has restored to the 
berry; before diseased and diminutive, its original size. All we ob¬ 
ject to is the mystical mpde of application. “ The brine should be put 
on without stirring the earth,” says the Rev. writer, “ so as [not] to wet 
the roots, as in that case it kills the plant, but there is no danger if pour¬ 
ed on the earth undisturbed.” The plain English of which seems to be, 
that the saline properties of a strong brine, if brought into immediate con¬ 
tact with the roots, will not only destroy the seeds of the pnrasyte, for 
such we consider mildew, but the vitality of the plant itself—the undis¬ 
turbed surface arresting a great portion of the saline matter, which is sub¬ 
sequently carried down, by rains, in moderate quantities. This prescrip¬ 
tion is based upon the theory, that mildew, in the gooseberry and grape, 
is a parasytic plant, the germ or seed of which abides at the roots; that salt 
destroys the vitality of these germs or seeds; but that, when applied in 
excess, it also destroys the plant. The great object is, therefore, to gra¬ 
duate the remedy to the cure, and this would seem to be best accom¬ 
plished, by applying the brine in winter or early spring, when the plant 
is dormant, and not absorbing the moisture of the soil—or in a very diluted 
form, when it is in the progress of growth Partial experiments with the 
grape had induced Mr. Reed to believe, that a like application of brine to 
the grape, would produce results alike favorable. 
AGRICULTURE IN KENTUCKY. 
We like the Kentuckians. We like them for their chivalrous, disinte¬ 
rested patriotism—we like them for their ingenuousness and hospitality— 
and we like them, particularly, for their noble efforts to improve the 
great business of our country, and of mankind—the cultivation and im¬ 
provement of the soil. In Kentucky agriculture holds a dignified rank, 
as it ought to do in every land of freedom;- her most talented and opulent 
citizens make it their business and dependence, and soaring above the 
narrow prejudices pf the day, seem resolved to demonstrate this great 
truth, that individual happiness is most efficiently promoted, by united 
efforts to increase the prosperity of all. 
Kentucky is probably not surpassed by any state in the number and re¬ 
spectability of her agricultural associations;- and we think she is certainly 
not surpassed by any in the number and excellence of her fine animals, 
nor in the means she is adopting to perpetuate and improve her choice 
breeds. Among the latter we observe an association to publish a Ken¬ 
tucky stock book, to contain at least two hundred quarto pages, and fifty 
engravings on stone of their finest animals Contracts have been made 
with the best artists, and the work is already in progress. Such a work 
is new in our country, and until recently was even unknown in Europe. 
It will be of great service to the breeder and stock farmer, and must tend 
greatly to facilitate the improvement of our farm animals. 
Draining Tile, are manufactured in this city by Mr. Jackson. They 
give an aperture for the passage of water of about four inches square, will 
lay one foot of drain each, and are sold at fifteen dollars the thousand. 
We have this year laid four thousand, and they promise to be durable and 
efficient. In using them, we have dug to the depth of two to four feet, 
as circumstances required to reach the water stratum, or source of wet¬ 
ness, laid the tile upon hemlock boards, and covered them, and particu¬ 
larly at their junction, with tough sods, grass down, and trod earth in at 
the sides, so as to prevent the passage of water elsewhere than through 
the aperture. We have then, where the soil was stiff, thrown in some 
brush, and filled up the trench. These precautions were deemed neces- 
i sary to keep the drain in order, and to admit into it the water coming from 
[the slope above. When stones cannot be had these tiles constitute an 
excellent material for draining, and in all cases, perhaps, they may be 
considered an economical one, if well laid. 
The Potato .—It is said of the great Linnaeus, that he preferred the Je¬ 
rusalem artichoke to the potato, against which he had a botanical preju¬ 
dice on account of its belonging to a poisonous genus of plants, (the sola- 
num.) When long - exposed to the sun, the potato is said to have become 
so poisonous as to kill cattle which ate them. In a clammy, watery state, 
as is the case with someof the coarser varieties, they are undoubtedly un¬ 
healthy—but the better, dryer kinds are wholesome and nutritious. The 
misfortune is, that one half of mankind do not enjoy, if they know, the 
luxury of a good, well cooked potato—they graduate their value by the 
quantity, and not by the quality of the product. 
ADDRESS, 
Delivered before the Berkshire Agricdltdrai Society, 
AT THEIR TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY, OCTOBER 5, 1837, 
by J. Bdel. — (Concluded.) 
The object of the farmer, in the management of his farming operations, 
should be, first, to obtain the greatest return for the capital and labor he 
expends; and, secondly, to do this without impairing the fertility of the 
soil, or the intrinsic value of his farm. To effect these objec's, three 
prominent rules should be observed:—The first is —keep your land 
dry; or in other words, free from all superfluous moisture. The second 
rule is —keep your land clean; or in other words, free from weeds. 
And the third is —keep your land rich; or in other words, return 
to it, in the form of manure, all the refuse animal and vegetable matters 
which the farm affords. 
Keep your land dry. The importance of draining is not duly ap¬ 
preciated, nor its practice well understood, among us. Although water 
is indispensable to vegetation, too much of it is as hurtful as too little._ 
It is necessary to the germination of the seed, to the decomposition of 
the vegetable matter in the soil—to the transmission of the “food from the 
