THE CULTIVATOR. 
121 
be obtained at once; but from what we almost daily 
witness, of the good effects that have resulted already 
from the comparatively little attention the improvement 
of horses for labor has received, we can have no doubt 
that a field is here open for effectually benefiting the 
community at large more extensive than can be found 
almost any where else. We can assure our friend of 
the “ Times,” that we shall not be indifferent or idle 
spectators of the efforts to facilitate and promote a con¬ 
summation so much to be desired. 
PEAS. 
“ Gentlemen— I have read with interest in your 
April number, an article on the culture of the pea, which 
was fall and complete, with the exception of the omis¬ 
sion of the usual time of harvesting the crop. As we 
cannot sow ruta baga in this region till the first week 
in July, I do not know a better preparatory crop than 
peas, if we can get a kind that will ripen by the last 
week in June. 'Will you please reply, and oblige 
yours, WM. BOWKER. 
‘ Shrewsbury, N. J. June 26, 1840.” 
No time can be stated-with precision for the harvest¬ 
ing of the pea, as that is depending on the position 
where it is grown, an 1 the variety cultivated. The 
Washington, Charlton, and Warwick, are among the 
earliest peas in any degree suitable for field culture, 
but great crops cannot be reasonably expected from any 
of them. Still, as a preparatory crop, one to which ma¬ 
nure may be applied directly with advantage, the pea 
deserves atrial, and-should it succeed, a great point 
would be gained. The Early Washington is in most 
general use, and perhaps ripens as soon as any other, 
and Mr. Bowker can easily determine by experiment, 
whether in his situation, it will come to maturity early 
enough to be taken from the ground by the time speci- 
cified. We think it will. 
CULTIVATION OF THE PINE. 
j “ J. M. of Farmington, Illinois, wishes to know the 
best method of growing the white pine from the seed, 
land whether it will succeed on the rich prairies of the 
west.” 
The seeds of the pine should be sown as early as 
March or April, in a light soil, mostly composed of 
san ly, or silieious matter. The seed should not be ta- 
ken from the cones until the time of sowing arrives, as 
; their power of germination is diminished by such sepa¬ 
ration for any considerable time before they are put in 
the earth. They can be transplanted from the nursery 
at any time, always remembering that June, or in some 
(cases, July, is better than an earlier month for removal. 
All the fir and the pine tribes, flourish best on a sandy, 
gravely, and somewhat barren soil, as soils so constituted 
naturally are. The pine is rarely found on our rich, 
alluvial river bottoms ; but on what are called the 
second banks, it is found to flourish well. We have ne¬ 
ver seen an analysis of the soil in the western prairies, 
but it is probable that the driest of these contains suffi¬ 
cient sand to grow this tree well. The pine of the Co¬ 
lumbia river, Pinus 1‘ouglisii. could the seed be obtain¬ 
ed, might succeed befter on the western prairies, than 
the white pine; and it is a tree of most magnificent 
growth. We imagine, however, that the chestnut, oak, 
and locust, will be found the most profitable timber 
trees for cultivation, as their wood is perhaps of equal 
lihalue, and their growth more rapid and certain. 
SOWING CLOVER. 
“ A Subscriber,” at Fort Gratiot, wishes to know if 
(’sowing clover with winter rye or wheat, will succeed as 
well on a sandy soil, as if sown in the spring ; what 
(quantity of seed per acre should be used, and the best 
'mode of tillage. 
Clover seeds are rarely sown with autumn crops in 
( jjthiifccountry; the severity of the winter, except in favo- 
: re l situations, destroying the young plant. The better 
,way is, to sow it with spring crops, such as oats, barley, 
or spring whedt, or on winter wheat, as early as the 
spring will admit. When sown in the spring on winter 
Ijwheat, its germination is greatly facilitated by going 
raver the field after the seed is sown, with a light harrow 
:or roller. There need be no fear that the wheat will 
ibe injured from this process. Spring harrowing wheat 
itis extensively practiced in Germany, and is found of de¬ 
cide 1 benefit. Sandy soils, when to be sown with clover, 
i-should have a deep plowing, that the young roots may 
(by penetrating to a good depth escape the danger of a 
(drouth. 
The quantity of seed sown varies much in different 
(countries, and the purpose to which the crop is to be 
lapplied. In Belgium, the usual quantity is six lbs. to 
the acre, but the soil is in such fine tilth, that almost 
•every seed germinates. In this country, from five to 
ken lbs. are used, but owing to our imperfect culture, it 
(is found that the quantity of seed is too small, more 
’frequently than it is too large. The English use more 
I seed than most other people, allowing from ten to six- 
iteen lbs the average perhaps thirteen or fourteen. An 
(annual top dressing of plaster, lime, or ashes, plaster 
nbeing best, given in the spring of the year, is all that 
.clover requires. Where lands are intended for perma- 
Jnent meadows, or pasture, other grass seeds, such as 
I red top, timothy, orchard grass, meadow fox tail, white 
clover, &c. See. in order to ensure a proper supply of 
roots and herbage, should be mixed with the clover 
see l. One of the best selections for sandy land, is the 
red and white clovers, with the tall oat and orchard 
grasses. It is in a course of rotation with wheat, how¬ 
ever, that the good qualities of clover are most conspic¬ 
uous. For this purpose, no other seeds than the red 
clover should be sown, and this, plastered and fed off 
upon the ground by sheep, is one of the most ameliora¬ 
ting crops cultivated. 
Planting Chestnuts—Flowers for Bees. 
“ Wm. Prine asks to be informed of the best time and 
manner of planting chestnut for fencing timber. Also, 
what kinds of shrubs and flowers itwill be proper to cul¬ 
tivate for bees.” 
Michaux in his North American Sylva, vol. iii. gives 
the following directions for the culture of the chestnut: 
“After the ground has been carefully loosened with the 
low and harrow, lines are drawn six feet apart, in which 
oles about a foot in depth and diameter, are formed, at the 
distances of four feet. A chestnut is placed in each corner of 
the hole, and covered with about three inches of earth. As 
the soil has been thoroughly subdued, the nuts will spring and 
strike root with facility. Early in the second year, three of 
the young plants are removed from each hole, and only the 
most thriving is left. The third or fourth year, when the 
branches begin to interfere with each other, every second tree 
is suppressed. To ensure its success, the plantation should 
be begun in March or April, with nuts that have been kept 
in the cellar during the winter, in sand or vegetable mold, and 
that have already began to germinate.” 
Mr. Hopkins of Cayuga county, made some experi¬ 
ments in planting chestnuts. In his first attempt, he 
kept the nuts till the setting in of winter, or December, 
when he planted them four feet apart every way, and 
not one of them grew. The next year he procured a 
quantity of nuts as soon as gathered, planted them im¬ 
mediately, and covered them superficially with leaves 
and light earth, at the same distance as before. Most 
of them came up and grew well. There can be no 
doubt, where the ground is so situated as to be-free from 
the attacks of squirrels, mice, &c., that immediate plant¬ 
ing after the nuts are gathered is the best mode, other¬ 
wise the plan of Michaux may be preferred. The best 
soil is a clay loam. 
As to flowers and shrubs for bees, we know of none, 
the cultivation of which for this purpose alone, would 
be an object. Few of the cultivated flowers are fre¬ 
quented by bees, and neither such flowers or shrubs 
could be cultivated to an extent sufficient to produce 
much eliect on the apiary. Farmers sometimes find a 
profit in growing buckwheat for both seeds and honey; 
but such honev is not of the finest quality. White clo¬ 
ver is the best plant for the bee, and the farmer whose 
fields are covered with this rich herbage will want no¬ 
thing better for his bees or his cows. 
FITTS’ THRASHER AND SEPARATOR. 
At our request, Mr. Pitts has furnished us with the 
engraving and description of his thrasher and separator, 
published in another part of this paper We witnessed 
the operation of this machine last week, at the barn of 
Mr. Bennett in Waiervliet, and its performance equaled 
our expectations. It is a great saving of labor over the 
ordinary thrashing machines, the operations of thrash¬ 
ing and cleaning being performed at the same time. The 
bundles are led to the machine at one end, and the clean 
seed, without a kernel being scattered, taken from the 
other. It has, wherever it has been put in operation, 
been received with the highest approbation, and was 
considered by the late Judge Buel, as the best adapted 
for its purpose, of any machine he had ever seen. It 
was at his suggestion that Mr. Pitts removed to this 
city, for the purpose of manufacturing his machines, 
Albany being, from its water communication to every 
part, one of the best locations l’or such a branch of 
manufactures. We commend it to the attention and 
examination of our grain-growing farmers. Mr. Pitts 
informs us, that he intends scon to take a number of 
his machines into the western part of this state, where 
he will have an opportunity to test its merits with the 
numerous machines there in use, and he is confident 
that every examination and fair trial will increase the re¬ 
putation of his machine. 
THE CURCULIO. 
We learn from several parts of the country, that this 
insect so injurious to some kinds of fruit, has proved 
uncommonly destructive to the morello cherries, so much 
so that in some districts where they are usualy pro¬ 
duced in abundance, few or none have been grown. 
The best remedy for this evil we have ever known, next 
to the destruction of the insect by repeated jarrings of 
the trees, which cause it to fall upon cloths spread be¬ 
low, (and this is a tedious process where many are to 
be operated upon) is to allow hogs to range in the or¬ 
chard where they arc planted, which will eat the im¬ 
perfect fruit as last as it falls, or should the worm 
leave the fruit on the tree and fail to the earth, will 
most likely be trampled to death before it can penetrate 
the hardened soil. We have a fine Mayduke, planted 
in a corner of a lot in which pigs usually run, and from 
its position, they frequently receive their food under it, 
and alyays near it. This tree uniformly produces large 
fine fruit, never troubled by the curculio; while some 
other trees of the same variety, but not so protected, 
not unfrequently have their fruit much injured or wholly 
destroyed. 
It is well known, that the common wild or black cher¬ 
ry is never infested, with the curculio. We have seme 
trees of this variety that bear abundantly, yet we have 
never knowm them, attacked by this insect. Is it not 
probable there is something about the tree offensive to 
these depredators, and if so, would it not be good poli¬ 
cy to plant a few of them with those trees, the fruit of 
which is most liable to suffer from their habits. We 
have seen something like this suggestion in a southern 
journal, and think it worthy the notice of the fruit grower. 
Only one serious objection occurs to its adoption, and that 
is the liability of the black cherry to be infested by the 
caterpillar. This difficulty might be obviated, how¬ 
ever, by timely precaution, in destroying the colonies 
as soon as they began to spin their web, which causes 
them to be easily discovered. 
NEW VARIETY OF BARLEY. 
In 1836, a small farmer near Blandford in England, 
found at one corner of his garden plot, a tuft of some 
sort of grain, consisting of some 30 or 40 stdlks, which 
ripened early in the summer, (June) and proved to be 
a very fine variety of barley, containing on an average 
40 grains in each ear. The root was suffered to remain, 
from which, in the same year, he cut two more crops 
equally good ; and he has continued to cultivate it with 
equal and uniform success. As he was ignorant of the 
way in which the seed came in the garden, it has been 
called “Providence barley,” by which name itis now 
known. Its cultivation has spread rapidly, and two 
crops are usually gathered from one sowing, which 
should be early, (February or March.) The berry is 
of superior size and quality, and the yield is from 40 to 
50 bushels per acre. 
Such, in substance, is the account given of this grain, 
in the London Farmer’s Magazine; and we notice it, not 
so much for the sake of calling attention to this barley, 
as to the importance of paying more attention to the in¬ 
troducing new and improved grains, and the ease with 
which it might be effected, if farmers would pay more 
notice to any new or fine roots or stalks of grain that 
may appear in their fields. The example of Le Con- 
teur in producing many new and valuable kinds of wheat, 
and the late introduction of the Chevalier and Provi¬ 
dence barley, not to mention the several new and supe¬ 
rior varieties of corn, which American farmers have 
grown, proves satisfactorily the ease with which it can 
be accomplished, and the good results that would ensue. 
English Opinion of our F resent Embarrassments. 
In the monthly numbers of the London Farmer’s Ma¬ 
gazine, are papers prepared with great care and skill, 
giving the best views to be obtained of the slate of the 
grain crops, markets, &c. throughout the world ; as well 
as a statement of the results which failures or excess 
of the same, produce on the commercial or financial in¬ 
terests of Europe and America. In following out the 
evils traceable to the short English crops of 1S3S-39, 
the writer uses the following language, the justness of 
which will be disputed by few : 
“In addition to these direct evils of a deficient supply of 
food, the lessened consumption of raw material of foreign 
growth, particularly cotton, has deeply embarrassed the Ame¬ 
rican market; more especially at the moment when her cot¬ 
ton hung heavy on our market, she was borrowing British 
capital on a large scale, to carry on her gigantic undertakings. 
Failing to realize for her produce, and her stock becoming un¬ 
saleable from the tightness of the money markets, remittan¬ 
ces of specie became necessary to meet short engagements, 
and also to cover importations from England. This could not 
last long without exhausting the American banks, and hence 
nearly all of them connected with the cotton trade stopped 
specie payment. Alloving, liberally, for the imprudence of 
the American system of banking, and especially for the ope¬ 
ration of the absurd attempt to prop up the price of cotton in the 
face of a natural dimunition of demand, we still think the em¬ 
barrassments in America are mainly attributable to the great 
falling offin the consumption of her produce in this country, 
consequent on our diminished harvests and dear food.—stop¬ 
ping the customary mode and amount of exchange with us, 
cutting off the means of borrowing capital for permanent in¬ 
vestment, and putting a stop to the usual banking accommoda¬ 
tions, by exposing the banks to the hazard of paying away the 
last ounce of gold and silver bullion to meet the unusual, ex¬ 
traordinary crisis of a heavy balance due to this country. * * 
* * We repeat the opinion previously expressed, that real and 
substantial amendment here, must precede similar amend¬ 
ment in the States, though we cannot and do not deny, that 
our condition will be materially alleviated by the restoration 
of confidence in America. We are glad, therefore, to fee any 
symptom of improvement there, though we cannot but feel 
that a trying period of no short duration, lies before the American 
community .” 
The world is in a fair way to be driven into an ap¬ 
preciation of the importance of agriculture, and the 
great truth will yet be understood, that to the labor of 
the husbandman, to the production cf actual wealth from 
the soil, more than to all the transmutations and chan¬ 
ges such wealth may afterwards undergo, is national 
prosperity owing. The interests of the world are iden¬ 
tified ; itis only when these interests are disarranged 
by ignorance or cupidity, that general distress ensues.' 
Importation of Stock. —The American Farmer 
publishes a catalogue and the pedigrees of a list of hor¬ 
ses, short horn cattle, sheep and hogs, imported by 
Messrs. H. Shefherp, of Shepherdstown, Va. and R. 
D. Shepheru, of New-Orleans. The horses consist of 
three colts, one of which cost $3,000—the other two 
about $2,500 each ; the cattle, of 12 heifers and one 
cow, all of the best Herd Book stock; the sheep, of 
four rams and eight ewes of the Leicester breed; the 
hogs, of one Berkshire hoar, and five Berkshire sows, 
and two sows and a boar of the Suffolk breed. The cat¬ 
tle are said to have averaged $500 a piece in England. 
