THE CULTIVATOR. 
131 
think green chips (or wood) of the sugar maple, quite as 
good, or rather preferable—perhaps a part of each would 
be better still. 
I have usually smoked my hams from ten to fourteen 
days—have never tided an open smoke-house, but have 
one of brick, and perfectly tight, except the door and a 
small flue in one comer to let the smoke pass out. I am 
aware that in my smoke-house there is some danger of 
heating the meat, with too large a fire. To obviate that 
difficulty, I intend this year to make my smoke in a fur¬ 
nace out of the smoke-house, and to conduct the smoke in 
a small pipe from the covered furnace, through the sheet 
iron door of the smoke-house, which, I think, must en¬ 
tirely prevent any damage by heat. 
Your correspondent’s method of keeping hams, after 
taking them from the smoke-house, is one which I have 
tried, and much approve. One equaly good, and attend¬ 
ed with less trouble, is, where you have a tight smoke¬ 
house, in a cool situation, to let them hang in the smoke¬ 
house, and, perhaps once in two to four weeks, make a lit¬ 
tle smoke under them. Should hams be pickled with a 
view of keeping them through the summer, I should say 
seven, instead of six, pounds of salt, for 100 pounds of 
meat. Your friend, HARRY HALE. 
Chelsea, Vermont, Feb. 19, 1840. 
PRESERVING WINTER APPLES. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —Last April a year, I 
visited a friend, when he made me a present of a large 
dish of fine flavored apples, and it being out of season to 
have apples in such a good state of preservation, I inquir¬ 
ed his mode of keeping them. He informed me that in 
the fall he made a box six feet long and two feet deep, 
which he sunk into the ground to a level with the surface, 
then he filled the box with sound apples, and covered it 
with boards in the form of a roof, but leaving an opening 
at both ends. The roof he also covers with straw and 
earth, to the usual thickness of an apple or potato hole.— 
In this condition he leaves it till the apples are frozen, but 
as soon as a thaw comes, he makes it perfectly air tight, 
and in a few days the frost is altogether removed, and the 
apples are as fresh and perfect as when they were taken 
Lorn the trees. 
I am aware that this is an excellent plan, because I 
know that most of the apples and potatoes in holes rot and 
decay, in consequence of the warm and foul air accumu¬ 
lating having no opportunity to escape. I thought, how¬ 
ever, to improve it. I consequently last fall buried my 
apples in the usual way; then I took four strips of one 
inch boards and nailed them together in the form of a 
chimney, leaving a vacancy in the middle, of one inch 
square; this I placed in the center of the apple hole, the 
end resting on the apples inside, and the other end pro¬ 
jecting tfl/o feet above the ground. This succeeded far be¬ 
yond my expectations. The vacancy in the chimney was 
barely sufficient to permit the warm and foul air to escape, 
and not so large as to let the frost in to affect the apples. 
My family, during the winter, whenever they wished to 
have apples for consumption, only removed the chimney 
and reached in with the hand to get a supply, and then re¬ 
placed it again ; and I can assure you that, of eight bush¬ 
els which were thus buried, only three rotten and five or 
six slightly affected apples were discovered, whereas my 
neighbors, who buried their apples in the old fashioned 
way, lost a large quantity. 
Can you inform me whether asparagus roots can be set 
out in the fall ? [They may be transplanted in autumn as 
well as in the spring.— Eds.] 
WILLIAM J. EYER. 
Cattawissa, Pa. July Hth, 1840. 
ROMANS, INQUIRIES, &c. 
“ I never nursed a dear gazelle, 
To glad me with its soft dark eye, 
But when it came to know me well, 
And love me, it was sure to die.” 
Messrs. Editors —In the spring of 1839, having form¬ 
ed a high opinion of the Rohan potato for a great yield, I 
procured a single tuber from New-York and planted with 
great care; but no sooner had the shoots appeared above 
the soil than they were attacked by the brown grub, whose 
habits threatened the little colony with annihilation, and 
spite of my efforts to protect them, they were so much in¬ 
jured that I did not realize half of a crop. 
This season they are suffering from the same cause, 
while, as last year, the common potato, growing near by, 
is nearly exempt from the ravages of these depredators._ 
Is this species ot the Solanum tuberosum, generally more 
liable to injury from the grub than others ? And is it (as 
I have often heard asserted.) “ the identical Merino pota¬ 
to which was common among us fifteen or eighteen years 
ago ?” 
With vines, also, I have been unfortunate. Last sea¬ 
son I procured seeds of some large and choice varieties of 
the pumpkin, but not a single one arrived at maturity; and 
the present season I devoted a considerable portion of my 
garden to the same purpose. I planted of four different 
kinds, and the few that came up have been completely de¬ 
stroyed by the striped bug. There is not one left among 
them—“ no, not one.” Cucumbers have also shared the 
same fate, and other tender plants been injured; and it 
was my sole object in taking my pen, to inquire for a re¬ 
medy against the brown grub and the striped buu-. By 
pointing out some remedy, you will oblige your friend, the 
writer, and perhaps confer a favor upon many others of 
your subscribers—too late, indeed, for this year but in 
good time for the next. I have overhauled each volume 
of the Cultivator (except one) for information on the sub¬ 
ject, but have not obtained it. 
I am no farmer, gentlemen, as most of your readers pro¬ 
bably are, but notwithstanding, agricultural pursuits have 
a charm for me. The contemplation of this noble calling 
is one of the most pleasing subjects that can claim my 
attention. What pity that so many of our farmers even, 
do not look upon agriculture as of the first importance to 
a country—as the breast, the source from which society 
derives its sustenance. What pity, that prejudice, soul- 
benumbing prejudice, should so blind them to their own 
best interests, as to keep them walking hoodwinked in the 
beaten track of their ancestors, rejecting without trial, or 
even the least consideration, as innovations, the improve¬ 
ments now making in the agriculture of many parts of 
our state, by which means crops arc doubled, and the soil 
at the same time constantly improving. Prejudice, preju¬ 
dice, that bar to human improvement, can do all this.— 
It can and does make farmers follow the “ old system,” 
until their farms are absolutely “ worn out,” and will no 
longer support their families, and they are compelled to 
“ sell out” and go to “ the west,” there to follow the same 
round. 
Did your journal find its way to the parlor of ever farm¬ 
er, and meet with as welcome a reception as it does at my 
“ cabin,” a change would come over us, and the necessity 
of immigration would soon cease, as barren fields would 
give place to “ nature’s green and gold.” But while we 
hear so much sneering at “ paper farming,” “ book farm¬ 
ing,” Ac. we can expect no such thing. A. 
Ellenville, Ulster county, N. Y. June 10, 1840. 
UNDERDRAINING. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —Having seen a commu¬ 
nication on the subject of underdraining from your wor¬ 
thy correspondent, Mr. Jesse Langford, of Southampton, 
Va., and believing that my method of constructing under¬ 
drams is preferable to his, I have thought proper to make 
it known through the medium of your valuable and wide¬ 
ly circulated periodical. 
Cut the ditch sufficiently wide and deep to effect the ob¬ 
ject intended; make the upper half or part of the ditch 
from five to six inches wider than the lower or bottom 
part, thereby leaving a shoulder about midway the ditch, 
upon which place pieces of plank sufficiently thick to bear 
the weight of the dirt removed in cutting the ditch, either 
cross or lengthways, as may suit the convenience of the 
undertaker, then return the dirt, and the drain is com¬ 
pleted. 
This method of underdraining is attended with less la¬ 
bor, and of course less expense, than the one recommend¬ 
ed by your correspondent aforesaid. It docs appear to me 
that the water in some cases, owing to the quantity, can¬ 
not be let off by and through the aqueduct proposed by 
Mr. Langford. The old mode of cutting open ditches for 
the purpose of draining land, ought to be entirely superse¬ 
ded by every cultivator of the soil. I look upon it, as time, 
labor and money employed in vain. An open ditch re¬ 
quires annually at least half the amount originally expend¬ 
ed in cutting it, to clear it out; but an underdrain, con¬ 
structed af.er my plan, will last a man’s life time. 
I must avail myself of this opportunity of acknowledg¬ 
ing my indebtedness to the columns of the Cultivator for 
much valuable and useful information. I am no enemy 
to book farming, and I do not know how a young man 
would undertake the improvement and proper cultivation 
of his soil, without the aid to be derived from some agri¬ 
cultural paper. I regret to say that we have no agricultu¬ 
ral society in our county. The Cultivator and the Farm¬ 
ers’ Register, however, have awakened a spirit of inquiry 
and enterprise among many of our best farmers, and I 
look forward with great anxiety and interest to the day 
when the occupation of a farmer shall be properly appre¬ 
ciated by all classes in society, ranked upon equality with 
the learned professions, and suitably aided and encouraged 
by the legislatures of every state in the Union. Then, and 
not till then, will agricultural societies spring up, premi¬ 
ums be awarded for prize crops of wheat, corn. Ac. 
Smithfield, Va. March 20, 1840. 
THE CHINCH BUG. 
Messrs. Editors —The chinch bug in this region is 
making great destruction of small grain, ruining whole 
fields—damage incalculable. Whole phalanxes of these 
pests are travelling, or rather flying and creeping over 
large sections of our state. For three or four years we 
have heard of their desolating progress coming toward us 
in these parts from the northwest and going southeast_ 
They were rife in mischief last, year, in an adjoining coun¬ 
ty ; but they are now in the full tide of operation in our 
midst. About 50 years ago, old people say here, they 
made their way before, ruining small grain, corn, Ac. for 
about three years, in any particular section, and from 
thence passing on. They say also that ants seemed to be 
very destructive to them at that time. I have resorted to 
sowing ashes as a remedy, and have noticed that in some 
places of my wheat, where they were abundant, say 50 or 
100 at the foot of a single stalk, now there are none; but 
in such places, I observe plenty of ants, so the remedy of 
ashes is rather equivocal. 
The remedy of tomato plants, in and around fields of 
small grain and corn, I am frying in the manner stated in 
the Farmers’ Register of last year. The result I will 
make known to you in due time. 
You may have noticed in a late number of the Ameri¬ 
can Farmer, that I have offered to contribute $10 as my 
quota of premium for an efficient and feasible remedy for 
this scourge of farmers. The amount now, with the $20 
of the “ Farmer,” and others, is upwards of $50 so far 
as I now know. SIDNEY WELLER. 
Brinkleyville, Halifax county, N. C. May 22, 1840. 
DEATH OF DALLIMORE. 
Messrs. Editors —Soon after I sent you the portrait of 
my Hereford bull Dallimore, I sent him, with the heifer, 
to my son, who resides in Northumberland, about forty 
miles north of Albany. The weather being at the time 
extremely hot, and the person who had him in charge 
not having been accustomed to driving cattle, and the 
bull not used to much exerc.ise, having always been kept 
in the stable, was probably driven too far the first day, 
being twenty-five miles. He was started early the next 
morning,-when it was first discovered that one of his hoofs 
had given way, which must have increased the fatigue, 
and about ten o’clock, when very hot, coming by the 
side of the canal, he plunged in. and before he could be 
induced to leave the water, it is supposed he became 
chilled or foundered, for it was with great difficulty he 
was driven the last three miles. He arrived at his des¬ 
tination about twelve o’clock, very much fatigued, and 
immediately laid down, and before night expired. 
It is said, “ bought wit is best—if not bought too 
dear.” Had the person in whose care I had entrusted 
him followed my directions, or possessed either discre¬ 
tion or judgment, when he found the bull giving way, 
and the weather so excessive, he should have laid by 
in the heat of the day and only traveled in the morning 
and evening, which would, in all probability, carried 
him through safe, and he might still have been living 
and done the “ country some service.” 
The loss is great, not only in a pecuniary point of 
view, but in the improvement of our stock—he being the 
first and only bull of that breed which has been intro¬ 
duced in this section, and more particularly now, since 
the introduction of those lately imported by Mr. Corn¬ 
ing, which are attracting considerable notice in the coun¬ 
try. Fortunately for me, I have a full bred Hereford 
bull calf, begotten in England and out of the heifer im¬ 
ported with the bull. CALEB N. BEMENT. 
Three Hills Farm, July 20, 1840. 
DESCRIPTION OF BERKSHXRES. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —I did not expect when 
I gave, in the May number of the Cultivator, a general 
description of the color of genuine Berkshire hogs, that 
gentlemen were going to half read the sentence, and then 
take a microscope in hand in search for “ two white 
hairs” in the tail, or less or more, and then pronounce 
me in error. By referring to the article, it will be seen 
that I ended the sentence by saying, “there are, howe¬ 
ver, slight variations from the aforesaid color,” &c. 
Now in addition to the correction that you have made 
for me in the July number, where the printer mistook 
the tail “ invariably white,” for “ occasionally white,” I 
wish further to add, that all four of the feet are gene¬ 
rally white, and I do not recollect now, of ever seeing 
one when critically examined, clean, with less than two 
or three of the feet with white on them. I will farther 
say that pigs when young, sometimes show nearly, if 
not quite, one-third as much white on them as black, 
but as they grow up, the white gradually lessens, and 
when they have attained their full size, appear in ge¬ 
neral as I hax'e described them. This was the case 
with my Newbury boar and Teal sow, that Mr. Hawes 
brought over for me in the autumn of 1838. The Read¬ 
ing boar was much darker, and scarcely changed in co¬ 
lor as he grew up. The dark color on the Teal sow, 
may be said to be tawney rather than black. 
I wish to add, also, that there are unprincipled per¬ 
sons, both in this town and elsewhere, that are greatly 
injuring the well bred Berkshires, by purchasing up at 
a low rate, pigs that have been bred in and in so long 
as to completely destroy their size and constitution, and 
also grade and spurious animals, and are palming them 
off upon the public as the get of my late imported boars 
or thorough-breds, and by issuing hand-bills, and exten¬ 
sively advertising, and selling below established prices, 
are gulling the public to a large extent ; many of these 
animals, to my certain knowledge, did not cost the pur¬ 
chaser more than ten to twenty shillings per head, and yet 
they are offered as fully equal to mine, for which I charge 
$20 per pair. Let the public be on its guard, and de¬ 
pend upon it, that no established breeder of reputation, 
will sell anything but culls and runts below the above 
price. With the pains that they take and expense that 
they are at in breeding, they cannot afford it. 
JOHN LOSSING, 253 Washington-strcet. 
N. B. I have been called upon occasionally to give 
certificates of animals that were small and bred in and 
in, which I have reluctantly done, and wish it to be un¬ 
derstood, that I meant them only as pure in blood, but 
by no means large well bred pigs, or such as could com¬ 
pare with those bred by myself. J. L. 
Albany, July 20, 1840. 
DISEASE IN SWINE. 
Messrs. Editors —There appears to be one thing 
among the diseases in swine, of which I have not seen any 
notice in the Cultivator. It is a complaint occasioned 
by the small issuing holes on ihe insides of the fore legs, 
opposite the knee, becoming stopped. A hog complain¬ 
ing in this way, has the appearance of being foundered, 
and may be cured by having his legs, or those small 
holes, rubbed in soapsuds or salt water with a corn cob. 
Yours, &c. SAMUEL B. SHANNON. 
Shelbyville, Ky. May 26, 1840. 
