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SI QUÆRIS PENINSULAM-AMŒNAMI
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THE
New-England- Farmer ;
$
OR
GEORGICAL DICTIONARY.
CONTAINING
A COMPENDIOUS ACCOUNT
OF THE
WAYS AND METHODS
IN WHICH THE
IMPORTANT ART OF HUSBANDRY,
IN ALL ITS VARIOUS BRANCHES,
IS, OR MAY BE,
PRACTISED, TO THE GREATEST ADVANTAGE,
IN THIS COUNTRY.
BY SAMUEL DEANE, D.D.
VICE-PRESIDENT OF BOWDOIN COLLEGE, and FELLOW OF THE
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.
Third Edition,
CORRECTED, IMPROVED, GREATLY ENLARGED AND ADAPTED TO THE
PRESENT STATE OF THE SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
"Frigoribus parto agricolæ plerumque fruuntur,
Mutuaque inter se læti convivia curant :
Invitat genialis hyems, curasque resolvit."-Virgil.
BOSTON :
WELLS AND LILLY-COURT-STREET.
180 d. 1790.
2nd 83. 1797
3rd. Ed. 1822-
1822,
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT:
District Clerk's Office.
BE it remembered, that on the second day of September, A. D. 1822, in the forty-sixth year of the
Independence of the United States of America, Wells and Lilly, of the said District, have deposited
in this Office the title of a Book, the Right whereof they claim as Proprietors, in the Words follow-
ing, to wit:-
The New-England Farmer; or Georgical Dictionary. Containing a Compendious Account of the
Ways and Methods in which the Important Art of Husbandry, in all its Various Branches, is, or may be,
Practised, to the greatest Advantage, in this country. By Samuel Deane, D.D. Vice-President of
Bowdoin College and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Third Edition. correct-
ed, improved, greatly enlarged and adapted to the present state of the science of Agriculture.
"Frigoribus parto agricolæ plerumque fruuntur,
Mutuaque inter se læti convivia curant :
Invitat genialis hyems, curasque resolvit.”—Virgil.
In Conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, " An Act for the En-
couragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and
Proprietors of such Copies, during the times therein mentioned:" and also to an Act entitled, "An
Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing
the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies during the times
therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, Engraving, and Etch-
ing Historical and other Prints"
JNO. W. DAVIS,
Clerk of the District of Massachusetts.
POLANCE
02-26-37 MU
A
JOHM CXCRM? LIBRARY
FEB 19 1937
H. E. HORTON

Advertisement
TO THE PRESENT EDITION.
No work upon the subject of Agriculture has, perhaps,
ever been published in the United States, which has
sustained so great, and so well deserved reputation
as Dr. Deane's Georgical Dictionary. And its being
adapted to our own soil and climate, must give it a
decided advantage, in point of practical utility, to the
American Farmer, over foreign publications, which,
otherwise, might be of equal value.
1
The Compiler of the present edition has made such
alterations, additions, and obliterations only, as were
suggested by important improvements in agriculture,
since the publication (in 1.797) of the last edition of the
original work; and hopes, as it now stands, it will be
thought worthy of a place in the library of the practical
as well as the scientific agriculturist.
September, 1822,
Entroduction
TO THE SECOND EDITION, PUBLISHED IN 1797.
T
It is much to be regretted, that the most complicated of all
the arts, in which the brightest genius may find sufficient room
to exert and display itself, should be slighted and neglected, by
a people not generally wanting in ambition. And it is equally
strange and unaccountable, that the most useful and necessary
of all employments should have been considered, even by the
enlightened people of New-England, as below the attention
of any persons, excepting those who are in the lowest walks.
of life; or, that persons of a liberal or polite education should
think it intolerably degrading to them, to attend to practical
agriculture for their support.
And
Perhaps, one occasion of the low esteem in which husban-
dry has been held, in this country, may have been the poor
success which has most commonly attended the labours of those
who have embraced the profession. Not only have most of
them failed of rapidly increasing their estates by it, but too
many have had the mortification of making but an indifferent
figure in life, even when they have used the strictest economy,
and worn out their constitutions by hard and incessant labour.
The misfortune has been, that a great proportion of their toil
has been lost by its misapplication. To prevent this evil in
future is a leading design of the present publication.
since many among us begin to be convinced of the urgent ne-
cessity of having the attention of the publick turned to agricul-
ture, it is hoped that the following attempt to promote the know-
ledge of its mysteries, and a spirited attention to the operations
of it, will meet with the greater approbation and success.
as a very respectable Society in the Commonwealth of Massa-
chusetts have undertaken to propagate the knowledge of hus-
bandry, the day may be at hand, when the employment of the
farmer shall no more be treated with contempt; when the rich,
the polite, and the ambitious, shall glory in paying a close at-
tention to their farms; when respectable persons shaH confess
it is one of the noblest employments to assist nature in her
B
And
Vi
INTRODUCTION.
bountiful productions; when it shall be our ambition to follow
the example of the first man in the nation, who does not think
an attention to husbandry degrading; and when, instead of
being ashamed of their employment, ou laborious farmers shall,
as a great writer says, "toss about their dung with an air of
majesty.”
Amidst the laudable efforts that are now making to promote
so excellent a design as the revival of agriculture. the writer
of the following sheets is humbly attempting to throw in his
mite. He has been more prompted to engage in so arduous
an undertaking, by an opinion he has long entertained of the
need of a work of this kind, adapted to the state and circum-
stances of this country, than by any idea of his being thorough-
ly qualified to undertake it.
·
European books on agriculture are sufficiently plenty in the
world, some of which are extremely well written; and this
country is not wholly unfurnished with them. But they are
not perfectly adapted to a region so differently circumstanced.
Though the productions of English writers may be perused by
the judicious to great advantage, it would be unadvisable, and
perhaps ruinous, for our farmers to adopt the methods of cul-
ture in gross, which they recommend to their countrymen.
Local circumstances so widely differ in the two countries, that,
in many cases, the right management in the one must needs
be wrong in the other. Britain, being generally liable to too
much wetness, the English methods of culture must in many
respects be different from those of a region that is mostly an-
noyed, as ours is, with the opposite extremity of drought.
Difference of heat and cold must require a correspondent va-
riation in the suitable crops and management. Difference of
seasons and climates vary the fit times for sowing the same
kinds of seed; and the manures that prove to be most profita-
ble in one country, cannot always be rationally expected to
prove so in another, although they were equally obtainable.
And though Americans speak the English language, yet the
diction peculiar to different farmers on the east and west
of the Atlantick, and the manner of their communicating their
ideas on husbandry are so little alike, as to render it highly
expedient that we should be instructed in it by our own coun-
trymen, rather than by strangers, if any among us can be found
capable of doing it in a tolerable degree.
The writer confesses he has never had sufficient leisure to
attend very closely to the study of agriculture. But, having
always had a high relish for natural philosophy, and particu
larly for this most profitable and important branch of it, he
INTRODUCTION.
vii
has paid all possible attention to it for a number of years,
employed many of his vacant hours in perusing what has been
published by the best writers, and in making useful experi-
ments in husbandry. He flatters himself, therefore, that he
shall not have the unhappiness of grossly misleading any of
the most ignorant of his readers. Many things are written from
his own experience, and from that of others in this country,
on whose veracity in their communications he can rely.
Things which are not certainly known are mentioned only as
opinion or conjecture. Extracts are made from some of the
best authors, and marked as such. He has not wilfully assert-
ed any thing which he does not know to be fact. And though
he has adopted the ideas of others, he has not passed any
thing on the publick as his own, which has been published by
others, unless it be through inattention or mistake. Whether
the reasonings be just, every intelligent reader must judge and
determine; and to the candour of such the whole is submit-
ted.
Long and particular accounts of experiments, such as abound
in many European publications, are generally omitted, lest
they should take up too much room, in a book that is meant
to be comprehensive, and cheap to the purchaser, at the same
time that it is designed to contain a whole system of husban-
dry. Neither would the intention of comprehending much in
a little room permit the pages to be filled with lengthy bills of
the cost of culture, and computations of profit, which many
writers have too much run into; and in which any writer in this
country, where the price of labour is variable, would be in dan-
ger of deceiving both himself and his readers. Our farmers
have a sufficient knowledge of arithmetick to do these things
for themselves; and it would not be amiss for them to amuse
themselves in this way, in some of their moments of leisure.
That the writer has been excited to treat on the present sub-
ject by a tender concern for the welfare of his country, more
than by any selfish and sinister view, those who are best ac-
quainted with him are sufficiently convinced. At the same
time, he will not pretend to deny his feeling of an ambition to
be one of the first of his nation, who has thus endeavoured to
lighten the labours, and promote the happiness of his country-
men. Yet he most sincerely wishes, that other writers on the
subject may soon carry the system nearer to perfection, as they
undoubtedly will. But the disadvantages he is under by being
so early, and having an unbeaten way to explore, will doubt-
less apologize for him with all who are candid and considerate,
and partly atone for his errors and imperfections, from which
it would be strange if he were wholly free.
viii
INTRODUCTION.
Though agriculture, strictly considered,, has nothing to do
with the breeding and management of tame animals, yet it is
so closely connected with those employments, in practice, that
the farmer cannot be complete without a considerable know-
ledge thereof. It is by the assistance of labouring beasts, such
as horses and oxen, that he must carry on his tillage, and send
the produce of his lands to market. By the help of milch
kine his grass, hay, and other fodder, are to be converted into
butter and cheese. Bullocks, poultry and swine must be fed
and fattened with the produce of his farm, that he and his
family may be fed with their flesh, and the markets supplied
with meat. And the sheep must assist him in the transmuta-
tion of the fruits of his ground into materials for clothing and
food. Therefore the rearing, tending, and whole management,
of all these sorts of animals, are attended to in the following
work; including the methods of preventing and curing the most
common distempers to which, in this climate, they are liable.
Noxious animals, such as beasts of prey, ravenous birds, and
devouring insects, have too much connexion with agriculture,
as the farmer knows by his sorrowful experience. He ought
therefore to be instructed in the most effectual methods of de-
fending his property against them. This arduous task, to which
no one perhaps can pretend to be fully equal, the reader will
find attempted, and it is hoped, in some good degree performed,
in the following pages.
As fruit trees are of essential importance to the farmer,
the rearing of them from seeds and otherwise, as also the
grafting, transplanting and pruning them, are attended to in this
work.
And as agriculture cannot be carried on to the best advan-
tage, without a variety of suitable tools and machines; the
most important and useful of farming implements are treated of..
Much of the ease and comfort of the labourer, as well as the
profit of the farmer, depends upon their being well constructed,
Their construction, therefore, is minutely attended to, al-
though the art of the mechanic is the branch to which it most
properly belongs.
The author attempted to arrange the parts of his subject
analytically. But the variety of the materials he had collected
was so great, and their heterogeneousness so obvious, that he
found it not easy to do it to his own satisfaction; which is one
of the reasons why the book makes its appearance in the lexi-
cographical form. And when he considers that what he is
doing is not principally for the instruction of critical scholars,
but for the direction of the common people, it appears that the
INTRODUCTION.
ix
want of a systematical arrangement is a matter of no great conse-
quence. On the present plan, he has saved himself the trou-
ble of writing a long index, which must have added several
pages to the volume, and increased its price to the purchasers,
which he wishes may be as low as possible, for their encour-
agement. Perhaps it need not be added, that the fashiona-
bleness of an alphabetical method is a further apology for the
form in which this book appears; nor the advantage the most
illiterate reader will have of readily turning to any particular
part of the general subject.
It is hoped that an acquaintance with this volume, if it
should be perused by the generality of our farmers, will enable
them to communicate their ideas to each other, and to learners
in husbandry, with the greater perspicuity and propriety, and
lead them to use nearly the same language in doing it, in the
various parts of the country. For the writer has endeavoured
that his diction should not only be concise, but plain and intel-
ligible to ordinary readers; such as is most suitable to the sub-
ject, and not adapted to lead any into the use of absurd and un-
grammatical language. How far these designs are accomplish-
ed the learned and judicious reader will be able to determine.
As a number of vulgar errors and prejudices are detected,
and new methods of management proposed, it is expected that
what is written will be censured by many, who have confirmed
themselves in wrong practices by inveterate habits. But if
persons will only be so fair as to allow, that there is a possibili-
ty of some want of perfection in their present established prac-
tice; which is at least highly probable, as this is a country
where husbandry as an art has not been taught, nor much at-
tended to; they will then see it is reasonable to give a candid
hearing to any new scheme of improvement suggested, and to
plausible arguments offered in support of its utility; and allow
themselves to be influenced by them. If those who are in low
circumstances should fear they may suffer loss, by trying any
new practice in husbandry, it is hoped the richer sort will be
inclined to do it by love of their country. For others will
undoubtedly inquire concerning their success; and when they
are convinced by experiments made by their neighbours of the
advantage of any new practice, one would think they can need
no other motive to induce them to adopt it.
On the other hand, let not the book be reprobated for con-
taining so many things as it does, which are already well known
to farmers. The farmer may find reasons for his good practice
which he has not before thought of, and be induced to per-
severe in it. And besides, all useful knowledge ought to be re-
X
INTRODUCTION.
corded, that it may be retained, and be in no danger of being
lost, as a great deal has been in the world. It should also be
remembered that things which are well known by some may
be quite new to others; especially to young persons, and to
all those who have newly turned their attention to husbandry.
The writer has had more zeal and courage in attempting to
promote improvements in agriculture, since the happy termi-
nation of the late struggle for independence than before. Our
holding the rank of a free and independent nation allows us to
consider the country as indisputably our own, and ourselves as
monarchs over our farms. Nor does it appear probable, that
we shall soon meet with any thing that will give us a material
interruption, in pursuing the arts, or enjoying the blessings of
peace. If great improvements were now to be made, we
might have reason to hope we should enjoy the benefits of them
through life, and that posterity would not be deprived of
them.
But the most forcible reason for our cultivating this art, is the
indispensable necessity of it, to enable us to live as becomes an
independent people. The alarming effect of the present low
state of husbandry is, that we are necessitated to import much
of our food, and clothing, while we are incapable of making
proportionable remittances in the produce of the soil, or in
any thing else. As a good system of national government is
now established, I see no reason to doubt but that a spirited
attention to husbandry and manufactures, accompanied with a
more general practice of frugality and economy, would put us
on a respectable footing; so that such a foundation would be
laid for our increasing wealth, that we should be able, in a
short time, to cancel our publick debts; and might reasona-
bly hope ere long to become an opulent, respectable and very
powerful nation.
As to the present edition, its appearing so soon after the
first is occasioned by the rapid sale of the book, arising from
the general acceptance it has obtained; and the increasing de-
mand could not otherwise be supplied.
The author has taken the opportunity to correct a great
number of small errors. Some few things are suppressed in
this publication. The diction in many parts is much improv-
ed. Many articles are more largely, and more accurately
treated of than they were before; and a number of new and
important ones are added, with a view to render the work a
more complete directory for husbandmen. And that the vege-
tables that are treated on may be known to persons in other
countries, as well as in remote parts of our own, where they
粤
​INTRODUCTION.
XF
i
are probably called by different names from those English ones
he had given them, he has now added the botanical names,
which are extensively known by persons of erudition. On
the whole, he thinks the book is far more increased in value
than in size. If, in its present improved state, it shall be found
to contribute towards reviving and continuing the spirit of hus-
bandry, and towards the increasing advantage of those who are
employed in it, he will consider it as the most happy reward
he can have for his labour.
WORCESTER, MARCH, 1797.
1
4...
}
·
"
THE
NEW-ENGLAND FARMER;
OR
GEORGICAL DICTIONARY.
AGR
AGRICULTURE is the most
ancient, the most honourable and
the most useful of the arts. Its
-
origin was prior to the invention
of letters, and in attempting to
trace it, we are lost in the fables
which obscure the annals of anti-
quity. The most wise and most
powerful nations have ever been
the most assiduous in their atten-
tion to this art, and the degree
of estimation in which it has been
held, has ever, we believe, pre-
sented an accurate criterion of the
morals, prosperity and civilization
of any age or country. The
Chaldeans, the Egyptians, the
Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the
Greeks and the Romans, were as
greatly, and much more honoura-
bly distinguished by their atten-
tion to agriculture than by their
military achievements. Mago, a
Carthaginian, wrote books on
agriculture, which were not more
AGR
highly prized by his own country-
men than by their conquerors.
The ancient Romans venerated
the plough, and their greatest ge-
nerals and most illustrious sena-
tors guided it with their own hands.
Cato, Varro, Virgil, Pliny and Co-
lumella wrote upon agriculture,
and Cicero has bestowed the high-
est eulogies on this art. But hus-
bandry declined with the decline
of the empire, and, as
was well
observed by an able writer, "In
the Campania of Rome, where, in
the time of Pliny were counted
twenty-three cities the traveller is
astonished and depressed by the
desolation that surrounds him."
In some parts of continental
Europe the science of agriculture
is taught in universities, and a
regular education is thought to be
as necessary to qualify a man to
become a complete farmer as it is
to fit him for the practice of law or
1
AGR
AGR
Flanders. The Bath and West of
England Society, had the honour
of leading the van in this generous
attempt to improve and elevate
the most important and interest-
physic. In Great Britain a very
large proportion of the wealth, the
talents and the influence of men
who occupy the first ranks in so-
ciety, is directed to agricultural
improvements, and the munifi-ing, as well as most innocent bu-
cence of the government encou-
rages and rewards the patriotic
exertions of individuals.
In the United States a spirit has
of late years been exerted, which
has produced a new era in the an-
nals of American agriculture; and
the most fortunate results do not
rest altogether in anticipation, but
have been already in some mea-
sure realized.
AGRICULTURAL SOCIE-
TIES are now becoming common
in the United States, and the pre-
judices which existed against these
institutions are subsiding, as the
benefits resulting from them are
too obvious not to be generally
acknowledged and highly appre-
ciated. Probably the wisdom of
man could not devise means more
effectual than those presented by
these societies, for stimulating and
rewarding that skill and industry,
which are the corner stones of na-
tional as well as individual pros-
perity. The following sketches,
which we have extracted from
"An Address delivered before the
Massachusetts Agricultural Socie-
ty," may serve to exhibit some of
the advantages which have ac-
crued, and may be anticipated
from these institutions.
"The first public society of
this description, we believe, was
founded in Great Britain; where
agriculture, even at the time of
its foundation, was in a more im-
proved state than that of any other
European nation, except, perhaps,
man art. That art, which free
from vice or a tendency to pro-
duce it, is productive of none of
the injurious effects, from which
not many other extensive human
arts are wholly exempt. The
British nation soon became awak-
ened to the importance and value
of such institutions, and by a par-
liamentary provision, with noble
munificence, founded a National
Society. The state of Massachu-
setts had the glory of early appre-
ciating the value of such institu-
tions, and this society can trace its
origin to a period, when those of
Europe were still in their infan-
cy."
In speaking of the advantages
which result from these societies,
the writer observed
"Men and their feelings and
motives are the same in whatever
situation they may be placed.
They may be taught to encourage
the ferocious passions, or to culti-
vate the kindly affections. It de-
pends on rulers and on the laws to
give them a virtuous and useful,
or vicious and pernicious direc-
tion. The plain and too much
forgotten and neglected husband-
man, contributes directly or indi-
rectly more than seven-eighths of
all that is effected towards the sup-
port and prosperity of a state. In-
deed, their number, in this happy
country is nearly in that ratio. It
cannot be questioned, unless the
laws of nature are reversed as to
this great mass of society, our
'
AIR
chief stay and support, that atten-
tion to their profession, the hold-
ing it in deserved respect, the re-
warding examples of successful
and peculiar industry in indivi-
duals must have an influence on
the advancement and progress of
the art. The spirit of emulation
is as capable of being excited in
this art, as in the calamitous, and
what we all acknowledge to be
the unprofitable one of War. A
farmer's breast is as open to ge-
nerous feelings, is as alive to ap-
plause and approbation, and as
much chilled by neglect, as that of
the proudest spirit that ever wore
a sword. Our defence then of
these exhibitions and these re-
wards, rests on the immutable laws
which regulate the human heart."
See Mass. Agr. Rep. vol. V. p. 85.
92. 215. 237. 374.
AIR
air, oxygen gas is given off, and
the carbon, or charcoal of car-
bonic acid gas, is absorbed, and
becomes a part of the organized
matter in the vegetable.
The effects of nitrogen in vege-
tation are not exactly known.
It is ascertained, however, that
it prevents the oxygen from act-
ing with too much violence, and is,
perhaps absorbed by some vege-
tables.
Carbonic acid gas combines
with many different bodies, and
furnishes vegetables and animals
with carbon or charcoal. When
a growing plant, the roots of which
are supplied with proper nourish-
ment, is exposed in the sunshine to
atmospheric air, containing its due
proportion of carbonic acid,the car-
bonic acid,after a time, is destroyed,
and a certain quantity of oxygen is
AIR. Since the time in which found in its place. "Carbonic acid
Mr. Deane wrote, great discove-gas," says Sir Humphrey Davy,
ries, relative to the constituentis formed in a variety of process-
parts, and essential qualities of at-es of fermentation and combus-
mospheric air have been made by tion, and in the respiration of ani-
Scheele, Priestley, Lavoisier, Da- mals. And as yet no other pro-
vy and others. These celebrated
men have proved that its principal
elements are two gases, oxygen and
azote, or nitrogen; and that it like
wise contains small quantities of
aqueous vapour and of carbonic
acid gas; and Lavoisier proved
that this last body is itself a com-
pound elastic fluid, consisting of
charcoal, dissolved in oxygen.
Oxygen gas is necessary to
some functions of vegetables, as
well as indispensable to animal
life. If a seed germinates in con-
fined air, the oxygen, or a part of
it, is absorbed. The azote, or nitro-
gen remains unaltered. But as
vegetation proceeds in the open
cess is known in nature, by which
it can be consumed, except by ve-
getation. Animals produce a sub-
stance, which appears to be a ne-
cessary food of vegetables: vege-
tables evolve a principle necessa-
ry to the existence of animals;
and these different classes of be-
ings seem to be thus connected to-
gether, in the exercise of their liv-
ing functions, and to a certain ex-
tent made to depend on each other
for their existence."
Water, likewise always exists in
the atmosphere; and the quantity
is greater or less in proportion to
the heat of the weather. When
the thermometer stands at 50° of
4
ΑΝΤ
AIR
¿
Fahrenheit, according to Sir Hum-
phrey Davy, air contains about
one fiftieth of its volume of va-
pour or rarefied water; and as the
specific gravity of vapour is to
that of air, nearly as 10 to 15, this
is about one-seventy-fifth part of
its weight. At 100° if there is a
free communication with water,
air contains about one-fourteenth
part in volume, or a one-and-twen-
tieth part of its weight. It is the
condensation of vapour by the di-
minution of the temperature of the
atmosphere, which is probably the
principal cause of the formation of
clouds, and of the deposition of
dew, mist, snow or hail.
The leaves of plants and many
other substances have a power of
absorbing moisture from the at-
mosphere. In some vegetables,
such as the house-leek, and diffe-
rent kinds of the aloe, this power
is so great that they will increase
in weight, when suspended in air,
and unconnected with the soil.
Water is likewise absorbed from
the atmosphere by the soil, and
that soil is said to be most fertile,
which has the greatest power to
absorb water. See Davy's Ele-
ments of Agricultural Chemistry.
Air and earth mutually transmit
fertility, like the transmission of
heat and cold in all bodies in con-
tact; or at least there is a certain
point of saturation of fertility, be-
yond which exposure to the air
carries off the overplus. In the
case of fresh dung, exposure soon
lowers the fertility of its surface
down to the point of saturation;
and the process of the transmission
of some volatile substance is disa-
greeably sensible to the nostrils.
On the other hand, air is a cause
1
of fertility, and in general it is said
that the greatest quantity of the
beneficial influence of air will be
imbibed by the poorest mould, and
that which has been least exposed
to the action of the atmosphere.
Hence the utility of deep plough-
ing, which increases the quantity
of soil fit for cultivation, by expos-
ing the lower and more barren
strata to imbibe fertilizing princi-
ples from the atmosphere.
ANTICOR, "a swelling in the
gullet and throat of a horse, and is
the same which in man is called
angina. It proceeds from the
same causes that bring on many
other diseases on horses, from hard
riding, exposing a horse to the
cold, giving him cold water to
drink when he is hot, full feeding,
and whatever else may cause a
stagnation of the blood.
"The signs of this disorder are
all those that accompany a fe-
ver; for an Anticor, while it is
internal, is never without fever:
but when it shews itself external-
ly, the fever begins to abate, un-
less it continue to be both exter-
nal and internal.
"So long as the inflammation
continues in the gullet, the horse
forsakes his food: and though he
has frequent inclinations to drink,
the first gulp deters him from med-
dling with it again, until he has
forgotten the pain and agony it put
him into. And the pain in the
gullet is yet more manifest from
this, that whenever a drench is
given him, he staggers and seems
as if he would fall down, and
makes short interrupted groans,
and sometimes will have a cold
clammy sweat about his ears.
ANT
ANT
"The cure must be begun by
bleeding, and that needs not be
very sparing: for this disease sel-
dom happens to horses that are
poor and low.
And here we also
approve of sticking one or other
of the veins in the hind parts, to
make revulsion.
"After bleeding, the following
clyster may be given :
|
"Take old Venice treacle two
ounces, volatile salt of hartshorn
fifteen grains, Mathews' pill one
drachm, camphor in powder six
grains, powder of liquorice, or
sassafras in powder, as much as is
sufficient to make it into a paste.
Let this be given after the opera-
tion of the clyster is over.
"If the symptoms begin to abate,
you may venture to give your
horse a gentle purge.
"If the swelling appears out-
wards, and if the other symptoms
"Take two handfuls of barley,
two ounces of sal polychrest, re-
duced to fine powder: boil them
in two quarts of water for a quar-
ter of an hour: add to the decoc-abate, you may leave off purging:
tion a pint of wine, four ounces of
fresh butter, and two ounces of
oil of rue. Let this be given
bloodwarm, and repeated twice a
day, or oftener.
"If he takes to food, nothing
must be given him but moistened
hay, and scalded bran; or what-
ever else must be chiefly such
things as are proper to keep down
the heat and inflammation, and
abate the feverish symptoms; for
which purpose we recommend,
after blooding, those things that are
proper to promote sweat. There-
fore, let the following drench be
prepared for him:
:
for what is intended by that eva-
cuation, is chiefly to disperse the
inward disorder. Next, you are
only to apply ripening cataplasms,
allowing him sal prunellæ, nitre,
or the sal polychrestum, dissolv-
ed in his drink.
"Cow's dung alone, applied
warm to the part, with lard or oint-
ment of marsh mallows, may be
sufficient to bring the swelling to
maturity.
"When the matter seems ready
for a discharge, it may be opened
in the dependent lowermost part,
by the application of a hot iron;
afterwards keeping a dossel in the
"Take treacle water and car-mouth of the wound till the run-
duus water, of each one pint; dis-ning abates; and applying com-
solve in these two ounces of Ve-
nice treacle and after this has
been given, clothe him well, and
give him a little warm water to
drink. Instead of the treacle and
carduus water, a pint of stale
beer, mixed with small beer, may
be used. Nothing is so effectual
to remove inflammation, especial-
ly after bleeding, as sweating:
therefore, if you find it difficult to
promote sweat, you may give the
following ball:
presses and convenient bandage to
keep the elevated skin close to the
flesh, that it may be the sooner
united. But if the cavity of the
imposthumation be large, it will
not be amiss to lay it open an inch
or more.
"The cure may be finished with
applying only the unguentum ba-
silicum; or a digestive made with
turpentine, the yolks of eggs, or
honey, with a moderate mixture
of brandy, or spirit of wine. And
6
ANT
ANT
if any foulness appears, or if it
heal too fast, or if spungy soft flesh
arise, pledgets dipped in copperas
water, or a solution of blue vitriol,
may be applied, which will keep
it smooth and even.
"But if the swelling increase
fast, with no tendency to digestion,
and if it rise up towards the neck,
affecting all the muscles of the
part, the horse will be in danger
of suffocation, unless a course dif-
ferent from the former be taken.
"Besides repeated bleeding, if
he is not too much worn out, take
a hot searing iron, and apply it
to five or six places on the lower
part of the swelling, cauterizing
those parts, that they may be
speedily brought to matter, which
may be dressed with flax dipped
in tar and turpentine, mixed be-
fore the fire, and applied warm.
For by giving pain in those de-
pendent and inferior parts, you
cause the humours to flown down-
wards from the swelling; and by
making vents you prevent exces-
sive violence of pain. Nor need
you be afraid of the swelling that
may happen in the fore-legs, &c.
by cauterizing; for that cannot
be of so ill consequence as when
it is upon the neck and throat;
nor will it be of any consequence,
if care be taken of the vents.
agrippa and marsh mallows. The
root, by their hot quality, draw
down and increase the swelling ;
and the ointments are to ripen
the inclosed matter, and fit it for a
discharge.
"The same author also recom-
mends the use of Ruptories, for
drawing an immediate flux of mois-
ture from the diseased part. These
are ointments of the same nature
as those made to draw blisters on
the human body, and composed of
the same materials.
The way to
apply them is, to spread them by
little at a time on the part affect-
ed, holding a bar of hot iron to
make them sink in." Gibson's
Farriery.
ANTS, an insect, which some-
times annoys fields. "They will
destroy barley, rye, hemp seed,
flax seed, and rape seed. Other
grain is either too large, double
skinned, or too bitter and ill tast-
ed for them. When you. find
them in quantities near home, pour
hot water upon them. The far-
mer, when he dungs bis land, if he
uses ashes, lime, or salt sand, he
may be certain no ant will ever
stay upon the ground where any
of the three is spread."
Scot's
Farmer.
"The ant is very destructive to
fruit, especially the peach when
"Solleysell recommends the ripe; you will frequently see these
making of small incisions with a insect travelling all over the trees,
fleam or lancet, in eight or ten and sometimes the fruit will be
places, on the swelling; and to filled with them. The best me-
thrust into the holes, between the thod that I have found to destroy
skin and the flesh, pieces of the them is, to get a sharp pointed
root of black hellebore: and if wooden stake, or an iron crow, if
the tumour be very large, he re- the ground be hard, and with it
commends the use of white helle-bore a hole not far from the stem
bore; at the same time chaffing of the tree, and as deep as the
the part with the ointments of ground will permit. By stirring
ANT
7
APP
the earth, you will set the ants in
motion: then work your stake or
crow round the sides of the hole,
making them as smooth as you
can; the ants will come to the
mouth of the hole and tumble in,
and by the shape of the hole and
smoothness of its sides will be
prevented from climbing up again.
When you see a great many in the
bottom of the hole, pour in some
water from a watering pot; and
thus you may drown thousands of
them.
\
"You may likewise destroy ma-
ny of them by mixing quick lime
with soot, and laying it along their
roads, where you see them thick-
est; but where you can come at
their nests, the best way is to put a
piece of quick lime into it, and pour
as much water over the lime as will
slake it, the heat of which will de-
stroy them: when you have pour-
ed in the water, cover the lime
with a turf or a little earth, which
will render it more effectual by
confining the heat. You may
slake the lime with a mixture of
urine and soap suds, which will
render it still more effectual."
Forsyth's Treatise on Fruit Trees.
The small garden ants, it is said
may be destroyed by placing among
them a number of large ants, com-
monly found in woods, which fall
upon and destroy, or drive from
their neighbourhood, the smaller
kinds. If the walls of an apart-
ment are washed with a painter's
brush, dipped in a solution made of
four ounces of sublimate, in two
gallons of water, both the ant and
the red spider will be dislodged.
See article Ant in the Domestic
Encyclopædia, 2d American edi-
tion.
|
APPLES. Mr. Forsyth's Trea-
tise on the Culture and Manage-
ment of Fruit Trees gives a list of
44 different kinds of apples which
had come to the author's know-
ledge, with a description of the
qualities of each, and the author
has added several lists besides
from the_catalogues of nursery
men in England and Scotland.
See p. 49, American edition.
The Massachusetts Agricultural
Repository, vol. iii. p. 95, gives
the following. The Rhode Island
Greening, a good fall and early
winter apple. The Nonsuch, a red
apple, very late keeping apple.
The Nonpareil, a Russet apple
The Newtown
early in winter.
pippin, a good, hard, late keeping
fruit. The Spitzenberg, a fine
fruit, which keeps sound till May
or June. The Roxbury Russeting.
This is one of the best known, and
most valuable of fruits. It is not
fit to eat till February, and is very
easily preserved till June. The
Baldwin apple, a very valuable
fruit, beautiful, fine flavoured, and
will keep to the last of March.
Apples keep best in a low tem-
perature, and may be well pre-
served in an ice house.
An English Journal recommends
the use of dry pit sand, for pre-
serving pears and apples. Glaz-
ed earthen jars are to be provided,
and the sand to be thoroughly
dried. A layer of sand an inch
thick, is then placed in the bottom
of the jar; above this a layer of
fruit, to be covered with a layer of
sand an inch thick; then lay a se-
cond stratum of fruit, covering
again with an inch of sand. An
inch and an half of sand may be
placed over the uppermost row of
8
APP
APP
1
fruit. The jar is now to be clos- | that part will be produced the next
ed and placed in a dry situation, season." See Orchard.
as cool as possible, but entirely
free from frost. Some assert that
apples may be kept in casks
through the winter in a chamber
or garret, by being merely cover-
ed with linen cloths. Apples
which are intended to be preserv-
ed for winter's use should be suf-
fered to hang on the tree as long
as they are safe from frosts.
A letter from Ebenezer Preble,
Esq. published in the Massachu-
setts Agricultural Repository, Vol.
iv. No. I. p. 84, contains the fol-
lowing instructions, relative to
gathering and preserving fruit.
"The general method of gather-
ing apples for cider, is, shaking the
tree, and thrashing the branches
with poles. The former will an-
swer when the fruit is at maturity;
they will then drop without injury
to the buds. Poles should never
be used, but with a hook at the
end covered with cloth or matts to
prevent wounding the bark; they
then serve to shake the small
limbs. Particular attention is re-
quired in gathering winter fruit.
They should be taken in the hand,
the fingers placed at the foot stalk,
and by bending it upwards the
fruit is gathered with ease, and
without injury; they should be re-
moved from the gathering baskets
with great care," &c. The same
writer says, "The injudicious me-
thod practised in gathering fruit is
more destructive in its consequen-
ces, than is generally understood;
the blossom buds of the succeed-
ing year are placed at the side of
the foot stalk of the fruit, and if
the spurs are broken, no fruit on
APPLE TREE, pyrus malus, a
well known fruit tree of great im-
portance to mankind. The way
to propagate them is, by sowing
the pomace from cydermills, dig-
ging, or hoeing it into the earth in
autumn. The young plants will
be up in the following spring, and
the next autumn, they should be
transplanted from the seed bed into
the nursery, in rows from two to.
three feet apart, and one foot in
the rows where the ground has
been fitted to receive them. The
ground for a nursery should not be
very rich, but mellow, and well
pulverized, and cleared of the roots
and seeds of weeds. It is a good
rule, That the young trees, at their
final transplanting into orchards,
should not be put into poorer, but
rather into richer ground, than
that to which they have been ac-
customed. For by not finding
their usual supply of nourishment,
they will be stinted in their growth,
and never become good trees.
It is said, that when an apple-
tree has become barren, its fruit-
fulness may be renewed by strip-
ping off all the bark from its body,
and from some part of the largest
limbs; and that this operation
must be performed at the time of
the summer solstice.
The following has been found
by experience to be an excellent
mode of setting out apple trees,
and other fruit trees on a light
soil.
Dig a hole sufficiently large to
prevent the root of the tree, when
it is to be transplanted from being
doubled or placed in an unnatural
APP
9
ASH
position, and to give room for the
young shoots to extend themselves.
Place about the roots of each tree,
together with the mould, about
half a bushel of small stones, the
size of an ordinary apple, or less,
which will give stability to the soil,
and prevent the roots from being
loosened by the wind. See Fruit
Trees, Orchards, and Transplant-
ing.
|
a long time to ascertain the differ-
ence; for if a circle is drawn in
rich ground, and the flat-sided seeds
planted therein, and the round
seeds in the centre, the variation
of quality will be discovered in two
or three years. The first will throw
out the leaves of a crab, and the
latter the leaves of an improved
tree, distinguished in shape and fi-
bre,and with a woolly appearance;
and in due time the fruit of each
will put every thing beyond doubt.
It is observed that the seeds of
crabs (being originals) are mostly
if not altogether round." Euro-
pean Magazine.
Rotten leaves of trees are recom-
mended by Mr. Forsyth, as the best
manure for fruit trees, which, he
says, is "much better than dung,
which I by no means approve of for
trees, unless it be perfectly rotten,
and mixed up with mould." It is
better, however, not to make use
of such leaves as manure for fruit
trees, till they are rotted to a fine
black vegetable mould. See For-on and connected inseparably with
syth's Treatise on Fruit Trees, p. the varieties-some kinds are full
62, 63. American Edition.
bearers only every alternate year.
Others bear every year, nearly a-
like, with occasional differences,
dependent on the seasons.
APPLE TREE. The laws,
which govern the alternate or an-
nual productiveness of apple trees,
and other fruits, are dependent up-
ASHES, a dust, consisting of the
earthy and saline parts of wood,
and other combustibles, which re-
mains after burning.
"It is a general complaint, that
the finest apple trees of this coun-
try have degenerated, and that ma-
ny of the best sorts have entirely
disappeared from our gardens and
orchards. It would not be difficult
to show that every successive graft-
ing deteriorates the part engrafted; Ashes are commonly accounted
or to point out an effectual method a manure most suitable for low and
of retaining good apples in this moist lands. A cold and sour spot
country without the trouble of certainly needs them more than
grafting, as in every perfectly ripe any other. But I have found them
apple there will be found one and to be good in all sorts of soil..
sometimes two round seeds; the They are not only a valuable ma-
others will have one or more flat-nure, but an excellent antidote to
ted sides. The round ones will the rapaciousness of worms and
produce the improved fruit from other insects. Therefore they are
which they are taken, and those a more proper manure for all those
with the flatted sides will produce plants, which are liable to suffer by
the fruit of the crab upon which the worms and insects; such as cab-
graft was inserted. It requires not bages, turnips, cucumbers, melons,
2
10
ASP
ASH
peas, and other pulse. They should
be spread evenly, and not in too
great quantity.
remain in them, especially in soap-
er's waste which has lime mixed
with it.
A handful of ashes, laid about
the roots of a hill of Indian
corn, is good to quicken its
vegetation. But it should not
much if any of it be in contact with
the stalks. The best time for giv-
ing corn this dressing, is thought to
be just before the second or third
hoeing: But some do it before the
first, and even before the plants are
Wood ashes is an excellent nour-
ishment for the roots of trees.
Ashes of all kinds are a good in-
gredient in composts which are
kept under cover. But when they
are laid upon land unmixt, they
should be spread as evenly as pos-
sible. They are thought to do bet-
ter on the top of the surface than
when buried in the soil; for there is
nothing in them that will evapor-up. Like other top dressings, it is
ate. Their tendency is only down-
wards; and their salts will soon
sink too low, if they be put under
the surface. If they be spread
upon ground, which has tender
plants, it should be done just before
a rain, which will dissolve and soft-
en their acrimony: For tender
plants, when the weather is dry,
will be apt to be injured by them;
at least, if they are in contact with
the stems or leaves.
Ashes in their full strength are
certainly best for manure; and
they will not be in full strength, un-
less they be kept dry; nor will it
be easy to spread them properly.
And they should not be laid on
lands long before there are roots to
be nourished by them, lest the rains
rob them of their salts, by washing
them into the hollows, or by sink-
ing them to too great a depth in
the soil. A few bushels on an acre
are a good dressing for grass lands
that are low, and inclining to be
mossy. But ashes from which lie
has been drawn have no small de-
gree of virtue in them. The earthy
particles are but little diminished;
and some of the saline particles
of most service when applied at the
time when plants need the greatest
quantity of nourishment. This
happens, in Indian corn, at the
time when the plants are just going
to send out ears and spindles.
ASPARAGUS, a valuable plant,
the young shoots of which are a
pleasant and wholesome food; of
more account for the table than
any other greens which the spring
produces. They come up early,
and are consequently of the greater
importance. The fruit is a spheri-
cal, red berry, which ripens in au-
tumn, containing two black seeds.
The root of this plant is esteem-
ed in medicine, as an opener and
diuretic.
To cultivate asparagus in the
best manner, open a trench three
feet wide, and twelve inches deep.
If it be close to the south side of a
garden wall,it will be up the earlier
in the spring. Fill the trench half
full of good dung; make it level,
and sprinkle a little rich earth over
it, and lay on the roots, in their
natural position, eight or nine in-
ches apart. Or, if you cannot get
roots, place the seeds at half the
ASP
11
ASP
Ꭺ Ꮪ Ꮲ .
distance from each other. Cover | paragus into beds four feet and an
half wide, with alleys two feet wide
between each bed. And at each
corner of every bed, let a firm
stake be driven into the ground, to
serve as a mark for the alleys.
them by filling up the trench with
the blackest of the earth which
was taken out. If you plant roots,
the shoots may be cut the second
year after; if seeds, they will not
be fit to cut till the third year.
All the shoots which come up be-
fore the middle of June, may be
cut off without injuring the roots
After which time, the late shoots
should be left to run up, and seed;
otherwise the roots will be weak-
ened. The seeds may be well pre-
served on the branches through the
winter, hung up in a dry situation.
This plant grows well in ground
that is shaded. The sprouts will be
very large and tender; but they will
not be so early. It is not amiss to
have one bed in a shady place, to
supply the table, after the season
is over for cutting the first. In
autumn, after the tops are turned
white by the frost, they should be
cleared off, and a layer of dung, or
rich soil, an inch thick, laid over
the bed. This should be done
yearly, and the bed kept clear of
weeds. If the bed should get too
high by this management, the sur-
face may be taken off with a spade
early in the spring, to the depth of
two inches, before the young
shoots are in the way. But when
this is done, a thin dressing of rotten
dung or compost should be laid on.
The soil for asparagus should be
the best which the garden affords,
not wet nor too strong and stub-
born, but such as is moderately
light and pliable, and will readily
fall to pieces in digging or raking,
&c.
Mr. M'Mahon recommends
the dividing of a plantation of as-
Four rows of asparagus, accord-
ing to this writer, are to be plant-
ed in each bed, and ten or twelve
inches distance to be allowed be-
tween plant and plant in the row;
and the outside rows of each bed
should be eight inches from the
edge. The plants should not be
more than two years old, and most
good gardeners prefer those of
one, and Mr. M'Mahon recom-
mends the latter in preference to
the former, from experience.
The following is Mr. M'Mahon's
method of planting asparagus.
"Strain your line along the bed
eight inches from the edge ; then
with a spade cut out a small trench
or drill close to the line, about six
inches deep, making that side next
the line nearly upright; and when
one trench is opened, plant that
before you open another, placing
the plants upright ten or twelve in-
ches distance in the row.
"In planting these plants, ob-
serve that they must not be placed
flat in the bottom of the trench, but
nearly upright against the bank of
the trench or drill, and so that the
crown of the plants may also stand
upright, and two or three inches
below the surface of the ground;
let them be all placed an equal
depth, spreading their roots some-
what regular against the back of
the trench, and at the same time
drawing a little earth up against
them with the hand as you place
12
AXE
ASP
them, just to fix the plants in their
due position, till the row is plant-
ed; when one row is thus finished,
immediately with a rake draw the
earth into a drill over the plants,
and then proceed to open another
drill, or trench, as before directed;
plant it in the same manner, and
cover in the plants as above, and
so on till the whole is planted;
then let the surface of the bed be
raked smooth and cleared from
stones."
The plants should be kept free
from weeds, and no early crops
sowed among them, as has been
sometimes injudiciously practised.
A plantation of asparagus, with
proper management, will continue
to produce good buds ten or twelve
years, or longer.
Mr. McMahon says asparagus'
seeds may be sown about the mid-
dle or towards the latter end of
March, calculating probably for
the latitude of Philadelphia. In
the more northern States, perhaps
a somewhat later period would be
proper for that purpose.
Asparagus beds should be com-
pletely loosened to a moderate
depth every spring, as soon as the
frost is out of the ground, with a
proper fork, having three short
tines, six to eight or nine inches
long. But care must be taken not
to go too deep, so as to wound the
crowns of the roots. The beds,
being loosened in every part to a
moderate depth, should be raked
even, before the buds begin to ad-
yance.
In the 13th vol. of the "Reper-
tory of Arts," &c. a new method
of rendering asparagus more pro-
ductive, is communicated by Mr.
Richard Weston, who observes that
the male plants yield a greater
number of shoots than the female
ones; though the former are of an
inferior size. He consequently
advises that males only be selected
for the formation of beds; and to
prevent mistakes, they should not
be planted from the seed bed, till
they have flowered. After having
grown twelve months, Mr. W. di-
rects them to be removed into
beds, at the distance of six inches
from each other, where they ought
to remain another year, in which
they generally flower; a small
stick must then be driven into the
ground, contiguous to each of the
male plants, in order to separate
them from the females, the latter
of which are then to be pulled.
This plant is found growing na-
turally on the borders of salt
marshes, and even upon such
marshes. This is considered to be
its natural situation; and this fact
has led to the employment of salt
as a manure to it with very good
effect. To a bed 50 feet by 6, a
bushel of salt may be safely appli-
ed before the plants start in the
spring.
AXE, a necessary tool for farm-
ers. A narrow axe is meant ; for
a broad axe is a carpenter's tool.
A narrow axe should have a thick
poll, as in that part it commonly
fails soonest. It should be made
of the best of iron and steel, be
quite free from cracks and flaws,
and nicely tempered; not so soft
as to bend, nor so hard as to break,
Take care that you do not grind
your axes thin at first, till you learn
BAR
13
BAR
by using them what their temper | seems liable to no distemper, in our
is, and whether they will bear it. northerly part of Massachusetts
A rounding edge is best for chop- especially; bears the drought well,
ping large logs, a straighter one and never fails of yielding a crop.
for smaller wood.
I have commonly gained 40 bush-
els per acre, without any extraor-
dinary tillage, and without much
manuring. It will grow in any
soil: Even a soil so clayey that it
is fit for scarcely any other grain,
will answer well for this, as I have
found by long experience. But it
does better on some other soils.
Let the helve of an axe be made
of the toughest of wood, either wal-
nut or white oak. Let it be set in
the centre of the eye, and at right
angles with the outer side of the
axe ; let it be small near the eye,
that the hands may not be too
much jarred by the strokes in chop-
ping, and gradually larger towards
the other end. Three feet is the
greatest length that almost ever
will be needful: Shorter for chop-
ping sticks not uncommonly large.
It should never be less than 32 in-
ches.
A good deal of rubbing with a
whetstone, (after an axe is ground
on a coarse grindstone,) is best;
not only to bring it to a good edge
that will not crumble, but chiefly
to make the blade very smooth,
that it may enter the wood easily,
and not stick too fast when entered.
B.
It should be sowed as early as
the season and soil will admit.-
About the beginning of May is a
suitable time. The quantity of
seed for an acre is two bushels, if
the grain be small; if larger, more
in proportion. A correspondent
of the Bath Agricultural Society
writes: "The last spring (1783)
being remarkably dry, I soaked my
seed barley in the black water,
taken from a reservoir, which con-
stantly receives the draining of my
dung heap and stables. As the
light corn floated on the top, I
skimmed it off, and let the rest
stand 24 hours. On taking it from
the water, I mixed the grain with
a sufficient quantity of sifted wood
ashes, to make it spread regularly,
and sowed three fields with it.-
The produce was 60 bushels per
BARLEY, Hordeum, a well
known grain of which malt is made.
In some countries, it is also much
used for bread. If it be kept long
before grinding, it will be the bet-acre.
ter for this use, as a certain bitter
taste, which it has when new, is
abated by age. Barley is account-
ed cooling and detersive; a broth
of it is therefore given to persons
in fevers: But it must be hulled
before it is fit for this use.
It is a sort of corn very suitable
for cultivation in this region, as it
I sowed some other fields
with the same seed dry; but the
crop, like those of my neighbours,
was very poor, not more than 20
bushels per acre, and much mixed
with green corn and weeds, when
harvested. I also sowed some of
my seed dry on one ridge in each
of my former fields, but the pro-
duce was very poor in comparison
14
BAR
BAR
of the other parts of the field." | ed from the straw, is needful to
The ground should have two get off the beards. Let it lie a
ploughings at least. It should be night or two in the dew after it is
well harrowed after sowing; and cut, and the beards will come off
then a roller passed over it to close the more easily.
the soil about the corns, that they
may not fail of vegetating. And
rolling prepares the surface for
mowing the crop, and raking it up
clean, which is a matter of great
importance. For it is impossible
to rake it up clean, when the
ground has been laid rough at
sowing.
In Scotland, after the grain is
up, the farmers, near the sea coast,
give it a top dressing of sea weeds,
which has an excellent effect. This
practice I would recommend to
those of my countrymen who farm
near the sea.
I had gained the idea of the ne-
cessity of barley's being well rip-
ened before cutting, from my own
experience. I have been more
confirmed in the opinion, by the
following passage in an English
writer, who appears to have been.
well acquainted with the culture of
this corn. "This grain," says he,
"may be greatly damaged, or
spoiled, by being mown too soon;
which may afterwards be discov
ered by its shrivelled and lear
body, that never will make good
malt."
The same writer says, "This
grain I annually sow in my fields on
different soils, whereby I have
brought to my knowledge, several
differences arising therefrom. On
our red clays, this grain generally
comes off reddish at both ends, and
sometimes all over, with a thick
I should have observed, that bar-
ley must be sowed soon after
ploughing, lest the moisture of the
soil be too much evaporated. It
being a dry husky grain, a consid-
erable degree of moisture is requi-
site to make it vegetate. If the
ground should be very dry at sow-skin and tough nature, somewhat
ing time, and the season late, steep-
ing the seed in lie would not be
amiss. Steeping it in the wash of a
barn yard has an excellent effect.
Some have got an opinion, that
barley should be harvested before
it is quite ripe. Though the flour
may be a little whiter, the grain
shrinks so much, that the crop
seems to be greatly diminished and
wasted by early cutting. No grain,
I think, requires more ripening than
this; and it is not apt to shatter
out when it is very ripe. It should
be threshed soon after harvesting:
And much beating, after it is clear-
like the soil it grows in; and,
therefore, is not so valuable as that
of contrary qualities. Nor are the
black, bluish, marly clays, of the
vale much better: But loams and
gravels are better. On these two
last soils the barley acquires a
whitish body, a thin skin, a short
plump kernel, and a sweet flour."
w
Barley is a corn that is very apt
to degenerate, unless prevented by
a frequent changing of the seed.
If ever so few oats are sown
among barley, the crop, in a few
years, will come to be mostly oats;
because oats increase more than
BAR
15
BAR
barley. Swimming the barley be-
fore it is sown, will in great mea-
sure prevent this inconvenience.
Almost every oat, and a few of the
worst of the barley corns, will be
on the surface of the water, and
may be taken off.
Sir John Sinclair, in speaking of
the agricultural practice of Mr.
Coke, of Holkham, says, "He uses
the Rev. Mr. Coke's drill, which
sows six rows at a time, and an
acre an hour, drawn by a single
horse. His wheat he sows at nine
inches asunder, his barley at six in-
But the speedy degeneration of
barley is a good reason for chang-ches three quarters. He consid-
ing the seed very frequently. In
some parts of the country, the bar-
ley, for want of changing, has come
to produce little or nothing.
Not only changing seed, but sorts
of barley, should be attended to.
Some sorts are at least more pro-
ductive than others, if not of a bet-
ter quality. The two rowed bar-
ley has seldom more than 32 corns
on an ear: The six rowed has
sometimes 72, that is 12 in a row.
Of the latter sort one pint produced
me three pecks in a single drill
row. It was at the rate of about
three pecks of seed, and forty
bushels crop to the acre, on a poor
gravelly soil. This sort is called
Bear, Bere, or Barley big. It is a
winter grain in England and Ire-
land. But I must mention one in-
convenience attending the six
rowed barley, which is, that the
seeds are apt to break off and fall,
if the corn stands till it is fully ripe.
I now cultivate a four rowed barley,
which has not this inconvenience
attending it: And it yields as
plentifully as any other.
I would recommend the drill
and horse hoeing method of rais-
ing barley, when it is designed for
hulling, as the corns will be the
more full and plump, and have a
less quantity of hull in proportion
to the flour.
ers any attempt to save seed by
drilling founded on erroneous prin-
ciples; and the quantity of seed
he sows per acre is four bushels of
wheat, three of barley, and six of
oats. On his farm it is a practice,
not generally known, but which
ought to be attended to, on rich
soils, to draw the drills from north
to south (if the nature of the ground
will admit of it), and on poor weak
soils from east to west."
The author of the Synopsis of
Husbandry, an English publication,
observes that it is improper to sow
clover among barley on rich land,
because the natural fertility of the
soil hastens on the vegetation of
the grass, which will, before har-
vest have advanced to a considera-
ble height among the corn, and oc-
casion a longer time to be necessa-
ry for drying the swath. But on
lands where there is not the dan-
ger of so luxuriant an increase,
clover and other grass seeds, he
thinks, may often be sown among
barley; and if a favourable time
can be procured for harvesting it,
the straw may be greatly improved
by the mixture of clover or other
grasses, and become then a valua-
ble fodder in the winter; but bar-
ley straw simply is, he says, the
most ordinary cattle food of any.
The following has been re com-
16
BAR
BAR
carting in loads upon it will soon
loosen it, and render it unfit for
the operation of threshing. It
should be made of planks, well
seasoned, and nicely jointed; and
care should be taken to keep it
very tight. If it should be so open
as to let grain, or any seeds, pass
mended as a proper steep for seed
barley Dissolve three pounds of
copperas in a pail of boiling water.
Add to this as much dung puddle
water as will cover three or four
bushels of barley. Stir it, and let
it steep twenty-four hours; when
the seed is drained and spread, sift
on fine lime, which fits it for sow-through, the grain will be worse
ing.
BARN, a sort of house used for
storing unthreshed grain, hay and
straw, and all kinds of fodder. But
the other uses of barns in this coun-
try are, to lodge and feed beasts
in, to thresh grain, dress flax, &c.
A barn should be large enough to
serve the farmer for all these pur-
poses: For there is always more
lost by stacking of hay and grain,
than enough to balance the expense
of barn room.
than lost, as it will serve to feed
and increase vermin. A floor of
boards should therefore be laid un-
der the planks.
The sills of a barn should be
made of the most durable kind of
timber, as they are more liable to
rot than those of other buildings,
on account of the dung lying about
them. White oak is very fit for
this use. The sills must be laid
rather low, not only for the conve-
nient entrance of cattle and carts,
but because the ground will be
lowered round barns, by the year-
face with the dung. They should
be well underpinned with stones
laid a little below the surface of
the ground; and well pointed with
lime, to prevent loss of manure.
And dung should not lie fermenting
against the sides of a barn; but be
speedily removed when warm
weather comes on.
Regard must be had to the situ-
ation of a barn. It should be at a
convenient distance from the dwel-ly taking away of some of the sur-
ling house, and other buildings;
but as near as may be without
danger of fire, if the shape of the
ground permits. Too low a spot
will be miry in spring and fall.
Too high an eminence will be bad
for drawing in loads, and on ac-
count of saving and making ma-
nures. If other circumstances
permit, it may be best to place a
barn in such a manner as to defend
the dwelling house from the force
of the coldest winds.
The most considerable parts of
a barn are, the floor, the bay, the
cow house, the scaffolds, the sta-
ble. See Cow House, and Stable.
The threshing floor should be laid
on strong and steady sleepers, well
supported beneath; otherwise
In order to prevent hay or grain
from heating in a large mow,
the farmers in Pennsylvania set
up four poles or pieces of tim-
ber in the middle, so as to form
within them a square space of a-
bout two feet. The poles are bra-
ced by cross-pieces at certain dis-
tances. Through the aperture,
thus made, the extra moisture in
the hay or grain will evaporate so
BAR
17
BAR
as to prevent its being mow burnt.
BARN YARD, a small piece of
inclosed ground, contiguous to a
barn, in which cattle are usually
kept. It should have a high, close,
and strong fence, both to shelter
the beasts from the force of driv-
ing storms, and to keep the most
unruly ones from breaking out. By
the help of this yard, a farmer may
prodigiously increase his quantity
of manure, if he will be careful to
take the right methods.
The ground of a yard for this
purpose should be of such a shape
as to retain all the manure, or pre-
vent its being washed away by
rains. It should be lowest in the
middle; or at least so high on all
the sides, that even the greatest
rains shall not carry away any of
the manure. This is a matter of
so much importance, that it may
be well worth while to form the
ground to the right shape, where
nature has not done it.
A yard should be larger or smal-
ler in proportion to the stock that
is kept in it. A small one is bad,
as the cattle will be more apt to
push and hurt one another. A
large one is more favourable to the
design of making abundance of
manure. Not only should the
yard be contiguous to the barn, but
as many of the other out houses as
conveniently may be should be
placed on the sides of the yard,
especially those of them which af-
ford manure or rubbish, as the hog-
sty, &c.
Many, who have good farm yards,
are not so careful as they should
be to make the greatest advantage
3
by them, by confining the cattle
continually in them, during the
foddering season. The practice
of driving cattle to water, at a dis-
tance, is attended with great loss
of manure. Instead of continuing
in this absurd practice, the well
that serves the house, or one dug
for the purpose, should be so near
the yard, that a watering trough
may reach from it into the yard.
Some have a well in the yard; but
this is not so advisable, as the wa-
ter may become impregnated with
the excrements of the cattle, and
rendered less palatable. He that
has a large stock, may save enough
in manure in this way, in one year,
to pay him for making a well of a
moderate depth :
moderate depth: Besides secur-
ing the advantage of having his
cattle under his eye; and of pre-
venting their straggling away, as
they sometimes do. Innumerable
are the accidents to which a stock
are exposed, by going to watering
places, in winter, without a driver,
as they commonly do. And often-
times, by means of snow and ice,
the difficulty is so great, as to dis-
courage them from going to the
water; the consequence is, that
they suffer for want of drink, and
the owner is ignorant of it. All
these things plead strongly in fa-
vour of the mode of watering I have
here recommended. They should
not be let out, even when the
ground is bare: For what they
get will make them to winter the
worse; and they will damage the
fields.
There should be more yards
than one to a barn, where divers
18
BAR
BAR
sorts of cattle are kept. The sheep
should have a yard by themselves,
at least; and the young stock an-
other, that they may be wholly
confined to such fodder as the farm-
er can afford them. But the prin-
cipal yard may be for the cows,
oxen, calves and horses. And the
water from the well may be led in-
to each of these yards by wooden
gutters.
If the soil of the yard be clay, or
a pan of very hard earth, it will be
the more fit for the purpose of
making manure, as the excrements
of the cattle will not be so apt to
soak deep into it. Otherwise
a layer of clay may be laid on
to retain the stale, and the wash
of the dung, which otherwise would
be almost entirely lost.
Some farmers seem well pleased
to have a wash run away from their
barns upon the contiguous sloping
lands. But they are not aware
how much they lose by it. A small
quantity of land, by means of it,
may be made too rich. But the
quantity of manure that is ex-
pended in doing it, if otherwise
employed, might be vastly more
advantageous; especially if it were
so confined as to be incorporated
with a variety of absorbent and
dissolvable substances; and after-
wards laid on those parts of the
farm where it is most wanted.
|
ferment in. The feet of the cattle
will also mix the materials the
more, which are thrown into the
yard, and wear them to pieces, so
that they will become short and
| fine.
After the yard is cleaned in the
spring, the farmer should embrace
the first leisure he has, to store it
with a variety of materials for
making manure. For this purpose,
he may cart into it swamp-mud,
clay, brick dust, straw, thatch, fern,
weeds, leaves of trees, turfs, marsh
mud, eel grass, flats, or even sand
and loam. If he cannot get all
these kinds of rubbish, he may
take such of them as are the most
easily obtained. Any of these sub-
stances, being mixed with the dung
and stale of cattle, will become
good manure. But some regard
may be had to the nature of the
soil on which the manure is to be
laid. If it be clay, the less clay
and the more brick dust and sand
will be proper: If a sandy soil,
clay, pond mud, and flats, will be
better ingredients.
All the materials above men-
tioned, and many more that might
be named, will in one year become
good manure, by being mixed with
the excrements of the cattle, and
prevent the waste of them. And
this is thought, by the best writers
on husbandry, to be the cheapest
method a farmer can take to ma-
nure his lands, considering the
small cost of the materials made
It is best, in this climate, that a
barn yard should be on the south
side of a barn. It being less shad-
ed, the manure will make the fast-into manure.
er, as it will be free from frost a
greater part of the year, and con-
sequently have a longer time to
If water should stand long in any
part of the yard, the manure must
be raked out of the water, and
BEA
19
BEA
heaped round the borders of the
puddle, that it may be dry. For
there will be no fermentation
where there is too much wetness:
The materials will not dissolve,
but turn sour. As these heaps
grow dry, the water should be
scooped up, and thrown upon them
from time to time. This will in-
crease the fermentation in the
heaps, and they will grow mellow
the faster. It will be of service to
shovel the whole of the manure
into heaps, a few days before it is
carted out, as it will bring on a
brisk fermentation, and make it
fitter to be laid upon the land. Or
if shovelling be thought too labori-
ous, turning it up with a plough
will be advantageous. Or if there
be not a deep layer, tearing it
with a harrow may be sufficient.
measurement to the distance re-
quired, and the same method pur-
sued till the field is completed.-
The usual price for this work is
9d. sterling per week, and the al-
lowance two bushels per acre.
Sir John Sinclair, in "The Code
of Agriculture" recommends cut-
ting the tops of beans in order to
accelerate their podding. This
eminent writer states that "it was
begun about the year 1804, and
has already been tried on more
than 200 acres. The operation is
performed by means of a sharp
edged instrument or knife, 12 or
14 inches long exclusive of the
handle; but it may be done by a
sickle or reaping hook. The ex-
pense has never exceeded 3s. per
acre, and it is done by contract.-
At a certain stage of its growth the
head of the bean stalk does not
seem essential to the purpose of
vegetation, but by its luxuriance to
exhaust the strength of the plant.
The proper time to cut them off is
when the first blossoms begin to
drop: if done sooner, a fresh shoot
will put forth. As soon as the
tops are cut off, the pods rapidly
increase in size, and the period of
ripening is accelerated. The time-
ly removal of these parts, where
BEANS. The following mode the insects chiefly lodge, material-
of planting beans has been recom-ly contributes to the health and
mended by an English writer. vigour of the plant, and probably
The rows are marked out one foot increases the weight of the crop.
asunder, and the seed planted in The harvest is by this means ad-
holes two inches apart the lines vanced at least a fortnight.
are stretched across the lands, the ordinary mode of managing a
which are formed about six feet bean crop, their tops are green
over,so that when one row is plant- when reaped, consequently they
ed, the sticks to which the line is absorb and retain moisture, and
fastened, are moved by a regular require a considerable exposure in
Some modern agriculturists of
eminence, with Sir Humphrey Da-
vy,are of opinion, that unfermented
manure is most profitable. If so,
manure in a yard need not be stir.
red unless it be necessary to pre-
vent fermentation, or what is call-
ed the dry rot. The best part of
the manure it is said is dissipated,
and goes off in gas, during fermen-
tation. See Dung, Manure, and
Stercorary.
In
20
BEE
BEA
the field to prepare them for the
stack; whereas without their tops,
the crop is sooner in a condition to
be carried, and less risk is incurred
from the effects of frost and wet
The tops are left to rot
seasons.
on the ground."
is the only kind, which can be cul-
tivated in this country on a great
agricultural scale.
BEER. Much has been published
for the direction of those who under-
take large breweries. It is much to
be wished that many such were car-
ried on in this country, where bar-
ly raised. The use of ardent spir-
its, which are most costly, and less
wholesome than beer, might thus
be lessened. They who are dis-
posed to undertake brewing, may
supply themselves with volumes on
the subject.
The following is taken from Mr.
M'Mahon's Treatise on Garden-ley for making malt can be so easi-
ing, &c. "The early Mazagan,
long-podded Windsor, and all the
varieties of that species of bean,
should be topped, when arrived at
full bloom, and the lower pods be-
ginning to set; this will greatly
promote the swelling of the pods,
as well as their early maturity; for
having no advancing tops to nou-
rish, their whole efforts must go to
the support of the fruit.
This should be performed on the
beans in general when in full
blossom; observing to let the
stems be first advanced to such a
due height, as to have a sufficient
quantity of pods; the early Maza-
gan bean may be topped when
about two feet high, and the larger
sorts when from about two feet and
a half or yard, to three and a half
high, according to the growth of
the different varieties, and may be
done with the finger and thumb.
But with respect to the small
early beans, if you would have
them come in as soon as possible,
you should top them when the
blossoms at the bottom of the stalks
begin to open." American Gard-
ener's Calendar.
A gentleman who is a practical,
as well as a scientific farmer, is of
opinion, after repeated experi-
ments, that the Field White Bean
I shall only under-
take to direct farmers, who may be
disposed to brew beer for their
own consumption.
Almost any householder may
brew, without putting himself to
much if any charge for an appara-
tus.
Instead of a large copper,
which is necessary in a brew
house, a large kettle or two may
answer the purposes of heating the
water, and boiling the wort. Hogs-
head and barrel tubs, and other
vessels, may serve for mashing
tubs, backs, coolers, and tuns.
The water used for making beer
or ale, should be soft, and such as
is fit for washing. For this will
better penetrate the malt, and
cause it to discharge its spirituous
virtue. Some recommend throw-
ing a spoonful of salt into a kettle-
full, which will cause any foulness
contained in the water to rise to
the surface when it boils, which
may be skimmed off. When the
water is very good this will be
needless. But let the water be
ever so pure, a little bran, or malt,
BEE
21
BEE
should be thrown upon the top,
while it is heating; to be taken
off when the water begins to boil.
If malt be used, throw it into the
mash tub. The design of thus cov-
ering the water is, to prevent the
best, most subtil and volatile par-
ticles of the water from evapora-
ting, or going off in steam. The
water, for the same reason, should
but just boil; after which it should
not be left to cool gradually, as the
evaporation would be too great
But as much cold water should be
thrown in, and mixed with it in
the mash tub, as will bring it to the
right temper, perhaps about three
gallons to half a barrel. For the
malt should not be scalded, but
steeped in water, as warm as it can
be without scalding; because the
scalding of the malt would rather
close up its pores, and prevent its
impregnating the water with its
virtue, so much as it will in a tepid
menstruum. It will also render it
glutinous and adhesive, so that the
water will not have a free passage
through it. The cold water should
be put first into the mash, and the
hot after it.
or paddle, that it may not remain
in lumps, or fail of being thorough-
ly wetted. This is all the stirring
that is needful. For too much
stirring would cause the malt to
thicken, so as not to give a free
passage to the water that is to pass
through it.
Some of the last of the malt, in-
stead of being stirred into the wa-
ter, should be strewed loosely over
the surface, to serve as a coat for
the rest, and prevent the copious
passing away of the spirit in steams.
Besides, the tub should be closely
covered with sacks, or other cloths,
that none of the steam may escape.
In this situation it should stand for
two or three hours. Then with a
small stream draw off the wort, up-
on a handful or two of hops, into
the back, which is placed under
the mash tub. Fill with water
again, and mash; in half an hour
run it off; in the mean while be
pouring hot water into the mash as
it is running. It should be poured
in on that side of the tub which is
most distant from the cock, or so
that all the malt may be washed
with it as equally as possible. This
water may be almost or quite boil-
ing hot, as mixing it with that in
the tub will so cool it as to prevent
scalding. Continue thus to pour
in water and run it off, till you
have the quantity in the back
which you design for your strong
ale or beer. Then stop the cock,
and fill the grains with a sufficient
The water being in the mash quantity of cold water, for small
tub, one person should put in the beer, or it may be hot if the weath-
malt by little and little, and another is cold, so that there be no dan-
er should stir it about with a stick ger of souring. Let it stand, cov-
The mash-tub should have a
cock, or a tap and faucet, fixed in-
to its bottom, and the hole cover-
ed within with a little flat shaped
inverted basket, fastened with
nails, that it may not get out of
place by the mashing, and a close
straining cloth may be put over it,
and fastened in the same manner.
, 22
BEE
BEE
ered as before, and boil your first |
run. When it has boiled smartly
for half an hour, put in your hops,
and boil it another half hour, or till
it breaks or curdles, as it will when
it is sufficiently boiled. Or you
Or you
may put your hops into a thin
coarse linen bag, leaving room for
them to swell, and boil them the
first half hour in the wort, which I
take to be a better method.
When your wort is boiled enough,
strain it into your coolers, in which
the thinner it lies the better, as it
will cool the faster.
The next thing is to put the wort
into the tun, an open vessel, to fer-
ment. If very fine and clear drink
is desired, the sediments in the
coolers should be left behind, and
strained through a flannel bag: For
the less of the grounds go into the
tun, the purer the beer may be ex-
pected to be in the cask, and the
more easily fined.
That which is intended for long
keeping, should be almost or quite
cold before it is put into the tun,
because a slow fermentation will
be most proper for it. But ale, or
small beer, for speedy use, may be
put up a little warm.
Then stir in your barm, or yest,
a pint of which is enough for a bar-
rel. If the fermentation be too
slow, beat in the yest once or
twice, but not oftener, lest the drink
should be injured by it.
In two or three days the beer
will purify itself by throwing up
the lighter parts to the top in a
white curled foam, and precipita-
ting the heavier and fouler parts to
the bottom. It should then be
tapped just above the lees, and,
having taken off the yest, the beer
must be drawn off into the casks
in which it is to be kept: Which
should stand with the bungs open,
till the fermentation ceases, and be
kept constantly full, not by pouring
in that which runs over with the
yest at the bung hole; but with
some of the same beer kept in a
vessel by itself. Thus it will throw
off the yest, and deposit a dreggy
part sufficient for the beer to feed
upon in the cask. Reserving the
yest for use, bung the casks close
as soon as the working ceases. If
the brewing be done in October,
the bungs should not be taken out
till spring. Then open the vent
holes: For the coming of warm
weather will cause a new fermen-
tation. This being over, keep the
casks well stopped till September
following: Then fine it with isin-
glass, first racking it off, if it be not
pretty fine.
But for ales and small beers, it
may answer well enough, to omit
the tunning, and remove the wort
from the coolers directly into the
casks; observing to keep them
full, that they may purge them-
selves of the yeast.
Butt beer of the strongest kind,
takes eight bushels of malt for a
barrel. But a smaller quantity
will make a pleasanter and whole-
somer drink. The same quanti-
ty will make a barrel and a half
of good strong ale; or six barrels
of small beer.
RECEIPT for brewing for a pri-
vate family.
Take four bushels of malt, and
BEE
23
BEE
wheat bran, and three or four
ounces of hops: Boil them a quar-
from ten ounces to a pound of
hops, as you wish your beer to be
more or less bitter. Brew accord-ter of an hour in fifteen gallons of
ing to the above method. You clear water: Strain it through a
will have one barrel of good ale, close sive, and sweeten it with
and another of small beer. For two quarts of molasses: Cool it
the small beer half a pound of quick till it is no warmer than new
hops will be enough. Some use milk, and fill your half barrel.
the hops that have been boiled Warm water may be used to fill
before: But fresh hops will be up the cask if needful. Leave
far better and wholesomer.
the bung out for 24 hours, that the
drink may work, and throw off the
yest, and it will be fit for use.-
About the fourth or fifth day, bottle
SPRUCE BEER.
Take a sufficient quantity of
spruceboughs; boil them in water
about half an hour, or till the out-off what remains in the vessel, es-
ward skin, or rind, peels off: Strain pecially if the weather be hot,
the liquor, and stir in at the rate of that it may not turn sour or stale.
two quarts of molasses to half a | If the cask be new, or not before
barrel. Work it with beer grounds, used for beer, apply yest or beer
or emptyings; or rather with yest. grounds to ferment it: Otherwise
Instead of spruce, some use ju- it will not be necessary.
niper, and prefer it. It is the low
species, commonly called savin.
A little wheat bran should be boil-
ed in this beer
beer to
to give it a
briskness.
MOLASSES BEER ;
according to a method said to be
practised in Philadelphia.
"Take five pounds of molasses,
half a pint of yest, and a spoon-
full of powdered race ginger: Put
these ingredients into your ves-
sel, and pour on them two gal-
lons of scalding hot, soft and
clear water: Shake them well
till it ferments; and add thirteen
gallons of the same water cold,
to fill up the cask: Let the liquor
ferment about twelve hours, then
bottle it off, with a raisin or two
in each bottle."
A good HOUSEHOLD BEER.
Take a heaped half peck of
The practice, which is common
in this country, of fermenting our
small drinks, with the sediments,
or dregs of the same, ought to be
laid aside. For this is undoubt-
edly the foulest, and most un-
wholesome excrement of liquor.
Practice is apt to reconcile the
minds of people to the most ab
surd and unwholesome things.
Would not a man be considered
as insane, who should take the
emptyings of cyder, and put it
into his new cider to ferment it?
But how much better a practice is
it, to ferment our small beers in
this manner, with the sediments of
small beer? It is true, that yest
is also an excrementitious part;
but that which is white, is evident-
ly far lighter, and freer from filth,
and contains much of the volatile
and spirituous parts. As I had
24
BEE
BEE
of the isinglass beer, which put
into a butt of beer, stirring it brisk-
ly together. It will fine and pre-
serve the drink well.
rather receive the breath or pers- [ a thin syrup, and mix it with some
piration of cattle into my body,
than their dung, or stale, so I pre-
fer the white scum in my drink to
the ponderous dregs of liquors.
These observations will as well
supply to the fermenting of dough.
To mend disorders in beer, and
improve it, the London and coun-
try brewer gives the following di-
rections.
To cure a butt of ropy beer.-
Mix two handfuls of bean flour
with one handful of salt, and stir
it in.
To feed a butt of beer.-Bake a
rye loaf well nutmeged, put it in
pieces into a narrow bag of hops
with some wheat, and put the bag
into the cask at the bung hole.
To cure musty drink.-Run it
through some hops that have been
boiling in strong wort, and after-
wards work it with two parts of
new beer, to one of the musty
old. This is called vamping, and
is a cure for musty, or drinking
To recover a kilderkin of stale
small beer.-Put two ounces of
good hops, and one pound of mel-
low fat chalk, broke into a dozen
pieces, in at the bung hole, and
stop it up close. It will prove
sound and pleasant to the last.
认
​To fine a kilderkin of ale or
beer, and preserve the same sound
and pleasant for a long time.-
Take a large handful of hops,
boiled in a first wort only half an
hour, and dried; half a pound of
loaf sugar dissolved in some of the
ale or beer; one pound of chalk
broke in six pieces; the white
part of oystershells, calcined in
a clear charcoal fire to a white-
ness, and the stems of tobacco
pipes, that have been used and are
burnt again, of each in powder
four ounces. Put in your hops first,
with the pieces of chalk; and then
mix your two powders and loaf
sugar in some of the ale or beer,
and pour all in immediately after
the hops and chalk, stirring them
To fine or clarify beer in twen-well about with a staff, and bung
ty four hours.-Put in a piece of down.
soft chalk burnt, about the big-
ness of two hen's eggs, which
will disturb the liquor, and cause
it afterwards to be fine, and draw
off brisk to the last, though it
were flat before. This will do for
a kilderkin, or half barrel.
beer.
To feed and give a fine flavour
to a barrel of beer.-Put six sea
biscuits into a bag of hops, and
put all into the cask.
To fine and feed butt beer.-Cut
isinglass into small pieces, and
soak it in some stale beer; then
boil sugar in small beer or ale to
Some put these into ale quickly
after it has done working; others
will rack off their October or
March beer into another cask, and
then put in these ingredients, and
stir it well with a staff: Or give
the vessel a roll or two, that the
bottom may be turned up. You
may tap it at a week's end: You
will have a clear wholesome ale or
beer.
BEE
25
BEE
It is said that beer tasting of the
cask may be freed from it, by put-
ting a handful of wheat in a bag,
and hanging it in the vessel. Rees'
Cyclopædia.
The pods of green peas, after
being dried, are likewise recom-
mended as ingredients in beer to
which they afford spirit, and an
agreeable flavour.
BEES, an industrious and pro-
fitable species of insects. Rural
economy is incomplete where
bees are wanting. The cost of
keeping them is nothing, after the
house and boxes are made; and
the care that is required about
them is but trifling, affording an
agreeable amusement.
There are three sorts of bees
in a hive: 1. The queen bee,
which is larger, and of a brighter
red, than the rest. Her business
is to conduct the new swarm, and
lay eggs in the cells for a new
brood: And her fertility is so
great that she brings forth many
thousands of young ones in a year.
2. The drones, which have no
stings, are of a darker colour than
the rest, and are supposed to be
the males. 3. The honey bees,
or working bees, which are by far
more numerous than the other
two kinds.
A bee-house should be situated
at a good distance from places
where cattle are kept, especially
from hogsties, hen and dove
houses, and remote from filth and
dunghills. It should be defended
from high winds on all sides, so
far as may be, consistently with
admiting the heat of the sun. The
house should be open to the
south, or southwest, and the back-
side should be very tight; with a
tight roof projecting, that driving
rains may not injure the bees. If
snow lodges upon or about the
hives, it should be brushed off
without delay. The bench on
which the hives stand, should be a
little canting outwards, that if wet
should fall on it, it may run off
without entering the hives. Mr.
Bromwich proposes," that a bee-
house be boarded in front: And
that the backside should consist of
three doors, which, opened, give
a full view of the hives, and give
opportunity to assist or lift them.
All seams are to be stopped, which
would admit insects, from which
the house is often to be brushed.
"If the house should be in
danger of being too hot, when
thus inclosed, it may be occasion-
ally shaded with boughs of trees.
As winter approaches, all the
seams of the house are plaistered
with clay. In very cold climates,
the house should be filled with
straw, to keep the bees warm,
watching against mice, and re-
moving the straw in the spring.
"Cut a hole through the front,
of the same size as the mouth of
the lower hive, and directly a-
gainst it. Under this passage,
on a level with the floor, is a
lighting board, at the mouth of
each hive, of about five inches
long, and three wide. It is a lit-
tle shelf for the bees to land upon
after their excursions. These be-
ing separate, not in one piece of
the length of the house, is to pre-
vent intercourse between colony
and colony; but is more essential
4
26
BEE
BEE
[ley directs that they should be 10
inches deep, and from 12 to 14
inches broad in the inside. If
hives be made larger, the swarms
to prevent mice, snails, and other
intruders. These alighting boards
are sometimes painted of different
colours, to direct each bee to his
home more readily.-A long shelv-will not multiply so fast. An un-
ing board should be placed over der hive is made with a round hole
the alighting boards, to shelter the through the top of three inches
bees in a rainy time. It should diameter, covered with a sliding
be twelve inches wide, and placed shutter. Each hive or box should
nine inches above the mouths of have a passage at the bottom for
the hives."
the bees to pass in and out, four
Broom, clover, and mustard, or five inches long, and about one
are said to afford bees an excel- third of an inch deep. One of
lent pasture; and they appear these hives should be placed di-
very fond of the flowers of pop- rectly under an inhabited hive,
pies. Gardens, and any places before they are disposed to send
where flowers abound, and espe- out a new swarm.
This will pre-
cially where there is a succession vent the going out of a swarm, and
of flowers through the greater part save trouble and watching: For
of the year, are most favourable instead of swarning, when the
to them: For they undoubtedly upper hive is full, they will build
draw the principal part of their and deposit their honey in the
honey from the nectaria of flow-one that is below
one that is below and when
ers. Fields of buck-wheat are that is full, let them find another
good, as they continue in bloom beneath it; they will take pos-
for a long time. In Germany they session of the lowermost. It is
move their bee hives in boats to their manner always to begin at
the neighbouring fields of buck the top, and build downwards.
wheat.
Bees are wont to send out new
swarms in May and June. Much
has been written concerning the
management of them on these oc-
casions. But the new mode of
managing them renders all this
less necessary. It is this: Let the
bee house be made so tall as to
admit three tier of hives, or boxes,
one above another. The hives
should not be tall, but rather
broad and short, that they may
take up less room. A hive of
such dimensions as to be equal
to a cube of 13 inches, will be
sufficiently capacious. Mr. Thor-
When the top hive is well filled
with honey, it may be discovered
by lifting it, or more accurately
by weighing it gently with a steel-
yard, in a cool morning, when the
bees are stiff, and not apt to come
out.
When a hive is taken up, there
is no need of murdering the poor
insects with fire and brimstone, as
has been the usual practice. Only
drive in the shutter, and run a thin
long knife round, to part it from
that which is below it; slip the
hive off upon a smooth piece of
board, or slide the board under,
and carry the hive into your
BEE
27
BEE
dwelling house, which you may do
in a cool morning without any
danger from their stings. Lay
the hive upon its side, and have a
window of the room open. As
the sun gets up, and the air grows
warmer, they will quit the hive,
and go into the hive next to the
place whence they were taken.
When you take out the honey,
which should be done speedily,
the bees that are found among the
honey, stiff and unable to fly,
should be thrown into a tub of
water. They will soon recover |
their activity, and go after their
companions.
Some practice feeding bees.
But, says one," There is but little
use in it, because those which have
not a good stock of honey to serve
them through the winter, are not
fit to keep."-He adds, "There
are some stocks of bees in the
spring time, that may seem worthy
of our care to preserve; such as
have but little honey, and a good
number of bees, by means of a
cold and dry spring, yet in all
probability may prove an excellent
stock, and may be worth con-
sideration."
"The best method of supplying
bees with food, is by small canes,
or troughs conveyed into their
hives and beginning in March,
when they begin to breed and sit
on their young, it must be daily
continued, till the season affords
them ease and provision abroad.
"Honey is not only the best,
but the most natural of all food,
and will go much farther mixed
well with a moderate quantity of
good sweet wort. Some prescribe
toasts of bread sopped in strong
ale, and put into the hive, where-
of they will not leave one crumb
remaining."
Mr. Thorley advises when stocks
of bees are weak, to double them,
which he thinks the most effectual
way of preserving them in com-
mon hives. He does it by the
help of a fume, or opiate, which
will so stupify them for a time
that they may be handled at
pleasure. Having done this, the
queen must be searched for and
killed. And examine whether
the stock to which you intend to
join the bees of another, have
honey enough to maintain the
bees of both: It should weigh
20 pounds.
"The narcotic, or stupifying
fume, is made with the large mush-
room, commonly known by the
name bunt, puckfist, or frog cheese.
It is of a brown colour, turns to
powder, and is exceeding light.-
Put one of these pucks into a large
paper; press it therein to two thirds,
or half its former bulk, and tie it
up very close: Then put it into an
oven, after the bread has been
drawn, and let it remain there all
night: When it is dry enough to
hold fire, it is fit for use.
manner of using it is thus:
The
"Cut off a piece of the puck, as
large as a hen's egg, and fix it in
the end of a small stick slit for that
purpose, and sharpened at the oth-
er end, which place so that the
puck may hang near the middle of
an empty hive. This hive must
be set with the mouth upwards,
near the stock you intend to take.
This being done, set fire to the
28
BEE
BEE
puck, and immediately place the
stock of bees over it, tying a cloth
around the hives, that no smoke
may come forth. In a minute's
time, you will hear the bees fall
like drops of hail, into the empty
hive. You may then beat the top
of the hive gently with your hand,
to get as many of them as you can:
After this, loosing the cloth, lift the
hive off to a table, knock it sever-
al times against the table, several
more bees will tumble out, and
perhaps the queen among them.
She often is one of the last that
falls. If she is not there, search
for her among the main body in the
empty hive, spreading them for
this purpose on a table.
It is convenient to have a pane
of glass in each hive, in order to
watch the motions of the bees, and
to know by inspection when is the
right time to take up a hive. The
Rev. Mr. White says, "In the
back part you must cut a hole with
a rabbit in it, in which you are to
fix a pane of the clearest and best
crown glass, about five inches in
length, and three in breadth, and
fasten it with putty. Let the top
of the glass be placed as high as the
roof within side, that you may see
the upper part of the combs,where
the bees with their riches are
mostly placed. You will, by this
means, be better able to judge of
their state and strength, than if
your glass was fixed in the middle.
"You must proceed in the same
manner with the other hive, with The glass must be covered with
the bees of which these are to be a thin piece of board, by way of
united. One of the queens being shutter, which may be made to
secured, you must put the bees of hang by a string, or turn upon a
both hives together, mingle them nail, or slide sideways between two
thoroughly, and drop them among mouldings. Such as are desirous
the combs of the hive which of seeing more of the bees' works,
they are intended to inhabit. may make the glass as large as the
When they are all in, cover it box will admit, without weakening
with a packing or coarse cloth, it too much.
coarse cloth, it too much. Or they may add a
which will admit air, and let them pane of glass on the top, which
remain shut up all that night, and must likewise be covered with a
the next day. You will soon be shutter, fastened down with pegs
sensible they are awaked from their to prevent accidents.
sleep.
"The second night after their
union, in the dusk of the evening,
gently remove the cloth from off
the mouth of the hive, and the bees
will immediately sally forth with a
great noise But being too late
they will soon return. Then keep
them confined for three or four
days; after which the door may
be left open."
:
"Be careful to fasten the shutter
so close to the glass, that no light
may enter; for the bees seem to
look upon such light as a hole or
breach in their house, and on that
account may not so well like their
habitation."
"It is no unusual circumstance
for one colony of bees to attack
and plunder the hive of another.-
This happens chiefly in the spring
BEE
29
BEE
and autumn. The most effectual
way to guard against their incur-
sions, is to lessen the entrance into
the hive, so as to leave room for 14
only two or three bees to pass
abreast,or to stop up the hives that
are attached, till the rovers disap-
pear." Rees' Cyclopædia.
The Massachusetts Agricultural
Repository for May, 1812, Vol.
III. No. 2, contains a valuable
"Memoir on the Management of
Bees; by Rev. Thomas Noyes,"
from which the following is extract-
ed.
trious, by affording them constant
employment,and completely reme-
dy their necessity for idleness,
which is sometimes the case, when
they have filled their hives, and
have no where to bestow their
goods.
"The boxes, which I use, are
constructed in the following man-
ner. I take a clean inch board,
six inches wide, and saw it into
pieces fifteen inches long. Four
of these pieces, when put together
at right angles, will form a box,
whose dimensions within will be
fourteen inches square and six in-
ches deep. At the centre of the
bottom of that side which I design
for the front, I make, for a door or
passage for the bees, an opening,
one and an half inch long, and one
"I have the satisfaction to state
from actual experiment, a simple
and safe process, which I have
adopted, of making my bees pay
an annual tribute, without waging
an exterminating war upon them.
In order to effect this, I find it ne-third of an inch deep. Then cov-
cessary to construct my hives very
differently from what has been the
general plan of their formation. I
have substituted boxes, and give
each swarm two, three, or four
boxes, as I find their situation re-
quires. Their introduction from
one box to another is easy, and the
removal of either of the boxes is
safe and practicable, at any season
of the year, or in the middle of the
day, when they are most active.
With very little injury to them, I
can take their hive into as many
parts as it consists of boxes, put it
together in the same, or different
order; take which box I please;
avail myself of its contents, without
injuring the bees; give them an-
other box, or return the same
empty; place it at the top, bot-
tom, or centre, at pleasure. And,
in this way make them more indus-
er the top and bottom with pieces
of boards, whose thickness does not
exceed one sixth or one eighth of
an inch. These covers ought to
project in the front about one inch
to accommodate the bees with a
place or stage, on which they may
alight and rest. They serve as
partitions between the boxes, and
the lower cover ought to be con-
fined with small screws, that it may
be easily removed, when the honey
is to be taken from the box. The
door or passage for the bees being
already made, I proceed to open
a large hole for the purpose of in-
troducing the bees into the box,
and as a communication from one
box to another. For this purpose
I cut two holes, between three and
four inches square, through the
centre of the two thin covers.
Having all my boxes made in the
30
BEE
BEE
same form and size; with holes
corresponding when placed one
above another; it is immaterial
which is used for the top, bottom,
or centre one, as in every position
there will be a correspondence and
uniformity.
"The top box is always to be
covered with a board not less in its
dimensions, than the top surface of
the hive; with a weight upon it to
keep it in its place, and prevent its
warping. By having these parti-
tions thin, the bees in each box
come nearer in contact; and by
having the boxes so completely
closed, united only by a communi-
cation in the centre, they can be
separated by a very little breakage
of the comb and honey, as all the
cells are parallel with the surface
of the boxes; and in separating
them they are cut horizontally and
not transversely.
"When my bees swarm, and
having alighted on some branch of
a tree, and become quiet, I am
generally ready to receive them;
but am careful to introduce them
into a clean box, which is prepared
by faithfully rubbing the inside with
the leaves of sweet balm, hazel
nut, or balm of gilead; moistened
in a strong brine, made by the so-
lution of clean salt. Having pre-
pared two boxes in this way for
their reception, I place a clean ta-
ble in the shade; and with a knife
or saw cut off the branch on which
the bees have alighted, and place
them on the table, and having uni-
ted two boxes, place the hole in
the lower box directly over the
centre of the bees; with care that
it does not press so hard as to in-
jure them. They generally indi-
cate, by their movements, that they
know what is designed, and take
possession of their new habitation.
If they do not immediately retire
to their provided tenement, I take
a small branch of a tree that is
clothed with leaves, and gently
thrust it in among them, and they
will leave the branch of which
they first took possession, and re-
treat into the box for protection
without offering to resent any want
of civility towards them. I gradu-
ally lower the box, as they retire
into it, till it comes in contact with
the table, and leaves them no com-
munication to pass out of the box,
but by the door.
"If my bees alight on the trunk
of a tree, or on a branch that is too
unwieldly to move, or too valua-
ble to be cut, I set a table under
them. If they are high, I suspend
a table between ladders, put my
boxes on it, elevated a little so as
to give them a passage between
the lower box and the table; and
with a clean wing or something
that is soft, brush the bees in the
direction of the table, and they will
not fail to take possession of the
tenement provided for their recep-
tion. Proceeding in this way, I
meet with no difficulty in introduc-
ing my bees into my new construct-
ed hives. The bees ought to be
removed as soon as they are quiet,
to the place where they are to re-
main, before they go abroad, or at
evening when they are all in their
habitation; or else many of them
will be lost and never again join
the swarm. In hiving and moving
bees, particular care ought to be
BEE
31
BEE
taken not to irritate, or injure them
by wounding or killing them.
!
"Bees require particular atten-
tion during the season in which
they usually swarm; and at every
season, they ought to be secured
from wet, and kept remote from
swine, geese, and fowls, that no
disagreeable stench arise from any
thing among them. Their house
ought to be so constructed and sit-
uated that the rising sun may ani-
mate them to early industry, and
at the same time shield them from
his meridian beams during the
warmest of the season, for too
much heat is unfriendly to their
comfort and activity. When the
season is nearly past for collecting
honey, the doors of the hive must
be contracted, to enable them bet-
ter to defend themselves against
invaders. When the resources of
nature fail they sometimes invade
other hives with a view to make
conquest; but in doing this they
not unfrequently attack a late
swarm, that has not a sufficient
store of provision to preserve them
through the winter. In this case
their conquest seems to be humane,
for they receive the vanquished in-
to their own dominions, and incor-
porate them with all the privileges
of their own subjects.
front, with straw to defend them
against the piercing cold. In the
month of February, when the
weather is moderate, the bees will
leave their hive, and many of them
light on the snow, and unless straw
be spread in front of the hive on
the snow, many of them will never
rise again. They will soon chill
and die, unless they find something,
by which they may crawl from the
snow, and so rise and return to
the hive.
It will be necessary
to spread straw every new snow,
or else their numbers will be great-
ly diminished by chilling and dying
on the snow in front of the hive.
"The process of diminishing or
increasing the number of boxes, is
both simple, easy and safe. In col-
lecting their tribute or enlarging
their habitation, two things I care-
fully observe; one is not to kill or
wound them; the other is to put
it out of their power to injure me.
For this purpose, if it be in the
morning before they have left their
habitation, I close the door upon
them, and confine them at home.
If it be in the middle of the day,
when the bees are most active, I
approach them with the smoke,
that arises from burning leather,
which has the best effect. This
will make them retreat into
their hive at any time, or leave the
branch or trunk of a tree when hiv-
"By contracting the aperture
of the hive in the autumn, the bees
can not only defend their territo-ing them, should they attempt to
ries against their enemies, but their
hive will be rendered more com-
fortable for winter. The extremes,
cold and heat, are unfavourable to
the prosperity of bees. Before
cold weather commences enclose
the hives on every side, except the
regain the place they at first occu-
pied. Besides, by this act of fu-
migation another important advan-
tage results. It will disarm them
of all resentment, and render them
harmless. Whenever they assume
a hostile attitude in hiving them,
32
BEE
BEE
|
I first fumigate them, and they are | Then put the two remaining boxes
immediately transformed into together, insert an empty one in
peaceful subjects, and my recep- the middle or on the top; remove
tion is friendly. But to return to the slides, let the boxes come in
the process of collecting their contact; open the doors and give
tribute.
them their liberty. Remove the
slides from the box on the carriage,
stand at a distance and draw it by
a cord; and the gentle motion will
not break the comb, but will cause
the bees to come out and return to
the hive, for they will not long
pursue the box that is continually
receding from them. In this way,
I have taken a box of honey in the
middle of the day without injury,
when the bees are the most ac-
tive, and most susceptible of re-
sentment. The process of remov-
ing the top or bottom box, requires
but two slides, and is much more
simple, and does not render it ne-
cessary to cut off the communica-
tion between the two remaining
boxes.
|
"I have already observed that
the bees are confined in the hive.
Supposing the hive to consist of
three boxes, and I wish to avail
myself of the honey in the middle
box. I approach them with four
sheets of tin, on sliders made of a
board one eighth of an inch thick,
twelve inches wide, and eighteen
inches long-made sharp at one
end, and the other secured by a
narrow piece of board to prevent
its warping and as a handle to the
slide. I raise the upper box in front
a little, and insert one of the slides,
which cuts off all communication
between the two upper boxes;
then insert another slide directly
under the first. This being done,
take the top box off, lifting it by
the upper slide, which will prevent
the bees escaping out of the top
box, and the other slide remaining
on the top of the second will con-
fine them in the other boxes. I
then insert two more slides between
the two remaining boxes, in the
same manner, and the hive is pre-
pared to be separated into three
parts. I then raise the middle box
by lifting it by the slide immediate-
ly under it, carry it a little dis-
tance from the others, place it on a
little carriage made with four low
wheels, or trundles, simply con-
necting the two axles by the two
side pieces, of such dimensions as
to receive the box and confine it,
when the carriage is in motion.
"In putting in the slides, the
boxes must not be raised so high
as to have the bees escape; and
in selecting a box, if the one that
contains the monarch of the king-
dom be taken, the bees will not so
willingly relinquish their habita-
tion, unless she take her departure
from it. They will appear to be un-
willing to leave her without some
attendants. Experience has con-
vinced me of this. I removed a
box last July, from the hive which
was filled with the choicest honey;
but on removing the honey from
the box, I found at one corner of
it about forty or fifty bees collected
ed together, and they appeared
unwilling to separate, yet as harm-
less as though they possessed no
BEE
33
BEE
weapon of defence. I suspected whatever they collect that is useful
that the monarch was a prisoner. and pleasant, adds so much to the
With a spoon I took out the real wealth of the community; for
bees and soon found evidence to the sweets they extract would eva-
confirm my supposition. The mon-porate in the air,or decline with the
archs of these well regulated king-fading blossoms. Surely then, we
doms, I had, in several instances have motives, arising from interest
before, been favored with opportu- to spare and protect the industrious
nities to inspect. I found that she bee, whose honey is not only grate-
was much longer than the other ful to the taste, pleasant and whole-
bees. Her wings were of a lighter some for food, but highly valuable
hue, and the rest of her much in a medicinal point of view; and
darker colour. Her motions were whose wax, when extracted from
nimble, and she displayed an activi- the comb is valuable for light, is
ty not common to her subjects. almost indispensable in some arts,
After having inspected her to my and is highly beneficial in medi-
own satisfaction, and exhibited her cine.*·
to the view of my family, I return-
ed her safe to her own dominions.
In doing this I placed her several
inches from the door of the hive to
ascertain whether any particular
attention would be paid their sove-
reign on her return. To my as-
tonishment I beheld several bees
crawl to her, and with evident
marks of joy and congratulation at-
tended her to the hive." *
"I shall now attempt a numeri-
cal statement of the advantages,
which result from the method pro-
posed of managing these industri-
ous insects, superior to that which
is generally practised.
"First. It contributes to their
preservation. Bees are profitable
insects. They richly reward us
for all our attention to them, and
*It is remarked by the editors of the
Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, that
"Mr. Noyes, following Virgil, seems to con-
sider the monarch of the bees a male. There
is no point more clearly settled than that the
monarch is a female, and the mother of the
whole new swarm or progeny. We have
therefore altered Mr. Noyes's text to con-
form to received opinion.
""
66
Secondly. Another advantage
arising from my mode of managing
bees, is that you can draw from the
hive what is more than necessary
to supply them during the winter.
Instead of leaving them honey to
remain in their cells year after year
in a candied state, you may take
annually what
annually what you deem superflu-
ous. Besides, if you find there is
a deficiency in some of your hives,
and you are apprehensive their
stock of provisions will not supply
them through the season, in which
they cannot find resources abroad,
you may give them a box of honey
* The generality of mankind appear not
to be sensible how much they are indebted
to this insect for many of their comforts and
luxuries, in the ample supply of the various
kinds of fruit to regale them. I believe it is
well ascertained, that unless the bee or oth-
er insects visited the flowers, the whole class
of vines, fruit trees, and many culinary
plants would be unproductive. There evi-
dently appears to be two kind of blossoms,
which may be distinguished by the terms
male and female. Insects, by visiting both
the male and female flowers, convey the fa-
rina, or subtle particles to the stigma, which
impregnates the flower, and thus it is render-
ed fruitful.
1
5
34
BEE
from a hive that can spare it; and
in this way make up the deficiency
of one hive from the redundancy
of another.
"Thirdly. A small swarm of
bees put into a larger hive than
they can fill, appear to be discour-
aged, and will not be so industrious,
as they would be, were they put
into a single box, and then anoth-
er added when their situation
should require it.
BEE
cover the surface of their work, in
order to keep their wax warm
enough to mould it into their sex-
angular cells; besides a number of
bees are generally employed as a
chain for the others to ascend and
descend. In a large hive, the sur-
face of their work is more exten-
sive than it could be in a small
one. The consequence is, more
bees must be kept at home, and a
less number spared to collect the
sweet vegetable juice, or other
necessary materials to enrich and
adorn their hive. Neither can the
bees so effectually defend them-
selves against the attacks of law-
less invaders, when their residence
is so remote from the entrance of
their camp.
"Bees put into a larger hive
than they can fill in the season will
not keep warm in the winter; and
should they fall down when the
weather is cold, which is often the
case, they would be likely to chill
and become inactive, and so be
unable to regain the place they
left. The comb not extending to "Fourthly. Honey deposited in
the bottom of the hive would not boxes is not so liable to melt, waste,
afford them a conductor to re- and destroy the lives of no incon-
ascend; they would be under the siderable proportion of the bees, as
necessity of climbing by the sur-that which is laid up in large hives.
face of the hive. It is a fact that The comb in large hives is sus-
a hive of bees thus situated, gener-pended from the top, and forms a
ally lose double the number of bees
during the winter, that a swarm
does, whose comb affords them a
conductor to re-ascend when they
meet with this misfortune. Be-
sides the bees have further to trav-wide pieces of comb filled with
el after entering the hive to reach
the repository of their treasures,
for they carefully avoid that con-
fusion, which flying would create
in the hive. Neither can the bees
work to so good advantage in a
large hive, as they can in one that
is smaller. I find from several
years inspecting them through glass
windows, and the hole at the top of
the upper box, that they always
keep in the hive bees enough to
contact by the sides, and does not
rest on the bottom, even when the
bees have filled the hive as full as
they ever do. They leave room
to pass under the comb. Long and
honey, supporting many bees, sus-
pended when the weather is warm,
become tender, separate and fall.
The position of the comb being
changed, the honey attenuated
by heat, the sexangular cells dis-
charge the sweet glutinous liquor,
and the bees chained in the rich
melliferous flood are borne away
in death by the materials they col-
lected to preserve life. Whereas,
honey deposited in boxes seems
BEE
35
BEE
not to be subject to this misfortune.
The comb is constructed in flakes,
supported at the top, sides and
bottom generally, except the low-
er box, or the first they occupy, by
short legs or braces, in order that
the bees may encircle it on every
side; and the pieces being small
there is not that pressure or stress
of weight; it retains its position,
and consequently the honey does
not burst from the comb when the
weather is warm.
"Fifthly. Another advantage re-
sulting from having honey deposit-
ed in boxes, is that it may be tak-
en out of them, without breaking
the honey to any considerable de-
gree. I took from a box in the
month of July last, thirty pounds of
honey-comb, and several pieces,
from one to four pounds each, with-
out uncapping one cell. The
honey was transparent, and com-
pletely closed, nor was there a sin-
gle cell in the whole box, but what
was filled with the delicious fluid.
It was superior to any that I ever
saw taken from large hives; and
if kept cool, to all probability it
might be preserved months or
years unbroken in the comb. Be-
sides the method, which I have
proposed, affords an opportunity of
taking honey before the bees col-
lect any from the flowers of buck-
wheat, which honey is far inferior
in flavour and delicacy, to that
which is collected earlier in the
season.*
* Honey, collected from buck-wheat flow-
ers will do to preserve the bees, but it is
several shades darker in its colour, less sweet
in its nature, possessing something peculiar
in its taste that is unpleasant, and emitting
an effluvium which excites unpleasant sen-
Sixthly. The usual time to take
up bees is in the autumn, but I do
not confine myself to that season.
My method of managing bees will
admit of taking honey fromthem any
time when they have it to spare;
but in selecting a box, care must be
taken to avoid that which contains
the young bees. The object of the
new colony is to add to their
strength by increasing their num-
bers; consequently their early at-
tention is directed to provide cells
to deposit their eggs. The lower
box, which they first enter,becomes
their place of residence, till they
have filled it with comb, and young
bees, if it be an early swarm. The
honey is to be sought in the second
box, of which they gradually take
possession. In filling the second
box they begin at the communica-
tion between the two boxes, and
raise their comb in the form of a
frustrum or segment of a globe, and
proceed in this way till they have
raised it to form a contact with the
cover.
"
Seventhly. The method of
keeping bees in boxes that may be
separated at pleasure, affords an
opportunity of changing the comb
in the hive before it becomes dark
coloured, and apparently rusty, and
an unsuitable receptacle for that
sweet, delicate and nutritious fluid,
which was the emblem of plenty
in ancient Canaan. The purest
honey, deposited in such combs
loses its transparency and delicate
flavour, and partakes in no incon-
sations; and thus affording an evidence by
three senses, what proportion of honey in the
hive was collected after the bees had access
to the flowers of buck-wheat.
36
BEE
siderable degree, of the colour of
the comb.
"Eighthly. This method of con-
structing bee-hives affords an op-
portunity of inspecting them,watch-
ing their various movements, and
witnessing the progress they make
in filling their hives. For this pur-
pose the bees must first occupy the
bottom box; and then by lifting up,
or removing the top cover,you may
through the hole on the top, see
them without disconcerting them,
until they have nearly filled the
upper box, unless you breathe up-
on them; in this case they will
soon let you know that you are an
unwelcome visitor. I have in-
spected them in this way, and
through glass windows inserted in
their hives, for several years past;
and I have beheld with astonish-
ment their industry, economy, sin-
gular instinct and ingenuity.
Ninthly. By accommodating
my bees with several apartments, I
have it in my power to regulate
their swarming. If bees are am-
ply accommodated they will not
swarm; but it being an object to
make them swarm, I therefore in
the autumn reduce the number of
their boxes, and leave them, gen-
erally, but two, which, if well filled
will amply supply them with sus-
tenance through the winter.
"I do not at first give an early
swarm more than two boxes; for
they will often send forth a young
colony; and when they have done
this, add another box, or in a short
time take from them the one they
have filled, and give them one that
is empty. Thus, this method of
managing bees will contribute to
BEE
increase the number of swarms,and
eventually make them more profit-
able; for experience evinces that
multiplying the number of swarms
makes them more industrious and
productive."
For a description of several sorts
of newly invented hives, and the
manner of using them so as to take
the honey and wax, without injur-
ing the bees, see Farmer's Cyclo-
pædia, Art. Apiary and Bees.
The following method of taking
honey without destroying the bees
is recommended in the "American
Farmer.”
In the evening, when the bees
have retired, take the hive gently
from the stand; spread a table
cloth on the ground; set the hive
on it, placing something under to
raise it three or four inches; then
draw up the corners of the cloth,
and fasten them tight around the
middle of the hive, leaving room
sufficient between them and the
hive. Then raise the lid of the
hive a little, and blow in the smoke
of a cigar: a few puffs of which,
as it is very disagreeable to them,
will drive them down. Continue
raising the lid gradually, and blow-
ing in the smoke all around, and in
a few minutes it will be found that
they have all gone out of the hive.
You may then take off the lid, and
cut away as much honey as you
think proper. If the operation be
performed the beginning of July,
you may take nearly all, as there
will be time enough to provide a
sufficiency for their support during
the winter. As soon as you have
taken the honey, put on the liď,
loosen the cloth, and spread it out,
BEE
37
BEE
and in an hour or two the bees will
have returned into the hive. It
may then be replaced on the stand,
and on the following day they will
be found at work as usual."
When a person has been stung
by a bee, the sting should immedi-
ately be extracted with a steady
hand, for if any part of it breaks
in, remedies will, in a great meas-
ure prove ineffectual. A strong
solution of salt or potash, or liquid
laudanum will then speedily effect
a cure.
We shall add to this article a
few facts relative to the natural
history of these wonderful insects,
and the best mode of managing
them, their diseases, &c.
Every hive must have its queen
bee, who is the mother of the whole.
If she be lost or destroyed the
whole commonwealth is broken up.
Besides these, are the drones and
the working bees. Drones are
larger than the working bees.-
They die in the latter part of
summer, and are dragged out of the
hive by the working bees.
When more than one swarm
leaves the hive in a season, those,
following, consist of those which
were abroad when the first swarm-
ing took place, together with young
ones, which have been hatched
since the departure of the first
swarm.
The kind of swallow called mar-
tins, will destroy bees. "It is ad-
visable to have large swarms;
small ones never thrive so well;
and for this purpose two or more
small ones should be put together.
The swarm should weigh from four
to six pounds. To ascertain their
weight, that of the empty hive
should be first known, and mark-
ed on it; and then the addition
to that will be the weight of the
bees.
"For joining two or more swarms,
take a full hive, at night, and set it
bottom upwards; then set an emp-
ty one of the same size, with its
bottom exactly on the other, and
let there be cross pieces in the
empty one for the bees to light on.
Then strike gently on the two sides
of the full hive to which the edges
of the comb are fastened, and the
bees will leave it and ascend into
the upper. Then repeat the oper-
ation with another full hive,the one
with the bees being set uppermost,
as before, and you have two swarms
together. Repeat it again, as be-
fore, and you have three; and so
on, if more swarms are to be ad-
ded. Then set the hive with the
bees in it where one of the full
ones stood, and they will go to
work together. The queens how-
ever, must be first searched for and
all destroyed but one.
"Another method recommend-
ed is to take a full hive, set it on
a cloth with the bottom down-
wards, and then give it a smart
stroke, which will cause all the
bees to fall; search for the queen
and destroy her; have another
full hive ready and put it over the
bees, and they will soon crawl up
into it, and become incorporated
with those of that hive. This may
be repeated for the
be repeated for the purpose of
adding a third swarm to the other
two." Farmer's Assistant.
Bees have enemies and diseases,
of which we shall take some notice.
38
BEE
BEE
Butterflies are said to conceal
themselves in the hives, and an-
noy the bees: these intruders may
easily be exterminated, by placing
lighted candles in deep tin pots
between the hives: as the flame
will attract them to their destruc-
tion.
Hornets may be destroyed by
exposing shallow vessels near the
hive with a little water, in which
these insects will drown them-
selves.
But the most pernicious enemy
to bees is a kind of tinea, or moth,
which is thus described by M.
Reaumur.
"These creatures are of the
caterpillar kind, and have sixteen
legs. They feed on wax, and for
food enter the beehives; where
they boldly engage the bees, and
are not to be prevented by them
from feeding, though at the expence
of their habitations; so that it is no
uncommon thing for a swarm of
bees to be forced to change their
places leaving this contemptible
victor in possession of the hive.
"All the authors who have
written on bees have complained
of this destructive animal. It
never eats the honey, but feeds
only on the wax; attacking princi-
pally those waxy cells where the
female bee deposits her eggs for
the future progeny.
"The bees would readily des-
troy these creatures were it not
for the armour they are covered
with. They form themselves a
coat of armour of a double matter.
The first next to the body is a
kind of silk of their own spinning;
and the outer covering is of bees
wax, laid on considerably thick.
The creature just thrusting his
head out to feed, goes on devour-
ing the cells; while the bees are
buzzing about him, attempting, in
vain to pierce him with their
stings. He never forsakes his
covering, but lengthens and en-
larges it as he goes; and gnawing
down the sides of the cells in his
march, without staying to cut them
one by one, the destruction he
occasions is scarcely to be con-
cieved.
"When the time of change ap-
proaches, it contracts its body
within its double covering, and
there changes into the nymph
state; whence, after a proper
time, it comes forth in the form of
a moth, with granulated horns,
and a crooked probocis.
"The bees know their enemy
in this new form, and destroy all
the moths they can meet with.
They are seldom so fortunate,
however, as to kill the whole race
as soon as produced; and if only
one escape, it is able to lay a
foundation of revenge for the death
of its brethren.
"All the flies of the moth kind
lay a vast number of eggs; and the
young ones produced by one fe-
male are sufficient to destroy many
hives of honey combs. The moth
produced by this catterpillar flies.
but little; but is very nimble in
avoiding danger by running, which
it does with great swiftness."
It appears that this insect be-
gan its career of destruction in
some place to the southward of
New York, and Mr. Van Schaick,
a writer, who is quoted in The
BEE
393
BEE
Farmer's Assistant, asserts that | ed to the Bath and West of Eng-
..
the most effectual mode of de-
stroying the insect, is "to raise
the hive about an inch above the
floor, and keep it there, when the
moment the bees discover their
unmasked enemies, whether in the
shape of eggs, or of catterpillars,
in different stages of formation,
they attack them with fury, and
toil incessantly until they have
destroyed or removed every ves-
tige of them off the board."
land Society, observes in a note,
that bees, in that variable climate
are a very precarious stock, though
extremely profitable where they
thrive. During the frequent mild
days of winter, and the warm
mornings of spring which are sud-
denly succeeded by a nipping
frost, or sleety rain, these crea-
tures are roused from their torpid
state; and being unable to obtain
food abroad, they are obliged to
consume and exhaust their stores,
and to perish from want. And as
the warmth of the weather invites
them to search for flowers in vain.
affording them nourishment, they
are often chilled by cold before
they are able to return to the hive.
To prevent such fatal accidents
Dr. Anderson is of opinion, that
no method would be so effectual
as that of placing the hives in an
He further very judiciously re-
commends the construction of the
floor or plank on which the hive
stands, and also the rim of the
hive, to be " of such materials and
dimensions as would afford no
place of concealment for the fly or
its eggs." Dr. Low, another
writer, quoted on the same work,
advises to suspend the hive, by a
cord fastened in the top, and have
the plank forming the floor movea-ice house, at the approach of win-
ble up and down. During cold
weather, the plank is brought up
close to the rim, to keep the bees
sufficiently warm; but on the ap-
proach of spring, or when the
weather was become suitably
moderated, the plank was let
down about four inches, and kept
in that situation during the warm
or growing season. At particular
cold spells, during the first of the
spring or latter end of the fall, the
floor, no doubt ought to be raised
up, until the return of warmer
weather, but it should only be
kept in this position while the com-
fort of the bees requires it.
Dr. J. Anderson in one of his
practical papers "On the Manage-
ment of the Dairy," communicat-
ter. Here they may be kept till
the spring has so far advanced,
that no danger is to be appre-
hended from bad weather. Dur-
ing the whole winter, they will
remain in a state of torpor, and
require no food. As soon as the
mild weather invites them to ap-
pear, they will commence their
labours with vigour. The intense
degree of cold which bees sustain
without the least injury, in Poland
and Russia, where even quicksilver
is sometimes frozen, removes eve-
ry doubt or anxiety, concerning
the safety of bees in an ice-
house."
BEET, Beta, a well known es-
culent root.
There is a sea beet which grows
•
40
BEE
BEE
in salt marshes; and a white beet
cultivated in gardens for the sake
of its leaves, which are sometimes
used in soups. The root is small,
and commonly hard and tough.
But the sort which is most val-
uable, is the red beet, with a large,
pyramidal, fleshy root; the leaves
of which are large, thick and juicy.
The larger these roots grow, the
more tender they are: And the
deeper their colour, the better.
The best of red beets have reddish
leaves. In some of the varieties
the leaves are all over red.
Beets require a mellow and
warm soil, moderately rich, and
well pulverized to a good depth.
For as they naturally run deep, in
shallow ground they will be short,
stringy, and irregularly shaped.
Beets should be sown early.
A good method is, to set the
seeds in squares of about eight or
nine inches in poor ground; in
rich ground they should be at least
a foot asunder. If a fourth part
of the seeds should fail, the crop
will not be lessened.
As the capsule, commonly call-
ed a beet-seed, contains several
cells, each of which has a seed,
they are apt to produce four or
five plants in a bunch.-These
should be carefully reduced to
one, leaving the healthiest plant.
If this precaution is omitted, the
plants will be inevitably small and
frequently the roots will be inter-
twisted. Those which are taken
out may be transplanted; but they
are not so apt to make good roots.
Though they may be thick, they
will be apt to be wanting in length.
The ground should be hoed two
or three times, after which the'
|
leaves will so cover the ground,
as to stop the further growth of
weeds.
The under leaves may be brok-
en off towards fall, and thrown to
the swine, which are very fond of
them. This will not injure the
roots at all; for if they are left on,
they will soon decay. Taking
away part of the leaves will let in
the sun and air, which will be of
advantage to the roots.
The roots should be taken up
before any severe frost comes;
none of the fibrous roots should
be taken away; nor the heads cut
very close. In this state, also,
they should be boiled, that none
of their rich juice may escape.
They may be used in autumn,
and kept good all winter. But if
any frost touches them, though
they will not presently rot, they
will become tough, and unfit for
the table.
And, in the spring,
their early sprouting depreciates
them.
"The Mangel Wurtzel Beet, or
Root of Scarcity is raised from seed
sown annually in the spring, the
same as the other sorts, in any open
situation, but should generally be
sown thinner, either in drills one or
two feet asunder, or broad-cast on
the general surface, and raked in;
and when the plants are come up
one, two, or three inches in
growth, they should be thinned to
a proportionable distance, to give
room for the full expansion of their
large leaves. Some however, ad-
vise transplanting, when the young
plants are of two or three inches
growth, setting them in rows of one
or two feet asunder: This seems,
however, unnecessary: especially
BEE
41
BEE
:
as they have long, downright,
tap roots, which generally are the
most successful when they remain
where sown; the method may
however be practised occasionally
by way of experiment.
"The leaves, which if the
plants have large scope of room,
grow twelve or fifteen inches
broad or more, and of proportion-
able length, are exceedingly good,
when young to use as the common
white and green beet, and the
young, thick, fleshy stalks, stripped
of the leafy part, peeled or scrap-
ed, then boiled and served up
with butter, are tender and agree-
ably tasted; also the leaves to boil
occasionally as spinach and other
small greens; and of which the
root is remarkably productive in
quick growth, so as to afford fre-
quent successional gatherings all
summer and autumn. Only the
larger outward ones, should be
broken off, and care taken not to
injure the small ones in the
centre."
a good coat of drawn straw up and
down as if thatching a house in
order to carry off wet and prevent
its entering to the roots; then dig
a wide trench round the heap,
and cover the straw with earth so
dug up, to a depth sufficient to pre-
serve the roots effectually from
frost. An opening may be made
the south side of this heap, and
completely covered with bundles
of straw, so as to have access to
the roots at all times, when wanted
either for sale or use.
"Some people lay straw, or
hay, between the layers of roots
and immediately on the top of
them; this I do not approve of,
as the straw or hay will become
damp and mouldy, and very often
occasion the roots to rot, while
the sand would preserve them
sweet and sound.
had when wanted more conven-
iently during winter, than out of
the field or garden heaps."
"All these roots may be pre-
served in like manner in a cellar;
but in such a place they are sub-
ject to vegetate and become
stringy earlier in spring. The
Beets and other roots may be only advantage of this method is,
preserved in winter by the follow-that in the cellar they may be
ing method, "Take off the tops
and expose the roots for a few
hours till sufficiently dry. On the
surface of a very dry piece of
ground in a well sheltered situa-
tion, lay a stratum of sand two
inches thick, and on this a layer of
roots, covering them with another
layer of sand (the drier the better)
and so continue layer above layer of The following remarks respect-
sand and roots till all are laid in, ing the Mangel Wurtzel or Root of
giving the whole on every side a scarcity, are from a paper commu-
roof like slope; then cover this nicated to the Trustees of the
heap or ridge all over with about Massachusetts Agricultural Soci-
two inches of sand over which lay | ety, by J. Lowell, corresponding
NOTE. All the above roots will be pre-
served better in sand than in common earth,
but when the former cannot be had the most
sandy you can procure must be used.-
American Gardener's Calendar.
6
42
BEE
BEE
Sec'ry. and published in Vol. III.
No. 3 of the Massachusetts Agri-
cultural Journal. They are de-
rived, principally, from a French
publication by the Abbe Rosier.
This root is very little affected
by changes of weather. It is at
tacked by no insect; drought affects
but little its vegetation. It pre-
pares the land extremely well for
other crops. It may be sown and
treated precisely like the common
beet, except that it ought to stand
eighteen inches asunder.
In good land they often weigh
nine or ten pounds, and are strip-
-ped eight or nine times. In a
light sandy, but well manured soil
they sometimes weigh fourteen
and even sixteen pounds each!
The first crop of leaves in
France is taken off in the latter
end of June, or the beginning of
July. In this country, probably,
the latter period would be prefer-
able. The lower leaves, those
which incline towards the ground
are those which are taken away,
and care must be taken to preserve
the top leaves, or the crown of the
plants. The leaves may be taken
off every fifteen days after the first
gathering. Oxen, cows, and sheep
devour them greedily, and fatten
readily upon them. All domestic
poultry eat them readily, when
chopped fine and mixed with grain.
Horses will feed upon them very
well, mixed with chopped straw.
Hogs also fatten upon them.
Cows, fed upon this root solely,
give a greater quantity of milk
and cream, and of better quality
for the first fifteen days, after which
they grow too fat, and the milk
lessens. The food of cows must
therefore be varied. Oxen and
sheep fatten very well upon them.
Cows should have grass in propor-
tion of one third to the beet leaves,
or every third day they should be
turned to grass. In this mode
their milk will be excellent. The
trouble of gathering the leaves is
less than that of gathering any
other green fodder. It may be
done by children, while men are
required to cut other green food
for cattle. It
It is the surest crop,
since the plant will stand the
largest droughts. The roots are
gathered and treated like those of
the common beet. The skin is
very tender and care should be
taken to handle them so as they
may not be wounded, as they will,
in that case, not keep so well. In
order to preserve the seed´in
purity, care must be taken to
change the ground in which the
seed-beets are planted. The seed
can be preserved after it is gather-
ed three or four years without in-
jury. In giving these roots to
cattle for food, they are first
washed and then cut up into
pieces about the size of a nut.
It is always best to accompany
them, when given to horned cat-
tle with clover, or other hay or
straw, and if the hay or straw.
has been previously cut fine, it
will be preferable. If horses are
fed with this root, with a propor-
tion of hay or cut straw, (half of
each,) they will be fat, vigorous
and healthy. If they are worked
severely, a little oats or corn may
be added. It is thus they are
treated in Germany, where this
BEE
43
BEE
root stands in the stead of meadows
or grass lands, and whose excel-
lent horses are well known.
Hogs, fed upon them raw, after
they have been cut up fine and
mixed with milk or other drink,
fatten as well upon them as upon
boiled potatoes, by which the fuel
and trouble of boiling is saved.
As to the quaten to animals,
much will depend on the propor-
tion of other fodder, which you
allow them. Cows fed twice a
day in winter upon eighteen
pounds of these roots at each
time, together with four pounds
of hay or chopped straw, will give
as much and as good milk as in
summer, and they will be kept in
the best possible state.
Oxen fed with forty weight of
these roots per day, with ten
pounds of hay for one month, and
after that with fifty weight per day
of the roots alone, will be fat
enough for sale in two months
more.
Any person disposed may, from
the facts above stated, calculate
how many cattle will be support-
ed by a single acre of land on
which this plant is cultivated.
Men can eat this vegetable
throughout the year, it is agreea-
ble and healthy. No insect at-
tacks it, and it suffers but little
from the variety of the seasons.
The leaves of this plant form alone
an excellent food for every species
of domestic quadruped during four
months in the year. Turnips and
other vegetables are besides liable
to be destroyed by insects, whereas
this beet is not. The roots can
be preserved eight months in a
sound state, while turnips are of
little value after March. In some
soils turnips will not grow, partic-
ularly in those which are very stiff
or strong. The root of scarcity
grows every where. The milk of
cows fed on turnips has a bad taste.
That of those fed on this plant is
excellent, as is also the butter
made from it. This forage on
green fodder comes also at the hot
seasons, when almost all other
green food is scarce, and some-
times not to be procured. Cattle
never get tired of it.
In many
parts of Germany where it is rais-
ed with success, they prefer it to
every thing else to fatten those
large herds of cattle which they
annually export to France. In
feeding cattle with beets the same
dry food must be given which is
usually given with turnips.
•
Sugar may be made from this
root, and for this purpose it is said
the white beet excels. For de-
tails respecting the mode of manu-
facturing sugar from the beet, see
Rees' Cyclopædia, Art. Beta.
We shall add to this article a
brief account of the mode of culti-
vating this plant in Bedford, in
England.
In the middle or latter end of
April, the furrows two feet apart,
are double ploughed, that is, the
plough returns on the furrow to the
point whence it set out, forming a
ridge between the furrows. In
these furrows, the manure, which
should be well rotted is deposited,
at the rate of six cubic yards to an
acre. The ridges are then split by
the plough going and returning the
same way as before mentioned,
1
1
44
BOG
BLO
leaving the manure directly under
the middle of the new ridges. A
light roller is then passed along the
ridges in the middle of which the
seed is dibbled, about an inch deep,
covered with a garden rake, and
the light roller is again passed
along the ridges. The plants are
hoed when about the size of radish-
es; where missing are filled up by
transplanting, care being taken to
set the points of the roots straight,
and left about twelve inches apart
in the rows.
In the year 1820, John Prince,
Esq. of Roxbury, received a pre-
mium from Mass. Agr. Soc. for the
best crop of Mangel Wurtzel,
amounting to six hundred and
seventy bushels and an half on one
acre.
BIRD GRASS, or Fowl Mea-
dow Grass. See Grasses.
slaughters animals should suffer it
to be wasted on his barn floor.-
They should be bled on his manure
heap, or in his barn-yard, where
substances, calculated for manure,
are collected.
BOG, a piece of land with a wet
miry soil, or a swamp. Some bogs,
when they have a sward of grass
roots, will shtremble un-
der the foot. Such and is unprofit-
able, or even a nuisance, until it be
drained. But after draining, it be-
comes the best of soil, producing
the greatest of crops, without any
manure. The way to drain a
swamp effectually, is to pass a ditch
through the middle of it; and an-
other ditch round the border, to cut
off the springs which come from the
upland.

In order to judge whether a bog
will pay the expense of draining,
BLASTING OF STONES, the the depth of the drain which will
operation of tearing asunder large be necessary at the outlet, and its
stones or rocks. The mode of length, must be considered, and al-
performing this operation by gun- so the depth of the soil in the bog.
powder, is too well known to re- If the soil be very thin, it will not
quire a particular description. We be of so much value when drained.
shall merely mention some im- It will be thinner after drying than
provements, which we believe are before; but it should have depth
not generally practised. An Eng- enough for the deepest ploughing,
lish publication states that a small after it is dried and settled. Other-
portion of quick lime, in fine pow-wise the operation of draining may
der is found to increase the force,
and consequently to diminish the
expense, of blasting stones. It is
likewise said that saw dust, parti-
cularly of soft wood, mixed with
gun-powder, in equal parts, has
thrice the strength of powder alone
in blasting rocks.
BLOOD. The blood and offals
of animals is one of the most pow-
erful manures, and no farmer who
as well be omitted. See Eliot on
Field Husbandry.
If, however, on inspection the
soil be found to consist of peat, or
earth closely interwoven with the
roots of vegetables, all hopes of
making it productive as a soil must
be abandoned. In places where
fuel is scarce it may be of great
value, when dug up in the summer
and left to dry. But, of itself, and
BOT
45
BRO
without admixture, it will not re-
pay the cost of cultivation.-
Peaty soil may, however, be very
usefully transplanted in considera-
ble quantities into the dung heap,
where it will prove a most admira-
ble aid in the composition; it being
known that a proportion of peat
facilitates and encourages the
growth of all and for some
plants it is of inestimable value.
BOTTS, are a peculiar kind of
grubs, found in the stomach of the
horse, of a cylindrical figure, point-
ed at one extremity and obtuse at
the other, and beset every where
with numerous spines. There are
several kinds, all belonging to the
same family. Some live in the
grub state under the skin of the
backs of oxen, the deer and rein-
deer; and others take their abode
in the frontal cavities of the sheep,
and the deer, and cells at the base
of the horns.
Blood letting, and the copious
use of mild oils will always palliate,
and sometimes cure the disorder.
The following remedies have
been recommended. Take a ta-
ble spoonful of unslacked lime,and
let it be given with the water or
feed of a horse at night and morn-
ing for three or four days. Or,
take of copperas two table spoon-
fuls: water, milk warm, one pint:
dissolve the copperas, and give it
as a drench. If the horse is not re-
lieved in fifteen minutes, repeat
the dose. Molasses and milk, of
each a pint, are likewise recom-
mended, to be given as a drench.
An active purge should follow
either of the last mentioned reme-
dies. But the remedy which ex-
perience has tested as most effica-
cious is the following:
Apply spirits of turpentine to the
outside of the breast and stomach
of a horse, and the botts will im-
mediately let go their hold, and
will soon be expelled. My in-
formant assures me that he has seen
horses, which seemed to be in the
last agonies with this complaint, re-
Volumes have been written on
the natural history of these insects,
but we have only room for stating
some remedies, which experience
has proved to be useful against that
species of this insect which so oft-lieved instantly, and apparently
en proves fatal to the horse.
Scrape off the eggs of the horse
bee, when laid on the horse, every
eight or ten days with a sharp
knife. This practice must be con-
tinued during the season of them.
The eggs should not be scraped
off where the horse can feed, as in
that case the young botts may be
taken in. It is difficult to remove
those eggs which are laid under
the throat, with a knife, but they
may be destroyed with a hot iron
made for the purpose.
restored to full health in five mi-
nutes by this remedy. Spirits of
turpentine are sometimes poured
down the throats of horses, suffer-
ing by botts, but the external ap-
plication of this pungent substance
is more safe, easy, and at least
equally efficacious.
BROWSE, young sprouts from
wood, twigs of trees, and bushes.
In a new country, browsing is a
considerable part of the food of
cattle. They will eat browse all
parts of the year, unless when the
46
BUL
BUC
snow is so deep that they cannot
wander in pursuit, of it. Late in
autumn, and early in spring, much
hay may be saved by turning out
cattle to browse. In the former
part of summer, when the young
shoots are in the most tender state,
some cattle will even grow fat up-
on browse.
Salt hay is found to
give cattle an extraordinary appe-
tite for this kind of food.
It is said in Dr. Willich's Do-
mestic Encyclopædia, that "hogs
feeding upon buck-wheat, are very
liable to scabby eruptions."
BULL, the male of the ox kind.
The marks of a good one for
propagation, according to Mor-
timer, are these. He should have
up-timer,
a quick countenance, his forehead
large and curled, eyes black
and large, his horns large, straight
and black, his neck fleshy, his
belly long and large, his hair
smooth like velvet, his breast big,
his back straight and flat, his but-
tocks square, his thighs round, his
legs straight, and his joints short.
BUCK WHEAT, Folygonum,
a dark coloured grain, shaped like
the seed of onions, but much larg-
er, and of a dark brown colour. It
yields plentifully, and is said to be
better than barley for fattening of
hogs and poultry. It should not One good bull will answer for
be sown in this climate, till after a large number of cows. But to
the middle of May. One bushel is mend our breed of cattle, more
enough to seed an acre, if sown attention should be paid to the
broad cast; less than half that properties of bulls. Those calves
quantity, if drilled.
which are not large, or not well
In the State of New-York, farm-shaped, should be castrated while
ers sow it with their winter wheat they are young, that a mean race
about August. It affords them a of cattle may not be propagated.
ripe crop in the fall, and is no dam- Neither should the practice of
age to the crop of wheat which suffering bulls that are too young,
grows with it, and succeeds it.- to go to the cows, be continued.
When the plants are green, they For either the cows, through the
are large, sappy and soft. Euro- insufficiency of the bull, will go
pean writers, therefore, greatly re-farrow, which is a great loss to
commend sowing it for a green
dressing, and ploughing it into the
ground, in its most green and juicy
state.
the farmer, and a breach upon
the dairy; or at best, the calves
will be small, and scarcely worth
rearing; as some of our best
farmers are now fully convinced.
Sir John Sinclair observes," A
bull may be first used at fourteen
or eighteen months. He then
shows most vigour, and more en-
In light lands buck-wheat may
be raised to great advantage as a
lucrative crop. When green it is
a fine feed for milch kine. It fat-
tens pigs with great economy, and,
passed through a mill is, with car-ergy may be expected in his pro-
rots, a good feed for work horses.
The seed is excellent food for
poultry.
duce. At two or three years old,
they frequently become ungover-
nable, and are killed. Many con-
BUL
47
BUR
tend, that the offspring of a bull,
if well bred, becomes generally
better till he reaches seven or
eight years, and indeed till his
constitution is impaired by age.
This doctrine, however, does not
agree with the practice of Mr.
Vandergoes in Holland; nor can
the question be finally decided
without a regular course of ex-
periments. Code of Agriculture
p. 61: Am. Edition.
" breeding in and in," or preserv-
ing the stock, has been scrupu-
lously adhered to with highly
beneficial effects.
Before we quit this article, it
may be adduced as a proof of the
soundness of the modern doctrine,
as opposed to the old practice of
crossing the breeds constantly,
that, as to horses, the interest in
which is much greater in some
countries on account of the rage
for the pleasures of the chace
and of the turf, it is an established
law, that the race should be kept
pure and the pedigree of a race-
horse is as accurately preserved
as that of a line of kings.
•
In
The
It was formerly believed that a
frequent change of animals, from
one country, or one section of
a country, to another, was indis-
pensable to the preservation of a
pure and excellent breed of cattle,
but this idea is almost exploded. BURNING THE SOIL.
Bakewell, Princeps, and other noted this process the turfs of swarded
graziers and raisers of stock in Eng- land are cut up with a kind of hoe,
land have proved, that it is by care- called a beating axe, which, after
ful selection of individuals of good drying, are piled and burnt.
farms and properties, that the race ashes and burnt soil are spread
of cattle can be best improved. over the surface, from whence the
The system of "breeding in and turfs were taken, by way of ma-
in," which confines the improved nure; then ploughed in, and mix-
races or animals to their owned with the soil; first with a shoal
families, is now much more in furrow, and deeper at the second
fashion, and the success of the ploughing.
British graziers, and the best
experience of our own country
seem to justify the opinion. Im-
portations of the best animals of
Great Britain have been made, it
is true, and they have essentially
and manifestly improved our stock.
But this does not disprove the
utility of breeding in and in,"
because these excellent imported
animals were produced, and bought
to their present perfection by the
principle of selection from the
same excellent flock. And when
imported here, the principle of
The Marquis of Tourbilly says,
"The paring mattock, or beating
axe,should have an edgelike an adze,
of well tempered steel, and about
nine inches wide, that the iron part
should be six inches in length,grow-
ing narrower towards the handle;
that the hole to receive the handle
should be two inches in diameter;
that the handle should be of wood,
about three feet long; that the in-
strument without the handle should
weigh from ten to twelve pounds;
that the turfs raised will be about
18 inches long, a foot broad, and
48
BUR
four inches thick; that they must
be set up to dry, leaning against
each other; that when the season
is not very wet, they will be dry
enough to burn in about three
weeks; that when dry, they must
be piled up in the form of ovens,
the mouths to the most windward
side; that a hole should be left in
the top for the smoke to go out;
that as soon as they are piled, they
must be set on fire with some straw
or heath; that if they burn too fast,
earth must be thrown on to deaden
the flames; and that they will con-
tinue burning some days.
the burning is ended, he advises,
that the ashes be piled up in round
heaps; that when it is time to sow
winter grain, the ashes should be
spread, and the corn sown on them,
and then the ground ploughed with
a shoal furrow, and harrowed."
When
He says, "half the usual quan-
tity of seed will be sufficient; and
that it ought to be sowed two weeks
later than other ground." The
reason is, because the grain will
grow rapidly, and be uncommonly
large.
I conceive this must be a good
method of culture for our cold
lands, inclining to moss, which can
no other way be made to produce
well the first year after breaking
up. But this method will not readi-
ly be adopted in a country where
labour is dear. The work, howev-
er, might be greatly diminished, by
paring the surface with a very
sharp ironed plough; though in
order to do this, the ground must
have an extremely even surface,
and be free from stones. I have
said so much of this culture, in
BUS
hopes of exciting some, who are
curious, to make trial of it. See
Paring and Burning.
BŪRNET, Pimpinella, a pe-
rennial plant, which was brought
into notice and highly praised by
a Mr. Roque, of England, about
40 years since, as a productive
and valuable article of fodder. It
was also pretty strongly recom-
mended in the first and second edi-
tions of this work, but it has not
sustained its reputation, and it is
believed it is no where extensively
cultivated as a grass.
BURNT CLAY. See Burning
the Soil.
. BUSHES, shrubs. These are
apt to spring up and increase in
pasture lands, which have never
been tilled, if timely care be not
taken to destroy them. Eradica-
ting them requires so much labour,
that farmers are most commonly
content with cutting them once in
a few years. But the more cut-
tings they survive, the longer lived
they are apt to be; and the harder
to kill, as the roots continually gain
strength.
Keeping cattle short in pastures
will cause them to browse the
more;
and this will have a ten-
dency to subdue many kinds of
bushes. Those which grow on
high ground are oftener subdued
this way than those which grow in
swampy low lands, the latter being
less palatable to the cattle.
It is undoubtedly true, that cut-
ting bushes in the summer will do
more towards destroying them,than
doing it in any other season
particularly in August
Other
circumstances being equal,the wet-
BUS
49
BUT
test weather is best for destroying
shrubs by cutting; because the sap
vessels of the stumps will continue
open the longer; there will be the
greater discharge of sap through
them, and the roots will be the
more weakened.
Bushes which grow in clusters,
as alder, and some other sorts, may
be expeditiously pulled up by ox-
en; and this is an effectual way to
subdue them. The expense of it
I suppose will not be more than
that of cutting them twice would
amount to.
they will mostly die without cut-
ting, or it may be expected that
one cutting will be sufficient. But
if draining were not serviceable on
any other account, perhaps it
would not answer to go to the ex-
pense of it merely for the sake of
clearing a swamp of the bushes.
After all, extirpation, by digging
them out, and by fire, is cheapest
and most effectual.
BUTTER, a fat unctuous sub-
stance, prepared from milk by
churning. If the dairy consist of
three or four cows, they should be
Elder is a kind of bush which milked in the summer thrice a day;
spreads fast in some soils, and has in the morning, at noon, and in the
been accounted harder to subdue evening. In winter, however, the
|
than almost any other. Mr. Eliot cows are to be milked only twice a
says, "He knows by experience, day. The dairy house should be
that mowing them five times in a kept neat, should never front the
year will not kill them." This has south, south-east or south-west. It
been proved by the experience of should be situated near a good
other farmers. The roots of the spring or current of water. The
shrub oak will not be killed, but by proper receptacles for milk are
digging them out, or by pasturing earthern or tin pans. In warm
goats on them.
weather milk should remain in
the pail till nearly cool before it
is strained, but in frosty weather it
should be strained immediately,and
a small quantity of boiling water
may be mixed with it, which will
cause it to produce cream in great
abundance, and the more so if the
pans or vats have a large surface.
The bushes in swamps are in
general more hard to conquer, than
those which grow upon upland.-
Flooding a swamp, where it is
practicable, or can be done with-
out too much cost, is perhaps the
most approved method which can
be taken. Flooding for two or
three summers will totally destroy
them, root and branch.
But if a swamp cannot conveni-
ently be flooded, the next thing is,
to consider whether it cannot be
drained to advantage. Draining
will so alter the nature of the soil,
that the shrubs which it naturally
produced before, will not be any
longer nourished by it. Therefore
In hot weather the cream should
be skimmed from the milk at or
before sun-rise, before the dairy
gets warm, nor should the milk, in
hot weather, stand in its recepta-
cles longer than twenty-four hours.
In winter, milk may remain un-
skimmed thirty-six or forty-eight
hours. The cream should be de-
posited in a deep pan, kept during
7
50
BUT
BUT
summer in a cool place, where a
free air is admitted. Unless churn-
ing is performed every other day,
the cream should be shifted daily
into clean pans, but churning should
be performed at least twice a week
in hot weather, and this should be
done in the morning before sun-
rise, taking care to fix the churn
where there is a good draught of
air. If a pump churn is used, it
may be plunged a foot deep in cold
water, and remain in that situation
during the whole time of churning,
which will much harden the but-
ter. A strong rancid flavour will
be given to butter if we churn so
near the fire as to heat the wood in
the winter season. In churning
for butter, always have an orifice
sufficient for the air to have access
to the cream. Butter is produced
by the union of oxygen with the
cream, and more butter will be
made and of a finer flavour, if the
churn is sufficiently open.
After the butter is churned, it
should immediately be washed in
many different waters, till it is per-
fectly cleansed from the milk; and
it should be worked by two pieces
of wood, for a warm hand will soft-
en and make it appear greasy. It
will require more working in win-
ter than in summer.
Those who use a pump churn
must keep a regular stroke: nor
should they permit any person to
assist them, who does not keep
nearly the same stroke; for if they
churn more slowly, the butter will
in the winter go back,as it is called;
and if the stroke be more quick, it
will cause a fermentation, by which
means the butter will acquire a
very disagreeable flavour.
Cows should never be suffered
to drink improper water; stagna-
ted pools, water wherein frogs
spawn, common sewers, and ponds
that receive the drainings of sta-
bles, are improper.
The operation of churning may
be very much shortened by mixing
a little distilled vinegar with the
cream in the churn. The butter
being afterwards well washed in
two or three changes of water, the
whole of the acid will be carried
off; or if any remain it will not be
perceived by the taste. A table-
spoonful or two of the vinegar to a
gallon of cream.
of_cream. See Churn.
Likewise Remarks on the Manage-
ment of the Dairy, &c. Mass. Agr.
Rep. Vol. III. p. 192.
To take the rancid taste from Butter.
When fresh butter has not been
salted in proper time, or when salt
butter has become rancid or mus-
ty, after melting and simmering it,
dip in it a crust of bread well toast-
ed on both sides
ed on both sides; and in a few
minutes the butter will lose its dis-
agreeable taste.
Butter made from scalded Cream.
As soon as the milk is taken
from the cow, let it be placed on a
steady wood fire, free as possible
from smoke, and scalded for thirty
minutes; particular care must be
taken not to allow it to boil. It
must then be placed in a cool situ-
ation, and on the following day a
thick rich cream will appear on the
surface of the milk (which is excel-
lent for desert purposes) this may
be taken off and made into butter
BUT
51
BUT
in the common way. This method as to have no air holes, or any kind
is practised in England, and it is of cavities within it; smooth the
said that a greater quantity of but-surface, and if you expect it will
ter, and of a better quality, can be
made by this than by the common
mode.
Directions for putting down Butter.
Wooden vessels are the most
proper for containing salted butter,
and oak the best kind of wood.
Iron hoops should not be used, as
the rust of them will in time sink
through the wood and injure the
colour of the butter. To season a
new vessel for the reception. of
salted butter requires great care;
it should be filled frequently with
scalding water, allowing it to re-
main till it slowly cools. Let the
vessel be rendered as clean and
sweet as possible, and be rubbed
all over on the inside with common
salt; and let a little melted butter
be run into the cavity between the
bottom and the sides at their join-
ing, so as to fill it, and make it
every where flush with the bottom
and sides; it is then fit to receive
the butter.
The butter may then be put
down with the following composi-
tion :
Take two parts of the best com-
mon salt, one part of sugar, and
one part of salt petre, beat them
up together so as to blend the
whole completely take one ounce
of this composition for every six-
teen ounces of butter. Mix it
thoroughly with the butter, as
soon as it has been freed from
from
the milk (which should be done ef-
fectually,) and put it without loss
of time into the vessels prepared
to receive it, pressing it so close
be more than two days before you
add more, cover it close up with a
piece of clean linen, and over that
a piece of fine linen that has been
dipped in melted butter, that is ex-
actly fitted to the edges of the ves-
sel all round, so as to exclude the
air as much as possible, without the
assistance of any watery brine.-
When more butter is to be added,
remove the covering, and let the
butter be applied close above the
former, pressing it down, and
smoothing it as before, and so on
till the vessel is full. When full,
let the two covers be spread over
it with the greatest care, and let a
little melted butter be poured round
the edges, so as to fill up every
cranny, and effectually exclude the
air. A little salt may then be strew-
ed over the whole, and the cover
firmly fixed down, to remain close-
ly shut till opened for use.
Butter cured in this manner,
does not taste well till it has stood
at least a fortnight after being salt-
ed: after that period has elapsed,
it eats with a rich marrowy taste
that no other butter ever acquires.
Butter thus cured will go well to
the East or West-Indies.
"To make salt Butter fresh. Put
four pounds of salt butter into a
churn, with four quarts of new
milk, and a small portion of armat-
to; churn them together, and in
about an hour, take out the but-
ter, and treat it exactly as fresh
butter, by washing it in water,
and adding the customary quantity
of salt." Willich's Domestic En-
cyclopædia.
52
CAB
CAB
CABBAGE, Brassica, an es-
culent plant in high estimation,
which, when well boiled, is a
very wholesome food. Many
sorts of cabbages are cultivated.
The common white and red cab-
bages, the savoy, the cauliflower,
and the low dutch cabbages are
common in this country. The
savoy, for keeping in the winter,
seems to be equal to any. Be-
sides these, other sorts are culti-
vated in Europe, as the borecole,
the broccoli, the battersea, &c.
Cabbages require a rich soil,
rather moist than dry. A clay
soil well mixed with other matters,
is very proper for them. They
are said to grow well in drained
swamps without manure. Hog
dung well rotted, door dung and
ashes, are suitable manures for
them. Each plant should have at
least four feet of ground: In other
words, the plants should be two
feet asunder. In gardens and
small yards this is a good distance.
But in fields, where they are to be
cultivated by the plough, a greater
distance is necessary. The rows
may be three feet apart, and the
plants two feet in the rows; er
perhaps a foot and a half may an-
swer, unless it be for the largest
sort.
Some think cabbages will not
answer more than one year on
the same spot. But this is an er-
roneous opinion. I have raised
them for eighteen years in the
same part of my garden, being an
unfavourable soil, dry and grav-
elly: And the crops are better
than they were at first, though
the ground has been but little
manured.
Some drop the seeds where the
cabbages are to grow. By this
they escape being stinted by trans-
planting. For winter cabbages,
the latter part of May is early
enough to put the seed into the
ground, whether the plants are to
be removed or not. I have tried
both ways, and on the whole, I
prefer transplanting. They are
otherwise apt to be too tall, and
to have crooked stems. Cover-
ing of plants with leaves is not a
good practice. They will be
much heated through some sorts
of leaves, the free circulation of
air about them will be prevented,
and their perspiration partly ob-
structcd. If a hot sun cause them
to droop, a shingle stuck into the
ground will be sufficient shelter, if
it be on the south side of the
plants. I commonly allow each
plant two shingles, one on the
southeast side, and one on the
southwest, meeting at the south
corner.
The principal things which pre-
vent the growth of cabbages, are,
the fumble-foot, so called, grubs,
maggots and lice. Manuring with
ashes and lime tends to prevent
the first, as the roots become
mis-shapen by means of being
wounded by insects, to which the
hot qualities of ashes and lime are
an antidote.
The grub, or black worm,
travels in the night from plant to
plant, eats off the stalks just above
the ground, and buries itself in the
soil when the sun is up.
guard against this worm, a little
circle of lime, or rockweed round
the plant is of service. But the
To
CAB
53
CAB
best preservative is to seek for the
insect itself which will be readily
found at the root of the plant last
destroyed.
To destroy lice on cabbages,
they should be washed with strong
brine, or sea water, or smoke
should be made among them with
straw, sulphur, tobacco, &c. But
the hard frosts in autumn do not
fail to subdue them. A moderate
frost will very much thin them.
In washing plants with brine,
care should be taken not to make
the solution too strong, lest you
kill the vegetable as well as the
insect. See Insect.
If cabbages grow near to a barn
yard, or other yard where cattle
are lodged, the under leaves,
when they begin to decay, may
be taken off, and thrown to them.
The plants will not be at all in-
jured, and they are an excellent
food for cattle, and will increase
the milk of cows. But the least
decayed of them should go to the
cows, lest they give the milk an
ill taste. Much account is made
of cabbages in England for feed-
ing cattle in the winter. But the
difficulty of preserving them alters
the case with regard to us. They
can gather them there as they have
occasion to use them, through the
winter, and in the spring.
In procuring seeds for raising
young cabbage plants, great care
should be taken, that it be obtain-
ed from the most perfect plants of
the different kinds, and such as
have seeded without any other
variety of the same tribe blowing
near them, as it is, perhaps, only
in this method, that they are ca-
pable of being kept of a true kind.
It is therefore best to have the
plants, intended for seed, planted
out by themselves, at a distance
from others. New seed is to be
preferred, as it not only vegetates
much quicker, but is more to be
depended on. Care should be
taken that young cabbage plants
are properly thinned out, when-
ever they come up too thick.
Mr. Young advises to sow three
ounces of seed to each square
perch, well raked in. For the
manner of transplanting cabbages,
see Mr. Cobbett's method of set-
ting Ruta Baga, under the article
Turnip.
In regard to the distance of
planting, it must depend in a great
measure upon the strength and
goodness of the soil, and the na-
tural size of the variety of the
cabbage that is employed. An
English writer says, it is the prac-
tice in some districts, where this
culture is well performed, to set
them out regularly at the distance
of three feet each way.
M'Mahon directs to set all the
early heading kinds at the distance
of two feet and an half every way,
and all the late sorts at that of
three feet.
Mr.
It is asserted in Dr. Rees' Cy-
clopædia that "cabbages possess
the property of fattening cattle,
not only more expeditiously, but
in less proportion than turnips;
an acre of the latter having been
found to fatten one in four more
than the same extent of the latter
crop."
Mr. McMahon recommends the
following method for preserving
54
CAL
CAB
cabbages for winter and spring
use. "Immediately previous to
the setting in of hard frost, take
up your cabbages and savoys, ob-
serving to do it in a dry day; turn
their tops downward, and let them
remain so for a few hours, to drain
off any water that may be lodged
between their leaves; then make
choice of a ridge of dry earth in a
well sheltered warm exposure,
and plant them down to their
heads therein, close to one an-
other, having previously taken off
some of their loose hanging leaves.
Immediately erect over them a
low temporary shed, of any kind
that will keep them perfectly free
from wet, which is to be open at
both ends, to admit a current of
air in mild dry weather. These
ends are to be closed with straw
when the weather is very severe.
In this situation your cabbage will
keep in a high state of preserva-
tion till spring, for being kept per-
fectly free from wet, as well as
from the action of the sun, the
frost will have little or no effect
upon them. In such a place the
heads may be cut off as wanted,
and if frozen, soak them in spring,
well, or pump water, for a few
hours previous to their being cook-
ed, which will dissolve the frost
and extract any disagreeable taste
occasioned thereby."
Mr. McMahon prefers this mode
of preserving cabbages to placing
them in the ground with the roots
upwards, and says that the appli-
cation of straw immediately round
the heads is a bad practice, as the
straw will soon become damp and
mouldy, and will of course com-
municate the disorder to the cab
bages.
Mr. Derby of Salem, Mass.
states his mode of preserving cab-
bages as follows. "I have select-
ed one of the most airy situations
on the farm, spread a few leaves
on the ground, to keep them clean,
and placed them upside down,
close to each other, and shook in
among them leaves sufficient to
cover them, leaving part of the
root projecting out, then threw on
just enough sea weed to prevent
the leaves blowing away." Mass.
Agr. Rep. vol. vii. p. 57.
"To produce early Cabbages.-
In the spring, as soon as the
sprouts on the cabbage-stalks have
grown to the length of a plant fit
for setting, cut them out with a
small slice of the stalk, about two
inches long; and if the season
permit, plant them in a garden,
and the usual care will produce
good cabbages. Domestic Ency-
clopædia.
Mr. Francis, Winship of Brighton,
Mass. received a premium from
the Massachusetts Agricultural So-
ciety in 1820, for the best crop of
cabbages, being thirty two tons
and two hundred weight, raised on
one acre of land.
CALF, the young of a cow,
whether male or female. The
method of managing calves to ad-
vantage is of no small importance
to a farmer; for on the raising of
young stock, his living and wealth
in great measure depend. when
calves are designed for veal, they
should be taken from the cow the
next day after they are calved.
Let them suck only two teats dur-
CAL
55
CAL
ing the first week; three during
the second; and let them have
the whole of the milk during the
third and fourth weeks; and then
kill them. If they have all the
milk at first, they will grow so fast
that they will soon need more
than all: The natural consequence
is, that they will grow lean, and
not be fit for veal. Many kill
them at three weeks old; but the
veal is not commonly so good, and
the skins of calves so young, are
of but little value.
When calves are to be reared,
some permit them to run with, or
at least to suck the cow, during
the first season, and it is a preva-
lent opinion that they are improv-
ed by it. It is, however, certain
that the best raisers of valuable
stock in England, and even here,
do not concur in this sentiment.
Experience has shown that the
finest possible animals have been
raised in great numbers, without
taking any milk from the cow af
ter three days. They may go
with the cows the first three or
four days. They should have
milk, more or less, for about
twelve weeks. They may be fed
with skimmed milk, or water por
ridge, after the first fortnight; or
hay tea may be mixed with their
milk; or their milk may be mixed
with meal and water. After a
calf has sucked, or drunk milk, fór
the space of a month, take some
of the freshest and sweetest hay,
and put little wisps of it into some
cleft sticks, stuck up in such a
manner that he can easily come at
them, and he will soon learn
to eat.
"If skim milk is given to calves,
it should be boiled, and suffered
to stand till it cools to the temper-
ature of that first given by the cow.
It is better boiled than when
warmed only. If the milk be
given too cold it will cause the
calf to purge. If this is the case,
put two or three spoonfuls of run-
net in the milk and it will stop the
looseness. If the calf is bound;
pork broth is said to be a good and
safe thing to put into the milk.
•
It is not true that calves are best
weaned upon grass; and the rea-
son assigned is both unfounded
and absurd viz. that when raised
on hay they become big-bellied.
They do not in fact become so.
They are much more docile when
raised in the barn, thrive faster,
and are as lively; and even if
their bellies did grow larger, we
are yet to learn that such a cir-
cumstance would be a blemish in
a milk cow. It is thought by
many to be an excellent mark.
Mr. Budd, of Massachusetts di
rects to take the calves from the
cows, when three days old, and
feed them with gruel, composed
of one third barley and two thirds
oats, each ground fine, and the
mixture sifted. A quart of this
gruel is to be given to each calf,
morning and evening. The gruel
is made by taking one quart of the
flour, and twelve of water, and
boiling them together for half an
hour, and is to be given while milk
warm.
Mr. John Gordon says that
" calves should not be suffered to
eat any grass the first year, and
from experience I find it much the
56
CAL
cheapest to keep them shut up
and feed them, as the land suffi-
cient to pasture one will well pro-
duce hay sufficient to keep two
calves through the year, and pay
the expence of cultivation, and
one year's growth will certainly be
added to the cattle. Mass. Agr.
Rep. vol. v. p. 78.
Mortimer says,
"The best
calves for bringing up, are those
calved in April, May, and June:
Because it is seldom that those
which come later acquire sufficient
vigour to support them during the
inclemency of the following winter;
and the cold causes them to droop,
and many of them to die." Much
oftener may this be expected to be
the case in this country, where the
cold in winter is so much more in-
tense.
Those which come earlier are
preferred in this country, being
more hardy, and better able to en-
dure the rigour of the first winter.
But the cost of rearing them is
greater. All things considered,
April may be as suitable a time as
any.
CAN
kept very warm in their house,
well supplied with water, and let
| out only in the warmest days. A
great deal of care is necessary to
bring them through the first winter,
which is the most dangerous period
of their lives. They will acquire
so much strength during the fol-
lowing summer, that they will have
nothing to fear from the cold of a
second winter." Buffon; Histoire
Naturelle.
CANKER. Mr. Forsyth is of
opinion that canker is caused by
injudicious pruning, from the
fruit being left on the trees,
from injuries sustained by ap-
plying ladders in gathering the
fruit, from leaving dead shoots on
a tree throughout the summer, &c.
but not from any thing peculiar in
the soil; and says,
"When by accident, or impro-
per treatment, trees receive large
wounds, and the cure is left to na-
ture, they are frequently overrun
with gum and canker, which, if not
checked, will in a short time total-
ly ruin them.
"In this case you must carefully
pare off, with a draw-knife, or any
other convenient instrument, all
the diseased part of the bark. The
inner white bark is frequently af-
fected; this must also be cut away
"When calves are weaned, they
should not be suffered to be with
their dams any more till fall : Nei-
ther should they be pastured with-
in sight or hearing of them. It will
cause them to neglect their feed-till no appearance of infection re-
ing; and they will not forget their mains. The infection in the inner
sucking.
bark appears like dots made with
a pen, all of which must be cut
clean out; for if any part of the
canker be left, it will infect the
new wood and bark. Wherever
you see the gum oozing out, you
may rest assured that the canker is
not quite eradicated; which if suf
"At the setting in of cold nights
in autumn, calves must be nightly
housed: And not be out early in
the morning, nor late in the eve-
ning. And as the pinching cold
of winter will be extremely detri-
mental to them, they should be
CAN
57
CAN
fered to remain, will spread till the
whole tree becomes a mass of gum
and canker, and will be killed in a
short time. When the trunk is
become hollow, cut the loose rot-
ten part clean out, till you come
to the sound wood, taking care to
round the edges of the hollow part;
then apply the composition in a
liquid state, laying it on with a
painter's brush, wherever the can-
kered bark has been pared off, or
the dead wood cut out, till these
places are entirely covered with
it: When that is done shake some
of the powder of wood ashes and
burnt bones over the composition,
and pat it gently down with your
hands." See Composition.
part of the root from rotting; then
cover the root over with mould lev-
el with the rest of the border ;"
and when you have examined all
the old wounds, where large limbs
have been cut off, you should next
examine the old bark; and if you
should find the outside of it wrin-
kled and cracked, pare it off, as it
is always, when in that state, very
much hurt by the canker. This
should be done with the draw-
knife, or other sharp instrument;
then apply the composition as be-
fore directed, which will bring on
a fine smooth bark under it. In
the succeeding winter or spring
you will see all the plaster with
the old part of the bark that was
He contends" that if the forego- left in the hollow parts of the tree,
ing directions be carefully follow- or where old branches had been
ed, the canker will be completely amputated, peeling off and shewing
eradicated, and the hollow trunk the smooth bark underneath. You
in time be filled up with sound should then scrape off, with a wood-
wood. When the stem is much de- en or bone knife, what old bark
cayed, he thinks it will be absolute- remains in the hollows where the
ly necessary to open the ground, draw-knife could not reach with-
examine the roots, and cut off all out cutting too much away. When
the rotten parts. When you have that is done, mix up some fresh
cut out all the rotten and decayed cow dung with soap-suds and urine,
parts below ground, and scraped making it very thin, and give the
the hollow clean, make up a mass tree a coat of this mixture all over
of the composition mixed with where the bark has been scraped
some clay, like what is used for off; the cow-dung will adhere to
grafting; then fill the hollow part it, and heal the parts where you
with it to within two inches of the were obliged to scrape to the inner
surface of the ground, treading it bark. This wash will remain till
with your foot, or pressing it in the fresh bark comes on; when it
with the hand as close as you pos- will be discharged of itself, during
sibly can, to prevent the wet from the summer or the next spring,
penetrating to the roots, and leave leaving a new fresh bark where the
the surface of the composition slop-old and cankery was taken off.--
ing from the tree towards the out-
side of the border to throw the wet
off, which will prevent the fresh
Next spring if any of the old bark
remains, you may repeat the same
operation, which will cause all the
8
58
CAN
CAN
remaining old bark to slough off
like a scab from a wound of a hu-
man body.
"If any of the trees become
bark-bound, you must scarify them,
by taking a sharp knife, and run-
ning the point of it straight down
the middle of the stem from top to
bottom, taking care to run your
knife through the outer bark only;
then with a brush, or your finger,
rub in some of the composition to
prevent the incision from bringing
on the canker.”
Sir Humphrey Davy in his "Ele-
ments of Agricultural Chemistry,"
attributes canker to an "excess of
alkaline and earthy matter in the
descending sap ;" and says, "Per-
haps the application of a weak acid
to the canker might be of use;
where the tree is great it may be
watered occasionally with a very
diluted acid."
The Massachusetts Agricultural
Repository, Vol. III. p. 280, gives
the following
"Remedy for the Canker and other
Wounds in Trees. The damaged
parts of the tree must be cut or
peeled off in the spring, and the
places rubbed in a fine sunny day
with turpentine, which becomes a
sort of varnish, so that the wounds
will be hermetically closed,and the
tree will speedily recover." It is
said also that bees-wax and tar
will answer as good a purpose as
Mr. Forsyth's composition. See
Fruit Trees.
CANKER WORM, an insect,
so called, I suppose, from its hav-
ing much the same effect upon ap-
ple trees as canker. This worm
is produced from the eggs of an
earth-coloured bug, which having
continued under ground during
winter, passes up on the bodies of
apple trees early in the spring.-
They are hatched as early as the
end of May, and are so voracious,
that in a few weeks they destroy
all the leaves of a tree, prevent its
bearing for that year, and the next,
and give it the appearance of its
having been burnt.
As the per-
spiration of trees is stopped by the
loss of their leaves, they sicken and
die in a few years.
The worms let themselves down
by threads in quest of prey, like
spiders; by means of which, the
wind blows them from tree to tree;
so that in a close orchard, not one
tree will escape them. But trees
which stand singly are seldomer
infested with these insects. As
they are the most pernicious kind
of insects with which New-England
is now infested, if any person could
invent some easy, cheap, and ef-
fectual method of subduing them,
he would merit the thanks of the
public, and more especially of eve-
ry owner of an orchard.
Several methods have been tri-
ed, with some degree of success:
1. Tarring. A strip of canvas, or
linen, is put round the body of a
tree, before the ground is open in
the spring, and well smeared with
tar. The females, in attempting
to pass over it, stick fast and per-
ish. But unless the tarring be re-
newed every day, it will become
hard, and permit the insects to pass
safely over it. And renewing the
tar in season is too apt to be neg-
lected, through hurry of business
and forgetfulness. If birdlime were
CAN
59
CAN
to be had, it might answer the pur-
pose better, as its tenacity will con-
tinue for some time. 2. Some tie
straw round the bodies of the trees.
This serves to entangle and retard
the insects, and prevents the ascent
of many of them. But they are so
amazingly prolific, that if ever so
few of them get up, a tree is greatly
damaged, at least for an ensuing
season or two.
thawed, that they can extricate
themselves from the soil; which
is, in some years, as early as Feb-
ruary. Therefore, to make sure
work, it is best to begin as soon as
the ground is bare of snow in that
month, that the first thawing of the
ground may not happen before the
trees are prepared; for, beginning
after ever so few of the insects are
gone up, the labour will all be lost.
Another thing to be observed is,
to fill the crevices of the bark with
clay, before the strip of linen
or canvas is put on, that the in-
sects may not find any passage
for them under it.
Having put on the strip, which
should be at least three inches wide,
The pasturing of swine in an or-
chard, where it can conveniently
be done, I suppose to be an excel-
lent method. With their snouts
and their feet, they will destroy
many of the insects, before they
come out of the ground, or while
they are coming out. And I have
never known any orchard,constant-drawn it close, and strongly fasten-
ly used as a hog pasture, wholly
destroyed, or even made wholly
unfruitful by these worms. But
this method cannot always be tak-
en; and if it could, I do not sup-
pose it would be quite effectual.
When the trees are young, the
swine will be apt to injure them by
tearing the bark.
But as tarring the trees is the
best antidote that we yet know of,
and as many persons of experience
believe it is possible that the insects
may be thus quite prevented pas-
sing up the trees, I shall here give
directions how to perform it in the
most effectual manner.
In the first place, it is necessary
to begin the operation very early
in the year.
Not observing this
caution, has occasioned the want
of success which many have com-
plained of: For it is certain that
the bugs will begin to pass up as
soon as the ground is so much
ed the ends together, a thumb rope
of tow should be tied round the
tree, close to the lower edge of the
strip. The design of doing this is,
that the tar may not drip, nor run
down on the bark of the tree, which
would injure it.
When all the trees of an orch-
ard are thus prepared, let the strips
be plentifully smeared with cold
tar, put on with a brush. Perhaps
tar mixed with a small proportion
of fish oil would be still better. It
would not harden so soon as tar
alone. And oil is known to repel
most kinds of insects. The smear-
ing should be renewed once a day
without fail. The best time is
soon after sun-set; because the in-
sects are wont to pass up in the
evening, and the tar will not hard-
en so much in the night as in the
day, because of the dampness of
the air. The daily task must be
renewed, and performed with the
60
CAN
CAN
greatest care, till the latter end of
May, or till the time when the
hatching of the worms is common-
ly over, which will be earlier or
later, according to the difference
of climate.
Another mode of tarring, and
which bids fair to be preferred to
the fore going, is as follows:
Take two pretty wide pieces of
board, plane them, make semi-cir-
cular notches in each, fitting them
to the stem, or body of the tree,
and fasten them securely together
at the ends, so that the most vio-
lent winds and storms may not dis-
place nor stir them. The crevices
betwixt the boards and the tree
may be easily stopped with rags,
or tow. Then smear the under
sides of the boards with tar. The
tar, being defended from the direct
rays of the sun, will hold its tena
city the longer; and, therefore,
will not need to be so frequently
renewed. And the trees may be
more secured in this way from the
dripping of the tar, as a margin of
two or three inches, next to the
tree, may be left unsmeared.
If the trees are small, the steins
may be encircled with cartridge
paper, in the shape of an inverted
funnel. The outside of the paper
should be well smeared with fish
oil. The insects will proceed to
the brim of the paper, but will not
be able to pass it; as the oil will
hang on that part.
Another expedient, much re-
commended is, to put a strip of
raw sheep or lamb skin round the
body of each tree, the wool out-
wards. It is asserted, that, though
the insects can pass over hair and
straw, they cannot pass over the
wool. But, to render this the
more effectual, it will be proper to
open the fibres of the wool now
and then, with a coarse comb.
When it so happens that the
worms are permitted to prevail in
an orchard for two or three years,
the limbs will be so corrupted, that
the trees are not apt to recover
their fruitfulness, although the as-
cent of the worms should be after-
wards prevented. In such a case,
it is advisable to cut off all the
limbs from the trees, near to the
stock where they are produced,
that so the tops may be wholly re-
newed by fresh shoots, as they will
be in a few years.
It is not less than about fifty
years, since this insect began its
depredations in New-England, in
the parts which had been longest
cultivated. But perhaps there is
some reason to hope that Provi-
dence is about to extirpate them:
For a kind of little bird has lately
made its appearance in some parts
of the country, which feeds upon
the canker worms. Should these
birds have a rapid increase, the in-
sects will be thinned, so as to be
less formidable, if not wholly de-
stroyed.
The Massachusetts Agricultural
Journal Vol. III. No. 4, contains
some remarks on the Canker worm
by J. Lowell, Esq. from which we
extract the following.
"I had the turf dug in around
sixty apple trees and the earth
laid smooth. I then took three
hogsheads of effete or air slacked
lime and strewed it an inch thick
round my trees to the extent of
CAN
61
CAN
about two or three feet from the
roots, so that the whole diameter
of the opening was from four to
six feet.
"I tarred these trees as well as
the others, and although I had
worms or grubs on most that were
not limed, I did not catch a single
grub, where the trees were limed.
"I do not mean to speak with
confidence, I am however strongly
encouraged to believe the remedy
perfect. It was assertained by
Professor Peck, that the insect
seldom descended into the ground
at a greater distance than three or
four feet from the trunk, and to
the depth of four inches, or that
the greater part come within that
distance. The lime is known to
be destructive of all animal sub-
stances, and I have little doubt
that it actually decomposes and
destroys the insect in the chrysalis
state, at least I hope that is the
case.
"There are many reasons
which should encourage the repeti-
tion of this experiment. The
digging round the trees is highly
useful to them, while tarring is
very injurious. The expense is
not great. A man can dig round
fifty large trees in one day. The
lime is a most salutary manure to
the trees. After the spot has been
once opened and limed, the labour
of keeping it open will not be
great. Three hogsheads of air
slacked lime, or sweepings of a
lime store, will suffice for fifty
trees, and will not cost three dol-
lars. As it is done but once a
year, I think it cannot be half so
expensive as tarring."
Mr. Forsyth directs that the
body of the tree be covered with
a composition of old urine, kept
some time for that purpose, soap
suds, and fresh cow dung, which
he says, if laid on plentifully, will
keep off all insects. A strip of
oiled paper put round the tree,
with the lower end projecting so
as to form a rim is recommended.
Digging the earth from the roots
of trees, early in the spring and
returning it, mixed with a small
quantity of sulphur, and sprinkling
a little of it, on the surface is said
to be effectual for several years.
It has been ascertained that a
few canker worms often rise in
autumn as well as in the spring.
Professor Peck therefore advises
turning up the ground in October
as far as the trees extend to the
depth of five inches, and breaking
the clods and smoothing the sur-
face by passing a heavy roller
over it, so as to make it very hard
and without cracks, which will
prevent the canker moths from
rising from the earth. See Mass.
Agricultural Repository, vol. iv.
page 91.
John Kenrick Esq. of Newton,
Mass. proposes the
the following
"New and cheap method" of de-
stroying this insect.
From any time in June,after the
worms have entirely disappeared,
until the twentieth of October,
let the whole of the soil surround-
ing the trees, to the extent of at
least four feet from the trunks,
and to a suitable depth be dug up
and carted away; and placed at a
distance from any trees the can-
ker-worms are in the habit of
62
CAR
CAR
feeding upon; and let these be
returned in the same cart, an
equal quantity of compost, or rich
earth intermixed with manure.
Or the soil returned may be taken
from ponds, roads, or the ridges
which often accumulate on the
margins of fields; or if there hap-
pen a ploughed field near the
orchard, in which there are no
apple trees, the soil may be ex-
changed load for load without any
injury to the field: but in either
case let a good quantity of ma-
nure be spread at the bottom of
the soil returned to the trees.
Massachusetts Agricultural Repos-
itory, vol. iv. p. 168.
CARROT, Daucus, a well
known and useful root for food.
The seeds are carminative and di-
uretic, and the root is useful to
abate the malignity of cancers. A
sandy soil is very proper for car-
rots; but they do very well in
gravelly, and even in loamy soils,
when made rich and loosened to a
sufficient depth. The largest I
have ever raised has been in
gravel. The ground should be
ploughed, or dug, more than
twelve inches deep, and well
pulverized.
I have found by long experience
that carrots should be sowed early.
The last week in April is late
enough, when intended for feed-
ing of cattle; and they may be
sowed earlier, if the ground be in
good order, and so dry as to be
made light and loose. The ear-
liest sown will be the largest, and,
in the northern parts of this coun-
try, nearly as tender and good
tasted as if sown later.
A small quantity of dressing will
be sufficient for them. But what-
ever manure is used, it should be
well rotted, and made fine, or
putrefy very soon in the ground;
otherwise the little obstacles in it,
will cause the roots to divide, and
become forked. I have known
carrots, manured with old hog
dung, grow to a surprising bigness.
But if a large quantity of this
strong manure be used, they will
grow so fast as to burst open.
is a crop that bears drought well,
as it draws its principal nourish-
ment from a considerable depth.
Nor is the ground apt to be ex-
hausted by continued crops.
It
In the garden I sow them in
drills, or little furrows, made an
inch deep with the head of a rake,
from 9 to 12 inches apart, across
beds four feet wide. This prevents
treading the ground hard too near
to the roots; greatly facilitates
clearing them of weeds with a hoe,
and keeping the earth loose to a
sufficient depth. I do not thin
them much, till I begin to pull
them for use, about the beginning
of July; from which time I pull
them, not only for the table, but to
feed swine, as that sort of animals
are so fond of them, that they will
greedily devour both roots and
tops. The spaces between the
beds may be kept clear of weeds,
by turning over the soil with a nar-
row spade, once or twice in May
and June. It will not only subdue
the weeds, but increase the pasture
of the nearest plants.
But the field culture of this root
begins to prevail in the country:
As carrots are found to be valuable,
1
CAR
63
CAR
for feeding not only swine, but
horses and cattle, and for fattening
them. But to fatten swine on
them, they should be boiled, or
parboiled. They are so easily
cultivated, and so hardy, that they
may be raised in fields to great ad-
vantage. They will grow well in
a soil that is but moderately rich,
if it be ploughed deep, and made
mellow. And there is no difficul-
ty in keeping them through the
winter, in good order for feeding
cattle. The ground should be
ploughed in the fall preceding, and
ploughed very deep. If the plough
do not go deep enough at once, it
should be trench ploughed; that
is, the plough should pass twice in
the furrow. And if some of the
earth, which was never before stir
red, should be thrown up to the
surface, it will be no damage, pro-
vided it be such earth as crumbles
easily, and does not remain in
lumps, after the winter frosts have
acted upon it.
If the lands incline to much wet-
ness, it should be water furrowed,
after the autumnal ploughing, that
so it may be dry, and fit to be
ploughed again very early in the
spring. It must be well harrowed
before sowing, first with a heavy
harrow, and afterwards with a
lighter one, with shorter teeth pla-
ced near together. After the seed
is sown, the ground should be rak-
ed. When sown in the broad cast
method, they should stand so far
apart after thinning,as to have each
half a foot of soil. There will be
no danger of thinning them early,
as they are a plant which is sel-
dom diminished by insects.
It is with pleasure that I find the
attention of some of my country-
men turned to the field culture of
this excellent root. They who
have but little land may probably
enable themselves to keep consid-
erable stocks by means of it.
This root has greatly the advan-
tage of turnips, not only in its be-
ing a richer and more nourishing
food, and in yielding a larger pro-
duce, but also in its being never,or
very seldom, annoyed or hurt by
insects. This crop, rightly man-
aged, I have never known to fail,
as it is well known the other often
does.
The drill method, sowing on nar-
row ridges, raised by the cultivator,
is preferred by some, and is that
which I use. But the labour will
perhaps be increased a little. The
seeds will do best sown by hand,
as their shape will not well admit
of their being drilled. To prepare
them for sowing at all, they should
be well rubbed, and passed through
a sieve. The first hoeing of car-
rots in rows must be also by hand;
at which hoeing they should be
thinned to one or two inches asun-
der, if large ones are desired.-
The after hoeings may be expedi-
tiously done by the horse hoe and
cultivator alternately.
It is not
amiss, if they grow large and rank,
when they are chiefly designed as
food for cattle, though small sized
ones are preferred for the table.
For this use they need not be
thinned to more than half an inch
asunder in the rows: And perhaps
not so much in good ground. The
way to keep carrots good for eat-
ing through the winter is to bury
64
CAR
them in a dry sand of the yellowkind
from pits. Or, if they are put in-
to casks, covering them with fresh
turfs may be sufficient.
It has been maintained by some
agriculturists that the tops of
carrots might be cut off, as soon as
the lower leaves begin to wither,
without injury to the root. But
the Massachusetts Agricultural
Journal, Vol. III. No. 3, p. 181–2,
gives the details of certain experi-
ments made by the Hon. Josiah
Quincy, in which a certain number
of beds of carrots were cut, and
the same number of similar beds
were left uncut, and the advantage
was in favour of the latter, about
as 8 to 5. From the result of
these experiments Mr. Quincy
concludes "that the carrot forms
no exception to the usual analogy
of nature in the growth of vegeta-
bles," which depends nearly as
much upon the leaves as the root.
The best way to keep carrots
through the winter, for family use,
is to bury them in moist sand. Or
they may be kept in the same man-
ner with beets. See Beets.
CAR
permit. Cross plough in the spring
and harrow level. Put on fifteen,
twenty or twenty-five buck loads
of the most rotten compost to the
acre, as the heart of the land may
be. Spread and harrow it fine.
Then with a horse plough strike it
into two-bout ridges, as near to-
gether as four back furrows will
make them, and if the two first
back furrows are narrow the other
two being deep, the ridge will be
nearly to a point, and should be
eighteen or twenty inches from the
bottom of the furrow if it be well
cleared out. To do which make
another bout in the furrow, if ne-
cessary. Then with the head of
a rake strike off the crown of the
ridge, till it is three or four inches
wide, and with it, or a hoe, open a
drill in the usual manner. Sow
the seed pretty thick, cover and
press down a little with a hoe or
shovel. When the weeds appear,
run a small plough through the fur-
rows. Hand weed the crop, and
hoe the weeds from the sides of
the ridge. The orange carrot is
best."
"In harvesting,a plough with one
yoke of oxen should be run near
the side of the range of carrots,and
as deep as possible. This loosens
the dirt and clears one side of the
carrots almost entirely from the
Mr. Cooper, Editor of the sec-
ond American edition of Dr. Wil-
lich's Domestic Encyclopædia,says
that horses often prefer carrots to
oats, and that "they are decidedly
the best food for broken-winded
horses, and as I believe for asth-earth. The labourers then with
matic men.'
""
Mr. Quincy gives the following
statement of the mode of cultiva-
ting carrots, made use of by Mr.
Samuel Wyllys Pomeroy, Esq. and
which he prefers to all others.
"Plough as deep in the fall or
spring as the state of the land will
great facility take them by their
tops out of the beds, and throw
them into carts, with only an occa-
sional use of the hoe to plants
which the plough has not loosened.
"I have no question that con-
ducted in this mode a carrot crop
may be made more productive,and
CAR
65
CAR
much less expensive than the po-
tatoe crop usually is. In sowing I
use a small hand drill, which lays
the seed with great regularity, a
circumstance very important both
cart is eight feet long, four feet
wide, and two feet high. The long
cart is used for carting hay, straw,
and other bulky matters; therc-
fore it is made from ten to twelve
to facilitate weeding and harvest-feet, or more, in length, four feet
ing; since if the carrots stand in breadth; and instead of sides, it
straggling and not in a line, the has only long, sharp pointed stakes.
plough, when harvesting, leaves In some parts of the country they
the more to be loosened by the hoe lengthen out a short cart, with
or the fork. Massachusetts Agri- what are called ladders, when they
cultural Repository, Vol. IV. p. cart hay. But this is not a good
practice. The load lies higher than
in a long cart, and is more liable to
be overset.
24.
A mode of cultivating carrots
differing slightly from the above, is
described by Mr. Quincy, in the
same work, Vol. IV.
p. 212.
For other modes of cultivating
this root, see Mass. Agr. Rep.Vol.
V. p. 20, 255, 347.
Mr. Ebenezer Thrasher, of Sa-
lem, Mass. in 1820, received a pre-
mium from the Massachusetts Ag-
ricultural Society, for the best crop
of carrots, weighing exclusive of
the tops, twenty-one tons, four
hundred and an half hundred,equal
to eight hundred and forty-nine
bushels of fifty-six pounds each,
raised on one acre of land.
The same year Ezekiel Hersy
Derby, Esq. of Salem, Mass. rais-
ed on three quarters of an acre of
ground seven hundred and twenty
bushels of carrots, exclusive of
their tops, which were estimated
by competent judges, to weigh five
tons.
CART, a wheel carriage, of es-
sential importance to the farmer,to
carry his manures, remove stuff for
fences, get in his crops, &c. Horse
carts are sometimes used; but ox
carts generally. Of the latter some
are short, some long. The short
The greatest excellencies of a
cart, are lightness, strength, and
durableness. Therefore, it is very
proper to construct carts of ash
timber. But as white oak is not
so apt to decay, the principal parts
are commonly made of that. A
cart should be kept under shelter
when it is not in use. It will last
the longer.
The axle and wheels, should be
of the toughest of oak. Wheels to
be used on a farm only, need not
be shod with iron. A wooden rim,
well made, will last several years,
and is easily renewed, and it will
do less injury to the grass grounds
in passing over them. The softer
the soil is, the wider the rim of a
wheel should be. Some have the
rims a foot wide, to cart upon
marshes.
A great improvement has re-
cently been introduced in hay
carts, which consists of a floor,
longer than the old cart bodies,
with perpendicular posts, or slats
connected together at the top by
a light frame, and so high as to
contain as much hay as the cattle
9
66
CAT
CAT
will draw. This saves much la-cultural Society, has recommended
bour in packing the hay-requires
no ladders and no ropes; and a
load is pitched in and prepared for
removal in much less time. The
frame is laid upon the axle-trees,
and secured to them by the same
pins or fastening which confine the
ordinary cart or waggon body. It
is easily changed when occasion
may require. It is also well
culated for the removal of brush,
or any other light article.
an instrument, which he has found
simple and more convenient than
any he had used for the destruction
of caterpillars. It is made by in-
serting some hog's bristles between
a twisted wire, in such manner as
to form a cylindrical brush, which
will present bristles on every side.
This is attached to a pole of such
cal-length as the trees may require,and
the caterpillars are brought down
by it, and then crushed.
CATERPILLAR, a worm that
feeds on leaves and fruits. These
insects differ in colour and size ac-
cording to their situation, and ac-
cording to the different matters on
which they feed. The principal
inconvenience the farmer meets
with from caterpillars, is the dam-
age they do to his orchard. A
hairy kind of caterpillars build
their nests on apple trees in May,
and are gone entirely in June,àbout
the summer solstice. But they
feed so industriously on the leaves,
as to destroy a great part of them,
if they be not timely prevented.
As they are far less mischievous
than the canker worm, so they are
more easily subdued. Some de-
stroy them by firing gun-powder at
their nests. The same may be ef-
fected with a match of brimstone
on the end of a pole.
It is affirmed that caterpillars,
and other insects, which infest our
fruit trees may be destroyed by
casting over the tree a few hand-
fuls of ashes, in the morning before
the dew is dissipated from the foil-
age, or after a shower of rain.—
The former the preferable time.
A strong white-wash of fresh
stone lime, applied by the means
of a mop, or sponge, fixed to the
end of a pole, has by some been re-
commended. Spirits of turpentine,
or a little oil of any kind, particu-
larly blubber oil, are likewise fatal
to these insects. But, perhaps, the
most effectual remedy is the hand,
by which the nests may easily be
removed at an early stage, but if
this be neglected, it is thought that
the next best remedy is that men-
tioned above, communicated by
Col. Pickering, an excellent prac-
tical as well as scientific farmer.-
In applying either of these reme-
dies care must be taken to choose
that part of the day, when the ca-
terpillars are in the nests. They
The Hon. Timothy Pickering,in rarely quit it till 9 o'clock, and gen-
a letter to the Corresponding Sec-erally return to it again about 12.
retary of the Massachusetts Agri- It is said that caterpillars will
Nests which have been neglect-
ed till the insects have forsaken
them should be destroyed. A nest
will be found to contain several of
the insects in a chrysalis state.
CAT
67
CAT
F
take shelter under woollen rags, | be small, and therefore not so pro-
placed near their haunts, from which fitable. Farmers in generalˇare
they may be taken and destroyed. too ambitious to keep a large stock
CATTLE, a name applied to all of cattle: A necessary consequence
quadrupeds, which are used for til- of which is, that they are pinched
ling of ground, and for the food of in their food, and never come to
man. But under this article we their full growth. Another ill con-
shall confine ourselves to animals sequence is, their growing unruly
of the ox kind, to which the word and mischievous through hunger,
is most usually applied.
learning to leap over fences, or
break through them.
It would certainly be more con-
ducive to the interest of farmers,to
keep smaller stocks of cattle than
they do: For then they would be
able to feed them to the full.-
Their oxen would be much larger
and stronger than they are, and
their cows would give plenty of
milk, and bring larger calves: Not
to say how much they would save
in taxes, by reducing their number
of rateable cattle.
As soon as a calf is weaned, it
should either be permitted to run
in the best pasture, or confined in
the barn, and fed by hand, and be
carefully tended, kept warm, and
live upon the best of fodder, through
the first winter. Afterwards it will
become so hardy as to require less
care. But cattle should be fre-
quently looked to and examined;
that so, if they be overtaken with
any sickness, hurt, or lameness,
suitable remedies may be seasona-
bly applied. And in order to do Farmers should allow their young
this, they should be accustomed to stock the best of pasture. This
come home, and be shut up in the would keep them out of mischief,
yard every night. By this meth- prevent their learning bad tricks,
od, a farmer will save a much larg- and prevent many ill accidents.
er quantity of dung. And, in case which befal them. And it would
of an uncommonly cold storm, the be no small advantage always to
cattle may be housed with very lit-know where to find them. But,
tle trouble, as the yard is contigu-
ous to their house. -
Cattle, from one year old to
three, will usually get a living in
summer, and even thrive, upon the
commons, or in the meanest, and
most bushy pastures. And in win-
ter the poorest fodder will keep
them alive. And, as our farmers
know these things, they are very
apt to treat their young cattle in
this manner. Those which are so
treated, may oftentimes become as
hardy cattle as any; but they will
in the common method of treating
them, it is too common a case for
them to straggle so far from home,
that the owner entirely loses them ; .
or else spends as much time as they
are worth in seeking after them.
If a young stock were well fed
at all seasons, the heifers would
commonly have calves at two years
old, which is no small advantage,
and steers would be fit for labour
earlier in proportion. And when
they come to be killed off, the
quantity of beef would make
68
CAT
CAT
amends for their being so fed as to
be well grown. If the farmer's
view in increasing his stock, be to
make as much dung as possible, he
should be reminded of what he
ought to know already, that the
dung of a small stock will be equal
to that of a large one, if it consume
the same quantity of fodder. If a
farmer make this objection to pas-
turing his young flock, that his
farm is not large enough to admit
of it; he may find an answer, by
turning to the article, Mowing
Grounds, where diminishing their
number of acres,and increasing that
of pasture ground, is recommend-
ed, and sufficient reasons assigned.
In the winter, cattle should be
housed, to defend them from the
inclemencies of the weather. For
though nature furnishes them with
a thicker covering of hair in win-
ter than in summer, the difference
is not near so great as that of the
weather in this climate. Working
oxen, and milch cows, will suffer
more than the rest by lying abroad.
If the farmer cannot conveniently
house all his cattle, those should be
left out which are between the age
of one and three years. And those
that lie out should have a shed,
open only to the south and west, to
shelter themselves under in stormy
weather.
The injuries which cattle re-
ceive from one another, when they
are lodged together in a yard, is
an additional reason for tying them
up in the barn. To which it may
be added, that a great part of the
fodder given them is wasted, even
when it is given them in racks;
much more, when it is thrown up-
on the ground. They trample it
into the dung with their feet,which
is no inconsiderable loss.
Cattle will bear to be cold much
better than to be wet. If they be
left out in cold storms of rain, it
pinches them exceedingly; so that
they will not look so well again for
several days after it. The sides of
the house where they are lodged,
need not be very tight. It might
be apt to make them too tender.
It will certainly abate the freshness
of the air they breathe in,and hurt
the agreeable flavour of their fod-
der. But the covering of their
house should be perfectly tight.-
No window should be open,through
which snow or rain may drive in
upon them. The floor they lie
on should have a gentle descent
backward, that they may be wet-
ted as little as possible by their
stale; and they should always have
straw or litter under them, not on-
ly to soften their lodging, but to
lay them the more warm and dry,
and absorb the wetness. The bet-
ter they are littered, the more ma-
nure will the owner make for his
farm.
farm. This is an object of high
importance.
It would be a good method for
cattle that are tied up, to fodder
them in racks. They would not
be so apt to rob one another; nor
to get their fodder under their feet;
nor to render it unpalatable by
their breathing upon it,
Where salt hay can be had, cat-
tle should now and then be treated
with a little of it. It will so in-
crease their appetite, that they will
eat poor meadow hay, and straw
with it, or after it. But farmers,
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69
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who are far from the sea, and not
furnished with salt hay, should now
and then sprinkle some of their
meanest fodder with salt dissolved
in water, which will answer the
same valuable purpose. And at
no season of the year should cattle
be kept, for any long time, without
salt. They are greedy after it,
and it conduces to keep them in
health.
As to summer feeding, it is not
fit that a whole stock go promiscu-
ously in the same pasture. Some
would be overmuch fed, and some
not enough. A farmer's pasture
grounds should be made into a
number of separate inclosures; the
greater the number the better.
Milch kine and cattle fattening for
slaughter should have the first of
the feed in each inclosure; then
working oxen; afterwards, young
stock, horses and sheep. When
each kind have had their turn, for
two or three days, or perhaps a
week, the apartment may be shut
up, till it be sufficiently grown for
the milch cows. By such a rota-
tion much may be saved; but lit-
tle of the grass will be wasted by
trampling; and what one sort
leaves another will eat; so that
none of the grass will be lost.
Oxen should not live to be more
than eight years old, nor cows
more than ten or eleven. When
they are kept longer, they do not
fatten so easily; and the beef is
not so good. Cattle to be fatten-
ed should have the best of pasture
during the whole grass season, or
they will not be fat so early as De-
cember; and they should lose a
little blood, when they are first
turned to grass. In autumn, when
grass grows short, or is corrupted
by frosts, their fattening should be
promoted by feeding them morn-
ing and evening with the stalks of
Indian corn, pumpions, potatoes,or
carrots; and especially with ears
of corn, if the owner can afford it.
Indian meal is supposed to be still
better to complete their fattening.
Oil cakes from the linseed mills are
much recommended in English
books, as conducing to the speedy
fattening of cattle. See Stock.
The Philadelphia edition of the
Domestic Encyclopædia observes,
that feeding cattle with turnips.
does not succeed so well in the
United States as in Great Britain,
and mentions an unsuccessful ex-
periment, which resulted in that
conclusion. It is possible that the
want of a proper mixture of dry
food, such as hay or straw, might
be the cause of the failure.
Cattle are apt to be hoven or
swollen in consequence of having
eaten too much green succulent
food. The common remedy for
this disorder has been to stab the
infected animal with a pen-knife or
other sharp instrument, under the
short ribs, and put into the orifice
a tube of ivory, elder, a quill, or
something of the kind, to give vent
to the confined air. The wound
is then dressed with some sort of
adhesive plaster, and thus, in gen-
eral the cure is easily effected.-
This, however, is a rough and dan-
gerous remedy, and we therefore
give place to others more safe and
gentle.
The 33d volume of the Annals
of Agriculture announces the fol-
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lowing recipe for hoven cattle,
which it assures us will effect a cure
for hoven cattle, in the most des-
perate cases in half an hour. Take
three quarters of a pint of olive oil;
one pint of melted butter, or hog's
lard; give this mixture by means
of a horn or bottle, and if it does
not produce a favourable change
in a quarter of an hour, repeat the
same quantity, and walk the ani-
mal gently about. For sheep, at-
tacked with this malady the dose is
from a wine-glass and an half to
two glasses.
Besides these remedies, flexible
tubes, and canes, with knobs at
their ends, have been used to force
a passage from the mouth to the
stomach, to let the confined air es-
cape upwards from the trunk of the
animal affected. Descriptions of
these instruments may be seen in
the second American edition of the
Domestic Encyclopædia, vol. 1. p.
409, 410. The following simple
remedy we have been assured is
effectual. Make about a pint of
lie either with hot embers thrown
into a sufficient quantity of water,
or by dissolving therein about an
ounce of pot or pearl ash, and turn
it down the throat of the ox or cow
affected. A proportionably less
quantity will answer for a sheep.
This is said to give immediate re-
lief by neutralizing the carbonic
acid gas in the stomach of the
creature, which causes the swel-
ling, and other symptoms of the
complaint to subside.
"When oxen are long and hard-
ly driven, in muddy roads, particu-
larly where the soil is calcareous,
they are liable to a soreness be-
tween the claws. This will make
the beast lame, and, when discov-
ered, the part should be cleansed,
and healed with some proper oint-
ment. Sometimes from inattention
to this, the part becomes horny;
in this case the hard parts must be
cut away, and the wounded flesh
cured.
"A general indication of health
in neat cattle is a moist or wet nose,
and when this is found dry it is a
certain symptom of disease of some
kind or other." Farmer's Assistant.
Hoof Ail, or Hoof Distemper. A
writer for the Massachusetts Agri-
cultural Repository gives some ac-
count of this disorder, vol. 4, p.
339, from which we extract the
following:--
66
Symptoms.
When an animal
is at all lame, its foot should be
carefully felt. The first indication
is usually an uncommon degree of
warmth, and a soft and puffed feel
of the parts immediately connected
with the slit between the hoof, ei-
ther before or behind the foot and
generally just above it. If in the
hind foot, and not easily handled,
a fullness may generally be per-
ceived, by standing behind the ani-
mal and carefully comparing the
appearance of the two feet, be-
tween the dew claws and the hoofs
(for it very rarely commences its
attack in more than one foot.) In
the fore foot it generally swells for-
ward; and in taking up the foot,
the slit between the hoofs will have
an appearance of dryness, easily
distinguishable to a person used to
cattle; and the animal frequently
licks the front part of the foot. In-
stances often occur of sudden and
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71
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The moisture left by the washing,
makes the powder adhere; and
the effect is produced in a very
short time. Some prefer mixing
the powder with hog's lard, which
answers; but is thought less pow-
erful: it has one advantage, how-
ever, as being less dangerous to
keep in a house (for no one takes
salve inwardly.) Where corrosive
sublimate cannot be obtained, any
other violent stimulant may be ap-
plied. Common salt is often ef-
fectual in very slight attacks; but
it is of the greatest importance to
lose no time. The application is
to be repeated every twenty-four
hours, till a cure is effected, or till
the foot shews unequivocal signs of
a gathering which will break."
extreme lameness, without any ap-
pearance of heat or swelling in the
foot; and these are often the worst
cases; but one symptom rarely
fails to accompany the disease,
which is extreme restlessness and
appearance of anguish, attended
with loss of appetite and flesh; but
without in the least affecting the
brightness of the eye, and, per-
haps, sometimes, unnaturally in-
creasing it; but the eye has a pe-
culiar cast. As a general rule it is plied.
As a general rule it is
safest to attribute all lameness of
the foot, which cannot be traced to
a sufficient cause, to the hoof ail.
Lameness of the foot can generally
be distinguished from that of the
leg, hip or shoulder, by making
the animal step over a stick or
rail, and carefully watching its
motions.
"Remedies. The foot should
be carefully washed and cleansed,
and thoroughly examined, to be
sure that the lameness does not
arise from a nail casually run into
the foot, or a prick in shoeing, or
from a wound from a stump or oth-
er substance between the hoofs (a
case frequently occurring.) If no
appearance occurs of any break in
the skin, while the foot is still wet,
apply, as nearly as may be, to the
centre of the slit, between the
hoofs from one to three grains of
corrosive sublimate (reduced to a
fine powder) the dose to be pro-
portioned to the size of the animal
and the violence of the attack.-
Care must be used that the pow-
der is put completely in this slit, for
it is a very strong poison, and the
animal, as soon as at liberty, will
begin to lick the foot, if a sore one.
We shall add to this article a few
brief sketches, descriptive of some
of the most famous Breeds, known
in Great Britain, where great pains
have been taken to improve the
different races of this valuable ani-
mal.
1. The Short-horned, some-
times called the Dutch breed. The
different families of this race are
distinguished by the names of the
Holderness, the Teeswater, the
Yorkshire, Durham, Northumber-
land, and other breeds. The Tees-
water breed from the head of the
vale of York, and the banks of the
Tees is in the highest estimation.
The bone, head, and neck of these
cattle are fine, the hide very thin,
the chine full, the loin broad, and
the carcase throughout large, and
well fashioned; and the flush and
fatting quality equal, or perhaps
superior to those of any other large
breed. The cows give a greater
72
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tation.
eye, and the muzzle of the same
colour; fine in the bone, clean in
the neck, horns of a medium
length bent upwards, thin faced
and fine in the chops, wide in the
hips, a tolerable barrel, but rather
flat on the sides; tail small and
set on very high; they are thin
skinned, and silky in handling, feed
at an early age, or arrive at matu-
quantity of milk than any other
cattle, each yielding 24 quarts a
day, and three firkins of butter in
the grass season. Their colours
are varied, generally red and white
mixed. A bull of this species was
imported in 1817, by Stephen Wil-
liams, Esq. of Northborough, Mass.
received from his brother, Charles
Williams, Esq. of London, and is
said to have cost five hundred dol-rity sooner than most other
lars, besides expenses of transpor- breeds." (Culley on Live Stock,
p. 51.) Oxen of this breed are
2. The Long-horned, or Lan- most proper for the yoke. It is
cashire Breed. Distinguished for said that the common cattle of this
the length of their horns, the thick-country most nearly resemble this
ness, and firm texture of their breed.
hides, the length and closeness of
their hair, the large size of their
hoofs, and coarse leathery thick
necks. Deeper in their fore-quar-
ters, and lighter in their hind
quarters than most other breeds.
They give less milk, but of richer
quality than some others. Their
colours are various; but they have
in general a white streak along
their backs, and mostly a white spot
on the inside of the hoof. The
improved breed of Leicestershire
was commenced by Mr. Webster,
and afterwards farther improved
by Mr. Bakewell, of Dishley.
4. The Sussex, and Hereford-
shire cattle are of a deep red co-
lour, with fine hair, and very thin
hides; neck and head clean; horns
neither long nor short; rather
turning up at the points; well
made in the hind quarters, wide
across the hips, rump and sirloin,
but narrow in the chine, tolerably
straight along the back; ribs too
flat; thin in the thigh; and bone
not large. They are next in size
to the Yorkshire short horus, and
are very useful as dairy stock.
5. The Polled or hornless breeds.
The most numerous and esteemed
variety is the Galloway breed, so
called from the province of that
name. The true Galloway bul-
lock" is straight and broad on the
back, and nearly level from the
head to the rump; broad at the
loins, not, however, with hooked
3. The Middle-horned breeds
comprehend several local varie-
ties, of which the most noted are
the Devons, the Sussexes, and the
Herefords. These cattle are the
most esteemed of all the English
breeds. The Devons, or Devon-
shire cattle are of a high red co-bones, or projecting knobs, so that
lour (if any white spots, they reck-
on the breed impure, particularly
if those spots run into one another,)
with a light-dun ring round the
when viewed from above, the
whole body appears beautifully
rounded, like the the longitudinal
section of a roller. He is long in
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73
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រ
CHAFF for FEEDING HOR-
SES. Mr. Thomas Williamson
in a communication to the Bath
Society on the use of chaff, or cut
hay for feeding horses, remarks,
that "one hundred weight of hay
was found to yield 20 bushels of
chaff pressed into the measure and
piled as high as it could safely be
carried; consequently each bush-
the quarters, but not broad in the
twist. He is deep in the chest,short
in the leg, and moderately fine in
the bone, clean in the chop and in
the neck. His head is of a mod-
erate size, with large rough ears,
and full, but not prominent eyes or
heavy eye-brows. His well pro-
portioned form is clothed with a
loose and mellow skin adorned
with soft glossy hair. The pre-el weighed about 5 lbs. It was
vailing colour is black or dark- found that five horses would eat
brindled, and though they are oc- twelve bushels of chaff in 24 hours,
casionally found of every colour, and that somewhat more than half
the dark colours are uniformly pre- their usual quantity of food was
ferred, from a belief that they are saved by having it cut."
connected with superior hardiness
of constitution. The Galloways
are rather under-sized, not very
different from the size of the De-
vons, but as much less than the
long-horns, as the long-horns are
less than the short-horns.
Mr. Benjamin Hale, proprietor
of a line of stages running between
Newburyport and Boston, has giv-
en a statement, published in the
Massachusetts Agricultural Reposi-
tory, vol. 10, p. 400, by which it
appears that the total saving in
using Hotchkiss's Straw Cutter
nine months, viz. at Newburyport
four months, and at Salem five, in
the years 1816-17 was $780,97.
CHANGE of CROPS, a meth-
od of cultivating different sorts of
vegetables in succession, on the
same piece of ground, with a view
to make tillage lands more profita-
ble in the long run; and, at the
same time, to prevent exhausting
them of their strength.
6. Argyleshire breed, or Kyloes.
A bull of the Kyloe breed should
be of a middle size, black, dark, or
reddish brown, without any white
or yellow spots. His head should
be rather small, his muzzle fine, his
horns equable, not very thick, of a
clear green and waxy tinge; his
general appearance should com-
bine agility, vivacity and strength;
and his hair should be glossy, thick
and vigorous, indicating a sound
constitution, and perfect health." Those who believe that the food
Bulls of this description have been of different plants is different, can-
valued at upwards of 200 guineas. not but look on the changing of
For a further description of the crops as a matter of essential im-
most noted English breeds of cat-portance. For, on their hypothe-
tle, see The Complete Grazier; sis, land which is worn out with
Supplement to the third edition of one sort of vegetables, may be in
The Encyclopædia Britannica. good order to produce a large crop
Art. Agriculture, and the Farmer's of another sort. But there are
Cyclopedia.
other reasons for the changing of
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crops, which are more substantial,
being founded in undoubted fact,
and proved by experience.
a loose sandy soil, used for grain,
this will often be the case: So
that part of the manure laid on it
will be entirely lost, unless a crop
of tap rooted plants should over-
take it in its descent.
Preventing the prevalence of
weeds is another good reason for
the changing of crops. Weeds
will so increase, especially in old
farms, as almost to spoil a crop,
unless a hoed crop intervene to
check them once in two or three
years. And a green hoed crop helps
to prepare land for producing other
crops, by enriching it. The weeds,
which are several times cut to pie-
Some plants are known to im-
poverish land much faster than
others: Such as Indian corn, flax,
hemp, &c. And it would not be
a prudent method to scourge a
piece of land, with such crops,year
after year, till its strength were all
exhausted. For it has been justly
observed, that it is easier and
cheaper to keep land in heart, than
to restore it after it is worn out.-
It is advisable, therefore, in gen-
eral, to take but one crop of flax
from a piece of land; and not more
than two of Indian corn, in succes-ces, and hoed into the soil, during
sion; nor indeed more than one,
unless abundance of manure be
applied.
Again, some plants take the
principal part of their nourishment
near the surface of the soil, and
others draw it from a greater
depth: And a regard must be had
to this in choosing a rotation of
crops. For it will be found that
after land has been much worn by
plants, the roots of which chiefly
consist of either long or short later-
al fibres, it will be in good order
to produce plants which are tap
rooted. Clover, for instance, will
grow rank and good, on a spot
which will not answer for wheat,
barley, or oats. The clover will
draw its principal nourishment from
those parts of the soil, to which the
roots of preceding crops have not
reached. And if grounds have been
dunged for several years, the nutri-
tive particles of the dung may have
penetrated deeper into the soil
than any roots have reached. In
a summer, answer much the same
end as green dressings: And by
keeping the soil loose,the enriching
particles floating in the atmosphere,
are plentifully imbibed. See Ro-
tation of Crops.
Also, a change of crops, judi-
ciously managed, supersedes the
necessity of fallowing, which is no
small advantage. Instead of an
expensive resting of the soil,during
a year of fallow, land may yield an
unintermitting profit to the owner.
Wheat land, for instance, may be
recruited, and cleared of its weeds,
by a crop of beans, or potatoes, as
effectually as by fallowing. If
such a crop only pay the cost of
culture, it may be considered as
gain.
What particular routine of crops
is best, is not easy to determine.
Green and white crops, alternate-
ly, are in general recommended.
I suppose one course may be best
in one county, and another in an-
other. In the county of Bristol,
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Massachusetts, it is called good
husbandry, to plant Indian corn
the first year after ground is
broken up; to sow rye, wheat,
oats, or barley, the second year;
and lay it down with clover. Af-
ter two or three crops of clover are
taken off, the land is broken up
again, and managed as before.
is no new doctrine among farmers.
"Repeated observations convin-
ced the Romans, that besides the
alternate resting of the land, wheat
may, as Pliny observes, be sown
after lupines, vetches, beans, or
any other plant which has the
quality of fertilizing and enriching
the soil. A judicious change of
crops is of great importance in the
common tillage husbandry, as it
enables the farmers to save the ex-
pence and loss of a crop, in the
fallow year; and to conquer his
great enemies, the weeds, by at-
But in the counties of Cum-
berland and Lincoln, in Maine,
this course would not answer so
well. Indian corn is not found
to be the most beneficial crop
for the first year, in this climate.
It will be backward, and in dan-tacking them at different seasons
ger of not ripening well, un-
less it be on a sandy spot, with a
southern exposure. And when land
is broken up, it will not be subdu-
ed enough to lay down for grass so
soon as the third year, on account
of the toughness of the sward.-
But when laid down, it may lie six
or seven years before it will need
breaking up again; for the lands
are so natural to grass, that the
crops will continue to be good.
of the year, and in different peri-
ods of their growth; especially
when the intermediate crops are
hoed, as those of pease and beans ;
for the repeated hoeings, not only
destroy the weeds, but also very
much enrich the land. The benefit
of changing crops appears to arise
from these circumstances, rather
than from any different food that
the several crops are supposed to
extract from the soil." Complete
Farmer.
An eligible course of crops in
these northern counties may be,
CHANGE OF SEEDS. One
pease, oats, or potatoes, the first of the most important, and still un-
year; Indian corn, much dunged, settled questions is, whether fre-
the second; barley, or rye, the quent and regular changes of seed,
third; and the fourth, herdsgrass from different soils, climates, and
and clover mixed, and so on to the fields,are necessary, or at least im-
tenth. As the clover diminishes, portant for the attainment of good
the herdsgrass will increase, which crops. While some contend that
is a more valuable grass for fod- such changes are necessary, and
der. But every judicious farmer proceed to assign certain philoso-
must judge for himself in these phical reasons, which are much
matters. Soils differ so greatly, less satisfactory than a very few
even in fields which lie contiguous, examples would be ; others, among
that the course of crops which is whom might be mentioned the de-
suitable for one, would be unsuita-servedly celebrated Mr. Cooper,
ble for another. Change of crops of New-Jersey, maintain that no
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such changes are either necessary
or expedient; that seed may not
only be sown in the same land in-
definitely as to time, and without
any deterioration of the quantity or
quality of the crops, but that they
will improve, provided a careful
selection is made of the plants re-
served for seed, and provided the
earliest ripe, and fairest, and in all
particulars the best, are uniformly
and carefully selected. It is proba-
ble that both these parties are par-
tially right. It is possible that some
plants may require a change of
soil oftener than others. It seems
to be the nearly universal opinion,
founded on such a variety of facts,
and remarked during so long a pe-
riod, that it may be considered set-
tled, that different plants require
different qualities of food; that the
soil may become exhausted of the
particular species of food requisite
for one, while it may abound in
matter suited to the healthy and
vigorous growth of another descrip-
tion of plants. The yearly course
of nature, open to the eyes of eve-
ry intelligent man, proves this.-
Plant after plant succeeds sponta-
neously, and when lands, by over-
cropping, and neglect, refuse to
yield any vegetable, useful to man
or animals, they will still enable
noxious or useless weeds to sustain
themselves,and when all others are
gone, the mosses, and mushroom
tribes will vigorously flourish. It is
probable, therefore, that a change
of seeds from one part of a farm to
another, may be useful; but it is
not so easy to see why transplanta-
tion of seeds from one climate to
another should be useful, unless
the climate from which the seeds
were obtained, was not so conge-
nial to them as the one to which
they are transferred. Our own
experience,after twenty years care-
ful examination and enquiry, leads
us to believe that there is no ad-
vantage in a change of climate,but
on the contrary that plants resist
such changes, and suffer by them.
The same remark applies to dif
ferent soils. It is certainly true,
no truth is more settled, than that
almost every plant flourishes better
in one particular species of soil than
in any other. But happily they
will submit to great changes, and
acquire new habits; and with the
aid of more, and judicious observa-
tion and treatment they may be
made to flourish very well in a soil
not naturally adapted to them.-
But it is not easy to see any ad-
vantage in seeking the seeds of a
vegetable raised in an uncongenial
soil, to introduce it into a congeni-
al one.
It would seem to be wiser
in this case to prefer the seeds
grown upon soils and in climates
which were congenial to them.-
On the other hand, if we were
about to propagate a plant in a soil
and climate not congenial or natu-
ral to it, we should prefer the seed
or the root, which had been long
since transplanted into the uncon-
genial soil and climate, and had by
slow degrees been naturalized
there. For example, if we were
to attempt to grow cotton in New-
England, we should take the seed
from the utmost northern verge of
its present growth rather than from
Louisiana. Sir Joseph Banks has
some admirable remarks on the
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subject of acclimating plants, and
shews that plants, which one cen-
tury since were treated as tender
exotics in England, now openly
brave their winter frosts.
South America, at the foot of their
highest mountains, and but little
below the region of perpetual
snows. It is certain that the pota-
toe loves moisture, and is rapidly
checked by extreme heat and
drought.
plantation from a colder and more
moist climate to a more southern
and drier one, and on the other
hand is improved by transplanta-
tion from a southern one to a more
On the whole, as a practical rule, northern climate, may be account-
we should say that Mr. Cooper's is ed for from the fact, that its natural
the best general one; and that is indigenous location, the one in
to select with great care, the bes which it was first found, and has
part of your own seeds and roots, recently been discovered in a na-
for future cultivation. This rule istural state, is the elevated lands of
within the power of every farmer to
apply-but in an extended scale it
is not practicable for farmers gen-
erally to change their seeds either
annually, or even every few years.
This must be left to speculative
and more opulent cultivators, and
when they have succeeded after On the other hand the Indian
several years trial, the effects of corn will not bear transplantation
their efforts will be felt and enjoy from a southern to a northern cli-
ed throughout the whole country. mate. It is familiar to us all, that
If they fail, the loss is their own, the flat corn of Carolina, though it
and they are able to sustain it. will grow to a great size with us,
We would, however, observe,from will never ripen its seed, but with
the result of 20 year's experience, great precaution, and then but im-
that it is highly inexpedient to perfectly. The flint corn of Cuba
transplant seeds or plants from a will not even form its ears in our
high northern to a southern cli- climate. The same remark ap-
mate, and the reverse. The pota-plies to wheat. It has been prov-
toes of Great Britain and Ireland,
and even of Nova Scotia, do not
succeed generally with us.
Some
exceptions may be made to the
rule, but they are rare. The po-
tatoe,taken from the south, appears
to do better transplanted to the
north. The River Plate, or long
potatoe, has done admirably well,
though the fact that it originally
came from South America is by no
means settled on good evidence.
This fact, if it be settled, which
we believe it to be, that the po-
tatoe is not improved by trans-
ed by experiments so numerous as
to put the question at rest, that
wheat from southern climates,
though it will grow vigorously at
first, will not come to perfection.
The only exception we have yet
heard of is 'that of the wheat of
Leghorn used by the Italians in
the manufacture of straw bonnets.
This has succeeded in one or two
instances, but these are not suffi-
cient to enable us to pronounce it
to be an exception from a general
rule.
It is confidently affirmed that flax-
78
CHA
CHA
seed constitutes an exception, and
that it uniformly is improved by
change. It may be so; it is im-
portant that this should be tested
by frequent trials-but we believe
that the best general rule is to se-
lect our best seeds and roots, or to
buy them of our successful neigh-
bours, rather than to rely on foreign
productions.
attract it, and partly into the air,
by the action of the sun upon it.-
Autumn is, on several accounts, the
best season for laying on coal
dust; and I would recommend it
to all who have bottoms of kilns,to
make this use of the dust.
I have been confirmed in my
opinion, by reading in the Complete
Farmer as follows: "The dust of
charcoal has been found, by re-
benefit to land, especially to such
as is stiff and sour. It is to be used
in the same manner as soot and
wood ashes."
CHARCOAL, wood charred, or
burnt with a slow, smothered fire.peated experience, to be of great
The making of charcoal is a busi-
ness mostly performed by farmers.
And in clearing new lands, making
their wood into coals is better than
burning it to waste, unless the dis-
tance of a market for coals be too
great. One cord of wood will
make forty bushels of coals: And
those farmers who are not distant
from populous towns, or who are
near iron works, may turn their
coals to considerable profit.
I have long observed, that where
coal kilns have been burnt, the
ground has discovered a remarka-
ble fertility for many years after;
and more especially when it has
been naturally a cold and wet soil.
The dust of the coals and that of
the burnt turf, have conspired to
produce this effect. Hence I have
concluded that small coals, or the
dust from coal kilns, spread over
sour meadow lands, would answer
the end of a good manure. Being
extremely porous, the pieces of
coal imbibe much of the superflu-
ous water, as well as increase the
heat on the surface, as all black
substances do. And when the
weather becomes dry, they dis-
charge the moisture, partly into the
soil when it grows dry enough to
All sorts of glass vessels, and oth-
er utensils, may be purified from
long retained smells of every kind,
in the easiest and most perfect
manner, by rinsing them out well
with charcoal powder, after the
grosser impurities have been scour-
ed off, with sand and pot-ash. Pu-
trid water is immediately deprived
of its offensive smell by charcoal.
Meat which has been kept too
long in summer, may be deprived
of its bad smell, by throwing into
the pot in which it is cooked just
before it begins to boil, a quantity
of live coals destitute of smoke;
after a few minutes the water
should be changed, and if necessa-
ry the operation may be repeated.
See the article Meat.
For a further account of the use
of coal in agriculture, see Massa-
chusetts Agricultural Repository,
vol. III. pages 18, 19.
CHARLOCK, Sinapis, a well
known and troublesome weed. It
is known also by the names chad-
lock, catlock, carlock, and white
rape. It is similar to radish. The
CHE
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19979
young plants so nearly resemble
turnips, that they are scarcely dis-
tinguishable, unless it be by the
taste. Mortimer mentions a field
of barley, mowed when the char-
lock was in blossom, which took
off only the tops of the blades of
barley; and which gave the bar-
ley an opportunity to get above
the weeds, and so it produced a
good crop.
He supposes cow
dung increases it more than any
other manure: And recommends
feeding fallows with sheep when
they are infested with this weed.
It is well known that sheep will
eat this weed rather than turnips.
The seeds will live in the earth
mány years, and afterwards
tate by means of tillage.
thick,
wholly made of milk deprived of its
cream. This kind is tough, and
hard to digest; and containing on-
ly the glutinous part of the milk, it
affords little nourishment, and is
scarcely worth making.
Grain should be sown
where there is danger of its being
injured by charlock, so that the
crop may overtop the weeds.-
Barley sown thick will certainly
prosper in such a situation.
The method of making cheese,
in Yorkshire in England, is as fol-
lows." If your milk be not just
come from the cows, make it blood
warm, turn it into a clean vessel
for the purpose, and put in the ren-
net; be sure to give it no more
than what will make it come light-
ly. After it comes, stir it with
your hand, till it be gathered, and
parted from the whey. Then take
the curd up in a strainer,and work
vege-it with your hands, till you get as
much of the whey from it as possi-
ble: Then lay it in a clean linen
cloth, and put it into the hoop:
After it is lightly covered with the
cloth, put it into the press: Let it
stand in the press two hours; take
it out, and the cloth from it, and
rub it over with fine salt: Put it
in a dry cloth, and press it eight
hours: Then put it in another
cloth, and let it remain in the press
till your next cheese be ready.-
When you take it out, rub it well
with salt, and wrap the round ring
of the cheese with a garter made
of linen yarn, and pin it at the end,
which keeps the cheese in a good
shape: Then let it lie in brine
twenty-four hours. Add a little
salt to your brine every time you
put in a new cheese. When you
find the brine turning unsavoury,
make new brine; and turn the
cheese in the brine vat twice in
twenty-four hours, always rubbing
a little salt on the top of it when it
CHEESE, a sort of food made
of milk, purged of the serum, or
whey, and dried for use.
Some cheeses are wholly made
of unskimmed milk, which are cal-
led new milk cheeses,although part
of the milk be kept over night, or
longer. These cheeses, as any
one would expect, are the fattest,
and most valuable.
Another sort are called two meal
cheeses, being made of the morn-
ing's milk unskimmed, together
with the evening's milk skimmed.
These, when well made, without
the mixture of any sour milk, are
not much inferior in quality to new
milk cheeses.
The third sort of cheeses are
80
CHE
CHE
is turned. When you take it out
of the brine, dry it with a cloth;
and turn it every day on the shelf
for two months. The shelf should
be a little wider than the cheeses,
and the garters should continue |
round them five or six days."
A dairy woman in my neigh.
bourhood, whose cheese is most
excellent, is nearly in the York-
shire practice. But lest the salt
should not penetrate the whole of
the cheese equally in every part,
she sprinkles a little fine salt on
the curd, when she breaks it, per-
haps as much as an ounce to a
cheese of fifteen pounds weight;
and her cheeses never appear to
be too much salted.
•
This may be partly owing to an-
other improvement in her method.
To the brine, in which she lays a
cheese after it is pressed, she al-
lows as much nitre as would lie on
a shilling. She has found, by long
experience, that the nitre not only
gives a reddish cast to the rind of
the cheese, but makes it more ten-
der after it is thoroughly dried. It
also prevents the cracking of the
rind, which is a matter of much
consequence. At the same time
it prevents the distention of the
cheese by wind, makes it mellow
and soft throughout, and improves
the taste.
But it is in vain to attempt the
making of good cheese, unless the
rennet be uncorrupted, and per-
fectly sweet. See the Article, Ren-
net.
In this country, where the sum-
mers are hot, and flies abound,
cheeses are often destroyed, or
greatly damaged, by maggots. To
prevent this, every precaution
ought to be taken to prevent fly
blows getting into a cheese while
it is making. For it is certain that
cheeses will sometimes prove mag-
gotty, which could not have been
fly blown after they were made.
To prevent this evil, the milking
pails, the cheese tub, &c. should
be kept in dark places till the mo-
ment they are used, after being
dried before a hot fire. And if
the milk stand any time, or more
than during one night, the room it
stands in should be dark: Because
flies are not apt to lay their eggs
in dark places.
After cheeses are made, they will
sometimes have little flaws in them,
or cracks in drying, which the flies
will be fond of depositing their eggs
in. To prevent this, the cheeses
should be smeared with a little tar
mixed with salt butter: Or the
cracks may be filled with a soft
paste of flour as often as they ap-
pear.
But all this precaution will be
apt to prove insufficient, unless the
cheeses be dried in a dark room.
As flies do not frequent dark pla-
ces, cheeses dried in a dark room
may be full of cracks, and yet es-
cape maggots.
Some persons choose to medi-
cate their cheeses with the juice of
some wholesome plant, as sage,
baum, mint, tansy, pennyroyal, &c.
which they put into the curd. But
I think this is no real improvement.
To give cheese the hue of that
which is made in Glocestershire in
England, a little of the annotto
may be put into the milk.
The following method of cheese
4..
CHE
31
CHE
making is recommended in the]
Massachusetts Agricultural Reposi-
tory, vol. III. p. 52. The milk is
universally set for cheese as soon
as it comes from the cow.
The management of the curd
depends on the kind of cheese:
thin cheese requires the least la-
bour and attention.
it with cold water produces a simi-
lar effect. The degree of heat is
varied according to the weather.
The curd, when formed is broken
with what is called a triple cheese
knife. The use of this is to keep
the fat in the cheese; it is drawn
the depth of the curd two or three
times across the tub, to give the
whey an opportunity of running off
clear ; after a few minutes the
knife is more freely used, and the
curd is cut into small pieces like
chequers, and is broken fine in the
whey with the hand and a wooden
dish. The curd being allowed
about half an hour to settle, the
whey is laded off with the dish, af-
ter it is pretty well separated from
the curd.
Breaking the curd is done with
the hand and dish. The finer the
curd is broken the better, particu-
larly in thick cheeses. The best
colour of this kind of cheese is that
of bees-wax, which is produced by
annotto, rubbed into the milk after
it is warmed. The dairy woman
is to judge of the quantity by the
colour of the milk, as it differs
much in strength. The rennet is
prepared, by taking some whey
It is almost an invariable prac-
and salting it till it will bear an tice to scald the curd. The mass
egg; it is then suffered to stand is first broken very fine, and then
over night, and in the morning it is the scalding whey is added to it,
skimmed and racked off clear; to and stirred a few minutes ; some
this is added an equal quantity of make use of hot water in prefer-
water brine, strong as the whey, ence to whey, and it is in both ca-
and to this mixture, some sweet ses treated according to the nature
briar, thyme, or some other sweet of the curd; if it is soft the whey
herbs, also a little black pepper or water is used nearly boiling; but
and salt petre; the herbs are kept if hard, it is used only a little hot-
in the brine three or four days, af- ter than the hand. After the curd
ter which it is decanted clear from is thoroughly mixed with the hot
them. Into six quarts of this stuff, it is suffered to stand a few
liquor four large calves' bags, or minutes to settle, and is then sepa-
more properly called calves' stom-rated as at the first operation. Af-
achs, are put. No part of the pre-
paration is heated, and frequently
the calves' bags are only steeped
in cold salt and water. Turning
the milk differs in different dairies,
no two dairy women conduct ex-
actly alike.
Setting the milk too hot inclines
the cheese to heave, and cooling
ter the scalding liquor is separated,
a vat, or what is often called a
cheese hoop, is laid across the
cheese ladder over the tub,and the
curd is crumbled into it with the
hands and pressed into the vat, to
squeeze out the whey. The vat
being filled as full and firmly as the
| hand alone can fill it, and rounded.
11
82
CHE
CHE
up in the middle, a cheese cloth is | They are then taken out and scra-
spread over it and the curd is turn-ped with a common case-knife,with
ed out of the hoop into the cloth; great care so as not to injure the
the vat is then washed, and the in- tender rind, till every part of the
verted mass of curd, with the cloth cheese is smooth; they are after
under it, is returned into the vat the last operation rinsed in the
and put into the press; after stand-whey and wiped clean with a coarse
ing two or three hours in the press, cloth, and placed in an airy situa-
the vat is taken out and the cloth tion to dry, after which they are
is taken off, washed, and put round placed in the cheese room. The
the cheese, and it is replaced in floor of the cheese room is gener-
the vat and in the press. In about ally prepared by rubbing it with
seven or eight hours it is taken out bean or potatoe tops, or any suc-
of the press and salted, the cheese culent herb,till it appears of a black
is placed on a board, and an hand-wet colour; on this floor the
ful of salt is rubbed all over it, and cheeses are placed, and are turned
the edges are pared off if necessa- twice a week, their edges are wip-
ry; another handful of salt is strew-ed hard with a cloth once a week,
ed on the upper side, and as much and the floor is cleansed and rub-
left as will stick to it; afterwards bed with fresh herbs once a fort-
it is turned into the bare vat with- night. They must not lie too long
out a cloth, and an equal quantity or they will stick to the floor.-
of salt is added to it, and the This preparation of the floor gives
cheese is returned into the press; the cheese a blue coat, which is
where it continues one night, and always considered as of great con-
the next morning it is turned in sequence.
the vat, and continues till the suc-
ceeding morning, and is taken out
and placed on the dairy shelf;
where they are turned every day
or every other day, as the weather
may be. If it is hot and dry, the
windows and door are kept shut,
but if wet or moist, the door and
windows are kept open night and
day.
Stilton Cheese, how made. Take
the night's cream and put it to the
morning's new milk with the ren-
net; when the curd is come, it is
not to be broken, as is done in oth-
er cheeses, but is to be taken out
of the whey as whole as possible
with a large dish, and placed in a
sieve to drain gradually, and as it
drains keep pressing it gently till it
becomes dry and firm; then place
it in a wooden hoop, afterwards
to be kept dry on boards,and turn-
Cleaning the Cheese. The cheeses
having remained about ten days af-
ter leaving the press, are to be
washed and scraped in the follow-ed frequently with cloth binders
ing manner; a large tub of cold
sweet whey placed on the floor,the
cheeses are immerged in it, where
they continue one hour or longer if
necessary, to soften the rind.
round it, which are to be tightened
as occasion requires; these cloths
are kept on, but often shifted for
clean ones, till the cheese acquires
firmness enough to support itself;
CHU
83
CHU
after which it must be rubbed twice
every day with a brush for two or
three months.
Cheese, Skippers in. Wrap the
cheese in thin brown paper,so that
moisture may strike through soon;
dig a hole in good sweet earth
about two feet deep, in which the
cheese, must be buried 36 hours,
and the skippers will be found on
the outside of the cheese, brush
them off immediately, and you will
find your cheese sound and good.
To prevent skippers, take a pod
of red pepper, and put it into a
piece of fine linen, moisten it with
a little butter, and rub your cheese
frequently. Mass. Agr. Rep. vol.
, p. 314.
To prevent Cheese from having a
rancid nauseous flavour.
Put about one table-spoonful of
salt to each gallon of milk when
taken from the cows in the eve-
ning, for the cheese to be made the
next day; put the salt at the bot-
tom of the vessel that is to receive
the milk; it will increase the curd
and prevent the milk from growing
sour or putrid the hottest nights in
the summer. For further direc-
For further direc-
tions relative to making cheese,
see Mass. Agr. Rep. vol. V. p.
201, 203.
CHICK WEED, the same as Al-
sine, a tender creeping weed,often
troublesome in old gardens, and
which grows luxuriantly in shady
places. Swine will feed upon it
when they are hungry.
CHURN, a wooden vessel, in
which butter is produced by churn-
ing. It is broad at the bottom,and
narrow at the top, to prevent the
contents from coming out at the top
But the
during the agitation.
shape does not perfectly answer
this design.
Churns are commonly made of
pine. But when they are new,
they give the butter a taste of the
wood; so that oak is generally pre-
ferred. The hoops are of ash,and
should be made very smooth and
regular, that the vessel may be
easily cleaned and kept sweet.
But on great farms, and where
the dairies are large, the barrel-
churn is to be preferred. Its name
gives the idea of its shape; and
when it equals a barrel in size it
can be easily managed. On each
head of it is an iron spindle, and on
each spindle a winch, by which the
vessel is turned on a horse made
for the purpose. A much greater
quantity of cream, or milk, may be
churned in this than in the common
churn; and the labour is easier.
There are two boards within this
churn on each side of the centre,
like shelves, which serve to agitate
the cream.
The aperture in the barrel churn
ought to be five or six inches square,
to which a stopper must be exact-
ly fitted, which must be kept in its
place by a bar of iron across it,
held fast by staples.
A great variety of churns have
been contrived for the purpose of
facilitating the process, (often a
very tedious one) of making but-
ter. Our limits will not permit
descriptions of these machines ac-
companied with such drawings as
would be necessary to make them
intelligible. We shall therefore
inform our readers where such de-
scriptions may be found ; and would
84
CHU
advise any person, who proposes
introduce any machine of the sort,
to consult the books to which we
refer, to ascertain whether his in-
vention contains any meritorious
novelty.
Mr. William Bowler invented
an improved churn, for which the
Society for the Encouragement of
Arts, Manufactures and Commerce,
in England, gave him thirty guin-
eas. This is described with draw-
ings, in the Domestic Encyclopæ-
dia, 3d American edition, vol. I. p.
462.
Wright's Churn, described in the
same volume and the same page,
and made by Wright & Co. of
Philadelphia.
CID
to the operator. Children can use
it. The principal specific im-
provement in this machine, is the
Pendent Swing Dasher.
A churn invented by Mr. An-
drew Halliburton, of Portsmouth,
N.H. is described and recommend-
ed in the Massachusetts Agricul-
tural Repository, p. 164.
An improvement in the dasher
of the common churn has been
made by a Mr. Fisher, in England,
who obtained a premium for his
discovery. The dasher turns on
the handle by being fixed to it by a
pivot. The dasher is two cross
pieces, about three inches square,
put together by being let into each
other, which then form four wings.
These are cut bevelling on each
grees, so that they stand diagonal-
ly; the whole being very similar
to the little wind-mills, (so called)
which are set up on poles to be
turned by the wind.
As this dasher goes down in the
milk or cream, it turns one way,
and as it comes up, the other. It is
so efficacious, that the churning
must be performed moderately, or
the butter will come too soon, and
be swelted, as it is technically cal-
led by some.
The Rev. Mr. Willmarth, of
Wilton, N. H. has invented a Pa-side, at an angle of forty-five de-
tent Churning Machine, which has
been thus described. The body
of the churn is square at the bot-
tom-two opposite sides are per-
pendicular. The other two oppo-
site sides converge or incline to-
wards the top. The dasher con-
sists of two arms, hung on pivots or
pins, on each perpendicular side of
the churn, which projecting down,
almost to the bottom, have insert-
ed between them a number of flats,
or thin pieces of wood. On the top
of these arms are framed two levers
at the centre, so as to project ho-
rizontally each way, and connect-
ed at each end with rounds. The
dasher moves or vibrates in a man-
ner similar to that of the patent
washing machine. By this means,
a powerful force is mechanically
applied to the cream, uniformly
straining and agitating the whole,
at every vibration, with great ease
Oak is said to be better for
churns than pine, as the latter
gives something of its taste to the
butter.
CIDER. In making cider see
that the mill, the press, and all the
materials be sweet and clean, and
the straw free from must. The
fruit should be ripe, but not rotten,
and when the apples are ground, if
the juice is left in the pomace from
CID
85
CID
12 to 24 hours according to the
heat of the weather, the cider will
be the richer, softer, and higher
coloured. The fruit should be all
of one kind, as the fermentation
will be more regular. The juice
of the fruit as it comes from the
press should be placed in open
headed casks or vats; in this situ-
ation, it is likely to undergo a pro-
per fermentation, and the person
attending may with great correct-
ness ascertain when the first fer-
mentation ceases; this is of great
importance, and must be particu-
larly attended to. The fermenta-
tion is attended with a hissing noise,
bubbles rising to the surface, and
its forming a soft spungy crust over
the surface of the liquor. When
this crust begins to crack, and a
white froth appears in the cracks
level with the surface of the head,
the fermentation is about stopping.
At this time the liquor is in the fine
genuine clear state, and must be
drawn off immediately into clean
casks; and this is the time to fu-
migate it with sulphur. To do
this, take a strip of canvas, or rag,
about two inches broad, and twelve
inches long-dip this into melted
sulphur, and when a few pails of
worked cider are put into the cask,
set this match on fire, and hold it
in the cask till it is consumed,then
bung the cask, and shake it that
the liquor may incorporate with,
and retain the fumes; after this
fill the cask and bung it up.
When the apples are gathered,
they should be put for some time
in piles, and sorted before they
are pressed. The first runnings of
the press should be kept separate,
being of a superior quality of cider.
When cider is moved it must be
racked off into other casks, that
the lees may not mix with the ci-
der. The later apples bang on the
trees, the more spirit the cider will
contain.
When casks have a sour smell,
put in about a pint of unslacked
lime for a barrel of common size,
and pour in three or four gallons
of hot water; shake it well, giving
it vent; let it stand till cool, and
then rinse with cold water. Re-
peat the operation till the cask
smells perfectly sweet. Wood
ashes might perhaps answer as a
substitute for lime.
The juice of fruit will undergo
three fermentations, the vinous, the
acid, and the putrid. The first
fermentation is the only one which
cider should undergo. To preserve
it in this state, as soon as the first
fermentation ceases, which may be
known by the liquor ceasing to
throw up little bubbles to the top,
draw off and fumigate the liquor
with sulphur as before directed.-
After this you may further improve
it by adding a gallon of French
brandy to each barrel.
If the cider should require fur-
ther clarifying, it may be perform-
ed with eggs, skim milk, molasses,
or isinglass.
Mr. Joseph Cooper, of New-
Jersey, published an article in the
True American, relative to fining
cider, by which it appears that the
jelly made from bullock's feet will
answer the purpose. It should be
warmed, and mixed with a little of
the cider intended to be fined, then
strained, and when cold put into
86
CLA
CLA
the vessel which contains the rest,
and stirred till thoroughly incorpo-
rated.
“To refine cider and give it a
fine amber colour, the following
method is much approved of. Take
the whites of six eggs, with a hand-
ful of fine beach sand, washed
clean; stir them well together;
then boil a quart of molasses down
to a candy, and cool it by pouring
in cider, and put this together with
the eggs and sand, into a barrel of
cider, and mix the whole together.
When thus managed, it will keep
for many years. A piece of fresh
bloody meat put into the cask, will
also refine the cider and serve for
it to feed on.
"To cure oily cider, take one
ounce of salt of tartar, and two and
an half of sweet spirit of nitre, in a
gallon of milk for a hogshead. To
cure ropy cider take six pounds of
powdered allum, and stir it into a
hogshead; then rack it and clarify
it.
In bottling cider it is recom-
mended to raise the proof by put-
ting about two tea-spoonfuls of
French brandy into each bottle.
A dozen of sweet apples, sliced
into a cask of cider,have been found
advantageous. Three quarts of
good w heat boiled and hulled put
into each hogshead, is is said im-
proves the liquor, and prevents its
becoming tart.
For further directions on this
subject, see Massachusetts Agri-
cultural Repository, vol. IV. p.
170 to p. 189.
CLAY, a ponderous kind of
earth, consisting of fine particles,
firmly cohering when dry; and
when wet, viscid and tenacious.
It is of various colours in different
countries. But in this country it
is mostly either a dull blue, or of
the colour of ashes. In Nova
Scotia, the clay is of the colour
of a well burnt brick.
CLAY-SOIL, land which con-
sists almost wholly of clay, with
perhaps a thin surface of dark
mould over it, made by substances
which have consumed upon it.
This kind of soil abounds in the
north-eastern territories of Massa-
chusetts.
Clayey lands are apt to be very
barren in their natural state, un-
less when a summer is so divided
betwixt rain and sunshine, that
they are kept on a medium con-
tinually betwixt drought and wet-
ness, which seldom or never hap-
pens. In a wet season, plants
growing on such a soil are drown-
ed, as the closeness of the clay will
not suffer the water to soak into
the ground: And in a dry season,
the ground becomes so solid that
the roots of plants cannot pene-
trate it, some few strong feeders
excepted.
This kind of earth, however, is
thought to contain more of the
food of plants than almost any
other. But something needs to
be done to bring it into action.
The European farmers think their
clay soils the richest and most
valuable of their land. But many
of our farmers despise them, for
want of knowing what methods to
take to render them profitable;
or through fear of the labour, or
expense, of doing it.
Some of these soils, without
CLA
87
CLA
or burnt clay. I have known a
clayey spot made very fruitful,
merely by the remains of a rotten
log fence, when mixed with the
soil.
much alteration, will bear good
crops of grass, if care only be
taken not to feed them close in
autumn, nor to let cattle in upon
them in the spring. But the
farmer, who wishes to keep them When a clay soil is sanded, or
in tillage, must alter them by the any other thing laid on to open it,
admixture of such substances as it will take several ploughings and
may serve to open the soil, and harrowings to mix it, so
as to
break the cohesion of its particles. bring the land to a good consis-
When this is once accomplished, tence. As the expense of mixing
the land will become highly valua-it at once would be too great, it is
ble; holding the manure to ad- better to use it for two or three
miration, and never returning to years after, for the growing of
its pristine state.
such tillage crops as are most
Dung is helpful towards open-suitable to clayey soil, such as
ing a clayey soil, by the fermenta- barley, flax, &c. The soil will
tion it raises, as well as by the grow better year after year, till
mixture of its earthy, saline and the sand, &c. is thoroughly mixed
oily particles. But dung of itself with the soil; after which it will
will not be sufficient, unless it be fruitful forever without large
were laid on more plentifully than dressings. Hoed crops will mix
farmers can well afford. A mix-it sooner than any other method,
ture of dung and sand is found to and without any expense.
be a much better dressing for this
sort of land, than dung alone. And
if sand be not too far distant, it
would be advisable to put on a
layer of it two or three inches
thick. Beach-sand is preferable
to any other, as the saltness of it
will help to make the ground fruit-
ful. But pit-sand will do very
well; or rather, that which has
been washed down to low places
in the roads.
A small quantity of dung, each
year that it bears a hoed, or a green
crop, will be proper: And the
most suitable dungs are those of
horses and sheep, pigeons and
other fowls, which by their heat
will correct the natural coldness
of the soil.-Folding with sheep
has an excellent effect on this
kind of land.
Such a stiff soil is also mended
by frequent ploughings. The
Europeans allow three ploughings
previous to feeding, to be enough
for a free soil; but to a clayey soil
they give four or five. The
oftener it is stirred with the
In places where sand is not to
be had, the ground may be loos-
ened with other substances. Grav-
el, or light loam, from neighbour-
ing spots, may be carted upon it;
dust from saw-pits, chips and rub-plough, the more the cohesion of
bish from the back yards of houses, the particles is broken, and the
straw and stubble, swamp mud, more easily the roots of plants can
the bark of trees and rotten wood, penetrate it in search for their
88
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CLA
food. But it never should be
ploughed when it is so wet as to
potch with the feet of the cattle,
or to run like mortar. In this
condition, the more it is worked
the stiffer it will become. On
the other hand, when it is very
dry, it cannot well be ploughed,
by reason of its hardness. Suita-
ble seasons should be embraced,
for ploughing it, when it is neither
too wet nor too dry. At the first
ploughing it comes up in large
clods; but the oftener it is plough-
ed in fit times, the smaller the
clods will be, and the more fine
mould will be among them.
Exposing the clods to the sun
and air has some tendency to mel-
low the soil: But a winter furrow
is of very great advantage. The
frost does much towards breaking
the cohesion, as I have found by
experience.
Clay soil, after all the meliora-
tion that can be given thein, will
be more suitable for some plants
than for others. Those plants in
general which require a great de-
gree of heat, or a long summer,
are not so well adapted to be cul-
tivated in a clayey soil, such as
Indian corn, tobacco, &c. But it
may be made to produce good
crops of wheat, grass, barley, oats,
flax, cabbage, &c. No good eat-
ing potatoes or carrots are ever
produced in such a soil.
Fruit trees, in general, and I
think all sorts, excepting pear
trees, answer but poorly in a clayey
soil, how much soever the surface
may have been mixt with other
substances. The roots of trees
will need to draw some of their
nourishment from a part of the soil
below that which has been melio-
rated by mixing; but the com-
pactness of it will scarcely suffer
them to penetrate it.
Fallowing and green dressing
may help to pulverize a clay soil;
and sowing it frequently with pease
is recommended. Any crop that
forms a close cover for the surface
causes the soil to putrefy, breaks
the cohesion of its particles, and
prevents the ground from harden-
ing by the influence of the sun.
If a clay soil lie so flat that water
stands on it some part of the year,
it cannot be brought to a good
consistence without ploughing in
ridges, and water furrowing. The
ridges may be wider or narrower,
according to the degree of wet-
ness to which it is subject. Some-
times deep drains will be necessa-
ry to give it the needful degree of
dryness. See Soil.
CLEARING OF LAND, an
operation often necessary to be
performed in this new country,
especially in the most inland parts.
Lands which were before in a state
of nature, are said to be cleared,
when they are so freed from their
natural growth, as to become fit
for tillage, mowing, or pasture.
In those parts of the country
where wood is of little or no value,
the method of clearing upland is
as follows:-The trees are felled
in one of the summer months; the
earlier in summer the better, aş
they will have a longer time to
dry, and as the stumps will be less
apt to sprout. The trees lie till
the following spring; when the
limbs which do not lie very near
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89
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to the ground should be chopped
off, that they may burn the better.
Fire must be put to them in the
driest part of the month of May;
or if the whole of May prove wet,
it may be done to advantage in the
beginning of June. Only the bo
dies of the trees will remain after
burning, and some of them will be
burnt to pieces. Then they are to
be cut into pieces nearly of one
length, drawn together by oxen,
piled in close heaps, and burnt;
only reserving suitable trees,which
will be needed for the fencing.-
The heating of the soil so destroys
the green roots; and the ashes,
made by burning, are so beneficial
a manure to the land, that it will
produce a good crop of Indian
corn, or wheat, the same year,
without ploughing, hoeing, or ma-
nuring. Indian corn is most com-
monly the first crop; and it will
bear a good crop of winter rye the
second year, if the seed be only
hacked in with hoes in September,
before the Indian corn is harvest-
ed. After which, if grass seeds be
thrown in with the rye, the land
will be fit for pasturage, if not for
mowing. The few sprouts which
spring up from the stumps in the
first summer, should be pulled off,
and the ground is quite subdued.
But if wheat or rye be the first
crop, the ground must be well har-
rowed; once before sowing, and
once after. And it often happens
that the first and second crops pay
the farmer well for all the labour
of clearing and fencing.
It
is cer-
tain that sometimes the first crop
will do it.
The invention of this
kind of
culture has been of essential ad-
vantage to the poorer sort of peo-
ple: And it has been conducive to
bringing forward rapid settlements
in our new towns and plantations.
A farm may be thus begun in the
wilderness with little or no stock.
But those persons who are able
to do it,had better plough and har-
row their ground after burning, be-
fore they seed it. The ashes will
thus be well mixed with the soil;
and the land has always been found
to retain its fertility the longer,
when so managed.
If new land lie in such a situa-
tion, that the natural growth may
turn to better account, whether for
timber or fire wood, fencing or
charcoal, it will be an unpardona-
ble waste to burn the wood on the
ground. But if the trees be taken.
off, the land must be ploughed af-
ter clearing, or it will not produce
a crop of any kind. And some
warm kind of manure will be need-
ful, if Indian corn is planted on it.
This is the case at least in the most
northerly parts of New-England.
But rye will answer extremely
well without manure.
When new lands are destitute
of trees, and covered with oak
shrubs, the clearing is more ex-
pensive, and the first crops not so
profitable. But such lands should
not remain unsubdued, as, in their
present state, they are quite un-
profitable, and a nuisance. The
bushes should be cut with stub
scythes or axes, piled in heaps,and
burnt. After which the roots may
be subdued by goats; or ploughed
up with a strong team, the plough
being proportionably strong. Some
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90
CLO
CLI
of those spots will require a team, known that the spring is more back-
of 50 oxen to plough them. After ward and the harvest is much later
ploughing, the roots must be taken on the heights of land between
out with a strong narrow hoe, with Merrimack,Connecticut, and North
a good sharp edge.
River, than in the vallies which are
pervaded by those streams.
Other methods must be taken
for subduing low swampy lands.-
See the articles Bog, Bushes,
Draining.
CLIMATE. Climate depends
on altitude as well as latitude. Sir
John Sinclair observes, "It may be
remarked, that land in the same
parallel of latitude, other circum-
stances being nearly similar, is al-
ways more valuable in proportion
to the comparative lowness of its
situation. In the higher districts,
the quality even of the herbage is
less succulent and nourishing, and
the reproduction slower, when in
grass; while the grain is less
plump, runs more to straw, is less
perfectly ripened, and the harvest
is also later.
❤
"It has been estimated, that six-
ty yards of elevation in the land are
equal to a degree of latitude; or in
other words that sixty yards per-
pendicular higher, are in respect
of climate equal to a degree more
north." Code of Agriculture, p.
25-6, Hartford edition.
A valuable paper respecting the
difference between the climates of
Sweden, England and Massachu-
setts, as ascertained by the flower-
ing and leafing of plants may be
seen in the Massachusetts Agricul-
tural Repository, vol. IV. p. 135.
With regard to the effect of cli-
mate as relates to a change of
seeds, see Change of Seeds.
CLOG, a wooden instrument,
fastened to the neck or leg of a
beast, to prevent his leaping over,
or breaking fences. The best clog
for the fetlock of a horse,is made of
one piece of tough wood bent over
at one end. Into a notch, near
this end, a leathern strap, nailed
to the long part of the clog, is slip-
ped over the end. It may be put
on, or taken off, in an instant.
The
CLOVER, Trifolium pratense,
a species of trefoil, esteemed as an
excellent grass for the feeding of
cattle, both green and dried.
hay made of clover is more suita-
ble for horses than any other that
The above are curious facts, but this country affords. Horses kept
perhaps would not apply to all on it will fatten, even in the most
parts of the United States. In a unfavourable season of the year.-
very warm climate, where vegeta- It answers well when used as soil-
tion is liable to be scorched by ex--ing, or eaten out of racks without
cessive heat,elevation of site would drying.
doubtless prove advantageous. In
New-England, however, we are in-
clined to believe that the observa-
tions of Sir John, as it respects six-
ty yards of elevation being equal
to a degree of north latitude, might
be nearly correct. It is well
Green clover is known to be
good feeding for swine. Keeping
them in pastures, where there is
plenty of this grass, will make them
grow fast, and fatten so as to al-
most become fit for the knife. But
when they go in pastures they
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91
CLO
should have rings in their noses.
Otherwise they will root out the
clover.
Red and white clover are the only
sorts known and esteemed in this
country; as to the wild sort,or vari-
ety,with a rough leaf,it is of no con-
sequence. It is the red clover that
is of most importance for mowing.
It is a biennial grass, and if it did
not sow its own seeds, would en-
tirely run out the third year. The
white is generally too small and
short, unless when it is drawn to a
greater height by being mixed with
other grasses.
Many farmers, instead of sowing
clean seed of clover, content them-
selves with sowing chaff and dust
from the floors of their barns.-
This is a slovenly and uncertain
method, oftentimes attended with
great loss. Fowls are usually ad-
mitted into barns; and when this
is the case, none can tell how
much, or how little of the hay seed
remains among the dust: So that
the farmer who sows it, may either
over-seed his land; or, which is a
more common case, not seed it
half enough. A consequence of
which last will be, that he will
have no good crop of hay from his
sowing. He must either plough up
his land again, for the mere pur-
pose
of seeding it with grass, or let
it lie useless till the grass gradually
gets in; either of which expedi-
ents will be attended with incon-
venience and loss. I am aware
that farmers, especially those in
the northern parts of New-Eng-
land, will object, that if grass do
not get in the first year, it will the
second. But they should consid-
er that the loss of the first year's
crop is considerable. Not only so,
but it is losing the best crop that is
to be expected from a clover lay;
and the land will become bound
and weedy, before it is filled with
grass roots; so that no large crop
will be had from it afterwards, nor
any clean or unmixed crop, from
which it will answer to take clean
seed.
The quantity of seed to be sown
on an acre, according to the opi-
nions of the best European cultiva-
tors, is not six or ten as with us,
but from fifteen to twenty pounds.
By this mode of sowing it grows.
less rank, lodges less, and is more
profitable for soiling and for hay.
It is no small recommendation
of this grass, that it is adapted to a
soil, that is suitable for scarcely
any other grasses, which are culti-
vated in this country; to a soil that
is dry, light-and sandy. It does
well also on gravel and loam.
European farmers recommend
sowing it in the spring, after the
grain is up, and harrowing it in;
and they tell us the harrowing will
not damage the corn, but rather be
a service to it, when it is. either
spring or winter grain. That it
should be sowed in the spring is
granted, unless it be in countries
where there are no severe winter
frosts. The young plants, which
come up in the fall, cannot bear
the frost so well as those which
have had a whole summer to bring
them on towards maturity. Their
reason for not sowing it at the same
time as the grain it grows with, is
an apprehended danger of its grow-
ing so fast as to obstruct the growth
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92
CLO
CLO
of the grain.
But I have never
found this to be the case in fact.
Mr. Eliot recommends a differ-
ent method, which is ploughing in
the seed; which, he thinks, and
not without reason, will cause it to
bear drought the better, and be-
come the more strongly rooted. I
believe I may add, that it will be
more likely to escape in the frosts
of winter, which are so intense in
this country, as often to kill almost
whole fields of clover.
Peat ashes are said to be a very
proper dressing for clover grounds.
But this grass answers so well in
this country without manure, that
the farmers choose to set apart the
whole of the manure that they can
get for other purposes.
Some think clover is so far from
needing any manure, that it will
recruit lands which are worn out.
That it will do it more than other
grasses I cannot yet see any reason
to believe. It will bear no crop
worth mowing, on lands which are
quite exhausted. But it is proba-
ble it may produce good crops, on
lands which are much impoverish-
ed near the surface, by bearing
plants with short, fibrous, or hori-
zontal roots; because clover sends
its main roots to a great depth.-
And while a field lies several years
in clover, the soil near the surface
may be considerably recruited.--
But that land on the whole will
be in better heart, after several
heavy crops of clover are taken
from it, and no manure laid on,
seems incredible.
Writers on agriculture seem,
however, to be agreed, that a clo-
ver lay is proper for the culture of
wheat. The rotting of its large
roots and stalks may answer as a
good manure, no ways liable to
distemper the wheat, as some oth-
er manures are thought to be.
Some skilful farmers insist much
on the propriety of sowing clover-
seed with barley. I suppose it will
answer well with almost any grain
that we callEnglish. But with a crop
of pease,or with any other crop that
forms a close shade to the soil, it.
will not answer. The young plants
must have some advantage of the
sun and air, or they will not live.
And if it be sown with flax, at least
in some loose soils, the pulling of
the flax will be apt to eradicate
much of the clover. Crops which
lodge are also destructive to the
young clover, by forming so close
a cover as to stifle it. Therefore,
when clover seed is sown, either
with barley or flax, the ground
should be rather under than over
seeded, to prevent lodging.
Clover being an early grass, it is
commonly fit to cut in June.-
When half the heads are turned
from red to brown, and on the de-
cay, it is the right time to mow it.
But if the seed is to be saved for
use, it must stand till it is all dead
ripe, both heads and stalks. It re-
quires more care to make clover
into hay than most other grasses.
That which is mown in a morning,
should be spread,turned, and raked
up before night. The next day, if
the weather be fair, it must be
opened, stirred once or twice, and
cocked up again. Then, after
sweating a day or two, it may be
put into the barn. Rank clover
requires much more drying than
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93
CLO
that which is of a moderate growth.
And the hay is not so good.
tious of turning neat cattle in to
feed in a field of luxuriant green clo-
ver, for fear of their being hoven
with it, as it is called, or so swelled
by eating it greedily, as to be kil-
led by it. But this is an inconve-
nience, which I have never known.
to take place in this country. The
way to save the life of hoven beasts
is, to stab them between the hip
and the short ribs, where the swel-
ling rises highest. It is performed
with a narrow, sharp pointed knife,
which makes an orifice in the maw,
and lets out the air that oppresses.
The wound soon heals of itself.
In the most southerly parts of
New-England, land in good heart
will bear two crops of clover in a
year. Mr. Eliot, therefore, recom-
mends saving the second crop for
seed, the first crop having been
mowed early. But two crops are
not to be obtained in the northern
parts of this country. And, if they
were, so frequent a cutting would
be apt to make the roots shorter
lived. It is advisable to pasture it
in May, and then let it grow for
seed. It is best to cut clover for
seed on land that is soon to be bro-
ken up: Because a crop of seed
weakens the roots much more than
a crop of hay; and it is doubtful
whether it will bear any considera-ver seed to be sown on an acre, if
ble crop afterwards. Indeed, no
crop of clover is of any great im-
portance for hay, after the second
year. For it is a biennial plant.
The white clover,vulgarly called
honeysuckle, is an excellent grass,
and seems very natural to this coun-
try: But when sown by itself, it
does not grow tall enough for mow-
ing. It is good for feeding in pas-
tures, during the fore part of sum-
mer, at which time it often ap-
pears in great plenty.
The hop clover is new in this
country, but seems to appear not
very promising. It is said to flou-
rish on the most barren sands, and
continue long in any soil. It is of
two kinds, large and small, and the
heads are yellow. I once sowed
a small bed of it. It did not pros-
per, being almost wholly destroyed
by the following winter.
The European farmers are cau-
The author of a valuable work,
entitled, "A Treatise on Agricul-
ture," lately published in Albany,
directs ten or twelve pounds of clo-
the soil be rich, and double the
quantity if it be poor. He con-
demus the practice of mixing the
seeds of timothy and rye grass,&c.
with that of clover," because these
grasses neither rise nor ripen at
the same time. Another practice
equally bad, is that of sowing clo-
ver seed on winter grain, before
the earth has acquired a tempera-
ture favourable to vegetation, and
when there can be no doubt but
that two-thirds of the seeds will
perish." This writer is of opinion
that clover should not be pastured
the first year, and observes, that
"If the crowns of young clover
roots be nibbled, or otherwise
wounded, the roots die. Sheep and
horses (both of which bite closely)
should therefore be particularly
excluded from clover, unless in-
tended for pasturage only."
According to the same author,
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94
CLO
"the short period between the
flowering and the seeding of clo-
ver, is that in which its use would
be most advantageous, whether re-
garded as forage, or as an amelior-
ating crop.'
99 But "when seed is
the principal object of culture, we
cannot do better than to adopt the
practice in Holland-where the
first crop is cut before it flowers,and
the second is reserved for seed.”
Green clover is good food for
swine in summer; and when cut
green, and salted, after being a lit-
tle withered, with about half a peck
of salt to a load, it makes good food
for swine in winter. But for this
latter purpose it should be steam-
ed, or boiled.
Two sorts of machines are de-
scribed in the Transactions of the
New-York Agricultural Society,
for gathering clover seed.
They
were invented in Brookhaven,
Suffolk County, New-York,by Mr.
L'Hommedieu. One of these ma-
chines consists of an open box,
about four feet square at the bot-
tom, and about three feet in height
on three sides; to the fore part,
which is open, fingers are fix-
ed, similar to those of a cradle,
about three feet in length, and so
near as to break off the heads from
the clover-stocks between them,
which are thrown back into the
box as the horse advances. The
box is fixed on an axle-tree, sup-
ported by two small wheels, two
feet in diameter; two handles are
fixed to the hinder part, by means
of which the driver, while he man-
ages the horse, raises or lowers the
fingers of the machine, so as to take
off all the heads of the grass; and,
COL
as often as the box is filled with
them, they are thrown out,and the
horse goes on as before.
The other machine is called a
cradle, and is made of an oak board
about 18 inches in length, and 10
in breadth. The fore part of it to
the length of 9 inches, is sawed in-
to fingers; a handle is inserted be-
hind, inclined towards them, and
a cloth put round the back part of
the board, which is cut somewhat
circular, and raised on the handle;
this collects the heads or tops of
the grass, and prevents them from
scattering, as they are struck off by
the cradle, which may be made of
different sizes; being smaller in
proportion for women and children,
who by means of it may likewise
collect large quantities.
The part containing the seed
must be well dried in the sun, be-
fore the seed can be threshed out.
About three bushels of seed may
be commonly collected from an
acre.
COLE-SEED, Brassica Rapa.
"This plant, which is generally
known by the title of rape, or cole-
seed, is much cultivated in the isle
of Ely, and some other parts of
England, for its seed, from which
the rape oil is drawn ; and it hath
been also cultivated of late years,
in other places, for feeding of cat-
tle, to great advantage.
"The cole-seed, when cultiva-
ted for feeding of cattle, should be
sown about the middle of June.-
The ground should be prepared
for it in the same manner as for
turnips. The quantity of seeds for
an acre of land is from six to eight
pounds, and as the price of seed is
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95
COM
not great, it is better to allow eight
pounds; for if the plants are too
close in any part, they may be
easily thinned, when the ground is
hoed; which must be performed
in the same manner as is practised
for turnips, with this difference on-
ly, of leaving these much nearer
together; for as they have fibrous
roots and slender stalks, so they do
not require near so much room.
These plants should have a second
hoeing,about five or six weeks after
the first, which, if well performed in
dry weather, will entirely destroy
the weeds, so that they will re-
quire no farther culture.
|
much as, at a moderate computa-
tion will sell for five pounds clear
Gardener's Diction-
of charges."
ary.
The Rev. Mr. Eliot, who made
some trial of this plant, is doubtful
whether it will answer for winter
feeding in this country, because of
the severity of our frosts. But the
above author adds-" The curled
colewort, or Siberian borecole, is
now more generally esteemed than
the former, being extremely hardy,
so it is never injured by cold,
but is always sweeter in severe
winters, than in mild seasons.”
A gentleman informs me, that,
in Boston, he has made trial
of this plant, and found that the
winter did not injure it. It is fit
for the table from December to
April.
I myself made trial of three kinds
of borecole the last year, in the la-
titude of 44. It grew very well till
winter; but not one plant in fifty
had any life in it in the following
spring. The sorts were the green,
the white, and the red. But it is
probable that in some parts of
New-England, and in warm situa-
tions, this plant may be cultivated
with advantage; though not in
fields, I think it may in gardens.
"Where there is not an imme-
diate want of food, these plants had
better be kept as a reserve for hard
weather, or spring feed, when
there may be a scarcity of other
green food. If the heads are cut
off and the stalks left in the ground,
they will shoot again early in the
spring, and produce a good second
crop in April, which may be either
fed off, or permitted to run to
seeds, as is the practice where
this is cultivated for the seeds:
But if the first is fed down, there
should be care taken that the cat-
tle do not destroy the stems, or
pull them out of the ground. As
this plant is so hardy as not to be
destroyed by frost, so it is of great
service in hard winters for feeding
of ewes ; for when the ground is
so hard frozen as that turnips can-
not be taken up, these plants may
be cut off for a constant supply.composed in the following manner,
This will afford late food after the in his "Treatise on the Manage-
turnips are run to seed; and if it ment of Trees."
is afterwards permitted to stand for
seed, one acre will produce as
COMPOSITION FOR TREES,
a substance discovered, prepared,
and applied by Mr. Forsyth for
the purpose of removing diseases,
defects and injuries in fruit and
forest trees. It is directed to be
"Take one bushel of fresh cow-
dung, half a bushel of lime rubbish
96
COM
COM
1
of old buildings (that from the
ceilings of rooms is preferable,)
half a bushel of wood ashes, and a
sixteenth part of a bushel of pit or
river sand. The three last arti-
cles are to be sifted fine before
they are mixed; then work them
well together with a spade, and
afterwards with a wooden beater,
until the stuff is very smooth like
fine plaster used for the cielings of
rooms.
ground should have the surface
made quite smoth, rounding it off
in a small degree, as before men-
tioned, and the dry powder direct-
ed to be used afterwards should
have an equal quantity of powder
of alabaster mixed with it, in or-
der to resist the dropping of trees
and heavy rains.
"If any of the composition be
left for a future occasion, it should
be kept in a tub, or other vessel,
and urine of any kind poured on
it, so as to cover the surface;
otherwise the atmosphere will
greatly hurt the efficacy of the ap-
plication.
"When lime rubbish of old
buildings cannot easily be got,
take pounded chalk, or common
lime, after having been slacked a
month at least.
"As the growth of the tree will
gradually affect the plaster, by
raising up its edges next the bark,
care should be taken, where that
happens, to rub it over with the
finger when occasion, may require
(which is best done when moisten-
"The composition being thus
made, care must be taken to pre-
pare the tree properly for its ap-
plication, by cutting away all the
dead, decayed and injured parts,
till you come to the fresh sound
wood, leaving the surface of the
wood very smooth, and rounding
off the edges of the bark with a
drawing knife, or other instru-
ments, perfectly smooth, which
must be particularly attended to;
then lay in the plaster about one
eighth of an inch thick, all over
the part where the wood or bark
has been so cut away, finishing off
the edges as thin as possible:
Then take a quantity of dry pow-ed by rain,) that the plaster may
der of wood ashes mixed with a be kept whole, to prevent the air
sixth part of the same quantity of and wet penetrating into the
the ashes of burnt bones; put it wound."
into a tin box, with holes in the
top, and shake the powder on the
surface of the plaster, till the
whole is covered over with it,
letting it remain for half an hour,
to absorb the moisture; then ap-
ply more powder, rubbing it on
gently with the hand, and repeat-
ing the application of the powder
till the whole plaster becomes a
dry smooth surface.
All trees cut down near the
"As the best way of using the
composition is found by experi-
ence to be in a liquid state," Mr.
Forsyth advises that it should be
reduced to the consistence of pret-
ty thick paint by mixing it up with
a sufficient quantity of urine and
soap suds, and be laid on with a
painter's brush. The powder of
wood ashes and burnt bones is to
be applied as before directed, pat-
ting it down with the hand.?
1
COM
97
COM
It is also further advised that
"when trees are become hollow,
to scoop out all the rotten, loose,
and dead parts of the trunk, to the
solid wood, leaving the surface
smooth: then to cover the hollow,
and every part where the canker
has been cut out, or branches top-
ped off, with the composition;
and as the edges grow, to take
care not to let the new wood come
in contact with the dead, part of
which it may sometimes be ne-
cessary to leave: but to cut out
the old dead wood as the new ad-
vances, keeping a hollow between
them to allow the new wood room
to extend itself, and thereby fill up
the cavity, which it will do in time,
so as to make it as it were a new
tree."
And if the cavity be large, to
cut away as much at one operation
as will be sufficient for three years.
But in this to "be guided by the
size of the wound, and other cir-
cumstances. When the new wood,
advancing from both sides of the
wound, has almost met, to cut off
the bark from both the edges, that
the solid wood may join, which, if
properly managed, it will do, leav-
ing only a slight seam on the bark.
If the tree be very much decayed,
do not cut away all the dead wood
at once, which would weaken the
tree too much, if a standard, and
endanger its being blown down by
the wind. It will therefore be ne-
cessary to leave part of the dead
wood at first, to strengthen the
tree, and to cut it out by degrees
as the new wood is formed. If
there be any canker or gum ooz-
ing, the infected parts must be par-
13
ed off, or cut out with a proper
instrument. When the stem is
very much decayed, and hollow, it
will be necessary to open the
ground and examine the roots."
COMPOSTS." The utility of
composts has been proved by the
experience of numbers, in various
districts. The subject inay be con-
sidered under the following heads:
1. The materials used; 2. The soils
or crops to which it should be ap-
plied; and, 3. The effects produced.
"1. Materials. Unslacked lime,
and earth of different sorts, are
the substances commonly used.
Quick lime is the proper stimulus
for bringing the powers of a com-
post into action; operating upon
a heap of earth in some degree as
yeast does upon a quantity of flour
or meal. Enough ought to be ap-
plied to excite a species of fer-
mentation in the heap, and to
neutralize any pernicious mineral
substances which may exist in it.
"The formation and convey-
ance of compost being attended
with much expense, where cir-
cumstances will admit of it, hor-
ses, instead of manual labour,
ought to be employed in the pro-
cess of preparation, and the com-
post should be prepared in the
field to which it is afterwards to
be applied.
"It has been ascertained by a
number of experiments, that two
bushels of unslacked lime are
sufficient for each cubic yard of
earth of a medium quality, and as
80 cubic yards of earth are suf-
ficient to manure an acre, 160
bushels of unslacked lime is the
quantity required. To obtain this
98
COM
COM
•
quantity of each, it is the practice
of some farmers to plough the
head-ridges at both ends of the
field, ten inches deep, and to col-
lect one half of this, which can be
often spared, without any loss, as
the head ridges are generally too
high, in consequence of the earth
accumulated in the course of
years, from the plough being
cleared every time it turns. It
has been calculated, that where a
head-ridge is 18 feet broad, 72
feet of it in length, ploughed ten
inches deep, will produce 40 cubic
yards of earth, and consequently
the two head-ridges will produce
80 cubic yards of compost for the
field to be manured.
The
of manure, and explained them
upon scientific principles.
result is that one ton of dung, will
ferment three tons of peat, or
moss earth. This is a most valua-
ble discovery, and must, if duly
attended to, greatly enrich many
hitherto neglected districts. The
great advantage of this compost
is, that it has nothing but inert
vegetable matter to act upon,
whereas, when lime is mixed with
rich earth, it may have the effect
of dissipating the gaseous matters
it contains, and of rendering it
proportionably less valuable.
2. Composts are peculiarly well
calculated for grass lands, and
ought to supersede the offensive,
"Composts are frequently made and wasteful practice of laying
of various materials, as several putrescent matter on the surface
sorts of earth, lime, old mortar of the soil, by which a very large
and plaster, green vegetables, be- proportion of its most valuable
fore they run to seed, soft chalk, component parts is lost in the at-
tanners' bark, saw dust, soap-mosphere. They are likewise of
ashes, dung, &c. It is recom- great use to moorish lands, aug-
mended, that instead of being menting their staple, and adding
laid in regular layers, they should to them a number of valuable and
be mixed as much as possible, in enriching substances. In regard
forming the heap. A fermenta- to sandy or clayey soils, composts,
tion is soon excited, and the of-principally consisting of articles
tener the heap is turned, so much different from their general nature
the more will fermentation be respectively, will improve their
promoted.
texture and convert them into
loams.
3. "The effects of composts
are highly satisfactory. In regard
to grass lands, experience has
shown, that they at once improve
their quality, and checks for years,
the progress of moss or even un-
profitable grasses. In thin moor-
"A mode of making compost
was suggested by the late Lord
Meadowbank, of which peat is the
basis. It was not unusual in vari-
ous parts of Scotland, to bed cat-
tle, and even sheep, with peat, for
the purpose of increasing the
quantity of manure; but Lord
Meadowbank was the first individ-ish soils, composts properly and
ual in this country who investigat-
ed the properties of that species
repeatedly applied, alter the na-
ture of the soil; it becomes more
COT
99
COT
Pierce Butler, Esq. who success-
fully cultivates cotton on the island
of St. Simons, State of Georgia,
gives the following directions for
raising it.
fertile, retains its moisture better,
and does not suffer by the sum-
mer's drought, which would oth-
erwise burn up the crops. The
effects of the Meadowbank com-
posts are still more extraordinary ; "If the land has been recently
a farmer in Roxburghshire, bav- cleared, or has long remained fal-
ing raised as good turnips, and as low, turn it up deep in winter; and
productive crops of wheat, after in the first week in March bed it
fallow, on good soils, manured up in the following manner. Form
with this compost, as from dung. 25 beds, in 105 square feet of
"It is a circumstance not to be land, (being the space allotted to
omitted, that lime will operate in each able labourer for a days
compost, upon lands that had been work;) this leaves about four feet,
exhausted by the over frequent, two and one half inches from the
or too abundant application of lime centre of one bed, to the centre of
or marl, even when it had not the next. The beds should be
succeeded when used by itself. three feet wide and flat in the
This is a strong recommendation middle. About the 15th of March,
of such mixed manure, as land in the latitude from 29 to 30°, the
may be thus cultivated to advan- cultivator should commence sow-
tage, that would otherwise remaining, or as it generally termed,
unproductive." The Code of planting. The seed should be
Agriculture.
well scattered in open trenches,
made in the centre of the beds,
and covered the proportion of
seed is one bushel to one acre;
this allows for accidents occasion-
CORN-SHELLER. A machine
for shelling Indian Corn has been
invented in Massachusetts, and a
patent obtained by the inventor.
The expence of the machine ised by worms or night chills.
said to be about twenty dollars.
Two hands with this machine, can
shell, it is said, at the rate of
about half a bushel a minute.
COTTON, (Gossypium) is a
genus of plants, comprising twelve
species, all of which are natives of
warm climates, though four only
are cultivated. In Georgia and
South Carolina two kinds of cotton
are planted; one of which grows
upon the upland, is of a short sta-
ple, and has green seed. Another
kind of a long staple and silky fine-
ness, having black seed, is cultivat-
ed upon the islands on the coast of
Georgia and South Carolina.
The
cotton should be well weeded by
hoes, once every twelve days, till
blown, and even longer if there is
grass, observing to hoe up, that is
to the cotton till it pods, and hoe
down when the cotton is blown, in
order to check the growth of the.
plant. From the proportion of
seed mentioned, the cotton plants
will come up plentifully, too much
so to suffer all to remain. They
should be thinned moderately at
each hoeing. When the plants
have got strength and growth,
which may be about the third
hoeing, to disregard worms and
100
COW
COW
bear drought, they should be thin-
ned according to the fertility of
the soil, from six inches to near
two feet between the stocks or
plants. In rich river grounds the
beds should be from 5 to 6 feet
apart, measuring from centre to
centre; and the cotton plants,
when out of the way of the worms,
fron two to three feet apart. It
is advisable to top cotton once or
twice in low grounds, and also to
remove the suckers. The latter
end of July is generally considered
a proper time for topping.-
Gypsum may be used with success
on cotton lands not near the sea.
In river grounds draining is pro-
per; yet these lands should not be
kept too dry. In tide lands, it is
beneficial to let the water flow
over the land without retaining it.
In river lands a change of crops is
necessary. From actual experi-
ment it has been proved that river
tide lands having the preceding
year had rice sown on them, yield-
ed much more cotton the succeed-
ing year than they would have af-
forded by a continuation of cotton.
"The mere growing of cotton
is but a part of the care of the
planter; very much depends on
classing and cleansing it for mar-
ket, after it has been housed;
sorting it before it goes to the
Jennies, moating and removing
any yellow particles, are essential
to assure a preference at a com-
mon market of competition. Do-
mestic Encyclopædia.
COW, "the female of the ox
kind. The marks of a good cow,
according to some, are these: The
forehead broad, the eyes black,the
horns large and clean, the neck
long and straight, the belly large
and deep, the thighs thick, the legs
round with short joints, and the
feet broad and thick." Dic. of Arts.
I may add here, if the cleaning
of a cow after calving be delayed,
it may be promoted by giving her
a pail of warm water with some
ashes in it.
Cows should be milked regular-
ly, morning and evening, and al-
ways at the same hours, as nearly
as may be. At six in the morning,
and six at night, is a good general
rule, as the times of milking will
be equidistant from each other.-
But if they are milked three times
a day, as a modern writer on hus-
bandry recommends, it may be
done at five, one and eight. He
believes that if they are full fed,
they will give half as much again
milk, if milked thrice, as if only
twice. At the same time, it would
prevent a too great distention of
their bags, to which our best cows
are liable. If the milking he once
omitted, they will give much more
at the next milking; but it will
cause them to give less inilk on the
whole, and tend to dry them up.
J
No animals that we keep are
more profitable than cows. Not-
withstanding this is generally
known, and admitted by farmers,
they are too apt to act as if they
believed the reverse to be true.-
They often keep two bad cows,
which will not give on an average,
through the year, more milk or
butter than one good one, while
they will consume double; and
they are easily tempted, by a small
extra price, to sell the best cow in
COW
101
COW
their herd, not reflecting, that this
excellent cow must be as profitable
to them as the purchaser; and
that by this course, often repeated,
they gradually deteriorate, or make
worse the quality of their stock, by
the loss of all the calves which
such a valuable cow might have
brought; and by being thus com-
pelled to raise stock from inferior
animals.
If cows are lean when calving,
no management afterwards will
ever bring them to yield, for that
season, any thing like the quantity
of milk they would have furnished,
had they been kept all winter in
high condition.
Pure water is an essential ar-
ticle for cows. Dr. Anderson
says, he knew a man who acquired
great wealth, by attending to things
of this nature, and one of his prin-
cipal discoveries was the impor-
tance of having a continued supply
of the purest water that could be
obtained for his cows, and he would
on no account permit a single ani-
mal to set a foot into it, nor allow
it to be tainted even by the breath
of animals.
|
|
neat cattle, are tied up and fed,
aré
during the winter, and part of au-
tumn and spring.
<
Farmers may think they need
but little teaching concerning these
apartments, as they have been so
long acquainted with them. But
I shall take the liberty to give them
the following directions, which they
may receive or reject, as they think
fit.
In the first place, it is of no small
importance that the floor under a
cow house be very tight, so that
none of the stale may be lost, which
is of great value as a manure,when
mixed with other substances. A
farmer would be no more blame-
worthy for throwing away the dung
than the urine of beasts, which
contains abundance of fertilizing
salts and oils. But if it be suffer-
ed to run through the floor, it is en-
tirely lost.
•
The stale should be conveyed
through the floor into the cellar;
or if there be no cellar under the
barn, let it pass, in constructed
channels through the sides to the
dung-heap, or stercorary; but by
no means into earth or sods, laid
"Inflamed teats should be washed on the floor, and against the sides,
with two drachms of sugar of lead (as directed in a former edition of
in a quart of water. Should tumours this work) as the frequent repairs,
appear apply a common warmthus rendered necessary, would be
marsh with bran with a little lard. nearly equivalent to the value of
"To prevent cows from sucking the urine so saved.
their own milk, we are informed
that rubbing the teats frequently
with the most fœtid cheese that
can be procured has proved an ef-
fectual remedy." Domestic Ency-mortar, and lay a bed of it a foot
clopædia.
COW HOUSE, that apartment
in a barn, in which cows and other
When a farmer thinks himself
not well able to be at the expense
of a floor of good planks, let him
get a quantity of good clay, make
thick or more, for a floor; giving
it a proper descent backwards, that
the cattle may lie dry, and raising
102
CRE
COW
it at the hinder border, to prevent [ fodder for two or three weeks be
the escape of the urine. The floor fore and after these periods, I think
will grow thinner by being gradu- it advisable to let them lie in the
ally shoveled up with the dung; barn yard, and eat out of a rack,
but it is easy to repair it; and the unless the weather be stormy or
faster it wears away, the more the the air uncommonly cold. For if
quantity of manure is increased. they be kept too warm in the fall,
they will become tender, and not
winter so well; or if lodged too
warm in the spring, they are more
apt to be lousy.
Also, the floors over a cow house
should be more tight than they
commonly are. It would prevent
the descent of dust and chaff. It
would cause the hay above it to be
less injured by the air; as well as
less contaminated by the breath of
the cattle, and the steam of their
excrements.
There are different ways of tying
up cattle. Some prefer one way,
and some another. I prefer stan-
chions to bows: Not only because
the cattle take up less room in this
way, but are less apt to waste their
fodder. They are also more se-
cure in this way; so that they do
not so often break loose, and worry
and wound each other.
CRADLE, a frame joined to a
scythe, useful in harvesting, by the
help of which, three times the
quantity of grain may be cut down
in a given time that can be with a
sickle, and laid tolerably even and
regular, for binding in bundles. It
is oftener used for cutting oats and
rye than for wheat. There is dan-
ger, however, of too much waste
in cradling, when the corn is thick
and heavy, or does not stand up-
right; the labour also would be
too painful and tiresome.
CREAM, the fat part of milk
which rises to the surface.
A cow house should be in the
southerly part of a barn, when it
can well be so ordered. The cat-ty
tle will be less pinched with the
cold northerly winds. Another
advantage is, that the heaps of
dung thrown out on that side, being
in a sunny place, will be thawed
earlier in the spring, so as to be fit
to be carted out in season. On
the north side, ice will sometimes
remain in the heaps, or under
them, till the last of May, or be-
ginning of June.
In this climate, cattle must be
housed near half the year; from
the middle of November to the last
of April, and occasionally at other
times. Though they must have
To produce the greatest quanti-
of cream, the pans in which the
milk is set, should be flat shaped,
so that the milk may not be more
than three inches deep. Those in
common use are not much amiss.
They should be well scalded with
hot water, as often as milk is set in
them, and be thoroughly cooled.
If the place where milk is set be
too warm, it will be apt to turn
sour, before the cream has had suf-
ficient time to ascend; and none
will rise after the milk begins to
coagulate. If the place be too dry,
the cream will become tough and
hard before it is taken off. If the
place be so cold as to freeze the
CUC
103
CUC
milk, every one knows that but
little cream will be gotten from it.
The time of skimming must be re-
gulated by the weather and other
circumstances: But nearly the
whole will rise to the top in twen-
ty-four hours. In large dairies it
may be troublesome to let it stand
longer.
Milk may be advantageously set
in pans placed on a "floor, covered
to a small depth with spring wa-
ter, which is practised in Pennsyl-
vania.
Some set their milk in trays lin-
ed with lead. This should never
be done. For the least acidity in
the milk will dissolve the lead, and
poison the milk. Tin pans are
good, being light and handy, and
wooden trays answer very well, if
kept sweet.
CUCUMBERS, Cucumis, a cold
fruit, which is pleasant to the taste
of most people, and much used by
those who find themselves able to
digest them. They are rendered
wholesomer by pickling.
The method of growing them is
simple and easy. They should not
be planted till after Indian corn:
For the least degree of frost en-
tirely destroys them. The dung
of swine should be put under them,
which makes them grow more ra-
pidly than any other manure which
I have ever tried.
Some steep the seeds, and cause
them to sprout, before they are
planted: But I have never found
any advantage in it. It is not
amiss, however, to wet them a lit-
tle, and coat them with powdered
soot.
Mr. Miller thinks the seeds
should not be sown till they are
three or four years old.
Four
plants are enough to stand in a hole
together; therefore, when they
get into rough leaf, they should be
thinned to this number. The vines
should be so conducted as to inter-
fere as little as possible with each
other. They who wish to raise
them at all seasons of the year,may
consult the Gardener's Dictionary.
The following directions for stop-
ping or topping cucumbers,melons,
&c. are taken in substance, from
The American Gardener's Calen-
dar.
The young plants should be stop-
ped or topped at the first joint; by
pruning off the top of the first run-
ner bud. This operation should
be performed when the plants have
two rough leaves, and when the
second is about an inch broad, hav-
ing the first runner bud rising at
its base; the sooner this is de-
tached, the sooner the plants ac-
quire strength, and put out fruitful
runners.
You will see arising in the cen-
tre of the plant, at the bottom of
the second rough leaf, the end of
the first runner, like a small bud ;
which bud or runner, being the ad-
vancing top of the plant, is now to
be taken off close,and may be done
either with the point of a pen-knife
or small scissors, or pinched off
carefully with the finger and thumb,
being careful not to go so close as
to wound the joint from whence it
proceeds. In ten or twelve days,
each plant will begin to send forth
two or three runners; which run-
ners will probably show fruit at its
first, second, or third joints; for if
104
CUR
CUR
the main or first runner was not to
be stopped as above, it would per-
haps run half a yard, or two feet
in length, without putting out more
runners, probably without shewing
a single fruit. When the said lat-
eral shoots have three joints, if any
of them do not show fruit at either
of these, it will be proper to pinch |
off the tops of such shoots at the
third joint; which will promote
their putting forth a supply of two
or three new shoots, some or all of
which will most likely be fruitful;
and after this according as they ad-
vance in growth, train the runners
along in regular order, cut out
casual very weakly vines, and thin
others where very irregularly
crowded.
kinds of currants produced in this
country, red, white and black.
The red and the white are a
wholesome cooling fruit, and flour-
ish well in this part of the coun-
try. They are easily propagated
by cuttings, setting the young
twigs in the ground, which will
furnish themselves with roots; and
will bear fruit the second year.
Some plant them singly, others in
clumps. The latter method is
disapproved by the best gardeners.
If they be set single round the
borders of a garden, close to the
fence, and fastened to the fence,
to prevent their being bowed to
the ground when loaded with
fruit, they will take up little or no
room, and make an agreeable ap-
pearance. And it will be easy to
keep them free from weeds. When
they are planted on the south, or
southeast side of a wall, the fruit
To preserve cucumbers, squash-
es, &c. from bugs and flies, sprin-
kle the plants with a strong in-
fusion of elder leaves; that of
hops is likewise recommended.-will be ripe in June; but on the
Or, suspend a diamond-formed north side, they may be kept till
piece of white paper, shingle, or October on the bushes, in a sound
other piece of wood by a thread state.
tied to the end of a stick stuck in
the ground a small distance from
the hill, so that the paper will hang
directly over the hill and near the
plants. The air, by constantly vi-
brating the paper or shingle, will
have a tendency to prevent insects
from alighting on the plants. It is
said sprinkling the plants with the
fine dust of slacked lime, while
they are wet with dew or rain will
preserve them from insects.
Cucumbers are rendered more
wholesome by slicing them into a
basin of cool spring water.
CURRANT, Ribes, a species
of fruit tree. There are three
•
A wine that is not unpleasant is
made of the red kind; but that
which is made of the white is
preferable; and this ought to be
more attended to. This wine
meliorates exceedingly by age,
becoming equal to the best of
Malaga wine, after being bottled
a year or two.
The way to make currant wine
is as follows: Take ripe currants,
wash them, clear them from the
stems, add a gallon of water to a
gallon of currants, and bruise
them well in the water. Strain
it through a cloth. Then to one
gallon of the mixed juice and
CUS
105
CIO
still worse, rather than better, un-
less they go back to their first sit-
water, put two pounds and three
quarters of good brown sugar. Stir
it well. When the sugar is dissolv-uation, or towards it.
ed, put the wine into a cask not
stopped. When the first fermen-dening, the branches or sprigs of
tation is over, bung it up tightly,
and in six months it will be fit for
bottling.
CUTTINGS OR SLIPS, "in gar-
trees, or plants, cut or slipped off,
to set again, which is done in any
moist fine earth. The best time
for this operation, is from the mid-
dle of August to the middle of
April; but when it is done, the
CUSTOM, an habitual man-
ner of doing any thing. Methods
of agriculture, as well as methods
of doing other things, are not sel-sap ought not to be too much in
dom founded merely on custom.
Farmers do many things, for which
they can assign no other reason
than custom. They usually give
themselves little or no trouble in
thinking, or in examining their
methods of culture, which have
been handed down from father to
son, from time immemorial.
In some countries, this practice
answers tolerably well. It does
best in old countries, where meth-
ods, which have not been found to
answer well, have been gradually
laid aside in a long course of years.
But this customary culture has a
very pernicious effect, when igno
rant farmers remove to a different
climate. They naturally continue
in the ways to which they have
been accustomed. Their crops
often prove to be unsuitable to the
region they inhabit. They plant,
sow and harvest, at the wrong sea-
sons. They sow seeds in unsuita-
ble soils. The consequences are,
that their labour is misapplied,
their time is lost, they grow poor
and disheartened. Perhaps they
remove to other places, hoping
to mend their circumstances;
and when they come thither,
their habitual methods will answer
the top; neither must it be very
dry or scanty, for the sap in the
branches assists it to strike roots.
If done in the spring, let them not
fail of having water in the summer.
In providing them, such branches
as have burs, knobs or joints, are
to be cut off, &c. and the leaves
are to be stripped off so far as
they are placed in the earth, leav-
ing no side branch.
Small top
sprigs, of two or three years
growth, are the best for this op-
eration." Dict. of Arts.
Cuttings of the grape vine,
gooseberry, willow and currants,
are easily made to strike root;
those taken from the quince will
commonly, and the apple tree will
sometimes do so, if the earth be
kept very moist. It is best to set
them a good depth in the earth,
not less than twelve or fifteen
inches, or the greater part of their
whole length. In this country,
the best time that I have found to
set them is in April. It should be
done as soon as the frost is quite
out of the ground.
CION, OR SCION, a young sprig
or sprout of a tree. Scions, for
grafting, should always be taken
from the most thrifty trees, not
14
106
DAI
DAI
"
from those especially which are
old and decaying. The time to
cut them is in February or March,
just before the buds begin to swell,
and appear fresh, which will be
earlier or later, according to the
season and climate. They should
be taken from the ends of limbs of
the former year's growth, not from
young suckers of an over quick
growth; and kept moist in a cel-
lar, with the lower ends inserted
in moist clay, or mud, till the pro-
per time for grafting. In such a
position they will keep well for
two months or more, before
grafting.
D.
out, if possible, every particle of
air. The same should be done as
often as any is taken out for use.
The tubs, during summer and fall,
should stand on the bottom of the
coldest part of the cellar. When
there is occasion to carry butter to
any distance for sale, in hot weath-
er, let not the tubs, or boxes, be
exposed to the heat of a traveling
horse, by lying against his sides.
For by this practice it is known
that a great deal of butter is great-
| ly damaged.
"The Rev. Mr. Packard of
Marlborough, made an answer to
a question, which we wish was
pasted up in every dairy-room in
the state :-The last year, said he
(1799,) three cows in this town
produced 278 pounds of butter. If
their calves had been taken from
them at a week old, they would
have made 451 pounds of butter.
These three cows were a more
productive dairy than six usually
are, with ordinary feed. Farmers
egregiously mistake when they
overstock their farms. Were dai-
ries estimated by the pails of milk
they produce, instead of the num-
ber of cows, many farmers wives,
DAIRY. Butter is oftener well
managed than cheese. But there
are few who salt early-made butter
so that it will keep good and
sweet. An ounce and a half, or
more, of the strongest and best
salt, very finely powdered, should
be worked into a pound of butter,
and so thoroughly mixed that every
part may be equally salt. For if
ever so small a part misses of be-
ing salted, it will turn rank, and
communicate its ill taste to the re-instead of asking their husbands to
mainder. It should then be put
into tubs that are quite sweet, and
so closely packed and crowded,
that no air can be in contact with
the butter; which should be care-
fully covered with a piece of fine
cloth, after dipping it in melted
sweet butter. When more is to
be put into the tub, take up the
cloth; and after that is well crowd-
ed in, and levelled, put on the
cloth again so nicely as to shut
buy another cow, would urge them
to sell two to enrich their dairies.”
Mass. Agr. Rep. vol. v. p. 74.
See Butter and Cheese.
DAIRY, OR DAIRY-ROOM, a
house or apartment where milk is
kept, &c.
Our farmers and their wives
seem to think it necessary, or
highly convenient, to have a dairy-
room annexed to their dwelling
house, partly above and partly
DAI
107
DAI
-
most northern side; and they
should be opened now and then to
below ground, that they may dry
their cheeses in the upper part,
and set milk and cream in the low-let in fresh air; particularly in the
er. This, in wooden houses, is
certainly not the best practice, and
occasions much loss. For such
an apartment will be too hot in
summer, and too cold in winter, to
keep milk in it; neither will it be
possible to keep it so sweet as it
ought to be kept.
1
An apartment in a very sweet,
and perfectly ventilated cellar is
better on every account to keep
milk in. As to drying of cheeses,
they should never be kept to dry in
the same room where milk is set;
for they will undoubtedly com-
municate an acidity to the sur-
rounding air, which will tend to
turn all the milk sour that stands
within the same enclosure. And
a drier room would be better for
the cheeses; only let it be kept
dark, that the flies may not come
at them. So that, instead of a
place called a dairy, there should
be a milk room, and a cheese
room, in a farm house.
A room in a cellar may be kept
so nearly of an equal coolness, by
means of burning a few coals in it;
when the weather is cold, that the
milk will neither grow sour in sum-
mer, nor freeze in winter: So that
nothing will obstruct the rising of all
the cream. It is supposed that the
warmth of the air in a milk room
ought to be from 50 to 55 degrees
on Farenheit's thermometer. But
a few degrees over or under will
produce no very disagreeable ef-
fects. The cellar should have such
windows as will afford a sufficient
quantity of light, and be on the
coolest of the mornings in summer.
The room should be ceiled with
plaister, to prevent the descent of
dirt; and the top and sides white
washed, to increase the light, and
fill up chinks that harbor insects.
Every part should be kept extreme-
ly clean and sweet, and nothing
should enter into it, which can cor-
rupt the air. The floor should be
made of stones, bricks or tiles, and
be frequently washed in summer
with the coldest water, to cool and
sweeten the air in the room; and
milk should not be suffered to stand
in it till it becomes sour, lest the
sourness be communicated to that
which is sweet. For the same
reason, cream which is put by for
churning, ought not to be kept in
that apartment which contains the
milk. Because acidity in cream is
expected, and necessary before
butter will come.
Those who have large dairies,
in hot climates, having a spring or
brook near the dwelling-house,
might find it worth while to build
a milk room over it, with a stone
floor, and a channel in the floor to
pass the water all round, near the
insides of the walls. The pans
may be set in the channels, and
water let in at pleasure, to cool the
milk in the hottest season. An
arch of brick should be turned over
the building. The windows, to let
in light and air, should be on the
northerly side, or end. To shel-
ter the arch from the weather, a
story of wood may be erected over
it, for a cheese room. The arch
108
DIT
DIT
will be the cooler in summer and
warmer in winter, as well as more
durable, as it will be defended from
rain, &c.
suffered to lie in heaps on the bor
ders to the great loss of time in
mowing, and the crop. It is too
precious a material for compost
heaps, to be suffered to remain in a
state worse than useless.
If rats and mice cannot enter the
milk room, there will be no need
of having shelves in it. The floor A ditch should be three times
is the best place to set the vessels wider at the top than at the bot-
of milk on,it being coolest in sum-tom, to prevent the falling in of
mer,aud perhaps warmest when the the sides.
weather is frosty. See Butter and DITCHING, the making of ditch-
Cheese,
es. This work is most commonly
DARNEL, Lolium, a trouble-performed in summer, or early in
some weed, which sometimes ap- autumn. When this work is to be
pears among grain, and is often so done in very low and wet land, a
fruitful as to spoil a crop. The hot and dry season is best; that
seeds of it resemble corns of blast- the water may not prove trouble-
ed rye, but are more light and some, neither by its quantity, nor
chaffy. These weeds should be by its coldness. When it is to be
pulled up before they go to seed. performed in a salt marsh, not only
But grain for sowing may be mostly a dry and warm time should be
cleared of the seeds by swimming chosen for the business, but it should
it in water.
be done also at a time when the
DIBBLE. A tool, used by tides are lowest. On high lands,
gardeners and farmers in Europe, ditches may be made at almost any
chiefly in transplanting. It con- season, when the ground is not
sists of a stick about a foot or eigh-frozen. But in the spring the dig-
teen inches long, slightly sharpen-ging will be the easiest, the ground
ed at the end, with which a hole is being softened by the preceding
made to receive the plant or seed. frosts. But as the ground is driest
Gardeners prefer an old spade in autumn, then is the best time for
or shovel handle that has been ditching in most of our low lands.
broken, retaining the upper part At least, the month of September
of the handle, and sharpening the is a good season. But farmers
lower end. This is very handy, must be governed, as to the time,
and with care will last many years. in some measure, by their own
DITCH, a narrow channel, of conveniency. It must be done
great use in agriculture. Ditches when no other business of greater
serve two purposes, to enclose importance demands the whole of
grounds and to carry off superflu- their attention and exertion.
ous water. When used for fences,
a hedge should be planted on their
sides, otherwise they will not keep
out cattle or sheep. The earth
taken out of ditches should not be
When bushy ground, full of
strong roots, is to be ditched, the
Rev. Mr. Eliot wisely recommends
beginning the ditch in the winter,
when the ground is frozen two or
DIV
109
DOO
three inches deep.
The surface | prevented, or the labour of it much
increased.
may be chopped into pieces by a
broad axe with a long helve, and
the sods pulled out with an instru-
ment made like a dung croom.
The farmer may probably hit upon
a good time for this work in De-
cember, when there happens to be
no snow, and when it will not in-
terfere with other farming business.
The lower part of the ditch may
be done in the following summer,
or autumn. In a free and firm soil,
a ditch may be begun with a
plough, drawn by an orderly team
that will keep to the line. This
saves labour.
When it can conveniently be so
ordered, the lots designed chiefly
for tillage should be nearest to the
house and barn, to save labour in
carting manure, and to prevent loss
in getting in the crops. The near-
er grain is, the less it will shatter
out in carting. The mowing lots
should be next to the tillage, if the
soil permits; as these must be
dunged, and their crops carted :
The lots for pasturage should be
contrived to be next, and the wood
lots farthest of all the lots from the
house, that so the view of the oth-
ander lots may not be obstructed too
much by trees.
To make a ditch straight,
equal in all its parts, it is recom-
mended that the work be regulated
by a frame of slit deal, nailed to-
gether, to the exact size of the in-
tended ditch. It may be a rod or
more in length, and as wide as the
intended ditch.
DIVISIONS, of a Farm, lots
closed for the convenience of til-
lage, pasturing, mowing, &c.
DOOR DUNG, a manure taken
from the back yards and doors of
dwelling houses.
Though it may seem to be made
up of chips, saw dust, and several
other matters that appear unpro-
en-mising, yet there are various sub-
stances intermixed with them, and
soaked into them, which contain
The judicious dividing of a farm food for plants in abundance. A
into lots, may save much labour, large proportion of the dung of
especially much travelling from swine and of fowls, which are ex-
one part to another. The more cellent manures, are contained in
square lots are made, the more is the compost. It has, besides, the
saved in fencing. Crooked fences sweepings of the house, blood,
should if possible be avoided, not small bones, shells, and other ani-
only to save expense, but to add mal substances; also suds, ashes,
beauty to a field, or plantation.-soot, urine, together with salt par-
All tillage lots, and especially small ticles, which are some of the best
ones, should be nearly of equal di- of manures.
mensions on all sides; for if a lot
be out of square, the labour of
ploughing will be increased, as
there must be a number of short
furrows. If a lot be long and nar-
row, cross ploughing will be either
It is, therefore, no wonder if this
filth is found to be very conducive
to the growth of plants, as it really
is.
Some think it best to let it lie
year after year in the yard, that it
110
DRA
DRA
may grow fine and mellow. But covered.
I
The open drains are
it is wasted by this practice, the mostly used, because more easily
sun, air, and rain, depriving it of made. But if the first cost be less,
its volatile, fine, and most fructify- the expense, in the long run, may
ing particles. I choose to be rid❘ not be less, but greater than that
of its putrid steams, and place it of covered drains. For they will
where it may do good and not be continually filling up; and,
hurt. I, therefore, have it scraped therefore, will often need to be
up clean every spring, clearing it mended.
of the largest and brightest chips;
and after it has lain in a heap for a
few days to ferment, apply it to the
soil in the field, though it be not
fine enough for the garden; or else
add it to the compost dunghill. I
find it to be a very proper manure
for land that is stiff and clayey;
and it will do great service in any
soil.
Those farmers are certainly guilty
of bad husbandry,who take no care
to avail themselves of this excel-
lent manure, of which they all have
more or less; and that is common-
ly best, where the greatest number
of swine are permitted to run,
which, however, is a slovenly and
wasteful practice.
DRAIN, a channel made in the
soil to carry off superfluous water,
or divert its course.
Open drains are to be shaped
like other ditches, wider at the
surface than at the bottom. And,
for a general rule, they should be
carried through the lowest and
wettest parts of the soil, though it
should cause them to be crooked
and unsightly. The water will be
carried off more effectually; and
some labour in digging will be sa-
ved; for if they pass through the
higher parts, the ditch must be
deeper, at least in some places.-
But where a plain is incommoded
with too much water descending
from an adjacent height, the water
must be cut off by an open drain
drawn along at the foot of the high
ground, and the earth which is ta-
ken out should be laid on the side
towards the plain.
Open drains serve well enough
in swamps, if the soil be not too
loose, so as to fill them up soon. In
this case the covered drains are
certainly best, especially where
materials for making them are easi-
ly obtained.
Drains are of the highest impor-
tance in agriculture: For, by
means of them, lands that are so
wet and fenny as to be entirely use-
less, may oftentimes become by far
the most valuable part of a farm.
It would be happy for this country, The earth that is thrown out of
if the husbandmen were fully con-open drains in swamps should not
vinced of the vast utility of them. lie in banks by the side of them.
The real value of some estates This will tend to prevent the water
might be doubled, by a small ex- from passing freely into them, and
pense in draining.
conduce to their filling up the soon-
er. It should be spread over the
surface of the drained land, which
Drains used in farming are of
two kinds, open, and hollow, or
Ꭰ Ꭱ Ꭺ
111
Ꭰ Ꭱ Ꭺ
i
will make it drier, and sometimes
answer as a good manure. And,
in this operation, there will be oft-
en a mixing of soils, attended with
considerable advantage.
hills upon the surface, in great
rains. These ditches are to be
larger or smaller in some propor-
tion to the bigness of the swamp,
having a regular descent for the
water, that not much of it may
stand in them. If the swamp be
large, it may be necessary that
some smaller cross drains should be
cut in several of the lowest parts.
The bottom of the main ditches,
when the soil is not of an extraor-
dinary depth, must be lower than
the bottom of the loose soil; oth-
sufficiently dry and firm.
When
the swamp comes to be sufficiently
dry for tillage, such of the drains
may be converted into hollow
ones, as cannot profitably be kept
open for fences. Thus the quan-
tity of improveable land will be
increased.
To judge rightly, whether it will
be worth while to attempt the
draining of a swamp, it is first to be
considered what will be the cost of
digging at the outlet, where it will,
in some cases, be necessary to go
very deep. If large rocks should
be found in the way, they may be
blown to pieces with gun-powder.
But doing this, is somewhat expen-erwise the soil will never become
sive. Also, the depth of the black
soil in the swamp must be examin-
ed, and the stratum next under it.
If the under stratum be clay, the
swamp may be well worth draining,
though no more than six inches of
till or mud be above it; for the
mud and clay mixed, will make an
excellent soil. But if the under
stratum be gravel, or white sand, it
will not be best to undertake drain-
ing, unless the depth of black mud
be as much as from fifteen to eigh-
teen inches. For it is to be re-
membered that the soil will settle
after draining, and be not so deep
as it was before. If, after draining
and hardéning, there should be a
sufficient depth for tillage, the soil
will be most excellent; and will
pay well for an expensive draining.
The manner of draining a swamp
is as follows: Beginning at the
outlet, pass a large ditch through
it, so as mostly to cut the lowest
parts. Then make another ditch
quite round it, near to the border,
to cut off the springs which come
from the upland, and to receive
the water that runs down from the
If a bridge over any of the drains
should be wanted, the best way to
make one will be by filling up a
short piece of the drain with stones,
or wood, that is, by making it hol-
low in that part.
low in that part. This will be less
expensive than a common bridge,
and answer the purpose better.
Those who are willing to be con-
vinced of the amazing fruitfulness
of drained swamps, should read
Mr. Eliot on the subject. He re-
presents them as producing tur-
nips, clover, oats, &c. to great ad-
vantage; English hay, four tons
per acre, and Indian corn at the
rate of more than ninety bushels
per acre, without manuring.
Such lands are highly advanta-
geous, as they require no dung;
and cannot be easily, if at all,worn
out by cropping: Also, as they
112
DRA
DRA
bear drought remarkably well. As
this country very often has its
crops greatly diminished by dry
seasons, it would be well if every
farmer had continually some of this
kind of soil in tillage, or mowing,
or in both.
greater or less according to the
difference of soils. There will be
no danger of it, in a soil that does
not easily dissolve in water.
If stones be scarce, long faggots,
or fascines, laid in the trench, will
answer as well, so long as they last ;
which being secluded from the air,
will not rot soon.
Some say they
have known them to answer well
for forty years, but this must only
be in places where they are always
kept wet. In situations exposed
to wet and dryness, they perish in
five or six years.
Covered or hollow drains are
more used for the drying of springy,
wet and spungy uplands. They
may be used with advantage on
gentle declivities, where the soil
appears spewy and cold, by means
of springs. They will cause the
soil above and below them, to be
more dry and fruitful. But if the
descent be very steep, or if the
wetness of declivities be owing on-ridge ploughing, it should be made
ly to water running down on the
surface, the open drains are to be
preferred: For if they were cov-
ered, the water would pass over
them, and the drain would be of
little advantage.
If a plain piece of ground be too
wet to be made fit for tillage by
It
drier by hollow drains. If no low-
er place be adjoining, where the
drains may have an outlet, holes
should be dug in some of the low-
est parts of the plain, to examine
what strata are under the soil.
is likely that a stratum of clay, or
of some other earth not easily
penetrated by water, is the real
cause of the wetness of the soil. If
you find it so, then dig through the
stratum, and below it, till
you come
to loose gravel, sand, or something
that will easily imbibe water: Fill
up the hole with stones, and direct
your hollow drains to it. It will
serve for a perpetual outlet; and
conduce much to the drying of the
soil.
To make a hollow drain, dig a
channel between thirty and thirty-
six inches wide at the top, and six
inches, or the breadth of a spade,
at the bottom, and three feet deep,
giving it just descent enough to
make the water run briskly. Fill
it half full, or more, with small
stones, thrown in at random, and
cover them with a layer of straw,
leaves, or the small branches of
trees with the leaves on them; then
fill it up to a level with the surface,
with the earth that was thrown out.
Such a drain, as it will not choke
or fill up, will never need repair-
ing. If the descent should be but
just so much as to make the water
run slowly, there may be some dan-plough may pass over them to as
ger of its choking up and ceasing to great a depth as is necessary in any
run at all. But this danger will be kind of tillage; and carts and oth-
The peculiar advantages of hol-
low drains are, that they will not
need repairing, as they do not fill
up; that no soil is wasted, or ren-
dered useless by them; that a
DRA
113
DRE
er carriages are not obstructed or
incommoded by them. So that
these drains may pass across roads
without detriment, when the' des-
cent requires it. It is often neces-
sary to hollow drain roads to lay
them dry, and found to be of great
advantage.
The draining of a marish, or
shaking meadow, which seems to
be a soil floating on the water, is
sometimes practicable. I shall
give the reader the method of do-
ing it in the words of the ingenious
Mr. Dickson." To drain a ma-
rish," says he, "it is necessary, in
the first place, to convey away all
the stagnating water: And this wa-
ter can be conveyed away in no
other manner, than by a large
open drain, with a sufficient fall.
This fall must be such, as to carry
off the water from the bottom of
the marish; otherwise little advan-
tage is to be expected from it. By
conveying away all the stagnating
water, some land on each side will
be gained For the water being
removed, the earth by degrees will
subside, and become firm and solid.
By this, likewise, the bottom will
become firm; which will allow the
drain, by degrees, to be carried
forward through the middle of the
marish. If the springs, by which
the marish is supplied, arise near
the middle, this principal drain,
with some branches cut from each
side, where the springs are largest,
or most numerous, will be suffi-
cient. But if there are springs in
all places, as is frequently the case,
it will be necessary to make drains
at the sides, as nearly parallel to
the principal drain, as the situa-
tion of the marish will allow, to in-
tercept the water that comes from
the heights,and supplies the springs.
It will be necessary, likewise, to
make communications, by cross
drains,betwixt the parallel drains at
the sides, and the principal drain in
the middle." It is no wonder if the
cost of draining a shaking meadow
should be considerable, as it seems
like a soil floating upon water.-
But there is no reason to doubt its
becoming some of the best soil,
when so drained as to give firmness
to it.
DRAY, or car, a slight kind of
carriage drawn by one horse. It
consists of a pair of thills, connect-
ed by two or three cross bars. The
hinder ends of the thills slide along
on the ground. It draws heavily
on bare roads, but on grass land
much more easily. The horse
must carry much of the load on his
back. In case of necessity, it is
better than no carriage.
DRESSING, the application of
dung, or other manures, to soils, to
increase their fruitfulness. Dres-
sing differs from manuring in gen-
eral, only as it is chiefly intended
for the increasing of one single
crop. Not only are dressings ne-
cessary for poor and weak soils;
but they are profitably applied to
those which are rich and strong;
especially when seeds are sown
which need much nourishment, or
will make good return for it.
There are four things chiefly to
be regarded in dressing; the suita-
bleness of the dressing to the soil,
and to the crop ; and the manner
and the season of applying it.
To light, warm, or sandy soils,
15
114
DRI
DRE
the coldest manure should be appli-
ed; such as the dung of hogs,
cows, oxen, &c. Dung that is
much mixed with straw does best
in such a soil, as the straw soon
rots and becomes food for plants.
Cold and stiff soils should be dres-
sed with the hottest and driest ma-
nures, as the dung of horses, sheep
and fowls. Wet soils should have
manures that have the greatest
power of absorbing moisture.
Lime, where it is cheap and plen-
ty, may be used with great advan-
tage; ashes, coals, and saw dust,
are also very proper.
1
and grain, than if they were buried
in the soil. Being laid lower than
the surface, their strength would be
more apt to be carried lower than
the roots of plants commonly reach.
Some dressings are thought to
be more successfully applied some
time before sowing. Such a one
lime is said to be, as being apt to
burn, or too much heat the seed.
But this, I think, can be only when
it is laid on unslacked, and in large
quantities.
Other dressings answer best at
the time of sowing. This is the
case as to most kinds of dung that
are used, and of several other ma-
nures.
Some kinds of dressing should be
well mixed with the soil, by the
plough and harrow; especially But those manures which exert
such as are apt to lose their all their strength suddenly, are al-
strength, by being exposed to the lowed to be best used only as top
air. Of this sort are dungs in gen- dressings, after the plants are up,
eral, and some other manures. such as soot, ashes, certain warm
Dung is to be ploughed in with a composts, and malt dust. If they
light furrow.
Composts, which are laid on winter grain in autumn,
consist of dung, earth, and other there will be danger of their caus-
substances,need only to be harrow-ing too rapid a growth: In conse-
ed. If dressings are laid too deep, quence of which, the grain will be
as under deep furrows, they will afterwards stinted, and languish,
be in a manner lost; the roots of unless another and larger dressing
most kinds of annual plants will be given it in the following spring,
scarcely reach them; and, before or summer. It is probably best to
the next ploughing, the strength of apply these dressings just before
them will be sunk still deeper into the time when the plants will need
the greatest supply of vegetable
nourishment, which is when their
growth is most rapid, or near the
time when the ears are shooting
out.
the earth.
There are other manures which
should be used only as top dres-
sings. Their exposure to the air
takes away little or none of their
virtue, being of an alkaline na-
ture, such as ashes, lime, and the
like. They are speedily settled
into the soil by rains, and melting
snows; and afford a more kindly
nourishment to the roots of grass
+
The adapting of dressings to the
nature of plants will be found, in
those parts of this work, where the
most useful plants are treated of.
DRILL HUSBANDRY. Sir
John Sinclair has the following re-
DRI
115
DRO
"There doubtless must be some
radical defect in the system of
drilling, when after a full trial of
its merits, by a number of intelli-
gent farmers, in several districts,
but more especially in the counties
of Hertford,and Lincoln,it has been
given up.with hardly an exception,
in so far as respects crops of grain.
These facts confirm the almost
general result throughout the king-
dom, that drilling will be found to
answer to a certain extent, and
with a certain degree of skill and
attention; but when the scale is ex-
tended, the attention is apt to flag,
and the conclusions drawn from
one or two fields are not found ap-
marks on this subject. "In com- [ to render the crop unproductive.
paring the drill and broad-cast sys- Hence, in rich soils, drilling has
tems, the following maxims may be been so frequently given up, and
laid down 1. That it is of little hence it is that Tull probably con-
or no advantage to drill autumn,orsidered dung as prejudicial.
winter-sown wheat, as the crop is
rarely injured by annual weeds,
and they can be easily and com-
pletely extirpated by hand-hoeing
and weeding; and when the soil is
much infested by root weeds, as
the crop, in ordinary cases, will
completely meet in the rows, be-
fore the root-weeds make much
appearance, it is impossible, with-
out injuring the crop, to render
much benefit to the land by the
hoe. 2. On all lands where annu-
al weeds are abundant, and where
a number of hands can be procur-
ed for using the hoe, white crops,
sown in the spring, may be drilled,
for the advantage of clearing the
land more effectually. By weed-licable, unless where the operation
ing broad-cast crops carefully, an
addition of four and an half bushels
of wheat, fifteen bushels of barley,
and ten of oats has been obtained.
The adoption of that practice,
therefore, would probably equal
the average advantage from dril-
ling; so that the difference be-
tween broad-cast crops, properly
weeded, and the drilled, may not
be material. 3. That though the
3. That though the
hoeing of the crops, and the stirring
of the soil, has no injurious effects
in light, poor, or even strong soils,
like those of Norfolk and Suffolk,
where drilling has succeeded; yet
where the soil is fertile by nature,
or enriched by art, drilling forces
up the straw, and consequently di-
minishes the quantity and quality
of the grain in so great a degree,as
is very skillfully conducted, to a
whole farm." See New Husban-
dry. Likewise Massachusetts Ag-
ricultural Repository, vol. IV. p.
217, to p. 254, in which opinions
in some respects different from the
above are maintained.
For a description of the differ-
ent kinds of drills, see Willich's
Domestic Encyclopædia, 2d Ame-
rican edition, vol. II.
DROUGHT, such a continu-
ance of dry weather, that plants
cannot draw a sufficiency of nou-
rishment from the earth, to give
them their full growth and perfec-
tion.
Some countries are much more
liable to this inconvenience than
others. New England, for instance,
is oftener troubled with it thanGreat
116
DRO
DRO
If it
Britain; one occasion of which is, | city caused by drought.
the greater heat of our summers, were become customary to plant
by which lands grow dry faster here and sow on drained lands, and in
than there. Another cause may those which are so low and wet as
be our having a greater quantity of to need laying in ridges, possibly
fair weather. And our being more our dry summers would be as fruit-
liable to drought, makes it neces-ful on the whole as our wet ones.
sary that our methods of culture
should be different from those prac-
tised in that country. Heating ma-
nures are generally more needful
there than here; and ridge plough-
ing is a more proper kind of til-
lage for the English than for us—
though it might be of great service
in many of our fields. I have found
considerable advantage from it in
land that is flat and wet.
To plough our driest lands, in
ridges, would undoubtedly be lost
labour, unless for certain particu-
lar crops, as it would cause a
drought to be more hurtful to the
crops, and there is no danger of
too much wetness. And yet it
may be, that when an over dryness
of soil on the side of a bill, is owing
to the rain's running off before it
has time to soak into the soil,
ploughing the land into ridges, and
making the gutters nearly parallel
with the horizon, may cause the
soil to retain moisture the better.
It is in the power of the farmer
in good measure to guard against
the ill effects of drought. It is a
matter that certainly ought to be
attended to in this country, in
which almost half of our summers
are complained of by many,as being
very dry. The best method is, to
have more of our lowest lands un-
der the best improvement in til-
lage. If this were the case, we
should not so often hear of a scar-
But, as we manage our lands at
present, the case is far otherwise.
A great number of people are al-
ways reduced to a distressed con-
dition by a dry summer. And they
are too ready to consider the short-
ness of their crops in a dry year as
a divine judgment, though they
might have prevented it by a more
prudent management.
Another way to guard against
having our crops pinched by drought
is, to have a variety of different
crops on a farm each year, some
that are least injured by a drought,
and some that require the most
rain. Thus, let a season happen
as it will, we may hope to gain in
one crop, what we lose in anoth-
er; or at least that some of our
crops will be very good, if others
should fail.
Sometimes land is so shaped by
nature, that the water of a rivulet,
or of a plentiful spring, may be led
by gutters, or narrow channels, to
moisten places which would other-
wise suffer by drought. When it
can be performed without too
much expense, it will be found to
be an excellent piece of husbandry.
In some cases it may be a double
advantage, making a wet place
drier, by diverting the water to
places that need it. Deep tillage
is also of very great importance to
prevent the ill effects of a dry sea-
son. For the dryness of three or
DRO
117
DUN
four inches in depth would scarce-
ly alter the condition of the plants.
But if the plough has gone only to
this depth, a severe drought will
be fatal to the crop.
|
some hill in the pasture, and hav-
ing come to water, to dig a trench
below, level with the bottom of the
well, and bring the water through
a hollow drain out to the surface,
where it may be kept in a little ba-
sin, made in the soil, for a water-
ing place. This practice is now
common in some parts of our coun-
try, and even the conveyance of
It would greatly advantage the
farmer, if he could foretel whether
a season will be dry or wet. But
as he knows this is impossible, he
should so conduct his crops, and
other matters, that he may be pre-water in aqueducts.
pared for either extreme.
The earlier a drought begins, the
more distressing it generally proves
in this country. For, after the
grass crops and English grain have
nearly got their growth, a drought
is less detrimental than before, be-
cause the Indian corn, by means of
the tillage given while the plants
are growing, bears it so well as to
be seldom cut short by it: And In-
dian corn is the principal of our
late crops.
DUNG, the excrements of ani-
mals, used to increase the fertility
of land. Dung may be said to be
almost of the same importance to
the farmer, as stock in trade is to
the merchant. There are but few
lots or pieces of lots, in this coun-
try, which can be tilled to any
great profit, in the common way of
culture, without manure; and dung
is of all manures the most useful.
The very best of soils, when dung-
ed, will more than pay for it, by
the increase of their crops, and the
poorest will produce next to no-
thing without manure. Some think
it more profitable to apply dung to
their best soils than to their poor-
it to be greater in the former case
than in the latter. This opinion is
probably founded in truth.
Pasture lands are often so dried
up, that both the meat and drink
of the cattle are cut off at once.-
This shews the propriety and ne-
cessity of having some low lands in
pasture, when it is practicable.-est, as they think the increase from
And a few trees, growing at proper
distances in a pasture, will partial-
ly shade the soil, and prevent its
drying so rapidly. More grass The sorts of dung which are, or
will be produced; and the cattle may be used, are that of black cat-
will be refreshed by the shade; tle, sheep, horses, swine, goats,
besides the advantage the farmer hens, pigeons, ducks, geese and
will gain in fuel and timber. In rabbits, besides human ordure.
those parts of the country where
trees have become scarce, the
omission of planting quick-growing
trees in our pasture grounds is un-
pardonable. When a pasture is
destitute of water, Mr. Eliot ad-
vises to dig a well on the side of
The dung of animals consists of
oils, fixed and volatile salts, togeth-
er with nitrous and earthy parti-
cles. But in different sorts of dung
these principles are differently
compounded; so that the dung of
one animal is a proper manure for
118
DUN
DUN
*
one kind of soil, and that of another with stiff earth or sand, according
for another. And yet there is no to the nature of the soil it is intend-
kind of soil that may not be enrich-ed for, is, also, with much reason,
ed, in some degree, by any kind of recommended by Mr. Mortimer;
dung.
who also says,
"that he has known
vast crops of rye upon barren
lands, that have been old warrens,
well dunged by rabbits, and large
oak and ash trees upon the same,
though the soil was very shallow."
The dung of oxen and cows is a
cool, mild and oily substance; and
is, therefore, most suitable for
warm, sandy, and gravelly soils. It
tends to prevent the soil's becom-
ing too dry, and keeps the plants
on it from being pinched for want
of moisture.
The dung of sheep is more hot
and fiery than that of black cattle;
it ferments quicker; it is fitter,
therefore, for cold, heavy lands.
Perhaps the best way of applying
the dung of sheep to land is by
folding, in countries especially
which are not greatly infested by
wolves. For in this method their
urine is all saved, as well as their
dung. But it ought to be turned
in with the plough as soon as pos-
sible, that the sun and air may not
deprive the land of it.
In Flanders, it is the practice to
house their sheep at night, under
slight sheds, the ground being
spread with dry sand, about four
or five inches thick, laying on
a little more fresh every night.-
This is cleared out once a week,
and carried to a dung-hill, or ap-
plied to the soil. This mixture of
sand and hot dung, makes a very
excellent dressing for cold and stiff
land. For there is scarcely a rich-
er manure than the dung and urine
of sheep. M. Quintinie thinks it
the greatest promoter of fruitful-
ness, in all sorts of ground. This
method of folding sheep in a cov-
ered fold, and of mixing their dung
Some have recommended the
reducing of sheep-dung to powder,
by pounding it with mallets, and
using it as a top dressing for grain,
perhaps half a dozen bushels on an
acre. But this is a tedious piece
of work, and of no lasting advan-
tage: Whereas too much can
hardly be said in praise of the Flan-
ders method of using it. A prodi-
gious quantity of good manure may
thus be obtained from a flock of
sheep, by housing them regularly
every night.
If a light soil is intended to be
manured with this compost; in-
stead of sand, clay, pond mud, or
the mud of flats may be used,these
substances having been first mel-
lowed by the frosts of winter. The
dung of goats is supposed to be
nearly of the nature of sheep's
dung.
Horse dung is a still hotter ma-
nure, as appears by its quick fer-
mentation in heaps, even in cool
weather. It is consequently fittest
for hot beds, when it is new, and
for nourishing those plants which
require the greatest degrees of
heat. The dung of horses that are
fed on grain, is a richer manure
than that of those fed only on grass
and hay.
Great care should be taken that
DUN
119
DUN
horse dung be not spoiled, by being
overheated, or burnt in the heaps,
before it is used. For, in this coun-
try, it is very commonly the case.
When it has been so heated as to
give it a white and mouldy appear-
ance, the virtue of it is gone. It is
difficult to give it age, without mix-
ing it with other substances. A
mixture of horse and cow dung is
very proper for land that is neither
too light nor too stiff. Horse dung
is a much stronger manure than it
is supposed to be by those whose
constant practice is to suffer it to
be spoilt by overheating in the
heaps. This manure, when used
as an ingredient in composts, has
an excellent effect, as by its quick
and strong fermentation, it speedi-
ly dissolves other substances that
are mixed with it.
Mr. Miller says he has frequent-
ly seen new horse dung buried as
it came from the stable in very
cold, moist land; and always ob-
served that the crops have suc-
ceeded better than where the
ground was dressed with very rot-
ten dung.
The dung of swine is a very rich
and fat manure, and so cool as to
ferment very slowly. It is so rich
and oily, as to be double in value
to neats' dung. It will render the
moist dry and hungry soils exceed-
ingly fruitful in a wettish season,
as I have found by experience. It
resists the ill effects of drought,
and does most service in a hot
country. By its steady and grad-
ual supply of a rich nourishment,
it is peculiarly adapted for the
growing of hops, pumpions, run-
ning beans, and every plant which
|
|
has long vines. Nothing can e-
qual it for the growing of potatoes.
It has produced me more than a
peck in a hill on the poorest hun-
gry sands. Or rather I might say,
straw only a little impregnated
with the dung of hogs has done it.
This is so strong a manure, that it
answers well, when mixed with a
large proportion of earth, weeds,
straw, or other such substan-
ces. It is almost incredible how
great a quantity of good manure
may be obtained, by supplying a
hogsty with rubbish to mix with
the dung. I have heard of 40
the dung.
loads of manure being made in a
year by means of one hogsty.
And I have no doubt of its being
practicable.
The dung of ducks and geese,
is deemed too hot and burning.
But if the farmer would gather it
in a heap, and mix it with the dung
of cattle, he would bring it to a
temperate heat, and draw from it
such advantage as would indemni-
fy him for the pains he should
take. The virtue of this method
is known by experience. A farm-
er having abandoned a piece of
ground to his geese for twelve
years, afterwards turned them out
to let the grass grow, and it rose
so thick and strong that the scythe
would scarcely pass through it.
Hen dung is recommended to be
scattered in small quantities upon
land intended to be sown, and on
account of its heat it is never used,
unless when rain is foreseen. It
is an excellent manure for mea-
dows. Pigeon's dung is much the
same with that of poultry, the only
difference being its superiour
heat." Scots Farmer.
120
DUN
DUN
of earth, and lie one or two sum-
mers at least, that it may be thor-
oughly mixed. The contents of
an old vault would thus make a
surprising quantity of excellent
manure.
I should think it better to mix
the dung of poultry and pigeons
with other substances, to allay
their heat, before they are applied
to the soil. And thus qualified,
they would be an excellent top
dressing for corn, especially in As dung in general is so impor-
cold and wet lands. On old mow- tant a manure, every possible
ing grounds, I have found the grass method should be taken to pre-
abundantly increased, by a sprink- vent its being wasted, as indeed a
ling of earth taken out of an apart- great proportion of it is, by the
ment used as a hen house, though common management of our farm-
there was little or none of their ers. In no way is it more wasted,
dung visible amongst it.
than by its being too much expos-
"Human ordure is a very fated to the sun, air, and rains.
and hot manure, full of fertilizing Mixing of dry earth, or other ab-
salts and oils; and, therefore, ex-sorbent substances, with heaps of
tremely proper for all cold, sour
soils; especially if it be mixed
with other dung, straw, or earth,
to give it a fermentation, and ren-
der it convenient for carriage.
Some do not like the use of it, on
account of its bad smell; and
others imagine, that it gives a fetid
taste to plants. But in this they
seem to carry their delicacy too
far. Mr. Bradley says, it is kept
in pits made on purpose, in for-
eign countries, till it be one, two,
three or four years old: That of
four years old is accounted the
best, that of three years tolerable.
Perhaps it may owe great part of
its richness to the urine with which
it is mixed; for though the human
urine be destructive to vegetables,
whilst it is new, by reason of its
burning sal ammoniacal spirit, as
Glauber terms it, yet time will di-
gest the urine, and render it an
extraordinary fertilizer of every
kind of soil." Complete Farmer.
This kind of manure should be
compounded with a large quantity
dung, will do much towards pre-
venting this loss. Or slight sheds
may be made over them to pre-
vent their strength being too much
wasted by heavy rains; and at the
same time, to prevent a too great
exhalation from them. Some cov-
er them with turfs, when they
choose to keep dung till it be old.
This is not a bad practice; for
the turfs in that situation will be-
come good manure. I would
hope farmers need not be told,
that the grassy side should be laid
on the dung. Otherwise, instead
of consuming, it will produce a
crop of grass.
•
If the heaps lie at the sides of
barns or under the eaves, the least
that should be done to prevent the
wasting of the dung, is to put up
gutters, that the heaps may not be
washed with the streams from the
eaves. And besides, some loose
boards should be set against the
sides of the barn, in such a manner
as to prevent the greatest part of
the rain from falling on the heaps
of dung.
DUN
121
DUN
lies conveniently beneath the farm
yard, the contents of this reservoir,
or the overflowings of the dung-
yard, may be conveyed to it for
the purposes of irrigation." Code
of Agriculture.
There are different opinions
relative to the preparation which
dung should undergo before it is
applied to the soil. It is remark-
ed by Sir Humphrey Davy, that
straw fermented is a more manage-
able substance, and furnishes more
manure for a single crop, than un-
fermented. In the latter state it
decomposes more slowly, and con-
sequently, though its influence will
be more lasting, yet it produces at
first less effect.
"The quality of the dung of, and much useful matter might in
every animal, will in a great meas- this way be collected, and convey-
ure be proportioned to the rich-ed to the reservoir. Where land
ness or poverty of its food. Hence
the dung from the stables and cow-
houses is preferred to that of young
cattle kept in the farm yard, on
food of a less nourishing quality.
Next to animal excrement, straw
is the chief material of a dung hill;
and too much attention cannot be
paid to collecting it. For that
purpose, the greatest care is taken
by the diligent husbandman to cut
his crops low. When reaping is
carelessly executed, it has been
calculated, that one fourth part of
the straw is left upon the ground,
where its strength and substance is
wasted by the rains and storms of
autumn and winter; whereas by
attention to the reaping process,
one ton, and even more of addi-
tional manure per acre, can be ob-
tained. The value of straw is
great, not only in consequence of
its own substance, but from the
quantity of liquid matter it absorbs.
By an experiment, carefully made,
it appeared that dry wheat straw
had increased in quantity from 300
to 719 stone, making an increase
of not less than 419 stone during
a period of seven months.
"As in heavy rains, notwith-
standing every precaution, some
water will run from the yard, there
ought to be a covered reservoir to
receive it, so situated that the
liquid can either be pumped upon
the dunghill if it requires it, or
upon heaps of earth, collected for
that purpose. The stables and cow-
houses ought also to be regularly
washed, as is done in Flanders;
16
It is observed by Sir John Sin-
clair, that "the old practice of
frequently stirring, turning, and
mixing the dung, without in gen-
eral even covering the heap with
earth, when it was turned, is now
very properly laid aside by every
judicious farmer, as the finer and
more volatile parts of the soluble
matter, escaped in a gaseous
form, into the atmosphere, and
left behind only the earthy and
coarser parts of the mass."
"In the Netherlands," says the
same writer, "the more opulent
pave and line with brick the re-
ceptacles for their dung, which is
thus kept constantly plunged in a
mass of liquid matter. The fibrous
parts of the vegetables, are thus
completely decomposed, and four
tons of this manure, go as far as
five, collected and kept with less
precaution."
122
DUN
DUN
"In Switzerland the farmers
consider liquid manure as the most
efficacious, and after the dung is
fermented, they dilute it in water,
and the liquid alone is carried to
the field, and scattered over it.
The straw that remains, after the
dung is thus washed, is applied as
manure for potatoes.
flime, or marle, and any animal or
vegetable substances, which easily
putrify and consume.
It would be well if every farmer
had some of them preparing, to be
carted out in autumn, or to lie two
summers, when it is found conven-
ient. He would avail himself of
much manure that might be col-
lected between spring and fall;
for, in the summer, the crops on
the ground must prevent carting
it; so that it should be preserved
in the best manner to prevent
waste. And this can in no way be
so well prevented, as by mixing it
with other substances.
The Hon. Richard Peters, of
Penn. is opposed to the use of un-
fermented manures. In a letter
to Josiah Quincy, Esq. published
in the Agricultural Repository,
vol. iv. page 328, Mr. Peters ob-
serves, "I insist that all the hot
muck ferments over violently in
the earth. My opponents say,
(and so does Sir H. I believe,)
that the earth checks fermenta-
tion. And so it may to a certain
degree. But strawy muck cannot
be regularly spread. The animal
matter is not mixed with the straw,
but lies in masses per se; this over
ferments, and throws up your
crops, in bunches or spots, over
luxuriantly; and it lays, smuts, or
mildews. The earth prevents fer-
mentation in the straw; and this
dry rots and becomes a caput mor-
tuum. I have experienced this
effect over and over again. I
think reasonably fermented dung
goes further. All the straw and
additional matter is impregnated,
and, being decomposed, spreads
with the animal ejections more
equally, and to infinitely better
advantage, assisting your crops in
more points, and operating equally
and more efficiently on the whole."
DUNGHILLS, heaps of ma-
nure laid up to ferment, consisting
of dung and earth, together with To prevent the heaps being too
Farmers should have such dung-
hills, some at their barns, or cow-
yards, one at a hogsty, when
swine are shut up, and another not
too far from the back door of a
house. They may be tended, and
augmented at odd times, when no
other business stands in the way.
That at the back door, especially,
may be very easily made up, of a
variety of rich and fertilizing in-
gredients, besides dung; such as
the scrapings of the yard after
rain; soot and ashes; shells, lime
and bones; the sweepings of the
kitchen; oil dregs, and any fat
things; woollen rags; bloody wa-
ter, in which meat or fish has been
washed; greasy water; suds;
ashes, although the lie has been
drawn from them; old useless
brine; urine; and, in short, any
animal or even vegetable sub-
stance, that has not too much acid.
Or, even acids, if they be over-
balanced by plenty of alkaline
substances.
DUN
123
DYK
much torn and spread about by
swine, or by the scratching of
dunghill fowls, the heaps may be
included in pens made with wide
boards; or some rocks may be
laid round them. Turfs may be
laid over them, to prevent their
evaporating; as well as under
them, to prevent their soaking in-
to the earth.
on a clayey soil, sand is proper.
DUTCH HOE, sometimes cal-
led a Scuffle; an iron instrument,
with a sharp steeled edge, nearly
in the shape of the letter D. with a
shank from the rounding part, five
or six inches long, which passes in-
to a handle of about six feet in
length. It is of use to clean walks
and avenues in gardens. No gard-
ener should be without one of these
The heaps should have such a
degree of moisture as best pro-instruments.
motes fermentation and corrup- DYKE, OR DIKE, a sort of dam,
tion. A cavity may be made constructed of earth, timber, fas-
close to the lower side of the cines, &c. to oppose the entrance
heap, to receive the superfluous of water from rivers and from the
moisture as it runs from it after sea.
rain; and this liquid, highly im- Dykes made to exclude the sea
pregnated with the strength of the from marshes, are built with sods.
manure, should be thrown, from cut out of the marsh, so as to make
time to time, on the top of the a ditch near the dyke, or else a
heaps, with a scooping shovel. In ditch on each side. The sods are
a wet season, the heaps will need laid as a wall sloping on both sides;
some slight sheds over them. In- they should be laid very close,that
deed it would be best to cover the water may not enter; and
them in all seasons, and to apply some slender bushes should be laid
water to them when they need it. between them, that the work may
Heaps about the barn or cow-hold together the better. Some of
yard, may be augmented with
some of the nearest earth, swamp
mud, straw, weeds, &c. those at
the hogsty with the same, together
with the dung of fowls, or other
hot manures, as the dung of swine
is naturally cold. But the farmer
should acquaint himself with the
nature of different manures; and
always let that ingredient in his
heaps be predominant, which is
best adapted to correct and melio-
rate the soil on which it is to be
laid. If it be destined for a sandy
soil, clay will be an excellent in-
gredient in the composition of the
heaps. If it be designed to lay
the bushes should have roots to
them,that they may grow,and more
strongly bind the sods together.-
Shrubs without roots will not live
placed in the dykes at mid-summer,
the time when dykes should be
built. But they may be inserted
afterwards, at a proper season.
A dyke, seven or eight feet wide
at bottom, and three a-top, and
made a little higher than the high-
est spring tides rise, will be suffi-
cient on high marsh.
When a
dyke passes through a low place,or
through a creek, it must be wider
at bottom in proportion to the
depth of the hollow, or creek, so
124
EAR
EAR
that the sides of the dyke may be
perfect inclined planes. Though
this will make it very thick at bot-
tom, it is necessary, that it may re-
sist the greatest pressure of water
against that part.
the original soils are so few, they
are so variously compounded in
different places, as to present us
with an endless variety of soils,
some or other of which are most
suitable to nourish every different
plant. But for most of the pur-
poses of husbandry a sandy loam is
as good as any.
Good earth for the general pur-
poses of husbandry, is most com-
monly of a dark colour, or quite
black, unctuous to the touch, easi-
When we build on an oozy, soft
spot, it is best to fill the mud with
piles, driven as deep as they will
easily go, and then cut off even
with the surface or a little above
it. This will give stability to the
foundation,and prevent the water's
undermining the dyke. On a side-ly ploughed, on a due medium be-
ling place, stakes should be driven
through the dyke into the marsh,
to hold the sods in their places.-
There should be many of them,
and they should be strong.
In the creek, or creeks, there
must be sluices, larger or smaller |
in proportion to the quantity of
fresh water that will need to pass
out. See Sluice.
E.
twixt dry and wet, not compact,
nor too loose and open, and easily
made to ferment.
Mortimer observes, "That mix-
ed soils are best; especially where
the mixtures happen to be of the
right kind, as those of the hot and
dry soils, blended with the cold and
the moist. All sands are hot, and
all clays are cold, and, therefore,
laying sand on clayey lands, or clay
upon sandy lands, is the best of all
manure for both. This alters and
EARTH, the soil, or land, in changes for the better, the very
which the roots of plants find nou- nature of the land itself, whereas
rishment. There are several sim- dung only improves it for a time,
ple kinds of earth, considered only and after that leaves it nearly as
with respect to husbandry ; as clay, bad as it was before. It is not on-
marle, loam, gravel, sand, peat,and ly the nature of the soil we are to
black mould. Perhaps these are consider, but the depth of it, and
nearly all the simple soils that are what kind of earth is underneath;
found on or near the surface of the for the richest soil, if it be only
earth, in this country; though oth-eight or ten inches deep, and lies
ers, distinct from them all, are upon a cold clay, or upon a quarry
found by digging deep. There is of stone, will not be so fruitful, or
not one of these earths, in its un-advantageous to the farmer, as the
mixed state, that is so friendly to leaner soil that lies upon better un-
the growth of plants, as when mix- der strata."
ed with some other sorts; and it
is happy for us that nature in most
places has blended them. Though
99.
But an under stratum of clay, not
too near to the surface, and where
the ground has not too much wet-
ELF
125
EMP
opinion, that cattle were shotten
and wounded by elves, or fairies.
The disease, however, is not ima-
ginary. It is believed to be an
ness, is found to be good, as the
strength of manures does not es-
cape through it. A stratum of
clayey gravel, or mere clay, or al-
most any that is not too easily pen-opening in the peritonæum, or film
etrated, is good: But one of loose of the belly, caused by relaxation.
sand or gravel must necessarily be It resembles a hole made by a bul-
bad, as the soil above it will not let, and may be felt through the
hold its manure.
See Soil.
skin which remains unhurt. These
openings are closed, and the ani-
mals cured, by rubbing the part
with salt and water. It should be
repeated two or three times in the
course of a day.
ELM, Ulmus Americana, a tree
that is commonly found in our for-
ests. It is tall and beautiful, long-
lived, and grows to a large size.
The wood is not apt to split, or
crack; and is very fit for the naves
of wheels for carriages. Of this
tree there are said to be two varie-
ties, the white and the red. The
elm is a proper tree to plant in
groves. It is sightly and durable
and not apt to be broken by high
winds.
EFFLUVIA. The effluvia of
rotten substances, are supposed to
breed diseases. The farmer,there
fore, should be cautious that he do
not breathe in the steams of his old
dung-hills more than is necessary,
especially when they have a disa-
greeable stench. And the greatest
care should be taken to remove or
cover up all the filth of the house,
and of the hog-pen, which no doubt
occasions some of those autumnal
epidemic diseases, not unfrequent-
ly as fatal in country villages, in
proportion to numbers, as in the
thicker settled towns on the coast.
ELDER, Sambucus nigra, an ill
smelling shrub, which grows plen-
tifully in most parts of this country, EMPLOYMENT. No one
produces a black berry, and is too that considers the condition of a
well known to need describing. I farmer, can doubt of his having
mention it, because it is believed sufficient employment. He has so
to be an excellent antidote against many objects to attend to, that his
destructive insects. It may be
be life must be filled up with careful-
well for farmers to try solutions of ness or exercise. If he grow re-
it, by sprinkling it over plants, in- miss, he will soon find that he has
fected with lice or insects of any lost something through neglect, or
failed of availing himself of some
advantage.
sort.
The juice of elder, it is said,kills
skippers in meat, cheese, &c.
ELFSHOT, OR ELFSHOT-
TEN, a disease in horned cattle,
the symptoms or concomitants of
which are slugglishness and loss of
appetite. The original of the name
seems to have been a superstitious
In our climate, besides care,the
farmers are necessarily hurried
with their business during much the
greater part of the year, that is, from
April to November inclusive. But
in the winter,they may be in some
danger of spending some of their
;
•
126
EXP
EWE
aged, we should keep none for
breeders that have not long and
fine fleeces. The rest should be
killed off during the first year.—
Otherwise the stock will degener-
ate; and a large proportion of
their wool will be coarse, or too
short, and of little value.
From the first of October, to the
twentieth of November, the rams
should be kept from them; that
so their lambs may not come till
the twentieth of April, when the
ground is most commonly bare,and
the grass begins to spring in many
places.
time idly, if they do not take care | That they may be profitably man-
to prevent it. Feeding and tend-
ing their cattle, if they do it faith-
fully, will take some considerable
part of each day, if the stock be
large. The dressing of hemp and
flax requires some time, and ought
to be done in winter. Getting
home fuel for maintaining fires
through the year, and hauling stuff
and fitting it for the building and
repairing of fences; threshing and
cleaning of corn and grain, and
preparing farming implements, may
all be done at this season. And these
things ought to be done at this time
of the year, to prevent hurry at a
more busy season. So that, though
our farmers cannot plough, or do
any thing to the soil in winter, un-
less it be sometimes in part of De-
cember, they need not be idle. In
maritime places they may employ
themselves and their teams in get-ty of milk for their lambs: For it
ting manure from flats and creeks,
and drawing it to their hungry high
lands. This will turn to very good
account, and pay them well for
their labour. Holes may be dug
in the ice over flats, from whence
rich mud may be taken,and drawn
upon sleds to the high parts of a
farm. And this will be found to be
a profitable employment.
1
For a few days, or weeks, before
yeaning time, they should be more
generously fed. Some juicy food,
which they are fond of, should be
given them, such as turnips, pota-
toes, &c. that they may have plen-
is the opinion of careful observers,
that want of milk is the cause of
the dying of so many lambs in the
first stage of their existence.
From their first going to pasture
to the last of June, or the middle
of July, the ewes should have
plenty of feed, by means of which
the lambs will come forward ra-
pidly in their growth, so as to be
fit for weaning. Nor will the ewes
become so lean, but that they may
be fattened in autumn ; which
would be otherwise, were the lambs
to suck them as long as they are
permitted to do in this country.
ENCLOSURE, a piece of ground
fenced by itself, to prevent the en-
trance of cattle, &c. In some pla-
ces men farm in common fields.-
But this method, pasturing except-
ed, is not eligible. Some lose
more by it than enough to pay for EXPERIENCE. Perhaps no
enclosing. And it is too often the man ever attained to a thorough
occasion of quarrels, and endless knowledge of husbandry merely by
uneasiness among neighbours. books, or by oral information. Ex-
EWES, the females of sheep.perience is needful to fix the know-
EXP
127
EXP
ledge of the multifarious branches
of it in our minds. It is needful,
also, to teach us the easiest meth-
ods of performing a thousand things
which depend on circumstances so
minute, that they were never com-
mitted to paper, and scarcely are
thought to be worth mentioning.
But experience, however neces-
sary, is not all that is needful to
make an accomplished farmer.-
Observation is equally necessary.
And without argumentation, none
will be fit for any thing greater than
going on in the most beaten tracks.
None ought to conclude from their
having had the longest experience,
that they have the greatest degree
of knowledge: For some will learn
more by experience in one year,
than others will in forty. Theory
and practice should certainly con-
cur, to render persons skilful in
husbandry, or in any other profes-
sion. An early apprenticeship is
as necessary to the attainment of
this art, as any other; as some
have been convinced, who have
entered on farming when they were
past the meridian of life.
It may be true, that he who makes
a new experiment is in some haz-
ard of losing more or less by it.
Therefore, I would not press it up-
on farmers in indigent or low cir-
cumstances, to venture upon any
thing of the kind, unless it be in
very small matters, or on a small
scale; for the failure of one year's
crop would almost reduce them to
beggary. They would do well,
however, to compare the profit of
one crop with another, reckoning
the cost laid out upon each; and
of one course of crops with anoth-
er; and the success of different
manures on the same, or on differ-
ent soils. Thus they may find
which of the old methods is to be
preferred, by a small degree of at-
tention, without any risk, which is
a matter of some consequence.-
For we need to learn what meth-
ods to drop, or discontinue, as well
as what to adopt or bring into use.
Gentlemen of large estates, who
can bear some considerable loss
without feeling it, in case they fail
of success, are the persons that
should try new crops, or new ways
EXPERIMENTS, trials of prac- of raising old ones. Love of their
tice in husbandry. It is greatly to country should prompt them to it;
be wished, that more of these were for there is no reason to doubt but
made in this young country, where that our husbandry may admit of a
the knowledge of agriculture is yet variety of important improvements.
in its infancy. Experiments made It is wished that an enterprising
in other countries are not to be re- spirit were more excited, that we
lied on, as proofs of the utility of might have reason to hope for great
one mode of culture in preference improvements in husbandry.-
to another, in this country. There- There is an extensive field for ex-
fore, we should not trust to the periments; and making them might
experiments of Europeans, but be a good and laudable amusement
make experiments for ourselves. to persons who have leisure.-
Till this is done, we are not to look Trench ploughing, which has nev-
for great improvements in husban-er yet been attempted in this coun-
dry.
128
EXP
FAL
try, ought to be tried, at least, by | from single experiments, they will
those who have deep soils, clear of rather embarrass and mislead, than
rocks and other obstacles. Trials increase agricultural knowledge.
should be made of the advantage But if improvements be wished
of ploughing flat land in ridges; for, experiments should be care-
and whether ridge ploughing will fully recorded. If this be neglect-
not secure grain from destruction ed, husbandry must be expected
by winter frosts. Attempts should to remain in its present low state.
be more extensively made to raise For want of such records, a great
winter wheat, which is the most deal of useful knowledge has been
valuable of all grain. We should already lost. Though many have
endeavour to find out the best made experiments, by which they
steeps for grain and other seeds, to have satisfied themselves, but few
quicken their vegetation, and to have recorded them. The exper-
secure them against insects and imenters themselves have forgot-
smut;-what are the best quanti-ten them, to such a degree, that
ties of seed for sowing in different
grounds ;-whether sowing seeds
with a drill be not the best method
when horse hoeing is not applied;
when is the best time for sowing of
winter grain ;-whether good peat
and marle be not to be found in plen-
ty in various parts of the country,and
the advantage of marling,and sow-
ing peat ashes;-whether drained
swamps are not the most profitable
of all our lands;—whether new
dung or old will produce the best
crop, and whether compost will not
do better than either; how lime
will answer as a manure in our hot
summers--on what kind of soil it
is most serviceable, &c. &c.
-
But, in making experiments,
great care should be taken that we
do not draw a conclusion too has
tily; certainly we must not do it
from one single trial. For a thing
may answer well at one time,owing
to the peculiarity of a season, or to
some indiscernible circumstances,
which will not at another. If men
allow themselves to be too sanguine
and sudden in their conclusions
they are apt to misrepresent them,
when they attempt to relate them.
And too many suffer useful discov-
eries to die with them. To pre-
vent these evils, the forming of
societies in various parts of the
country might be of great use.
F.
FAGGOT, a bunch of bushes,
or limbs of trees, bound together
by a withe. Faggots for fuel
are cut to the length of about two
feet. In many parts of this coun-
try, the scarcity of fire wood makes
it expedient that farmers should
no longer go on in the practice of
burning such materials on the
ground. They should preserve
them in faggots for fuel in their
houses. They will serve to heat
stoves; and for heating ovens
there is no better wood.
FALL, of the year.
In a country where the springs
are backward, as in the northern
parts of New-England, farmers
should do all they can in autumn,
FAL
129
FAL
:
to diminish or lighten the labours
of the following spring, when they
will have much work to perform
in a short time. Summer dung
and composts should be carted out
at this season. Fences should be
built or repaired, not only to pre-
vent having them to do in the
spring, but to keep cattle from in-
juring the lands with their feet.
All the ground should be ploughed
in the fall, that is to be seeded the
following spring. That which is
intended for spring wheat should
be ploughed twice. Though all
that is ploughed in the fall, for
spring tillage, must be ploughed
again before seeding, the fall
ploughing saves labour, as one
ploughing may answer in the
spring where two would be other-
wise needful. It is saving labour
at a time when teams are most
apt to be faint and feeble, and
when there is too often a scarcity
of food for them. But ploughing
in autumn is of great importance
in a clay soil, as, by exposing it
to the frost, the cohesion of its
parts is much broken.
crops of any sort, for a greater or
less period of time, accompanied
by constant ploughing and harrow-
ing of the land, on which the crops
are so suspended, for the express
purpose of rooting out pernicious
weeds, and of dividing and pulver-
ising the soil more perfectly.
There are also theoretical no-
tions, perhaps true, but of which we
have no evidence, that during this
repose from bearing crops, and by
the means of these
of these repeated
ploughings, the land collects some
principles or elements from the
atmosphere, which contribute to
its fertility. A vast many obscure
remarks, and conjectures have
been made upon this subject,
which if they had not been incom-
prehensible would have been ad-
mitted to be nonsense.
It seems
now to be generally acknowledg-
ed, that the principal benefit of
fallows, upon the British plan,
arises from the destruction of
weeds, and the more perfect divi-
sion of the soil-and it is a little
surprising that this idea never
suggested itself to the earlier
writers on this subject, when they
were so well acquainted with the
benefit of trenching,-a practice,
which seemed to lead to so direct
and necessary a conclusion, that a
minute subdivision of the soil, ren-
Some prefer fall-transplanting |
of trees. It would be very con-
venient if it could be done at this
season as well, but, however it may
answer in the middle and southern
states, experience has shown that
it will not do as well in the New-dering it not only more permeable
England States.
by water, and by the roots of
plants, but also more retentive of
moisture, was in truth the great
secret of the advantages of fallow-
ing, and of the frequent use of the
plough. Much idle speculation
might thus have been spared in
agricultural inquiries, and we
FALLOWING, is one of the
words which requires a more dis-
tinct definition than it has yet had,
because we are persuaded that the
term is differently applied in dif-
ferent countries. In England, it
invariably means a suspension of
17
130
FAL
FAL
should not have been compelled | other roots, it would be better to
plant such lands with any species
of trees that would thrive in it,
rather than to abandon it to such
useless plants as might voluntarily
spring up upon it.
With respect to the spirited,
and expensive mode of summer
fallowing adapted in England,
which often extends to four, five,
and even seven successive opera-
tions on the soil, in one summer,
it is thought that it may be useful,
in lands peculiarly troubled with
pernicious weeds as the most suc-
cessful mode of extirpating them.
But in general, it is now thought,
even in that country, that a judi-
cious rotation of crops is much
preferable on every account. It
saves the loss of income in lands
to read so much about the collec-
tion of nitre, and other salts from the
atmosphere, when there was, in
fact no proof that any such deposits
were made, and when it is quite as
probable that these if any, which
were in the land before, might es-
cape by this exposure to the air,
as that any more should be collect-
ed. We, however, mean to con-
fine ourselves in this article, sim-
ply to facts, which are important
to the farmer, leaving to those,
who prefer to plunge into the mists
of theory, the pleasure of so doing.
Though the English farmer un-
derstands by Fallowing a season
of greater or less labour on his un-
cropped lands, the French, and
some of the American Farmers
understand by it an entire aban-left in fallow; and as it is now be-
donment of the soil to such weeds,
or plants, as are useless, or nearly
so to man and animals, for a geater
or less period, under some vague
notion, that the land will recruit
itself, in a few years, and be fit
again for cultivation. There are,
however, many American farmers,
who pursue the English mode of
fallowing, and instead of a period
of repose, the land is constantly
moved by the plough, and the
harrow.
lieved on better evidence than the
theories can boast, at which we
have just smiled, that each plant
has a preference to some species
of nourishment over others; and
that when this is exhausted in any
given soil, and the plant will no
longer thrive, another plant may
flourish perfectly well on the same
lands, it seems to be probable, that,
by a rotation of crops, and a pro-
per application of manures we
may render fallows entirely un-
necessary. Such, at least, we be
lieve to be the prevailing opinions
of intelligent men, in Great Britain,
France and the United States.
We understand, that what we
have described as the plan of some
American and French farmers
that of letting the land lie un-
touched has been of late years en- WINTER FALLOWING, is only
tirely exploded by every man of breaking up the land, or plough-
sense in both countries; And, if ing it in the fall, and leaving
it were necessary, for the recruit-it exposed to the action of the
ing of exhausted lands, to abandon frosts of winter. There is no
the raising of grain, potatoes, or country in the world, where this
FAL
131
FAL
can be done more easily, or with
more benefit than ours. Our win-
ter sets in early. We cannot of
ten plough till Christmas. Our
frosts are very severe. Our
ground more open than that of
our Casterly neighbours; and high-
ly beneficial effects must be pro-
duced in pulverising the soil by
the power of frost, one of the most
irresistible agents in nature.
The following observations from
English writers of great respecta-
bility will serve to corroborate
some of the sentiments which we
have advanced on this subject.
“The raising clean, smothering,
green crops, and feeding stock
with them upon the land, is not
only much more profitable, as far
as relates the value of the crop
substituted in lieu of a fallow, but
is also a more effectual method of
procuring large crops of wheat, or
any other crop, which may suc-
ceed the green crop.
at the end of a clean fallow, as at
the time the vegetables clothing
the surface were first ploughed in.
Carbonic acid gas is formed during
the whole time by the action of
the vegetable matter upon the
oxygene of the air, and the greater
part of it is lost to the soil in which
it was formed, and dissipated in
the atmosphere.
"The action of the sun upon
the surface of the soil tends to dis-
engage the gaseous and the vola-
tile fluid matters that it contains;
and heat encreases the rapidity of
fermentation and in the summer 、
fallow, nourishment is rapidly pro-
duced at a time when no vegeta-
bles are present capable of ab-
sorbing it.
:
"Land, when it is not employ-
ed in preparing food for animals,
should be applied to the purpose
of the preparation of manure for
plants; and this is effected by
means of green crops, in conse-
"The smothering and hoeing quence of the absorption of carbon-
crops of tares, turnips, potatoes, aceous matter in the carbonic acid
cabbages, savoys, cale, hemp, and of the atmosphere. In a summer's
other plants, which cover the fallow a period is always lost in
ground, and cause a stagnation of which various vegetables may be
air, preserve the moisture of the raised, either as food for animals, or
soil, and promote the putrefaction as nourishment for the next crop;
and decomposition of such animal and the texture of the soil is not
and vegetable matter, as may be so much improved by its exposure
contained in the soil, are more as in winter, when the expansive
likely to prove economical and powers of ice, the gradual dissolu-
beneficial than any system of fal- tion of snows, and the alternations
lowing." Code of Agriculture. from wet to dry, tend to pulverize
"When weeds are buried in it, and to mix the different parts to-
the soil, by their gradual decom-gether. Agricultural Chemistry.
position they furnish a certain
quantity of soluble matter; but it
may be doubted whether there is
as much useful manure in the land
FALSE QUARTER, a rift or
chink in the quarter of the hoof of
a horse, from top to bottom.
happens generally on the inside,
It
132
FAL
that being the weakest and thin-
nest; and proceeds from the dry-
ness of the hoof, but especially
when a horse is ridden in dry,
sandy, or stony ground, in hot
weather, or in frosty weather,when
the ways are flinty and hard. It is,
likewise, caused by bad shoeing,
and all other accidents whereby a
horse becomes hoof bound: For
the narrowness of the heels, and
brittleness of the quarters, continu-
ally expose a horse to all the said
accidents.
FAR
three or four days, that the clefts
may be drest. And to prevent any
inconveniency that may happen by
the opening, a thin staple may be
also contrived with points like
horse-shoe nails, cast off obliquely,
to take a slender hold, the plate of
it crossing the cleft, where part of
the shoe is cut off (as it must be
under the cleft) and the nails com-
ing out on each side of tire cleft,on
the upper part, to be clinched as
the other nails. By this method a
cleft in any part of the hoof may be
easily cured, if the horse be not
very old, or diseased."
Gibson's
Farriery.
"This accident is both danger-
ous and painful; for as often as a
horse sets his foot to the ground,
the chink widens; and when he FARCY, a disease in horses, si-
lifts it up, the sharp edges of the milar to the scurvy in men, and
divided hoof wound the tender arising from a similarause. The
flesh that covers the coffin bone, farcy is caused in horses from their
which is for the most part followed being for a long time confined to
with blood; and it must of course dry meal. And as the scurvy in
be apt to render a horse lame, as it men is cured by a diet of green
is very difficult to form a re-union. vegetables; so the farcy in horses
To remedy this imperfection, First, may be cured by turning them into
draw the whole length of the cleft a good fresh pasture. But it is on-
with your drawing iron, then anoint ly in the beginning of the disease.
the hoof with tar, honey, and suet, that it can be so easily cured.-
molten together; for nothing can Gibson prescribes bleeding, and
be more proper for the hoof; and moderate purging; and afterwards
lay a thin pledgit dipt in the same doses of antimony. See his Far-
along the cleft. After this, take riery. Mr. Mills calls it a cording
rope-yarn, such as the sailors use, of the veins, and the appearance of
which is no other than hemp moist- small tumours in several parts of
ened in melted tar, and spun loose: the body. Mr. Bartlet deems this
Apply the yarn all down the hoof, distemper easy of cure, when it
beginning at the coronet and de- appears on the head only.
scending downwards, one lay after Bourgelat says, a decoction of the
another, as close as the binding of woods, antimony,powder of vipers,
the hoops of wine casks, laying a with some mercurial preparations,
smooth pledgit of flax behind, to are looked upon as so many spe-
keep it from fretting the heel.--cifics in this disease-and that hem-
This should be opened once in lock will cure it.
Mr.
FAR
133
FAR
FARM. A writer in the Mass.
Agr. Repository, vol. V. p. 320, in
treating" on the extent of land ne-
cessary for a farm, and sufficient to
support a family well and inde-
pendently," has the following
among other valuable remarks:
"We know men, active,intelligent
and industrious, possessed of thirty
or forty acres of land, who are la-
bouring for others,or taking charge
of their neighbours' concerns upon
the avowed reason, that they can-
not support their families on so
small an extent of land. But they
do not realize the actual efficiency
of the soil. Undoubtedly there are
many honourable exceptions to the
observation we are about to make;
as a general rule, however, it may
be asserted, that the FARMERS OF
MASSACHUSETTS ARE YET TO LEARN
THE IMMENSE PRODUCTIVE POWER
OF A PERFECTLY CULTIVATED ACRE.
ble for the success of every under-
taking that a sufficient capital to
carry it on, should be at command;
and for that of farming in particu-
lar. When there is any deficiency
with respect to that important par-
ticular, the farmer cannot derive
sufficient profit from his exertions;
for he may often be obliged to dis-
pose of his crops at an undervalue,
to procure ready money; or he
may be prevented from purchasing
the articles he may require,though
a favourable opportunity may pre-
sent itself. An industrious, frugal
and intelligent farmer, who is punc-
tual in his payments, and hence in
good credit, will strive with many
difficulties, and get on with less
money, than a man of a differ-
ent character. But if he has
not sufficient stock to work his
lands properly ;--nor sufficiency of
cattle to raise manure ;-nor mo-
Instead of seeking riches in aug-ney to purchase the articles he
menting the number of their acres, ought to possess, he must, under or-
let them be sought in better modes dinary circumstances, live in a
of husbandry. As a general truth, state of penury and hard labour;
we believe it may be asserted that and on the first unfavourable sea-
every farmer in Massachusetts, pos- son, or other incidental misfortune,
sessed of one hundred acres of land, he will probably sink under the
might divide them fairly by quan- weight of his accumulated burdens.
tity and quality, into thirds, and by In general, farmers are apt to be-
a suitable cultivation, make either gin with too small a capital. They
third more productive than his are desirous of taking large farms,
whole hundred acres are at pres- without possessing the means of
ent. This is the operation at which cultivating them. This is a great
those interested in the agriculture error; for it makes many a person
of Massachusetts ought to aim to poor, upon a large farm,who might
make farmers realize what culti- live in comfort, and acquire pro-
vation can effect, and to teach the perty upon a small one. No ten-
modes, by which the productive ant can be secure without a sur-
powers of the soil can best be elicit-plus at command, not only for de-
ed.”
fraying the common expenses of
FARMER. "It is indispensa- labour, but in case any untoward
134
FEN
FEN
circumstance should occur. When | pine, hemlock, ash, oak, and white
a farmer on the other hand, farms
within his capital, he is enabled to
embrace every favourable oppor-
tunity of buying with advantage,
while he is not compelled, if the
markets are low, to sell with loss."
Code of Agriculture.
•
FENCE, a hedge, wall, ditch, or
other inclosing made about farms,
or parts of farms, to exclude cattle,
or include them. Fencing is a
matter of great consequence with
farmers; and, as it is managed in
most parts of this country,is a great
drawback upon their profits. But
however costly fencing may be, it
is good economy to make fences
strong and fully sufficient to answer
their purpose. It would be folly
to save a trifle by making a fence
too slightly, and be liable to lose a
whole crop, by the breaking of cat-
tle through it.
The kinds of fence, and manner
of fencing, should vary according
to the difference of soils; and ac-
cording as one kind of materials
for fencing is more plenty and
cheap than another.
น
In the new plantations of this
country, log fences are most used;
as they certainly ought to be; be-
cause the wood is of little or no
value. To build these fences
with, the best wood that I am ac-
quainted with is white pine.
fence built with logs of this kind
will stand twenty years, with little
or no repairing.
A
But if this kind of wood be not
at hand, and other sorts be plenty
and near, it may be as well to make
use of some other kinds : Such, for
instance, as pitch pine, Norway
maple. Several, or almost any of
these kinds, if they do not lie too
near to the ground, will last for a
considerable time. If a fence be
made partly of white pine, and
partly of other wood, the former
should be laid nearest to the
ground.
But let farmers beware of build-
ing their log fences of bass wood,
poplar, birch, beach, or rock ma-
ple, unless in cases of necessity;
for as they will be soon rotten, the
labour of building them is in a man-
ner lost. If logs are peeled they
will last the longer in fences. The
largest logs should lie lowest in a
fence, both for strength and dura-
bleness. The lowest are soonest
rotten, when all are of the same
size; and the largest logs will last
longest.
Log fences should always be
braced with strong stakes across ;
and heavy riders add strength to a
fence.
When ground is wholly subdued,
and the stumps of its original growth
of trees quite rotted out, if stones
can be had without carrying too
far, stone walls are the fences that
ought to be made. Though the
cost may be greater at first than
that of some other fences,they will
prove to be the cheapest in the
end. Building stone walls is not
only the way to clear ground of a
bad incumbrance; but when the
fence is made, it is certainly the
best of all fences. On a hard,sandy,
or gravelly bottom, if built with
good stones, a wall will stand many
years without any repairing. And
it will stand well on any soil, clay
FEN
135
FER
and mire only excepted. On a
clay soil it will stand, if the foun-
dation be laid in a trench, near as
low as the earth commonly freezes
in winter. But a wall of flat or
square shaped stones, will stand
tolerably well on any soil, laid on-
ly on the surface.
It is true that walls will gradual-
ly settle into the ground, where
the soil is at all mellow,and heaves
with the frost; so that it may be
necessary, in a century or two, to
dig them up and re-build them. I
find some of this work has already
been done in some of our oldest
towns. But this is a slight objec-
tion against the utility of this kind
of fence. For future generations
will bless themselves, if they have
materials on the spot to build fen-
ces with, when wooden materials
must unavoidably be scarce in
most places, and very costly.
I am aware it will be objected,
that stone walls are not sufficient
fences against sheep. But it is
easy to make them so. A row of
flat stones laid on the top, and jut-
ting over, will make a wall suffi-
cient for this purpose: Or any
wooden poles, laid on the top of
the stone wall, supported by stakes
will check the passage of sheep.
The limbs of trees, with their small
branches upon them, laid on a
stone wall, make a cheap and ef-
fectual guard against the passage of
sheep. Riders with some of the
limbs on them are best for this
purpose.
Farmers need not fear that they
shall impoverish their land by
clearing it of stones. For, after all
they can do to a soil that is natur-
ally stony, there will be stones
enough remaining, a little way be-
low the surface, to render the
ground moist and warm.
Rail fence is perhaps as much
used as any. The timber for posts
and rails should be felled in the
winter. To sharpen rails before
they are dried saves labour: And
posts should be mortised while they
are green.
Rails are cut twelve
feet long. Posts should be six feet
and a half, or seven feet. The
best timber for rails is Cedar: It is
easy to split, light to carry and to
handle, sufficiently strong, and the
most durable of any. A rail of ce-
dar will last an age. Next to ce-
dar, rails of chesnut, white pine
and ash are best. But, for want
of better, some use rails of oak.-
Cedar is also best for the post, in
this and in board fence. The lo-
cust tree is said to be excellent.
But posts of white oak, which in
most places are more easily got,
will last about fifteen or twenty
years. If the lower ends of posts
be scorched in a hot flame, before
they are put into the ground, they
will last the longer. Also soaking
them in sea water will tend to keep
them from rotting. Juniper, the
Larch,is much used for posts in this
part of this country.
They will
last forty years. For Hedge Fences,
see Hedges. For ditch fences,
see Ditch.
FERMENTATION, an internal
motion excited in substances, by
which the cohesion of their parts
is destroyed, and their nature
changed. But, that a fermentation
may take place, it is necessary
some particles in the fermenting
that
136
FER
body be fluid; or that the body be
moist. Bodies perfectly dry can
have no degree of fermentation in
them.
Fermentation does much towards
the production and growth of
plants. It is therefore a thing of
much consequence to the farmer;
and he ought to know by what
means he may increase it in his
ground.
The pasture of plants is increas-
ed by fermentation, as it loosens
the soils, so that their roots do
more easily find their food. All
rich soils contain the principles of
the food of plants in abundance:
And a fermentation is produced
among them by any thing that al-
ters the arrangement of their par-
ticles. A fermentation is produ-
ced by heat from the sun, and by
rain: But when the soil is too
much filled with water, the fer-
mentation is abated, or destroyed.
Ploughing, and otherwise stirring
the ground, is a principal cause of
fermentation in the soil. The
plough not only increases the pas-
ture of plant by pulverizing the
soil, but by mixing the salts and
oils contained in it, so as to bring
on a degree of fermentation, if the
soil have neither too much,nor too
little water in it at the time of
ploughing.
I suspect that our severe frosts in
winter may have a tendency to ex-
cite a degree of fermentation, which
takes place after the ground is
thawed. For the heaving and set-
tling of the soil will make some al-
teration in the disposition of its
particles, and conduces to its im-
bibing more freely, snow water and
[
FER
rains, which contain food of plants.
But dung, and other strong ma-
nures, are perhaps the chief causes
of the fermentation of soils. Dung
is no sooner mixed with the soil,
when there is a proper degree of
warmth in the earth, than it strong-
ly ferments in itself, and brings on
a new fermentation in the earth
which is in contact with it, which
is communicated to remoter earth:
By all which the cohesion of the
parts of the soil is broken, the soil
highly pulverized, and the pasture
of plants proportionably increased,
so that their roots can freely ex-
tend themselves in quest of their
food.
By the same fermentation, the
food or nourishment of plants is in-
creased; because the dung itself
is dissolved, its salts and oils mix-
ed, its fine earthy particles set at
liberty, the vegetable substances,
such as roots, weeds, &c. corrupt-
ed and dissolved: All which con-
spire to increase the food of plants,
and prepare it to enter the minute
pores of their roots.
That plants may flourish, it is
thought to be needful that a fer-
mentation of the soil be continued
during their growth. Otherwise a
sufficient quantity of steam will not
arise to their roots; a probable
consequence is, that they will be
stinted in their growth. It may be
for this reason that tillage, during
the growing of plants, is found to
be so very advantageous to them;
especially when they are hoed to a
good depth, by which the fermen-
tation of the soil among the roots is
increased.
FERN, OR BRAKES, Polypo-
FER
137
FIS
dium, a well known sort of weeds,
that is often troublesome to such of
our cleared, or partially subdued
lands, as have not been tilled.
They are so full of salts, that they
should be cut green, and laid in
our barn yards to putrefy, and mix
with dung.
Perhaps there is
scarcely any better method of in-
creasing manure. Pasturing the
land where they grow, especially
with hungry cattle, that will eat
them as fast as they come up, will
help to subdue them. Folding
will kill them; for there is nothing
so fatal to them as urine: But not
less than two or three year's til-
lage will subdue them. They are
hardest to subdue in deep soils.
Plentiful dunging, with tillage, will
be effectual; but a most certain
remedy is urine; this they get in
plenty by folding.
your farm yard, and build large
stacks of it for cutting down
through the winter, as fast as the
cattle will tread it into dung; also
for littering the stables, ox houses,
cow houses, hogsties, &c. By
having great plenty of it, you will
be able to raise immense quanti-
ties of dung, which is the founda-
tion of all good husbandry; and
it is well known that no vegetable
yields such a quantity of salts as
fern: from which we are to con-
clude, that it is best adapted to
the making manure."
It is a lamentable thing that we
should hitherto be so inattentive
to our own welfare, as to suffer
this weed to render our lands in a
manner useless, when it might be
turned to so great profit. It is a
double advantage to cut brakes,
as they not only make plenty of
good manure, but every cutting
helps to destroy them. The work
may be done after the hurry of
hay making is over; and perhaps
no labour on a farm can turn to
better account.
"Fern, cut while the sap is in
it, and left to rot on the ground,
is a very great improver of land;
for if burnt, when so cut, its ashes
will yield double the quantity of
salt that any other vegetable can
do. In several places in the north
parts of Europe, the inhabitants
mow it green, and burning it to
ashes, make those ashes up into
balls, with a little water, which
they dry in the sun, and make use
of them to wash their linen with;ing, may be converted to this
looking upon it to be near as good
as soap for that purpose." Dict.
of Aris.
FISH, all the parts of fish, shell
fish and all other, are excellent
manures. They may be used,
either salted or fresh; salted fish
are said to be best. The offals of
fish, and fish that are spoilt for eat-
use; But I should prefer using
them as an ingredient in compost.
They are so strong a manure, that
In the Farmer's Calendar you it has been said, one single ale-
may read, under September, "Now wife will answer as well as a
is the proper time to cut fern, cal-shovel full of the best dung, in
led in some places brakes. This producing Indian corn.
But they
is most profitable work, and should cause land to exert itself so much,
never be neglected. Carry it into that it will be apt to grow poor,
18
138
FLA
FLA
unless care be taken to prevent it.
FLAIL, an instrument for
threshing. A flail consists of the
handstaff, the swiple or flyer, the
caps or caplins, the string or band.
The staff should be of the lightest
timber, such as ash, and made per-
fectly straight; the flyer should be
of a heavy kind of wood, as wal-
nut, elm, or beetle wood. Some
make the caps of wood, but stiff
soal leather is better. The string
or thong, which connects the cap
with the flyer, may be of the neck
of deerskin. But the skin of an
But the skin of an
eel will last much longer than any
other string I have met with.
FLAX. The following observa-
tions on this subject are extracted
from "Essays on Flax Husbandry.
By S. W. Pomeroy, Esq. First
Vice President of the Massachu-
setts Society for promoting Agri-
culture.
66
Change of seed. Notwith-
standing it is an opinion well
established among experienced
Flax growers in this country, that
a change of seed is advantageous,
it is apprehended that they are not
aware of the extent of the benefit
to be derived by selecting seed
from a soil or climate essentially
different; and it may be owing to
a want of attention in this particu-
lar that the flax crops are so 'un-
certain, and the quality inferior,
however perfect in other respects
the system may be conducted.
Mr. Young observes that foreign
flax seed was universally used in
Ireland, when it could be obtained,
otherwise they were careful to
procure seed which grew upon
soil of an opposite quality from
that which was to be sown,” “that
American seed was to be preferred,
and produced finer flax than any
other. Baltic seed produced more
but of a coarser quality. It is
well known that American seed
always bears the highest price in
the Irish market.”
Mr. Pomeroy cites a number of
examples to show the importance
attached to the culture of flax in
Europe," and to justify the con-
clusion that in this country, a con-
tinued, judicious change of seed
will be indispensible to the suc-
cessful prosecution of flax hus-
bandry; and a further inference
may be drawn, that experiments
on various soils, with seed the
growth of different climates, are
requisite to direct the farmer to
the quarter from whence his best
seed may be obtained. Here
opens a legitimate field for our
numerous agricultural societies to
labour in on their exertions the
farmer must depend in the outset ;
but let it once be ascertained that
Riga seed is best in one section,
Dutch or German in others, and
mercantile interest, if not patriot-
ism will distribute them.
•
"Should it be objected to im-
porting seed on account of the
expense, we reply that large quan-
tities of linseed oil are constantly
imported, and the difference of
price between our own seed and
that imported, will not much ex-
ceed what is now paid for good
clean seed for sowing or export,
and that which is sold for crush-
ing; but if it is fifty cents per
bushel, or more, it can be no ob-
ject, compared with the advanta-
FLA
139
FLA
2
L
ges that may be reasonably ex-in estimation are the strong black
pected to result, and the farmer loams on clay, or hard pan, that
need not to be told that "in all will retain moisture. Yellow
his operations, parsimony is never loams, with a holding subsoil, may
so ill judged, as when it is exercis- be rendered suitable for flax, by
ed in the selection of his seeds." proper cultivation; and since the
"It is not pretended, however, discovery that plaster of Paris is
but that from the great variety of an excellent manure for it, a crop
soil and climate in the United may be obtained with much more
States, the object in view might be certainty on lighter land than for-
obtained without importation; merly.-Perhaps the characteris-
yet it may be important to have a tic of best garden mould may be
good stock to begin with, when applied to a flax soil, viz. retaining
trials could be instituted with its sufficient moisture, and all that
produce. At any rate it cannot be falls, without ever being saturated;
expected that individuals will em- but on any soils the surface should
bark in such a course of experi- be completely pulverized, and
ments, either with foreign or do- never be worked when wet.
mestic seed, unless encouraged by
agricultural societies, or other
public bodies.
In speaking of the soils most
suitable for flax Mr. Pomeroy ob-
serves" The soils which rank first
in this country on the flat bottoms,
that are covered by the fall and
spring floods, which subside early
enough in the season to get in a
crop; those river flats on the
second banks, that have a depth of
strong alluvial soil; the reclaim-
ed marshes and swamps with a
black unctuous soil not too peaty,
with as much clay in the composi-
tion as will permit its being ren-
dered soon dry and mellow, and
not retain water on or near the
surface, if it stands two feet below,
so much the better, but it must be
well guarded by ditches and
dykes against sudden freshets.
Such is the soil of the province of
Zealand, where more flax is raised,
and of better quality than in any
other part of Holland. The next
"No dung should be applied to
the land when the flax is sown,
but may be put on bountifully with
the previous crop.
The objec-
tion is, that dung forces the growth
so rapidly that the plants draw
weak, have a thin harle, and are
the more liable to lodge.-Lime,
marle, shells, leached ashes, &c.
do not produce such effects. Top-
dressings, soon after the plants ap-
pear, of plaster, ashes, soot, &c.
are highly beneficial, as they not
only encourage the growth, but are
a protection against worms, which
sometimes attack young plants,
and may be considered the only
enemy they have, except weeds.
"Salt has been mentioned by
the late Dr. Elliot, of Connecticut,
as an excellent manure to plough
in with flax at the rate of five
bushels to the acre;* probably
more would be better. Plaster is
now much used in Duchess coun-
* See Elliot's Essays on field husbandry,
140
FLA
FLA
ty, the best cultivated district in
New York as a manure for flax,
on which its good effects are as
apparent as on corn.
"The late Chancellor Living-
ston viewed a piece of flax on the
20th of May, 1791, belonging to a
poor tenant, very injudiciously
sown on a dry sandy declivity, it
looked so extremely sickly that
the tenant thought of ploughing it
up; the Chancellor gave him three
bushels of plaster, which was sown
the next morning before the dew
was off, and had the satisfaction of
seeing his tenant gather more flax
from his half acre in an uncommon
dry season,than was produced from
any acre in the neighbourhood.
"The best preparatory crops in
this country, at present appear to
be potatoes, corn and roots; they
will most generally repay the extra
manure, and if well managed,check
the production of weeds.
No. III. Light Lands.
1st year Potatoes or Corn.
2d do. Corn or Roots.
3d do. FLAX with seed.
4th do. Clover, to be mown
once, the after growth to be turned
in, and rye sown thick on the fur-
row, which may be soiled, or fed
in the spring by sheep or milch
cows, and ploughed in for
5th year Corn.
6th do. Spring Wheat or Barley.
7th do. Clover, and the course
to be pursued as before, when flax
will occupy the land every seventh
year. In all cases, except when
hemp is substituted, the tillage
crops should receive the dung.
If the land is ploughed into beds,
or convex ridges like turnpike
roads, about a rod wide, espe-
cially if low and level, the crop
will be much more secure from in-
jury by heavy rains, and the grass
crops will be better if it remains in
that form. On any soils, fall
ploughing in narrow ridges will fa-
"The following rotations may
serve as an outline subject to be
varied, and hemp or other crops in-cilitate its early working in spring,
troduced as circumstances require,
viz:
No. I. Low, cold, or reclaimed
soils.
1st year, Potatoes.
2d do. FLAX with seeds.
3d do. Herds grass and red-top,
or tall meadow oat grass, to conti-
nue three years or more, and the
course repeated.
and should not be dispensed with."
Mr. Pomeroy gives the following
directions relative to
CHOICE OF Seed.
"That of the last year's growth
should be obtained if possible.
The usual marks of good seed are,
that it be plump, oily and heavy,
of a bright brown colour, sinking
readily in the water, and when
thrown into the fire to crackle
and blaze quick. A very simple
method of trial is to sprinkle it thin
between two pieces of wet paper,
which plunge into a hot-bed or
5th do. Orchard-grass or Herds-dung-hill, and in less than twenty-
grass, to continue three years or four hours the proportion that will
vegetate can be discerned, which
No. II. Strong Uplands.
1st year Potatoes, or Corn.
2d do. Corn or Roots.
3d.do. FLAX with seed.
4th do. Clover.
more.
FLA
141
FLA
should be ascertained in order to
regulate the
QUANTITY TO BE SOWN.
"On this head no particular di-
rections can be given, as it depends
on the various qualities of soil,
goodness of seed, &c. The rule
for sowing small grains is reversed;
flax requiring to be sown thickest
on rich soil as not more than one
stalk is wanted from a plant. In
England and Scotland never less
than two nor more than three bush-
els to the acre are sown. Two
and an half is the most usual por-
tion. In Flanders and Ireland sel-
dom less than three bushels are
sown, except when seed is an ob-
ject. Thick sowing is to obtain fine
flax. In this country it will be im-
portant at present, to sow at such
a rate, as will insure good crops of
each; and experience only can
determine the exact point. It is
probable that six pecks is the least,
and two bushels the extent that
should be sown to obtain the most
profitable results, till the demand
for seed is considerably lessened."
SOWING.
WEEDING.
Weeding is considered in Eu-
rope, and by good husbandmen in
this country, as necessary to secure
a good crop of flax, which is a very
tender plant when young,and more
easily checked in its progress by
weeds than any other. It is not
supposed to be injured by the clo-
ver and grass sown with it; on the
contrary the Flemish farmers think
them beneficial, by protecting the
tender roots from drought, and
keeping the weeds under. It
should be carefully wed when the
plants are three or four inches
high; they are not then injured by
the labourer going barefooted over
them.
PULLING.
"This should be performed as
soon as the leaves begin to fall,and
the stalks shew a bright yellow co-
lour, and when the bolls are turn-
ed a little brown. The seed will
continue to ripen afterwards.-
When the flax is lodged it should
be pulled immediately, in any stage
of its growth, or it will be entirely
lost; great care is requisite in sort-
Mr. Pomeroy recommends sow-ing the different lengths, and keep-
ing as early as it is possible to pre-ing them separate till after the flax
pare the ground, says that it is im- is hackled, or much waste will en-
portant that the seeds should be sue in that process.
equally distributed, and "fortu-
nately what has long been a de-
sideratum is now attained. A ma-
chine for sowing small seeds broad-
cast with perfect regularity, has
lately been invented, and performs
to great satisfaction.*
SAVING SEED.
"As soon as the flax is dry
enough to be put under cover, it
should be rippled, as it is termed.
A comb, resembling the head of a
mony of its usefulness. It is pushed forward
by a man, like a wheel-barrow, and will
sow more than one acre in an hour, unim-
peded by wind or light rain.
They are for
sale at Harrison's & Earle's Repository for
Agricultural Implements, in the City of New-
* Bennett's machine for sowing broad-cast,
a description and drawing of which are giv-
en in the memoirs of the Philadelphia Agri-
cultural Society, vol. IV. with ample testi-York.
142
FLA
FLA
ground, or in sheaves at his barn
or rick.
rake, but with teeth longer and
nearer together, made of hickory
or oak, is fastened upon a block, "The preparation of flax by
and the flax, taken in parcels no steeping is very general in the
larger than the hands can firmly great flax growing countries in Eu-
grasp, is drawn through, and the rope, but it is not quite finished in
bolls rippled off; attention to sort the water. It remains spread some
ing at the same time should be con- days on the grass, which is neces-
tinued. The bolls are to be rid- sary to render it soft, and give that
dled and winnowed immediately; silvery appearance so desirable.-
spread thin on a clean floor, or on The destructive process of dew
sheets, in the sun, and when suffi- rotting, is most commonly practis-
ciently dry, and beginning to open, ed in this country, and when wa-
threshed. By this method the foul ter is resorted to, it is at an impro-
seeds are completely separated per season, and the process imper-
with little trouble, and good clean fect; which is the cause of its be-
seed is ready for an early market, ing so harsh and brittle. Perhaps
often the best without the use of no part of the system requires such
expensive machinery to make it so. an allowance for difference of cli-
Here the operations of the farmer mate. In the humid atmosphere
ought to end! The process or of Ireland, it is not very material
preparation being foreign to and when it is spread; but in this cli-
unconnected with his other pur- mate, when exposed to a July or
suits; and which has been the August sun, every drop after a
greatest objection to extensive shower, becomes a burning-glass,
flax culture. Can there be a rea- and literally scorches the fibres
son why the farmer is to prepare besides such a highly putrid fer-
his flax more than the hides of his mentation as will then take place in
cattle, which he sends to the tan- the water, though it separates the
ner? They are both chemical pro- harle more speedily, not only in-
cesses; and to dissolve the gluti-jures it, but communicates a stain
nous or resinous substances by that renders the process of bleach-
which the fibres are attached to ing much more tedious and expen-
the stem, without impairing their sive.
strength, is perhaps as critical,and "The flax should not be put in-
requires as much care and judg-to the water till about the first of
ment, as to extract the animal jui- October, and remain from ten to
ces from the hides, and fill the fourteen days, according to the
pores with tannin. In short, the temperature of the weather, and
flax grower, and flax preparer and should be taken out before the fi-
dresser, should be distinct profes- bres will separate freely, spread on
sions. They are said to be so in the grass, when the frost will very
Flanders and Holland, and were much assist the operation, and the
extensively so in Scotland, where flax exhibits a gloss and softness
the farmer sold his flax on the that it is impossible to give it oth-
I
;
}
FLA
143
FLA
erwise. The following method | superior sample of thread exhibit-
ed at Brighton, in 1818, for which
Mrs. Crowninshield, of Danvers,
received a premium, was spun from
flax prepared by boiling.
It ap-
pears by the "transactions of the
Swedish Academy," that a method
was practised in Sweden, of pre-
of preparing hemp will apply with
great force to the point under dis-
cussion. During the late war an
experienced ship-master in Con-
necticut, and who was also a good
farmer,raised a crop of hemp. As
soon as it was dry enough to be
stowed away it was put under co-paring flax to resemble cotton, by
ver and remained till October; was boiling it ten hours in salt water,
then put into clear soft water, till spreading on the grass, and fre-
the fibres would separate with some quently watering, by which it be-
difficulty, when it was spread on comes soft and bleached. Boiling
the grass; the frost completed the or steaming will not appear very
operation, and when dry it was im- formidable or expensive when we
mediately secured. There was no examine the subject. A box twen-
putrid fermentation to deteriorate ty feet long, six feet wide, and four
the harle, nor was it mildewed by deep, well constructed of stout
being exposed to the weather, and planks,a boiler, from which a large
when dressed, exhibited that fine tube extends into, and communi-
silver green hue by which the Rus- cates with the water in the box,
sian hemp is distinguished ;* and will boil the produce of a quarter
when worked up, was pronounced of an acre in a day, that is, if we
by the rope-makers to be equal to allow double the room to boil in,
any hemp ever imported! Here that is required for steeping. A
is a lesson for our western breth- steam pipe, instead of the tube,and
ren, that is worth more to them having the top of the box well se-
than mines of silver. Clear, cured, would permit the process of
soft stagnant water is preferred in steaming to go on.
It is probable
Europe. A canal forty feet long, that by either method, spreading on
six broad, and four deep, is said to the grass will be necessary to obtain
be sufficient for the produce of an soft flax. The yarns of which the
acre of flax, at one time. It should sail-cloth is made at Paterson, are
be formed on a clay or some hold- all steamed. The Navy Board ex-
ing soil, where the water from a pressly forbid their being boiled in
spring or brook can be conducted alkaline lye, as is usual in most ma-
in with convenience; the expense nufactures of linen. It is from this
would not be great, and on most precaution, that their canvas has
farms suitable sites may be had.— the pliable, oily feeling, which so
May not boiling or steaming be much recommends it. It should
found the most advantageous pro- not be lost sight of, that by boiling
cess of preparing flax? The very or steaming much time and ex-
pense will be saved in bleaching.
·
* The best Riga Hemp, supplied for the
British Navy, is prepared by steeping; du-
ring which it is shifted three times.
(C
In dressing, says Mr. Pomeroy,
our climate gives a decided ad-
144
FLA
FLA
vantage over Ireland, Flanders, | tion of water or steam power, in
any degree proportionate, the ad-
vantage may be incalculable; but
in the present inquiry, we place
these machines,however desirable,
entirely out of the question.
PRODUCT.
England, as far as our information
extends, cannot be estimated at
more than two hundred pounds,and
six or eight bushels of seed. (We
do not include the rich bottoms on
the Connecticut and some other
rivers.) Dr. Deane was of opinion
that four hundred pounds might be
calculated on with proper man-
or the north of Europe, where flax
is dried on hurdles, over a peat
fire, in ovens, or kilns, requiring
great care in regulating the heat, to
prevent injury. All this trouble
and hazard is obviated by our dry
atmosphere, and keen north-west "It is not uncommon in Great
winds. Dr. Deane estimated the Britain and Ireland, to obtain eight
expense of dressing flax by hand at hundred pounds of flax from an
one third of the product. I be- acre! Six hundred pounds is esti-
lieve the present price does not mated, in some districts, as an
vary much from his estimate. A average; but it should be observ-
respectable gentleman from Dutch-ed that little if any seed is obtain-
ess County, New-York, informed ed. The average crop in New-
me, that mills or machines, impel- |
led by water, have been erected
there, that break, and completely
dress the flax for a toll of one
tenth! It is said one or more of
them are in operation in the wes-
tern part of this State. These
mills were invented in Scotland,
and are now said to be brought to
great perfection. They are erect-agement.
ed in all directions in the princi-
pal flax districts in Ireland,and not-
withstanding the low price and li-
mited demand for labour, are re-
sorted to by the poorer classes of
people, the dressing by hand being
mostly abandoned. There are
machines in England that dress the
flax immediately from the field,
without any preparation whatever.
An account of them may be found
in the 5th vol. of the Massachusetts
Agricultural Journal. It appears
by the report of a Committee of
the House of Commons, that in
1817, they were in successful op-
eration. A man and three chil-
dren impelled the machines and
dressed sixty pounds a day. Should
they be susceptible of the applica-
"We think that four hundred
pounds of good clean flax,and eight
or ten bushels of seed, may fairly
be assumed as a medium crop on
favourable soils, where the culture
becomes such an object as to make
other farming operations subservi-
ent to it, and due attention is paid
to change of seed.
"Those who grow flax to any
extent are of opinion, that the seed,
at the price it has been for some
years past, pays for all the labour
bestowed on the crop to the time
the flax is ready to be prepared or
rotted.
"If we are correctly informed,
flax of a fair quality cannot be im-
ported from Ireland for less than
fourteen cents per pound. And
FLA
145
FLA
the price of the best of Russia flax
delivered on ship-board at St. Pe-
tersburgh, is ten and a half cents
per pound.
The quality called
"twelve headed," costs nine and
an half cents on board.
"The quality of flax raised in
this country, varies more than any
other product; and of course the
price, which is from six to eighteen
cents: The medium is about ten
cents per pound.
"It must be acknowledged, that
no great exertions can be expect-
ed in the pursuits of any people,
till "the prospect of reward sweet-
ens the labour." And I anticipate
the question that some may be dis-
posed to ask, "Where is the farm-
er to find a market, if flax is exten-
sively cultivated ?" We will ask
where could the planter have found
a market for his cotton, if machines
had not been invented for spinning
it? And how could he have sup-
plied it, if the labour of two thou-
sand hands had been required to
clean it of the seeds, that is now
performed by the Cotton Gin, in-
vented by Whitney? We have
shown that the expense of dressing
flax has been reduced from one
third to one tenth of its value ;*
and it is a fact well established,
that there are now in this country,
machines for spinning flax, that
perform as well, and more expedi-
tiously, except for the finer threads,
than those for spinning cotton!
The Paterson sail-cloth is fabrica-
ted entirely from yarns spun and
twisted by machinery, assisted by
as little manual labour as cotton
* The usual toll for ginning cotton, in
Alabama, we are informed, is one twelfth.
|
machines. In these manufactories
are six hundred spindles. In the
State of New-York and Pennsyl-
vania, about three hundred more
are employed for sewing thread,
shirtings, bed-ticks, shoe-thread,
twine, &c. The expense of labour,
after the flax is hackled, in attend-
ing a machine of twenty-four spin-
dles for spinning common shoe-
thread, is thirty-three cents per
day, spinning on an average twen-
ty-four pounds a day for each spin-
dle; equal, it is said to the pro-
duction of a cotton spindle for five
or six days.
"Can any thing be wanting but
the application of power looms for
weaving linen, to place the manu-
facture nearly upon an equality
with cotton? And is there any
doubt but they can be so applied?
"The perfection of cotton spin-
ning machinery, and the invention
of power looms, with such improve-
ments as are exhibited at Waltham,
it is well known are about to pro-
duce an entire revolution in the
India trade! If they can stop the
spindle and the shuttle of the Hin-
doo, who is supported upon a
handful of rice a day, in a climate.
where little is required for cloth-
ing or shelter, what must be the
effect of corresponding machines
in the linen manufacture, upon
Russian and the German? There
is probably at this moment, a mil-
lions tons of American shipping
clothed with Russian
with Russian canvas !
What, but the raw material of good
quality is required to elicit capi-
tal, to manufacture in a few years
even so as to compete with Euro-
pean nations in the linen market?
the
19
146
FLA
"The exportation of linen from
Germany to North and South A-
merica has been, and is at present,
of vast amount. The single pro-
vince of Silesia has sent in one
year to Hamburgh and other ports,
linens to the value of nearly five
millions of dollars, to be shipped
by the circuitous route of Cadiz to
the Spanish colonies. These cus-
tomers are at our doors. The
United States possess the "Golden
Gates of this Commerce," and with
exertions well directed to her ag-
riculture, Europe will be obliged
to surrender the keys." See Mass.
Agr. Rep. vol. VI. p. 304.
Since the above was written a
machine has been constructed in
New-York for dressing flax, or
hemp in its unrotted state, be-
longing to Messrs. Anthony Dey,
and James Macdonald, of that
city. It is made to go by wa-
ter or animal power, and on trial,
was worked with facility by four
men. It is estimated that when
driven by the proper power, the
machine,will clear one ton of flax-
plant or hemp, rotted, or unrotted
in a day.
Flax, dressed in this
machine, resembles floss silk, and
it is estimated, that it may be
cleaned through the machine, and
brought to this state for about two
cents a pound. The machine is
of American invention, and said to
be unlike any English machine in-
vented or used for the same or a si-
milar purpose.
See Mass. Agr.
Rep. vol. VII. p. 66.
FLAX BRAKE, a machine used
in dressing flax. New improve-
ments of it are, placing the teeth so
as to converge towards the fore
FLO
part, and laying the upper teeth
higher at the hinder part. That
this machine may last for any con-
siderable time, care should be ta-
ken that it be not exposed to the
injuries of the weather.
Brakes may be constructed to go
by water. Either a mill may be
built for that purpose; or, which
is attended with less expense, the
machinery may be an appendage
to some larger mill, and moved
without a distinct water wheel.
But such brakes are attended with
sundry inconveniences, besides
extra cost in building them, and
wasting of the flax Though it
cannot be denied that the work
may be performed with much
greater expedition.
Not only brakes, but scutchers,
or swinging mills, have been in-
vented, to be moved by the foot.
Part of the exertion of the labour-
er may undoubtedly be saved by
them. At least, when they are
used by way of change, the work
may be lightened on the whole.-—
They who think it expedient to
have these machines, may find
them described, with cuts annexed,
in the Complete Farmer.
FLOODING, FLOATING, or
DROWNING, covering of low
lands with water, when a rivulet
passes through them, by making a
dam at the outlet. When there is
a sufficiency of water, and a short
dam will answer, this is a piece of
husbandry that ought not to be
neglected. Oftentimes it may be
of great advantage.
Sometimes it is done for the pur-
pose of destroying the natural
growth of trees, bushes, &c. The
FLO
147
FLO
water not only makes an essential
alteration in their food, but also
excludes them from the free air,
which is essentially necessary to
vegetation. It is no wonder, there-
fore, that it proves their destruc-
tion.
The flowing of two summers is
found sufficient to kill every plant
of the woody kind, so that it will
not sprout any more. But some
advise to drawing off the water in
August, that the ground may be,
for a few days, heated by the sun.
The plants thus suddenly pass from
one extreme to another, which will
doubtless tend to destroy them the
sooner. But when the season is
so dry that another pond of water
could not be immediately raised,
the drawing off had better be omit-
ted.
Another intention of flooding is,
to enrich the soil. Some lay their
low grass lands under water during
the whole of the winter. This may
be a good method for lands which
are so low and wet, that none of
the best grasses can be made to
grow on them.
The poor water
grasses will grow the faster; and
the crops of such hay as it is, will
be the larger.
But places where clover, or
herds-grass, or red-top will flou-
rish, should not be flowed during
the winter: Because the winter
frosts are known to be necessary to
the production of these grasses.
Flooded lands should always be
laid bare early in the spring, that
the growth of the grass be not pre-
vented: Or that the ground may
be dried so early as to be fit for
tillage crops. And ditching of
|
flooded lands, at least round the
borders, will be necessary to lay
them dry enough for tillage.
As standing water catches dust
from the atmosphere, and always
contains more or less of the finest
particles of soil, it deposits a rich
sediment; a fat slime, therefore,
will remain on the surface after
the water is removed. And a time
should be chosen for drawing it off,
when the air is calm, and the wa-
ter clearest, that as little a quanti-
ty as possible of the food of plants
may pass off with it. Such land is
no more liable to suffer by drought
than the fertile land of Egypt,which
is yearly enriched by the overflow-
ing of the Nile.
Though winter flooding do not
suit the nature of good grasses, a
few days flooding in the spring and
fall will not hurt them; but will
enrich the soil, and so promote
their growth.
The soil will have
the same advantage as intervale
land, which is made rich and fruit-
ful by occasional flooding: Yea, a
greater advantage, as the water
may be applied and removed at
pleasure.
FLOUR. "It has been gener-
ally supposed, that if wheat be much
injured during a bad harvest, the
flour made from it will not ferment,
or bake into loaf-bread, and that it
is only fit for distillation, or to be
eaten by live stock. But such
ideas seem to be erroneous. With
the aid of soda the flour may be
much improved; and at any rate
may be made into cakes, or biscuit,
and consumed with safety and ad-
vantage." Code of Agriculture.
The carbonate of magnesia of
148
FOA
FOA
dry ground, where the grass is
sweet and short, and where there
is good water, that they may drink
at pleasure. The winter after this,
they may be kept in the stable,
the shops, when well mixed with
new flour, in the proportion of from
20 to 40 grains to a pound of flour
materially improves it for the pur-
pose of making bread. Loaves,
made with the addition of the car-without any further care than that
bonate of magnesia, rise well in the which is taken of other horses:
oven; and after being baked, the But after the first year, the mare
bread is light and spungy, has a foals and horse foals are not to be
good taste, and keeps well. In ca- kept together. There is no diffi-
ses where the new flour is of an in-culty to know the shape a foal is
different quality, from 20 to 30 like to be of; for the same shape
grains of the carbonate of magne- he carries at a month, he will carry
sia, to a pound of flour, will consid- at six years old, if he be not abused
erably improve the bread. When in after keeping."
the flour is of the worst quality, 40
grains to a pound of flour is neces-
sary to produce the same effect.
As the improvement in the bread
from the new flour depends on the
carbonate of magnesia, it is neces
sary that care should be taken to
mix it intimately with the flour
previous to making the dough. A
pound of carbonate of magnesia
would be sufficient to mix with
two hundred and fifty-six pounds
of new flour at the rate of 30 grains
to a pound.
FOAL, a colt. "Foals are usu-
ally foaled about the beginning of
summer, and it is the custom to let
them run till Michaelmas with the
mare, at which time they are to be
weaned. When first weaned they
must be kept in a convenient
house, with a low rack and man-
ger, for hay and oats; the hay
must be very sweet and fine, espe
cially at first, and a little wheat
bran should be mixed with their
oats, in order to keep their bodies
open, and make them eat and drink
freely. When the winter is spent,
they should be turned into some
We often hear it lamented, that
our breed of horses is so bad. But
I am convinced that, as our colts
are managed, if we had any other
breed, we should soon make it ap-
pear to be as mean as our own, if
not worse. The abusing of colts
in the first winter, is the principal
cause of their proving so bad. For
our farmers seldom allow their
weaned colts any food besides hay,
and that is not always of the best
kind. So that they seldom fail of
being stinted in their growth,in the
first winter, to such a degree, that
they never get the better of it. A
colt that is foaled late, should not
be weaned till February or March,
and should have oats during the
whole of the winter.
In some
countries they allow a young colt
fifteen bushels. We need not
grudge to feed them with meal,
oats and bran, besides the best of
clover hay; for they will pay for
it in their growth. After the first
winter, they will need no extraor
dinary feeding till they are grown
up.
up. Were the above directions
observed, we should soon see an
FOD
149
FOD
improvement of our breed of hor-
ses.
One important caution to be ob-
They would be capable of served is, that hay, which is the
doing much greater service,and be principal fodder, should not be so
likely to hold out to a greater age. much dried as to occasion its wast-
FODDER, dry food for horses ing. When it has been properly
and other cattle. The term in-made, it should not be carted in,
cludes corn or grain,hay and straw, if it can be avoided, at a time when
the stalks and leaves of Indian the weather is dry and windy, nor
corn, the haulm of pease and beans, in the hottest part of the day.-
&c. Dried weeds, and leaves of Mornings and evenings are the
trees, may also serve as fodder for best times for removing it, as there
hungry and hardy cattle.
is a dampness in the air which pre-
Mr. Lisle recommends elm vents it being too crispy. The
leaves, dried on the small branch-leaves will not crumble, nor the
es, as a great relief to cattle in seeds shatter out.
The best parts
winter. He says the cattle will
eat it before oats, and thrive ex-
ceedingly with it. Also, the chaff
of all kinds of grain, in the old
countries, is reserved for fodder,
and made more account of than
the straw. In this country it is
suffered to be driven away by
winds. This is an instance of our
want of economy.
In such a country as ours,where
the winters are long and cold, and
where grass does not serve for
the cattle so much as half the year,
providing fodder, and preserving
it, are matters of high consequence.
In this business, a great part of the
farmer's care and strength is em-
ployed. For there are not more
than two months in a year, in
which farmers are not either pre-
paring, and laying up fodder for
their flock, or else dealing it out
to them.
The ways to increase the quan-
tity of fodder, will be found under
other articles. The ways to pre-
serve it, so as to make the great-
est advantage from it, may be here
considered.
of the hay are often lost by not ob-
serving this caution; or at least
much diminished.
The hay which is to be stored in
small or narrow mows, and on
scaffolds, will keep well with little
drying. That which goes into a
large mow, will need to be drier,
as the air will not penetrate so near
to the centre of it.
In disposing of the different kinds
of hay and other fodder, some re-
gard should be had to the places,
or parts of the barn, in which the
different sorts of cattle are kept.
The clover hay, for instance,should
be laid up near to the stable where
horses are kept, as this is the most
suitable fodder for them. The
good hay of other kinds, should
be put where it can be handily
given to the calves, milch cows,
and working oxen. The meanest
fodder nearest to the apartment of
the growing young stock, on which
it is commonly bestowed, and
which is more proper for them
than for the rest.
In those parts of the country
where salt hay cannot be had, it is
150
FOD
FOD
*
a good method to apply salt to hay
that has been damaged in making,
and to straw, and hay of low mea-
dows, as it is put into the mow.
The salt will make it more palata-
ble both to horses, and neat cattle.
One peck of salt is enough for a
ton of hay.
Some choose that a barn should
have large gaps between the boards
on the sides, that the hay, &c. may
have air. This is surely a mis-
taken notion; for the hay that is
nearest to the gaps will lose its
sweetness. The roof of a barn
should also be kept very tight; and
none of the hay should be laid
very near to the ground.
I do not approve of stacking any
kind of fodder, excepting in case.
of necessity. For some inches of
the outside of a stack is certainly
spoilt by the weather. It is well
if the rest happen to be well sav-
ed. It often proves otherwise.
When a farmer has more hay
than his barn will hold, let him
stack it near to the barn; and, as
soon as he has made room, in some
damp or calm day take it in.
There will be the less danger of
its getting damage.
Farmers, who mean to keep
good their stocks, and to have
plenty of manure, should not be
fond of selling hay. If they should
have some left in the spring, it
will not grow worse, but some
sorts will be better, by keeping.
And if a short crop should happen,
they will be glad they have kept it.
Straw that is reserved for fod-
der, may help to preserve the
husks and bottom stalks of Indian
corn, which commonly have too
much sap in them to be mowed
by themselves. If they are put in a
mow together, in alternate thin lay-
ers, the straw will preserve the
corn stalks, and the stalks will im-
pregnate the straw with their
sweetness, so that the cattle will
eat them together with a good
relish, and be well nourished by
them.
Another method of managing
straw, which I have found to be
of singular advantage, is to mix
it with salt hay which is not more
than half dried. The hay is thus
kept from heating, and the straw
is so tinctured with the salt and
sap of the hay, as to be rendered
an agreeable fodder for cattle.
It is well known that cattle pre-
fer short straw to that which is
long: Therefore many farmers
cut their straw as short as oats,
and to tempt the horses to eat it,
mix some oats or barley among it.
But the most effectual, and in
the present state of agricultural
science, the most approved method
of increasing fodder for winter con-
sumption, is to provide large quan-
tities of pumpkins, potatoes, car-
rots, Swedish turnips and beets,
by which the consumption of hay
is exceedingly diminished, and the
cattle, particularly milch cows, are
kept in much better conditon, and
it is believed at much less expense.
Two or three acres, in the culture
of such vegetables, furnish as much
food, as eight or ten acres of the
best grass lands in hay. There is
no doubt, also, that a great saving
may be made by cutting fine the
straw and hay given to cattle.
Various machines have been in-
FOD
151
FOD
vented to facilitate this operation," the first object in the article food
and great ingenuity has been dis- is wholesomeness: wild cattle
played in their construction; but feed entirely on green vegetables
the general opinion seems to be which they find throughout the
that the simplest machines, costing year. Similar nutriments should,
not more than from three to five if possible be procured for tame
dollars, are the most economical cattle in all seasons. Therefore
on the whole. There is no doubt cabbages, turnips, carrots, and the
that the subdivision of the food, mangel wurzel are recommended
and frequent feeding which our as winter food."
long winters afford ample time to
effect, are exceedingly useful, and
economical, compared with the
wasteful modes heretofore in use,
particularly that of throwing down
large bundles of hay and corn-
stalks to the cattle in the yard.
No man of the slightest observa-
tion can have failed to remark
that at least one fourth part of the
fodder so administered is given to
be destroyed.
it
"Salting all fresh hay, when
put up, is a great addition to it.
A respectable farmer of Herkimer
County, New York, who keeps a
large stock of cattle, says, he is
certain, that adding eight quarts of
salt to each ton of hay will make
go as far as a ton and a quarter
that has not been salted. At the
same time hay may be put into
the mow, when salted, in a much
greener state than without it; and
when taken out will be found al-
most as green, and apparently as
fresh, as when first stowed away."
Farmer's Assistant.
"Meadows which produce wild
grass ought to be mowed very early
and salted. But cattle should not
be kept constantly on salted
fodder.
It is observed in the Domestic
Encyclopædia, (art. Cattle,) that
FODDERING, feeding cattle
with dry food. We have occa-
sion to begin to fodder, most com-
monly, about the beginning of
November; and to continue doing
it till the middle of May, and
sometimes later.
We should take care not to be-
gin to fodder till it is really neces-
sary: Because cattle that are fod-
dered, will not graze so diligently.
When it is once begun, the cattle
will expect it, and it must be con-
tinued. When we first begin, we
should fodder early in the morn-
ing only; for at that time of the
day the frost is usually on the
grass; so that the cattle will not
graze. They should not yet be
housed, horses excepted: But in
wet weather the whole stock
should be housed; for they bear
cold better than wetness. Or if
not put into the barn, they should
have a shed in the yard, under
which they may shelter them-
selves.
The meanest fodder should not
be dealt out first of all. The
husks and stalks of Indian corn
are suitable for this season. The
straw and the worst hay should be
reserved to give them in the cold-
est weather; for it is then that
they have the keenest appetites.
152
FOD
The hay of low ground, straw and
haulm, if salt hay be not to be had,
may be sprinkled with salted
water, if salting it in the mow has
been neglected. They will not
only eat it heartily, but live well
upon it.
Wild grass hay is not fit for
horses, nor any of the water grass-
es. They will need some grain,
if they be fed on any other hay
besides clover. They should have
a small window against their rack,
to let in fresh air to their fodder,
and at the same time give them
light. If horses have not grain
through the winter, they should
have it at least in the fore part of
winter; for the coming on of win-
ter is the most trying season for
them. If they be fed with Indian
corn, it should be well soaked and
swelled; it will give them the
more nourishment.
Neat cattle and horses should
not have so much laid before them
at once, as will quite serve to fill
them. The hay they have breath-
ed on much, they will not eat up
clean, unless when they are very
hungry. It is best, therefore, to
fodder them twice at night, and
twice in the morning. Let neat
Let neat
cattle as well as horses have both
light and fresh air let in upon their
fodder, when the weather is not
too cold, or stormy, to allow the
windows to be open. What one
sort of cattle leave, should be
thrown to another sort. Those
that chew the cud will eat the
leavings of those that do not, and
vice versa.
It is also well known to farmers,
that what cattle leave in the barn,
FOD
they will eat abroad in the open
air; and most freely when it is
laid upon clean snow. Not only
this, but the meanest of straw
should be given them in this way.
What is left will help to increase
the manure in the yard.
Every farm yard, where any
considerable stock is kept, should
be furnished with a large shed,
and a rack under it. For where
there is no clean snow to lay the
straw, and other mean fodder up-
on, it should be put into the rack.
A larger proportion of the dung
will be dropped under the shed,
than in any other part of the yard.
And this dung will be better than
the rest, as it will not be washed
by rains, nor so much dried by the
wind and sun.
Sheep, when they are under cov-
er, should draw their hay through
a rack, made so close as just to
admit their noses. They should
have good hay, and a cool and dry
house. Beans is a sort of food
they eat very greedily, and even
the straw. But it is said, that
ewes with young should not be
allowed to eat many beans; as it
will make their lambs grow too
large within them. Neither should
they be fed too generously, nor
to the full, till near the time of
lambing.
When a farmer thinks that he
has too much stock for his fodder,
as will sometimes be the case, it is
not best to pinch them in their al-
lowance so much in the fore part
of winter as in the latter part. For
the cattle are more liable to be
pinched with the cold, in Decem-
ber and January, than afterwards.
FOG
153
FOL
the latter part of winter may be.
Advantage also may be made of
browsing in the latter more than in
the former part of winter, as the
buds then begin to swell, and the
twigs have more sap in them than
before.
And no man knows how favourable | viceable on a soil of the clay kind.
It forms a cover which retains the
rains and dews, in the following
spring and summer, so as to give
the surface a more equable and
constant moisture; and prevents
the binding and cracking of the
surface by the heat of the sun.-
Nothing can better oppose the ill
effects of a dry season on such a
soil.
When browsing is depended on,
the farmer who has salt hay,should
preserve a sufficient quantity of it
to the latter part of winter. It
will give the cattle a high relish for
browse. If they have no salt hay,
they should have salt, to increase
their appetite.
Cows that are near calving,should
not be driven out after the browse,
for fear of accidents. They should
be kept on the best fodder; not
be tied up with the other cattle;
but each one should be fed in an
apartment by herself, without ty-
ing.
FOG, FOGGE, OR FOGAGE,
long grass and stumps of grass, re-
maining in mowing grounds and
pastures till winter.
This is accounted in general a
benefit to the land; especially
when the grass is not of a bad and
sour kind. The snow presses it
down close to the surface, where
it shelters the roots of the grass,
corrupts it, and turns it to manure.
But when mowing grounds are fed
very close in the fall, the ensuing
crop is poorer, the roots being
more injured by the feet and teeth
of cattle, and more exposed to the
weather. The dung they drop,
though it be considerable, will not
wholly repair the damage of close
feeding and trampling.
But fog is most essentially ser-
Where fog is left very long, it
checks the growth of the young
grass of the next year, causes it
to spring up feebly, and materially
impedes the progress of the scythe.
Where the field is not adjacent to
houses or wood lots, so that they
may not be endangered by fire, it
is very useful, in a dry day, to set
fire to the fog, and burn it. This
is in no respect injurious to the fu-
ture growth, but the ashes produ-
ced by the combustion in burning
the old fog, causes the new grass
to spring with increased strength
and luxuriance. The experiment,
however, should not be attempted,
except in insulated fields, remote
from houses and trees, and espe-
cially from evergreens. It should
be done early in April.
FOLDING of land, confining
sheep, or other cattle, nightly,in a
small lot or yard, for the purpose
of enriching the soil. The benefit
arising from this is so great, that it
ought not to be neglected, especi-
ally in those parts of the country,
where the wolves do not come.
Some turn in their other cattle with
the sheep. This is good conduct,
when the soil is warm sand or gra-
vel; and not bad when it is loamy.
But it may be better to yard the
20
154
FOR
FOL
black cattle without sheep, on a
a very dry soil; such as hungry
sand or gravel; and the sheep
without the black cattle, on a soil
that is heavy and cold. Thus both
these kinds of manure will be ap-
plied to the soil which will be most
helped by them.
A yard for cabbages or turnips,
may be begun about the middle of
May; or when the cattle first go
to grass. About a month after will
be nearly the right time to trans-
plant cabbages; and six weeks or
about two months after, to sow tur-
nips. And, for a general rule,it is
Folding is a much better meth-best that a crop should succeed the
od than carrying dung from the manuring as soon as possible.
barn-yard, when the season is suit-
able for doing it. One great ad-
vantage of it is, that none of the
stale is wasted, but every drop of
it instantly absorbed by the soil
that needs it, and will make a good
return for it.
Folding, or yarding, is but little
attended to in this country; and
not half the advantage is made from
it that might be, when it is at-
tempted. It is said that one
hundred sheep in a summer will
enrich eight acres, so as to need
no other manuring for six years.
This matter is certainly miscon-
ducted, when a farmer, either to
save the labour of fencing, or
through ignorance of the advan-
tage of folding, makes his enclo-
sures too small, and folds the land
too much for his own profit.
Let a spot of half an acre be
ploughed and fenced. Turn in,
each night, a dozen head of neat
cattle, and fifty sheep. Continue
to do it for three weeks, harrowing
the surface once in three days, to
mix the excrements with the soil.
The ground will be sufficiently
folded to produce a fine crop of
turnips, or almost any other good
crop. It is reckoned by some that
a sheep will fold one yard square
in a night; or rather one rod square
in about a fortnight.
When a crop of wheat is want-
ed, the ground may be folded in
July, as the seed is to be sown in
August. And frequent ploughing
and harrowing for this crop should
not be neglected. If the land be
wettish, do it in the middle of the
day; if dry, in the morning before
the dew is off.
Low grass grounds, which are
cold and sour, and produce bad
hay, may be surprisingly meliora-
ted by a little folding. It kills fern
and mosses, and roots out the wild
and watery grasses, even without
breaking up the soil. At the same
time it encourages the growth of
better kinds of grasses. This may
be done at certain seasons that are
unsuitable for the folding of plough-
ed lands, they being too wet and
dirty for the sheep to lie upon, as
in October, November, March and
April. Sheep are more proper for
this sort of folding than larger cat-
tle, as their excrements are hotter.
"No
FOOD OF PLANTS.
one principle affords the pabulum
of vegetable life; it is neither char-
coal nor hydrogene, nor azote,
nor oxygene alone; but all of
them together in various states and
various combinations." Agricul-
tural Chemistry.
FOREST, a tract of ground, pro-
FOR
155
FOR
ducing wood.
Each farm of any
considerable bigness, should have
a forest to afford a supply of fuel
and timber. In clearing farms in a
new country, due regard should be
had to preserving a perpetual for-
est. Some have mistaken their in-
terest so much, as not to leave a
sufficient quantity of land unclear-
ed. So that they are put to the
disagreeable necessity, either of
buying their fire-wood, or else of
going some miles after it. That
part of a farm should be set apart
for this purpose, which is least
adapted by nature for tillage, or
grass. Land which is swampy,with
a very thin soil over a sandy bot-
tom; land that is rocky and moun-
tainous, or which will but poorly
bear a dry season, or even the most
sandy or gravelly heights, or steep
declivities which cannot be plough-
ed, may answer well for a forest.
Forest trees having long roots,
some of which penetrate deeply,
will find sufficient nourishment in
places where corn and grass can-
not be cultivated to advantage. So
that it is very bad economy to suf-
fer any such places to be destitute
of growing trees. For if they do
not produce wood they are in a
manner useless. Or if they pro-
duce any grass, trees will not hurt
them for pasturage, but in some
cases make it better.
The quantity of ground that
should be set apart for this use,
must vary according to the large-
ness of the farm it belongs to, and
according to the demand for wood,
the quality of the soil, and the na-
ture of the climate. If the climate
be hot, the forest may be smaller.
|
A small farm cannot so well ad-
mit of a large lot for wood as a larg
er one. Some intelligent farmers
in this country have thought they
could make a lot of ten or a dozen
acres answer the purpose of sup-
porting one constant kitchen fire.
But it certainly will not, unless the
soil be uncommonly fruitful, and
the trees be such as are of the
quickest growth. If land be poor
and dry, it will require twenty
acres or more, to supply one single
fire, and keep the stock of trees
undiminished.
To thicken a forest, or to pre-
vent its becoming too thin, cattle
should be kept out at all seasons,
that all the trees which spring out
of the ground may live and grow
And when it is
up to maturity.
found needful, acorns, or other
seeds, should be planted, so that
none of the ground may continue
unoccupied.
In our most southern climates, I
find that hard wood is more rapid
in its growth than in the northern.
And sprouts oftener grow up from
stumps of trees that are felled.—
The trees that grow up quickest in
general should be most cultivated.
Those of these kinds should be
more generally left standing than
others; such, for instance, as the
red and grey oaks, ash, white ma-
ple, &c.
When a number of suckers spring
up from a stump, all,excepting one
or two, should be taken away as
early as possible; then the remain-
ing ones will grow with rapidity.
Those are to be left which are tal-
lest, and most rapid in their
growth.
156
FOR
FOR
When a farm is quite destitute
of a forest, some spot, or spots,the
least adapted to tillage of any part
of the farm, should be converted to
this use, and be planted with such
trees as may be expected to thrive
best.
If these spots be tillable, "cattle
of all kinds, and swine should be
fenced out; and the ground well
ploughed and harrowed, and made
mellow. Acorns may be put in,
in rows four feet asunder, two in-
ches apart, and two inches deep.
The intervals may bear some hoed
crops, while the trees are small.
They should be hoed the first year
with the hand hoe; the second
with the horse hoe, and so on af-
terwards. When they are a year
old begin to thin them. When they
are, by repeated thinnings, as they
grow larger, reduced to the dis-
tance of eight feet, all the rest may
stand for timber, till some of them
are fit for some uses. But the final
distance for large timber trees, is
from twenty to thirty feet." Com-
plete Farmer.
But if places designed for forests
cannot conveniently be tilled, the
trees should be raised in a nurse-
ry, and transplanted into such pla-
ces. The cost of doing it will be
trifling, to compare with the ad-
vantage to be obtained by doing
it, especially in those parts of the
country where wood is become a
scarce article. Small clumps of
trees on little eminences, have an
excellent effect on the beauty of a
country.
In the Mass. Agr. Rep. vol.V. p.
32 to 62, were published some va-
luable "Remarks on the gradual
diminution of the Forests of Mas-
sachusetts and the importance
of an early attention to some
effectual remedy. With extracts
from the work of M. Michaux, on
the Forest Trees of North Ame-
rica. Our intended and ne-
cessary brevity render it inex-
pedient to give the whole of
this paper, but we will present
such extracts as we think will best
serve to excite attention to this
very important subject.
In adverting to the great solici-
tude manifested by some Europe-
an nations to preserve their wood-
lands, the author observes that "In
France, great and extensive public
forests were sacredly preserved,
even during the period of the re-
volution, when almost every thing
else was abandoned to destruction.
By the system of management
which now prevails, it is compu-
ted, that the forests of France,and
the supplies which they furnish,
will never diminish, and that there
will be always sufficient for domes-
tic consumption for fuel, as well as
for architectural and naval purpo-
ses."
Stating the causes which induced
a too general destruction of forest
trees in this country, the author
observes; "The cost and expense
of clearing our lands compared
with their value after they were
cleared, and the difficulty of era-
dicating completely the after
growth, were so great, and the for-
ests themselves appeared so vast
in proportion to the probable de-
mand for fuel, and wood for build-
ing, and other purposes, that no
man dreamt that the day would ar-
FOR
157
FOR
rive when their descendants might
regret the improvidence of their
ancestors. Hence there seems to
have been a sort of hatred, an in-
describable prejudice against trees,
especially round their dwellings.
An exception, perhaps, ought to be
made in favour of some counties,
in which a little degree of mercy
was exercised towards our native
elms, which were permitted to re-
tain a parsimonious possession of
the waste lands of our public roads,
where they exhibit a melancholy
sample of the beauty of our native
forests.
There seems to be no good reason
for this limitation; on the contrary
the experience of European far-
mers and cultivators would seem to
authorize a preference for plant-
ing. The great obstacle to the lat-
ter mode, in our country, is the de-
fect of extensive nurseries. Land
must be uncommonly well prepar-
ed, and for a long succession of
years, watched and cultivated, in
order to raise trees from seed.--
The best mode of raising forest
trees in great quantities, is unques-
tionably that which has been adopt-
ed in Europe. Forest trees,though
so hardy and vigorous after they
have attained a certain size, are
remarkably tender in their early
growth. They require the aid of
professional men, and skilful gar-
deners; and it is well known that
one or more transplantations, be-
fore they are finally planted out, is
The above causes alone can ac-
count for the fact, that in our cli-
mate, where the summer months
are so hot, compared to the climate
of Europe, and where the clear-
ness of the sky seems to render
shade so much more important,we
find such a general warfare waged
upon trees in the vicinity of dwel-requisite to give them that vigour
ling-houses.
and abundance of small roots,
which are necessary to their suc-
cess.
"The practice of transplanting
trees from our forests, of six or ten
years growth, robbed, as they must
be of the greater portion of their
fibrous roots, and suddenly expo-
The Trustees of the Massa-
chusetts Agricultural Society, im-
pressed with these ideas, and
alarmed at the constant increase of
the price of fuel, have for twenty
years past, by offering premiums for
planting, and by remarks in their
periodical publications, endeavour-sed to a soil and air, to which they
ed to call the attention of the far- have been unaccustomed, cannot
mers of this State, to this important be too much reprobated. The on-
subject. It is remarkable,that but ly thing which can be urged in its
one premium for planting, during favour, is the necessity of the case,
this period, has been claimed or our nurseries not furnishing stocks
granted. Perhaps there was one in sufficient quantities for any con-
defect in the form in which the siderable experiment. It is how-
premium was offered. It was con- ever true, that it would be cheap-
fined to those who should raise the er for an American cultivator, who
greatest number of trees, not less should be disposed to cover several
than two thousand, from seed.-acres with forest trees, to import
158
FOR
FOR
What the Agricultural Society
has failed to do by its premiums,
has been in part effected by indi-
vidual taste. The Hon. Mr. Gore
led the way, which others have
followed, in the formation of plan-
tations designed principally for or-
be disposed to treat with levity,
these efforts to adorn our country,
but in truth if they knew the inter-
esting and important effects of this
taste in Great Britain, they would
materially change their opinions."
The author takes notice of Mon-
sieur Michaux and his Treatise on
the Forest Trees of North Ameri-
ca; from which the following is
extracted.
plants of two or three years of age
from Europe, than to attempt to
effect the same object by planting
acorns, walnuts, or sowing the
seeds of other plants in the spot in
which they are intended to grow,
and watching them during their
feeble state. Still more true it isnament. Farmers may, perhaps,
that such an importation would be
cheaper than to attempt to intro-
duce the sickly and mutilated
plants from the native forest into
new ground prepared for this pur-
pose. A thousand young healthy
trees may be imported from Eu-
rope, and planted out at less ex-
pense than that at which one hun-
dred could be removed from a
neighbouring forest, into a new
plantation.* This remark is the
result of much experience.
I
would not be understood to recom-
mend the use of the European nur-
series to the exclusion of our own.
I would rather excite an attention
in cultivators of opulence to the
formation of nurseries, and of all
our farmers to the encouragement
of nursery men. The employment
ought to be distinct from that of a
farmer. It requires peculiar skill
and talent, and ought to be encour-
aged. It is a mortifying truth,that
the inhabitants of Massachusetts
import seven-eighths of their fruit
trees, and most of their ornament-
al forest trees from New-York. I
would not quarrel with this state of
things, if I did not believe that it
has been in part owing to a want
of attention to a very interesting
subject.
"America is more favoured,says
Monsieur Michaux, in the variety
of her forest trees, than France.-
The number of sorts of American
forest trees, whose growth amounts
to thirty feet at least, which Mon-
sieur Michaux describes, is 137, of
which ninety-five are employed in
the arts.
"In France there are only thir
ty-seven which grow to that size,
of which eighteen only are found
in their forests, and seven only of
these are employed in civil and
maritime architecture.
"Monsieur Michaux says, that
the object of his voyage was to ac-
quire an intimate knowledge of the
most interesting trees of America,
of those which were the most use-
ful, either for combustion or differ-
ent sorts of building.
He adds
that he shall suggest the manner in
which the American forests ought
* Taking into view the proportion which to be managed, by pointing out
would finally succeed.
the sorts which ought to be fa-
FOR
159
FOR
voured, and those which should be ed that tree. No; he meant
destroyed; for in his judgment a the juniper, which was obtained
bad tree ought never to be suffer- in New Hampshire, and came
ed to grow in a place which might down the Middlesex canal, a close
produce a better; and in no coun-grained, hard and heavy wood.'
try does he think this choice more I presume we should never have
important than in America; for understood each other, if he had
reasons which he does not assign. not recollected, that he had seen
He says, he should not hesitate to it in a new plantation on my es-
allege that of two collections of tate. On carrying me to this tree,
forest trees, situated in the same I found it to be the larch, which Í
district and of equal extent, the had known under the popular name
one from which the bad sorts of hackmatac.
should have been taken away,
would, whenever the whole wood
should be cut down, be worth fifty
per cent more than the other. He
must intend to say after a lapse of
some years.
The author has added to this
article a List of the Forest Trees,
described in the work of Monsieur
Michaux, which occupies about
twenty pages of the Repository,
and is too long for insertion in this
book. This list contains the bo-
tanical and vulgar names of ten
kinds of pine; four of spruce;
twenty six of oak, &c. &c.; and
observes "We have given the a-
bove list, because we thought it
might be of general use, as the
work of M. Michaux is too large
to be within the reach of intelli-
gent and well educated farmers
generally, and because we know
not any catalogue of the forest
trees of the United States, de-
tached from large botanical works
could be got. It is also very con-
venient, as exhibiting the variety
of common names applied to our
trees in different states."
"Monsieur Michaux remarks
on the singular confusion which
prevails in our country, in the
popular or common names of our
forest trees." "The same species
receives almost always different
denominations in different districts;
frequently also, the same name is
given to species very distinct, and
very often indeed three or four
different names are given to the
same tree, in the same district."
This is a fact well known to every
man of any observation, and is of
serious inconvenience. It intro-
duces a confusion into conversa-
tion, and even into contracts,
which is very inconvenient. I
shall cite one example, out of The next number of the Mass.
twenty, which have occurred to Agr. Repository, vol. v. p. 180,
myself. A carpenter recommend- contains another valuable paper
ed juniper posts, as the best with from the same hand, on "The dif-
which he was acquainted for dura-ferent Uses to which the Woods of
bility. I at first supposed that he the American Forest are applied in
had got the true name of the red the various parts of the United
cedar, and asked him if he intend-States.
160
FOU
FOU
FOUNDERING, a very pain-
ful disease in the feet of horses.
A horse affected with this disease
draws himself up in a heap, and
is loth to move. It is said to be |
occasioned by bruises on the legs,
by bad shoeing, by standing in
cold water after being heated with
exercise; or even by standing still
in the stable for several days. As
the disorder is in the feet, covered
by the hoofs and soles, it is diffi-
cult to make application to the
parts affected. But drawing out
the sole Mr. Snape does not ap-
prove of, without paring the hoof.
Something must be done without
delay, lest imposthumations come
on in the feet, by which the hoofs
will be cast off: In which case,
the horse must lie by useless for a
number of weeks before the new
hoofs will be grown. The same
writer directs that the hoofs be
razed from the coronet or top to
the bottom, quite through the
hoofs to the quick, so as to make
the blood run. These channels
in the hoofs may be readily made
with a common marking iron.
that, as I apprehend, may answer
well enough, and paring the sole
thin. They must, however, have
the same dressings as the hoofs.
A piece of leather should be laid
over the sole, and the whole foot
so bound up with strong bandages,
that the applications may not get
displaced. See Gibson's Farriery.
"Mason's Farrier" gives the
following remedy for a founder
"Take from his neck vein at least
one gallon of blood; give a drench
of one quart strong sassafras tea,
one tea spoonful of salt petre,
and a quarter of an ounce of assa-
foetida, and do not permit him to
eat or drink for five or six hours-
at the expiration of which time
should he not be evidently better,
repeat the bleeding, taking half a
gallon of blood, and give another
drench: at night offer him some
bran or oats, scalded with sassafras
tea, and if it can be procured, let
him have green food fresh from
the field, for it has the happy effect
of opening the bowels, and cooling
the system: his feet should be
nicely cleaned out, and stuffed
To cure the wounds made in with fresh cow manure: his drink
the hoofs, apply to them tar, tur- should be at least one half sassa-
pentine and honey, melted togeth-fras tea, with a small handful of
er, with a fourth part of spirit of salt thrown therein.
wine,soaking pledgits of clean flax,
or tow, in this mixture, and laying
them upon the chinks, not opening
them till two days after the first
dressing; afterwards making fresh
applications every day, till the
channels in the hoofs are grown
up.
The same applications must be
made to the sole, if that has been
drawn. But similar channels in
"By the morning should the
horse be better, nothing further is
necessary, only being careful not
to over-feed him. But should
there be no change for the better,
tie a small cord just above his
knees, and with a lancet or phleme,
bleed in a vein that runs round the
coronet just above the hoof: take
from each leg a pint of blood: give
a pound of salts dissolved in three
FRE
161
FRU
half pints of water, in form of a
drench: keep his feet stuffed with
fresh cow manure, and bathe his
legs with equal parts of sharp vine-
gar, spirits, and sweet oil, or lard.
By attention to these directions, in
two or three days the horse will
again be fit for service."
The old
FRUIT TREES.
practice of pruning fruit trees in
autumn has been condemned by
modern writers. Mr. Forsyth, in
his Treatise on Fruit Trees, (p. 18,
Cobbett's edition) says, "I have a
great dislike to autumnal pruning
of fruit trees; of all kinds of stone
fruits in particular; for by pruning
at that season, you seldom fail to
bring on canker. Whereas, in
spring, when the sap is beginning
to follow the knife, the lips will
quickly grow."
FREEZING. As a more com-
plete subdivision and pulverization
of the soil is one of the chief ends
of culture by the plough and the
harrow, it is very important that
every farmer should be deeply im-
pressed with the TRUTH, that frost A writer, whose essay on the sub-
operates as powerfully as any hu-ject of apple trees, is published in
man means towards the same end.
It is indeed generally known and
faintly acknowledged, that frost
breaks up the soil; but too small a
proportion of our farmers apply
this principle sufficiently in prac-
tice. Fall ploughing is very im-
portant for this purpose, and back
furrowing, so as to lay the land in
ridges, still more so.
the "Massachusetts Agricultural
Repository," vol. V. p. 121 to 127,
mentions three modes of misman-
agement, which injure orchards in
the vicinity of Boston. 1. Begin-
ning to prune them in March,
"when there is still much wet and
frosty weather, and no activity in
the sap of the tree." 2. The
"old practice of hacking and muti-
The European gardeners, who lating apple trees in a manner ruin-
have been introduced here within ous to an orchard. It is a univer-
the last twenty years, annually ei-sal practice among the old farmers,
ther trench our gardens, which is to mount the tree with a hatchet
nothing more than digging them or bill hook, and hack off any
two spades deep, or throw them up branch which is in a state of decay,
in high ridges to be open to frost.or which is misplaced, about six or
They learned these usages in Great eight inches from its insertion,.
Britain, where, however, the frost leaving a stump to rot, and to ope-
has much less power than with us. rate as a conductor of the water
We have seen the soil so entirely frost and canker into the mother
broken and pulverized by the branch in which it grew, or into
course just mentioned, as to re- the body of the tree according to
quire no digging in the spring, only its situation. This was done ori-
levelling, before the very smallest ginally from an idea that if you cut
seeds were sown. It cannot be close to the mother branch, or to
questioned that frost ought not to the body of the tree, the rot or
be overlooked as a very efficient canker will seize more readily on
auxiliary in cultivation.
its trunk, than if cut at a distance,
21
162
FRU
FRU
and that the tree will decay the
sooner. The practice has been
followed without reflection, and
without reason by many; but the
error is so obvious, that any man
of observation may see it yearly;
and any one, who doubts, may sa-
tisfy himself in one season of the
incorrectness of the practice, by
making his experiments on a young
tree.'
This writer advises the farmer,
when he has fixed upon a limb to be
lopped off, if it is large and heavy,
to cut it first at some distance from
its insertion, to prevent its weight
in falling from lacerating the bark
at the shoulder, whence your final
cut is to be; because this leaves
an opening for water to get under
the bark,and cannot easily be heal
ed. You may now saw the stump
close to the branch from whence
it proceeds with safety; or if it
be a portion of a branch which is
to be lopped off, the cut should be
down to a sound, healthy lateral
branch, growing from the same
limb; or if the limb to be cut off,
proceeds from the body or trunk of
the tree, then it should be sawed
close to the shaft. The wood in
all cases should be smoothed over,
and the edges of the bark carefully
pared with your knife, or hatchet,
so that the water will run off the
wound. If the cut be made on a
lateral branch, it should be sawed
obliquely or slanting, so as to leave
no dead wood, or wood to die,and
in all cases the cut should be on a
sound and healthy part of the tree.
If the branch on which it is cut, is
a healthy and vigorous one, it will
heal without difficulty, if pruned
the last of April, or beginning of
May, but if in March, the wound
should be covered with a compost;
but if the wound be large, so as to
require several seasons before it
can heal entirely, it will be better
to apply the compost,whether it be
pruned in March, or later.
66
The third error in managing fruit
trees, according to this writer. con-
sists in the habit of encouraging
luxuriant upright branches to the
great injury of the natural horizon-
tal fruit-bearing branches; these
are very properly called glution
branches, because they consume
the sap which would otherwise go
into the lateral and fruit-bearing
branches, and in the course of a
few years, they leave the fruit
branches decaying and decayed;
the farmer then resorts to his axe,
cuts away the dead and dying wood,
and leaves the glutton in full pos-
session of all the nourishment
which the roots afford; but in re-
turn, this voracious member of the
orchard gives no fruit until many
years, and then it is of an inferior
quality.
"To prevent this the cultivator
should suppress all the stiff, up-
right shoots the first year they ap-
pear, by cutting them off close to
the branch from which they issue,
taking care not to leave the shoul-
der of the shoot, as he will in such
case have the same duty to perform
again; but if the shoulder of the
glutton be cut away, the sap will
be distributed among the lateral
fruit-bearing branches, which will
be kept in vigour, and continue in
a healthful bearing state.
"The compost best suited to
FRU
163
FRU
Fruit trees may be forced to bear
in the following manner. With a
sharp knife cut the bark of the
branch, which you mean to force to
bear, not far from the place where
it is connected with the stem; or
if a small branch or shoot, near
where it is joined with the larger
bough; the cut is to be made round
the branch so as to encircle it, and
penetrate the wood. A quarter of
an inch from the first cut, make a
cover the wounds of all trees, is a, this process: it is used in the spring,
composition of tar, bees-wax, and and may be repeated in following
red ochre, boiled or simmered for years as frequently as the trees ap-
half an hour or twenty minutes to-pear to require it." It is likewise
gether. The proportion which I recommended to white wash trees
have used are, a pint of tar, into in the spring with a mixture of lime
which I put a piece of bees-wax as and water.
big as an English walnut; when
these are incorporated, I scatter a
small quantity of pulverized red
ochre, say half a gill, and stir them
well together, while boiling hot or
simmering. When this compost
is cool, it should be stiff enough to
resist the heat of the sun suffici-
ently to prevent its running, and
yet soft enough to be applied to the
wound with a small flat smooth
stick; it will last two years at least,
without requiring to be renew-second cut like the first, so that by
ed; it yields to the sap as it issues
from under the bark round the
wound to cover it, while it conti-
nues to protect both the wood and
the edge of the bark from water,
and of course from decay.' ""
A writer in the Massachusetts
Agricultural Repository, No. IV.
vol. IV. p. 133, after speaking of
the decline of fruit trees in his
neighbourhood, says that a gentle-
man "directed their trunks or bo-
dies to be washed and well rubbed
with soft soap; and it is not easy
to imagine the early change which
appeared in their bark, and foli-
age: the bark became smooth and
glossy, and seemed sound and
beautiful; and he thought the tree
improved in every respect. I have
tried the same experiment, and
with equal advantage to Apple
Trees, Pear Trees, and Peach
Trees; and am persuaded they
have been greatly benefitted by
both encircling the branch, you
have marked a ring a quarter of an
inch between the two cuts-then
with a knife separate the bark from
the wood, removing even the fine
inner bark which lies immediately
upon the wood, so that no con-
nection whatever remains between
the two parts of the bark, leaving
the wood naked, white and smooth.
This operation must be perfor-
med when the buds are strongly
swelling, or breaking out into blos-
soms; the same year a callous is
formed on at each edge of the ring,
and the bark is again restored with-
out detriment to the tree or branch
operated upon. It seems calcula-
ted to force those trees to bear,
which put out a proportion of blos-
soms, and yet bear no fruit; or if
they bear, the fruit often drops
from the tree before ripe.
fruit from trees so operated upon,
will be larger and fairer, and ripe
The
1
164
GAR
FUR
}
earlier than the other fruit on the
same tree. It is well known to
botanists that the sap ascends in the
wood, but descends in the bark;
and the above operation prevents
its. return.
It is recommended in The Code
of Agriculture to cover the incision
with a rag, which will expedite
the filling up of the ring or hollow.
For a nomenclature of the best
sorts of fruits, known in the Unit-
ed States See Massachusetts Agri-
cultural Repository. Vol. II. p.
92 to 99.
"The value of fruits for the
manufacture of fermented liquors
may be judged of from the specific
gravity of their expressed juices.
The best cyder and perry are
made from those apples and pears
that afford the densest juices; and
a comparison between different
fruits may be made with tolerable
accuracy by plunging them togeth-
er into a saturated solution of salt,
or a strong solution of sugar; those
that sink deepest will afford the
richest juice." Davy's Agricul-
tural Chemistry.
For further observations on
Fruit Trees See Massachusetts
Agricultural Repository. Vol. VI.
P. 55.
FURROW, the trench made
by a plough in going, also the earth
thrown out of the trench. The
European writers often use the
word furrow, to signify a plough-
ing. They tell of sowing on one
furrow, that is, after only one
ploughing; on the second furrow,
or on two furrows, that is, after
two ploughings, &c. Though I
see no need of our adopting this
way of speaking, I think it not
amiss to mention it, to prepare
readers to understand those writ-
ers the better, when it falls in
their way to peruse them.
FURROWING, in this country,
is understood to mean marking
ground into little squares with a
horse plough, in order to plant In-
dian corn, or any other plant that
requires the like culture. The
goodness of this operation consists
in making the furrows straight,
equidistant, and at right angles;
neither too deep nor too shallow;
that the dung and seed may lie
neither too low nor too high.
When dung is to be laid in the
furrows, they should be deeper;
when ground is to be seeded with-
out putting dung in the furrows,
or holes, the furrows should be
very shallow. The nearer the
time of planting this work is done
the better. If a rain fall between
furrowing and planting, it is detri-
mental. It soddens the ground,
or makes it more heavy and com-
pact, and causes the furrows to be
less visible.
G.
GARDEN," a piece of ground
cultivated and properly ornament-
ed with a variety of plants, flowers,
fruit trees, &c. Gardens are usu-
ally distinguished into flower gar-
den, fruit garden, and kitchen gar-
den: The first of which, being de-
signed for ornament, is to be plac-
ed in the most conspicuous part,
that is, next to the back front of
the house; and the second and
third, being designed for use,
GAR
165
GAR
should be placed less in sight."
Dict. of Arts.
|
parts which are shaded by the fen-
ces. The rage of high winds will
I consider the kitchen garden as be so opposed as to prevent the
of very considerable importance, tearing and distorting of tender
as pot herbs, sallads, and roots of plants; and fowls may be the
various kinds, are useful in house-more easily kept out.
keeping. Having a plenty of them
at hand, a family will not be so
likely to run into the error, which
is too common in this country, of
eating flesh in too great a propor-
tion for health. Farmers, as well
as others, should have kitchen gar-
dens: And they need not grudge
the labour of tending them, which
may be done at odd intervals of
time, which may otherwise chance
to be consumed in needless loiter-
ing.
It is best that a garden should
be on a declivity. If it be very
steep, it may be thrown into
banks, and level plats. There is
commonly a variety of soils on a
declivity of any considerable ex-
tent. This will give a material
advantage to a garden, as a variety
of different plants may have each
the soil that best suits them.
A kitchen garden should not be
situated at any great distance from
the house, lest being too much out
of sight, it should be out of mind,
and the necessary culture of it too
much neglected.
A garden should have a close
fence, that the winds may not drive
seeds of weeds into it. The fence
should be at least seven feet high,
and picketed, to prevent the en-
trance of thieves. The height
and closeness of the fence, will in-
crease the vegetation by increas-
ing the warmth of the air in the
garden, excepting perhaps in the
A garden should have a border
of about three feet, and next to
the border a walk of the same
width or one foot wider. The
walk through the middle may be
from six to eight feet as the owner
pleases. This may be crossed by
one, two, or three narrower ones,
if the shape of the ground requires
it; or if it is half as long again the
one way as the other, which is
more elegant than an equilateral
square. On these cross walks
may be espaliers for grapes.
Trees should not be in the outer
border, but on the opposite sides
of the outer walks; not two many
of them; perhaps one of the
dwarf kind in 20 or 30 feet.-
Standard trees in gardens give
too much shade.
Dwarfs are
commonly cut into espaliers.—
But this torturing of trees makes
them less fruitful, and shorter
lived. Those who prefer it may
make this sacrifice to elegance
and beauty. In fruit trees which
need much heat, and placed a-
gainst northern walls, I object not
to it.
GARDENING, a kind of agri-
culture, usually called Horticul
ture. It may be considered as
farming in miniature. It is con-
versant in preparing ground for
different kinds of seeds, and in
treating them properly during
their growth. The garden is the
fittest place to make the first ex-
166
GAR
periments in, with exotic roots
and seeds, as the loss is inconsid-
erable, if they should not prove a-
greeable to the climate. If they
prosper well in the garden, they
should afterwards be tried in the
field: And even then not at first
on a very large scale.
|
GLA
1
From repeated experiments I
should prefer to every other recipe,
patient and often repeated warm
fomentations, of soap suds, vinegar
and spirits. It should be treated
as nearly as possible like the
lumps, which often appear, and
are dispersed in the breasts of
females. Disperse it by fomen-
tations, if practicable, but if it
must maturate, assist this by
poultices.
which they will pine away and die,
unless a remedy be speedily ap-
plied. The method of cure is, to
make an opening in the dewlap,
and insert into it a piece of the
root of mechoacan, as big as a nut-
meg, with a string made fast to it,
that it may be drawn out when the
He who would make his gar- cure is affected. The humour, in
gar-cure
dening profitable, should have his about twenty four hours, will be
kitchen garden near to the dung- revulsed from the udder to the
hills, that the manure may be ap- dewlap, and soon discharge itself
plied without too much labour. at the orifice, which completes the
Dung that is old, and destitute of cure.
seeds, should be used, that too
many weeds may not be propagat-
ed. And that a garden may be
kept clean, not one weed should
be suffered to have its seeds ripen-
ed in it: And every perennial weed,
or weed which lasts over one year
that appears in autumn, should be
extirpated in such a manner that,
if possible, no parts of its root may
remain in the ground. The seeds
of many weeds may also be des
troyed, by laying the ground in
high ridges during the winter. At
the same time, it will help to en-
rich the soil; and many of certain
kinds of insects, or their eggs, will
be destroyed: Especially if the GLANDERS, a very foul and
ridging be performed about the often fatal disease in horses. It is
last of November, or the begin- always accompanied with a copi-
ning of December. Ground that ous discharge of mucus from the
is so managed, will be dried the nostrils, and swelling of the glands
earlier in the spring, to such a under the throat and tongue. In
degree, as to be fit for digging and its advanced stages the discharge
seeding. It is of more advantage becomes purulent. And when
in land that is apt to be too wet, the bones become carious, the
than in that which is sandy and dry. disease is attended with an intol-
GARGET, a disease in cattle. erable stench, and may be pro-
Cows sometimes have their ud-nounced incurable.
ders greatly distended, and indu- In the first and second stages,
rated, with this distemper; of Gibson directs to purges, diaphore-
GIGS, little tumours or blad-
ders in the mouths of horses. To
cure slit them open to discharge
the matter; and wash them with
salt and vinegar.
**
GLA
167
GOO
washed calx of antimony two
drachms, mixed for a dose every
day, or once in twelve hours.
Should the discharge arise from a
cold, it will soon be removed by
that means. When considerable
ulceration is perceived in the nose;
with the other concomitant symp-
toms of the glanders, the horse
should be destroyed instantly.
"The most effectual mode of
purifying stables in which glander-
ed horses have been kept, is to re-
move or carefully wash every thing
on which the horse may have de-
posited any matter, and afterwards
to cover every part of the stable
with a thick coat of lime and size.”
GOOSE, a well known bird.-
The tame kind are some of them
entirely white, but they are mostly
parti-coloured, grey and white.-
The belly and wing feathers are
white,even in those that have most
of the grey colour.
tics, and rowelling in the hinder
parts by way of revulsion. To clear
his nostrils, burn brimstone, feath-
ers, and bits of leather under his
nose, passing the fumes into his
nostrils, through a funnel. And
when much matter is discharged by
sneezing, syringe the nostrils with
brandy, or red wine. Afterwards
a small quantity of Unguentum
Egyptiacum, dissolved in oil of
turpentine,may be injected through
a large pipe, which will be helpful
towards cleansing the ulcerated
parts. See W. Gibson on Farriery.
The glanders is said to be a con-
tagious disease, and care should
therefore be taken lest it be com-
municated to other horses. A
work called The Complete Farrier, |
printed in Philadelphia, in 1809,
which has been highly approved of
by those who have practised ac-
cording to its directions, observes
that "The strangles has been some
times mistaken for the glanders or
sore throat, but in this disease the
inflamed glands very soon suppu-
rate and burst, whereby all the oth-
er symptoms are generally remo-
ved, whilst in the glanders, the
glands seldom or never suppurate;
in order, however, to avoid all
danger, it is advisable, the moment
a horse is perceived to have a dis-
charge from his nose, to put him
into a stable where he can have no
communication with other horses:
if the glands of the throat are en-
larged and inflamed, apply a large
poultice to them, steam the head
three or four times a day, let him
be well clothed particularly about It is said that geese may be ad-
the head, and give him of powder-vantageously fed on turnips, cut in
ed nitre one ounce, and an un- small pieces, similar to dice, but
1
Geese are more profitable than
most other tame fowls, on account
of the cheapness of their feeding,
and the value of their flesh and
their feathers, besides their grease
and quills.
Some strip them of
most of their feathers twice a year.
But this hurts the animals, and is
on the whole, no profit to the own-
er. Moulting time is the right sea-
son for plucking them; for then
the feathers are loose, and begin to
fall off of themselves. Geese begin
to lay their eggs in March; and
begin to sit on them in March or
April. The time of incubation is
four weeks.
168
GRA
GRA
not so large, and put into a trough the number of cions is inserted, the
of water. Geese should be kept whole crown of the stock should
in places where they can have be well clayed over, leaving two
plenty of water, which will cause eyes of the cions unconnected
their feathers to be of a better therewith, which will be sufficient
quality, and they will be less sub-for shooting.
ject to vermin.
GRAFTING, OR ENGRAFT-
ING, the taking a shoot from one
tree, and inserting it into another,
in such a manner, that both may
unite and become one tree.
Nut trees, of the same species,
will take readily on each other;
but those of different species will
take with difficulty, and never
make good trees. From curiosity,
apple scions may be put into peach
stocks, and the reverse, and pears
will grow on thorns, but they make
miserable trees. It is a well au-
thenticated fact, that peach buds
will take by inoculation on the wil-
low, but it is a monstrous and un-
natural union,and cannot serve any
other purpose than the gratifica-
tion of a philosophical curiosity.
The methods of grafting are va-
rious. The first, which is termed
Rind or Shoulder grafting,is seldom
practised but on large trees,where
either the head or large branches
are cut off horizontally, and two or
more cions put in, according to the
size of the branch, or stem; in do-
ing this the cions are cut flat on
one side, with a shoulder to rest
upon the crown of the stock; then
the rind of the stock must be rais-
ed up, to admit the cion between
the wood and the bark of the stock,
which must be inserted about two
inches, so as that the shoulder of
the cion may meet, and closely join
the crown of the stock; and after
¡
The next method is termed Cleft
or Stock grafting; this is practised
upon stocks or trees of a smaller
size, and may be used with success
where the rind of the stock is not
too thick, whereby the inner bark
of the cion will be prevented from
joining to that of the stock. This
may be performed on stocks, or
branches, that are more than one
inch in diameter: The head of the
stock, or branch, must be cut off,
with a slope, and a slit made the
contrary way, in the top of the
slope, deep enough to receive the
cion, which should be cut sloping
like a wedge, so as to fit the slit
made in the stock; being careful
to leave that side of the wedge
which is to be placed outward
much thicker than the other. And
in putting the cion into the slit of
the stock, there must be great care
taken to join the rind of the cion to
that of the stock; for if these do
not unite the grafts will not suc-
ceed.
A third method which is termed
Whip, or Tongue-grafting, is per-
formed on small stocks by cutting
off the head of the stocks sloping;
then there must be a notch made
in the slope toward the upper
part downward, a little more than
half an inch deep, to receive the
cion, which must be cut with a
slope upwards, and a slit made in
the slope like a tongue, which
tongue must be inserted into the
A
1
GRA
169
GRA
slit made in the slope of the stock, "By this simple operation, it is
so as that the two rinds of both cion said that corn, however musty,may
and stock may be equal and join be completely purified, with very
together exactly. Then there little expense, and without requir-
should be a ligature to fasten the ing previous chemical knowledge,
cion, so that it may not be easily or any expensive apparatus. Mere
displaced.
ventilation, however, has been re-
Another species of grafting is commended as a means for pre-
called Inarching, for which see In-paring grain for use sufficiently ef
arching. See Forsyth's Treatise
on Fruit Trees.
GRAIN. "Wheat, if not in
good condition, is much improved
by kiln-drying; but it should not
be used, unless in cases of neces-
sity, until sometime after it has un-
dergone that operation. It ought
to be moderately kiln-dried, with
a slow heat, and frequently turned.
But if the grain be musty, it ought
to pass through a previous process,
which is thus described by an emi-
nent chemist.
"The wheat must be put into
any convenient vessel, capable of
containing at least three times the
quantity, and the vessel must be
subsequently filled with boiling wa-
ter; the grain should then be oc-
casionally stirred, and the hollow
and decayed grains, (which will
float,) may be removed; when the
water has become cold, or in gen-
eral, when about half an hour has
elapsed, it is to be drawn off. It
will be proper then to rinse the
corn with cold water, in order to
remove any portion of the water,
which had taken up the must; af-
ter which, the corn being com-
pletely drained, it is without loss
of time, to be thinly spread on the
floor of a kiln, and thoroughly dri-
ed, care being taken to stir, and to
turn it frequently, during this part
of the process.
22
fectual." Code of Agriculture.
GRANARY, a store-house for
threshed corn. A granary should
be so constructed, that corn may be
kept free from dampness, insects,
and vermin. To avoid the last of
these evils, its being mounted on
blocks, capped with flat stones,like
some of the houses for Indian corn,
is no ill expedient. But for large
granaries this will not be conveni-
ent.
The Lombardy poplar is recom-
mended as a timber adapted for
flooring granaries, which is said to
prevent the destruction of corn by
weovils and insects. Poplar wood
will not easily take fire.
GRASS, a general name for most
of those plants which are used in
feeding cattle, both in their green
and dry state.
•
"The land on which grass seed
is intended to be sown, should be
well ploughed and cleared from the
roots of noxious weeds. Before
the seed is sown, the surface of the
ground should be made level and
fine: Otherwise the seeds will be
buried unequally. When the seed
is sown, it should be gently bar-
rowed in, and the ground rolled
with a wooden roller, which will
make the surface even, and pre-
vent the seed being blown into
patches. It is the common way of
170
GRA
GRA
M
proceeding; if a farmer wants to "It is said by some, that weeds
lay down his land to grass, he ei- will come up along with the grass,
ther takes his seeds indiscriminate- though what is called clean seed
ly from his own hay rick, or sends be sowed. No doubt of it. Can
to his neighbour for a supply. By any one imagine that grass seeds
this means, besides a certain mix should be exempted from what
ture of rubbish, which must neces-happens to every other kind of
sarily happen, it is not unlikely but seed? But I will venture to say,
that which he intends for dry land, that not near the quantity of weeds
may have come from moist, where will spring up, as they imagine, if
Stil-
it grew naturally, and so on the the grass be sown thick."
contrary:
And the consequence ling fleet.
of this slovenly method frequently It is undoubtedly best to sow
is, that the ground, instead of being clean seed, which is known to be
covered in one year with a good suitable to the soil, when land is
seed, is filled with weeds, not na- | laid down to grass.
For though
tural to it, which would never have grasses will gradually come in, no
sprung up, if they had not been great crop is to be expected the
brought thither. This slovenly first year, unless it be a crop of
practice may have prevailed when rank and useless weeds. And he
Dr. Deane's book was first pub-that misses of the first year's crop,
lished, but we believe it is now ex-loses much, as the longer the land
ploded.
lies, the more compact, or bound,
it will become, and produce the
smaller crops.
"Some say that if you manure
your ground well, good grasses will
come in of themselves. I own
they will. But the question is,
how long will it be before that hap-
pens ? And why will you be at the
expense of sowing what you must
afterwards try to kill? Which must
be the case, so long as people sow
all kinds of rubbish under the name
of hay seeds. Others say it will be
better to have a mixture of different
seeds. I suppose this to be true.
But cannot a mixture be had,
though the seeds be gathered and
separated? And is not a mixture
by choice more likely to be pro-
per than one by chance? Especi-
ally after sufficient experience has
been had of the particular virtues
of each sort, and of the different
grounds where they will thrive
best?
It would require a large volume
to describe all the kinds of grass
which are and might be cultivated
Sir John
in the United States.
Sinclair observes, (Code of Agri-
culture, p. 219,) that "there are in
all 215 grasses properly so called,
which are cultivated in Great Bri-
tain."
tain." The Duke of Bedford in-
stituted a series of experiments,
to try the comparative merits and
value of a number of these grasses
to the amount of 97, the result of
which is annexed to Sir Humphrey
Davy's Agricultural Chemistry.-
According to these experiments,
tall fiscue grass, (festuca elatior,)
stands highest, as to the quantity of
nutritive matter afforded by the
whole crop, when cut at the time
GRA
171
GRA
straw-like; when intended for hay
it must be salted." Willich's Do-
mestic Encyclopædia, American ed.
vol. II. p. 194. See likewise Mas-
sachusetts Agricultural Repository,
vol. III. p. 38, vol. IV. p. 111, and
of flowering; and meadow cat's-
tail grass, (phleum pratense, called
in New-England herd's-grass, and
timothy grass, in the southern
States) affords most food when cut
at the time the seed is ripe. Sea
meadow-grass produces the great-p. 209.
est quantity of aftermath.
We shall add to this article a
concise description of some of the
most useful grasses, which have
been cultivated in the United
States, referring our readers to
longer and more elaborate treati-
ses for a more particular descrip-
tion of this class of vegetables.
1. Tall Meadow Öat, or Tall-
This
oat-grass, Avena elatior.
kind of grass was imported from
England, and has been cultivated
in Massachusetts, as well as in the
State of New-York, and the south-
ern States. It is thus described by
Dr. Henry Muhlenberg, of Lan-
caster, in Pennsylvania.
2. Tall Fescue Grass, Festuca
Elatior. Dr. Muhlenberg de-
scribes this grass as "a native pe-
rennial grass of the United States,
it is very luxuriant and productive,
but rather coarse. Cows are fond
of it, but horses do not relish it.
It grows in moist meadows, and in
woods. The leaves are broad,
stem very high, (sometimes 6 feet)
flowers in July.'
""
3. "Meadow Cat's-tail, Timothy-
grass, or Herds-grass, of the north-
ern States. (Phleum pratense) is
the grass most used for hay in
the northern States. It is also er-
roneously called Fox-tail; but this
is another grass. The cat's-tail
has a long head, somewhat resem-
bling the tail of a cat, with very
fine seeds; the Fox-tail has a
short bushy head, more like the
tail of a fox, with coarser seeds.-
In other respects they have consi-
derable resemblance.
"This grass is of all others, the
earliest, latest, and best grass for
green fodder and hay; it blossoms
about the middle of May, with red
clover, and the seed ripens a month
after. It grows but in a clover soil,
and rises to a height of from five to
seven feet-it ought to be cut for "Cat's-tail grows best in rich
hay in blossom, about the end of moist soil; but it will grow well,
May. The seed may be sown in for a few years, in a rich wet, or
the fall or spring, with or without a rich arable soil. In the rich wet
grain, and must be brushed in or soil it gradually lessens in product;
lightly harrowed. If mixed with while at the same time it gives way
clover it will make good upland to wild grasses. In a rich arable
meadow. Horned cattle prefer soil it gradually fails, by reason of
this grass to all others, but some the ground becoming bound and
horses do not relish it green.
It the sward thickened with other
must be pastured, or cut at least grasses. Probably, if it were well
three times in a season. If suffer- torn with the harrow in the spring,
ed to grow old, it will become and not too closely pastured in
172
GRA
the fall, and none in the spring,
it would grow well for many years
in such soil. By close pasturing
in the fall, it is apt to be torn out
by the roots, and by cropping it
again in the spring, it suffers great-
ly." Farmer's Assistant.
4. The Herd-grass of the sou-
thern States, is called also White-
top, Foul Meadow Grass, and Red-
top. It is thus described in the
second American edition of Dr.
Willich's Domestic Encyclopædia,
vol. II. p. 268. "Dr. Muhlenberg
thinks this grass is the Agrostis
stricta of Wildenow. It is par-
ticularly adapted to wet low
grounds. It mats and consolidates
the surface, continues many years,
excluding every other grass and all
weeds. Many worthless swampy
spots in the low parts of the State
of New-Jersey, have been render-
ed valuable grazing grounds by this
grass, loaded waggons having pas-
sed over places, which, two or
three years before sowing it,would
scarcely permit an animal to walk
through without sinking. It makes
excellent hay, and cattle are said
to prefer it to that made of either
clover or timothy. It is more suc-
culent than timothy, though not so
coarse. The same bulk of the hay
of thisgrass will weigh one thirdmore
than that of timothy hay. Four
tons is a common crop from one
acre. It yields no second crop,
but affords excellent late and early
pasture. It was first brought to
New-Jersey from New-England by
the late William Foster, who resi-
ded near Mount Holly; and intro-
duced into Pennsylvania about ten
or twelve years since.*
*There is a great confusion of names in
GRA
The Red-top and White-top, are
only varieties of the above species
of grass. The latter is the larger
of the two. The red-top is parti-
cularly valuable,as it will grow and
sod the first year on banks, when
no other grass will thrive. See an
essay on artificial grasses, by Col.
Taylor, of Virginia, republished in
the Mass. Agr. Rep. vol.V. p. 291.
5. Lucerne, Medicago Sativa.
By some experiments made by the
Hon. Robert R. Livingston, recor-
ded in the Transactions of the Ag-
ricultural Society of New-York, it
appears that with good cultivation,
and abundant manuring, from six
to nine tons of hay may be obtain-
ed from an acre of this grass in a
season. The ground must be high-
ly pulverized to insure a good crop.
Twenty pounds of seed are requir-
ed for an acre if sown in broad-
cast, six pounds if drilled. It an-
swers very well with red clover,
and is not injured by the cold or
the changes of our climate.
Mr. L. advises as the result of
his experiments, 1. Never to sow
on ground that is not perfectly pul-
verized. 2. Not to sow till the
ground has acquired a degree of
warmth friendly to vegetation, viz.
in May. 3. To sow with no crop
that will probably lodge. 4. If
sown with buck-wheat, to apply no
gypsum or other manure, till the
buck-wheat is off. 5. When the
quantity sown is small, and the
farmer can afford to lose a crop, to
give the ground one turn in the au-
this paragraph. The foul meadow grass is
not the Red-top of New-England. The for-
mer is a plant which flourishes only in a wet
soil-the latter one which will flourish in the
driest soils.
GRA
173
GRA
1.
tumn, another in April, harrowing
fine, and a third the beginning of
May, and then if the weather be
mild and warm sow, if the ground
be in perfect tilth, otherwise give
it another ploughing.
When lucerne turns yellow it
should be mowed, and the plants
will come up free from the disor-
der.
growth, and from the result of all
my experiments, I have no hesita-
tion in saying, that it will yield ten
times as much as any timothy or
clover meadow I have ever seen.
Farmer's Assistant.
99
7. Fiorin Grass. (Agrostis Sto-
lonifera,) called likewise Bent
Grass. This grass has been said
to be a native of Ireland, but it has
likewise been found growing spon-
6. Guinea Grass, Panicum Maxi-
mum. This plant was first discov-taneously in this country. In the
ered on the coast of Guinea,whence
it was brought to Jamaica.
"We will give the reader the
account which Mr. Oglesby, of
Kentucky, gives of its product in
Wilkinson County in the State of
Mississippi; and from this, and
from the certificates of others, it
will be seen, that it must become
productive of immense advantage
to the southern part of our territo-
ry, and perhaps to every part of
our country.
"I have (says Mr. Oglesby) been
accustomed to both timothy and
clover meadows,and have frequent-
ly assisted in cutting some of the
best in the State of Kentucky. At
Percyfield, near Fort Adams, I cul-
tivated a lot of Guinea-grass,some-
what less than a quarter of an acre;
from which I fed six or eight hor-
ses, during the summer of 1812. I
planted it in the second week in
May, and began to cut it the 20th
of June, and cut it five times before
the 15th of October, and obtained
from each plant (which occupied
a square yard) about sixty pounds
of green grass.
I have frequently observed it to
grow four inches in twenty-four
hours. From the astonishing
Orchestron meadow in England, it
has yielded nine tons to the acre
in a season. Sheep, neat cattle
and horses are extremely fond of
it. Given to cows, it increases the
quantity and improves the quality
of milk.
The method commonly practi-
sed in Ireland, for rearing it, is to
cut the strings in short pieces,strew
them evenly over the ground, and
cover them with suitable earth, or
with compost, as the nature of the
ground may require. They are to
be kept clear of weeds till the
young growth has taken possession
of the soil; when it will cover the
ground to the exclusion of every
other plant.
It delights in a wet soil, and
thrives in boggy lands, and covers
them with so tough a sward that
teams may go on them.
The author of the analysis of
grasses,appended to Sir Humphrey
Davy's Agricultural Chemistry, ob-
serves of this grass, that "From a
careful examination it will doubt-
less appear to possess merits well
worthy of attention,though perhaps
not so great as has been supposed,
if the natural place of its growth
and habits be impartially taken in-
174
GRA
GRA
66
to the account. From the couch- to moisture and dryness, and is
ant nature of this grass it is deno- very productive. Agricultural
minated couch-grass by practical Chemistry.
men, and from the length of time 11. "Green Grass. Poa Viridis,
that it retains the vital power after is a native of the United States,and
being taken out of the soil, is cal- especially of Pennsylvania, where
led squitch, quick, full of life, &c." it grows in all meadows and on rich
See Massachusetts Agricultural soils. Dr. Muhlenberg says it is
Repository, vol. III. p. 32 to 37. not described by Linnæus, though
8. Darnel, or Rye Grass, Loli- nearly allied to his poa angustifo-
um Perenne. Sheep eat this lia. It may be easily known by
grass when it is in the early stage the following description. "Culm
of its growth, in preference to most (or haulm) erect and round (co-
others; but after the seed ap-lumnar) panicle diffuse, spicules
proaches towards perfection, they five flowered and hairy at their
leave it for almost any other kind. | base.” Cattle are very fond of
A field in the park of Woburn was this grass, if cut when the blossom
laid down in two equal parts, one opens. It produces less than the
part with rye grass and white clo | Avena elatior, or tall meadow-oats,
ver, and the other part with cock's- but horses prefer it. It continues
foot and red clover; from spring green until even after frost, and
till mid-suinmer the sheep kept al- when all other herbage is destroy-
most constantly on the rye grass; ed; and if manured will continue
but after that time they left it, and forever. The fine grazing farm of
adhered with equal constancy to Mr. Wm. West, of Upper Darby,
the cock's-foot during the remain- Delaware County, consists entire-
der of the season." Agriculturally of this grass. Mr. W. finds it
Chemistry.
9. Dactylis Glomerata. Cock's-
Foot. Oxen, horses, and sheep eat
this grass readily. The oxen con-
tinue to eat the straws and flowers,
from the time of flowering, till the
time of perfecting the seed; this
was exemplified in a striking man-
ner in the field alluded to. The
oxen generally kept to the cock's-
foot and red clover, and the sheep
to the rye grass and white clover."
Agricultural Chemistry.
·∙10. 66
Alopecurus Pratensis.
Meadow Fox tail. Sheep and hor-
ses seem to have a greater relish
for this grass than oxen. It delights
in a soil of intermediate quality as
necessary to sow clover thinly on
the green grass sod every three or
four years, to correct a slight ten-
dency which green grass has to
bind the soil. When the Green
Grass appears upon meadows made
by banking out rivers, care must
be taken to secure a supply of wa-
ter; otherwise, according to Mr.
J. Cooper, the ends of the seeds
will become affected with a black
spear, about one fourth or one half
an inch in length, similar to the
smut on rye, and cause a loss of the
hoofs of cattle that eat the grass.
12. “Blue Grass, Poa compres-
sa, a native grass of the United
| States, having "a compressed ob-
GRA
175
GRA.
lique culm or haulm paneile
squeezed, spicules round, (colum-
nar) and eight flowered." This is
eaten tolerably well by cattle when
young, and remains green until af-
ter frost. It binds the soil, in the
course of three or four years, so as
to require ploughing up. This is
often mistaken for the green grass,
and both are called occasionally
Spear Grass, and wire grass." Do-
mestic Encyclopædia.
Ri-
Mixed with
grazing early in the spring, late in
the fall, in droughts and in winter,
than any grass known to me.
pening with the red clover, it is
peculiarly fitted for being sown
with it, because it greatly facili-
tates its conversion into hay, re-
tains possession of the ground for
years after the clover has disap-
peared. Alone, cut before the
seed ripens, its hay is as nutritive
and pleasant to stock of all kinds,
13. Col. Taylor, of Virginia, in as any I have ever used; and it
a paper on artificial grasses, com- will yield both seed and tolerably
municated to the Agricultural So- good hay at one cutting, as it ri
ciety of Virginia, says, "The best pens soonest at top.
grass which I have tried in many favourite grasses of grazing ani-
respects is one commonly called mals it is partially rejected, but
"the highland meadow-oat." I eaten as they fail. Alone, it is
have had no means of ascertaining greedily fed on. After being cut
whether it is a species of rye grass, or grazed, if left to grow it rises
or of the avena pratensis, or nei- anew, almost with the rapidity of
ther, nor whence it derived the ap- lucerne, with a vigour but little di-
pellation "Peruvian," by which I minished. Fifteen years experi-
have heard it distinguished. With ence has not enabled me to decide
its qualities I am better acquainted, as to its capacity for improving the
having carefully observed them for soil, because the small quantity of
many years. It ripens as early as seed first obtained, by confining ex-
the red clover, and is easily made periments to small patches, long
into fine hay, if cut in proper time. concealed its qualities; and the
Its earliness is of vast importance large lots first sown have remained
in our climate. Thence it hap- too flourishing to require manure,
pens that it produces heavy spring and too valuable to be ploughed
crops, like red clover, as it com- up. It produces, (after it has come
monly perfects its growth, before to perfection, in doing which it is
a drought occurs. It is the hardi- one year slower than red clover,)
est grass I ever saw, and bears ungrazed and uncut, a warmer,and
drought and frost, and heat and more lasting cover than clover,
cold much better than any I have which has recently induced me to
tried. It keeps possession of the mix and sow it with wheat on a
land in spite of severe grazing. It large scale, for the end of unprov-
flourishes but on soils suitable for ing the soil; in which anticipation
red clover, but it will live on and I have yet discerned no cause for
improve lands, whereon red clover apprehension.
For this purpose
will perish.
It furnishes better it possesses one recommendation
176
GRE
GRA
beyond clover. It does not grow
and spread so rapidly in the fall or
spring as to injure the crop of
wheat with which it is sown, as is
sometimes the case with clover.-
Upon the whole, whatever doubt
remains as to its fertilizing power,
the conclusions that it eminently
possesses the qualities for lasting,
grazing, and making highland bay,
may, I think, be confided. But it
does not, so far as my trials have
extended, succeed in lands, origi-
nally wet, however well they are
drained."*
GRAVEL, earth of the same
nature with sand, only more coarse
and harsh. Both seem to consist
wholly of minute pebbles. Gravel
is useful in mending roads, in mak-
ing dams, and for walks in gar-
dens, &c.
A soil of mere gravel is the
meanest of all soils; and will pro-
duce next to nothing, till it be
mended with something mixed
with it; and even then it will need
a wet season, unless it be in a wet
situation, as at the foot of a hill,
or watered with springs.
The best manures for this sort
of land in general, are marl, clay,
the mud of swamps, ponds, rivers
and creeks. If applied in large
quantities, they will meliorate it
for a long time. The best yearly
dressings are the dung of cows and
swine, sea weeds, straw partly rot-
ted, bits of leather, woollen rags,
and almost any spungy substances
which retain moisture for some
time.
* This grass as far as we can judge from
Col. Taylor's description, is the Avena ela
tior, or Tall meadow oat grass mentioned in
the first instance.
This kind of soil, well manured,
sometimes produces good crops of
such plants as require much heat,
as Indian corn and tobacco. And
it does well in a good season, for
rye, clover, beans, pease and po-
tatoes.
GREASE, a distemper so de-
nominated, is a swelling and gour-
diness of the legs of horses, which
frequently happens to them after
a journey. Most people have be-
lieved their grease to be melted
by hard riding, and fallen into
their legs: And that which may
have given encouragement to this
opinion, is the colour of the matter
issuing from the chinks and sores
in those parts, when they come to
break,somewhat resembling grease.
The distemper may arise from va-
rious causes. If the grease be an
attendant on some other distemper,
the cure will be the more difficult,
and it will be in vain to expect a
recovery, until the disease is re-
moved which occasioned it.
Therefore, methods for the cure of
those distempers must be followed,
and applications made outwardly
for this. But if it be an original
disorder, and if the horse have been
pampered, or well fed, the cure
ought to be begun by bleeding and
purging, to lessen the redundancy
of humours. Neither should these
be too often repeated: But what
is wanting in that way had much
better be effectuated by a more
spare diet, with daily exercise.
After moderate evacuations, a
rowel may be made on the inside
of the thigh, or on the belly; which
may be continued for a month, or
longer if necessary. In the mean
GRE
177
GRE
time the cinnabar or antimonial balls
ought to be constantly given. And
while these things are doing inter-
nally, the legs should be frequently
rubbed, not with hard instruments,
but with a good wisp of hay, or a
brush. Baths and fomentations,
such as may cause the humours
to go off by perspiration, or render
them fit to return in the circula-
tions, are also to be made use of.
For this purpose the following is
recommended.
Take wormwood eight handfuls,
John's wort, centaury, camomile,
of each four handfuls, elder flowers
two handfuls, bayberries half a
pound: Boil them in two gallons
of water till one third is consumed,
and make a fomentation.
The horse's legs are to be bath
ed three or four times a day, with
woollen cloths wrung out of the
liquor, and applied as hot as he can
bear them, adding a little of the
spirit of wine or brandy. And if
they be much inflamed, as hap-
pens when the sinews are affect-
ed, a good quantity of the ashes of
the green twigs of vines, walnut or
oak, may be boiled in the dedoc-
tion, adding more water, when the
other ingredients are easily to be
had.
The lees of wine, with a mix-
ture of soap, are also very proper
to be applied warm: As also cow's
dung boiled in vinegar.
Suitable cataplasms in bad cases
are proper.
The camphorated
spirit of wine alone is good, viz.
an ounce of camphor to a pint of
spirit. Frequently used, it will
answer well when the swelling is
See Gibson's Farriery.
new.
|
GREEN-DRESSING, turning
a crop of green plants into the
ground in summer, to enrich the
soil, and fit it to produce a good
crop of wheat. By repeating this
culture, poor or worn out land may
be brought to any degree of rich-
ness that is desired, without any
other manure. Buck wheat, rye,
pease or oats, may be sowed in the
spring, and in June ploughed in,
when they are fullest of sap, and
most easily rotted. The ground
should be again ploughed in the
fall, sowed with winter grain, and
well harrowed. The cost of
ploughing and seed, is not so much
as that of dung, when it can be
had, and carting it. This man-
agement, therefore, may often ap-
pear eligible, especially in places
where manures are not plenty.
On account of the cheapness of
the seed, Mr. Elliot recommends
millet as a most suitable crop for
green dressing: and some have
used clover and rye grass.
Britain, buck wheat is much used,
as the stalks, when green, are very
large and juicy, and as they require
but a short time to rot.
It is as-
serted, that about ten days are
sufficient for it to lie under the
furrows.
In
The chief difficulty I can think
of, which tends to discourage this
practice, is, the choaking of the
plough in going among a. tall
growth of plants. It may be need-
ful for a boy to tend it. But in
Britain, to prevent choking, they
recommend to pass a roller over
the crop to be turned in, which
lays it flat, and in the same direc-
tion that the plough is to pass.
23
178
GRO
GRI
GREENS, the general name of
those pot herbs which are boiled
for food when they are young and
tender. Some of the most use-
ful of them known in this country,
are spinnage, kale, French turnips,
dandelion, purslain, white and
black mustard. There is a Scotch
kale which may be reared earlier
than almost any other greens, and
is equal in goodness to any. To
have greens early, let kale and
French turnips be sowed in Octo-
ber, and the young plant covered
closely with eel grass, or straw,
during the winter, and till the in-
fluence of the sun be sufficient to
renew their vegetation.
be taken out by a hand, which
gives a horse great relief. For
the pressure on the neck of the
bladder being thus removed, he
will be able to stale. Emollient
clysters are then of great advan-
tage, as they not only bring away
the excrements, which affords a
passage for the wind backwards;
but they act as an internal fomen-
tation, to remove spasms from the
bowels. They may be frequently
repeated, till the confined air finds
a passage backwards. If it should
be found necessary, a spoonful of
laudanum may be given in a pint
of watergruel, either by the anus
in a clyster, or by the mouth. See
Clark's Farriery. Nearly the
same treatment is proper for horn-
ed cattle under the same disorders.
GROVE, a row or walk of
trees, planted close or a little
open, for ornament and shade.
GREEN SCOURING, "a dis-
ease to which sheep and bullocks
are often subject. The best rem-
edy for this distemper is verjuice:
A wine glass full is enough for a
sheep, and a pint for a bullock."
Complete Farmer.
Groves in gardens are both or-
GRIPES, or cholic pains.-namental and useful, if the trees
Horses are very subject to griping, be not too large. They shade the
or cholic pains. They may pro- walks in the borders; so that we
ceed from flatulencies, or wind may walk in gardens with plea-
pent up in the stomach and bowels, sure, in the hottest part of the day.
from inflammation of the coats of It is scarcely needful to say that
the stomach and intestines, or from these garden groves should consist of
worms, spasms, &c. In such case fruit trees; and they should be of
it is very wrong to give him heat- the smaller kinds, if in a garden of
ing things by the mouth, as is too a small or middling size. A dou-
commonly practised. Bleeding ble row has the best effect, as it
should be the first thing in these respects shade, one near the wall,
cases, if the disorder be violent, the other on the opposite side of
which may be known by the crea- the walk. But this on the whole
ture's motions, frequency of lying I do not recommend, unless it be
down, and starting up again, &c. in gardens uncommonly large.
As horses are costive in these In other situations groves of
cases, the rectum should be clear- larger trees are preferred. Lanes
ed of the hard dung, by back rack-and avenues, leading to mansion
ing, as it is called, that is, it should houses and other buildings, may
GRO
179
GRO
Besides providing a
stock of wood and timber for fu-
ture generations, the present would
receive the benefit of their shadow,
cast into the roads in the hottest
part of our summer days.
This
would be extremely refreshing to
travellers, to teams that pass under
them, and to many tame animals
that live in the roads. In this case,
the adjoining lots would not be in-
jured with the shade; but for the
beauty of their appearance, trees
on both sides of the road would be
best.
be ornamented with rows of trees, | be great.
either on one, or on both sides:
If only on one, it should be the
southernmost, on account of the
advantage of shade in the lane.
Such trees are best, the limbs of
which are not apt to be low; such
as elm, ash, maple, poplar, &c.
Lots and enclosures should be
bordered with rows of trees, either
fruit trees or timber trees, in close
order. They will do better a yard
or more from the fence, than in
hedges according to the English
method, as recommended by Mor-
timer. But such trees should be
chosen, as are not apt to propa-
gate and multiply, lest the borders
be soon filled with shrubs.
It would be advantageous to
the public, as well as to the own-
ers of adjoining farms, if all our
roads were lined with groves, of
timber trees. They might be
either within or without the fen-
ces. In the latter case, govern-
ment might interpose, and secure
to the planters those which stood
in the roads against their lands;
and oblige farmers to plant in
the roads against their Own
lands. I should prefer this to
planting within the fences, espe-
cially where the roads have a
good width. But the trees should
be so tall when planted, as to be
above the reach of cattle; and be
staked, or otherwise secured, till
they arrive to a certain bigness.
The expense of thus securing them
need not amount to much, when
compared to the advantages aris-
ing from such groves.
Or if they were planted along
the southerly sides of roads only,
the advantage to the public would
If the country were well stock-
ed with these groves, their perspi-
ration would help to abate the
scorching heat of the sun, in a dry
season, by moistening the atmo-
sphere. They would serve to im-
pede the force of high, driving
winds and storms in summer, which
often tear our tender vegetables,or
lay our crops flat to the ground.-
Our buildings would be also in less
danger from them. The winds in
winter would not be so keen and
violent. The force of sea winds.
on our fruit trees would be abated.
The snows that fall would be laid
more even on the ground. Roads
would be less blocked up, and sel-
domer rendered impassable by
them. But for these last purpo-
ses, groves of evergreens will have
the greatest effect.
Groves should be planted thick
at first, that the above advantages
may be had from them while young.
When the trees become so large
as to be crowded, they should be
thinned. And thus a considerable
quantity of fuel and timber may be
soon realized by the proprietors.
180
HAR
HAR
The increasing scarcity and, and best seasoned white oak.
dearness of wood, especially in the
older settlements in this country,
affords an unanswerable argument
in favour of such a piece of good
husbandry.
There are two kinds of harrows
commonly used; the square har-
row, and the bifurcate harrow; the
former is for old and clear ground,
the latter for land that abounds with
stumps of trees and other obsta-
cles. The square harrow is armed
with sixteen, or with twenty-five
tushes, or teeth.
The sharper
GUINEA CORN. "Guinea
Corn, or Holcus Sorghum L. an
exotic vegetable, growing on the
coast of Africa: its stalks are large,
compact, generally attaining the these teeth are, the more they will
height of 7 or 8 feet, and produc-pulverize the soil. If they be
ing abundance of grain. It may steeled at the points, they will hold
be easily raised in sheltered situ- their sharpness the longer, and stir
ations, especially in exhausted the ground more effectually. And
hot-beds and other loose soils, the cost of doing it so little, that it
where its seeds should be sown is surprising to see that it is so gen-
early in the spring. This plant is erally neglected by our farmers. `
cultivated in South-Carolina, and
yields from sixty to eighty bushels
of seed to an acre. It is often
mowed green for the purpose of
soiling cattle.
"The seed is used for feeding
poultry, and sometimes hulled by
beating in a mortar, boiled and
eaten with milk, and is said to be
equal to rice; but it is not valued
highly for making bread, which
made of this material is black and
heavy."
H.
HARROW, a kind of drag used
in tillage. By drawing a harrow
over ploughed ground, the clods
which remain after ploughing, are
broken, and the ground made mel-
low and fine. It serves also to de-
stroy weeds, by pulling out their
roots, and exposing them to the sun
and wind. And it is used to cover
seeds newly sown. The wood of
a harrow should be the strongest
It has been the common prac-
tice in this country to place the
teeth in the joints of the square
harrow. But this has a tendency
to weaken the joints, and the teeth
are more apt to become loose.-
They should be placed in the solid
parts between the joints. The
best way to fasten them is, with
shoulders under the harrow, and
nuts screwed on above.
Some use harrows with wooden
teeth, but they are of so little ad-
vantage to the land, unless it be
merely for covering seeds,that they
may be considered as unfit to be
used at all. The treading of the
cattle that draw them, will harden
the soil more, perhaps, than these
harrows will soften it.
The bifurcate, or triangular har-
row, is either a fork of natural
growth. or else made artificially.-
The artificial one is commonly
strongest, when well made, as tim-
ber may be chosen which is suffi-
ciently tough and strong. The
two legs may either be lapped to-
HAR
181
HAR
ground, in which the horse plough
will not answer at all. The stiff-
ness of the old furrows will prevent
its regular going. Lord Kaimes
recommends what he calls a clean-
gether at the angle, or else framed | swers the purpose better in gener-
together like a pair of rafters, ex-al, unless it be upon green sward
cepting that the butt ends, being
toughest, and strongest. must be put
together. But the jo:nt must be
strengthened by a good iron hoop
smartly driven on to the nose, af-
ter the wood is thoroughly dry,anding harrow with no less than 56
fastened with strong nails; and teeth, which teeth are no more
further strengthened with a brace than six inches apart. The use of
from one leg to the other, framed it is to clear land of roots, in an ex-
in,about two feet from the juncture peditious and effectual manner.
of the legs.
The weight of a tooth is one pound
only. If they are set raking for-
ward they will penetrate the deep-
er, and have a better effect.
The angle may be more or less
acute, according to the state of the
land in which the harrow is mostly
to be used. For the roughest
ground the angle must be more
acute; but for well cleared ground,
the angle may be of 45 degrees,or
more. The more obtuse the angle
is, the more near together the teeth
must be placed. In this kind of
harrow some put 9, some 11, and
some 13 teeth, or even 15. The
rougher and harder the land, the
fewer the teeth; and the fewer
they are, the longer and stronger
they should be. Twelve inches
clear of the wood is not too long,
nor three pounds too heavy for a
tooth in the strongest harrows.
To prevent this machine from
fastening itself often in immovea-
ble stumps and roots, the teeth may
be set leaning a little backwards.
But where there are no obstacles,
they should rather incline the con-
trary way, or at least they should
be perpendicular.
Some make use of a horse har-
row of the forked kind, and very
narrow, to mellow the ground and
kill weeds, betwixt rows of Indian
But the horse plough an-
corn.
The harrows most generally used
are of an oblong shape, each con-
taining 20 tines, 5 or 6 inches long
beneath the bars in which they are
inserted. It is still common for
every harrow to work separately;
and though always two, and some-
times three harrows are placed to-
gether, each of them is drawn by
its own horse. The great objec-
tion to this method is, that it is
scarcely possible, especially upon
rough ground, to prevent the har-
rows from starting out of their pla
ces, and riding on one another.-
To obviate this inconvenience the
exterior bars of each are usually
surmounted by a frame of wood,
raised so high as to protect it from
the irregular motions of its neigh-
bour; but in many instances, they
are connected by chains or hinges,
and cross bars, which is a prefera-
ble plan. Another objection,which
has been made to the common har-
row is, that the ruts, made by the
tines, are sometimes too near, and
sometimes too distant from one an-
other; but this is not a great fault;
182
HAR
HAR
when the soil requires to be pul-
verized as well as the seed cover-
ed, especially when they are per-
mitted to move irregularly, and in
a lateral direction. Where the
soil is already fine, as it ought al-
ways to be before grass seeds are
sown, lighter harrows are used,
which are so constructed that all
the ruts are equidistant. Supple-
ment to the Encyclopædia Britanni-
ca, p. 115.
ter for this work than oxen,because
their motion is quicker. The fast-
er the harrow moves,and the more
it jumps, the more the hard clods.
are broken; and the turfs torn.-
The teeth will also keep cleaner
and go deeper; so that the land
will be more mixed and mellowed.
But clayey land is so apt to be
cloddy, that it is often necessary to
follow the harrow with a maul, or
a hoe, to break the remaining
clods.
Besides pulverizing the soil,
covering seeds, and drawing out
the roots of weeds, the designs of
harrowing are to make the land
level, or smooth; and, on fallows,
to cause the seeds of some weeds
to vegetate by exposing them to
the air, in order that they may
destroyed by after operations, ei-
ther with the plough or the har-
row.
be
Sir John Sinclair gives the fol-
lowing principal rules regarding
the formation of harrows: 1. That
not any two of the teeth should
move in one tract. 2. That
the tracts should be at equal dis-
tances from each other. And, 3,
That the teeth, should either be
round, or perhaps with a sharp
edge bent forward, like so many
coulters, as they make themselves
cleaner than when they are square,
or of any other shape, and work When land is wet and poachy,or
easier after the horses. The teeth at all muddy, it can be of no ser-
of harrows are generally of unequal vice to harrow it.
It will rather
lengths, the front row being about do damage, as it will make it more
half an inch shorter than the sec-compact and stiff.
ond, and the third row being about
one inch shorter than the first; so
that each row backwards, is about
one half inch shorter than the one
which precedes it. Where crops
are drilled, an instrument called
"the dr Il harrow," is found a very
great improvement. It thorough-
ly cuts the weeds in the intervals,
and harrows them up to the top in
a very complete manner.
HARROWING, working the
soil with a harrow. A team that
travels quick, is best for harrowing,
unless the land be too full of obsta-
cles. Horses, therefore, are bet-
Land that is too light and puffy,
as drained swamps often are, can-
not easily be too much harrowed.
The more it is harrowed, the more
compact it will be; and this is
what it wants.
The harrowing of new ground
for feeding, without ploughing,
may be performed in almost any
weather, if the ground be only dry.
enough to be mellowed by the har-.
row. And the sooner, after burn-
ing, this work is done, so much the
better, as it will prevent the ashes
being blown away by high winds,
and as it will spread it more equal-
HAR
183
HAR
ly, and more effectually mix it
with the soil. Here the strongest
harrow must be used; and it ought
to be heavy, in order to make any
considerable impression on the
soil. It is often necessary that the
harrow pass several times in the
same place,in order to raise a suffi:
cient quantity of mould. There
is no reason to fear its being lost
labour. The more such ground is
harrowed, the better crop may be
rationally expected.
On furrows of green sward new-
ly ploughed, the harrow should
pass the same way that the plough
did: Otherwise, some of the fur-
rows, which lie a little higher than
the rest, will be turned back again,
grass upwards. This sort of land
requires a heavy harrow, or one
made so by loading it. A light one
will sink into the furrows but lit-
tle, and be of little service.
On old ground, ploughed plain,
the harrow should pass the first
time, across the furrows, as the
teeth will better take hold of the
roots of weeds, and more deeply
penetrate the soil. It will also do
more towards levelling the ground.
Afterwards it should be harrowed
the other way, lengthwise of the
furrows.
1
|
In light sandy, or gravelly soils,
or where there is occasion for har-
rowing land which is excessively
dry, or in danger of soon becoming
so, it should be done when the
dew is on the ground, early in a
morning. This will increase, rath-
er than diminish the moistness of
the soil. And on the contrary,
land which is apt to be too wet,
should be harrowed at a time when
it is driest, as in the middle of a fair
day. The first scratching will
cause it to dry fast, and so pre-
pare it to be made fine and mel-
low by the second.
The European farmers recom-
mend harrowing ground once over
before corn is sowed, and then to
harrow in the seed the contrary
way. The grain will be the more
even, and not appear so much in
rows, as if it were sowed upon the
furrows; but it will not be so
deeply covered. Perhaps sowing
upon furrows, both winter and
summer grain, may be generally
the better method in this country,
which is so much more liable to
suffer by severe frosts and droughts.
Some of our farmers even think it
best to plough in the seed with a
shallow furrow. The roots will
lie the deeper, and be less expos-
ed to suffer by frost and drought.
Harrowing commonly does the
most service immediately after Harrowing fallows is doubtless a
ground is ploughed, as the teeth go beneficial operation. If it be done
deeper and raise the more mould. two or three times between plough-
If it be neglected at this juncture, ings, the seeds of weeds will be en-
a time should be chosen when the couraged to vegetate, and conse-
soil is not too dry. After a gentle quently will be killed at the next
rain the clods will crumble the ploughing or harrowing.
Thus
more easily; and the soil under- the land will become very clean
neath being drier, will not be har-after a year of fallow; and the
dened by the treading of cattle. food and pasture of plants will be
1
184
HAR
more increased than it could be
by ploughing only. For every
weed that consumes in the soil is
of some advantage.
HAR
and the loss of them will be more
than made up in the increased
growth of the rest. But, in order
to make the loosened plants take
rooting, Mr. Lisle advises to drive
a flock of sheep about over the
field. Others advise to rolling
the ground, which appears more
rational.
Some have found their account
in harrowing mowing grounds,
when they have become bound
and stiff. Though the roots of the
grass are much torn and mangled
by harrowing, the soil will be loos- "There are two modes of driv-
ened at the surface, and the vege-ing the harrows, either leading the
tation of the grass so much in-horses, or driving them by whip-
creased, that the excess of the next reins. The latter ought to be
crop will more than compensate
the labour of harrowing. It should
be done in autumn, and before
heavy rains fall, but after a gentle
one, when the surface is a little
moistened. It would be best, be-
fore harrowing, to afford the land
a sprinkling of old dung, or com-
post: Or else immediately after,
and bush it in. Its fruitfulness
will thus be greatly increased.
preferred, for as young horses are
frequently employed in harrowing,
before they are broken to regular
work, the person, who leads, is
exposed to considerable danger:
whereas, when he directs the hor-
ses by long whip-reins, he runs no
risk, and is always at hand, to re-
move any obstructions that may
occur, from the accumulation of
weeds, and other extraneous sub-
stances among the tines, or by the
harrows riding on each other.
The harrowing of land that is
ploughed in ridges, should be per-
formed lengthwise, and by two
harrows abreast, or three, if the
breadth of the ridges require them,
that the trenches may not be too
much filled. The second harrowing
ing may be across, if the land
needs to be laid even for mowing.
But then the trenches should be
cleared out with a shovel or
plough, if the land be so flat and
wet as to make it proper or neces-
sary to lay it down in ridges.
"Harrowing is usually given in
different directions: first in length,
then across, and finally at length,
as at first.
as at first. An excess of harrow-
is prejudicial to wheat, it is
better for that crop to have the
land rough and cloddy; but the
process ought to be effectually
done for barley, (more especially
if accompanied by grass seeds),
and for turnips. Code of Agricul-
ture.
HARVEST, the season when
corn is cut down, and secured.
Harrowing of winter grain, in
the spring, is approved of beyond
the Atlantic. When the roots are Wheat and rye are harvested
well set, and in sufficient plenty, I in much the same manner.
Both
think this may be a laudable piece are reaped and bound in sheaves.
of husbandry. The harrow will It is usual to cut rye rather green-
destroy but a few of the plants;er than wheat, that the flour may
1
be the whiter.
!
HAR
195
HAR
When a severe blight or rust
has struck the stems of wheat, or
rye, it answers no purpose to let
it stand longer to ripen, or grow
hard. It is agreed that it should
be cut though full in milk. And
afterwards it may lie on the ground,
exposed to the sun and weather,
till the grain is hardened. But
the heads should lie so as not to
touch the ground; which may be
easily done, if the reapers will
only take care to lay the top end
of each handful on the lower end
of the preceding one. Some say
it will answer to cut it three weeks
before the usual time, and before
the stems are turned yellow.
If grass or weeds grow among
grain, it should be cut high, that
so the less quantity of trash may
be bound up in the sheaves. And
when taking weeds with the grain
cannot be avoided, it should be
reaped a little the earlier, that it
may have time to lie in the field,
till the weeds are well dried, with-
out danger of scattering the corn
by its being over dried.
The bands should be made in a
morning early, when the dew is
greatest, and the straw most sup-
ple. But the best time to bind
the sheaves, is when the air begins
to be damp towards evening, as
the least degree of moisture will
toughen the straw and prevent
the scattering of the grain: And
there is some degree of dampness
in the air, for an hour or two be-
fore sunset.
A late writer advises to make
the sheaves with only one length
of straw.
After binding, it should be made
24
up into shocks without delay, or
after standing in sheaves one day,
if the weather be settled and dry;
where it is to stand in the field till
not only the straw, but the grain,
be thoroughly dried and till a
suitable opportunity present for
carting it in. It should be done
when the air has a small degree
of dampness, to prevent the scat-
tering of the grain.
It would be best on some ac-
counts, that grain should be thrash-
ed as soon as it is carried in. But
as it is usually a hurrying season,
it is but seldom that the farmer can
spare time for it. It must, there-
fore, be stored most commonly.
The best method of storing it,
is, to lay the sheaves up in the
barn. But if want of room re-
quire them to be stacked, care
should be taken that the grain
may not draw moisture from the
ground, by laying boards, straw, or
rubbish under the stack. A bet-
ter way still is to have a tight
|
floor of boards mounted on four
blocks, set in the ground, and so
high from the ground as to pre-
vent the entering of vermin.
In building a stack, care should
be taken to keep the seed ends of
the sheaves in the middle, and a
little higher than the outer ends.
No fowls nor birds can then come
at the grain; and the rain that
falls on the straw ends will run off,
and not pass towards the centre.
The stack should be well topped
with straw, that the rain may be
completely turned off. As to the
harvesting of barley, oats and
pease, see those articles.
With respect to harvesting In-
186
HAT
HAR
dian corn, I would observe, that
many do it much too early, to
their own damage and loss. As
long as there is any greenness, or
sap, remaining in the whole length
of the stalk, below the ear, or
even in the cob; so long the corn
improves by standing. For the
sap will continue to discharge it-
self into the grain. Though a
crop harvested earlier may meas-
ure as much in ears, or more,
when it is newly husked, it will
shrink a great deal, sometimes so
much that not two corns on an ear
will touch each other. Besides,
there will be the greater difficulty
in drying and keeping it. Corn
that is harvested early, will not be
fit to store in out door cribs, nor
in our common corn houses, un-
less it be first spread thin on floors,
and dried. And this is trouble-
some, at least, if not impractica-
ble.
I
i
and so much benefit of the air,
that it may be sure not to grow
warm, let the air prove to be ever
so moist.
Sometimes a severe early frost
drives the farmer to harvesting,
as he knows the frostbitten corn
is apt to rot in the husks. But in
such a case, or when corn holds
its greenness uncommonly late, an
approved method is, to cut it up
close to the ground, bind it in small
bundles, and set it up in small
shocks in the field. It will ripen
kindly, and take no damage. By
this method the grain has the ben-
efit of all the sap contained in the
stalks, to bring it nearer to matu-
rity.
I have heard of some persons
in the county of Lincoln, who,
finding their Indian corn very
green at harvesting, have boiled
it in the ears after husking; By
which expedient they were able
to dry it in the ears, without its
rotting, or moulding. This may
be no ill method at a pinch. But
rather than be obliged to do it
yearly, I should think they had
better lay aside the culture of this
plant, or else use no seed but from
the northward, which will ripen
in season.
Squirrels, and rapacious birds,
disorderly cattle and bad fences,
drive persons to harvesting early.
But there is commonly more lost
than saved by it. When the corn
stands tolerably secure, and is in
no danger from frost, nor from
thieves, harvesting early is an er-
ror. I should not think the begin-
ning of November at all too late.
It is not safe to let it lie long in
the husks after it is gathered, lest
it should heat, or contract damp-which flax and hemp are combed.
ness. One unripe ear or green They who manufacture these ar-
stalk, in a heap, may damage ma- ticles, as perhaps all the families
ny. The common practice of col- of farmers should, ought to be pro-
lecting large companies to husk vided with several hatchels of dif
the corn as soon as it is gathered, ferent finenesses. Where only flax
is a laudable one. And after it is is manufactured, two, combs, one
husked, it should have a dry place, coarse, and the other fine, will be
sufficient.
HATCHEL, an instrument cal-
led sometimes, a Comb, full of long
pins of iron or steel for teeth, with
HAY
187
HAY
HAY. It has been found that | It is not only harder to cut, but the
ripeness of the seed will cause it to
shatter out while drying, which will
be a considerable loss,as the seed is
the most rich and nourishing part;
and the soil will be the more ex-
hausted by nourishing the seed till
it come to maturity, and the next
succeeding crop will be the poor-
er. There never can be any ad-
vantage in mowing late, unless it
be thickening the grass roots, by
scattering some of the seed, where
they were before too thin. He
that mows early has the advantage
of longer days for drying his hay;
and of shorter nights, when the
dews are less detrimental to hay-
the greatest quantity of nutriment
is found in the leaves and stalks of
plants, just at the moment when
the seed is forming; and that the
grass loses rapidly its value, as the
seed advances to maturity. It is
the better opinion also that the
plant itself is the more exhausted
by suffering it to mature its seed,
and in crops that are to last sever-
al years this consideration deserves
weight. The rule applied to clo-
ver is applicable to all plants, that
they should be cut for hay, when
one half the plants of a field are in
flower.
HAY-HOOK, an instrument to
pull hay out of a mow, or stack.-making.
This instrument is often made of
wood; but an iron one is far pre-
ferable. It should be sharp point-
ed, armed with a fluke, and have
a socket to receive the wooden
handle. The handle should have
a turn at the end for the ease of
pulling. There can be no better
handle than the half of an old ox
bow: Or a little more than half.
But this instrument will waste the
hay, and divest it of much of the
seed. A better way is, to cut off
slices of two or three feet in thick-
ness, from a mow or stack, as it is
wanted for use.
HAY-MAKING, the curing, or
drying of grass for fodder. The
first thing to be considered about
hay-making, is the time of cutting
the grass.
It should not be cut
too early, or before it has got its
growth: For this will cause it to
shrink too much in drying. On the
contrary, it should not stand too
late, or till the seed be quite ripe.
But the farmer who has many
acres of the same kind of grass,
cannot always expect to cut the
whole of it in exactly the right sea-
son. That he may approach as
near to right as possible, he should
cut the thickest grass first of all ;
especially if it be in danger of
lodging, or so thick that the lowest
leaves perish, or the bottoms of
the stalks turn yellow. The thin-
nest of his grass should be cut next,
which is apt to be ripe soonest :
And last of all, the middling sized
grass, or that which is on a medi-
um between thick and thin.
Where a second crop is expect-
ed the same year,thick grass should
be cut a little the earlier, that the
roots may not be injured so much
as to prevent their speedy recov-
ery, by being closely covered too
long by the first crop.
Some regard should be had to
the weather, when the time of cut-
ting is in contemplation. Those,
188
HAY
HAY
especially, should regard it, who
are able to call in as much assist
ance as they please in hay-making.
Grass, which has not been wash-
ed by rain for several days, has a
kind of gum on it, which is known
by its adhering to the scythe. This
gum is thought to be a benefit to
the hay; and farmers are fond of
mowing their grass when this gum
appears, rather than just after the
grass has been washed by rain.
As to the drying of hay, or the
manner of making it, I know there
are a variety of opinions. The
right way is to do it in such a man-
ner that as much of the sap as pos-
sible may be retained, and in the
best state that is possible. In this
I should think all would agree.-
All persons will allow that too
much drying is hurtful. It is cer-
tainly a loss to rake it, or stir it at
all, when it is so dry that the leaves
will crumble. And doubtless as
much of the sap should be retain-
ed as is consistent with its being
kept in good order for fodder, and
for long keeping.
ers.
Some grasses will keep well with
less drying than is needful for oth-
The Rhode-Island bent, as
it is called, or red-top grass, will
do with less drying than some oth-
er grasses. It has been much prac-
tised to put it up with so little dry-
ing that it beats in the mow to so
great a degree, as to make it turn
brown like tobacco; and it is
known that cattle will eat it well,
and thrive on it. But the mow
will certainly send out part of the
virtue of the hay in steams. I can-
not but think that all grasses should
be so much dried, that mows and
stacks, though they have a degree
of heat, should not emit any sensi-
ble steam; and I would not wish
to have hay made
made brown by
mow-burning. It surely does not
appear to so good advantage at
market.
Were it not for the labour and
cost, a good way of hay-making
would be, for the hay-makers to
follow at the heels of the mowers,
at least as soon as the dew is off,
and spread the swarths evenly;
turn the grass about the middle
of the same day; make it up into
cocks before night; open the hay,
and turn it the next day; and so
on till it be sufficiently dried, dou-
bling the cocks if signs of rain ap-
pear. It will not commonly take
more than two or three days to dry
it, unless it be very green, or un-
commonly thick and rank.
A per-
son who has but little hay to make,
need not be much blamed,it he do in
this way; especially if the weath-
er do not appear to be settled.
The practice of the best English,
Flemish, and French farmers, is to
expose the hay as little as possible
to the sun. It is carried in dry, but
it preserves its green colour; and
you see hay of one or two years old
in their market,of so bright a green
colour, that we should scarcely
conceive it to be cured. Yet they
are in the practice of preserving it
for years, and value it more for its
age. If such a course be best in
climates so cool and cloudy, how
much more important would it be
under our scorching summer suns?
But if the weather be unsettled,
or if showers be frequent, it may
be better to spread grass well, as
HAY
189
HAY
soon as it is mowed, stir it often,
cock it the same day it is mowed,
open it the next fair day when the
dew is off, let it sweat a little in
cock, and house it as soon as it is
dry enough. It will bear to be laid
greener on a scaffold, than in a
ground mow; and in a narrow mow
greener than in a broad one. And
that which is least of all made,
should be put upon a scaffold.
When grass is very thin, and not
full of sap, having stood beyond the
right time of cutting; it may be cut
in the forenoon, and raked in the
afternoon of the same day; and
then dry sufficiently in cocks, in
two or three days. But if a heavy
rain fall, it will need to be opened,
and exposed to the sun for a few
hours. If there be only a small
quantity of rain, it may be suffici-
ent to pull out some of the hay
round the bottoms of the cocks, or
only on that side which was wind-
ward when the rain fell, and lay it
on the tops. If the cocks are so
situated that the water has run much
under their bottoms, they should
be turned bottom upwards, and
trimmed at least; but it will most
commonly be necessary to spread
them abroad.
Sometimes hay will become too
dry, notwithstanding every precau-
tion to prevent it: For it will dry
twice as fast in some fair days as in
others, because of the different dry-
ness of the air. When this is the
case, it should be removed to the
barn only in the evening, or morn-
ing, when the air is damp. And it is
good to have some greener hay to
mix with it.
Some think that mown grass
should never be exposed to the full
influence of the sun, lest it be rob-
bed of too much of its sap, while it
is in its most fluid state. A very in-
genious gentleman, of my acquain-
tance, does not permit his grass to
lie in swarth, but for an hour or
two after it is cut; or no longer
than till its wetness be gone, and
it just begins to appear withered:
He then gathers it into very small
parcels, which he calls grass cocks,
not more than a good forkful in
each: Turns them over once in a
while, about sun-set is the best
time: Doubles them as they grow
drier: And when the hay is al-
most dried enough, makes up the
whole into large cocks. Grass
that is thus dried, will not waste at
all by crumbling; nor will much
of its juices evaporate. I have
seen his hay, the flavour of which
excelled almost any other that I
have met with. The colour of it,
indeed, was rather yellowish than
green: But that is a matter of no
consequence to the farmer who
does not send his hay to market. I
cannot but think that, in dry set-
tled weather, this is an excellent
method of hay-making. But in
catching weather, perhaps a meth-
od which takes less time is to be
preferred. From the above Mr.
Anderson's method is not much dif-
ferent. "Instead," says he, "of
allowing the hay to lie, as usual in
most places, for some days in the
swarth, after it is cut, and after-
wards putting it up into cocks, and
spreading it out, and tending it in
the sun, which tends greatly to
bleach the hay, exhales its natural
juices, and subjects it very much
190
HAY
HAY
equal manner that can be desired.
Lastly, that it is thus in a great mea-
sure secured from almost the possi-
bility of being damaged by rain.”
Essays on Agriculture.
Člover is a sort of hay that re-
quires a critical attention in curing :
Because, though the stalks need
much drying, the leaves and heads
will bear but little without wasting.
It is best to rake it towards night,
when the dampness of evening be-
gins to come on; open it the next
day, and never stir it much when
there is danger of its crumbling.
Clover, requiring so long a time
to dry, and its stalks being so suc-
culent that the leaves, which are
the best part, will crumble before
the hay is sufficiently dried, it has
been found expedient to cart it in
before the stalks are dry, and ei-
ther to put it up with alternate
layers of straw, or to salt it at the
rate of from one half to one bushel
of salt to the ton.
to the danger of getting rain, and
thus runs a great risk of being good
for little, I make it a general rule,
if possible, never to cut my hay but
when the grass is quite dry; and
then make the gatherers follow
close upon the cutters, putting it
up immediately into small cocks,
about three feet high each when
new put up; always giving each
of them a slight kind of thatching,
by drawing a few handfuls of the
hay from the bottom of the cock
all around, and laying it lightly on
the top, with one of the ends hang-
ing downwards. This is done with
the utmost ease and expedition;
and when it is once in that state, I
consider my hay as in a great mea-
sure out of danger; for unless a
violent wind should arise, immedi-
ately after the cocks are put up, so
as to overturn them, nothing else
can hurt the hay; as I have often
experienced that no rain, however
violent, ever penetrates into these
cocks but for a very little way. Salt hay, in this country, has
And, if they are dry put up, they usually been hurt by lying too long
never sit together so closely as to in the swarths. The method in
heat; although they acquire in a which I have treated it for several
day or two, such a degree of firm-years, is, to cock it the next day
ness, as to be in no danger of be-after it is cut, and carry it in, with-
ing overturned by wind after that
time, unless it blows a hurricane.
"In these cocks I allow the hay
to remain, until, upon inspection,
I judge that it will keep in pretty
large tramp cocks, &c. The ad-
vantages that attend this method
are, that it greatly abridges the la-
bour, that it allows the hay to con-
tinue almost as green as when it is
cut, and preserves its natural jui-
ces in the greatest perfection. For
it is dried in the most slow and
out delaying more than one day,
and put a layer of some kind of dry
straw between load and load of it,
in the mow, to prevent its taking
damage by over-heating.
The
straw contracts so much of its
moisture and saltness, that the cat-
tle will eat it very freely; and the
hay is far better than that made in
the common way.
If this hay be permitted to lie
out in rains, the saltness of it will
be diminished, which they who
HAY
191
HED
have but little other fodder may be | raked up, so that in this way win-
apt to consider as an advantage.-- rows are formed. When it is thus
But it will contract no virtue, while raked into winrows, it is dragged
it loses its saltness. The fresh wa- up by the rake into bundles, large
ter will damage it; especially for enough for making into cocks."
those who have plenty of other Farmer's Assistant.
fodder, or even straw to mix with
it.
Salt hay should not be cut when
the full or change of the moon is
approaching, lest the tides should
be high, before it can be got off
from the marsh.
way.
"Gen. Smith, of Suffolk, makes
use of a horse-rake, for raking on
his smooth mowing grounds, which
with one man, a horse, and a boy
to ride the horse, will gather hay
as fast as six men in the ordinary
The rake is about ten feet
long; the teeth about two feet;
and at right angles, from these are
some upright slats of the same
length, set, at the lower end into
the piece into which the teeth are
morticed, and into another light
slender piece at the top.
"The teeth, when in operation,
run along the ground nearly hori-
zontally, with the points a little the
lowest, so as to run under the hay,
and as they take it up, the upright
slats retain it till the rake is full,
when the man who follows it be-
hind turns it over, and thus emp-
ties it in a row; then lifts it over
the hay thus emptied, and sets it
in beyond it; and so it proceeds
on, till it is again filled, and the
same process is again repeated.
"When one strip across the piece
is thus raked up, the horse is turn-
ed round, and another strip is ra-
ked in the same manner, emptying
the hay at the ends of the last heaps
HEDGES. A variety of shrubs
and trees have been made use of
for hedges, but that which appears
to be in highest repute is the
American Hedge Thorn, (cratagus
cordata) Mr. Quincy, of Massachu-
setts, gives a statement of his mode
of making hedges of this plant,
which was published in the third
volume of the Massachusetts Agri-
cultural Repository, p. 27, and
from which we extract the follow-
ing particulars.
The seedling
thorns 10,000, were imported in
March 1808, from the nursery of
Thomas Main, near Georgetown,
in the District of Columbia, and
planted in a hedge course of two
hundred and fifty-five rods, so far
as was necessary to fill that extent
in one line, each plant being five
inches apart. The residue were
planted in a nursery for the pur-
pose of filling vacancies.
The hedge course was made in
sandy land, ploughed, of the width
of four feet, and manured and pre-
pared, precisely as for Indian corn;
except only that after ploughing,
the centre for two feet wide was
turned over with the spade. With-
out other preparation, the hedge
was planted in April, 1808, on a
level, without either bank or ditch.
Mr. Quincy's communication is
dated 25th of June, 1813, at which
time he remarks "I consider the
experiment now as completed, so
far, at least, as is necessary for a
192
HED
HED
satisfactory ascertainment of the
cost of this species of fence. For
the expence of the hedge, this
year, has been nothing except the
annual trimming, It is, upon an
average nearly five feet high; and
a sufficient security against cattle,
for almost the whole extent; and
is every day strengthening, without
any application of attention or la-
bour.
Mr. Quincy then gives a particu-
lar account of every item of the
expence in preparing the ground,
purchasing, setting out and trim-
ming the trees, and makes the
whole expense of making two hun-
dred and fifty-five rods of hedge
fence $167,93 cents, less than sixty |
six cents a rod! He concludes the
article with the following remarks.
"The course best to be adopt-
ed, having reference to the econo-
my of labour, is thought to be the
following:
"To keep the hedge clear of
weeds, and to fill up the vacancies
regularly in the spring of every
year, with plants of the same age
with those of the original hedge,
are the two essential objects of at-
tention after the hedge course is
prepared and the plants are set.
Younger plants may answer, but
whoever would make a hedge, in
the most speedy and perfect man-
ner, ought to procure at the time
of obtaining the plants for the ori-
ginal hedge, a sufficient extra
number to supply all deficiencies
likely to occur during the whole
time the hedge is forming; to be
kept in a nursery thriving, if possi-
ble a little better than those in the
hedge course. Experience has
satisfied me that two for every ten
planted in the hedge course, is a
number more than sufficient for
this object.*
In the statement of expense, I
have made no allowance for pro-
tecting fences. Where these are
necessary, their expense must be
added. In my experiment, by ex-
cluding cattle, the necessity for
them was obviated. Whatever
these may cost, the economy of
this species of fence, when its du-
"Plough the hedge-course six
feet wide. Plant the whole course
one year to potatoes. This pays
for the labour as much as other
land thus planted. Set the thorns
eight inches apart. This is near
enough in a country like this,
where hogs are not permitted to
run at large, and makes a consid-rability is taken into view, (to say
erable saving in labour as well as nothing of its ornamental nature,)
the cost of the plants. Keep both must be sufficiently apparent."t
sides of the hedge planted with po-
tatoes, during the whole six years
that the hedge is coming to perfec-
tion. The potatoes will nearly pay
the cost of the labour. The ma-
nure for the potatoes benefits the
hedge; and while having the pota-
toes, keeping the hedge clean of
weeds is easy.
It is often found necessary to
plash, or interweave the branches
ty, is quite sufficient.
* This calculation is too large, one in fif-
+ It ought to be stated, that the Virginia
Thorn, of which Mr. Quincy's hedge was
made, though rapid in growth, and though
in high reputation at the date of his letter, is
found to be less adapted to the purpose, than
the English white Thorn.
HEM
193
HEM
I am told by one who is much ac-
quainted with it, that it is more ea-
sily broken and swingled than flax ;
and that, oftentimes, the brake will
do all that is necessary in cleaning
it.
of hedges. Some advise to cut off
the tops or head them down to
about three feet, or three feet and
an half from the ground, when the
plants are about four years old.
Others direct to saw off the plants
when the hedge has completed its
second year, and they are about
the size of a man's thumb to
within about an inch or an inch and
an half of the surface, and rely on
the shoots. It is likewise advised
to place poles or rails along the top
of the plants, and fasten the ends
together by withes or some kind of
pliant bark. See Farmer's Assist
ant, Transactions of the Philadel-
phia Agricultural Society, and Dr.
Willich's Domestic Encyclopædia.tremely fine and mellow. A little
HEMP, a plant with a tough fi-
brous coat, which answers the same
purposes as flax, but is coarser and
stronger.
To prepare land for a crop of
hemp, the land should be plough-
ed to a good depth in the fall of
the year preceding. If it be green-
sward land, it should be ploughed
as early as August or September,
that the sward may be perfectly
rotten. And if it were ploughed
in ridges it would be the better,and
fit for sowing the earlier. And by
cross ploughing and harrowing in
the spring, it should be made ex-
dung should be applied, if the land
be not in the best heart; and the
fall is the best time to apply it.—
But if composts are used, they
should be laid on just before sowing.
The plant is tap rooted, and
therefore does best in a deep and The time of sowing the seed is
free soil. It is luxuriant,and quick as early in the spring as the soil can
in its growth,and therefore requires be got good order, as it is a
a rich, and well prepared soil.-plant that is not easily injured by
The soils which have been found frost; but the middle of May will
to suit it best, are a rich gravelly not be too late.
loam, or a loose black mould, which
is dry and deep. It is an error to
think that it needs a wet soil, for it
bears drought almost equally with
any plant that we cultivate.
Mr. Eliot found by experiment,
that it answered very well on a
drained swamp: And he tells of a
man in the Jerseys, who raised as
much hemp yearly, on half an acre
of such land, as brought him fifty
pounds York money. It is not un-
common for one acre to yield half
a ton, which will sell for twenty
pounds in cash, at the lowest. And
25
The seed for sowing should be
of the last year's growth, as older
seed is not wont to come up at all.
I once sowed seed which was
brought from England. It looked
as well as any I ever saw; but not
one in ten thousand ever sprouted.
The quantity of seed for an acre,
in the broad cast way, is three
bushels; but half that quantity, in
the drill method, will be enough.
If the land be poor,a smaller quan-
tity of seed will serve. The ground
should be watched after sowing,
that birds do not take away the
seeds.
194
HEM
HEM
The drill method is on some ac-
counts preferable to the other.-
For though in the first crop it will
fall short, it exhausts the land less;
and, therefore, in the long run, it
may be more profitable. But in
this way it produces more seed,
and this method is certainly ad-
vantageous on account of the more
convenient pulling of the hemp.
If sown on narrow ridges, or beds,
and the trenches shoveled out af-
ter sowing and harrowing, I sus-
pect the broad cast way would
have the preference. But of this
I have had no experience.
As the correspondent parts of
generation are on different plants,
they are of two distinct sexes,male
and female, and require different
treatment. I will venture to as-
sert, contrary to M. Mercandier,
that the male is the plant which
bears the flowers, and the female
that which bears the fruit, or seed.
That which bears the flowers,
will be fit for pulling about the end
of July. Its ripeness is known by
its growing yellow at the top, and
white at the root, by the falling of
the flowers, and the withering of
the leaves. If care be taken in
pulling, not to hurt those plants
which are left, they will thrive the
better after it, as they will have
more room, and as the earth will
be stirred about their roots. And
the drill method is favourable to
this work, as the pullers need
not tread among the thickest of the
hemp. And sowing in beds has the
same advantage.
After pulling, it must be put in-
to the water without delay, to steep.
Ponds and still waters are best. It
will not take more than four or five
days to water it enough. But it
must be watched, lest it should be
overdone. After watering, it must
be spread and dried in the sun.
The fruitful kind does not ripen
till about five or six weeks later.
Its ripeness is known by the seed's
turning brown. After it is well
dried, and the seed taken off by a
kind of coarse comb, it must be
watered. It will take almost three
times as much watering as the first
kind. The one kind is more fit to
be manufactured into thread and
cloth, the other more suitable for
rigging of ships, and ropes. But
the latest kind may be made plia-
ble and fine, if labour enough be
bestowed upon it. Instead of
steeping, spreading hemp in the
dew will answer, as I have found
by experience; and this method is
practised in England.
The dressing of hemp may be
performed in the same manner as
that of flax, if it be not uncommon-
ly large and long. A person, who
is well acquainted with the culture
and manufacture of hemp, assured
me, that when his neighbour raised
it on a drained swamp, he had it
twelve feet long; and, that he
might manage it easily in dressing,
he cut it in the middle.
It was
then as long as ordinary hemp,and
as strong for every purpose.
If some of the stalks of hemp
should be too large and stubborn
for the brake, they may be put by
themselves to be peeled by hand.
The doing of it may be an amuse-
ment for children and invalids.
But to facilitate the dressing of
hemp, mills should be erected for
HEM
195
HEM
be an appendage to some other
mill. Two brakes should be mo-
ved together, a coarser and a finer,
placed head to head, that the hand-
fuls may be easily shifted from one
to the other. It is light work for
two boys to tend them. But the
breaking of large hemp by hand, is
severe labour for the strongest
doing it. Or the machinery may | unless it be with their feet; and it
is an antidote to all sorts of devour-
ing insects. Neither is the plant
difficult as to climate. Though the
hottest climates do not suit it, tem-
perate and cool ones do; and it
has been found, by the small trials
that have been made, to thrive
well in the various parts of New-
England. The most northern parts
are very suitable for the growing
of hemp. The southern are equal-
ly so.
men.
If no convenient stream be at
hand, a mill may be constructed to
be worked by a horse.
It was formerly the custom to
beat hemp abundantly with mal-
lets, or with pestles in large mor-
tars, or in fulling mills, to make it
soft and fit for spinning. But Mr.
Mercandier has shewn how it may
be more easily done, by steeping it
in warm water, or in lie, and wash-
ing it. See his Treatise on Hemp.
The great profit on a crop of
hemp, and its being an article that
will readily command cash, should
recommend the culture of it to all
our farmers. Besides the hemp it-
self, of the value of twenty pounds
per acre, after it is dressed, the
seed of an acre must be allowed to
be of considerable value. Persons
need not fear their crops will lie
upon their hands, when they con-
sider the vast sums of money which
are yearly sent to other countries
for this article, almost enough to
deprive the country of a medium,
and how naturally the demand for
it will increase as it becomes more
plenty. There is no reason to
doubt of success in raising hemp, if
the soil be suitable, and well pre-
pared; for it is liable to no dis-
temper; cattle will not destroy it,
A new method of rotting hemp
was communicated by M. Bralle,
and published in a foreign Journal,
and is, in substance as follows. To
25 gallons of water boiling hot,add
12 ounces of green soap, and when
the soap is dissolved, 22 pounds of
hemp are to be immersed, so as to
be entirely covered with the liquor,
the vessel closed, the fire put out,
and the hemp left to macerate
for two hours. Several steepings
may be made in succession, care
being taken to add soap, each time,
to replace what has been absorb-
ed, and to heat the water to the
former temperature.
water may be employed for fifteen
days continually.
The same
When the bundles of hemp are
taken out, they are covered with
straw, that they may cool gradual-
ly, without losing their humidity.
Next day they are to be spread on
a floor, the hands shifted, and a
heavy roller passed over them, af-
ter which the hemp separates easi-
ly from the reed by beating. The
hemp thus separated, is spread on
the grass, and turned, and after five
days removed to the ware-house.
In steeping the hemp, the bundles
196
HID
HEM
should be kept in a vertical posi-
tion, as the operation is found to
succeed better so than when they
are horizontal.
from Hon. Justin Ely," published
in the Massachusetts Agricultural
Repository, vol. III. p. 105. And
for the mode of dressing it without
rotting, see Flax.
HERD'S-GRASS, or Cat's-tail,
Phleum Pratense, called Timothy
Grass in the southern States. This
grass is a native of New-England.
Mr. Eliot says it was first found at
Piscataqua in New-Hampshire, by
one Herd, who propagated it,
whence the name. It is cultivated
The advantages of this method
are, 1st. The superior speed of the
process to that in common use:
2d, Its being practicable at all sea-
sons: 3d. Its not being injurious to
health,or producing any bad smell:
4th. A saving of expense, when a
proper apparatus is used: 5th. A
superior quality of the hemp so pre-
pared, and less waste, so that near-in our improved fields for hay. It
ly a fourth more hemp is obtained requires about ten or a dozen
from the same raw materials: 6th. quarts of the seed for an acre.
The extending the culture of hemp does best in rich and moist land.-
to all situations, which can now be More needs not to be said of a grass,
carried on only in the vicinity of the great value of which is so well
running water.
known in this country; especially
in the northern parts, where it pros-
pers more than in the southern.-
It is of more importance to our far
mers than any other grass that they
cultivate.
A very good apparatus, for the
process, is formed by a boiler, with
covers for steeping vessels. See
Steam Boiler.
A process similar to the above
described, would, probably, save
the trouble and expense of water-
rotting flax. Lie made of wood
ashes, would, perhaps, answer the
purpose of water impregnated with
soap.
The Farmer's Assistant states
that in the bog meadows in Orange
County, N. Y. the hemp is cut
close to the ground with an instru-
ment made for the purpose. That
when dried it is gathered in bun-
dles, bound with straw and stacked
in the field till about Christmas. It
is then spread on the snow, and
when the snow dissolves in March,
it is generally found sufficiently
rotted.
For further directions relative to
the culture of hemp, see a "letter
It
“A
HIDE BOUND, a distemper in-
to which horses fall when they are
poorly fed and neglected.
horse that is hide bound grows
lean, has a feverish heat, his skin
sticks to his ribs,the spine becomes
harder than usual, small biles
break out on his back, and yet his
appetite sometimes continues good.
As this disorder seldom is an origi
nal complaint, but generally arises
from some former cause, regard
must be had to that cause, in the
method of cure. But as to the dis-
order itself, Vegelius directs the
anointing the whole body with oil
and wine mixed together, rubbing
them strongly against the hair, in
a warm sun, in order that the skin
may be relaxed, and a sweat break
HID
197
HOE
out; after which the horse should
be well curried, and placed in a
warm stable, with plenty of litter.
"The authors of the Maison
Rustique advise that the next day
after bleeding the horse, a fomen-
tation be made of emollient and
aromatic strengthening plants,boil-
ed in lees of wine, or beer,and that
the whole body of the horse be rub-
bed with these plants, whilst they
are warm, till it is thoroughly wet;
and that the loins, belly, and neck,
as well as the rest of the body, be
anointed with a mixture of one
part honey and three parts of oint-
ment of elder, rubbing it strongly
in with the hand, that it may pene-
trate the skin. This done, the
horse should be covered with a
cloth dipt in the warm fomentation,
and doubled, and another cover-
ing should be put over this, tying
it on with one or two surcingles.
The horse should remain in this
condition 24 hours, and then be
fomented, rubbed, &c. twice as be-
fore. These fomentations being
finished, a warm covering must be
continued, lest the horse catch
cold; and he should then have an
opening clyster,and the next morn-
ing a purging medicine; continu-
ing to wash his head and neck,and
also to rinse his mouth with the de-
coction.
"For food, put into a pail or
two of water about half a bushel
of barley meal carefully ground,
stir it well about, and let it settle.
When the heaviest parts have sub-
sided, pour the thin part off for
the horse to drink, and give him
what remained at the bottom, at
three different times in the day,
mixing with it a due quantity of
crude antimony.-The horse must
have rest for some time, and be
fed with the best hay, or grass ac-
cording to the season of the year.
In spring, there is nothing better
than new grass. In about three
weeks, he will begin to mend re-
markably." Mills on Cattle.
HOE, a well known instrument
used in tillage. It is called by
some writers the hand hoe, to dis-
tinguish it from the horse hoe.
Hoes are chiefly of two kinds,
narrow and broad. The use of
the narrow hoe is to break up
spots of hard, or tough ground,
as the balks left by the plough in
swarded land, or the corners of
lots where the plough cannot con-
veniently reach; or to take up
strong roots, such as those of the
shrub oak, &c. Therefore, this
tool must be made thick and
strong, with a large eye, that it
may admit a strong helve.
It has also the name of a break-
ing up hoe; but it is seldom made
to do the work of a plough in this
country of late, unless by the poor-
est people, and in new places
where teams cannot be easily had.
The broad hoe is a very impor-
tant implement among farmers, as
it is much used, though not so
much as it should be. The more
mellow the land is, the larger the
hoe should be, that work may be
done more expeditiously. The
tough and hard soil requires à nar-
rower hoe, to render the labour
more easy.
Where land is not stony, hoes
should be kept sharp by grinding.
They will enter the ground the
198
霉
​HOE
HOE
}
more easily, and destroy weeds
and their roots more effectually.
For the ease of the labourer,
hoes should be made as light as
is consistent with the needful de-
gree of strength: Their handles
especially should be made of some
light kind of wood, as ash, or white
maple, or a young tree of spruce.
Great and important use is made
in weeding between carrots, beets,
and other crops, that do not require
hilling, of the Dutch hoe, which is
used for cutting up weeds, the la-
bourer passing backwards, and
pushing the hoe forwards. It is
expeditious, and effectual, for
weeding. A small hand hoe, of
steel, not more than two inches
wide, and six inches long is excel-
lent for light weeding. For the
Horse Hoe, see that article.
HOEING, either burying seeds
in the earth with the hoe, or
breaking and stirring the soil,
chiefly when plants are growing
in it.
This, after tillage, as I may call
it, has been found to be of great
advantage to almost every kind of
plants, and to some it is so neces-
sary that no crop is to be expected
without it. The deeper land is
hoed, the greater advantage do
plants receive from hoeing, if due
care be taken that their roots be
not disturbed, or too much cut to
pieces.
The ends to be answered by
hoeing are chiefly these:-1. To
destroy weeds, which are always
ready to spring up in every soil,
and which would rob the cultivat-
ed plants of most of their food.
Scraping of the surface, if it be
done frequently, may answer this
purpose; but to destroy the roots
of weeds, deeper hoeing is neces-
sary. 2. To keep the soil from
becoming too compact, which pre-
vents the roots extending them-
selves freely in search of their
food, at the same time keeping up
a fermentation, by which the ve-
getable food is concocted, and
brought into contact with the roots.
For this purpose, the deeper land
is hoed the better. But hoeing
should cease, or be only superfi-
cial, when the roots are so far ex-
tended as to be much injured by
hoeing. They will bear a little
cutting without injury. For where
a root is cut off, several new
branches will come in its place.
3. To render the soil more open
and porous, so that it shall greedi-
ly drink in the nightly dews, and
that rain may not run off, but readi-
ly soak in as it falls, and be retained.
Accordingly, the more and often-
er land is hoed, the more moisture
it retains, the better it bears
drought, and the more its plants
are nourished. 4. Another design
of hoeing, and which has not been
enough attended to, is to nourish
plants by drawing fresh soil near
to them, the effluvium of which
enters their pores above ground,
and increases their growth. 5. At
the same time, earthing of plants
makes them stand more firmly,
and increases their pasture in the
spots where the roots most abound.
At the same time it prevents the
drying of the earth down to the
roots.
But earthing, or hilling of plants,
should be done with caution.
HOE
199
HOE
Hilling excessively is hurtful, as
it does not permit the roots to
have so much benefit from the
rains, and too much hinders the
influence of the sun upon the low-
ermost roots. Whatever hilling is
done, should be done by little and
little, at several hoeings, that the
roots may gradually and easily ac-
commodate themselves to the al-
teration of their condition. Lastly,
frequent hoeing serves to prevent
the standing of water on the sur-
face, so as to chill the ground, and
check all fermentation in it.
it will be a saving of time to use
this cultivator; and the work will
be done with more regularity and
neatness, if guided with skill and
due care.
The usual method of horse hoe-
ing is as follows: At the first hoe-
ing, turn the furrows from the rows,
so that they form a veering, or
ridge, in the intervals between the
rows. The plough should pass as
near to the rows as may be with-
out danger of eradicating or dis-
turbing the plants; for it is best
that the soil be loosened as near
When all the hoeing between to the roots as possible: Because
rows of plants is performed with when they are tender and weak,
the hand hoe, the labour is severe, they will extend their roots but
and more expensive to the owner; little; and there will be no oppor-
and the plants will, on the whole, tunity afterwards of ploughing and
receive far less advantage from stirring the earth so near to them,
hoeing. Therefore, where land without too much danger of tear-
is tolerably free from obstacles, I ing and injuring their roots. After
would earnestly recommend that ploughing, the rows
are to be
the hoe plough, or the common cleared of weeds with the hand
horse plough, which answers near-hoe, and a little fresh earth brought
ly the same end, be much used; into contract with them.
and the earth stirred with it to a
good depth, and frequently, during
the proper season of hoeing, which
is the former part of summer, but
varies with respect to different
crops.
A plough, called a cultivator,
has been constructed, with two
mouldboards, which turns the
mould both ways at once, towards
each of the two rows between
which it passes. But, as it re-
quires more than one horse to
draw it in stiff ground, two furrows
made with a hoe plough, or horse
plough, according to the customary
practice, may answer full as well.
When the soil is light and mellow,
At the next hoeing, and all after
hoeings, in our common husban-
dry, the furrows are to be turned
towards the rows, so as to form a
henting, or trench, in the middle
of each interval; and cross the
furrows last made, that the land
may be the more thoroughly pul-
verized. This operation carries
the share of the plough farther from
the roots, and at the same time af-
fords plenty of fresh earth about
the plants; which must be finished
with the hand hoe. But if, in
ploughing, any of the plants should
chance to be covered, they must
be set free without delay.
At the last hoeing, either of In~^
200
HOE
dian corn, or of any thing that is
planted in hills, as it is vulgarly
called, it is best to make but one
furrow in an interval, and to pass
the plough both ways, or cut the
ground into squares with the
plough, or rather with the cultiva-
tor. This leaves the roots the
more room, and less work will re-
main to be done with the hand
hoe.
If the horse be weak, or the
ground hard and stiff, it may be
needful to let the plough go twice
in a place, which makes four times
in an interval. For the plough
should go as deep for hoeing, as in
any other ploughing, or else the
intention of it will be partly de-
feated; which is to keep that
quantity of soil light and mellow
from which the plants are to draw
the most of their nourishment.
We apply horse hoeing to Indian
corn, when the ground is well
cleared from obstacles, and could
not be easily persuaded to neglect
it. Every farmer knows how
much it saves labour, and that the
crop is increased by it. Why then
will they not be persuaded, by all
that has been experienced, and
written, by some of the wisest
farmers, to apply this method of
culture to many other plants? I
have no doubt it might be done
with equal advantage. Indeed,
we cultivate but few plants in til-
lage, for which this kind of culture
would be improper. In Europe,
they horse-hoe all kinds of grain,
and even some kinds of grasses.
In a dry season, or in land that
is in no danger of ever being too
wet, it is advisable to hoe only in
HOG
the morning and evening. And if
farmers will work as early and late
as they can, they may afford to de-
sist, and rest themselves from nine
till four, when the air is hottest.
The ground will get and retain the
more moisture which is thus hoed
early and late. And in the middle
of some of our hottest days, there
is danger of hurting tender plants,
by drawing the scalding hot earth
close to their stems.
But the
opinion entertained by many, that
no hoeing at all should be done in
a dry season, is irrational and ridic-
ulous. They deprive their land of
the benefit of the dew, by neglect-
ing to hoe it, suffer it to be overrun
with destructive weeds, which rob
the plants of most of their nourish.
ment, and allow the ground to be
so compacted and hard, that the
rain when it comes will not pene-
trate it. This strange opinion will
occasion much loss to those whose
conduct is influenced by it.
HOGSTY, a kind of building in
which hogs are confined and fed.
The ways of constructing these
houses are various: But the best
are those which are framed and
boarded. The boards, that the
swine may not gnaw them to pie-
ces, should be of some harder wood
than white pine, and they should
be fastened with ribbings and
spikes. Whatever be the con-
structure of sties, they should al-
ways have one part close and warm,
with a tight roof over it; and the
other part open, in which the
trough is placed. Swine will not
well bear to be wholly secluded
from the weather and sunshine ;
and it is hurtful to them to have
HOG
201
HOP
a cold and wet lodging; more
hurtful than many people are ready
to imagine.
The upper part of the sty, or
some part of it may be appropria-
ted to storing the different articles
of food, which are wanted for feed-
ing the animals, and it would be
well to have a steam boiler beneath
the same roof. If a part of the
roof be made to extend considera-
bly beyond the sty, it will afford a
cover for forming a heap of com-
post with the dung of the swine.
See Farmer's Assistant, Art. Hog-
Although there should be a part
of the sty, planked and boarded and
warm, covered from rain and sun,
and amply supplied with litter, yet
the greater part of it should have
no wooden floor. The trough in
which pigs are fed should be firmly
fixed to the floor, so that they may
not overset it, and it is very impor-
tant that the divisions of a pig-styesty.
be so numerous, that pigs of near-
ly equal size and strength only
should be permitted to feed togeth-
er, otherwise the more powerful
will exclude the others, and mate-
rially stint their growth.
|
HOP, Humulus, a narcotic plant
of the reptile kind, the flower of
which is an ingredient in beer,ale,
&c. As I have not had much ex-
perience in hops, I shall give an
account of the management of
them, chiefly abstracted from the
Complete Farmer, and abridged.
A rich, deep, mellow, dry soil,
rather inclining to sand than clay,
is best adapted to the cultivation of
hops. A black garden mould is
excellent.
The ground should be ploughed
very deep, or dug with a spade,re-
duced to a fine mould by repeated
ploughing and harrowing, and laid
even.
The more comfortably hogs are
kept, the less nourishment they re-
quire. The trough should be on
the upper side covered with one
or more lids, and upright pie-
ces set before it at such distances
that one hog only can put his head
between any two of them. If six-
teen hogs are to be kept in the
same sty, it should be thirty-two
feet long and twelve wide, and the
apartments should be so divided,
that too many of the animals may
When the ground is in proper
not be forced to lie together. And readiness for planting, let a line be
it would, probably, be well to di- stretched on a straight side of a
vide likewise the feeding apart- field, with knots or rags in it,as far
ment. Posts should be set up in asunder as you design your hills
the sty for the hogs to rub them- shall be; and stick in the ground
selves.
If thirty-two hogs are to a sharp pointed stick at every knot,
be kept or fatted, perhaps the bet- as marks for the places where the
ter way is to have two hog-stys of hills are to be made. Remove the
the dimensions last described, pla-line to such a distance as to make
ced together with a roof over the the hills equidistant both ways;
whole, and a passage between and so on through the whole
them for the purpose of carrying ground.
food to the troughs.
26
The distance of the hills should
202
HOP
HOP
be regulated by the strength of the
soil. But in every case they should
be far enough asunder to admit the
hoe plough at all times. If the soil
be dry and shallow, six or seven
feet will be a convenient distance:
But if it be rich, moist, and apt to
bear large hops, it may be right to
allow eight or nine feet.
The time to plant hops is when
they begin to shoot in the spring.
The sets are cuttings from the
roots, or branches which grow from
the main root. They should be
from five to seven inches long, with
three or more joints or buds on
each, all the old and hollow part
being cut off. Make holes twelve
or sixteen inches wide, and of a
depth proportioned to the nature
of the ground. If shallow, with
hard clay or gravel under, dig not
into it, lest you make a basin to
retain water; but raise a small hill
of good mould. If there is a good
depth of rich mellow mould, dig
the hole a foot and a half, or two
feet deep; the hops will thrive the
better.
When all things are ready for
planting, fill up the holes with the
mould before thrown out, if it be
good; but if the same earth be not
rich enough, make use of fine fresh
mould, or of a compost provided
for the purpose, a peck in each
hill, but no dung on any account.
Then with a setting stick make
five or six holes, one in the middle
perpendicular, and the rest round
it sloping, and meeting at the top
near the centre. Put in the sets so
that they may stand even with the
surface, press the mould close to
them,and coverthem with fine mould
two or three inches thick. A stick
should be placed on each side of
the hill to secure it.
The ground being thus planted,
all that is to be done in the follow-
ing summer is to keep the hills and
alleys clear of weeds by frequent
hoeings, to dig the ground in May,
and carry off the stones raised by
digging; to raise a small hill about
the plants, and throw some mould
on the roots, and in May or June to
twist all the vines and branches to-
gether in a loose knot,and lay them
thus twisted on the top of the
hill.
Early in the following spring,
when the weather is fine, open the
hills, and cut off the shoots of the
first year, within an inch of the
stock, together with the younger
suckers that have sprung from the
sets, and cover the stock with fine
earth.
In the third and following years,
when you dig your hop ground, let
the earth be taken away with a
spade or hoe, round about the hills,
very near them,that you may more
conveniently come at the stock, to
cut it. Then in fair weather, if
your hops be weak, begin to dress
them: But if strong, do it later;
for dressing late restrains their too
early springing, which hurts the
hop.
After dressing in the second year,
the next thing is to pole them.—
Poles ten or twelve feet long will
do then: But in the third year,
when they come to their full bear-
ing state, they will require poles
of full size: This, if the ground be
rich, and the hop vigorous, will be
from sixteen to twenty feet; or
HOP
203
HOP
t
there will be danger of losing great [ picked early look better, and are
part of the crop.
undoubtedly stronger.
The hop will soon run itself out
of heart, if it be over poled. Nei-
ther can a good crop be expected
from over poled ground; because
the branches which bear the hops
grow very little, till the buds have
overreached the poles, which they
cannot do when the pole is long.
Two small poles are sufficient for
a hill in a young ground.
The best way of drying hops is
on kilns. Four pounds of undried
hops, will make one pound after
they are dried.
Before hops are bagged, they
should be laid in a heap, that they
may sweat and grow tough: And
if they are covered for a while
with blankets, they will be the bet-
ter. The bags are coarse linen
cloth. They are commonly about
thus.
A hop garden, Mr. Young says,
will last almost forever, by renew-eleven feet long, and near two
ing the hills that fail to the amount yards and a half in circumference,
of about a score annually: But it and contain about 250 weight of
is reckoned better to grub up and hops. The small bags, called pock-
new plant it every 20 or 25 years. ets, contain about half as much.
In forward years hops are ripe
at the beginning of September.
When they begin to change colour,
or are easily pulled to pieces;
when they emit a fragrant smell,
and when their seeds begin to look
brown and grow hard, you may
conclude that they are ripe. Then
pick them with all expedition; for
a storm of wind will do them great
mischief at this time.
When the poles are drawn up in
order to be picked, the vines
around should be cut asunder at
the height of three or four feet
from the ground: For cutting them
lower, especially while the hops
are green, would occasion so great
a flow of sap, as would weaken the
root.
It has been remarked by one
who had much experience, that
hops which are late picked bear
more plentifully the following year
than such as are picked early: For
which reason he recommends late
picking. But the hops which are
The manner of bagging
Make a round or square hole about
26 or 30 inches over, in the floor
of the chamber where the hops are
laid in heaps after sweating. Tie
with a piece of pack thread,a hand-
ful of hops in each lower corner of
the bag, to serve as handles for the
more easy lifting or removing the
bag; and fasten the mouth of the
bag to a frame, or hoop, somewhat
larger than the hole, that the hoop
may rest on its edges. The upper
part thus fixed, the rest of the bag
hangs down through the hole, but
not so far as to touch the lower
floor. Then throw into it a bushel
or two of hops, and let a man go
into the bag, and tread the hops
down till they lie close; then
throw in more and tread; and so
on till the bag is full. Loose it
from the hoop, and sew up the
mouth as close as possible, tying
hops in the upper, as was done in
the lower corners. The harder
the hops are pressed,and the closer
204
HOR
HOR
and thicker the bag is, the longer
and better the hops will keep.
A small manuring of hop ground
every second year is sufficient.
is sufficient.
Dung was formerly more in use
than at present, experience having
shewn that lime, sea sand, marle,
ashes, &c. answer the end better,
and last longer. But hog dung
prevents mildew from taking hops.
Each pole, according to Dr.
Hales, has three vines, which makes
six vines to a hill. All the sprouts
above this number, should be bro-
ken off in the spring.
"Method of extracting the virtue
of Hops in Brewing. The usual
method is to put in hops without
any preparation into the strong
beer, or alewort; the consequence
is, the richer and better the wort
is, the less it will partake of the es-
sence of hops. The rich fast wort
sheathes up the pores of the hop,
and as it were embalms the leaves,
so that the beer or alewort can ex-
tract scarcely any part of the ne-
cessary quality of the hop; but
when it is put into the small beer
wort, a fluid of a more thin nature,
there the pores are unsheathed.
and the small beer is rendered too
bitter therefore the hops, before
they are put into the strong drink,
should be previously soaked in a
pail of hot water." Domestic En-
cyclopædia.
:
HORN DISTEMPER, a disease
of neat cattle, the seat of which is
in their horns, Cows are more
subject to it than oxen. It does
not attack bulls; and steers and
heifers, under three years old,
have not been known to have
it. The distemper gradually con-
•
sumes the pith of the horn. Some-
times it is in both horns at once,
but more usually in one only.
The disease is discoverable by
the coldness, or loss of the natural
warmth of the horn; by dulness of
the eyes, sluggishness, loss of ap-
petite, and a disposition to lie
down. When the brain is affect-
ed, cattle will toss their heads and
groan much as if in great pain.
To effect the cure, the horn
should be perforated with a nail
gimblet,through which the corrupt-
ed thin matter will be discharged,
if care be taken to keep it open.
By this boring, which should be
nearly horizontal,or in the depend-
ing part of the horn, and two or
three inches from the head of the
animal, the cure sometimes is com-
pleted. When it proves other-
wise, a mixture of rum and honey
with myrrh and aloes, should be
thrown into the horn with a syringe;
and be several times repeated, if
the disease continue. For a more
particular account, see a letter
from the Hon. C. Tufts, Esq. in
the 1st vol. of the Memoirs of the
Academy of Arts and Sciences.
HORSE, one of the most useful
of tame quadrupeds. The marks
or evidences of a good one are
these, a high neck, a full breast, a
lively eye, a strong back, a stiff
dock, full buttocks, ribs reaching
near to the hips, well made hoofs,
rather large, and a good gait.
The size of a horse should be in
proportion to the work in which he
is chiefly to be employed. Small
sized ones often prove good in the
saddle. They are apt to be hardy,
and in proportion to their size,and
HOR
205
HOR
the quantity of their eating, usual-
ly are the most profitable. Plough
horses, and all draught horses,
should be large, as their weight is
of importance in drawing; and as
it is often inconvenient to put two
horses to one plough, especially in
horse hoeing. Largeness is also
of importance, when they are used
single, in journeying, as they most
usually are, in a chaise or sleigh.
A horse's manner of going is a
matter of no sinall importance.
The ambling gate, or what in this
country is vulgarly called pacing,
is not good, neither for the horse
nor the rider. It is tiresome to
both. It habituates a horse to car-
ry his feet too near to the ground,
so that he is the more liable to trip
and stumble.
country, is highly absurd, hurtful,
and dangerous. He is mounted and
ridden before he has been used to
the bridle or to bearing any weight
on his back. If he will not go for-
ward, he is most unmercifully beat-
en; by which his spirits are bro-
ken, and his strength impaired. If
he rears up,he is pulled backwards,
with the risk of hurting both horse
and man. If he runs and starts, as
he probably will under such man-
agement, he flings the rider, per-
haps is frightened, gains his liberty,
and is encouraged to do just so the
next opportunity; and the unfor-
tunate rider blesses himself, as he
has reason to do, if he escape with-
out broken limbs. Or if the horse
should chance to go kindly, the ri-
der continues the exercise till the
horse is fatigued, discouraged, and
injured.
Instead of this mad management,
the way practised in the older
countries should be adopted. Let
The method so much practised
formerly in this country, of teach-
ing horses to pace swiftly, and rac-
ing in that gait, is highly perni-
cious. It puts them to a much
greater strain than running; and a horse first of all be tamed with
numbers have been thus ruined.- the bridle,by leading him again and
Some colts naturally amble, and again; in the first place, after, or
others trot. But all may be made by the side of another horse; and
to trot, if due care and pains be after he walks well, bring him to
taken with them while they are trot after his leader. In the next
young, or as soon as they are first place, put on the saddle, and lead
ridden. In a carriage an amble is him in that, time after time. Then
tiresome to a horse, appears highly lay a small weight on the saddle,
improper, and is disgusting to every and if he be apt to start, fasten it,
one. And I do not see why it that it may not be flung off, increa-
should appear at all more tolera-sing the weight from time to time,
ble in the saddle.
till he learns to carry what is equal
When any change of gait is want-to a man's weight. Lastly, let a
ed for the ease of the rider, the man gently mount him, while an-
canter is to be preferred, than other holds him by the bridle, and
which none can be more easy. fix himself firmly in the saddle.-
The way of breaking a young The place of riding is recommend-
horse that is mostly used in this led to be a ploughed field. Let him
206
HOR
HOR
upon the roads and commons, nor
and water grasses. They love a
dry pasture, not too much shaded,
and short grasses of the best kinds.
Clover and white honey-suckle,
both green and dry, are excellent
food for them. It nourishes them
well, and prevents costiveness,
which is very hurtful to them.-
The best of clover hay will keep
them as well as most other kinds
of hay with oats.
thus be ridden with a horse going
before him, till he learn the use of in pastures that are filled with wild
the bit, and will stop, or go for-
ward, at the pleasure of the rider,
and without the application of
much force. Being exercised in
this manner a few times, and treat-
ed with all possible gentleness,
there will be no more occasion for
leading him.
He will go well of
himself; and be thoroughly bro-
ken, without so much as giving him
one blow, and without danger or
fatigue, to the horse or his rider. To fit a horse for a journey he
And, what is much to be regarded, should not be suffered to grow too
the horse's spirits will be preserv-fat and gross. He should for some
ed, though he be sufficiently tam-time be kept in the stable rather
ed. In teaching a horse to draw, than in the pasture, and fed mostly
gentleness must be used. He should with hay and provender: But ra-
be tried first in company with oth- ther sparingly if he incline to be
er horses, whether in carting or fat. He should have exercise daily
ploughing; and the drought should to harden his flesh, and keep him
not be so heavy as to fret him or in the habit of travelling. He should
put him to great exertion till he has be shod some days before he be-
learned to draw steadily. After gins a journey, that the shoes may
this he may be put to draw light be well settled to his feet, and the
loads by himself. Lastly he may nails a little rusted at the points,
be put to a pleasure carriage, but that they may hold the faster. And
coupled with another rather than the pads of the saddle should be
alone, and to a sleigh rather than a well fitted to his back, so, as to fill
chaise,
the hollows, and bear equally on
every part. And while he is on
the journey, he should be stabled
every night. It is destructive to
expose a horse to the dampness and
cold of the night after severe exer-
cise. But it would be best, if nei-
ther horses, nor any of our cattle,
were wholly confined to dry meat
in winter. Horses indicate this,
by their eating snow with their hay.
Set a basket of snow within reach
of a horse, when he is at his man-
ger, and he will take a mouthful
from each alternately. Of all jui-
It may be taken for a general
rule, that the gait which is easiest
to a horse, will be the easiest to
his rider. For jaded horses,it has
always been observed, are apt to
go hard, and to tire their riders.
The feeding of horses, as I con-
ceive, has not been sufficiently at-
tended to in this country; which
is, doubtless, one reason why they
are in general so mean and despi-
cable. Too many keep horses
who cannot well afford to feed
them. They should neither run
HOR
207
HOR
cy food for horses in winter, wri-
ters on husbandry seem to give car-
rots the preference. They have
been found by experience to an-
swer well instead of oats for la-
bouring horses; and to fatten those
which are lean.
He that would be sure to keep
his horse in good order, must be-
ware whom he suffers to ride him,
and must see that he is never
abused. Profuse sweating should
always be avoided. And when a
horse is much warmed by exercise,
he should not be exposed to cold
air, or night dew, and much less
to rain and snow. If he cannot
be instantly rubbed down and
housed when warm, he should be
covered with a blanket; and he
should always have a dry stable,
and be well littered. The neglect
of these precautions may bring on
incurable disorders.
Horses should not be too much
deprived of the liberty of motion,
as they too often are. Close con-
finement after hard labour, will be
apt to abate their circulations too
suddenly, make them chilly, and
stiffen their joints. To be depriv-
ed of motion, is bad for man and
beast. Horses therefore should
not be straitened for room in their
stables. Stables should not be so
low as to prevent their tossing up
their heads as high as they please.
Some stables have so little room
over head as to bring horses into
a habit of carrying their heads too
low.
They become afraid to lift
them up. They should also have
room in their stables to turn their
heads to any part of their bodies,
that they may defend themselves
from the biting of insects, allay
itching, &c. And their halters
should always be so long, and their
stable so wide, that they may lie
down conveniently. Nor should
horses be so placed as to be able
to deprive each other of his fod-
der.
When horses are kept in sta-
bles, as they generally are in the
coldest half of the year, they should
be daily dressed, as it is called.
The curry comb, and the brush,
should be well used on all parts of
their skin, which are covered with
hair. This increases perspiration
through the pores of the skin,
which is necessary to health; and
causes the blood to move faster in
the veins. This treatment will
not only cause them to look bet-
ter, but they will have better
health, and more activity and cour-
age. They will digest their food
better, and be better for service.
But if rubbing and friction be
wholly neglected, or slightly per-
formed, the hair will appear dry
and rough; the perspirable matter.
hardens in the pores of the skin,
or remains lodged at the roots of
the hair, and has the appearance
of a dirty white dust: And some-
times like small scales attended
with itching. More especially is
rubbing necessary for horses, when
they are growing cold after being
sweated by labour. In such cases
it should never be omitted.
Columella observes" that the
bodies of cattle ought to be rub-
bed down daily, as well as the
bodies of men; and says it often
does them more good to have
their backs well rubbed down,
208
HOR
HOR
than their bellies well filled with
provender."
A large quantity of manure will
thus be saved. And a very small
quantity of land will answer, in
comparison with what it takes for
the pasturing of a horse. Keep-
ing a sithe and a basket at hand,
a horse may be foddered in this
way, in two or three minutes; and
by the time that the whole spot
has been once mowed over, that
which is first cut will be grown up
again. Where a number of horses
are soiled, a pair of poles, or a
hand cart, will be better than a
But in warm weather it would
be best for them, that they should
not have the confinement of the
halter, nor even of the stable. A
small spot of feeding ground, if it
were only a few rods, adjoining to
the stable, and the door left open,
that a horse may go in and out al-
ternately as he pleases, would
greatly conduce to the health of
the animal. This degree of liber-
ty will be most needful, when the
flies are troublesome; and be bet-basket to carry the hay to them.
ter for him than confinement to a
stable that is perfectly dark. In
fly time it gives a horse much
ease and comfort to smear his
limbs, neck and head, with rancid
fish oil, or something else that will
keep the flies from attacking him.
And in all seasons, when horses
have been heated with exercise,
they should be well rubbed, or
curried.
When a horse runs in a pasture
during the grass season, he should
have some shelter, not only a
shade to defend him from the in-
tense beat of the sun, but a shed,
or a clump of trees, that he may
retreat from the inclemencies of
the atmosphere.
This practice, called soiling, an-
swers well near to cities and large
towns, where lands for pasturage
are not plenty; and where, by
means of the plenty of manure,
lands may be made to yield the
greatest crops of grass. For very
thick grass should not be fed off;
because the greater part of it will
be wasted by the trampling, and
the excrements of animals.
When grain is given to horses
it is an economical practice to
have it either ground or boiled.
When horses are soiled, or fed in
a stable on green grass, it should
be cut and carried in during the
morning, while the dew is on.
A disorder, called Ptyalism, has
But horses that are daily work- for some years past been gaining
ed, in summer, should be mostly ground among horses in various
kept upon green fodder in stables, parts of the United States, which
rather than grazed in pastures. is an excessive watering or slaver-
The tendance of them will not be ing at the mouth. Various causes
being
so burdensome, with a spot of high have been assigned for this disor-
and thick grass at hand, as leading der, but none of them satisfactory.
them to and from a pasture, at the Soiling them, is, however, a cer-
distance of a quarter of a mile. tain remedy.
This will prevent their being often
chilled by feeding in wet nights.
HORSE HOE, a small light
plough, drawn by a single horse,
HOR
209
HUR
either with one or two mould
boards. It answers in extensive
culture, all the purposes of the
hoe, though it may be well to have
it followed with the hand hoe in
every species of culture. In the
cultivation of potatoes and Indian
corn it seems to be indispensable
that it should be so followed. But
in drill husbandry, with potatoes
planted in rows, or drills, with In-
dian corn planted in the same man-
ner, and with carrots, Swedish
turnips, and grains of all sorts, it
need not be followed with the hand
hoe, but a man must follow to pull
up the weeds, which the horse hoe
had not fully destroyed.
HORSE SHOEING. The fol-
lowing directions for shoeing hor-
ses are taken from an English pub-
lication. "Let nothing be cut
from the sole-binder, or frog, ex-
cept the loose rotten scale. No
opening of heels on any occa-
sion,-it infallibly causes in time
the disease called hoof-bound.-
No shoes to be fitted on red hot.
Shoes always to be made of the
best hard and well wrought iron,
with not a convex, but a flat and
even surface next to the ground.
So that the horse may stand in a
natural and easy position. No
caulks for either heel or toe of fore
or hind feet. The web of the
shoe not so wide as usual, nor so
thick nor strong at the heel, and
never to project beyond it, in or-
der that the foot may stand per-
fectly level, and the frog be not
prevented from touching the
ground. It is as absurd to pare
down the frog as is usually done,
as it would be to pare away the
thick skin, which nature has placed
over the human heel! All the hor-
ses in England are now shod ac-
cording to the above directions."
"When a horse is well shod, if
water is poured upon the bottom
of his foot, it will not pass between
the hoof and the shoe. Shoes for
draft horses, that have seldom oc-
casion to go out of a walk, should
be heavy, strong, and with high
heels, and pointed at the toe with
steel." See Mason's Farrier, pub-
lished by Peter Cottom, Richmond,
Virginia, 1821.
If
HURDLE. The hurdles used
in husbandry, for fences, and
frames of wood, consist of two
poles, four feet apart, connected
with small sticks across from the
one to the other. Spruce poles
are good for this use, being light
and tough. The sticks may be of
split timber, such as does not rot
too soon; or round sticks of natur-
al growth, such as thrifty suckers
from the stumps of oak trees.
they are wattled, or have twigs
wove into them, the sticks may be
a foot, or eighteen inches apart;
and they will resemble the hurdles
on which fish are dried. If they are
not wattled, the sticks must be so
near together, that neither sheep
nor hogs can pass between them.
Cheap gates may be conveniently
made in this way. A hurdle is of-
ten wanted, to make a good fence
across a run of water, being most
suitable for this purpose, as it may
be fastened by strong stakes at the
ends, and as it resists the current
of water but little. They are
useful to fence small pens and
yards on any sudden occasion.
27
210
IM P
IM P
And as they are easily removed, lands as the word is very impro-
they are useful in England, in eat-perly used, but it implies such an
ing off a crop of turnips with sheep. employment of them as shall con-
If there should be need of prevent- stantly render them profitable to
ing the climbing of boys over them, the occupant. If lands are so in-
the ends of the cross sticks may ferior in their natural qualities and
rise a few inches above the upper productiveness, as not to return to
pole, and be made sharp at the the cultivator a reasonable profit
points.
for his labour, rent, and interest, it
would be better to abandon them
either altogether, or to bestow
more labour and manure on a part
of them, leaving the residue for a
scanty pasture for their cattle and
sheep. Perhaps the greatest error
into which our farmers too often
fall is the attempt to cultivate too
much land even when it is good—
but the error is still greater when
the lands are of inferior quality.
The practice of cropping their
lands, till they will no longer yield
sufficient to pay the expense of
HURTS, and Bruises in the
withers. Horses are very often
hurt, or wrung in the withers, by
the biting of other horses, or by
unfit saddles, especially when the
bows are too wide; for by that
means they bruise the flesh against
the spines of the second and third
vertebræ of the back, which form
that prominence which rises above
their shoulders. When the swel-
ling is moderate, the usual method
is to wash the part with salt and
water, or to apply horse dung, or
salt and black soap mixed togeth-culture, is perhaps the source of
er, which very often succeeds.-
Any restringent charge, as bole
and vinegar with whites of eggs,
has the same effect; as also the
whites of eggs beat up into a foam
with a piece of alum. This is very
much commended.
"Sometimes the hair is rubbed
off, and the part becomes galled,
in which case nothing is preferable
to the rectified spirit of wine or
brandy, which ought to be used
often, covering the part with a flax-
en cloth dipped in bees-wax,and a
little oil melted together, to keep
the dirt from it and defend it from
the air." Gibson's Far.
1.
IMPROVEMENT. This is not
the mere use, and occupying of
the poverty of many farmers. No-
thing can be more pernicious than
the custom of exhausting lands,and
then leaving them to recruit by
neglect, and permitting them to
bear such weeds, and exhausting
plants, as any soil, however impov-
erished, will furnish. The Euro-
pean mode of fallowing, which con-
sists of repeated turnings of the
soil, enriched by the weeds, which
spring up, spontaneously, upon the
ground so abandoned is perhaps
the most judicious course; but it
is doubted, whether in a country
like our own, in which the lands of
first quality, are not yet exhausted,
and are more than competent to
supply all the wants of our own
population, and all that other na-
tions will take at a price, which
IMP
211
IMP
will return the expense of labour
and capital can be advantageous.
It would seem, therefore to be the
evident policy of our farmers to
cultivate no more land than what
they can attend to thoroughly, and
instead of spreading their labours
over large tracts, no one acre of
which on computation yields a fair
remuneration for their toil and ca-
pital, that they should confine
themselves to smaller portions,and
cultivate these with spirit and intel-
ligence.
To apply these general remarks,
suppose a farmer, possessed of one
hundred acres of sandy or gravelly
land, and to own 10 or 20 head of
cattle. It is scarcely to be believ-
ed that on a farm of such a size,
there should not be 10 or 15 acres
of meadow ground, or of richer soil.
If he would devote all his manure
from his cattle to his best lands—if
instead of reaping 10 or 15 bush-
els of rye, or 25 or 30 bushels of
Indian corn to the acre, he would
apply all his manure carefully pre-
served, and intelligently increased
by all the substances, calculated to
make a compost heap to 10 acres
of the best part of his land, he
would be able to gather 1000 bush-
els of potatoes, 1000 bushels of
carrots, as many of Swedish tur-
nips, and 150 bushels of Indian
corn on his 10 acres of cultivated
land. Can it be doubted that his
stock would be better fed, his fami-
ly better supplied, his net income
from articles sold from his farm
much more increased, than if he
should persevere in the old system
of raising rye at the rate of 15 or
20, or corn at the rate of 35 bush-
•
els to the acre? We only ask that
the experiment should be tried-
but above all that the culture of
roots, and the increase of manure
should be attempted for only a few
successive years. We have no
fears that this system would be
ever afterwards abandoned.
In ascertaining the composition
of sterile soils with a view to their
improvement, any particular ingre-
dient which is the cause of their
unproductiveness, should be par-
ticularly attended to; if possible
they should be compared with fer-
tile soils in the same neighbour-
hood, and in similar situations. If
a barren soil contains salts of iron,
or any acid matter it may be im-
proved by quick lime. If there be
an excess of lime or chalky matter,
sand or clay should be applied.-
Where there is too much sand,
clay, marle, or vegetable matter is
required. Peat makes a good ma-
nure for a sandy soil. The im-
provement of peats, bogs, or marsh
lands must be commenced by drain-
ing.
The materials necessary for the
purpose of improving soils are sel-
dom far distant: Sand is generally
found beneath clay, and clay often
beneath sand. Peat and bog earth
are commonly to be obtained in the
neighbourhood of gravel and sand.
Swamp-land after being drain-
ed, may often be improved by
quick lime,which is sometimes bet-
ter than paring and burning, as by
the latter process much vegetable
matter, capable of being convert-
ed into manure is dissipated and
lost. See Soil, Farm and Soil.
I would entreat farmers to con-
212
1 M P
IM P
sider that the cost of raising a poor
crop, one time with another, is
nearly as much as that of raising a
large one. There is the same ex-
pended in fencing-the same tax
paid-the same quantity of seed
sown--the same almost expended
in ploughing, as rich land ploughs
so much more easily than poor, as
to make up for the extra number of
ploughings in a course of tillage. I
may add, there is the same or more
labour in thrashing. An attention
to these things is enough to con-
vince any one of the great impor-
tance of endeavouring to improve
crops by a more spirited and ra-
tional husbandry.
should continue to be so; any
more than, that being rich should
necessarily make a man poor.→
What need has the man who pos-
sesses three hundred acres, to de-
stroy the wood, or clear the land,
as they call it, any faster than he
can make use of the soil to the best
advantage? What need has he to
be at the expense of enclosing
more than his neighbour does, who
has only one hundred acres, while
he has no more ability, or occasion,
for doing it? Or to pay taxes for
more acres in grass or tillage? It
is a foolish and ruinating ambition
in any one,to desire to have a wide
farm, that he may appear to be
If a farmer think he cannot af- rich, when he is able to give it on-
ford to lay out a farthing more only a partial and slovenly culture.
the tillage of an acre, than he has If such improvements as are pos-
been accustomed to do, let him be sible, and even easy, were made in
entreated to save a little in fencing, the husbandry of this country, ma-
and so enable himself to do it,leav-ny and great advantages would be
As twice the num-
ing out some of his lands that bring found to arise.
little or no profit, and pay tax- ber of people might be supported
es for a less quantity of land in til- on the same quantity of land, all
lage; or let him turn some of Lis our farming towns would become
tillage land to grass; and lay out twice as populous as they are like-
the same quantities of labour and ly to be in the present state of hus-
manure on a third less land in til- bandry.
lage. Lands in tillage might thus
be made profitable; and more so
than many are ready to imagine.
It has often been observed, that
those farmers in this country who
have the fewest acres, commonly
get the best living from their farms.
It is, doubtless, because their lands
are under better cultivation. And
some have taken occasion to re-
mark, that our farmers are ruined
by the great plenty of land in their
possession. Though this remark
is just, I can see no reason why it
There would be, in gen-
eral, but half the distance to travel
to visit our friends and acquaint-
ance. Friends might oftener see,
and converse with each other.~
Half the labour would be saved in
carrying corn to mill, and produce
to market; half the journeying sa-
ved in attending courts; and half
the expense in supporting govern-
ment, and in making and repairing
roads; half the distance saved, in
going to the smith, the weaver,
clothier, &c.; half the distance
saved in going to public worship,
IN A
213
INC
and most other meetings; for
where steeples are four miles apart,
they would be only two or three.
Much time. expense, and labour,
would on these accounts be saved;
and civilization, with all the social
virtues, would, perhaps, be propor-
tionably promoted and increased.
ping,and the graft will more close-
ly unite with the stock. Having
thus placed them exactly together,
tie them with some soft tying; then
cover the place with grafting clay,
to prevent the air from entering to
dry the wound, or the wet from
getting in to rot the stock. You
Nothing is wanting to produce should also fix a stake in the ground,
these, and other agreeable effects, to which that part of the stock, to-
but a better knowledge of, and clo-gether with the graft, should be
ser attention to, matters of husban- fastened, to prevent the wind from
dry, with their necessary conse-breaking them asunder, which is
quences, which would be a more
perfect culture, a judicious choice
of crops, and change of seeds, and
making every advantage of ma-
nures.
Improvements of vast importance,
might also be made in the manage-
ment of meadows and pastures.
See those articles.
INARCHING, “a method of
grafting, commonly called grafting
by approach, and is used when the
stock intended to graft on, and the
tree from which the graft is to be
taken, stand so near, or can be
brought so near, that they may be
joined together. The method of
performing it is as follows: Take
the branch you would inarch, and
having fitted it to that part of the
stock where you intend to join it,
pare away the rind and wood on
one side, about three inches in
length. After the same manner,
cut the stock or branch in the place
where the graft is to be united, so
that the rind of both may join
equally together: Then cut a lit-
tle tongue upwards in the graft,and
make a notch in the stock to admit
it; so that when they are joined,
the tongue will prevent their slip-
often the case, when this precau-
tion is not observed. In this man-
ner they are to remain about four
months, in which time they will be
sufficiently united, and the graft
may then be cut from the mother
tree, observing to slope it off close
to the stock. And if at this time
you cover the joined parts with
fresh grafting clay, it will be of
great service to the graft.
"This operation is always per-
formed in April or May, and is
commonly practised upon myrtles,
jasmines, walnuts, firs, pines, and
several other trees that will not
succeed by common grafting, or
budding." Dictionary of Arts.
INCREASE, a word commonly
used in husbandry, to express the
proportion in which a crop ex-
ceeds the seed from which it is
raised. It is generally true that
the smaller the quantity of seed
the greater is the increase; be-
cause a plant that stands by itself,
has all the food that the earth is
adapted to give it.
that are so near together that their
roots intermingle, do more or less
rob each other of their food. But
we must not conclude from hence,
But plants
214
INC
INC
that the less quantity of seed we
sow, the better. Because, in get-
ting a crop, other things beside the
increase from the seed, are to be
taken into consideration.
quantities of seed will answer best
for given quantities of ground. But
it is observable, that, in kindness
to man, the beneficient Governor
of nature has made most plants of
the farinaceous kind, capable of
getting their full growth when they
stand near together. The great-
est increase from the seed, is not
to be accounted the most profita-
Other things being equal, those
crops are most to be coveted,
which require the smallest propor-
tion of seed. But the greatest
profit, on the whole, is to direct
the choice of crops. The cheap-ble crop.
be of more advantage than twenty
for one. If one bushel of wheat
sowed on an acre produce 20, and
two bushels sowed on an acre pro-
duce 26, it is manifestly more pro-
The farmer may consider one of
the two bushels as yielding 20, and
the other 6. But as the labour in
both cases is precisely the same,
it is clearly more profitable in this
case to have thirteen for one in-
crease than 20 for one. Now, in
Europe, generally, they sow dou-
ble, and some times treble the
quantity of seed that we do. Can
we be certain, till we try the ex-
periment that one of the causes of
the superiority may not be their
liberality in saving seeds?
ness of seed sometimes misleads A yield of thirteen for one may
the farmer. To this cause may
be ascribed, not seldom, the culti-
vation of maize on soils that are
more suitable for other kinds of
corn; or on soils that will pro-
duce no crop of maize worth cul-fitable to sow the two bushels.
tivating. In a suitable soil, well
dunged, it is not uncommon for
one quart of maize to yield ten
bushels, which is an increase of
320 fold. The expense of seed,
therefore, for producing a bushel
of corn, at 67 cents, is but 2 cents.
But an increase of 20 fold is a good
crop of wheat; the seed, to pro-
duce a bushel of wheat at one dol-
lar and 17 cents will be more than
6 cents: So that the expense of
seed for wheat, is much greater
than for maize. One consequence
of this difference in seed is, that
many of the poor can obtain seed
for the former crop, who cannot
obtain it for the other. And I
suspect that the greater expense
for seed of English grain, as we
call it, has gradually brought the
people of this country into a habit
of sowing it too thin, and made
them establish rules of doing so.
It is certain we sow much thinner
than Europeans do.
It is not easy to determine what
Another matter in which in-
crease is to be considered, is the
breeding of cattle, and other an-
imals. The farmer may reckon
increase in neat cattle as follows:
He that has one cow may expect,
in one year, to possess a cow and
calf;-in two years, a cow, a year-
ling and a calf;-in three years, a
cow, a two year old steer or heifer,
a yearling and a calf. The two
year old steer or heifer may be
worth 3. the yearling 40s. and
:
IND
215
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the calf 20s.
So that the increase
from a cow worth 47. in three years
may be worth 61. Consequently,
he that lets out a cow for half her
increase, as is the practice in some
places, gets 25 per cent. simple
interest on the money he buys her
with. No man therefore that has
a due regard to his own interest,
will choose to hire cows at this
rate; or take them to the halves
as it is called, engaging to return
the cow and half her increase at
the end of three years. When
cows are thus let the owner ought
to risk the cow and her off-
spring.
are.
The increase of sheep is a mat-
ter of greater uncertainty, as they
are liable to more fatal diseases
and accidents than black cattle
But as they often bring two
at a yeaning, it many times hap-
pens that ewes increase as fast as
cows, or faster. But as a lamb
grows to maturity in one year, and
a she calf not in less than three
years, ewes may be said to increase
three times as fast as cows, even
when they bear single.
INDIAN CORN, Zea, a well
known and useful plant of the
grain kind. It is called maize in
most countries, zea in some.
The parts of generation are on
different parts of the same plant.
The panicles, or tossels, contain
the farina fœcundans, which fall-
ing on the silk, or the green
threads at the end of the ear, im-
pregnate the ear, and render it
fruitful. If the tossels, or spin-
dles, were cut off before the grain
in the ear is formed, the crop
would be spoiled. This has been
proved by experiment. But this
effect will not take place, unless
all the tossels be removed; be-
cause one of them will be suffi-
cient to impregnate twenty plants.
The silks, or threads, must be un-
disturbed to the time of impregna-
tion. They are as necessary as
the sowing itself. If part of them
are taken away or pulled out as
soon as they appear, part of the
corn will be wanting on the ear:
c
For every single grain has one of
these threads. It is therefore a
bad practice to suffer weaned
calves to go among the corn, as
some do, at the season of impreg-
nation.
Maize is considered, in this
country, as a most important crop.
It is preferred to wheat and rye,
because it is not subject to blast-
ing, nor to any other distemper
that is apt, in any great degree,
to cut short the crop. A good
soil, well tilled and manured,
seldom fails of giving a good pro-
duce.
Though it be not so light and
easy to digest as most other sorts
of corn, it is found, that people
who are fed on it from their in-
fancy, grow large and strong, and
enjoy very good health. There
are a variety of ways of preparing
it for food. The Indians parch it
in embers, then reduce it to meal,
and carry it with them, when they
go forth to war, or hunting. When
they eat it they reduce it to a paste
with water, for it needs no other
cooking. It is called nocake.
The green ears, either roasted
216
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-
I think it is not the best method
to plant it on what we call green
sward ground, at least in the north-
ern parts. It is apt to be too back-
ward in its growth, and not to ripen,
so well.
or boiled, are delicate food; espe- this country; if either be scanty,
cially some of the more tender a good crop is not to be expect-·
sorts, which are cultivated for this ed.
purpose. Ripe corn, the bulls be-
ing
taken off with a weak lie, and
boiled till it is soft, is an excellent
food; and not inferior to it is
pounded corn, known by the name
of samp. In either way, many ac-
count it equal to rice. But the most
common use of it is in meal sifted
from the bran, made into bread or
puddings. For the latter, it is al
lowed to excel all other sorts of
flour: For the former it does not
answer well by itself; but is excel-
lent when mixed with an equal
quantity of rye meal.
in
But if we do it on such
land, the holes should be made
quite through the furrows, and
dung put into the holes. If this
caution be not observed, the crop
will be uneven, as the roots
some places where the furrows are
thickest, will have but little bene-
fit from the rotting of the sward.—
But if the holes be made through,
the roots will be fed with both fix-
ed and putrid air, supplied by the
fermentation in the grass roots of
the turf. In this way, I have
known great crops raised on green
sward ground, where the soil was
a sandy loam, but mostly sand.
But in the course of my expe-
The cheapness of seed, being
next to nothing, greatly recom-
mends, to the poorer sort of peo-
ple, the culture of this corn.
For
it is often the case, that they are
scarcely able to procure other
seed for their ground. But this
they can often have gratis.
In our new settlements, border-rience, I have found pease and
ing on the wilderness, it seems to potatoes the most suitable crops
be of more importance than in oth- for the first year. In the second,
er places; because the stalks, it will be in good order for Indian
leaves and husks, being good fod- corn. This case, however, may
der, supply the new beginners with be peculiar to the northern parts
winter food for their cattle, before of New-England.
hay can be raised.
For this crop, it is certainly
Of all soils a clayey one may best to plough in the fall preced-
justly be accounted the worst kind ing; and again in the spring, just
for this crop.
A loamy soil is before planting. If the land be
best; or even sand, if it be not flat, and inclining to cold, it should
destitute of vegetable food, and lie in narrow ridges during the
manure sufficient is added. In the winter; and if it is naturally moist,
northern parts of New-England, it the corn should be planted on
is not worth while to plant this ridges; otherwise it should be
corn on clay. On any soil it re-ploughed plain in the spring.
quires much tillage and manure in Some recommend gathering
IND
217
IND
other.
seed corn before the time of har-ly from one kind of soil to an-
vest, being the ears that first ripen.
But I think it would be better to
mark them, and let them remain on
the stalks, till they become sapless.
Whenever they are taken in, they
should be hung up by the husks, in
a dry place, secure from early frost;
and they will be so hardened as to
be in no danger of injury from the
frost in winter.
I would not advise the farmer to
plant constantly his own seed; but
once in two or three years, to ex-
change seed with somebody at the
distance of a few miles. Change of
seed is doubtless a matter of im-
portance in most kinds of vegeta-
bles; though it has not yet been so
plainly discovered in this as in some
others. But let the farmer beware
of taking his seed from too great a
distance. If he should bring it, for
instance, a hundred miles from the
southward, his corn would fail of
ripening; if as far from the north,
he must expect a lighter crop ; and
in case of drought, the latter will
be more apt to suffer, as it has been
proved by experiment. A farmer
in the county of Bristol, took seed
from the county of Cumberland.
It came on well at first. But the
summer being pretty hot and dry,
it parched up, and produced next
to nothing, though the seed he had
taken from his own field turned out
very well.
And in the choosing of seed, some
regard should be had to the state of
the soil on which it is intended to
grow. If it be poor, or wanting in
warmth, the yellow sort with eight
rows will be most suitable, as it ri-
pens early. A better soil should
have a larger kind of seed, that the
crop may be greater, as it undoubt-
edly will.
If twenty loads of good manure
can be afforded for an acre, it
should be spread on the land and
ploughed in: If no more than half
of that quantity, it will be best to
put it in holes. In the former case,
the corn usually comes up better,
suffers less by drought, and worms;
and the land is left in better order
after the crop. In the latter case,
the plants are more assisted in their
growth, in proportion to the quan-
tity of manure. If the manure be
new dung, burying it under the fur-
rows is by far the better method.
None but old dung should be put
in the holes.
Let the ground be cut into exact
squares, by shoal furrows made with
a horse plough, from three to four
feet apart, according to the large-
ness or smallness of the sort of corn
to be planted. This furrowing is
easily done with one horse, and is
by no means lost labour,as the more
the ground is stirred, the more lux-
uriantly the corn will grow. If dung
is to be put in the angles where the
furrows cross each other, the fur-
rowing should be the deeper, that
the dung may not lie too light.
If the farmer cannot convenient-
ly obtain new seed; or if he be
loth to part with a sort that has ser-
ved him well, and choose rather to
use it than seed he has not tried;
let him, at least, shift seed from
one field to another, and especial-ground may be from the first to the
The right time of seeding the
28
218
IND
IND
third week in May; or a little soon-
er or later according to the dryness
of the soil, and the forwardness of
the spring. The farmers have a
rule in this case, said to be borrow-
ed from the aboriginals, which is, to
plant corn when the leaves of white
oak begin to appear. But so much
time is commonly taken up in plant-
ing this corn, it being tedious work
to dung it in holes, that it will be
necessary to begin in the driest part
of the field a little earlier than this
rule directs.
Shell the seed gently by hand,
that it may not be torn or bruised
at all, rejecting about an inch at
each end of the ear. And, if any
corns appear with black eyes, let
them also be rejected, not because
they will not grow at all the con-
trary being true; but because the
blackness indicates, either some
defect in drying, or want of perfec-
tion in the grain. Put five corns
in what is called a hill,and let them
not be very near together; for the
more the roots crowd each other,
the more they will prevent the
growth of each other. Four corns
would perhaps be a better number,
if it were certain they would all
prosper. The true reasons for put-
ting more than one in a place I take
to be, that by means of it, the rows
may be so far apart as to admit of
ploughing between them; and that
some labour in hand hoeing is sa-
ved, it being no more work to hoe
a hill with five plants,than with one
in it.
Some steep their seed. But in
general it had better be omitted;
for it will occasion it to perish in
the ground, if the weather should
not prove warm enough to bring it
up speedily. If planting a second
time should become necessary, by
means of the destruction of the first
seed; or if planting be delayed on
any account till the beginning of
June, then it will be proper that the
seed should have boiling water
poured on it. Let it not soak more
than half a minute, and be cooled
speedily, and planted before it
dries. The corn will be forward-
er in its growth by several days.
The seed should be covered with
about two inches of earth.
To prevent birds and vermin
from pulling up the corn,steep some
corn in a strong infusion of Indian
poke, or refuse tobacco, and scat-
ter it over the ground before the
corn is up. White threads stretch-
ed over a field of corn, will pre-
vent crows from alighting upon it:
But I doubt whether this will deter
any other birds.
A handful of ashes on each hill,
will nourish the plants, and have a
tendency to prevent their being an-
noyed by worms. Some lay it on
just before the first, or second hoe-
ing. It will have a better effect in
preventing worms, if laid on before
the corn is up. But it is common-
ly designed to answer chiefly as a
top dressing; and for this purpose
it would answer better near the
third hoeing; for then the plants
want the greatest degree of nour-
ishment, as they begin to grow very
rapidly. Two dressings with ash-
es, to answer the two purposes,
would not be amiss.
When the plants are three or
four inches high, the plough must
pass in the intervals, making two
IND
219
IND
furrows in each, turned from the,
rows; and then the weeds killed
with the hand hoe, and a little fresh
earth drawn about the plants. This
operation we call weeding.
In about half a month after,plough
again, but across the former fur-
rows, and turn the furrows towards
the rows. Then with the hand hoe
earth the corn as much as it will
well bear. This is called mould-
ing, or half-hilling.
When the plants are about knee
high, and before they send out their
panicles, or spindles, give them the
third and last hoeing.
The best
way at this hoeing is to plough one
furrow in an interval, both ways.
The cultivator with two mould-
boards would be better for this
work, than the common horse
plough, as it would throw the mould
equally towards each row,and save
labour in hand hoeing. The ground
would thus be cut into squares,and
the hills almost completely formed.
In finishing them, care should be
taken that they be not made too
high, or steep; that so they may
not divert the water, which falls in
rains, from the roots. When hills
are too much raised, they also pre-
vent the warm influence of the sun
upon the lowermost roots, by too
great a thickness of earth; in con-
sequence of which, the plants are
put to the exertion of sending out a
new set of roots, at a suitable dis-
tance from the surface.
Some think high hills are need-
ful to make the corn stand upright.
I never could perceive the advan-
tage of it.
But I am confident it
is oftener broken by winds when
the hills are uncommonly high,
which is a greater evil than its
leaning half way to the ground, if
indeed that be any evil at all,which
I think may be doubted.
The farmer, who wishes for a
large crop of this corn, should not
annoy it with running beans, or
pumpions; the former, by winding
round the stalks and ears, cramp
them in their growth,and sometimes
bend them down to the ground by
their weight; the latter, by their
luxuriant growth, rob the hills of
much vegetable food, and by their
thick shade, shut out the influence
of the sun from the roots of the
corn. So that they must needs be
very detrimental to its growth, and
ripening.
Instead of the common method
of planting, if your land be rich and
easy to till, and free from obstacles,
I should think it would be best to
plant the corn in the drill method,
the rows being of the same distance
as in the common way, placing the
corns about five or six inches asun-
der. I have found by experiment,
that a greater quantity of corn may
be produced in this method, than
in hills; and the labour is but lit-
tle, if at all increased. In a small
field, where the dung had been even-
ly spread, and ploughed in, I plant-
ed one row thus, the rest being in
the common way; and it yielded,
at harvest, one eighth part more
corn by measure than either of the
two nearest rows, the corn being
equally ripe and good.
Within a few years, and since
Mr. Deane's death his hints as to
planting corn in drills have been
tried and with great success. Mr.
Stevens, of New-York, raised 118
220
IND
IND
bushels on an acre. Mr. Ludlow,
of the same State, 98, and Mr.Hun-
newell, of Massachusetts, 111 in
the drill method. Mr. Stevens
planted double rows, only 8 inches
apart, and the seed in rows also 8
inches asunder, but planted diago-
nally so as that no one stalk should
be opposite to another. The dou-
ble rows were distant from each
other 5 feet. Mr. Ludlow plant-
ed in single rows, the grains at 8
inches apart in each row, and the
rows four feet apart. Mr. Steven's
land was much more highly ma-
nured.
When there is reason to appre-
hend that the ground will prove too
moist for this crop, it will be ad-
visable to plough it into narrow
ridges, and seed each ridge with
one or two rows, as shall be found
most convenient. Some of the
finest crops that I have known,have
been raised in this method.
When a season is at all wet, this
would be the best culture in almost
any soil, unless the very driest be
excepted.
on each side, so as to meet each
other, in the last year's interval :
Thus small ridges will be formed,
on which the rows should be plant-
ed. If dung be first spread over
the ground, the most of it will be
buried where it should be, in the
bottom of these ridges. At the time
of weeding,or at the second hoeing,
the remainders of the old hills may
be turned towards the new rows.
With such a mode of culture, land
could not soon be exhausted, even
by a successive cropping with
maize. Land which has before
been planted on ridges is as proper
for this management, as if it had
been planted in hills, or even more
proper. For the success of a me-
thod not very dissimilar to this, see
Experiment for raising Indian corn,
in the Memoirs of the American
Academy, by Joseph Greenleaf,
Esq.
-
Care should be taken that the
top stalks of the corn should not be
cut too early. Perhaps the best
possible rule is to examine wheth-
er the ears are pretty generally fil-
led out, and whether they are so
firm as to resist a light impression
of the finger nail. In that case,they
may be cut without injury, but
while in a growing state it is inex-
pedient to cut them.
There is a kind of ridging, which
would be very proper for this plant,
not only on account of drying the
soil, but that the land may have an
alternate resting, or fallowing, be-
tween the rows. In the common
method of plain ploughing, it com- We are certainly guilty of an er-
monly happens that a hill stands ror when we harvest this corn too
precisely in the place of a hill of early. The difference of early and
the preceding year. When this is late harvested corn may be seen by
the case, the plants will receive less the shrinking of corn in the former
nourishment than if the hill had had case. In drying, large spaces may
a new situation.
That each hill be left between the kernels on the
may always have this advantage, cob; but that which is well ripen-
let a ridge be formed by two fur-ed on the stalk, will shew no such
rows, turning part of a row of hills interstices. The corn will undoubt-
IND
221
IND
edly be growing better till the stalk
below the ear is perfectly sapless,
and the cob dry; receiving contin-
ual nourishment from the sap, un-
less the frost or some accident
should happen to prevent it. Squir-
rels and other animals drive peo-
ple to early harvesting; but there
is commonly more lost than saved
by it. When corn stands tolerably
safe from the attacks of tame and
wild animals, harvesting early is an
unpardonable error. See Harvest.
This plant is so luxuriant in its
growth that it impoverishes the soil
faster than almost any other crop.
Therefore it is not good husbandry
to plant it more than two years in
succession. It would be better still
to grow it but one year in the same
place.
European writers say, the land
should be ploughed as soon as the
crop is off, to prevent the stalks
from drawing the moisture out of
the ground. But the reason of this
is not so evident as to carry con-
viction, unless the steins are quite
in a green state. It is, however, a
good method to plough all fields in
tillage, as soon as the crop is off.
The following remarks on the
culture of this valuable vegetable
are extracted from a letter, written
by S. W. Pomeroy, Esq. to John
Lowell, Esq. Corresponding Secre-
tary of Massachusetts Agricultural
Society, and published in the Agri-
cultural Repository, vol. VI. No. 2.
"Indian corn forms the basis of
our bread stuff, and gives deserved
reputation to two great staples,
Beef and Pork; without corn you
get none of the latter;-and a far-
mer who has no pork in his tubs,
may be considered as fairly on the
road to ruin, as a Bank with its
vaults destitute of specie, for it is
well known that Ruta Baga, pota-
toes or carrots, alone, will not fatten
such pork as our farmers or fisher-
men have been accustomed to, or
that will be found profitable for
consumption."
"It is admitted, that on most
farms near sea-ports, where corn
and manure can be purchased, the
system of potatoe and root culture,
to the exclusion of corn, may be
found profitable; nor would I be
understood other than an advocate
for such a system, in a regular rota-
tion, upon an extensive sele; but
I wish at the same time to hold up
to view the GOLDEN FLEECE found
by our Pilgrim Fathers on their
first landing; and which, had it not
existed, or continued with their de-
scendants nearly a century after,
the fair inheritance we now possess,
in the opinion of many sound po-
litical economists, could not have
been transmitted to us."
"On suitable soils, well tilled and
manured, an average crop may be
estimated at forty bushels, weigh-
ing 2400 pounds of the most nutri-
tious substance to be found in the
vegetable kingdom, north of the
latitude of the sugar-cane-and
which can be preserved with ease,
for a number of years. You have
the fodder, which, if seasonably and
well cured, is, in the opinion of ju-
dicious farmers, equal to half a ton
of good hay-then comes three or
four tons of pumpkins, should the
season favour, fifty or an hundred
bushels of turnips-and, not unfre-
quently, a comfortable supply of
222
IND
IND
white beans! No wonder that plen-
ty of the necessaries of life are as
sure to follow large crops of corn
as effect succeeds cause in any de-
partment of physics !"
may be correctly called meal, mea-
dow and manure; it produces more
food for man, beast and the earth,
than any other farinaceous plant.
If the food it produces for the two
first was wasted, and men and
beasts should thence become poor
and perish, ought their poverty or
death to be ascribed to the plant
which produced the food, or to
those who wasted it? Is Indian
The writer combats the general
opinion that corn is an exhausting
crop, queries whether it is more so
than potatoes, and observes that
"Experience demonstrates that the
larger the crop of corn, the better
the succeeding crop; this was as-corn justly changeable with the im-
serted by Dr. Eliot, the father of poverishment of the earth, if the
New-England husbandry, in his food it provides for that is not ap-
Essays on Field Husbandry, pub- | plied?
lished in 1747; at which period it "Let us compare it with wheat.
appears that oats usually succeed- Suppose that the same land will
ed corn, and possibly, in some dis- produce as much grain of the one
tricts, such a murderous course has as of the other, which in its use
continued; and it is probable that will make equal returns to the
CORN, after supporting its allies,the earth. Here the equality ends, if
pumpkins,the beans and the turnips, indeed it exists even in this point.
from the provisions charged to its The corn stalks infinitely exceed
account, has to answer for the de- the wheat straw in bulk, weight,
teriorating effects of oats; the most and a capacity for making food for
inimical to grass of any plant that the earth. If any attentive man
can be named. Moreover, it will who converts both his stalks and
be recollected that formerly, the straw into manure, will compare
rich alluvial bottoms or intervals, the product in April, when he may
were planted with corn, without a distinguish one from the other, he
particle of manure, for a number of will find in the former a vast su-
years in succession, till the product periority in quantity. The Eng-
was considerably reduced ;—would lish farmers consider wheat straw
potatoes, or any root crop,with such as their most abundant resource
management have continued more for manure, and corn stalks are far
productive? and hence has not the more abundant; corn therefore is
reputation of corn materially suf- a less impoverishing, because a
fered?
more compensating crop to the
"We will next inquire what re-earth, credited only for its stalks
turn does corn make to the SOIL?
I cannot answer so well, as by quo-
ting from ARATOR.*
“Indian corn
* A series of Agricultural essays entitled
Arator by Col. John Taylor, of Carolina
County, Virginia. This work, though adapt-
than any in England. In compar-
ing crops to ascertain their relative
ed to the agriculture of that, and the adjoin-
ing states, will be found to contain valuable
practical information to the New-England
Farmer.
IND
223
IND
leaves of it, is to possess a treasure,
for which they are indebted to
their climate." "Planted in
squares or rows, so far asunder,
that all imaginable tillage may be
given between them; and the
ground thus cleaned and prepared
at the will of the farmer, is an in-
valuable circumstance; and finally
it is succeeded by wheat. Thus a
country, where soil and climate
admit the course of, 1st maize, 2nd.
wheat, is under a cultivation that,
perhaps, yields the most food for
inan and beast, that is possible to
be drawn from the land."
product, and operation on the
earth, we must contrast farinaceous
with each other; and con-
crops
sider the litter or offal they pro-
duce, not as wasted, but as judi-
ciously applied to the compensa-
tion of the land. At the threshold
of the comparison, corn exhibits a
return from the same land of more
offal, or litter in its stalks alone,
than wheat does altogether. But
to the stalks of corn its blades,
tops, husks and cobs remain to be
added, each of which will nearly
balance the litter bestowed on the
land by wheat. "The author con-
cludes his encomium upon Indian "The perfect culture and copi-
corn, with observing, that " as a ous manuring demanded by corn.
fallow crop it is unrivalled, if, as" Mr. Pomeroy maintains, instead
fallow crops aught constantly to do,
it receives the manure.'
"Arthur Young, who has given
such an impetus to rural economy,
and to root culture particularly, in
Great Britain; in his travels through
France in 1789, makes the follow-
ing remarks. "The line of maize
(corn) may be said to be the divi-
sion between the good husbandry
of the south, and the bad husban-
dry of the north of the kingdom,
till you meet with maize very rich
soils are fallowed, but never after;
perhaps it is the most important
plant that can be introduced into
the agriculture of any country,
whose climate will suit it. The
only good husbandry in the king-
dom, (some small rich districts ex-
cepted,) arises from the possession
and management of this plant. For
the inhabitants of a country to live
upon that plant, which is the pre-
paration for wheat, and at the same
time keep their cattle fat upon the
of being an objection to the culti-
vation is an argument in its favour;
and he contends "that should In-
dian corn be made the basis of an
extensive rotation system, with a
pointed attention to the manures,
which it has the capacity to in-
crease in a compound ratio, the
agriculture of Massachusetts may
not only approximate to that of
Great Britain, but with the en-
ergies such a system might be ex-
pected to elicit, equal it."
In speaking of his method of cul-
tivating corn Mr. Pomeroy says,
"Having a large bed of Beets
planted in narrow rows or drills, in
the usual way, and a severe drought
ensuing, the leaves were observed,
in the middle of the day to wilt and
fall down, in all but the out-side
rows, which remained erect and
flourishing; and when the crop
was taken up were nearly double
the size of those from the centre
of the bed! That a greater expos-
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224
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ure to the atmosphere was a prin- and cover them with manùre; a
cipal cause could not be doubted; furrow is then turned from each
and the idea immediately present-side so as to meet over the manure,
ed that if they had been cultivated a little labour with the hoe may be
on ridges so far apart as to permit required, to make all level and
a plough to pass, it would in effect, complete the planting; other fur-
be making the whole crop out-side- rows are turned up, and at the first
rows and for upwards of fifteen hoeing the baulk is cleared and
years since, all the arable crops the ridge completed. In the sub-
upon my farm have been cultivat- sequent culture the
plough ap-
ed on ridges with manifest advan- proaches only the sides of the
tage, as to product, labour and ridges, and continues deepening
the unquestionable improvement of the furrow between them. The
the soil. The ridges of beets, following spring the ridges are re-
carrots, parsnips, turnips and ruta-versed and placed directly over
baga are about two feet, cabbages
four, and corn and potatoes five
feet and an half apart.'
99
"But to return to the culture of
corn: in describing which that of
potatoes must necessarily be em-
braced; as I deem it wrong for two
crops of the same kind to succeed
each other, when it can well be a- |
voided; nevertheless, as potatoes
should be employed as the pioneers,
of a farm, and it is frequently the
case that cold moist or rough soils,
not suitable for corn, are found,
sufficient to be occupied by as ma-
ny potatoes as the farmer can well
manage, or may want under such
circumstances, the permitting two
crops of corn to follow on ridges
may be justifiable; whereas in the
common method it should be con-
sidered as unpardonable.
"If we begin the system with
sward land, it is broken up in the
autumn; harrowed fine in the
spring, and light furrows run out
five feet and an half apart: into
these furrows potatoes are dropped
from six to eight inches asunder,
according to size, the carts follow
those deep furrows. The manure
is turned in while the ridges are
forming; or by opening a furrow
on the top to receive it, with a pair
of oxen walking on each side, cov-
ered with hoes and the crop plant-
ed. If the land is in good heart,
and manure abundant, the kernels
may be six inches apart, or as ma-
ny dropped together as to insure
four stalks to remain two feet apart,
in which case the manure is depos-
ited conformably; either method
will give the same number of plants
to the acre
to the acre; I think four stalks to-
gether afford support to each other
against winds, and are not so apt to
send up suckers as when single, and
there may be some advantage by
concentrating the manure, in for-
warding the young plants during
the cold seasons which we fre-
quently have in June; still I have
not had sufficient experience to
determine which method is prefer-
able; if the land is stony, the last
will be found most convenient.
As soon as the plants appear, the
earth´is stirred about them with the
hand, and ashes at the same time
IND
225
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strewed on, in the proportion of a [ the former state of which they had
handful to four plants, the cultiva- well known to make it produce
tion proceeds similar to that de- such a second crop of clover, in
scribed for the potatoes--the such a season of drought that
ploughing continues as often and theirs was dried up, and on land
as long as you please, without dis- naturally more moist, which they
turbing the roots of the corn, or considered stronger, and had been
breaking it down, deepening the well cultivated and highly manur-
soil and turning up the dead earth ed? They were told in reply, that
to the sides of the ridges, which 'the land was under the sixth
checks the growth of weeds great- course of rotation, viz. :-1. po-
ly; and if the crop is at first tho- tatoes; 2. corn; 3. carrots and
roughly hand-weeded, they will beets; 4. corn; 5. spring wheat,
give but little trouble afterwards. of which it carried thirty bushels
It has not been in my power to of 59 lbs.; 6. clover, first crop,
make a comparison with a crop two tons and an half; second the
cultivated in the common method, same season, and which had at-
but I have had several foremen tracted their notice, about one ton
since ridging has been practised on to the acre.' That it had from
the farm, who were at first preju- 16 to 20 lbs. of clover, and half a
diced against it, but were soon bushel of herds'-grass seed to an
convinced of its utility; and none acre; one half ploughed in with
of them have estimated the in- the wheat, and the remainder sown
crease of product, with the same on the furrow, harrowed in and
quantity of manure, at less than well rolled and further, that no
one fifth, and the saving of labour stock were suffered to graze upon
full as much.
it. It should also be stated, that
a heavy crop of herds'-grass was
produced the last season, and that
it gives promise of another;-that
the soil is a deep sandy loam,
known to many farmers by the
name fox-coloured earth, and
which some of them are too fearful
of turning up; that when first cul-
tivated in the common method,
which was some years previous to
the present rotation, it did not
"About fifteen months since, 1 shew two inches of brown soil, or
was applied to severally, by two vegetable mould, and had been
respectable farmers, from an ad- considered as poor pasture.
joining town, who are considered I would observe, that had the land
as judicious and as thrifty, as any been longer under previous culti-
in the county of Norfolk, to be in-vation, the third and fourth courses
formed how I had managed a piece, might have been omitted, and the
"It is probable that on rich
soils with plenty of manure, larger
crops may be obtained by making
the ridges much nearer, but the
labour will be more, and the ad-
vantage of uncommon deep cul-
ture without extra expense must
be abandoned; the importance of
such culture to the succeeding
crops may be illustrated by the
following relation.
And
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rotation thereby shortened two
years.
""
Mr. Pomeroy recommends the
following preparation of SEED CORN
for "protecting it against squirrels
and other vermin."
"
The difference was very visible
between the corn, which had ashes,
and that which had none. No
plough was suffered among it after
an early half-hilling; nor had it
any hoeing except to destroy the
worst of the weeds, and to stir in
the turnip seed, which was sown
amongst it. One acre produced
784 bushels of corn when shelled.
The seed of this corn was present-
ed to Mr. Hunnewell by Samuel
Blagge, Esq. of Boston, who had
thersfield, Vermont, and is the
same sort, we believe, which has
been advertised in the newspapers
as the Dutton-corn.
"Take equal parts of tar and
train oil, simmer them together
and turn over the corn; then sift
on ashes, lime, or plaster, stirring
it, till each kernel has taken up as
much as will permit its being con-
veniently handled.” He like-
wise thinks it probable that wal-it of William Jarvis, Esq. of Wea-
nuts, acorns, chesnuts, &c. thus
prepared for planting would be
protected; "the destruction of
which by squirrels, has very much
retarded plantations of those va-
luable trees. The Farmer's As-
sistant say, that when seed corn is
prepared with tar, "it is neces-out at a distance of four feet, leav-
sary first to soak it sufficient to
make it vegetate; as without this
the coat of tar will keep out the
moisture, and prevent the seed
from sprouting."
The Massachusetts Agricultural
Repository, p. 241, contains a
statement of the production of one
acre of land cultivated by Jona-
than Hunnewell, Esq. and the
manner of its cultivation. By this
it appears that the field was an old
pasture; that it was ploughed in
the fall of 1818, cross ploughed in
the spring of 1819, and planted
with corn in hills in the common
form, but well manured in the hill
with a mixture of horse hung, lime
and ashes; when the corn was fit
for weeding, it was ashed by put-
ting about half a pint of unleached
ashes to each hill; a part, how-
ever, was left without any ashes.
In 1820 the same ground was
planted again, after a fall and
spring ploughing. It was furrowed
ing each furrow one foot wide.
The furrows were well manured
with a mixture of horse-dung, lime,
ashes, and dock-mud. The seed
raised the last year was planted in
the drill on each furrow, making
three rows to each furrow. Care was
taken to drop the corn as near six
inches apart as possible without
waiting time. The cultivation
similar to that of the preceding
year. The corn when ripe, ap-
peared on the 13th of October as
though some pains had been to
strip it of the husks; but it is the
nature of this corn to husk itself in
the field. In good seasons it re-
quires but ninety days to ripen.
The product of one acre of this
corn was one hundred and eleven
bushels. Mr. Hunnewell received
a premium from the Massachusetts
Agricultural Society for this last
mentioned crop.
INO
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INO
Oliver Fiske, Esq. of Worces |
ter, Massachusetts, has ascertained
by an experiment detailed in the
Massachusetts Agricultural Repo-
sitory, vol. VI. p. 244, that corn
planted in rows produces more
than when planted in hills, and re-
ceived a premium for his experi-
ment.
INOCULATING, OR BUD-
DING, inserting a bud so that it
will live and grow, in the side of
the trunk, or limb of a tree. It
answers the same end as grafting.
Mr. Miller says, "This is com-
monly practised upon all sorts of
stone fruit in particular, such as
peaches, nectarines, cherries,
plums, &c. as also upon oranges
and jasmines, and is preferable to
any sort of grafting. The method
of performing it is as follows: You
must be provided with a sharp
penknife, having a flat haft (the
use of which is to raise the bark
of the stalk to admit the bud) and
soine sound bass mat, which should
be soaked in water, to increase its
strength, and make it more plia-
ble; then having taken off the
cuttings of the trees you are to
propagate, you should choose a
smooth part of the stock about five
or six inches above the surface of
the ground, if designed for dwarfs;
but if for standards, they should be
budded six feet above ground;
then with your knife make a hori-
zontal cut cross the rind of the
stock, and from the middle of that
cut make a slit downwards about
two inches in length, so that it
may be in the form of T; but
you must be careful not to cut too
deep, lest you wound the stock.
Then having cut off the leaf from
the bud, leaving the foot stock re-
maining, you should make a cross
cut about half an inch below the
eye, and with, your knife slit off
the bud, with part of the wood to it.
This done, you must with your knife
pull off that part of the wood
which was taken with the bud, ob-
serving whether the eye of the
bud be left to it or not (for all
those buds which lose their eyes
in stripping should be thrown
away, being good for nothing.)
Then having gently raised the
bark of the stock where the cross
incision was made, with the flat
haft of your penknife, cleave the
bark from the wood, and thrust
the bud therein, observing to place
it smooth between the rind and
the wood of the stock, cutting off
any part of the rind belonging to
the bud, which may be too long
for the slit made in the stock :
And so having exactly fitted the
bud to the stock, you must tie
them closely round with bass mat,
beginning at the under part of the
slit, and so proceed to the top,
taking care that you do not bind
round the eye of the bud, which
should be left open.
"When your buds have been
inoculated three weeks or a month,
you will see which of them have
taken; those of them which ap-
pear shrivelled and black being
dead, but those which remain fresh
and plump you may depend are
joined. At this time you should
loosen the bandage, which, if not
done in time, will pinch the stock,
and greatly injure, if not destroy,
the bud.
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insects, for instance one of the lo-
custs, it is ascertained, lie in the
chrysalis state, exactly sixteen
years-but why such insects as the
grasshopper, which never quits us,
should sometimes over-abound so
as to endanger the subsistence of
man, is not understood. It is mat-
ter of regret, that no method has yet
been discovered of checking this
"The March following" (per-
haps April in this country) "you
must cut off the stock close to the
bud, sloping it that the wet inay
pass off, and not enter the stock.
To this part of the stock, left above
the bud, it is very proper to fasten
the shoot which the bud makes in
summer, to secure it from being
blown out; but this part of the stock
must continue on no longer than un-insect. The letting in of troops of
til the bud has acquired strength to
support itself,after which it must be
cut off close above the bud that the
stock may be covered thereby.
turkies and chickens to the field is,
to be sure, a palliative: But, it is
obvious that it cannot be exten-
sively practised. The poultry,
themselves, do great mischief to the
crop, and the support of them, in
great numbers throughout the year,
might be fairly set against the be-
"The time for inoculating is
from the middle of June to the mid-
dle of September, according to the
forwardness of the season, and the
particular sorts of trees to be ino-nefit they might do.
culated, which may be easily
known by trying the buds, whether
they will come off well from the
wood. But the most general rule
is, when you observe the buds for-
med at the extremity of the same
year's shoots, which is a sign of
their having finished their spring
growth." Gardener's Dict.
INSECT. We shall only be
able to notice a few of those insects,
which are more injurious than oth
ers to the labours, and often fatal to
the hopes of the husbandman, with
the intimation of such remedies as
have been found most effectual.
The
Curculio, a small bug, which per-
forates the young fruit of the pear,
apple, and all stone fruits, and de-
posits its eggs within them. There
are several sorts of them.
eggs soon hatch, and a small mag-
got is produced, which feeds either
on the pulp, or on the kernel of the
seed, for the tastes and habits of the
various species are very different.
In the stone fruits this injury de
stroys their growth, and they fall,
with their little enemy within them,
who soon seeks shelter in the ground,
where he passes the winter in the
chrysalis state, and comes forth,
The Grasshopper is one of the just as the young fruit is forming,or
most constant annoyers of the far- as the petals of the flowers are fal-
mer. In all years it is found in ling, to renew the work of destruc-
greater or less numbers. In hot tion. As this is a winged insect,
and dry seasons it seems to multi- and probably flies with ease, for he
ply more rapidly, and occasionally is never caught, like the canker-
it lays waste whole tracts of coun-worm, ascending the trunk,it would
try. The causes of the varieties in seem that most of the remedies
their numbers is unknown. Some proposed in agricultural works
1
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must be ineffectual, as they are ir-
rational. Tying therefore, a bag
of salt on the tree, or surrounding
it with grease and blubber, can
have no effect, except so far as the
effluvia might operate to deter the
insect. In that view pieces of shin-
gles, covered with moist tar, sus-
pended in many places, on the ex-
terior limbs might be more effec-
tual. We think, however, very
lightly of all these remedies. If
the Curculio is to be extirpated or
checked, we think it must be in the
ground. It is ascertained that
pavements will check them. It is
said that tanners' spent bark will
do it, and this is now in a course
of experiments. It certainly ac-
cords better with the history of the
insect, and is more rational. Any
substance, which will check the de-
scent, or ascent, will occasion their
destruction.
We must enter our protest against
all projects of boring holes into
trees, and filling them with mercu-
ry, or mercurial preparations, or
any other substance, as preventa-
tives against the Curculio, the Ap-
his, and as some say, all insects.
This is too empyrical, and there is
too much nonsense already in the
world to attempt to increase it.
Aphis. Plant or Tree Lice. Al-
most every plant has a species of
this insect peculiar to itself. Its
powers of reproduction are almost
infinite, and more rapid than can
well be imagined. It is pernicious
to cabbages, Swedish turnips, and
to many trees and shrubs. In green-
houses they are readily destroyed
by the smoke of tobacco, or of sul-
phur. But in the open air, fumi-
gation, though much in vogue many
years since, is of no avail.
The
best remedy is the simplest. Soap
suds, forcibly applied, will, after
one or two applications effectually
destroy them, without apparent in-
| jury to the plants.
The cut worm, an insect so
called, is an ash coloured worm,
with a stripe almost black upon
its back. At its full growth, it
is about the bigness of a goose
quill, and an inch and a quarter in
length. The greatest mischief that
they commonly do, is to young cab-
bages, cauliflowers, &c. They nev-
er choose to appear on the surface
in the day time; but keep tem-
selves buried about an inch or two
beneath it. In the night they come
up, eat off the stems of the young
plants, and again bury themselves
in the soil, often attempting to
draw in the plants after them.
They sometimes destroy other
vegetables. I have known them to
cut off great part of a field of Indian
corn, before the first hoeing: But
this is not a common case.
They begin to devour in May,
and cease in June.
I once prevented their depreda-
tions in my garden, by manuring
the soil with sea mud, newly taken
from the flats. The plants gener-
ally escaped, though every one was
cut off in a spot of ground that lies
contiguous. From the success of
this experiment I conclude, that salt
is very offensive, or pernicious to
them. Lime and ashes in some
measure prevent their doing mis-
chief; but sea water, salt, or brine,
would be more effectual antidotes.
The most effectual and not a labo-
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rious remedy even in field culture,
is to go round every morning and
open the earth at the foot of the
plant, and you will never fail to find
the worm at the root within four
inches. Kill him and you will save
not only the other plants of your
field, but probably many thousands
in future years.
plants in some measure, by encir
cling them with rock weed. But
nothing that I have tried has proved
so effectual, as sifting, or sprinkling
powdered soot upon the plants,
when the morning dew remains on
them. This forms a bitter cover-
ing for the plants, which the bugs
cannot endure the taste of. Per-
haps watering the plants with some
bitter infusion might equally pre-
serve them, if it were often repeat-
ed. I prefer soot, as I know by
experience that once sprinkling
with it will answer the end, unless
it happen to be washed off by rain.
When this happens, the sooting
should be repeated; lime and
Top worms, or spindle worms, a
white worm, resembling a grub,
found in the hose, or socket, of a
plant of maize, which eats off the
stem of the plant, and renders it un-
fruitful. When its excrements ap-
pear on the leaves, it may be known
that a worm is in the socket. They
are most commonly found in places
that are rich and dungy, particular-washes will answer as well.
ly in corn that grows near to barns; The turnip fly, a well known
but they will sometimes prevail winged insect, which eats the seed
through whole fields. Sprinkling leaves of turnips, before the first
the corn, when they begin to eat, rough leaf appears. Their ravages
with a weak lie of wood ashes will are so general, and of such conse-
effectually destroy them. So I sup-quence, that the ingenious have at-
pose, would almost any bitter infu-
sion; but of this I have made no
trial.
The striped bug, or yellow fly, is
a small four winged insect, the out-
ward wings of which are striped
with yellow and black. They eat
and destroy the young plants of cu-
cumbers, melons, squashes and
pumpions. They begin to eat while
the plants are in seed leaf; and,
unless they are opposed, will total-
ly destroy them, especially in a dry
season.
tended to the matter, and explored
many methods, both preventive and
remedial, to oppose them.
One of the preventive methods
is, making the ground so rich that
the plants will grow rapidly, and
continue but for a short time in the
seed leaf; for, after the evolution
of rough leaves, the plants are al-
most or quite out of danger of this
insect.
It is also recommended, to pass
a roller over the ground, as soon as
the seed is sown. This not only
These insects may be consider-prevents the too sudden escape of
ably thinned, by killing them in a the moisture in the surface, and
dewy morning, when they have not causes the plants to rise sooner and
the free use of their wings, and more vigorously; but fills up or clo-
cannot well escape.
ses ten thousand little interstices in
the surface, which serve the insects
I have sometimes defended the
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231
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as places of retreat. The conse-
quence is, either that they are de-
stroyed by rains, driven away by
winds and storms, or stiffened with
the dews of the coldest nights.
Mr. Tull thought it best that the
seed should be buried at different
depths in the soil, and says,as they
will come up at different times, ei-
ther the first or the last will proba-
bly escape the fly. He according-
ly constructed his turnip drill in
such a manner as to bury the seed
at different depths.
The same thing in effect may be
done in the broad cast way of sow-
ing. The ground may be harrow-
ed with a common harrow with iron
teeth; then half the seed sowed,
and the ground smoothed with a
bush harrow and rolled; then the
other half sowed, and bushed in, or
raked. After which the roller
should be again passed over the
surface.
Some writers on this subject are
confident that the best method is,
to sow the seed very thick, equal
to double the usual quantity of
seed, that when the flies have eat-
en all they can, there may be a suf-
ficient number of plants remaining
to insure a good crop. Another
project is sowing a mixture of old
and new seed, as the latter is known
to come up sooner than the former,
one or other of which may happen
to escape.
After the turnips are up, if the
flies appear in plenty, it is advisa-
ble to pass a smooth roller over
them. If the roller be drawn care-
fully by hand, or even by a horse,
turning the roller about on the head
lands only, the operation may be
performed without hurting the tur-
nips; and the flies will mostly be
crushed by the roller. This oper-
ation should be performed in a
dewy morning, when the flies are
so stiff that they cannot make their
escape.
Or, instead of this, I am confident
that the sifting of soot over the tur-
nip ground in a dewy morning will
be effectual; at the same time that
it will answer as a slight top dres-
sing, and increase the growth of the
plants.
Some writers assert, that only
drawing a green bush of elder over
the young plants will save them
from the fly. I think it may have
some tendency towards it; but I
have never made the experiment.
An infusion of elder, applied by
sprinkling, would probably have a
greater effect. But I should ex-
pect more from an infusion of to-
bacco.
Some set plants of tobacco thinly
in their turnip ground, thinking that
the scent of them does something
towards repelling the fly. I have
no objection to this, excepting that
a much richer ground is requisite
for tobacco than for turnips, in our
climate. See Turnip.
The red worm is another enemy
to the farmer. This insect is slen-
der, and usually about an inch long,
with a hard coat, and a pointed
head. It eats off wheat, barley and
oats, above the crown of the roots.
It perforates,or bores quite through
bulbous roots, turnips, potatoes,&c.
My turnips, for several years, which
were sown in the spring, have been
thus almost ruined, though on a soil
that suited them. When a turnip
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is once wounded by them, it grows | chusetts Agricultural Repository,
no bigger, unless it be in ill shapes, vol. IV. p. 353, observes, "I am
and hard excrescences,and becomes persuaded, from experience, that
totally unfit for the table. As to sea sand, put under corn or pota-
potatoes, I have seldom known toes with manure or spread on the
them do much hurt, unless when land, will go far, if not wholly to
they were planted in a soil that did the total destruction of those de-
not suit them, particularly in a clay. structive worms, on which nothing
It is easier to say what will not stop else seems to have any effect. It
those borers, than what will do it. has a beneficial effect spread on
I have manured with sea mud; ap- land before ploughing, or even
plied dried salt to the soil after the after land is planted with corn or
plants were up; mingled dry salt potatoes, not only to destroy the
with the seed when it was sowed; wire worm and other insects, but
steeped the seeds in brine before to increase the crop. With my
sowing, and coated them with sul- neighbours a load of sea-sand is
phur; but all in vain.
considered preferable to a load of
the best manure, to mix in with
their common barn manure, or to
spread on their gardens and low
flat land.”
I suppose the burning of a stub-
ble as it stands would destroy all the
worms that happened to be very
near to the surface. A certain En-
glish writer thinks that a perfect
summer fallow would destroy them,
partly by exposing some of them
to the heat of the sun at each
ploughing, and partly by depriving
them of food.
Probably sea-mud, or sea-water
would have good effects as pre-
servatives against these and other
insects.
The garden flea is a minute fly
that eats cabbages, and other plants
of the brassica kind, while they
are in seed leaf. They are of a
very dark colour, or nearly black.
I should think ploughing late in
autumn might destroy many of
them, by exposing them to the most
violent action of the frost. Or in
I once applied some clefts of
a garden throwing up the soil in the stems of green elder to some
ridges with the spade, so to lie du- drills of young cabbages, which
ring the winter, would have a good this fly had begun to eat, and could
effect. Liming plentifully, if it not find that they eat any after-
could be afforded, I should rely up- wards. But as I made this trial
on as a most effectual antidote to but once, 1 dare not positively
this, and several other kinds of in-assert its efficacy. I would hearti-
sects. The Complete Farmer men-ly recommend the trial of bitter
tions lime and soot as good anti-steeps to gardeners who are trou-
dotes to this insect in particular..
Red Worm, or Wire Worm. Mr.
William Moody of Saco, (Maine)
in a communication to Hon. Josiah
Quincy, published in the Massa-
bled with this insect. They are
earlier in gardens than any other
insect; and I have never known
them fail to appear in a dry spring.
Maggots. I have often found
INS
233
INS
a white maggot, of the shape and | The farmers who are remote from
size of those in cheese, preying the sea cannot apply the sea-water
upon the roots of young cabbages, to their cabbages, without too
turnips, and radishes. My ra- much expense of carriage. But
dishes, when sown early, seldom they can afford to water their
escape; those that are sown in plants with a brine of equal salt-
June mostly prosper.
ness. I wish them to make the
experiment, not only on cabbages,
but on radishes, &c. It is safe
to apply salt-water in a wet sea-
son, or just after a rain.
The Hessian fly, so called, is an
insect that is pernicious to wheat,
while it is growing. It made its
appearance in the time of the late
war, in the vicinity of New-York,
and is supposed to have been im-
ported with the German troops.
From thence it has spread into
Connecticut and New-Jersey, lay-
A person in my neighbourhood,
who has often been defeated by
these insects, in his attempts to
raise cabbages, declares, that last
spring, as usual, the maggots at-
tacked his cabbages before he
transplanted them; and that, hav-
ing a scarcity of plants, he trans-
planted, on the same spot where
they used to fail, some which had
maggots in their roots among sound
plants: That as soon as he had
done transplanting, he watered
them plentifully with sea-watering waste whole fields in its course.
That the watering was not repeat-
ed; but the maggots did no da-
mage at all; and that his crop was
very large and good. Some that
were left without watering were
destroyed, as before, by the mag-
gots.
A more formidable insect has
scarcely ever appeared in the
country.
But against this enemy it seems
an easy antidote has been already
discovered. A letter, signed D.
Wadsworth, which has lately been
published in the newspapers, com-
municates a method of prevent-
ing its depredations, which the
writer says has seen used with
effect. It is only steeping the seed
before sowing for twelve hours in
a strong infusion of the leaves of
I have since tried this experi-
ment, with a good effect. Very
few of the cabbages were touched
by the maggots. But I find there
is danger in applying the sea-water
plentifully, unless it be in a wet
season. The plants are in danger,
when the ground is dry, of imbib-elder.
ing too much of the salt. In this
case their growth is greatly ob-
structed.
Though I have conceived that
it would kill all sorts of plants, to
pour sea-water upon them, the
cabbage, having an oily surface to
which water does not easily ad-
here, is perhaps an exception.
30
In the latest edition of Dr.
Morse's Geography, there is an ac-
count, that yellow-bearded wheat,
sown late in autumn, escaped the
Hessian fly.
The Hessian fly, although for-
merly supposed to be of German
origin, is, we believe, not known
in Germany, nor any other part of
Europe.
234
INS
INS
7
hours. Grain may be cleared of
them by sifting, in a sieve so made
that the insects will pass through,
and the grain stay behind. Sprink-
The timber worms should also
The palmer worm, a wanderer,
as its name signifies. This is a
small worm, about half an inch in
length, with many legs, and ex-
tremely nimble. It appears at dif-ling wheat with lime in the bin,
ferent times in different parts of which may be afterwards winnowed
the country. I have seen them out; making bins of Lombardy
only on apple trees and oak trees, poplar, and sprinkling salt among
in any great abundance. They the sheaves before threshing, have
give trees the same appearance been recommended.
that the canker worm does. They
appeared in the county of Cumbe mentioned. These are of two
berland in the year 1791, about
the middle of June, eating off the
covering of the leaves on both
sides, and leaving the membranous
part entire. The following year
there was none to be seen; and I
have not known them in any place
two years in succession. The
seeds of them may be constant,
wanting only a particular state of
the weather to produce them.
The spring which preceded their
appearance had been remarkably
dry, both in April and May. The
history of this insect is so little
known, that I will not undertake
to say how they may be success-
fully opposed. I made smokes
under the fruit trees, without any
apparent effect. As they let them-
selves down by threads, they may
be thinned by shaking the trees,
and striking off the threads. Their
ravages had not any lasting effect:
For the orchards that had been
visited by them bore plentifully
the following year.
Weevil, an insect injurious to
corn in granaries. Shutting up an
apartment and filling it with the
smoke of burning sulphur will de-
stroy them. But the smoke should
be continued as much as twelve
kinds. The smaller kind eats only
the sappy parts of the wood, turn-
ing it to what is vulgarly called
powder post. To prevent damage
from this insect, nothing more is
necessary than to fell the timber
in December or January, in which
month it is sure to be freest from
sap. When it is necessary to fell
trees that are full of sap, some-
thing should be done to divest it
of the sap, or alter the quality of
this juice. Soaking it, even in
fresh water, will be of some ser-
vice. But in salt-water, soaking
will be quite effectual, against most
kinds of worms.
The large boring worm is far
more mischievous than the one I
have mentioned; and no season of
felling secures timber wholly from
this insect. They make the great-
est havock in pine. They are
hatched in the cavities of the bark,
and being small when they enter
the wood, they grow larger as they
proceed, till their boring may be
heard, like the cutting of an augur,
to a considerable distance. They
proceed to eat the wood in every
direction, till they become as large
as one's finger, or till the juice of
the wood, being altered, is unfit to
nourish them any longer.
INS
235
INS
Steeping the wood seasonably
in salt-water destroys the worms,
or prevents their entering the
wood. If the trees be scorched
in a light flame, before they have
entered too far, the effect will be
the same.
To prevent and cure worms in
timber, Mr. Evelyn recommends
the following, as much approved.
"Put common sulphur into a cu-
curbit, with as much aquafortis as
will cover it three fingers deep;
distil it to a dryness, which is per-
formed by two or three rectifica-
tions. Lay the sulphur that re-
mains at bottom on a marble, or
put it in a glass, and it will dissolve
into an oil; with this oil anoint the
timber which is infected with
worms."
Besides the destructive insects
which appear more or less every
year, there appear sometimes for-
midable swarms, or armies of
worms, which suffer scarcely any
green thing to escape them. They
overran many parts of the county
of Cumberland, in the year 1770,
rather before the middle of July,
to the extreme consternation, as
well as the great injury of the in-
habitants. They stripped the corn
and grass of the leaves, leaving
only the bare stems, and those de-
prived of their sap. They were
extremely voracious; and appear-
ing to be in the utmost haste, they
all moved in the same direction.
They suffered nothing that they
could climb upon to stop their
course. They crawled over houses,
and all other buildings, unless when
they found a door, window, or
chink in their course, where they
could enter. Whether they pass-
ed in this manner over the plants
they destroyed I did not take no-
tice.
Between twenty and thirty years
ago the same dreadful insect ap-
peared in the county of Essex;
and between 1770 and 1780, in
some places in the territory of
Vermont.
The only ways of opposing their
ravages that have been used, are,
either to mow a field of grass, whe-
ther it were fully grown, and fit to
cut, or not; or, to fence, agains
them with narrow trenches, made
perpendicular, or rather hanging
over, on the side next to the field.
Many fields of corn have been thus
saved; and bushels of the worms
being unable to climb such crum-
bling walls died in the trenches.
If their history were attended
to, perhaps it would be found they
have stated periods.
It is not sufficient for the farmer
to defend his vegetables against
insects. There are insects also
that annoy and hurt his animals.
Lice are often found on colts,
and on neat cattle, especially on
yearlings in the spring. When
these animals become poor, they
most commonly grow lousy, which
makes them still poorer. Possibly
it may be owing to an obstruction
of perspiration. For there are
doubtless many oily particles in
the effluvium of healthy cattle, and
oil is an antidote to this insect.
Oiling their skins will clear them
of lice; so will a strong infusion of
tobacco. But when they are
cured, better feeding is the best
preservative from the return of the
insects.
236
KAL
INT
The tick, or tike, is the sheep | most commonly sand, with a large
lonse. When these insects become mixture of the finest vegetable
numerous, they are very hurtful mould; and much of it is made,
to the sheep. In England the far-from time to time, by the shifting
mer smears the sheep, after shear- of the channels of rivers.
ing, with a mixture of butter and This sort of land has generally
tar. This fortifies them against be- been prized highly in this country.
ing injured, either by the weather, But in some places it has become
or by insects. But at any time, less fruitful of late than formerly.
oil, or tobacco, will destroy the The reason of this alteration most
ticks. A worm has of late years, probably is, that the floods are not
near Boston, proved fatal to the so great as formerly, or that they
apple tree, quince tree, and moun- subside quicker; owing to the more
tain ash. It is a borer which sub-cultivated state of the country, and
sists in the sap-wood or alburnum. a quicker evaporation of the wa-
It can only be killed, and the ters.
trees saved, by cutting them out
in the month of May by a gouging
chissel. Thousands of trees have
been saved by this expedient.
INTERVAL, the space between
two places, or things. The word is
used in husbandry to denote the
space between rows of corn, or
other vegetables; especially in
the horse hoeing husbandry.
K.
KALE, Colewort, an excellent
potherb, early, and of quick growth,
which ought to be cultivated in this
country.
Sea Kale. A plant introduced
within forty years in Great Britain.
It is theCrambe Maritima. Its leaves
blanched by having the earth heap-
ed round them, are as delicious and
much resemble the Cauliflower.
For further description, see the
Massachusetts Agricultural Socie-
ty's Journal of June, 1822.
By interval, also, and more
usually in this country, is under-
stood. land on the border of a river.
Interval land is commonly so high
and dry as to be fit for tillage; and
yet always so low as to be fre- KALENDAR, an account of
quently overflowed by the swel- time. That great naturalist,
ling of rivers, especially in the Linnæus, did not approve of far-
spring. On some of these lands mers' confining themselves to cer-
the water often continues so late in tain set days, or weeks, for commit-
the spring that they cannot be ting their seeds to the earth. The
seeded till June. But the in-seasons are much forwarder in some
creased fruitfulness of the soil years than in others. Therefore,
seems to more than make up for he, who thus governs himself, will
this delay. For when the waters assuredly sow his annual seeds
subside, they leave a fat slime upon sometimes too early,and sometimes
the soil, most friendly to vegeta- too late.
tion.
The soil on these intervals is
That a better practice might be
introduced, he recommended it to
KAL
237
KAL

his countrymen to take notice at] to attend to; that so those who re-
what times the trees unfold their move from one degree of latitude
leaves. Nature is so uniform in to another, may not be confounded
her operations, that the forward- concerning the true times of sow-
ness of trees is an unfailing indica- ing, on supposition that they have
tion of the forwardness of the spring. been once in the right practice.
And the genial warmth, which cau- The right in one place will be
ses trees and shrubs to put forth wrong in another.
their leaves, will be sufficient to
cause seeds to vegetate.
In order to reduce to practice so
ingenious a hint, an account should
be made out of the first leafing, and
I may add, the blossoming of a va-
riety of trees and shrubs. I suppose
trees and shrubs to be most suita-
ble for this purpose, as they are
more deeply rooted, and therefore
more steady and uniform in their
appearances, than any plants which |
are perennial only in their roots.
They are especially much more so
than annuals.
It is certain that such an account
taken in one place will not answer
alike for every part of the country;
because the vegetation in every
part is not equally forward. There-
fore, I would earnestly recommend,
that in each degree of latitude,
throughout New-England at least,
some attentive naturalist would
make a list of a considerable num-
ber of trees and shrubs, which are
common, and near at hand; care-
fully watch their appearances, and
minute the times of the first open-
ing of their leaves, and also of their
blossoming. By comparing the
accounts, the absurdity will imme-
diately appear, of sowing the same
kind of seeds at the same time of
the month or year, in the 42d, 43d,
44th, and 45th degrees of latitude.
This is a matter that farmers ought
When these accounts are obtain-
ed, let trials be made by sowing a
certain kind of seed before, at, and
after the foliation, or the flowering,
of some particular plant, and the
produce compared. Let accurate
experiments of this kind be yearly
repeated, with all the most useful
spring plants; by this, in a few
years, complete kalendars may be
obtained for every degree of lati-
tude in this country. The conse-
quence will be, that the farmer will
be able_infallibly to read the true
times of sowing, by casting his eye
upon the trees and shrubs that are
about him. We have already such
a rule as this, with respect to Indi-
an corn; but it perhaps ought to
undergo a further examination.
But such rules, after all that can
be done, must not govern us inva-
riably. The right times of seeding
admit of some latitude, on account
of the degree of dryness of the soil,
and of its exposure to the solar
warmth.
Land should have the
right degree of moisture when
seeds are sown on it; and a south-
ern exposure will afford an earlier
vegetation than a northern.
That I may set an example of
what I have been recommending,
and begin the needful work, here
follows an account of the leafing
and blossoming of trees and shrubs
in that part of New-England which
238
KAL
KIT
in the spring of the year 1789.
Leafing
Gooseberry, April 16
English Willow, 28
Wild red Cherry, 29
Lilac,
30
Currant,
May 1
Alder,
5
Apple Tree,
6
Thorn Bush,
Blossoming.
May 12
19
lies in the 44th degree of latitude, | flat land, which has never been
ploughed. It indicates a cold soil.
But I mention it in a work of
this kind, on account of its poison-
ous quality. Sheep and goats, es-
pecially young lambs and kids, will
eat it, when compelled by hunger,
by which they sicken and die. The
way to cure them of this sickness,
is drenching them repeatedly with
milk, mixed with oil, or fresh but-
ter. Or, a tea of rue, given in sea-
son, may have the same good ef-
fect.
White Birch,
White Maple,
Beech,
Plum Tree,
Hazle, -
7
8
· 9
10
• 12
- 14
Elm, -
15
Summer Pear,
17
Wheat Plum,
Common red Cherry, 19
Damascene Plum,
Grey Oak,
White Oak,
20
23
-
9
25
31
20
22
This plan of keeping a kalendar
of the flowering of plants, has been
followed up for many years by a
Roxbury farmer, aud it is much to
be desired that in all parts of our
country,gentlemen would keep and
regularly publish such a record.
KID, the young of a goat. See
Goat.
KILN, a fabric for admitting heat,.
to dry or burn various things. Malt
19 is dried on a kiln. Another sort of
kilns is used for the burning of lime
stone. A lime kiln should be con-
structed of a sort of stones which
will endure the fire. But if such
cannot be easily obtained, hard
burnt bricks will answer, and last a
good while. The shape of a lime
kiln should be like that of a pitch-
er, widest in the middle, and gra-
dually narrower to the top and
bottom. The fire will be the more
confined, and act the more power-
fully. In countries where lime-
stone is plenty, each considerable
farmer is furnished with a lime kiln,
in which he makes lime to manure
his soil. This practice might
doubtless be imitated with advan-
tage, in a few places in this coun-
try, where this sort of stone is at
hand.
KALI, Salicornia, glass wort, or
rock weed, a sea plant which grows
upon rocks near the shore. By
burning of this weed a hard fixed
salt is obtained, which is a princi-
pal ingredient in the composition
of glass. Rock weed is also an im-
portant manure.
KALMIA, angustifolia, a shrub
commonly called laurel, or lamb
poison. It is an evergreen, with
narrow leaves of a dirty green co-
lour. The flowers are red, grow-
ing round the upper part of the
stem. It grows plentifully in low
KITCHEN GARDEN. The
species of manure for a Kitchen
Garden, must depend upon the soil.
Rotten dung is preferred by gar-
deners, as, in the course of fermen-
KIT
239
LAM
tation the seeds of weeds, and the
larvæ of insects are destroyed;
and the more putrid the dung, the
greater effect it has in promoting
the rapid growth of plants. But
too much manure, especially if it
be of a fetid kind, gives vegetables
a strong and disgusting flavour.
Sea weed is said by Sir John Sin-
clair, to be an excellent manure for
garden crops, particularly for
onions. "Soaper's waste, says the
same author," used in moderation
by itself or in a compost with earth,
is an excellent manure for garden
soils. This substance not only de-
stroys insects and their larvæ, but,
consisting principally of calcareous
matter, every species of vegetable
is greatly improved in quality,
where it is applied. Cow dung
mixed with water, is a good ma-
nure, when frequently applied in a
liquid state.
"Slugs or snails are very destruc-
tive in a garden. Slacked lime or
sifted coal ashes, spread on the
surface, or laid in rows, in various
places, are useful in destroying
them.
L.
LAMBS, the young of sheep.
The first care of them is to see whe-
ther they can come at the teat;
and if not, to clip away the wool
of the ewes which hinders them, as
also all tags of wool on the udders
of the ewes, which the lambs are
liable to take hold of instead of the
teats.
If a ewe refuse to let her lamb
suck, she and her lamb should be
shut up together in a close place,
till she grow fond of him. For this
purpose, some say that surprising a
sheep with a dog will be effectual.
Care should be taken to feed the
ewes plentifully after yeaning, and
with some juicy kind of food, that
so the lambs may not fail of having
plenty of milk. The rams may
gelded at any time from one to
three weeks old, if they appear to
be well and strong.

be
They should not be weaned till
they are six weeks, or two months
old. At this age they should be ta-
ken from the ewes, and have the
best of pasture during the first fort-
night; by the end of which time
they will be so naturalized to living
wholly upon grass, that they may
be turned into a poorer pasture.
"Skilful gardeners recommend
attention to a rotation of crops, and
occasionally fallow portions of their
gardens, or to lay them down with
clover, which seldom fails to re- The worst wooled lambs,and bad
store them to their former fertility. coloured ones, and those that are
The most experienced horticultu- very small, should be destined to
rists are now agreed, that even the the knife, and not weaned. So great
currant, gooseberry and raspberry is the need of increasing the ma-
quarters should be changed every nufacture of woollen in this coun-
seven or eight years, and the straw-try, that I must earnestly recom-
berry ground every four or five
years. Code of Agriculture.
mend it to the farmers, not to kill,
or sell for killing, any lamb, till it
is near half a year old, or till the
wool become to such fulness of
240
LAM
LAR
growth, as to be valuable for spin- | to be burned in the mouth, as he
ning. To kill them earlier is so had known them ruined by the op-
wasteful a practice as to be inex-eration. Sometimes a mess or two
cusable.
of hard Indian corn he observes
will cure the swelling.
Those ewe lambs which are kept
for stock, should not come at the
rams: For if they have lambs at a
year old, it stints them in their
growth; and they have so little
milk, that their lambs commonly
die for want of nourishment. Or if
they chance to live, they will be
apt to be always small. This prac-
tice is one reason why our breed of
sheep in this country is so poor.
See the article Sheep.
The largest lambs should be
sheared at the time of the new
moon in July. Their fleeces will
yield as much the next year, and
the wool will be better, and as cold
storms rarely happen at that time
of the year, the lambs will do bet-
ter without their fleeces than with
them.
LAMPAS, "an excrescence in
the roof of the mouth, which hin-
ders a horse from feeding,and hap-
pens usually to young horses. It
is cured by applying a hot iron
made for that purpose. It is suc-
cessfully performed in all parts;
so that there is no need of any cau-
tion, but only that the farrier do not
penetrate too deep, so as to scale
the thin bone that lies under the
upper bars; for that would be at-
tended with very troublesome and
dangerous symptoms." ร Gibson's
Farriery.
LAND, a general name applied
to the earth, or to the ground.
"If land be unproductive, and a
sy stem of ameliorating it is to be
attempted, the sure method of ob-
taining the object is by determining
the cause of its sterility, which must
necessarily depend upon some de-
fect in the constitution of the soil,
which may be easily discovered by
chemical analysis.
"Some lands of good apparent
texture are yet sterile in a high de-
gree; and common observation and
common practice afford no means
of ascertaining the cause, or of re-
moving the effect. The applica-
tion of chemical tests in such cases
is obvious; for the soil must con-
tain some noxious principle which
may be easily discovered, and pro-
bly as easily destroyed.
"Are any of the salts of iron pre-
sent? They may be decomposed
by lime. Is there an excess of si-
liceous sand? the system of im-
provement must depend on the ap-
plication of clay and calcareous
matter. Is there a defect of calca-
reous matter? the remedy is obvi-
ous. Is an excess of vegetable mat-
ter indicated? it may be removed
by liming, paring, and burning. Is
there a deficiency of vegetable
matter? It is to be supplied by ma-
Judge Peters, of Pennsylvania nure." Agricultural Chemistry.
says, that lampas is caused by fever See Soil.
in the horse that the swelling should LARCH, Hackmatack, Juniper,
be allayed by reducing the fever-Pinus larix, "a genus of trees,
that he would never suffer a horse whose leaves are long and narrow,
LAY
241
LEA
produced out of little tubercles, in
the form of a painter's pencil. The
cones are produced at remote dis-
tances from the male flowers,on the
same tree: The male flowers are
very like sinall cones at their first
appearance, but afterwards stretch
out in length. In autumn they cast
their leaves. From the wounded
bark of this tree exudes the purest
Venice turpentine." Complete
Farmer.
A sort of trees which grow nat-
urally, and in great plenty, in the
northern parts of New-England,
called Juniper, I take to be the true
larch, as it answers to the above
description, as well as to that given
by Mr. Miller. They thrive best
in poor, wet and cold soils, and
should by all means be cultivated.
But their peculiar excellence is,
that they will also thrive admirably
in the driest and poorest soils.
This is true of the whole race of
pines, of which this is one, though
it differs from all the others in be-
ing deciduous, or losing its leaves
in winter. We may add that they
are far superior to the Cedar for
posts, or for any use where they are
subjected to moisture. It is known
that Venice in Italy is built on
poles of the larch, and there is evi-
dence that they have endured a
thousand years.
LAYERS, tender twigs buried
in earth, which having stuck root,
are afterwards cut off, and become
distinct plants.
Potatoes, and many other herba-
ceous plants, may be in this man-
per propagated. But there is little
advantage to be gained by doing it.
As to those trees and shrubs
|
which yield no seed in this climate,
neither can be propagated by cut-
tings, there may be often occasion
for laying them. The manner of
doing it is as follows: Take shoots
of the last year's growth, bend them
to the earth, and bury them in good
mellow soil half a foot under the
surface, and fasten them with hooks
to prevent their rising, bending the
tops so as to bring them above the
surface. A slit upwards in the twig
should be made in that part that
lies deepest in the soil, or a wire
drawn fast round it, to prevent the
sap mounting too fast; and moss
should be laid on the surface, to
prevent the sudden drying of the
mould. Afterwards they should be
watered as there may be occasion.
If they form roots, they may be cut
off, and transplanted the next spring
into the nursery.
The time for laying evergreens
is July or August; for laying decid-
uous trees, October.
LEAVES, the most extreme
parts of the branches of trees,shrubs,
&c." Their office is to subtilize
the nourishing sap, and convey it
to the little buds, and to cover and
defend the flowers and fruit.
"Dr. Grew observes, that the
fibres of leaves consist of two gen-
eral kinds of vessels, viz. for sap,
and for air; and are ramified out
of greater into less, as veins and ar-
teries are in animals.
"If the surface of the leaves is
altered, by reversing the branches
of trees on which they grow, the
plants are stopped in their growth,
until the foot stalks are turned, and
the leaves recover their former po-
sition. If leaves are eaten, or cut

31
242
LEA
off, the enclosed buds will not grow,
and the plants will be weakened.
The winter feeding of wheat,there-
fore, is hurtful; and it has been
found so by experience.
"Another principal use of the
leaves, is to throw off by transpira-
tion what is unnecessary to the
growth of plants, answering to the
discharge made by sweat in animal
bodies. As plants receive and
transpire much more, in equal
times, than large animals, so it ap-
pears how necessary the leaves are
to preserve the plants in perfect
health: For it has been found by
the most exact calculation, made
from repeated experiments, that a
plant of the sun-flower receives and
perspires, in twenty-four hours,
seventeen times more than a man."
Complete Farmer.
Mr. Bonnet made many experi-
ments, which proved that leaves
imbibe the moisture of the atmo-
sphere on their under surface; ex-
cepting such as have the upper sur-
face covered with hairs, or down.
The leaves undoubtedly serve for
inspiration, as well as for transpir-
ation; and plants draw through
their leaves, some considerable part
of their nourishment.
Leaves also serve for ornament,
and to screen vegetables, and their
fruits, from the too intense heat of
the sun in summer.
LEE
more slowly, they afford a more re-
gular and permanent heat.
Dr.
Hunter proved the advantage of
them by his continued practice.
See Georgical Essays, by A.Hunter.
"A correspondent of the Bath
Society in England warmly recom-
mends a species of manure for po-
tatoes, which I think peculiarly ap-
plicable to our country, because
easily attainable. It is the employ-
ment of mould and fallen leaves
taken from the woods. This the
writer observes, he has found an
excellent substitute for other ma-
nure. He found the potatoes, rai-
sed in this way, much more mealy
and of a flavour much finer than
when produced by the application
of ashes and dung; and he consid-
ers it of great importance to poor
people who have not the means of
procuring much dung. This he ob-
serves can always be procured in
woody countries, and in those which
are not so, it may be obtained un-
der hedges and ditches, and in old
ponds.
"If this be a fact, and we have
little doubt of it, since it is known
that few substances are more fa-
vourable to vegetation than rotten
leaves, and the soil formed by their
decomposition, there is scarcely a
farmer in Massachusetts, who may
not by two or three days labour
collect enough to plant all his po-
tatoes, and save his corn and grass
:
Leaves of trees are useful as a
manure, excepting those of the re-land.
sinous kinds. They should be col-
lected into farm yards, trampled by
the cattle, and mixed with their
excrements. Some recommend
leaves of oak for hot beds, instead LEES, the gross sediment in fer-
of tanner's bark, as, by fermentingmented liquors. Most kinds of
Extracts from the Bath Society
Papers, with remarks by John Low-
ell, Esq. Agricultural Repository,
vol. IV. p. 60.
LIM
243
LIM
ingredients of vegetable food, but
so alters them as to fit them to
enter the roots of plants. With
the acids it forms a salt, which, by
mixing with the oils, becomes a sa-
ponaceous mucilage, which is the
true pabulum for the nourishment
of plants.
lees contain much of the food of tained in the earth and atmo-
plants. But they should not be ap-sphere. It not only collects these
plied to the soil as a manure till
their acidity is destroyed, by mix-
ing and fermenting them with large
proportions of alkaline substances,
such as marle, lime, ashes, soot,
&c. Even the pomace at cyder
mills, which has hitherto been con-
sidered by our farmers as good for
nothing, might be thus changed
into a good manure. It is nearly
the same substance as the lees of
cyder. Cyder lees will also pro-
duce brandy by distillation.
LIME, a crumbly soft substance,
made by burning stones, and the
shells of shell fish, and slacking
them with water.
་
These changes cannot be made
in the ingredients of which vege-
table food is composed, without a
considerable degree of fermenta-
tion. This fermentation breaks
and mellows the soil, and so in-
creases the pasture of plants, that
the roots can more freely extend
themselves in quest of their food.
Accordingly it is found that liming
renders a soil very soft and
Lime has been proved, by the
long experience of European far-
mers, to be one of the most effica-open.
cious manures. This may be
And as lime, when it is slacked,
thought strange by those who know is a very soft substance, I can see
it to be a mere alkali, containing no reason to doubt of its containing
neither oil nor salt, which are cer- a very considerable quantity of
tainly the principal ingredients in those impalpably small particles of
the food of plants. Oil is an in-earth which enter into plants, and
dispensably necessary part of this
food.
But, by experiments made of
late, it has been clearly proved
that plants are greatly nourished
by fixed air, of which it is known
that lime contains a large quantity.
It has been proved by the experi-
ments of Mr. Lavoisier, that one
third part of calcareous earths, and
particularly of lime-stone, consists
of fixed air.
But besides affording to plants
this nourishment, which is known
to be in plants, lime acts as a ma-
nure, by attracting and imbibing
the oils and acids which are con-
become part of their substance. If
so, it must be allowed that lime is
fit to answer every intention of
manure. It either has all the in-
gredients of vegetable food, or pro-
duces and prepares them, though
not in the same proportion as dung,
which is allowed to be the most
valuable of all manures.
Lime has been complained of,
as impoverishing the soil; and it
has been often remarked, that
though one dressing will produce
several good crops, the land is less
fruitful for some time after, than
before it has been limed; and that
a second dressing with lime, will
244
LIM
not have such an effect as the first,
in increasing the fertility of the
soil. But the farmer should con-
sider how far he has been recom-
pensed by extraordinary crops,
for the exhausting of his soil; and
that if lime will not, other manures
will recruit it. So will fallowing,
rest, or using it as a pasture.
LIM
be applied even to sandy and gra-
velly soils without danger, and to
great advantage.
Lime is a very important ingre-
dient in composts, as by raising a
strong fermentation it dissolves
and prepares the other materials.
There should be some layers of it,
where it can be easily obtained,
in every heap of compost. It will
be the sooner fit for use, as well as
prove to be a more fertilizing com-
position.
When lime is laid on land which
has a quick descent, it should al-
ways be mixed with dung, and laid
on the highest part; because it so
It is granted that lime may have
an ill effect, when it is injudiciously
applied, as in too great quantities,
or to an improper soil. Three
cart loads, or 120 bushels, are al-
lowed to be a sufficient dressing for
an acre. But in Ireland, where
they plough extremely deep, they
lay on twice as much. This dress-loosens the soil, as to dispose it to
ing enriches cold, stiff and clayey be plentifully washed downwards
soils, for many years after; and in by rains, soil and manure together.
such soils it may be safely repeat-
ed. If it force any soils too much,
it can be only those which are
weak and sandy.
The best time for applying lime
as a manure is, when land is newly
broken up, or after laying a long
time in grass. This may be as-
cribed to the plenty of roots in the
soil, which the lime soon dissolves,
and changes into food for plants.
Lime is an excellent manure for
soils that are mossy, as it speedily
dissolves the oil which is contained
in moss, which is not soon dissolv-
ed by other manures, and changes
it to vegetable food. It destroys
all aquatic weeds, and dissolves
the remainders of decayed vege-
tables in the soil. Therefore it
does well in moory and peaty
swamps that are drained.
While I am treating on this ex-
cellent manure, I have the disa-
greeable reflection, that it will be
to little purpose; as lime is so
scarce and dear in most parts of
the country, that it must not be
used as manure. Most people can
scarcely obtain a sufficient quan-
Mr. Evelyn advised to the mix-
ing of lime with turf in alternate
layers, to lie in heaps for months;
in which time it will become so
rich and mellow as to run like
ashes. He thought it would nour-
ish the soil more than if used alone
in a greater quantity, and without
any danger of exhausting the vege-tity of it for building. But those
tative virtue of the earth, which farmers who know they have lime-
should be preserved. If it were stone or shells in plenty near them,
mixed with a large proportion should not neglect to make use of
of clay, or with mud from the them as manures, after reducing
bottom of ponds or rivers, it might them to lime,
LIM
245
LIM
kinds make the best lime, and re-
quire the most burning. Chalk
will burn into lime, of the nature
of stone-lime, but a great deal
weaker; lime may be made of
marble and alabaster, &c. But
the stones used for lime are mostly
of a bluish colour, or inclining to
grey. They are sometimes purely
calcarious, but often mixed with
undissolvable stones, which lessen
their value.
"Advantages of lime.-Though
there are exceptions to the rule,
yet in general, it may be confident-
asserted, that unless where a
soil has by nature, enough of cal-
careous matter in its composition
for the purposes of vegetation, it
can neither be brought into its
most fertile state, nor will other
manures be so useful as they ought.
if lime or some other calcareous
earth, be not previously applied.
By lime spread upon a moory soil,
good herbage is produced, where
nothing but heath, and unpalatable
grasses grew before. By the same
means, grass lands, instead of yield
ing nothing but bent, and other in-New-England. It has probably
ferior grasses, have been covered been owing to want of attention.
with those of a more valuable de- An infallible way to distinguish
scription. The utility of me to them is, by dropping upon them a
turnips is so great, that though in few drops of aqua fortis, spirit of
the same field, where no lime had sea-salt, or oil of vitriol. All those
been applied, the crop died away; stones, on which these, or any
yet in the limed part, the turnips other strong acids, effervesce, or
flourished with unabated vigour. rise into bubbles, are limestones,
and will burn into lime.
Some countries are very plenti-
fully furnished with these stones,
Great Britain and Ireland in par-
ticular.
By the same ticular. It is strange they have
been found in so few places in
"The principles on which Lime
operates as a manure.—Quicklime
in powder, or dissolved, is injurious
to plants; hence grass watered
with lime-water is destroyed. But
lime freshly burnt, or slacked,
forms a compost with vegetable
matter, which is soluble in water,
and nutritive to plants. Mild lime,
(as chalk, or quicklime again im-
pregnated with carbonic acid,)
chiefly operates by improving the
texture of the soil, and its relation
to absorption.
It is greatly to be wished, that
some persons in the various parts.
of this country, would be furnished
with one or other of these acids,
and make frequent trials with
them. They who are not furnish-
ed with the proper acids, may
prove stones, by burning them for
some days in a smith's fire, and
then throwing them into water.
Possibly we may find the benevo-
lent Author of nature has not left
us so unfurnished with these valu-
able stone, as we have been ready
to imagine.
LIME-STONE, a stone of a
calcareous nature, which, by calci-
nation, or burning in the fire, be The various sorts of Limestone.
comes lime. There are many-Sometimes limestone is almost
kinds of lime-stone; the hardest perfectly pure, as in the case with
1
246
LOA
LIM
marble, which frequently contains
scarcely any other substance but
calcareous matter. Several sorts
of limestone, however, have mix-
tures of clay and sand, in various
proportions, by which the efficacy
of the manure, in proportion to
the quantity of the substances is
considerably diminished. It is ne-
cessary, therefore, to analyze lime-
stone, to ascertain the proportion
of pure lime, before it is advisable
to use so expensive an article in
great quantities, more especially if
it must be conveyed from a dis-
tance. Bituminous limestone
makes good manure. But the
magnesian is the species which re-
quires the greatest attention.
Limestone contains from 20-3 to
23-5 of magnesia, in which case it
would be injurious to weak soils,
to apply more than 25 to 30 bush-
els per statute acre, though in rich
soils, double that quantity may be
used, and still more with peat, on
which soil it would have a most
powerful effect in producing ferti-
lity."-Code of Agriculture.
commended, as it is apt to burn
and blister their skins. The
The quan-
tity of 240 to 300 bushels of un-
slacked lime, may be applied on
strong lands with advantage. Even
600 bushels have been laid on at
once on strong clays with great
success. On light soils a much
smaller quantity will answer, say
from 150 to 200 bushels; but these
small doses ought to be frequently
repeated. When applied on the sur-
face of bogs or moors, the quantity
used is considerable." Upon land
in a proper state for calcarious ap-
plication, lime is much superior to
dung. Its effects continue for a
longer period, while the crops
produced are of superior quality,
and less susceptible of injury from
excesses of drought and moisture.
The ground, likewise, if it be of a
strong nature is more easily
wrought, and in some instances
the saving of labour alone would be
an inducement to a farmer to lime
his land. Lime having a tendency
to sink in the soil, cannot be kept
too near the surface. The drier
and finer lime is powdered when
applied to the soil, the better.
Sir John Sinclair recommends
to slack lime, in order to prepare
it for manure with sea-water or LOAM, one of the principal
urine. The time "for applying kinds of earth. Some suppose it
lime is when the land is under to be not one of the natural soils ;
summer fallow, in the months of but gradually made since the crea-
June or July, that it may be com- tion, by the putrefied vegetables
pletely mixed with the soil before which bave fallen upon the earth.
the crop is sown." "For a tur-This does not appear probable;
nip crop it should be laid on early for, if so, why do we meet with
in the spring, before the turnips any other kind of soil? This soil
are drilled, in order that the lime consists of very fine particles, with-
may be thoroughly incorporated out grit, almost as fine as those of
with the soil, by the ploughings clay, but do not cohere like them.
and harrowings it will receive. If it lie long under water, it is apt
For potatoes lime is not to be re-to have the appearance of clay.
LOC
247
LOC
It receives water readily, and re- | where the growth of this tree is
tains it long; on which accounts it considerably rapid.
is preferable to clay or sand. It
is better adapted by nature to
nourish vegetables than either the
one or the other. But its needs
manure, and will commonly pay
well for it by the increase of its
crops.
Loams are of various kinds.
Some is stiff, approaching to the
nature of clay, and is apt to be ad-
hesive in. wet weather. This is
not fit for the nourishing of those
vegetables which require much
heat. It needs to be dressed with
hot and opening manures for any
kind of crop. Other loam is more
light, soft and mellow, and does
not so much need the most heat-
ing manures. Some loam is of a
dark red, hazely, or brown colour.
This is commonly a most excel-
lent soil. Other loam is of a light
yellow, or whitish colour, and re-
quires abundance of manuring to
render it fruitful.
All kinds of loam are apt to be
too wet, and to be covered with a
short green moss, if they lie flat.
In this case, ridge ploughing is
best, and hollow drains often ne-
cessary. Loam that has a mixture
of gravel, or sand, is warmer, and
fitter for tillage; but all loams are
good for the growing of grasses.
LOCUST TREE, Robinia, a
well known tree, which grows in
great plenty in the vicinity of Bos-
ton, and is a native of this country,
but does not flourish so well in the
state of Maine, as the frost of
winter is apt to kill the extremities
of the limbs. There are particu-
lar places, however, in this state,
|
This tree would be more prized
for its beauty, were not its limbs
often broken by high winds. Its
leaves put out late in the spring,
and fall off early in the autumn.
It blossoms about the beginning of
June, at which time it makes a
beautiful appearance, and per-
fumes the circumambient air with
an agreeable odour. The branch-
es are armed with hooked spines;
and the leaves composed of ten
pair of oval lobes, terminated with
an odd one.
The wood is not only good fuel,
but excellent timber, very durable
in any situation, and particularly
when used as posts in fences.
This tree grows best in a sandy
soil, and will propagate itself in
the most barren places, where the
soil is so light as to be blown away
by winds. By sheltering such
places, and dropping its leaves on
them, it causes a sward to grow
over them, and grass to grow upon
them. It is not advisable to plant
groves of the locust tree on the
borders of fields, on account of
their spreading too much by scat-
tering their seeds, unless on those
which are most barren. But those
who possess hills of barren sand,
and in a climate that suits them,
should not delay to make forests
of these trees on such spots.
may be easily done by sowing the
seeds in a nursery, and transplant-
ing them. A plenty of wood may
be thus speedily produced, without
the least injury to the land, yea,
with advantage to it.
For
It
some notice of the In-
248
MAD
MAD
sect which destroys the Locust,
Tree," we would refer our read-
ers to the Massachusetts Agricultu-
ral Repository, vol. V. p. 67. The
insect is there called Cossus Robi-
niæ; and drawings are given de-
scriptive of its different appear
ances, in different stages of its ex-
istence. The writer suggests no
remedy against its ravages.
this plant, are copied from "The
Emporium of Arts."
"This plant may be propagated
either by offsetts or seeds. If the
latter method is preferred, the seed
should be of the true Turkish kind,
which is called Lizari in the Le-
vant. On a light thin soil the cul-
ture cannot be carried on to any
great profit. The soil in which
the plant delights is a rich sandy
loam, being three feet in depth or
more.
part of the alley which is not oc-
cupied may be sown with leguines.
The Massachusetts Agricultural
Repository, vol. VI. page 272,
contains a paper detailing a num-
ber of experiments by H. A. S. "The ground being first made
Dearborn, instituted for the pur- smooth, is divided into beds four
pose of preserving locust trees feet wide, with alternate alleys half
from the depredations of insects. as wide again at the beds. The
For this purpose Mr. Dearborn reason of this extraordinary breadth
stopped up
the holes, which they of the alleys will presently appear.
had bored into the trees, with lime | In each alley is to be a shallow
mortar, and by white washing, &c. | channel for the convenience of ir-
He succeeded, however, but par-rigating the whole fields, &c. That
tially, and proposed to persevere
in the spring of 1822. Should his
experiment fail, he proposes to
head down all his locust trees in the
latter part of April, and burn the
wood to destroy the larvæ. "The
trees," he observes, "are of rapid
growth, and the stools throw up
luxuriant suckers, and I shall soon
have young thrifty trees, which
can be more certainly preserved
from the attacks of the insect,
should they again visit them; for
trees which are so large as to have
very rough bark, supply so many
fastnesses for the deposition of the
eggs, and to cover the depreda-
tions of the worm that it is is very
difficult to extirpate them."
M.
MADDER, Rubia Tinctoria.
The following directions for raising
"The madder seed is sown broad
cast,in the proportion of from twen-
ty-five to thirty pounds per acre,
about the end of April. In a fort-
night or three weeks, the young
plants begin to appear; and from
this time to the month of Septem-
ber, care must be taken to keep
the ground well watered, and free
from weeds.
"If the plants are examined in
autumn, they will be found sur-
rounded with small yellow offsetts,
at the depth of two inches; and
early in September, the earth from
the alleys is to be dug out, and laid
over the plants of madder to the
height of two or three inches. With
this the first year's operation ceases.
"The second year's work begins
in May, with giving the beds a
MAL
249
MAL
thorough weeding; and care must
be taken to supply them with plen-
ty of water during the summer. In
September the first crop of seed
will be ripe; at which time the
stems of the plants may be mown
down, and the roots covered a few
inches with earth, taken as before
out of the alleys.
"The weeding should take place
as early as possible in the spring of
the third year; and the crop, in-
stead of being left for seed, may be
cut three times, during suinmer, for
green fodder; all kinds of cattle
being remarkably fond of it.
"In October the roots are taken
up, the offsetts carefully separated,
and immediately used to form a
new plantation; and the roots, af-
ter being dried,ale sold,either with-
out further preparation, or ground
to a coarse powder, and sprinkled
with an alkaline lye.
"The roots lose four-fifths of
their weight in drying; and the
produce of an acre is about two
thousand pounds weight of dry
saleable madder."
ed with two drachms of sublimate
of mercury. Or apply a poultice of
the roots of marsh mallows and flax
seed, softened with linseed oil, ty-
ing it on with a roller. Continue
that till the seeds fall off and the
sores become clean. Afterwards a
mixture of turpentine and quicksil
ver will be a proper application.
MALT, barley, or other corn,
prepared for making beer or ale.
As it is of great importance that the
people of this country should make
a greater use of malt than they do
at present, I will here give the pro-
cess of making it, from the Diction-
ary of Arts and Sciences.
"In making malt from barley, the
usual method is to steep the grain
in a sufficient quantity of water, for
two or three days, till it swells, be-
comès plump, somewhat tender,
and tinges the water of a bright
brown, or reddish colour. Then,
this water being drained away, the
barley is removed from the steep-
ing cistern to the floor, where it is
thrown into what is called the wet
couch; that is, an even heap,rising
to the height of about two feet. In
this wet couch, the capital part of
the operation is performed; for
here the barley spontaneously
Madder usually sells for about
thirty-two dollars per hundred; so
that the produce of an acre as
above stated, would amount to six
hundred and forty dollars. Farm-heats, and begins to grow, shooting
er's Assistant.
out first the radicle, then the plume,
spire or blade. But the process is
to be stopped short at the irruption
of the radicle, otherwise the malt
would be spoiled. In order to stop
MALANDERS, a horse disease,
caused by corrupt blood, or over
hard labour, &c. It consists of
chops, or cracks, on the inside of
the fore legs against the knee, dis-it, they spread the wet couch thin
charging a red sharp humour.
To cure this disease, wash the
cracks with warm soap suds or old
urine; then rub them twice a day
with an ointment of hog's lard mix-
32
over a large floor, and keep turn-
ing it once in four or five hours, for
the space of two days, laying it
somewhat thicker each time. After
this it is again thrown into a large
250
MAN
MAL
heap, and there suffered to grow
sensibly hot to the hand, as it usu-
ally will in twenty or thirty hours:
Then being spread again, and cool-
ed, it is thrown upon the kiln, to be
dried crisp without scorching. If
these directions be followed, the
malt will always be good.
on grass land,mightily increases the
vegetation, and the sweetness of
the grass.
Maltsters should carefully preserve
this precious manure in some place
where it will not contract dampness.
It may be of use to farmers in their
neighbourhood: But it cannot be-
come a manure of general use, the
whole quantity that is made being
so small.
MANGEL WURTZELL. See
Beet.
MANURE, any kind of substance
suitable to be laid on land to in-
crease its fertility.
"The method of malting Indian
corn, or Virginia wheat, is much
less laborious. For, if this corn be
buried two or three inches deep in
the earth, and covered with the
loose mould, in ten or twelve days
time the corn will sprout, and ap-
pear like a green field; at which
time being taken up, and washed Manures contribute several ways
or fanned from the dirt, it is imme- to the producing of this effect: Ei-
diately committed to the kiln, and ther by increasing the quantity of
by this means becomes good malt." | vegetable food in the soil--or by
MALT DUST, the dust which preparing the nourishment already
falls from the kiln, while malt is contained in the soil to enter the
drying. Repeated experiments roots of plants-or by enlarging the
made by Europeans, have estab- vegetable pasture in which roots
lished the credit of this dust as a spread and seek their food-or by
manure for stiff loams and clays. A attracting the food of vegetables
good dressing of it has been found from the air. Some of the manures
to increase a crop of barley as increase fruitfulness in all these
much as fifty per cent. and wheat ways, particularly the dung of ani-
still more. The quantity used is mals, rotted vegetables, &c. Other
from thirty to sixty bushels per acre, manures perform each office, ex-
according to circumstances. It is cepting the first: And some have
used mostly, or only, as a top dres- no other immediate effect besides
sing. It exerts its strength so sud-opening and loosening the soil: But
denly as to be nearly exhausted with even these last kinds may some-
one crop.
It should not be sown times be used to great advantage.
together with winter wheat,but up-
There are different ways of or-
on it in December or January foldering and managing manures, ac-
lowing: For if it be sown early, it
will exert its strength too soon, and
bring the wheat forward too fast,as
has been proved by experiments.
For barley, this dressing should be
sown with the seed and barrowed
in. A small dressing of this manure
cording to their different natures.
Some are to be applied to land
without alteration, or mixing; the
rest to be prepared by compound-
ing and fermentation: Some are
suitable for stiff and some for light
soils: Some to be mixed in the soil
MAN
251
MAN
by the plough and harrow; other
kinds to be used only as top dres-
sings.
Farmers and gardeners should
not be so inattentive to their own
interest, or that of their employers,
as to suffer a variety of valuable
manures to lie useless, while they
are suffering for want of them. I
have drawn up the following list for
their benefit, hoping that such a
variety, all of which can be had by
one or other, in this country, and
by most farmers in plenty, might
excite the ambition of some to
make use of their advantages, and
suffer no manures to escape their
attention.
The substances fit to be used as
manures, are either animal, vege-
table, fossil, or mixed.
Animal manures are such as these
that follow:
Putrefied flesh, such as the car-
cases of animals, or meat not well
saved. This may be an ingredient
in compost, or buried at the foot of
fruit trees to increase their fruit-
fulness. Dead horses, dogs, cats,
rats, and uneatable birds, should,
instead of putrefying the air by rot-
ting above ground, be thus convert-
ed to an economical purpose.
When the carcases of animals are
buried in dung-hills, it may be pro-
per to lay over them some bushes
of thorn, to prevent ravenous dogs
from taking them away.
Blood, mixed with saw dust, and
used as a top dressing, &c. See
the article Blood.
Hair, a top dressing for grass
land; under the surface of a dry
soil in tillage; or used in compost.
In either way it is an excellent fer-
tilizer.
Feathers, such as have been
worn out in beds, or are unfit to
go into them-in compost.
Refuse wool, such coarse dag
locks as are not fit for carding-
covered with the plough in a dry
soil. They will serve as spunges
to retain moisture, and be a rich
food for plants when they are dis-
solved. So will
Woollen rags, chopped to pieces,
for a light soil. They should be
cut as small as
an inch square.
Twenty-four bushels are said to be
a sufficient quantity for the dress-
ing of an acre. These should be
under the surface.
Hoofs of cattle, sheep, &c. If
large hoofs were set in holes with
the points downwards in a dry
soil, so low as not to be disturbed
by the plough, they would cause
the land to retain moisture, and
hold the manure, not only by the
spunginess of their substance, but
also more especially by their hol-
lowness.
Bones, of all kinds, pounded or
broken into small pieces, with
hammers or mallets. This is an
incomparable manure, if they have
not been burnt, nor boiled in soap.
But in either way they should be
saved for manure. Sixty bushels
are a sufficient dressing for an
acre.
Raw skins of all kinds of ani-
mals. These should be cut into
small pieces, and used for light
soils, ploughed in.
Leather, new or old, in small
bits, for dry soils, ploughed in.
Curriers shavings, cut small,
for a soil of sand or gravel, plough-
ed in.
252
MAN
Oil, of all sorts, used in com-
posts, not applied to the soil till a
year after it is mixed, that it may
be dissolved and altered.
Fish, of all kinds, from the whale
to the muscle; they are best used
in composts; and should lie a year,
that their oil may be dissolved,
and fitted for the nourishing of
plants.
Offal of fish, in composts, fit for
one soil or another, according to
the predominant ingredients of the
mixture.
The vegetable manures are good,
though not so strong as animal
ones. They can be had in greater
plenty in most places; and ought
to be laid on in larger quantities.
Green vegetables, such as all use-
less weeds in fields and gardens.
These should be collected and rot-
ted in heaps. They are a good
manure for all soils, and to nourish
all sorts of plants.
Aquatic weeds, such as grow in
the borders of ponds and rivers.
These should be collected in large
heaps on the higher ground, and
covered with turfs, the grass side
outwards. These heaps will be
easily made in some places, and
will be a valuable manure. Some
say, care should be taken to pre-
vent their taking fire by ferment-
ing, as their heat will be very
great.
Straw, and other offal of corn of
all kinds, rotted in farm yards, or
dung pits.
Refuse hay, both fresh and salt,
rotted in yards, and trampled on
by cattle, and mixed with their ex-
crements.
Thatch, that grows by the sides
MAN
of salt creeks, or the parts of it
which cattle will not eat, should
be thrown into the farm yard, to
putrefy. Thus a great increase of
good manure may be made.
The haulm of all dry vegetables,
such as the stalks of potatoes,
beans, peas, &c. Even the offal
of flax, if it have sufficient time to
rot, will be a good manure.
|
Fern, a vegetable peculiarly
adapted to the purpose of making
manure. See Fern.
Lees of fermented liquors, rot-
ten fruit, and pomace, in compost.
Oil cakes, which may be got at the
mills where linseed oil is expressed
for top-dressing, being first pulver-
ized.
Tanners' bark, from) Fermented
the oak tree,
with other
Leaves of decidu-manures,to
ous trees,
Rotten wood,
Saw dust,
be laid on
clayey and
stiff soils.
Wood ashes, a good top-dressing
for almost any kind of soils, but
best for a moist one.
Coal ashes, top-dressing for cold
damp soils.
Coal dust, top-dressing for low
meadows.
Malt dust. See that article.
Sea plants, rock-weed, eel-grass,
&c. are the most valuable of green
vegetables for manure. They
should be either ploughed into the
soil, or mellowed in compost dung-
hills. It is a wrong practice to
use them as top-dressings. Much
of their virtue in this way is lost.
Moss, mixed with dung in holes
for a dry soil. Good for potatoes.
Linen rags; these will be a ma-
nure worth saving, but they take a
MAN
253
MAN
long time to putrefy-in com-
post.
The fossil or earthy manures
are these:
Lime, mixed with the soil, or in
composts, for stiff soils. See the
article Lime.
Marle, most suitable in general
for light soil. See the article
Marle.
|
soils; and ground or pounded
small for stiff land.
Brick dust, To open a clayey,
Burnt clay, S or warm a cold soil.
Beach sand, to open a stiff, and
warm a cold soil. That which
has a fine grain is the best.
Pit sand of any colour, to melio-
rate a soil of stiff clay.
| It should
be laid on plentifully.
Sand, in roads, washed down
from hills, to open a stiff clayey
soil. See the article Sand.
Plaister of
Paris, and
Dust of
hewn stones,
The mixed solid manures are
these.
Dung of all kinds. Though it
chiefly consists of rotten vegeta-
bles, there is a mixture of animal
top-juices in it, and some of the finest
particles of the earth. Most dungs
should be mixed with the soil, by
the plough or harrow. See the
article Dung.
Absorbent ma-
nures for cold
wet soils, for
dressing.
Gravel, for a wet puffy swamp.
Clay, to mix with the plough
and harrow in a sandy or gravelly
soil. It should be exposed to the Composts of every kind, fit for
action of the frost one winter be-light or stiff soils, according to the
fore it is ploughed in. Otherwise difference of their predominant in-
it will remain a long time undis- gredients; or a general- manure
solved.
for all soils.
To be mixed
Swamp mud, with a sandy or
River mud, gravelly soil; but
Pond mud,best in composts,
Sea mud, with dung. See
the article Mud.
Ashes of sea-coal-for cold stiff
land.
Peat, when reduced to ashes,
top-dressing for all soils, best for a
cold one. See Peat.
Turfs, either in composts, or
dried and burnt. They may be
taken from the sides of highways
without damage. These places
are the walks of cattle and swine,
where much dung is dropped; the
turf is therefore a rich ingredient
in manure.
Shells of shell fish, ploughed in
whole, are a good manure for dry
The scrapings of back yards, for
all kinds of soil, but when contain-
ing chips, shavings of wood, or
much saw dust, for stiff soils.
Rubbish of old houses, for cold
and stiff soils. This contains much
nitre-in composts it is of most
advantage.
Earth that has been long under
cover. This commonly collects
much nitre. Best in composts.
Scrapings of streets, a general
manure, fit for all soils. Farmers
who live in the vicinity of cities,
and great towns, should always
avail themselves of this kind of
manure.
Mixed liquid manures.
Old brine of salted meat or fish,
which contains, besides salt, some
blood, oil, &c.-in composts.
>
254
MAN
MAN
Sea water, which contains other
things besides water and salt, fit to
nourish vegetables. It may be
sprinkled on land, or used in com-
posts.
| obtained, we should no longer hear
of so many dismal complaints as
we do, of short crops, and worn
out lands. The face of the coun-
try would soon be surprisingly im-
Soap suds-replete with a pre-proved.
pared food for plants; excellent
for watering gardens in dry wea-
ther. None of this should be lost.
If the garden be distant, or wet,
it may eurich the dunghill.
Urine of all animals. This con-
tains earth and animal juices, salts
and oil; and is, next to dung, per-
haps the most valuable and impor-
tant of all manures. See the arti-
cle Urine.
Water in the hollows of farm
yards. Instead of suffering this
rich liquor to soak into the bowels
of the earth, it should be taken up
by mulch, or some absorbent sub-
stance thrown into it, or else car-
ried out in a water cart, and sprink
led over a soil that needs it.
Water that runs from compost
dunghills. This should be thrown
back upon dunghills, or else used
as the preceding article...
Liquors from dye-houses.
should be used in composts.
This
After all, I may add Salt, being
distinct from all other manures, an
important ingredient in the food of
plants, and adapted to prepare
other ingredients. Some apply it
as it is, but it has a better effect
when used in composts. *
If our farmers in general would
be persuaded to avail themselves
of so many of these manures as
fall in their way, or can be easily
* See the article “Salt" in this work for
further notice of it.
But that manures may fully an-
swer their intention, they must be
judiciously applied. We should
not only apply each manure to the
soil for which it is most suitable,
but at seasons when it will produce
the most valuable effect. For a
general rule, it is best to apply
those rich fermenting manures,
which are to be mixed in the soil,
as near as may be to the time when
the ground is seeded. Dung should
be ploughed in with the seed fur-
row, as it is called. Composts
may be harrowed in with the seed.
The reason for applying these ma-
nures at this time is obvious. They
will begin to raise a fermentation
in the soil, almost as soon as they
are applied; so that if there be no
seed, nor plants to be nourished by
them, some part of the good effects
of the manure will be lost. As
part of the fermentation will be
past, before the plants begin to
grow; so there may be danger of
its being over, before they have
attained to their full growth. If
so, the soil will harden, and the
plants will receive the least quan-
tity of nourishment at the time
when they need the greatest.
As to those matters which raise
little or no fermentation, they may
be laid on at any time when the
farmer has leisure for it, as sand
on a clayey, gravel on a boggy
and puffy soil; or clay, marle, or
mud, on a light soil.
MAN
255
MAN
It has been too much practised
in this country, to apply scanty
dressings to lands in tillage, hardly
sufficient to have a perceptible
effect, and to repeat it year after
year. But this, I think, is a wrong
practice. A sufficient dressing
once in two years, I have always
found to do better than a half
dressing each year. This last me-
thod does not so well agree with a
succession of crops; because some
crops require a much greater
degree of strength in the soil,
than others do. Let us then ra-
ther follow the example of the
European farmers, who commonly
manure very plentifully once in a
course of crops, and no more; and
the year the manure is laid on,
take a crop that requires the great-
est assistance from manure, or
that bears high manuring best, or
makes the best returns for manure:
Afterwards, crops that need less
manure, till the end of the course.
Perhaps the year of manuring in
this country should be chiefly for
Indian corn. This crop is not
easily overdone with manure, and
it pays well for high manuring.
And this happens well for us, as a
hoed crop, when the dung is used,
will prevent the increase of weeds,
which a plentiful dunging will
greatly promote in every kind of
soil.
The following observations on
this important subject are extracted
from Sir H. Davy's "Elements of
Agricultural Chemistry."
"All green succulent plants con-
tain saccharine or mucilaginous mat-
ter, with woody fibre, and readily
ferments. They cannot therefore
if intended for manure, be used too
soon after their death.
"When' green crops are to be em-
ployed for enriching a soil, they
should be ploughed in, if it be pos-
sible, when in flower, or at the time
the flower is beginning to appear;
for it is at this period that they con-
tain the largest quantity of easily
soluble matter,and that their leaves
are most active in forming nutritive
matter. Green crops, pond weeds,
the paring of hedges or ditches, or
any kind of fresh vegetable matter,
require no preparation to fit them
for manure. The decomposition
slowly proceeds beneath the soil;
the soluble matters are gradually
dissolved, and the slight fermenta-
tion that goes on, checked by the
want of a free communication of
air, tends to render the woody fibre
soluble, without óccasioning the ra-
pid dissipation of elastic matters.
"When old pastures are broken
up and made arable, not only has
the soil been enriched by the death
and slow decay of the plants which
have left soluble matters in the
soil; but the leaves and roots of
the grasses living at the time and
occupying so large a part of the
surface, afford saccharine, mucila-
ginous and extractive matters, which
become the food of the crop, and
the gradual decomposition affords a
supply for successive years.
"Sea weeds, consisting of differ-
ent species of fuci, algae and confer-
væ are much used as manure on
the coasts of Britain and Ireland.
By digesting the common fuci,
which is the sea weed usually most
abundant on the sea coast, in boil-
ing water, I obtained from it one
256
MAN
MAN
ter. More manure is perhaps sup-
plied for a single crop; but the
land is less improved than it would
be, supposing the whole of the ve-
getable matter could be finely di-
vided and mixed with the soil.
eighth of a gelatinous substance,
which had characters similar to mu-
cilage. A quantity distilled gave
nearly four-fifths of its weight of
water, but no ammonia ; the water
had an empyreumatic and slightly
sour taste; the ashes contained sea
salt, carbonate of soda, and carbo-
naceous matter. The gaseous mat-
ter afforded was small in quantity,
principally carbonic acid and gas-
eous oxid of carbon, with a little
hydro-carbonate. This manure is
transient in its effects, and does not
last for more than a single crop,
which is eastly accounted for from
the large quantity or the elements
of water it contains. It decays
without producing heat, when ex-
posed to the atmosphere,and seems
as it were to melt down and dissolve
away. I have seen a large heap
entirely destroyed in less than two
years, nothing remaining but a lit-nure. A part of their effect may
tle black fibrous matter.
"It is usual to carry straw that
can be employed for no other pur-
pose to the dung-hill, to ferment
and decompose; but it is worth
experiment, whether it may not be
more economically applied when
chopped small by a proper machine
and kept dry till it is ploughed in
for the use of a crop. In this case,
though it would decompose much
more slowly and produce less ef-
fect at first, yet its influence would
be much more lasting.*
"Wood-ashes imperfectly form-
ed, that is wood-ashes containing
much charcoal, are said to have
been used with success as a ma-
be owing to the slow and gradual
consumption of the charcoal,which
seems capable, under other circum-
"Sea weed is sometimes suffered
to ferment before it is used; but
this process seems wholly unneces-stances than those of actual com-
ry, for there is no fibrous matter bustion, of absorbing oxygene so as
rendered soluble in the process,and to become carbonic acid.
a part of the manure is lost.
"Manures from animal substan-
Dry straw of wheat, oats, bar-ces in general require no chemical
ley, beans and peas, and spoiled preparations to fit them for the soil.
hay, or any other similar kind of The great object of the farmer is to
dry vegetable matter is in all cases, blend them with earthy constitu-
useful manure. In general such ents in a proper state of division,
substances are made to ferment be- and to prevent their too rapid de-
fore they are employed, though it composition.
may be doubted whether the prac-
tice should indiscriminately be
adopted.
"When straw is made to ferment
it becomes a more manageable ma-
but there is likewise on the
whole a great loss of nutritive mat-
nure;
"The entire parts of the muscles
of land animals are not commonly
used as a manure, though there are
* Some agriculturists are of a different
opinion. See Dung. Probably the ques-
tion of long and short manure depends on the
nature of the soil, and of the crop.
MAN
257
MAN
many cases in which such an
application might be easily inade.
Horses, dogs, sheep, deer, and
other quadrupeds that have died
accidentally, or of disease, after
their skins are separated, are often
suffered to remain exposed to the
air or immersed in water till they
are destroyed by birds or beasts of
prey, or entirely decomposed; and
in this case most of their organized
matter is lost for the land on which
they lie, and a considerable por-
tion of it employed in giving off
noxious gasses to the atmosphere.
"By covering dead animals with
five or six times their bulk of soil,
mixed with one part of lime, and
suffering them to remain for a few
months, their decomposition would
impregnate the soil with soluble
matters,so as to render it an excel-
lent manure; and by mixing a lit-
tle fresh quick lime with it at the
time of its removal, the disagreea
ble effluvia would be in a great
measure destroyed; and it might
be applied in the same way as any
other manure to crops.
"Fish forms a powerful manure
in whatever state it is applied; but
it cannot be ploughed in too fresh,
though the quantity be limited.
Mr. Young records an experiment,
in which herrings spread over a
field and ploughed in for wheat pro-
duced so rank a crop, that it was
entirely laid before harvest.
"It is easy to explain the opera-
tions of fish as a manure. The skin
is principally gelatine; which from
its slight state of cohesion is readi-
ly soluble in water, fat or oil; is
always found in fishes either under
the skin or in some of the viscera;
33
and their fibrous matter contains
all the essential elements of vege-
table substances.
(6
Among oily substances, graves
and blubber are employed as ma-
nure. They are both most useful
when mixed with soil, so as to ex-
pose a large surface to the air, the
oxygene of which produces soluble
matter from them. Lord Somer-
ville used blubber with great suc-
cess at his farm in Surrey. It was
made into a heap with soil, and re-
tained its powers of fertilizing for
several successive years.
"The carbon and hydrogene
abounding in oily substances fully
account for their effects; and their
durability is easily explained from
the gradual manner in which they
change by the action of air and
water.
"Bones are much used as a ma-
nure in the neighbourhood of Lon-
don. After being broken and boil-
ed for grease they are sold to the
farmer. The more divided they
are the more powerful are their ef-
fects. The expense of grinding
them in a mill would probably be
repaid by the increase of their fer-
tilizing powers; and in the state of
powder they might be used in the
drill husbandry.
“Bone dust, and bone shavings,
the refuse of the turning manufac-
ture, may be advantageously em-
ployed in the same way.
"The basis of bone is constitu-
ted by earthy salts, principally
phosphate of lime, with some car-
bonate of lime, and phosphate of
magnesia; the easily decomposa-
ble substances in bone are fat, gela-
tine, and cartilage, which seem of
258
MAN
MAN
the same nature as coagulated al-
bumen.
urine contains the essential ele-
ments of vegetables in a state of
solution.
(C
"Hair, woollen rags, and feathers,
are all analogous in composition. During the putrefaction of
and principally consist of a sub- urine the greatest part of the solu-
stance similar to albumen, united ble animal matter that it contains
to gelatine. This is shewn by the is destroyed; it should consequent-
ingenious researches of Mr. Hatch-ly be used as fresh as possible; but
el. The theory of their operation
is similar to that of bone and horn
shavings.
if not mixed with solid matter it
should be diluted with water, as
when pure it contains too large a
quantity of animal matter to form a
proper fluid nourishment for ab-
sorption by the roots of plants.
"Amongst the excrementitious
solid substances used as manures,
one of the most powerful is the
dung of birds that feed on animal
food, particularly the dung of sea
birds. It is easy to explain its fer-
tilizing properties; from its com-
position it might be supposed to be
a very powerful manure.
It re-
"The refuse of the different ma
nufactures of skin and leather form
very useful manure; such as the
shavings of the currier, furrier's
clippings, and the offals of the tan-
yard and of the glue maker. The
gelatine contained in every kind of
skin is in a state for its gradual so-
lution or decomposition; and when
buried in the soil it lasts for à con-
siderable time, and constantly af-
fords a supply of nutritive matter to
the plants in its neighbourhood. quires water for the solution of its
"Blood contains certain quanti-soluble matter to enable it to pro-
ties of all the principles found in duce its full beneficial effect on the
other animal substances, and is crops.
consequently very good manure.
66
a
Among the excrementitious ani-
mal substances used as manure,
urine is the one upon which the
greatest number of chemical ex-
periments have been made,and the
nature of which is best understood.
"Urine is very liable to change
and to undergo the putrefactive
process; and that of carniverous
animals, more rapidly than that of
graminiverous animals. In propor-
tion as there is more gelatine and
albumen in urine, so in proportion
does it putrefy more quickly.
"The species of urine that con-
tain most albumen gelatine and
uria are the best manures; and all
66
Night soil, it is well known, is
a very powerful manure, and very
liable to decompose. It differs in
its composition, but always abounds
in substances composed of carbon,
hydrogene, azote, and oxygene.
From the analysis of Berzelius, it
appears that a part of it is always
soluble in water; and in whatever
state it is used, whether recent or
fermented, it supplies abundance of
food to plants.
"The disagreeable smell of night
soil may be destroyed by mixing it
with quick lime; and if exposed to
the atmosphere in thin layers
strewed over with quick lime, in
fine weather it speedily dries, is
MAN
259
MAN
easily pulverised, and in this state
may be used.
ferment it should be only in a very
slight degree. The grass in the
neighbourhood of recently voided
dung is always coarse and dark
green. Some persons have attri-
buted this to a noxious quality in
unfermented dung; but it seems to
be rather the result of an excess of
food furnished to the plants.
The Chinese, who have more
practical knowledge of the use and
application of manures than any
other people existing, mix their
night soil with one third of its
weight of a fat marle, make it into
thin cakes, and dry it in the sun.
These cakes, we are informed by
the French missionaries. have no
disagreeable smell, and form a com-
mon article of commerce of the em-
pire.
"The earth by its absorbent pow-ed in the farm yard with straw,
ers probably prevents to a certain
extent, the action of moisture upon
the dung, and likewise defends it
from the effects of air.
"After night soil pigeon dung
comes next in order, as to fertiliz-
ing power. It is evident that this
manure should be applied as new
as possible, and when dry it may be
employed in the same manner as
the other manures capable of being
pulverized.
"The dung of domestic fowls ap-
proaches very nearly in its nature
to pigeons' dung.
"The question of the proper
mode of application of the dung of
horses and cattle, however, proper-
ly belongs to the subject of compo-
site manures, for it is usually mix-
offal, chaff, and various kinds of
litter; and itself contains a large
proportion of fibrous vegetable
matter.
"A slight incipient fermentation
is undoubtedly of use in the dung-
hill; for by means of it a disposi-
tion is brought on in the woody fi-
bre to decay and dissolve when it
is carried to the land, or ploughed
into the soil; and woody fibre is
always in great excess in the refuse
of the farm.
"Too great a degree of fermen-
tation is however, very prejudicial
to the composite manure in the
dung-hill; it is better that there
should be no fermention at all be-
fore the manure is used, than that
"The dung of cattle, oxen and
cows has been chemically examined
by M.
M. Einhoff and Thaer.
They found that it contained mat-
ter soluble in water, and that it should be carried too far.
gave in fermentation nearly the
same products as vegetable sub
stances, absorbing oxygene and
producing carbonic acid gas.
"If the pure dung of cattle is to
be used as manure like the other
species of dung which have been
mentioned, there seems no reason,
why it should be made to ferment
except in the soil; or if suffered to
The
excess of fermentation tends to the
destruction and dissipation of the
most useful part of the manure;
and the ultimate results of this pro-
cess are like those of combustion.
It is a common practice among far-
mers to suffer the farm yard dung
to ferment till the fibrous texture of
the vegetable matter is completely
broken down; and till the manure
260
MAN
MAN
plied instantly even while it is
warm to the organs of the plant,
and consequently is more likely to
be efficient than in manure that has
gone through the process, and of
which all the principles have en-
tered into new combinations.
becomes perfectly cold, and so soft, soil the fluid matter produced is ap-
as to be easily handled or managed
with the spade. Independent of the
general theoretical views unfavour-
able to this practice, founded upon
the nature and composition of ve-
getable substances, there are many
arguments and facts which shewit is
prejudicial to the interests of the
farmer.
+6
During the violent fermenta-
tion which is necessary for redu
cing farm yard manure to the state
in which it is called short muck,not
only a large quantity of fluid but al-
so of a gaseous matter is lost, so
much so that the dung is reduced
one half or two thirds in weight;
and the principal elastic matter dis-
engaged is carbonic acid with some
ammonia; and both these if retain-
ed by the moisture in the soil are
capable of becoming an useful nou-
rishment of plants. Besides the
dissipation of gaseous matter,when
fermentation is pushed to the ex-
treme, there is another disadvan-
tage in the loss of heat, which if
excited in the soil is useful in pro-
moting the germination of the
seed, and in assisting the plant in
the first stage of its growth, when it
is most feeble and liable to disease;
and the fermentation of manure in
the soil must be particularly fa-
vourable to the wheat crop in pre
serving a genial temperature be-
neath the surface late in autumn,
and during winter.
"A great objection against slight-
ly fermented dung is, that weeds
spring up too luxuriantly where it
is applied. If there are seeds car-
ried out in the dung they will cer-
tainly germinate; but it is seldom
that this can be the case to any ex-
tent; if the land is not cleansed of
weeds,any kind of manure ferment-
ed or unfermented will occasion
their rapid growth. If slightly fer-
mented farm yard dung is used as a
top dressing for pastures, the long
straws and unfermented vegetable
matter remaining on the surface,
should be removed as soon as the
grass begins to rise vigorously, by
raking, and carried back to the
dung-hill; in this case no manure
will be lost, and the husbandry will
be at once clean and economical.
It is the language of a lazy farm-
er, to say, that any species of ma-
nure is objectionable because it pro-
duces weeds. It is his business to
extirpate them, and the oftener he
is obliged to do it, the better for
him, and for the crop. Some par-
ticular weeds may be excepted,
such as the couch grass and other
perennial ones.
"Again it is a general principle "In cases when farm-yard dung
in chemistry, that in all cases of cannot be immediately applied to
decomposition, substances combine crops, the destructive fermentation
much more readily at the moment of it should be prevented as much
of their disengagement, than after as possible. The principles on
they have been perfectly formed. which this may be effected have
And in fermentation beneath the 'been alluded to.
MAN
261
MAN
"Watering dung-hills is some-
times recommended for checking
the progress of fermentation; but
this practice is inconsistent with
just chemical views. It may cool
the dung for a short time, but mois-
ture is a principal agent in all pro-
cesses of decomposition. Dry fi-
brous matter will never ferment.
Water is as necessary as air to the
process; and to supply it to fer-
menting dung, is to supply an agent
which will hasten its decay.
"In all cases where dung is fer-
menting, there are simple tests by
which the rapidity of the process
and consequently the injury done
may be discovered.
"If a thermometer plunged into
the dung does not rise to above 100
degrees of Fahrenheit, there is lit-
tle danger of much æriform matter
flying off. If the temperature is
higher the dung should immediate-
ly be spread abroad.
"Street and road dung and the
sweepings of houses may be all re-
garded as composite manures; the
constitution of them is necessarily
various, as they are derived from a
number of different substances.
These manures are usually applied
in a proper manner, without being
fermented.
"Soot, principally formed from
the combustion of pit coals, gener-
ally contains substances derived
from animal matters. This is a very
powerful manure. It affords am-
moniacal salts by distillation, and
yields a brown extract to hot wa-
ter of a bitter taste. It likewise
contains an empyreumatic oil. Its
great basis is charcoal in a state in
which it is capable of being render-
ed soluble by the action of oxygene
and water.
"This manure is well fitted to
be used in the dry state, thrown in-
to the ground with the seed, and
requires no preparation.
"The doctrine of the proper ap-
plication of manures from organiz-
ed substances offers an illustration
of an important part of the econo-
my of nature, and of the happy or-
der in which it is arranged.
"The death and decay of animal
substances tend to resolve organiz-
"When dung is to be preserved
for any time, the situation in which
it is kept is of importance. It
should if possible be defended from
the sun.
To preserve it under
sheds would be of great use; or to
make the site of a dung hill on the
north side of a wall. The floor on
which the dung is heaped, should
if possible be paved with flated forms into chemical constitu-
stones; and there should be a lit-
tle inclination from each side to-
wards the centre, in which there
should be drains, connected with a
small well, furnished with a pump,
by which any fluid may be collect-
ed for the use of the land. It too
often happens that a dense mucila-
ginous and extractive fluid is suffer-
ed to drain away from the dung-hill,
so as to be entirely lost to the farm.
ents; and the pernicious effluvia
disengaged in the process seems to
point out the propriety of burying
them in the soil, where they are
fitted to become the food of vege-
tables. The fermentation and pu-
trefaction of organized substances
in the free atmosphere are noxious
processes; beneath the surface of
the ground they are salutary oper-
ations. In this case the food of
262
MAP
MAP
1
plants is prepared where it can be
used; and that which would offend
the senses and injure the health, if
exposed, is converted by gradual
processes into forms of beauty and
usefulness; the foetid gas is ren-
dered a constituent of the aroma
of the flower, and what might be
poison becomes nourishment to
animals and to men.
MAPLE, acer. Though Mr.
Miller reckons nine distinct kinds
of maple, I know of but two that
are usually to be found in this
part of the country.
One of these kinds is vulgarly
called red maple, Acer rubrum.
It is a very quick growing tree,
and therefore ought to be encour-
aged in forests, especially where a
quick profit is desired. But the
wood is soft and white, not inclin-
ed to burn well till it is dried. As
timber, it is valued chiefly by tur-
ners, by farmers for ox yokes, and
for cabinet-work.
and grow should not tap them for
their sap; because it stints them
in their growth, and often causes
them to decay and rot. The best
method of tapping has been late-
ly found to be by boring the
trees: So that the discharge of the
sap may be stopped at pleasure
with a peg, as there may be occa-
sion. When a plenty of sap is
collected, you should have three
kettles of different sizes. Fill the
largest kettle with sap. To six
gallons of sap put in one heaped
table-spoonful of slacked lime,
which will cause the sugar to gra-
nulate. Boil the sap in the large
kettle, taking off the scum as it
rises, till the quantity is so dimin-
ished that the second kettle will
hold it. Shift it into the second
kettle, and fill the large kettle with
fresh sap. Let both boil till the
third or smallest kettle will hold
the sap contained in the second
kettle. Shift it into that, and the
The other sort, called rock-ma-sap in the first into the second, and
ple, Acer saccharinum, is much fill the first with fresh sap. Boil
harder and heavier, and an excel- the sap in the smallest kettle, till
lent wood for fuel, being inflamma- it becomes ropy, which you will
ble in its green state, and durable know by taking out a little with a
in the fire. Both sorts wil' quick-stick, and trying it between your
ly decay, when exposed to the thumb and finger. Put it into the
weather; the latter is less durable cooler, and keep it stirring till the
than the former. The sap of the next parcel is done, and put that
white maple is drawn by many for into the cooler, and continue the
sugar. But it yields little in com- stirring. When the third parcel
parison with the other.
is ready, put that also into the
cooler, with the other, and stir the
whole smartly till it granulates.
Put it into moulds. Earthen ones
are best. Wooden ones are made
by nailing or pinning four boards.
together, so shaped as to make the
mould one inch diameter at the
bottom, and ten or twelve inches
It is of the sap of the rock-maple
that an excellent sugar is made,
which is no small advantage to the
planters in the wilderness, where
the trees are plenty, and the
wounding and injuring them is not
considered as any loss. But a
farmer that wishes his trees to live
MAP
263
MAR
at the top. The length may be
two feet, or two and a half. The
moulds must be stopped at the
small ends. The sugar must then
be put into the moulds. Next
morning the stoppers must be
taken out, and the moulds put on
troughs to drain their molasses. In
the evening the loaves must be
pierced at the small ends, to make
them run their sirrup freely. This
may be done by driving in a wood-
en pin, shaped like a marling-spike,
three or four inches up the loaf:
After which they must be left to
drain their molasses, which will be
done in a shorter or longer time,
according as the sugar has been
boiled."—American Museum.
It is practised in England, to
plant a large sort of maple on the
margins of plantations against the
sea, as they thrive well in such
situations, and serve to screen the
plantations of other kinds.
Mr. Miller says, "All sorts of
maple may be propagated by cut-
tings. And that if they be cut
from the trees before the buds be-
gin to swell, and before the ground
be fit to receive them, they may
be wrapped in moss, and put in a
cool place, where they may be
kept a month or five weeks with-
out injury." The trees may also
be propagated by sowing the seeds,
commonly called keys.
by_no
defects.
means have the same
In such case there can
be but little prospect that the issue
will be good. Some say they
should not breed with stallions
of the same blood. Crossing the
breed is said to be of great conse-
quence. Mares should not be suf
fered to breed till after four
years
old; and the best time for them
to take horse is about the lat-
ter end of June, then they will
not foal till the same part of the
month of the following May, when
the grass will be grown, which is
better to make mares give milk
than dry food is.
Mares with foal should be housed
the earlier in the fall, and fed well
till foaling. For the last month or
two before foaling, they should not
be ridden swiftly, nor be put to
draw at all nor to carry heavy bur-
dens on their backs.
MARKING of cattle. As one
man's cattle, horses, and sheep,
have very often such a resem-
blance to those of another, that
they cannot easily be distinguish-
ed; and as they often graze to-
gether on commons, or in common
pastures, marks for these different
animals have been found neces-
sary.
I have known no other marking
used for horses than branding with
a hot iron, on the shoulder or
MARE. Breeding mares should thigh. As these marks are not
be free from diseases; and have ornamental, most persons choose
good eyes; because the colts are that their horses should have no
apt to inherit their distempers. marks, but natural ones, as they
They should be the strongest, are called, such as particular spots
best spirited, and well shaped; on them of different colours, &c.
not of any bad colour. If any In this case, these natural discrimi-
defects are dispensed with, the nations should be registered; be-
mare and the stallion should' cause, in cases of dispute in law,
+
9
264
MAR
no owner's word, who is a party.
will be taken as evidence.
MAR
It has been said that a most in-
fallible way to distinguish marle
The marking of neat cattle on from other earths, is, to drop a
the horn, with the branding iron, piece of dry marle, as big as a
is so easily done, and without giv- nutmeg, into a glass of clear wa-
ing them pain, and is so permanent, ter, where it will send up many
that it should never be neglected. sparkles to the surface of the wa-
The brand should be made nearer ter, and soon dissolve into a soft
the point than the root of the horn, pap. But I have found that some
on the outside which is most exclays exhibit nearly the same ap-
posed to view, and not very deep, pearances.
especially on young cattle, which
have thinner horns than the older
ones. Burning a horn through to
the pith will hurt a creature, and
will spoil the horn for certain uses
afterwards.
Sometimes the beds of marle are
near the surface, but they are of-
tener found deep in the earth.
It is sometimes found on the
banks of ditches, by means of the
rank growth of weeds and grass on
it. Boring with a long auger, or
the screw borer, may discover
where it is.
where it is. Two kinds of marle
were lately found at Penobscot in
digging a well. Sometimes it is
very dry and compact in the earth,
but in some places almost liquid.
Earths, thrown out of wells, if they
have a clayey appearance, should
always be examined.
The same kind of mark would
be preferable for sheep, if they all
had horns; as they have not, some
other mark, alike suitable for all,
should be used. Marking them on
the wool is a bad practice. Some
of the wool is spoiled and lost by
it; and, at longest, it can last only
to the next shearing; oftentimes
not so long; and an uncertain mark
is worse than none. The ear mark Marles have been known to fer-
must be used, though the opera-tilize all kinds of soil, but light
tion gives some pain to the ani-
mals. These marks may be dis-
tinct for a great number of flocks.
And these marks should be matter
of record.
MARLE. Although we do not
know that marle has been disco-
vered, or at any rate ever applied in
New-England, yet we feel it a duty
in a work like the present to in-
troduce a manure, which has had
so great a reputation, and produced
so great effects in Europe.
Marle effervesces with acids;
but this effervescence does not dis-
tinguish it from other calcarious
fossils.
sandy ones more than any other.
But as Dr. A. Hunter, by decom-
pounding, has proved that marle
consists of particles of lime-stone,
mixed with clay or sand, or both;
according as either of these ingre-
dients is more predominant in it,
the soil will be indicated for which
it is most suitable. That which
contains the least proportion of
clay will be proper manure for a
stiff soil, being of the most absor-
bent kind; that which has the
largest proportion of clay should
be applied to a sandy soil. Το
discover the proportion of these
substances in marles, the same in-
MAR ·
265
MAR
If five parts in six prove to be
calcareous in a piece of marle, the
lime is predominant, and it is fit
for the stiffer soils; if two-thirds
only be calcareous, and the rest
clay, it is fit for a sandy soil,
&c.
genious writer advises as fol- be gently poured off. When this
lows:
is done, add more water to the
*Having dried and powdered remainder, and after sufficient mix-
the marle to be examined, pour ture and subsidence, pour off that
upon any given weight of it a small likewise. In the same manner
quantity of water. To this mix-repeat the operation, again and
ture, well shaken, add a little of again, till the water comes over
the acid of sea salt, and when the perfectly pure. The substance
consequent effervescence is over, which then remains
which then remains is sand, mixed
add a little more. Repeat this perhaps with some flakes of talc;
addition at proper intervals, till no and whatever this substance wants
more effervescence ensues. Then of the weight of the residue em-
throw the whole, with an equal or ployed, is the weight of pure clay
greater proportion of water, into a carried away by the water in the
filter of grey paper, whose weight process of elutriation.”—Georgi-
is known. When all the fluid cal Essays.
parts have passed through, fill up
the filter again and again, with
warm water. By this means the
dissolved particles of calcareous
earth, adhering to the residue, or
entangled in the pores of the paper,
will be washed away, and nothing
The calcareous part of marle
but what is really unsoluble will does not produce so quick an effect
remain in the filter. This residu- as lime, when used as manure;
um, with the filter, must be com- because the latter is burnt, and
pletely dried and weighed. Then flakes suddenly. This seems to
the difference betwixt it weight
and the original weight of the filter,
gives you the weight of unsoluble
parts contained in the marle under
examination. This being known,
the proportion of calcareous earth
in the same marle is evident. The
proportions of clay and sand in it
are discovered by subjecting the
residuum to a proper elutriation.
This operation is very simple, and
performed thus: Having weighed
the dry residue, mix and shake it
well with a sufficient quantity of
water. After allowing a little time
for the subsidence of the grosser
parts, let the water, with the finest
particles of clay suspended in it,
34
be the true difference, which is
not essential; because the calca-
reous part of marle gradually flakes
in the earth without burning. Like
lime, it attracts and imbibes the
acids of the earth and air, forming
a salt, which dissolves the oils, in-
creases the pasture of plants, and
prepares the food of plants to enter
their roots.
The quantity of marle to be
applied to an acre is about sixty
loads. Some sandy soils may bear
more of the clay marle; rich soils
need not near so much, of the kind
of marle which suits them.
Marle should be mellowed by
the frost of one winter before it is
266
MAR
MAR
*
buried in the soil; even in this
case, it will not fertilize the soil so
much the first year as afterwards.
Some marles do not produce their
full effect till the third year, as
they dissolve slowly. Some say
the good effect of one full dressing
with marle will last thirty years.
As good soils may be overdone
with this manure, it is better to
err at first in laying on too little
than too much. More may be
added at any time. As the princi-
pal effects of marle are like those
of lime, it is not to be expected
that marling a second time will
have so good an effect as the first.
This observation is said to be con-
firined by experience.
There is another sort of marle
no less valuable than the former
kind
and much used in old coun-
tries. It is composed chiefly of
broken shells, which were undoubt-
edly once the shells of marine
animals, mixed with a proportion
of sand. It sometimes also con-
tains a mixture of moss and decay-
ed wood.
This marle is usually found un-
der moss, or peat, in low sunken
parts of the earth; and especially
those which are nigh to the sea,
or considerable rivers. Mr. Mills
says, "Whoever finds this marle
finds a mine of great value. It is
one of the best and most general
manures in nature; proper for all
soils, and particularly so for clay."
This sort of marle, as well as the
other, may be easily found by bor-
ing. It has been sometimes dis-
covered by ant hills, as these in-
sects bring up some small pieces
of shells from their holes. One
would think that this country
must be furnished as plentifully
as any other with this kind of
marle; whether we suppose the
beds to have been formed by the
general deluge, by the raging of
the sea and inundations since that
great event, or by the shifting of
the beds of rivers.
The goodness of this marle de-
pends upon the shells, which are
the principal, and sometimes al-
most the whole that it contains.
It is much of the nature of lime,
and will go further than other
marle. It effervesces strongly with
all acids.
MARSH, according to Dr. John-
son, a fen, bog, or swamp. In this
country the word is used only to
signify flat land, bordering on the
sea, and lying so low as to be often
overflowed by the tides, when
they are fullest.
Marshes are distinguished into
high marsh and low marsh. The
former bears a very short grass,
but in many places very thick; the ›
latter produces a tall rank grass,
called thatch. Both these sorts of
grass are too highly impregnated
with salt to be a constant food for
cattle; but the long grass is salter
than the short, as it is oftener wet-
ted with sea-water during its
growth.
It is esteemed healthy for horses,
cattle, and sheep, to have some
of this sort of land in their pasture;
or to be turned, now and then for
a few days, into a marsh. At least
it saves the trouble and expense
of giving them salt. In England,
it is thought to save sheep from
that fatal distemper, the rot.
MEA
267
MEA
Marshes are certainly the rich-
est of our lands, as appears by the
astonishing degree of fruitfulness,
apparent in those pieces from
which the sea has been excluded
by dikes.
Marsh may be so far
improved by diking and tillage,
without manuring, that instead of
producing less than one ton of salt
hay per acre, it shall produce three
tons of the best kinds of hay. The
value of this soil must needs be
great, as it is not exhausted by
cropping, and needs no manure, |
unless it be sand, or some other
cheap substance, to dry and harden
it.
Some marshes require a dike
to exclude the sea, long in propor-
tion to the land it contains; others
a short one, as where the marsh is
narrowest towards the sea. He
that possesses a marsh of the latter
kind, can undertake no business
that will be more profitable than
diking it. Two men can easily
build a rod of dike upon high marsh
in a day. Through the hollows
and creeks, more work will be re-
quired.
If a marsh, after it is diked,
should be rather too wet for til-
lage, a ditch should be made round
by the upland to cut off the fresh
water, both above and below the
surface, and lead it to the outlet
or sluice. See Dike, and Sluice.
MATTOCK, a pickaxe. This
is a useful instrument in sinking
wells, digging trenches, ditches,
&c.
MEADOW, grass land for mow-
ing. In this country the word is
seldom used to signify upland
mowing ground, but that which is
|
low and moist, and seldom or never
ploughed. In other countries it is
the name of all mowing grounds.
Too much or too little moisture
is hurtful to these meadows. Those
that are apt to be too wet should
be made drier by ditching or by
draining, if it be practicable. They
may be made drier also by spread-
ing sand, gravel, or coal dust, upon
them: At the same time, their
fruitfulness will be increased, and
better kinds of grass may be intro-
duced.
When they are become dry,
they should be ploughed and till-
ed, if the soil be not a tough clay
with only an inch or two of black
mould above it. In this case, I
think a low meadow should not be
ploughed at all. Instead of plough-
ing, perhaps, it would be better to
cut away the hillocks and uneven-
nesses; which by rotting in heaps,
or burning, may be converted into
good manure for the soil. And to
increase the thickness of good soil,
let sand and other earths, with
dung, be spread over it.
When the soil is a loose crum-
bly clay, such as is found under
some meadows, such a meadow
may be converted to tillage land
with great advantage.
Flooding in the spring not only
enriches the soil of meadows, but
makes them bear a sharp drought
better. It causes the grass to
grow so rapidly that the soil is
sooner screened from the scorch-
ing heat of the sun.
Particular care should be always
taken to keep cattle out of mea-
dows in the spring and fall, when
they are very wet and soft. For
268
MEA
MEA
they will so break and spoil the
sward with their feet, that it will
not be fit for mowing, nor bear
more than half a crop. All the
fall feeding of such land should be
over, before the heaviest rains of
autumn. In the spring, no hoof
should, by any means, be suffered
to go upon a soft meadow. It oc-
casions so much loss and damage,
that a farmer had better give treble
price for hay to feed his cattle, or
buy corn for them, than to turn
them in, as some do, to eat the
grass that first springs, and which
has but little more nourishment in
it than water. No husbandry can
be worse, if husbandry it may be
called.
Meadows that bear poor water-
grasses should be mown rather be-
fore the grass is grown to its full
size. The hay will be so much
sweeter and better, that what it
wants in quantity will be more
than made up in its quality. And
the loss of quantity may perhaps n.
made up in fall feeding; or else a
second crop may be taken.
I have long observed that heavy
rains commonly fall before the end
of August, by which low meadows
are often flooded. Therefore,
there is danger in delaying to mow
them till it is so late.
so late. The crop
may be either totally lost, or men
must work in the water to save it
in a damaged condition.
MEASLES, a disease in swine.
The eyes are red and inflamed,
and the skin rises in pimples, and
runs into scabs. To cure a swine
of this disease, take half a spoonful
of spirit of hartshorn, and two
ounces of bole armoniac, mix it
with meal and water, and give it
him in the morning when he is
hungry. Repeat the dose every
day, till he is cured, which will be
in four or five days.
MEAT. Preservation of. Meat
may be preserved fresh many
months, by keeping it immersed in
molasses. A joint of meat, or any
provision, suspended in a flannel
bag will keep sweet much longer
than by most of the modes com-
monly practised. The cooler and
dryer the meat is, when the flannel
is put round it, the better, and the
flannel should be perfectly clean.
Fresh meat put in a close vessel,
containing vinegar will be preser-
ved a considerable time. Tainted
meat may be rendered good, by
pickling it in pearl-ash water some
time. Before it is cooked, howev-
ever, it should be dipped in vine-
gar a short time, and then salted in
brine. When meat has become in
some degree putrid it may be cur-
ed by putting it into a vessel and
boiling it, and skimming off the
scum. Then throw into the sauce-
pan a burning coal, very compact
and destitute of smoke; leave it
there for two minutes, and it will
have contracted all the smell of the
meat.
When meat has become tainted,
after having been pickled or salted
down, the following process, it is
said, will cure it: Take a sufficient
quantity of charcoal, and after ta-
king out the meat, and throwing
away the offensive pickle, repack
it in the barrel, lay pieces of char-
coal between the pieces of meat,
and make a new pickle, adding a
little salt petre. In about five or
MET
269
MIC
six days the meat will become as | adding a spoonful of yeast to fer-
sweet as when it was first packedment it. Some add ginger half an
See Salting of Meat.
ounce to a barrel, and as much
MELON, a pleasant tasted,cool-cloves and mace; but I have it very
ing fruit. It grows best in a warm good without any spices. One
climate; and is large and excel- hundred weight of honey will make
lent in the southern States. But a barrel of metheglin, as strong as
they will ripen in New-England,in good wine. I once had a barrel
the common way of planting; but made with 90 pounds of honey. Af-
are not so large, nor so early in the ter fermenting and fining, it was an
most northern parts. Some im- excellent liquor; some part of
provement has lately been made in which I kept bottled several years;
this fruit, by bringing seeds from it loses the honey taste by age, and
the southward. Whether this will grows lighter coloured: But on the
be a lasting advantage time will whole it does not improve by age,
shew.
like some liquors.
Melons grow best on a sandy
loam, which has a warm exposure
to the south or south-east. The
vines should be sheltered against
cold winds which stop their growth;
and against boisterous winds from
any quarter which will hurt them,
by disturbing and displacing their
vines.
A good manure to be put under
melons, is an old compost of good
loam, with the dung of neat cattle
or swine. The ends of the runners,
and the fruit latest formed, should
be taken off, that the fruit first for-
med may have more nourishment,
grow larger, and arrive to the
greater perfection. To raise me-
lons on hot beds, under frames, or
under hand glasses, see Gardener's
Dictionary.
METHEGLIN, a pleasant fer-
mented liquor, made of honey and
water. It is made thus: Put so
much new honey into spring wa-
ter, that when the honey is dissol
Ved, an egg will not sink to the
bottom. Boil the liquor for an
hour. When cool, barrel it up,
MICE, a well known genus of
quadrupeds, troublesome to all
housekeepers, but more especially
to farmers, and those who keep
quantities of grain in their houses,
or in granaries. Farmers should
know the best ways of opposing
their depredations, and of destroy-
ing them. The field mouse eats
the bark of trees in nurseries and
young orchards, when snow is on
the ground, and mostly when it is
deep. A good way to prevent this
mischief is to tread down the snow,
and make it very compact, about
the stems of the trees. And though
laying mulch about the roots of
trees be good for the trees, it occa-
sions the mice to increase; there-
fore I do not go into that practice,
while the trees are small, and have
a smooth bark. It is only while the
trees are young that mice eat the
bark.
It has been said of late that the
application of tanner's spent bark
is an admirable substitute for the
mulch so much recommended by
early writers, to be laid about the
270
MIL
MIC
roots of trees to keep the ground | make a lodgment in the earth.
Against them it would seem to be
an effectual preservative, if it were
possible to procure it in sufficient
quantities. See Orchard.
open. The evidence in favour of
it is very strong, and it is certain
that it will afford a much less fa-
vourable shelter to field mice.
From its structure, it is impossible
for them to burrow into it, and to
form nests, and it is probable that
it will produce all the desired ad-
vantages of keeping the roots free
from plants which will exhaust the
soil; at the same time that it will
secure our trees from the effects of
our severe droughts. We think
that sufficient attention has not been
paid to the difference between our
summers, and those of any of the
northern parts of Europe. Our sky
is more unclouded-our droughtsly used, I would recommend
of longer continuance, and there-
fore the rule applicable in Europe,
will not answer for this country. In
winter the same distinction ought
to be kept in mind. Our frosts are
so penetrating, and so deep, that
animals, accustomed to live on ve-
getable matter, are driven from the
roots of grass,to subsist on the barks
of trees, and the injuries thus in-
flicted are more lasting, and more
severe than any, which the Euro-
pean farmer encounters. If the
application of tanner's bark should
prove a successful remedy against
the attacks of field mice, and of
drought, we shall owe much to the
intelligent farmer of Massachusetts,
who first introduced it into notice.
There is scarcely any town without
a tan-yard, but in defect of tan-
ner's bark, it has been suggested,
that the breakings of flax,or hemp,
would answer the same purpose.
We have not so much confidence
in this, except against insects,which
Take a spoonful of flour, mixed
with some scrapings of old cheese,
and seeds of hemlock, made as fine
as possible. Set it where the mice.
haunt. If it be set in a house, let
it not be in the same apartment with
any thing that is to be used as the
food of man. This mixture will
destroy all the mice that eat it.
But since many fear to use poi-
son, they may take them alive in
wire cages. However, instead of
the round ones which are common-
square
ones, enclosed in thin wooden box-
es, with a hole in the box against
the entrance of the cage; because
a mouse will not so readily enter
into a place where he sees another
confined. The bait may be a rind
of cheese scorched, made fast to
the centre of the bottom of the
cage, and so far from the hole that
a mouse cannot reach it till he has
got quite into the cage. For
if he should stick in the passage,
he will prevent the entrance of
others.
MILDEW. It has been ascer-
tained by discoveries since the date
of Dr. Deane's writings on agricul-
ture, that this disease is occasioned
by a minute parasitic fungus__or
mushroom called by botanists Ure-
do, and Puccinca, on the leaves,
stems, and glumes or chaff of the
living plant. The roots of the fun-
gus, intercepting the sap, intended
by nature for the nutriment of the
grain, render it lean and shrivelled,
MIL
271
MIL
and in some cases rob it complete- | place. We will give, however,his
ly of its flour; and the straw be- 10th remedy, as follows
comes black and rotten, unfit for
fodder.
"A curious and most important
circumstance, connected with the
The same fungus is generated on rust in wheat remains to be stated.
many other vegetable substances In the northern counties of Eng-
besides wheat. Those receiving land, where it is the practice to sow
the infection at different seasons of what they call mestin (blind corn)
the year, form, as it were, conduc- or a mixture of rye and wheat, it
tors from one to the other,in which has been there remarked, that
fungi germinate, effloresce,dissemi-wheat, thus raised is rarely infected
nate and die, during the revolutions
of the seasons. The fungus having
arrived at maturity in the spring on
a few shrubs, bushes or plants, its
seeds are taken up the next humid
atmosphere, (hence the erroneous
idea that the rust or mildew is cau-
sed by fog alone) wafted into the
adjoining fields, and the nearest
wheat is sure to suffer the most
from it. In damp weather also, its
seed is more immediately received
into the leaves of trees and shrubs,
or into the barks and fruits, or the
stems of plants, through the medi-
um of those valves or mouths, with
which nature has supplied them,for
the admission of moisture.
The remedies against Rust or
Mildew are, 1. Cultivating hardy
sorts of wheat; 2. Early sowing;
3. Raising early varieties; 4. Thick
sowing; 5. Changes of seed; 6.
Consolidating the soil after sowing;
7. Using saline manures; 8. Im-
proving the course of crops; 9. Ex-
tirpating all plants that are recep-
tacles of rust; and 10. Protecting
the ears and roots of wheat by rye,
tares and other crops. The above
remedies are enlarged upon by Sir
John Sinclair in "The Code of Ag-
riculture," but his observations are
too voluminous to quote in this
by the rust. It is singular that the
same circumstance has been ob-
served in Italy. In an account
drawn up by Professor Symonds,on
the climate of that country, it is re-
corded that "wheat mixed with rye
or tares escapes unhurt." It would
appear from tares being so useful
that the seed of the fungus must be
taken up by the root, and that if the
root be protected it is sufficient.
This seems to be so countenanced
by other circumstances, as that by
treading the ground, and thick
sowing of crops of wheat, the crop
is less liable to be affected by this
disease; the access of the seeds of
the fungi to the root being render-
ed more difficult. Mr. Knight is
decidedly of opinion that the dis-
ease is taken up by the root, and
indeed if it were introduced at the
ear of the plant, how could it de-
scend, and infect solely the stem,
which is the case unless when the
disease is inveterate.
"If a field be evidently affected,
and the progress of vegetation stop-
ped, the only way to preserve the
straw and the grain, if any has been
formed from being entirely lost, is
to cut it down immediately, even
though the crop should not be ripe.
The straw is thus preserved either
272
MIL
MIL
for food or litter; and it is main-fining their attention. to those
taiued any nourishment in the roots, and plants, which are not so
stem, wih pass into and feed the frequently subject to such evils.
grain, and make a greater return We can say with confidence that
than could well be expected. no project or system has yet been
discovered to correct, or even miti-
gate the evil.”
It has been recommended to
sprinkle wheat while growing, which
appears to be in any degree affect-
ed with this disease, with a solution
of salt and water, which may be
applied by means of a mop. The
sprinkling should be several times
repeated, so that every part of the
plants may be wetted, and it is said
that wherever the brine touches
the rust disappears. Sir John Sin-
clair observes that "In the course
of a most extensive inquiry into the
causes of mildew in wheat, and the
means of its prevention, it appear-
ed, that a farmer in Cornwall was
accustomed to manure his turnip
land with the refuse salt from the
pilchard fishery; and that ground,
thus treated was never liable to the
mildew, though it infested the
neighbourhood.
Perhaps, however, some of the
remedies of Sir John Sinclair,above
mentioned may be worth the trial,
particularly that of early cutting.
MILK, a nutritious liquor, which
nature prepares in the breasts of
female animals, for the nourish-
inent of their young. The milk
of cows is that with which the far-
mer is mostly concerned.
That the greatest quantity of milk
may be obtained from cows, they
should not calve out of the right
season. April is a good time of the
year, if the calves are to be rear-
ed; if not, perhaps May is better,
being rather more favourable to
the diary. But that cows may
give plenty of milk to nourish their
calves at this season, they should
not be wholly confined to hay, or
any other dry meat: But be daily
fed with some kind of juicy food,
such as potatoes, turnips, carrots,
&c. until they have plenty of grass.
In feeding milch cows, the fla-
vour of the milk should be attend-
A gentleman, who is at once a
scientific and practical farmer, and
who has had great experience on
this as well as most other subjects
connected with the agriculture of
New-England, observes that "Mil-
dew is the principal obstacle to the
growth of wheat and rye in New-ed to, unless it be when their
England, and it is probable that it calves suck all their milk Feed-
is connected with an exposure to ing them with turnips is said to
the desolating winds, which blow give an ill taste to the butter made
from the ocean. It is probable that of the milk. The decayed leaves
nature has pointed out to us the of cabbages will undoubtedly give
true limits, within which cereal or a bad taste to the milk, though the
graminiferous plants can be advan- sound heads will not. There is
tageously raised, and that those to no fear of potatoes and carrots
whom this blessing is denied,should having any bad effect upon the
seek to obtain an equality, by con-milk in this way. The quantity of
MIL
273
MIL
milk is greatly increased by pota-
toes, but it becomes thinner. Some
think carrots have a tendency to
dry up the milk in cows; but I
have assured myself of the contra-
ry by much experience.
The milk of cows in summer is
sometimes made very bitter by
their feeding on ragweed, which
they will do, when they are very
hungry. To prevent this evil it is
only necessary that they should
not be forced to eat it by the want
of other food.
| MILLET, Panicum, a round yel-
lowish white grain, which grows in
panicles at the top of the stalk.
The stalks and leaves are like those
of Indian corn, but smaller. It
grows to the height of three or four
feet. A sandy warm soils suits it
best. It should be sown about the
middle of May, in drills three feet
apart. The plants should be so
thinned at the first hoeing as to be
about six inches apart in the rows.
It will produce as large crops as In-
dian corn, and bears drought ad-
mirably well. Cattle are fond of
eating it green, preferring it to clo-
ver. A crop of it sown thick, and
mowed green, would be excellent
fodder.
"Milk consists of three parts,
namely caseous, butyrous, and se-
rous. The first comprehends the
grosser earthy particles, which
serve to suspend the butyrous part;
and which, when coagulated by art, Some say a crop may be obtain-
are formed into Cheese. The se-ed by sowing it at about mid-sum-
cond ingredient comprises the bu-
tyraceous or oily particles, or cream,
which float on the surface of milk,
and are by agitation converted into
Butter. The serous are the more
watery parts, constituting what is
called whey, and serving as a vehi-
cle for the two before stated. The
most wholesome milk is that which
contains a due proportion of the
three constituent parts.
"To preserve milk, add five
grains of magnesia to a quart. To
ascertain the quantity of cream,
which will be afforded by various
specimens of milk, procure half a
dozen glass tubes, closed at one
end, 9 inches long, and half an inch
in diameter; fix them in a wooden
frame; mark on each 4 several in-
ches from the top as a scale. The
cream settling at the top,after they
have been filled with milk, will
shew the quantity." Domestic En-
cyclopedia. 35
mer. Perhaps it may be so in hot-
ter climates. I tried the experi-
ment in the 44th degree of latitude,
and the crop was little better than
mere chaff, for want of continuance
of heat to fill the grain.
This grain appears to be subject
to no distemper; but when it is
nearly ripe, the birds are apt to get
a great deal of it, if it be not watch-
ed carefully.
The way to harvest it is, to cut
off the panicles with a knife, near
the uppermost joint of the stalk,
put them into sacks or sheets,carry
them to the barn floor, and empty
them into heaps, covering them
with cloths. After lying five or six
days, it must be thrashed and clean-
ed. It should be dried well in the
sun, before it is stowed away in the
granary; for it will not keep well
with any moisture in it.
Millet is an excellent food for
274
MOS
fowls and swine; for the latter it,
should toground into meal. Some
mix it with flour in bread; but it is
better for puddings. There is also
a red sort of millet; but this I have
never seen.
MOLES. The Hon. Jacob Rush
of Philadelphia, from some experi-
ments was of opinion, that dri-
ed cod-fish, cut into small pieces,
and put into the earth, will drive
away moles from gardens. Take a
small round stick of about an inch
in diameter, sharpened at the point,
and perforate the ground in the
roads of the moles; drop in a small
piece of fish, and cover the hole
with a lump of dirt, and your gar-
den will be rid of these mischievous
animals.
MOSS, Lichen, a sort of plant
that is injurious to the growth of
other plants in general. It was for-
merly thought to be an excrescence;
but even the minutest kinds are
now known to be propagated by
seeds.
Low meadows are often infested
with moss, which prevents the flou-
rishing of the grass, and indicates
the coldness and sourness of the
soil. To cure meadows of moss
they should be top dressed with
lime, ashes, and other absorbent
manures; as well as laid drier by
ditching or draining. After which
fire should be put to it at a time
when it will burn freely.
Tillage lands, when they are laid
down to grass, often become mossy,
especially when they are too long
in grass. Cold loamy soils are most
subject to this evil. The moss on
such land is often so small, as to
appear only as a green mouldiness
MOS
of the surface. But this mould
consists of distinct minute plants,as
well as all other mouldiness,as may
be seen by the help of microscopes.
If dressings of warm manures do
not prove sufficient to clear the
ground of this moss, it should be
scarified, or harrowed, or else bro-
ken up and tilled. For if it be
per-
mitted to continue, it will rob the
grass of most of its food.
A very long white or yellowish
moss grows in wet swamps. Drain-
ing the swamps, and setting fire to
the moss in a dry season, will
commonly be sufficient to subdue it.
Moss on fruit trees is detrimen-
"The re-
tal to their fruitfulness.
medy is scraping it off from the bo-
dy and large branches, with a kind
of wooden knife, that will not hurt
the branches; or with a rough hair
cloth, which does very well after a
soaking rain. But the most effec-
tual cure, is taking away the cause.
This is to be done by draining
off all superfluous moisture from
about the roots of the trees.
it may be guarded against in plant-
ing the trees, by not setting them
too deep in the soil.
And
"If trees stand too thick in
a cool ground, they will always
be covered with moss; and the
best way to remedy the fault is
to thin them. When the young
branches of trees are covered
with a long and shaggy moss, it
will utterly ruin them; and there
is no way to prevent it, but to cut
off the branches near the trunk,and
even to take off the head of the
tree, if necessary, for it will sprout
again. And if the cause be in the
mean time removed by thinning
I
MOS
275
MOW
the plantation, or draining the
land, the young shoots will conti
nue clear after this.
"If the trees are covered with
moss in consequence of the ground's
being too dry (as this will happen
from either extreme in the soil)
then the proper remedy is,the lay-
ing mud from the bottom of a pond,
or river, pretty thick about the
roots, opening the ground to some
distance and depth to let it in.
This will not only cool it, and pre-
vent its giving growth to any quan-
tity of moss; but it will prevent the
other great mischief which fruit
trees are liable to in dry grounds,
which is the falling of the fruit too
early." Mortimer's Husbandry.
MOULD. "Mould, which con-
tains a mixture of animal and vege-
table remains, particularly from
putrefaction, is an essential ingre-
dient in all fertile soils. It arises
from the decomposition of the roots
and leaves and vegetables on grass
land, and the stubble and roots of
grain crops, on arable. This pro-
cess on grass lands is very slow;
for it is calculated that it proceeds
at the rate of only one inch in a
century. Considerable accumula-
lations of this mould, are likewise
produced from the leaves of trees,
amassed for a number of years,and
When in
rotted on the surface.
addition to vegetable, there are ani-
mal remains, in a state of decom-
position, the soil is distinguished
for its fertility." Code of Agricul-
ture.
MOULDBOARD, that part of
a plough which turns over the fur-
row. For ploughing green sward,
an iron mouldboard is best: If
it be wood it ought to be plated
with iron to prevent its being soon
worn through.
See Plough.
"One of the greatest difficulties
in the management of old pasture
lands, is to prevent that immense
growth of mosses, by which the
finer species of grasses are apt to
be overwhelmed. Drainage, and
the use of rich composts, are in
this case necessary, and tillage it-
self must be sometimes resorted to.
Harrowing, and cross-harrowing,
with a common harrow loaded with
a weight, so as to go from one to
two inches deep, with a sprinkling
of grass seeds afterwards, and some
lime, or well prepared compost,are
the most likely means of destroy-
ing the moss, and improving the
pasture. Feeding sheep with oil
cake, and allowing them to pasture
on the land, has also been found ef-
fectual for the destruction of moss,
and bringing up abundance of grass.
But the radical remedy is to plough"
up such grass lands, upon the first
appearance of moss, or before it
has made any considerable pro-
gress." Code of Agriculture.
MOW, a quantity of hay,or grain
in the straw, piled in a barn for
keeping. Ground mows are more
liable to take damage by moisture,
than mows upon scaffolds. Mows
of grain should be laid upon the
latter. The larger the mow, the
drier the hay or sheaves should be
of which it consists. See Fodder.
The following modes of prevent-
ing hay from heating in the bay or
mow are recommended in the
Farmer's Manual" by Frederick
Butler.
"Let your bays be open under
the bottom for a free circulation of
276
MOW
MOW
air; fill several large bags with hay,
set them erect upon the floor of
your bays, mow the clover around
them with as little treading as pos-
sible; raise up your bags with the
rise of your mow, and when your
mow is finished, remove the bags;
these openings will serve as venti-
lators, and secure your mows from
heating. If you reserve your wheat
or rye straw for this purpose, and
cover your clover occasionally as
you mow it with straw; your straw
will not only prevent your mow
from heating, but imbibe the mois-
ture of your clover, and become
valuable feed for your horses and
cattle, and thus become a double
saving. One bushel of salt sprink-
led on your clover, as you mow it,
will preserve it against heating, and
doubly pay you in the value it will
give to your hay."
MOWING, the operation, or art
of cutting down grass, corn, &c.
with a scythe.
They who have not been in their
youth accustomed to do this work,
are seldom found to be able to do
it with ease or expedition. But
when the art is once learnt, it will
not be lost.
As this is one of the most labori-
ous parts of the husbandman's cal-
ling, and the more fatiguing as it
must be performed in the hottest
season of the year, every precau-
tion ought to be used which tends
to lighten the labour. To this it
will conduce not a little, for the
mower to rise very early, and be at
his work before the rising of the
sun.
He may easily perform half
the usual day's work before nine in
the morning. His work will not on-
[ly be made easier by the coolness
of the morning air, but also by the
dew on the grass, which is cut the
more easily for being wet. By this
means he may lie still and rest him-
self during all the hottest of the
day, while others who begun late
are sweating themselves excessive-
ly; and hurting their health, pro-
bably, by taking down large
draughts of cold drink to slake their
raging thirst. The other half of
his work may be performed after
three or four o'clock; and at night
he will find himself free from fa-
tigue.
If the mower would husband his
strength to advantage, he should
take care to have his scythe, and
all the apparatus for mowing, in
the best order. His scythe ought
to be adapted to the surface on
which he mows. If the surface
be level and free from obstacles,the
scythe may be long and almost
straight; and he will perform his
work with less labour, and greater
expedition. But if the surface be
uneven, cradley, or chequered with
stones, or stumps of trees,his scythe
must be short and crooked. Other-
wise he will be obliged to leave
much of the grass uncut, or use
more labour in cutting it. A long
and straight scythe will only cut off
the tops of the grass in hollows.
1
A mower should not have a snead
that is too slender; for this will
keep the scythe in a continual tre-
mor, and do much to hinder its cut-
ting. He must see that it keeps
perfectly fast on the snead; for the
least degree of looseness will oblige
him to use the more violence at
every stroke. Many worry them-
MOW
277
MOW
selves needlessly by not attending
to this circumstance.
Mowing with a company ought
to be avoided by those who are not
very strong, or who are little used
to the business, or who have not
their tools in the best order. Young
lads, who are ambitious to be
thought good mowers, often find
themselves much hurt by mowing
in company.
Mowers should not follow too
closely after each other: For this
has been the occasion of fatal
wounds. And when the dangerous
tool is carried from place to place,
it should be bound up with a rope of
grass, or otherwise equally secured.
“Mr. de Lisle introduced in Eng-
land, the mowing of wheat. The
method is this: The scythe he uses
is at least six inches shorter in the
blade than the common scythe ; and
instead of a cradle, has two twigs
of osier put semi-circular wise into
holes made in the handle of the
scythe, near the blade, in such a
manner that one semi-circle inter-
sects the other.
"By this method of mowing wheat,
the standing corn is always at the
left hand. The mower mows it in-
ward, bearing the corn he cuts on
his scythe, till it come to that which
is standing, against which it gently
leans. After every mower follows
a gatherer, who, being provided
with a hook or stick, about two feet
long, gathers up the corn, makes it
into a gavel, and lays it gently on
the ground. This must be done
with spirit,as another mower imme-
diately follows." Complete Farmer.
As reaping is slow and laborious
work, it would be right for our
countrymen to learn this method
of mowing their wheat; which will
undoubtedly answer also for other
sorts of grain.
MOWING GROUND, a name
commonly given in this country to
land that is mowed for hay; which
being fit for either mowing or til-
lage, is occasionally used for the
latter.
The generality of farmers, in
this country, lamentably mistake
their interest, by having too large
a proportion of their lands in grass
for mowing. Half the usual quan-
tity with the best management,
would produce as much hay as
they need, a great deal more than
they commonly get; besides sav-
ing them expense and much hard
labour; and allow them to convert
half their mowing land to tillage
or pasture; especially to the latter,
which is most wanted.
His
A New England farmer is not
contented, unless he yearly mows
over the greater part of his clear-
ed land; because he supposes that
if he does not, he shall be able to
winter but a small stock.
grass on the most of his acres must
needs be very thin, even when
the seasons are most favourable;
therefore, if a summer happen to
be dry, the soil, which is so poorly
covered as to retain neither dews
nor rains, is unavoidably parched
and bound. The grass, thus de-
prived of its nourishment, does not
get half its usual growth in a dry
season; and the crop turns out to
be almost nothing. The distress-
ed farmer, not knowing how to get
fodder for his cattle in the ensuing
winter, with severe labour or cost,
278
MOW
MOW
mows his dead grass, and gets per-grass are not to be expected when
there
there is no strength, or next to
none, in the soil. Therefore the
lands should be dunged when the
grass is sown, unless we except
clover and other biennial grasses.
And even for these it is often quite
necessary, always advantageous.
haps four or five cocks from an
acre. He cannot sell off many of
his stock, because of the general
scarcity of hay; nor fatten them
to kill, for want of grass; there-
fore he keeps them along poorly
and pinchingly, till the ground is
bare in the following spring; then,
to save their lives, he turns them
into the mowing ground, as soon
as there is the least appearance of
green grass. They potch the soil
to the depth of six or eight inches,
which is sufficient to prevent the
growth of a good crop that year;
as it sinks a great part of the sur-
face to such a depth that it can
produce nothing; tears and maims
the roots which remain in their
places; and leaves the surface so
uneven, that if a crop of grass
should grow, it could not be mown
closely, if at all. Therefore,
through want of hay, the soil and
sward must be mangled in the
same way the spring following ;
and so on from year to year per-
petually. How absurd and ruin-
ous this practice!
Also, the surface should be rol-
led after the seed is sown, to close
the mould about the seeds, to pre-
vent their being removed by strong
winds, to prevent the surface from
being irregularly torn by the frost
of winter, and to make the soil
smoother for mowing.
Grass land, by lying, is apt to
become uneven, and knobby. For
this reason the good farmers in
England pass a roller over their
grass-land every spring and fall.
It gives the roots of grass a more
equal advantage for nourishment
and growth, and facilitates the
mowing of the grass, and the rak-
ing of the hay.
When land becomes bound, or
mossy, so as to diminish the growth
of the grass, if it be not convenient
for the farmer to break it up, it
should be cut, or scarified by a
spiked roller, or if the farmer does
not possess this, by a heavy load-
ed harrow, when the ground is
softened by rains, or by the com-
ing out of the frosts. Then dress-
If our farmers would resolve
they will mow but half the quan-
tity of ground which they have
mowed hitherto, I should think
they might soon find their account
in it. But it will be necessary
that they should adopt a new kinded with some short rotten manure
of management, with respect to
their mowing grounds.
In the first place, let them not
lay down to grass for mowing, any
lands that are quite exhausted by
severe cropping; nor without ma-
nuring them well. Good crops of
suited to the soil; bushed, and a
roller passed over it. There is
no danger of destroying the roots
of the grass by this operation.
Though they are broken they will
be speedily renewed; new offsets
will be more plentifully formed,
MOW
279
MOW
and the crops will rise with renew-more than the advantage they
ed vigour.
Let farmers keep their mowing
land so completely fenced, that
cattle and swine may be effectually
prevented from breaking in at any
time of the year. I think every
one must be sensible of the neces-
sity of this.
manure.
can get. In the fall, neat cattle
may get the aftermath: But sheep
and horses may be apt to bite so
close as to injure some of the roots.
Therefore I think they should be
kept out, especially after the grass
comes to be short. Whatever
dung is dropped by the cattle,
should be carefully beat to pieces,
and spread, before winter, or early
in the spring.
These lands should never be fed
so bare, but that some quantity of
fog may remain on them through
the winter. The snow presses it
down to the surface, where it rots;
it holds the rain water from pass-
ing off suddenly; and the virtue of
the rotten grass is carried into the
soil, where it nourishes the roots.
Grass lands, with such a manage-
ment as is here recommended,
would produce crops surprisingly
It is ridiculous to think of tak-
ing many crops of hay from any
piece of upland, in uninterrupted
succession, without affording it any
For it does not imbibe
the richness of the atmosphere so
plentifully as land in tillage. Grass
land should, therefore, once in two
or three years at least, have a
dressing of good rotten dung, or of
a compost suitable for the soil.
But the best way is to do it every
year. Autumn is the time for ap-
plying the manure, according to
long approved practice. But a
writer in the Georgical Essays re-large; especially in the northern
commends doing it immediately
after the first mowing, when a se-
cond crop is expected, which will
undoubtedly be the larger. When-
ever it is done, a bush harrow
should be drawn over the surface,
which will break the small lumps
remaining in the manure, and bring
it closer to the roots of the grass.
By this management, four or five
tons of hay may be the annual pro-
duce of an acre. Or if the sur-
face be not dunged, the crop should
be fed off once in three years;
that the excrements of the cattle
may recruit the soil.
No cattle should, on any ac-
count, be turned into a mowing
ground in the spring. The mis-
chief they will do, will be ten times
It
parts of New-England, which are
extremely natural to grass. The sur-
face would be covered early in the
spring with a fine verdure. The
crops would cover the ground so
soon as to prevent most of the ill
effect of drought in summer.
would, by forming a close cover to
the soil, retain most of the mois-
ture that falls in dews and rains.
So that a dry summer would make
but little difference in the crop;
and the rich lands would often
produce two crops in a year.
On this plan of management,
much labour might be saved in hay
making; and the grass might all
be cut in due season; not only be-
cause the farmer has more leisure,
by having so much less mowing to
280
MUD
MUD
ponds, rivers, creeks, ditches, and
wet sunken places. It is mostly
composed of a fine vegetable
mould, mixed with the substance
of perished vegetables, &c. and
therefore it contains much of the
natural food of plants.
In ponds and rivers, this sedi-
do; but also because a good crop
is not apt to dry up so suddenly,
as a poor and thin one. The grass
in our mowing grounds is often
said to be winter killed. It is ob-
servable that this happens only in
the little hollow places, where the
melting snow towards spring forms
little ponds of water. A cold nightment is made up of fine dust, to-
or two turns these ponds to cakes gether with a rich variety of other
of ice, which lying long upon the substances, which have been waft-
roots chills them so much that they ed in the air, and have fallen into
cannot soon recover. Or the the water; together with the sub-
ponds made by the thawing of the tilest particles of the neighbouring
ice destroy the roots by drowning soils washed down into them by
them; so winter flooding destroys rains. That is supposed to be the
all the best grasses. The grass, richest mud, which is near to the
however, only of one crop is de- borders, and which has been alter-
stroyed in the hollows; for it rises nately flooded and fermented; as
again by the midsummer, or au- it will ferment when it lies bare,
tumn following.
in some degree.
Laying lands very smooth and
level, according to the above di-
rection, will do much towards pre-
venting this evil. But if a field
be perfectly flat, and apt to retain
too much wet when it is in tillage,
it should be laid down to grass in
broad ridges or beds. I am ac-
quainted with some farmers who
have found advantage from this
method. The trenches, or fur-
rows between the beds, should be
the breadth of two or three swarths
asunder, that the grass may be
mowed with the less inconve-
nience. It is near as much work
to mow a half swarth as a whole
one; which is a good reason why
the beds should not be very nar-
row. Ten or twelve feet is a
good breadth, as it is equal to two
swarths.
MUD, a black or dark-coloured
sediment, found at the bottom of
•
In rivers, and in long ditches
that have currents, there is a
greater proportion of soil in the
mud. It has been brought down
from soft, mellow lands, through
which the rivers pass; and some
of it doubtless from beds of marle,
which are often found in the banks
of rivers, and which readily dis-
solve in the water.
Some ponds are totally dried up
in a hot and dry summer; and all
ponds and rivers are so diminished
by a copious evaporation, as to
leave part, and the richest part, of
their beds uncovered. And these
beds, where there has been no ra-
pid current, are always found to
contain a rich mud.
places it reaches to a considerable
depth. This mud, though taken
from fresh waters, has been found
to be a valuable manure; more
especially for dry, sandy and gra-
In some
MUD
281
MUD
}
velly soils. I have known it to
have as good an effect as barn
dung, in the culture of Indian corn,
upon such soils. The advantage
of it is not found. to be only for
one season; it meliorates the land
for several years. It restores to a
high piece of ground what vegeta-
ble mould the rains, in a long
course of years, have been washing
away from it.
It is happy for the farmer that
Providence has prepared for him
these magazines of manure in all
parts of the country. None but
the stupid will let them lie unno-
ticed, or unremoved. When a
dry autumn happens, the prudent
farmers will be very industrious in
carting mud up from- evaporated
ponds, and other sunken places in
their farms, and laying it upon
their light soils, especially upon
high gravelly knolls; or into their
barn yards, if the distance be not
too great.
But with respect to using mud
as a manure, the maritime farmers
have the advantage of all others.
For the sea oose, which appears on
the flats, and in creeks and harbours,
along the shores of the sea, has all
the virtues of fresh water mud, with
that of sea salt superadded, which
is one of the most important
ingredients in the composition of
the best manures. I might add,
that it abounds, more than any
other mud, with putrefied animal
substances. Much of these are
contained in the sea itself: And
innumerable are the fowls and fish
that have perished upon flats since
time began; and the component
parts of their bodies have been
inclosed by the supervenient
slime.
Mud taken from flats where
there are shell fish, or even where
they have formerly lived, is bet-
ter for manure, than that which
appears to be more unmixed.
The shells among it are a valua-
ble part of its composition. If it
abound mùch with shells, it be-
comes a general manure, fit to be
laid upon almost every kind of
soil.
That mud, however, which is a
richer manure than any other, is
taken from docks, and from the
sides of wharves in populous
towns. For it has been greatly
enriched by the scouring of foul
streets, and from common sewers;
as well as from an unknown quan-
tity of animal and vegetable sub-
stances, accidentally fallen, or de-
signedly thrown into such places.
Sea mud may be taken up at
any season, whenever the farmer
has most leisure. It is a good
method to draw it up on sleds from
the flats in March, when the bor-
der is covered with firm ice. I
have thus obtained mud from flats,
with great expedition and little
expense.
Mud that is newly taken up, may
be laid upon grass land. But if it
is to be ploughed into the soil, it
should first lie exposed to the frost
of one winter. The frost will de-
stroy its tenacity, and reduce it to
a fine powder; after which it may
be spread like ashes. But if it be
ploughed into the soil, before it
has been mellowed, it will remain
in lumps for several years, and be
of less advantage.
36
282
MUL
A layer of mud will be no bad
ingredient in a heap of compost.
But it should be contiguous to a
stratum of lime, if that can be ob-
tained. But where this is want-
ing, new horse dung is the best
substitute, to excite a strong fer-
mentation.
The best method of managing
all sorts of mud, were it not for in-
creasing the labour, would be to
lay it in farm yards, and let it be
thoroughly mixed with the dung
and stale of animals. When it is
so managed, the compost is excel-
lent, and fit for almost any soil,
though best for light ones. Per-
haps the advantage of it is so great
as to pay for the increased expense
of twice carting. For it will ab-
sorb the stale of cattle, and retain
it better than straw, and other light
substances.
MUR
Connecticut, and in the western
part of Massachusetts.
Possibly the time may come
when we may be glad to make silk
for our own use in this country.
If this should happen, it will be re-
gretted if there be no trees in the
country from which the worms can
be fed. They will grow well in
a deep dry soil which is mode-
rately rich.
MULCH, rubbish of decayed
vegetables. Litter is a word of
the same import.
MURRAIN. "Murrain, a con-
tagious disease incident to cattle
it is known by the animals hanging
down their heads, which are swol-
len; by short and hot breathing
palpitation of the heart; stagger-
ing; an abundant secretion of vis-
cid matter in the eyes; rattling in
the throat and a shining tongue.
"The murrain is occasioned by
various causes, but principally by
a hot, dry season, or a general
corruption of the air. It raged
about the middle of the last cen-
tury in various parts of Europe,
and carried off great numbers of
cattle. The remedy then employ-
MULBERRY, Morus, a well
known tree, the leaves of which
are the proper food of silk worms.
The only mulberry, in any degreè
proper for the food, or successful
culture of silk worms, is the white
mulberry. All attempts to raise
them on the leaves of the common
black mulberry will be unsuccess-ed both for prevention and cure,
ful.
It would be right for us to pro-
pagate these trees, as it might be
done with the greatest ease. We
may do it by their seeds, or by
layers, cuttings or slips. If we
are not disposed to make use of
them for the feeding of silk worms,
they would pay for the trouble of
rearing them, by their fruit and
their timber. They suit our cli-
mate, and grow rapidly, at least in
consisted in a mixture of equal
parts of gun-powder, salt, soot,
and brimstone; one spoonful of
this composition was given for a
dose, and was hid down with warm
water.
"In the 36th volume of Annals
of Agriculture, the following re-
cipe is inserted for the murrain in
hogs :-A handful of nettles is to
be previously boiled in a gallon of
small beer, when half a pound of
NAV
283
NET
flour of sulphur, quarter of a
pound of elecampane, three ounces
of liquorice, and a quarter of a
pound of anniseeds are to be ad-
ded in a pulverized state. This
preparation should be administer-
ed in milk, and the quantity here
stated is said to be sufficient for
six doses.
or bolsters, which may be girt
round with a sursingle. But if the
sore be dead and lifeless, a good
sharp knife must be used to cut it
to the quick; then let it be dress-
ed according to the directions for
the cure of wounds.
"A sit fast also proceeds from a
saddle gall, and is another of the
"But the most effectual preven-accidents that happen to the spine.
tive of this contagion is to keep It is dry and horney, and may be
the cattle cool during the summer, cured by anointing it first with oil
and to allow them a sufficiency of of bays, until it turns soft; then by
water: all carrion should be spee- dressing it with quicksilver and
dily buried and as the feeding of turpentine, as above directed.
those useful animals in wet places,
or on rotten grass or hay frequent-
ly causes this malady, their food
ought to consist of dry and sweet
fodder."-Domestic Encyclopedia.
:
N.
NAVE, the middle part of a
wheel, through which the axle
passes. See Wheels,
NAVEL GALL, "a disorder
on the top of the spine, opposite
to the navel, whence the name.
It is most commonly caused by an
ill formed saddle, or want of good
pads, and being neglected turns to
a foul fungous excrescence; and
sometimes, after long continuance,
to a fistulous ulcer. While there
is moisture and sensibility in the
part, an ointment may be applied
of quicksilver and turpentine; an
ounce of the former or two ounces
of the latter, rubbed in a mortar
till they be well incorporated; and
then spread upon tow. On each
side of the spine, over the swelling,
may be laid smooth dry pledgits,
This will make a cure, especially
if the hard horney substance be
gently scarified in some places."
Gibson's Farriery.
NETTLE, Urtica. This ge-
nus of plants is said to comprise
fifty-seven species. We shall men-
tion only the common nettle, which
has a fibre, said to be finer and
stronger than that of hemp. Dr.
Willich says,
"The roots of the
common nettle, when boiled, com-
municate a yellow tinge to yarn.
But the most valuable part is its
fibrous stalk or stem; which on
being dressed in a manner similar
to flax or hemp, has in some parts
of Europe been advantageously
manufactured into cloth. As,
however, this plant requires a rich
soil to obtain it any great quanti-
tities, and as a much greater degree
of attention and accuracy is neces-
sary in the operation of retting,
than is requisite either for flax or
hemp. Dr. Anderson is of opin-
ion, that the cultivation of the
nettle will be attended with diffi-
culty."-Domestic Encyclopedia.
284
NEW
NEW
1.
here and there an enterprising
genius adopted it in practice. And
though more than sixty years have
now elapsed, since he made it
public, it is so far from having be-
come the general practice of far-
mers in that country, that there is
no reason to suppose that it ever
will: Although it has been recom-
The cultivation of this plant has
been patented in the United States,
and the exclusive right given to a
Mr. Whitlow. But if it was culti-
vated in Europe, described in
scientific works, and applied to the
uses, which Mr. Whitlow proposes,
we do not perceive how he can
secure any exclusive right to its
culture or application. For a fur-mended, and further explained and
ther account of this plant and the improved, by writers of note in
uses to which it is proposed to several nations.
apply it. See Massachusetts Agri-
cultural Repository, vol. III. page
41 to 46.
The species for the manufac-
ture of which Whitlow obtained a
patent, was, as he says, a new
one-which he called Urtica Whit-
lowii.
NEW HUSBANDRY, drill hus-
bandry, or horse-hoeing husbandry.
It chiefly differs from the old hus-
bandry, in this, that the soil is
tilled while the plants to be nour-
ished are growing in it. This
mode of culture was introduced
into England, by the ingenious Je-
thro Tull, Esq. who wrote largely
and repeatedly on the subject. His
volume in folio, entitled, New
horse-hoeing Husbandry, was pub-
lished in the year 1731. An Es-
say on the same subject, in the
year 1733. A Supplement to the
Essay, in 1735. Addenda, and
Conclusion, in 1738, and 1739.
This gentleman expended as it
were his whole life, in zealous and
benevolent exertions to convince
mankind of the great utility of his
new system, and directing them in
the practice of it. But he had the
mortification of finding, that only
The author of this husbandry
meant to apply it chiefly to wheat,
as being the most important kind
of corn. The new husbandry dif-
fers from the old in the manner of
preparing the ground for a crop,
and in the manner of sowing the
seed. The ground is ploughed
into ridges, or beds, five or six
feet wide, and smoothed with har-
rows. Instead of sowing at ran-
dom with the hand, or broad-cast,
as it is called, the seed is dropped
by a drill, in straight lines, in little
furrows about two inches deep.
Either two or three such rows are
on one bed, eight or nine inches
apart; and the seeds are closely
covered in the furrows, by a small
harrow annexed to the drill.
Mr. Tull invented a drill, or drill
plough, on a new construction.
With this machine one may sow
such a quantity of seeds, and as
many rows as may be thought ne-
cessary, lay the seeds at a conve-
nient depth, and cover them nice-
ly, only by drawing the machine
once along the ridges.
As soon as the plants are a few
inches high, the horse-hoe is intro-
duced, which differs but little from
NEW
285
NEW
1
the plough; to weed the grain
once or twice in the rows, and to
stir the earth between the rows,
with a prong-hoe or hand-hoe, as
often as the intervals are ploughed,
or horse-hoed.
The advantages, of this method
of culture are said to be these:
a horse-plough, excepting in the
manner of connecting it to the
horse that draws it. With this
plough, passing it within three or
four inches of the rows, the earth
is turned from the rows into the
intervals or alleys, so that the fur-
rows meet each other, and form a
sharp ridge. This is the first hoe-That indifferent land will produce
ing, and is performed late in au-
tumn, just before winter. It lays
the young plants so dry, that it is
thought they are in no danger of
being killed by the frosts of win-
ter. But some improvers on this
system have recommended omit-
ting one of these furrows, or if
both be ploughed, to turn back
one of them towards the row be-
fore the hard frosts of winter; lest
the ridges should be too much in
danger of being washed away by
rains, and the young plants remov-
ed. This seems to be a real im-
provement upon Mr. Tull's me-
thod.
Early in the following spring
(they say in March, but it must be
April in this country) the earth is
turned toward the rows; then in
May, from them; and lastly, in
June, it is turned back to the rows,
and partly against the stems, when
the grain is just out of blossom;
which last ploughing is thought to
do more service than any other,
as it greatly helps to fill out the
grain; and must not, therefore, on
any account, be omitted.
Each of the ploughings must be
very deep, so as to keep the ground
very loose and open. But care
must be also taken to uncover
plants that chance to be buried by
a good crop, which would produce
little or nothing in the old way;
that a good crop of wheat may be
raised each year from the same
piece of ground, without impover
ishing the soil, as the intervals are
always followed; that there is no
need of manuring the land at all,
as the extraordinary tillage will
answer the same end as manure,
and at less expense; that there
will be no crop missed or prevent-
ed by a year of fallow, which must
take place every second year in
the old way of cultivating wheat,
to prevent exhausting the soil;
that the crops will be larger, bet-
ter and fuller grain by far, and en-
tirely free from the seeds of
weeds.
The editors of the last edition
of Mr. Tull's horse-hoeing Hus-
bandry, by a computation of the
expense and profit of the old hus-
bandry and the new, and compar-
ing the accounts, make the clear
profit of the latter appear to be
more than double to that of the
former. This may be seen at
large in the Complete Farmer, un-
der the article Husbandry. Other
ingenious writers in Great Britain,
since have written in confirmation
of this opinion. See Encyclopedia,
article Agriculture.
286
NEW
NEW
be taken into consideration. Our
lands are hoven and mellowed by
the frost of every winter, to a
greater depth than the hoe-plough
can ever stir them, by which the
roots of winter grain are often ho-
ven out of the soil; but in Eng-
land the ground seldom freezes to
I do not at all scruple the fair-
ness of the computations; nor the
accounts of writers in other coun-
tries to the same purpose. But
there is no arguing with any cer-
tainty from the advantage of the
new husbandry in England, or
other parts of Europe, to the ad-
vantage of it in this country. Be-half the depth that a plough goes.
cause, in the first place, labour is Therefore, the most forcible argu-
more than twice as dear in this ment in favour of the new husban-
country; and that there is a great- dry, which is used by its advocates,
er quantity of labour required in will not so well apply in this coun-
the new husbandry than in the old, try; which is, that the ground set-
is very obviously true. There tles and becomes very compact,
are at least two or three plough- during the long continuance of a
ings extraordinary to a crop, be- crop of grain upon it. I see no
sides weeding and hand-hoeing; reason to doubt but that our ex-
and weeders will not accept of the traordinary degree of frost may,
weeds they pull as sufficient pay on the whole, have nearly as much
for pulling them, as poor women effect towards loosening and break-
sometimes do in the old countries. ing the soil in tillage ground, as
Another reason for suspecting one ploughing has. But this bye
that the new husbandry may not the bye.
answer so much better than the
old in this country, when applied
to wheat and rye, is, that these
grains are here very subject to
blasting; and the later they ripen,
the more they are in danger of this
distemper. Hoeing of grain will
cause it to ripen later, as may be
seen in the border of a field that is
contiguous to hoed ground. The
plants that stand nearest to the
hoed ground retain their green-
ness much longer than the rest of
the grain, because they are more
plentifully fed. Hence there ap-
pears to be some reason to doubt
of the advantage of hoeing wheat
and rye in this country.
But if there were no weight in
this, nor in the foregoing argument,
yet the difference of climate must
Not only is the success of the
new husbandry in this country for
the above reasons uncertain; but
there are several disadvantages
and inconveniences, attending this
husbandry, which are common to
all countries. One of these dis-
advantages is the cost of the drill-
plough. This is every where a
material objection to the new hus-
bandry in the minds of common
farmers. And the curious and
complicated structure of this ma-
chine, which renders it liable to
get out of order, is no small incon-
venience; for common labourers
are not expected to have skill
enough to rectify, or repair it.
Besides, the accuracy of the work
of drill sowing requires so much
thought and attention, that the ig-
A
NEW
287
NEW
norant and careless, who are apt to
despise new inventions, will not
perform it in the best manner. So
that a gentleman must always do
his own sowing himself, if he wish-
es to have it done well. And not
every gentleman who has a farm
will be disposed to submit to this
employment. Neither does the
drill plough perform well on sidling
situations and declivities. To which
it may be added, that there are ma
ny kinds of seed which it is next to
impossible to sow well with this
machine. Such are all the hooked,
winged, flat, long shaped, and ex-
tremely light seeds; such as those
of carrots, parsnips, lettuce, &c. It
will not well deliver any but those
which are ponderous, smooth, and
so round, or regular shaped, as to
be easily put in motion.
These difficulties are complained
of in the old countries; but there
is a more material one to conflict
with in many parts of this. In ma-
ny of our fields, stumps of trees,
roots, rocks and stones, are so fre-
quently met with, that the drill
plough could not be used. It is
necessary that the ground should
be perfectly clear of every thing
that can obstruct or hinder the go-
ing of the drill. These obstacles,
I confess, are not insuperable; but
in process of time may be removed.
And in future generations the drill
may be more conveniently used.
These objections apply chiefly to
the newly settled parts of our coun-
try.
I have not mentioned these things
with any view to deter my country-
men from attempting to apply the
new mode of culture to winter grain.
There is nothing that I more sin-
cerely wish, than to see careful ex-
ments made with it. But I think
this caution ought to be observed,
never to attempt to raise spring
wheat, or spring rye, in this man-
ner. Though I have never read,
nor heard, of horse hoeing spring
wheat in England, I have known it
tried by several persons to their
mortification and loss, in this coun-
try. The crops were so entirely
blasted as to be scarcely worth reap-
ing.
This has been the case, when
the culture has been conducted by
some of the most judicious persons,
with great attention, and with the
proper apparatus. The true rea-
son of their miscarriage I take to be
this, that as spring grain ripens later
than winter grain, and hoed later
than unhoed grain, it could not be
ripe till some time in August,when
some of the nights are so cold as to
blast the grain, by stopping the as-
cent of the sap.
But let the new husbandry be
tried on winter wheat, sown in Au-
gust, or September, on a warm soil
with a southern exposure,and where
there are no stones, nor any other
obstacles; and let the seed be
brought from some place at least a
hundred miles northward. If with
these advantages for ripening early,
and in favourable seasons, a good
crop of wheat cannot be obtained,
it will not be worth while to make
any further trials. But it should be
tried on rye also; for as that is
known to be a hardier grain than
wheat, it is possible it may answer
better in this husbandry.
We need not be at the expense
of procuring drill ploughs,and horse
288
NEW
NEW
hoes, to make experiments of these
kinds. After the ground is plough-
ed into ridges and well harrowed,
the channels may be expeditiously
made two inches deep with the head
of a common rake, and the seed
may be scattered in them by hand,
and covered with the rake. The
horse hoeing may be well enough
performed with a common horse
plough, passing it twice in a furrow,
if it be found necessary, that the
ground may be stirred to a suffici-
ent depth.
If, after a fair trial or two, the
new culture of winter wheat and
rye should prove unsuccessful, it
need not discourage any from sow-
ing their grain with a drill plough.
In land that is fit for it, the sowing
may be performed with great expe-
dition. If the seed were to be dril-
led in rows about nine inches apart,
leaving no wider intervals, it would
be attended with several advanta-
ges. Half the seed may be saved
by it, which is a matter of some im-
portance, especially in a time of
scarcity of grain.
If the seed be good, it will un-
doubtedly all come up well and
prosper: Because it will all be bu-
ried at the most suitable depth in
the soil. But in the common way
of sowing, some of the seeds are bu-
ried at such a depth, that they
scarcely come up at all. Some are
so near the surface, that the least
drying of the soil prevents their ve-
getating, or alternate moisture and
dryness turns them to malt. And
some will be uncovered, which will
be taken away by birds. Many
stinted plants will appear; the crop
will be uneven, some part of it be-
ing better, and ripening sooner,than
the rest. Another advantage of
drilling will be, that weeders may
pass through a field to weed it, if
there should be occasion for it,with-
out any danger of hurting the plants.
And all fields of wheat that produce
weeds, ought to be carefully weed-
ed. Sowed in this way the ground
might also be stirred in the narrow
intervals with a small hoe, which
would encourage the growth of the
plant, and keep it cleaner from
weeds.
Instead of the drill husbandry,
Dr. Hunter recommends a new
scheme of his own, which partakes
partly of the new, and partly of the
old husbandry. He calls it alter-
nate husbandry. The scheme is as
follows: He ploughs his ground in
flat ridges, or in lands, nine feet
wide. When seed time arrives,he
sows one land in the broad cast
way, and leaves the next, sowing
the third, and so on alternately
through the field. The lands which
are not sown he fallows, allowing
them three or four ploughings in
the fallow year; sows them the
next year, and fallows the other.
He finds this to be a good mode
of culture for land that is weak,and
which lies remote from manure. A
mean soil will thus bear pretty good
crops without dressings, or with
very small ones. The grain has
greater advantage of a free air than
in the old husbandry. No new im-
plements are needed, nor any
greater accuracy in the culture re-
quired than any ploughman is ca-
pable of. Perhaps a row or two of
potatoes, or carrots, in the middle
of the fallow ridges, might not be
NEW
289
NEW
amiss in this husbandry; but rather
an improvement.
in them.
ture to barley, in single rows or
ridges three feet apart; and have
But, to return to my subject: never once failed of gaining at the
Every one must be easily convin- rate of 40 bushels per acre. The
ced, that plants in general receive grain has been perfectly clear from
a greater degree of nourishment, if seeds of weeds, and more full and
the ground about their roots be fre- large than when cultivated in the
quently stirred during their growth. common way. After ploughing the
We find the benefit of this in our ground, and harrowing it, I form
gardens. We see that bare weed-the ridges with the cultivator. I
ing does not answer so well as hoe-sow the seeds with a most simple
ing, among the plants we cultivate drill of my own inventing. The
weeds are killed, and the plants
earthed, by passing the cultivator
between the rows, with the addition
of but little hand hoeing. That it
does well for hemp, has been pro-
ved by trials in this country. None
will doubt the advantage of it in
raising potatoes, our common cul-
ture of which is so similar to that
of Indian corn. But if they were
set in drills, instead of hillocks, the
produce would be greater, in both
corn and potatoes, as I have found
by several trials.
The great advantage of horse
hoeing husbandry must appear, if
we only attend to our ordinary me-
thod of cultivating Indian corn,
which differs but little from that
husbandry. If ploughing and hoe-
ing were to be totally neglected,
while the plants are growing, we
should have no good crops. On the
contrary, the deeper we plough the
intervals, and the oftener we stir
the mould with the hand hoe, the
better is our crop. And why should
not the advantage of the same cul-
ture be equally great, when appli-
ed to most of the plants which we
cultivate? The more the ground is
opened by frequent stirrings, the
more vegetable nourishment it will
receive from the atmosphere; and
the roots will find a freer passage
in extending themselves after their
food. They will, therefore, receive
a greater quantity; and their
growth and perfection will be an-
swerable.
The new husbandry may as well
be applied to all siliquose plants, as
pease, beans, &c. and to all escu-
lent roots,as parsnips, carrots,beets,
and the like. The same may be
said with regard to cabbages, aspa-
ragus, and most kinds of pot herbs.
The trials that have hitherto been
made upon such plants, in this
country, have been so successful,
that I trust the practice will soon
become general. See the Rev. Mr.
Eliot's Essays, p. 111.
I have not the least suspicion
These kinds of plants require so
that barley and oats will fail of re- much less labour, in the drill way,
ceiving great advantage from this than is usually bestowed on them
culture; in both of which I bave in gardens, that when they are cul-
had some experience. Several tivated for the market, or for feed-
years of late I have applied this cul-ing of cattle, they should by all
37
290
NUR
NUR
means be sown in drills, and horse | less than a year: And a considera-
hoed. The above writer from his ble proportion of the seeds would
own experience concluded,that five perish. The seeds may be sown
bushels of carrots might be as easi-promiscuously; and they should be
ly raised, as one bushel in the com- pretty thick, because they will not
mon method. My own experi- all come up. Some think it ne-
ments have fully justified this opi-cessary to sow the pomace with the
seeds of apples. I have sown them
with and without it, and do not see
that sowing seeds with the pomace
to be preferred.
nion.
Although, in a work like this,
some notice of the New Husbandry
is proper, some have doubted whe-is
ther it can be successfully applied
on an extensive scale in this coun-
try. See Drill Husbandry.
NURSERY, a garden, or planta-
tion of young trees, to be trans-
planted. In a nursery for fruit
trees, the land should not be quite
so rich as that into which they are
to be transplanted; because it will
be better for them to have their
nourishment increased than dimin-
ished, as they increase in age.
Therefore, a nursery will need but
a little manure, unless the soil be
uncommonly poor.
When you transplant trees of one
or two years growth in the nursery,
mark the ground in lines three feet
apart. Then open a trench a foot
wide on the first line, and of a depth
proportionable to the length of the
roots: Take the stocks out of the
seed bed, with a spade, preserving
the roots as entire as possible: Cut
off all the very small fibrous roots;
and if a root tends directly down-
ward, it must be shortened: Plant
them in the trench twelve inches
asunder. Then dig a trench and
plant it in the next line, and so on,
till the business is completed.
A nursery should not be on a
spot where fruit trees have lately The main branch for the top
grown, or indeed any other deep should not be cut off, but carefully
rooted plants. It should be on a preserved. Several of the lateral
medium between the two extremes branches should be taken off more
of wet and dry.
or fewer in proportion as the root
To prepare the ground for sow-is more or less diminished. In this
ing, it should either be trench
ploughed, or dug with a spade to a
considerable depth. From a foot
to fifteen inches is not too deep.
This should be done in the latter
part of summer, and the ground
well cleared of the roots of all pe-
rennial weeds and grasses. The
season for planting either seeds or
stones, is about the month of Octo-
ber. If it were done in the spring,
none of the plants would be up in
situation they are to grow till they
are transplanted into orchards, &c.
And they must be carefully tended,
or they will not become good trees.
Every spring and fall the ground
between the rows must be well
digged, and so carefully as not to
injure or disturb the roots; or else
the intervals must be horse hoed.
If the latter be intended, the rows
should be planted at least three
feet and a half apart. But the
NUR
291
NUT
plough must not go so near the
rows as not to leave some ground to
be dug with the spade, or stirred
with a dung-fork; and in using the
plough, great care should be taken
to avoid galling and injuring the
trees.
may be defended by staking. A
stake a little taller than the tree,
made of a slip of board, should be
set close on the windward side,and
the top of the tree fastened close
to it with a soft string.
Or two
such stakes may be so set, that the
upper ends may meet over the top
of the tree.
NUT TREE, Juglans. Accor-
A nursery should always be kept
clear of weeds by frequent hoeing.
No suckers that spring up from the
roots should be suffered to remain.ding to Michaux there are ten sorts
They will need a little pruning of Nut Trees found in the United
each year, to prevent their be- States, viz. the Juglans Nigra, or
coming mishapen; and all buds Black Walnut; Juglans Catharti-
should be speedily rubbed off, which ca, Butternut, White Walnut, or
would make branches too low on Oil Nut; Juglans Olivæ Formis,
the stems. A nursery requires so Pacane Nut, or Pacanier; Juglans
much attention, that it should be in Amara, Bitter Nut Hickory, or
a situation where the owner can- White Ilickory ; Juglans Aquatica ;
not avoid seeing it often ; otherwise Water Bitter Nut; Juglans Tomen-
it will be in danger of suffering tosa, Mockernut Hickory, White
through neglect.
heart Hickory, or Common Hicko-
The fruit trees should be allow-ry; Juglans Squamosa, Shell bark,
ed to grow to the height of five or
six feet, before they are budded or
grafted. See those articles, Inocu-
lation, and Grafting.

Trees, to be transplanted into
forests, may be cultivated in a nur-
sery in the same manner as fruit
trees. But, as Mr. Miller advises,
it would be best to have a nursery
of these in the place where the fo-
rest is designed to be planted;
where a sufficient number of the
trees may be left standing, after the
rest have been removed.
If a nursery be in such a situation
that the young trees are in danger
of being broken down by deep
snows; either the fence on the
windward side should be made so
open, that the wind may have a
free passage through it, and drive
away the snow: Or else the trees
or Shag Bark Hickory; or Shag-
bark Walnut; Juglans Laciniosa,
Thick-shell-bark Hickory, Glouces-
ter Nut Hickory, or Springfield
Hickory; Juglans Porcina, Pignut
Hickory, or Hognut Hickory; and
Juglans Myristicaformis, or Nut-
meg Hickory.
There are two sorts that are
most common in New-England;
the common walnut, and the shag-
bark, so called. The first of these
is a very hard and tough wood,
which our farmers find useful for
many purposes. It will bend into
almost any form without breaking,
especially the lower part of the bo-
dy of a young tree. It is white and
smooth; it is therefore much used
for ox bows, goads, and axe helves.
But it soon decays when it is expo-
sed to the weather. The fruit of
292
NYM
NUT
។
this tree has a thin smooth shell,and but they will grow on almost any
is of very little value. The inner upland. They are not well adapt-
bark is useful for making a yellow ed to be cultivated in nurseries.
dye.
They bear transplanting but poor-
ly,unless when they are very young.
The roots should not be wounded,
but it is not easy to avoid it in ta-
king them up, as they naturally run
deep. Though the transplanted
trees are best for fruit, they grow
short and bushy, and are not fit for
timber. Therefore, he who wish-
es to cultivate a grove of them for
timber, should plant the nuts in the
places where he wishes the trees to
remain.
The shagbark tree is so called,
on account of the roughness of its
scaly bark, which hangs in slips on
the bodies of old trees. This has a
small rich nut, enclosed in a very
thick shell; but it is not so much
esteemed for its timber as the oth
er sort. The nuts naturally adhere
strongly to the trees, but the first
hard frost causes them to drop.
The black walnut tree is said to
grow naturally in Virginia, and par-
ticularly on the banks of the Ohio.
Though it be rather brittle, it re-
ceives a good polish; is hard and
heavy, and is much prized for its
beautiful brown colour, and used in
all sorts of cabinet work.
As there is a considerable pith
in the limbs of walnut trees, they
do not admit of much pruning. The
water is apt to enter at a wounded
limb and cause it to rot.
NYMPHA," the state of winged
We have another sort, not indi- insects, between their living in the
genous, but the only one that is cul- form of a worm, and their appear-
tivated with care in this country. It ing in the winged or most perfect
goes by the name of the English wal- state. The eggs of these insects
nut. The fruit is larger and better are first hatched into worms, or
than that of either of the other sorts, maggots; which afterwards pass in-
except the oil nut. In its tender state, to the nympha state, surrounded
it is used in pickles for sauce. But with shells, or cases, of their own
the nuts are too solid for this use skins: So that, in reality, these
when they are come to their full
growth. The tree is so tender that
it will only grow in sheltered situa-
tions, in vallies, or on the south
side of houses and barns; and there "During the nympha state, the
it will amply reward the cultivator creature loses its motion. Swam-
by its crops affording a pleasant ad- merdam calls it nympha aurelia, or
dition to his table in the winter,and simply aurelia; and others give it
finding a good, and certain market the name of chrysalis, a term of the
in the great towns, both when gath-like import." Dict. of Arts.
ered in July, as a pickle or pre- It is in their winged state only,
serve,orin winter, when in maturity. that they copulate. The female
nymphs are only the embryo in-
sects, wrapped up in this covering;
from whence they at last get loose,
though not without great difficulty.
A moist loamy soil seems to be lays eggs; and their offspring go
the best situation for walnut trees; through the same changes. The
OAK
293
OAK
state of these animals may serve to
remind mankind of the manner of
their existence, first in mortal bo-
dies, then in a state of death, after-
wards possessed of glorious bodies.
In their aurelian state, these ani-
mals have no vital motion, but are
to all appearance dead. So that in
their last state of existence, insects
have,as it were,resurrection bodies,
0.
extremely tough,and are most fit for
the naves and spokes of cart wheels.
The black oak, Quercus nigra,
has a very dark coloured, bard and
rough outer bark. The inner bark
is of a bright yellow colour, and
may be used to advantage in dies.
Little or none of this oak is found
in the District of Maine. Of all
the kinds of oak produced in our
country, this is esteemed the best
for fuel, as it will burn freely in its
green state: But it is not so much
prized for timber as some other
sorts.
OAK, Quercus, a well known
tree, the timber of which is of great
use and importance in ship build-to
ing, and architecture, and is valua-
ble for fuel and many other purpo-
ses. The timber is both strong and
durable.
Mr. Miller reckons eighteen spe-
cies of the quercus, or oak. I
know of but five that grow in this
country, unless the swamp white
oak, so called on account of its
growing in wet swamps, may be a
distinct species from that which
grows on the upland.
The first and best is the white
oak, Quercus alba, which bears a
long shaped, small and pleasant
tasted acorn. The bark is of a very
light ash colour.
The timber is
more strong, and far more durable
than the other kinds. Staves for
casks, made of this tree, bear a
higher price than any other. As it
does not soon decay, the farmers
find it convenient to have their
wheels, carts, ploughs, and several
other implements of husbandry,
made of this timber. The but ends
of the trees which have grown in
pastures, are commonly found to be
The grey oak is next in quality
the white for building. The red,
Quercus rubra, which is so called
from the colour of its wood, answers
well for staves, especially for molas-
ses hogsheads. But as it is not a last-
ing timber, it is more proper for
fuel; and for the last purpose, it
does not answer well in its green
state. The acorns of the grey and
red oak, are much larger than those
of the white. The leaves are also
larger, and very deeply sinuated.
They are probably not different
species of the oak,but only varieties.
The last kind, and the meanest
of all, is the dwarf, or shrub oak, it
being fit for neither fuel nor timber.
It is always crooked and small, and
seldom rises to the height of ten
feet. It delights in a poor soil,and
overruns many of our sandy and
gravelly plains. It has a strong
root, which will continue to send
up new shoots, though they are cut
off yearly; so that there is no ef-
fectual way to subdue them, but by
grubbing them, or pasturing goats
upon them.
As all the kinds of oak bear fruit,
294
OAK
OAK
the shrub oak as plentifully as any,
these trees are of some advantage
in feeding swine and poultry. They
are fondest of the acorns that grow
on the white oak, as the other kinds
have a bitter taste.
galls which contain several cells,
there may be insects found in some
of them, though there be a hole by
which the inhabitant of another cell
has escaped."
It is to be wished, that persons in
the oldest parts of the country, when
an oak is felled, would search for
galls. If they are produced here
The bark is of great use in tanning
hides, and a good ingredient in dies.
The oak produces a fungous ball,
or apple, of a loose, soft contex-in
ture, which soon dries and falls off,
and is of no use.
But besides, it has little round
hard kind of excrescences, called
galls, which are of great use in dy-
ing and making the best writing
ink. Though they grow as large
as nutmegs in other countries, those
which I have found in this, have
been much smaller. Perhaps trees
must stand single many years, be-
fore they will be apt to produce
galls of a large size. I have not
found them but upon the white oak,
and those not larger than peas.
I beg leave here to give the read-
er the history of galls, from the
Dictionary of Arts. "An insect
of the fly kind is instructed by na-
ture to take care of the safety of
her young,by lodging her eggs in a
woody substance, where they will
be defended from all injuries. She,
for this purpose, wounds the bran-
ches of a tree; and the lacerated
vessels, discharging their contents,
soon form tumours about the holes
thus made. The hole in each of
the tumours, through which the fly
has made its way, may for the most
part be found; and when it is not,
the maggot inhabitant, or its re-
mains, are sure to be found within,
on breaking the gall. However,
it is to be observed, that in those
plenty, it will not be right to per-
sist in sending our money for them
to foreign countries.
As trees, both for timber and fu-
el, are become scarce in some parts
of the country, it is high time to
begin to make plantations of trees
for these purposes. And I know of
no kind that will answer, all things
considered, better than the oak.
The trees are so hardy as never to
be damaged by the severe coldness.
of our winters: Neither have they
been known to suffer much by any
kind of insects. The red and grey
kinds are very rapid in their growth,
and will soon repay the cost and
trouble of rearing them: And the
white is of so essential importance
for timber, that a scarcity of it is to
be dreaded.
Some of our pasture lands, which
are high and quite bare, would be
much improved, if every hundred
feet square were shaded by a lofty
oak: besides gaining a beautiful
appearance, especially if they were
placed in regular order. Barren
heights, in some pastures, are in
great want of trees to shade them.
Copses, or clumps, in such places,
would have excellent effects.
There would be more grass, the
appearance would be beautiful,and
the profit considerable. But the
question is, in what manner shall
OAK
295
OAK
oaks be propagated? They may
undoubtedly be raised in nurseries,
and transplanted, as well as other
trees. But this method is not uni-
versally approved.
are sprouted, which he says will not
fail to come up. But no time should
be allowed for the sprouts to dry.
I incline to prefer this method, es-
pecially since I have tried that
which is recommended by Mr. Mil-
ler without success. Not one in a
A rich deep soil suits the oak
best, and in such land they will
grow to a large size. The timber
is apt to be tough and pliable: But
in a gravelly soil, or one that is dry
and sandy, the wood is more hard
and brittle. The oak, however,
will grow in almost any soil that is
not too wet.
Mr. Miller says, oaks are best
produced from the acorns in the
places where the trees are to re-hundred ever came up.
main; because those which are
transplanted, will not grow to so
large a size, nor remain sound so
long. He advises to planting the
acorns as soon as they are ripe in
October, which will come up in the
following April; because if they
are attempted to be kept,they will
sprout, although spread thin. He
directs that the ground designed Many are apt to object against
for a plantation, should have a good attempting to raise timber trees,
and durable fence; that it be pre- that they shall not live to receive
pared by three or four ploughings any advantage from them. But do
and harrowings; that the acorns be they think they were born for them-
taken from the largest and most selves only? Have they no great
thrifty trees; that they may be sow-regard for the welfare of their own
ed in drills about four feet asun-children? Do they not care how
der, two inches deep, and two in- future generations fare after they
ches apart; that the ground should are gone? The more growing trees
be ploughed and hoed among them, they leave upon their farms, the
during the first eight or ten years; better will their children be endow-
that after two years some of them ed; and does this appear as a mat-
should be drawn out where they ter of indifference? Or if they
are too close; and so from time to should providentially be under the
time as they grow larger, till they necessity of selling their farms
come to be eight feet distance,each while they live, will they not be
way, when they will want no fur- prized higher, by any rational pur-
ther thinning for a long time. But chaser, for having a few hundreds
after the trees come to be large,he of thrifty young trees growing
thinks 25 or 30 feet apart will be upon them? But it is possible that
the right distance.
while they hold their farms, they
may receive actual advantage from
their trees themselves. Possibly
trees may grow faster than they
apprehend. The Marquis of Lans-
down planted with trees a swampy
meadow, with a gravelly bottom,
Another writer directs that the
acorns be gathered as soon as they
fall in autumn, and kept in a box or
boxes of sand till the following
spring. Then
Then open them, and
carefully plant those of them which
296
OAT
OAK
1
in the year 1765, and in the year
1786 the dimensions of the trees
were as represented in the follow-
ing table.
Lombardy poplar
Abele poplar
Elm
Chesnut
White or Wey-.
mouth pine
Scotch fir
Spruce
Larch
Height in
Feet.
Circumf.
Ft. In.
8
60 to 70
4
50
70 4 6
40 60 3
6
30 50 2
9
30 50 2 5
30 50 2 10
30 50 2 2
50 60 3 10
The measures were taken five
feet above the ground. It appears
that if trees can be waited for 21
years they will repay the cost, by
becoming fit for many important
uses. And I am persuaded that
some of the species of oak will
grow as fast as some of the trees
in the foregoing table.
One acre will bear 160 oaks, at
the distance of 15 feet from each
other: If each tree will grow in
30 years to half a cord of wood,
worth 128. per cord, the whole
produce will be 90 cords of wood,
worth 160 dollars, which is four
dollars and a third per acre per
annum, for the use of the land, a
greater profit than we expect from
other acres in general. It ought
to be considered that intermediate
trees taken out young, may pay the
cost of planting and culture; and
that the land may serve most of
the time for tillage or pasture; for
tillage while the trees are small,
which will hasten their growth.
The increasing dearness of fuel
and of timber should put the holder
of land, in old settlements, upon
T
thinking of the cultivation of all
trees that are useful for either of
these purposes. The day is at
hand, if not already arrived, when
this will be one of the most profit-
able, as well as important, branch-
es of husbandry.
"The natural history of the
American Oaks was first partially
given by John Philip Du Roi, who
published his observations in two
volumes 8vo. at Brunswick in Ger-
many, in 1771: and in 1801 more
extensively, by Andrew Michaux,
the celebrated botanist, who resid-
ed many years at the Botanical
Garden which was established by
the late Louis XVI. king of France,
near Charleston, South-Carolina.
The species and varieties describ-
ed by him are twenty-nine. This
truly superb work on American Fo-
rest Trees, ought to be in the hands
of every gentleman farmer in the
United States. It may be had of
WELLS AND LILLY, Booksellers,
Boston."-See Forest Trees.
OATS, Avena, a well known
grain, very pleasant and nourishing
to horses, and conducive to keep
them in health. Though other
sorts of grain are too binding, oats
have a contrary effect; and even
too much so, unless they be sweat-
ed in a mow before they be thrash-
ed. The flour of this grain is no
bad ingredient in table provisions.
It is highly approved for gruels
and puddings: And would be more
used, were it not for the difficulty
of divesting the grain of its husk.
There are varieties of this grain,
distinguished by their different
colours, the white, the black, the
grey, and the brown oats; but as
OAT
297
ΘΑΤ
}
these differ only in colour, they
are not considered as distinct spe-
cies,
The white oats which are most
commonly cultivated in this coun-
try, are generally preferred in
other countries, as producing the
best crops. But I suspect that
sufficient trials have not yet been
made here, in the culture of the
black oats. The produce of them
from a few corns sown in a gar-
den, has been astonishing. But
this might be owing to the new-
ness of the seed in our climate, or
to some circumstance less conside-
rable, or less obvious.
There is also a species of the
naked oats. This, one would
think, must have the advantage of
other oats, as it is threshed clean
out of the husk, fit for grinding.
But with this grain we are yet un-
acquainted.
I have lately met with the Tar-
tary oats, which resemble our
white oats, but differ in their man-
ner of growing. They bear very
plentifully: But are rather apt to
Ïodge.
Oats cannot be sown too early
in the spring, after the ground is
thawed, and become dry enough
for sowing. The English farmers
şow them some time in February.
But in a wet soil they sometimes
answer very well, though sowed in
June.
Three bushels of seed is the
usual quantity sown on an acre.
This quantity say some will be
rather more than enough on a rich
soil. If the soil be poor, the quan-
tity of seed should be the greater,
say they, as the plants will be
38
smaller, will not tiller; and so
may stand the nearer each other
without crowding. But this is a
matter of opinion only, and may
be a mistake.
Oats have strong piercing roots,
and are called hearty feeders, so
that they can find their nourish-
ment in stiff soils; and for the
same reason they sometimes pro-
duce great crops when sown after
one ploughing. But two plough-
ing, are generally better for them
than one.
When they are cultivated ac-
cording to the new husbandry, they
should be sown in double rows,
fifteen inches apart, on beds six
feet wide. For they will grow
taller than wheat, and therefore
require more room. One bushel
of seed will be sufficient for an
acre in this way. Some advise to
brining and liming the seed; but
this may as well be omitted, unless
when they are sowed late. It
It may
serve in this case to quicken their
growth.
Oats should be harvested in a
greener state than other grain.
The straw should not be wholly
turned yellow. It will be the bet-
ter fodder, if it do not stand till it
be quite ripe and sapless. Mr.
Cook, an English writer, recom-
mends cutting them about four or
five days before the state of ripe-
ness; and says they will improve
by lying on the ground. But if
they be quite ripe when they are
cut, they will be apt to shed out
by lying.
Though they should be well
dried on the ground after cutting,
they should not be raked, nor
298
ONI
OAT
handled at all, when they are in
the driest state. It should rather
be done in mornings and evenings,
when the straw is made limber
and pliable by the moisture of the
air. If they should be got in
when they are somewhat damp,
there will be no danger, having
been before thoroughly dried; for
the straw and chaff are of a very
dry nature.
Some choose to reap them: But
the straw is so valuable a fodder,
that it is better to cradle or mow
them. And that the ground may
be well prepared for mowing and
raking, a roller should be passed
over it after sowing and harrow-
ing: But some prefer rolling the
ground after the grain is some
inches high; it is said to close the
soil to the roots, and make the
grain grow with fresh vigor.
Oats are so apt to rob the land
of its richness that they should not
be sown on the same spot twice
in succession, unless the soil be
very plentifully manured. In a
succession of crops, oats may some-
times be sown to advantage the
first year after the breaking up,
before the land can be made mel-
low enough for other grain: Or
they may follow wheat or barley.
In the latter case, the wheat or
barley stubble should be ploughed
in as soon as the crop is off.
The Farmer's Assistant says,
that oats are not so great exhaus-
ters of the ground as is generally
imagined, and that a piece of in-
tervale land was sowed eighteen
years successively with this grain
without manure, and without any
sensible diminution of the crop.
Gypsum is said to afford an ex-
cellent manure for oats. A change
of seed is as necessary in this
plant as in most others.
A writer in the Massachusetts
Agricultural Repository, vol. V.
pp. 331, 2., says: "It appears to
us best, all things considered, that
the first crop after turning over
sward, should be oats.
The rea-
son, why an oat crop should pre-
cede a potatoe crop is, that it not
only pays well by its product for
the year's labour, but chiefly be-
cause it enables the husbandman
to deepen his ploughing, prepara-
tory to the second year's series in
the rotation.”
ONION, Allium, a well known
esculent root. The common sort
have purple bulbs. The white,
or silver skinned, which are sup-
posed to have come from Egypt,
are by some preferred to the other.
They have not so strong a taste.
This plant flourishes so well in
the southern parts of New-England,
that it has long been a considera-
ble article of exportation; in the
northern parts, it requires the very
best culture; but even there, on-
ions may be raised in sufficient
plenty for home consumption.
A spot of ground should be cho-
sen for them, which is moist and
sandy; because they require much
heat, and a considerable degree of
moisture. A low situation, where
the sand has been washed down
from a neighbouring hill, is very
proper for them. And if it be the
wash of a sandy road, so much the
better. The most suitable ma-
nures are old rotten cow and horse
dung mixed, ashes, but especially
ΟΝΙ
299
ONI
soot. A small quantity of ashes or
sand. or both, should be spread
over them after sowing, especially
if the soil be not sandy. And it is
not amiss to roll the ground after
sowing; or harden the surface
with the back of a shovel.
right season for sowing the seeds,
if the ground be capable of being
got into proper order so early. In
wet ground it is often necessary to
sow them later.
Last year I sowed my onions in
drills, twelve inches apart, across
the beds: And I found my crop
was near double to what it used to
be, when they were
sown in
bunches. Perhaps this will prove
to be the better method. But I
gave them also a slight top-dress-
I have many years cultivated
them on the same spot; and have
never found the land at all im-
poverished by them. But on the
contrary, my crops are better than
formerly. But the manuring is
yearly repeated; and must not being of soot, just before they began
laid far below the surface.
to form bulbs, which might be the
true reason of the great increase
So that I dare not yet absolutely
prefer the drill method to the
other; though I am much inclined
to give it a decided preference.
The ground should be dug or
ploughed in autumn, not very
deep; and then made very fine in
the spring, and all the grass roots,
and roots of weeds, taken out;
then laid in beds four feet wide.
Four rows of holes are made in a
bed, the rows ten inches apart, and
the holes in the rows ten. About
half a dozen seeds are put in a
hole, or more if there be any dan-
ger of their not coming up well,
and buried an inch under the sur-
face. This is allowed by the ex-
perienced cultivators in Connecti-
cut, to be the best way of setting
the seeds. For they will grow
very well in bunches. I have
lately found that they grow full as
well in drill-rows a foot asunder.
They crowd each other up out of
the soil, and lie in heaps as they
grow upon the surface. Though
the largest onions are those that
grow singly, some inches apart,
those that are more crowded pro-
duce larger crops. And the mid-
dle sized onions are better for eat-
ing than the largest.
The last week in April is the
Onions should be hoed three or
four times, and kept quite clear of
weeds, before the tops arrive to
their full height. At this time the
bulbs will begin to swell; hoeing
should therefore be laid aside, and
the weeds pulled up by hand as
often as they appear. Weeds not
only rob the plants of their food,
but injure them much with their
shade; for they have occasion for
all the warmth of the sun that they
can get.
To promote the growth of the
bulbous roots, I have found it ad-
vantageous to trample the ground
hard between the rows or bunches,
and to draw the soil away from
the bulbous roots, laying them bare
to the sun. They are the more
warmed, and grow faster.
Some think it proper, and even
necessary, to pass a roller over
beds of onions, or cripple down
their tops by hand. But I have
•
:
300
ONI
ONI
+
never been able to find the least
advantage from either of these
methods: Nor do I think they
ought to be practised; for I can-
not easily conceive how the crush-
ing and wounding any plant, while
it is growing, should conduce to its
improvement. Though some may
have good crops, who treat them
in this manner, I am persuaded
that if they neglected it, they
would have much better crops.
For, besides the mischief alrea-
dy mentioned, the sun is shut
out from the bulbs by crushing the
tops down upon them; but the
more upright the tops are, the
more the sun will shine upon the
roots. I would sooner cut off part
of the tops than go to crushing
them.
Others shake and twist the tops,
to loosen the bulbs in the soil,
which I cannot approve of: For if
it do not snap off some of the
fibrous roots, it gives too free a
passage of the air to them, by
which, if dry weather follow, they
will be injured, rather than assist-
ed in their growth.
When onions are thick-necked,
do not incline to bottom, but ra-
ther to be what are vulgarly called
scallions, the more care should be
taken to harden the ground about
them, and to lay the bulbs bare to
the sun.
And it may be proper
to let them touch the soil only in
that part which sends out the
fibrous roots.
At the worst, if they fail to
have good bottoms the first year,
and chance to escape rotting till
spring; they may perhaps get
them by being transplanted. Even
an onion which is partly rotten
will produce two, three, or four
good ones, if the seed stems be
taken off as soon as they appear.
They ripen earlier than young
ones, have the name of rare-ripes,
and will sell at a higher price.
When onions are so ripened that
the greenness is entirely gone out
of their tops, it is time to take
them up: For from this time the
fibrous roots decay, and no longer
convey any nourishment to the
bulbs, as appears by their becom-
ing quite loose in the soil, and easy
to take up.
After they are pulled up they
should lie on the ground for ten
days or a fortnight, to dry and
harden in the sun, if the weather
be fair. Then, in fair dry weather,
be moved into a garret, and laid
thin. The scallions should not be
mixed with the good onions, lest
they should cause them to rot;
but be hung up in some dry place
in small bunches, where they will
not be too much exposed to frost.
That onions may keep well
through the winter, they should
not be trusted in a warm and moist
cellar; but have a situation that is
dry and cool. Moisture soon rots
them, and warmth causes them to
vegetate. A degree of cold which
would ruin most other esculent
roots, will not injure them at all.
The spirit that is in them is suffi-
cient to enable them to resist a
considerable degree of frost. Ac-
cordingly, in the southern parts of
this country, as I am informed,
they are usually kept through the
winter in dry casks placed in cham-
bers, or garrets. But they should
ORC
301
1
ORC
not be removed, or touched, while
the weather is very frosty.
Those which are shipped for
market, are usually made into long
bunches, by tying them to whisps
of straw.
When onions are kept long,
they are apt to sprout, which hurts
them for eating. To prevent this,
nothing more is necessary than to
sear the fibrous roots with a hot
iron. The pores of the roots will
thus be stopped, through which
the air enters and causes them to
vegetate.
To obtain seed from onions
they should be planted early in
beds, about nine inches apart. The
largest and soundest are best. In
a month the tops will appear; and
each one will send up several
stems for seed. They should be
kept free from weeds; and when
the heads of the flowers begin to
appear, each plant must have a
stake about four feet long, and its
stems be loosely tied to the stake
by a soft string of sufficient strength.
If this be neglected, the heavy
tops will lay the stalks on the
ground, or the winds will break
them. In either case, the seeds
will fail of coming to perfection.
ORCHARD, an enclosed plan-
tation of fruit trees, not again to
be removed.
An orchard may consist wholly
of pear trees; or of quince, peach,
plum, &c. or it may be a mixture
of various kinds of trees. But or-
chards of apple trees are the most
important, and are almost the only
ones in this country. Other fruit
trees are commonly planted in the
borders of fields, or gardens; be-
cause only a small number of them
is desired, or considered as advan-
tageous, by farmers.
The soil for an orchard should
be suited to the nature of the trees
planted in it. Though a clay soil
will do well for pear trees, it is not
at all suitable for apple trees. Dry
sand and gravel are not good; but
a deep hazel loam is preferred to
any other soil; and it is the better
if it be somewhat rocky and moist.
Plains, hollows, or high summits,
are not so good situations for or-
chards, as land gently stopping:
And a southeastern exposure is
generally the best. But when
this exposes the trees to sea winds,
a southwestern exposure may be
accounted better.
If the land be swarded, it should
be broken up and tilled one year
before the trees are planted; and
if it be dunged it will be better for
the trees. The rocks should also
be taken out; because it cannot
be done so conveniently after-
wards. And if there be any large
stumps of trees, which would last
long in the ground, they should be
taken out. Otherwise they will
render the operations of tillage in
the young orchard very difficult.
Trees which are ungrafted are
supposed to bear as good fruit as
any for cyder. They commonly
bear more fruit, and will last long-
er.
But when grafted trees are to
be transplanted, those should be
chosen that have not been grafted
more than two years. Old stinted
trees, the refuse of a nursery, are
to be avoided, which will grow
very slowly, if at all. For direc-
-302
ORC
ORC
An orchard must be constantly
well fenced, to keep out cattle. It
should be enclosed by itself. Hun-
gry sheep would peel the trees
while they are young; and cattle
will bite off all the limbs of young
and old trees that are within their
reach. But there is no danger in
turning in a horse occasionally,
when there is grass and no apples;
and swine may be confined in an
orchard that is grown up, so that
the trees cannot be hurt by them,
and when the fruit is not in their
way.
tions concerning the time and man- | nearest neighbouring trees appear
ner of planting an orchard, see to be rather too much crowded.
Fruit trees and Transplanting.
Concerning the right distance of
the trees in an orchard, there are
a variety of opinions. But the
coldness and wetness of the cli-
mate, an argument used in Eng-
land for placing them far asunder,
does not so well apply in this
country. Trees in that cold and
cloudy region need every possible
advantage of exposure to the sun
and air. It should be considered
at the time of planting, to what
size the trees are likely to grow
And they should be set so far
asunder, that their limbs will not
be likely to interfere with each
other, when they arrive to their
full growth. In a soil that suits
them best, they will become larg-
est. Twenty-five feet may be the
right distance in some soils; but
thirty-five feet will not be too
much in the best, or even forty.
If, contrary to expectation, they
should be too close when they are
grown up, they may be easily
thinned: And it will be better to
take away here and there a whole
tree, than to lop and maim them
all, that they may have room.
The planting of small trees in
the midst of full grown ones does
not answer so well for the small
ones, as when the trees are all
nearly of one size. A small tree
among large ones has not an equal
chance of exposure to the sun and
air: Both of which are of great
importance. So that it is of the
less importance to replace a tree
that dies in an orchard. And it is
of no advantage to do it, when the
Sheep sometimes get into an
orchard that is well fenced, by
means of high banks of snow, when
they are stiff or crusted. I can
think of no better way to prevent
this, than to make the fence so
open, with round poles, or pickets,
that the snow will pass freely
through it, and not rise in high
banks. The latter kind of fence.
might be so constructed as to keep
out such creatures as are apt to
take fruit from the trees, without
leave of the proprietor.
After an orchard is planted, it
is best to keep the land continu-
ally in tillage, till the trees have
nearly got their full growth; at
least till they have begun to bear
plentifully. The trees will grow
faster, and be more fruitful. But
great care must be taken that the
roots be not disturbed by plough-
ing, nor the bark on the stems of
the trees wounded. The ground
near the trees, which the plough
leaves, should be broken and made
mellow with a spade, for two or
ORC
303
ORC
three years, before the roots have |
far extended.
Severe prunings should generally
be avoided. The limbs that inter-
fere, and rub each other, must be
cut out; but never shorten the
shoots, nor cut off any of the bear-
ing spurs. Take off all decayed
and broken branches, close to the
stems from whence they are pro-
duced; and cut away all suckers,
as soon as they appear, whether
from the roots, or any other parts.
Mr. Forsyth recommends the
washing of trees annually, in the
month of February or March, with
the following mixture, which, he
says, will destroy the eggs of in-
sects, and prevent moss from grow-
ing on the trunks and branches:
It will also help to nourish the
tree, keeping the bark fine and
healthy; and will have the same
effect on it as a top-dressing has
upon grass land.
Mix fresh cow dung with urine
and soap-suds, and, with this mix-
ture, wash over the stems and
branches of the trees, as a white-
washer would wash the ceiling or
walls of a room; taking care to
cut off the cankered parts, and to
scrape off all the moss, before you
lay the mixture on. In the course
of the spring, or summer, you will
see a firm new bark coming on.
When the old bark is cankered, you
must pare it off with a drawing
knife, or such long knife as I have
made for the purpose. Soft-soap
and lime and water have also been
recommended for washing fruit-
trees. See the article Fruit
Trees.
Plains, Roxbury, gives an account of
a "small white-ringed worm, about
3-4ths of an inch long, with a dark-
coloured head," supposed to be
the same, which attacks the peach
trees at and just below the surface
of the ground. Worms of this
kind are got rid of "by digging
round the tree, and clearing away
the earth to the roots, and then
with a sharp-pointed knife, a chisel
or a gouge, (and a small wire to
probe, if they are deep in the tree,)
they may easily be destroyed.'
After taking out all that can be
found, the wounds should be co-
vered over with grafting clay, and
a large proportion of dry wood
ashes mixed, and the earth then
returned to the tree.
""
The worms are discovered by
the "saw-dust borings, which
should be followed, and wholly ex-
tracted." Mr. Prince likewise
observes, "I have also lost seve-
ral mountain oaks and quince
trees, I believe, by the same de-
stroyer."-See Mass. Agr. Repos.
vol. V. p. 360.
Orchards which are laid down
to grass last longest; but it is ne-
cessary to keep the ground clear
of weeds and grass for some little
distance from the roots. They
may be pastured with calves and
swine, and sheep may be admitted,
provided the trees are smeared
with a coat of lime, or of Mr.
Forsyth's composition, mentioned
above; but large cattle which can
reach up to the limbs of the trees
should not be suffered to run in
an orchard.
Judge Peters of Pennsylvania
John Prince, Esq. of Jamaica asserts that young apple trees,
304
ORE
ORC
taken from a clay soil, and trans-
planted into one more suitable,
throve better than other apple
trees, apparently of better quality,
taken from a nursery, where the
soil was congenial to their growth.
It is said that a rope of straw,
with one end tied round the body
of a tree, and the other in a pail
of water, will prevent the effects
of a late frost in the spring.
Sir John Sinclair says,
"It can-
not be too strongly inculcated,
that to permit young plants to
bear fruit too early, is eventually
to do essential injury to their fu-
ture fruitfulness and duration."
Code of Agriculture, 316. Ameri-
can Edition.
"To bring an orchard as early
as possible into profit, plant com-
mon wild trees, or what are com-
monly called crab apples, four or
five years old; cut them down as
soon as planted, and on their young
shoots graft or inoculate such fruit
as is desired."--Massachusetts
Agricultural Repository, vol. III.
p. 40.
In Tessier's Annales de l'Agri-
culture; tom. XLIII. page 185.,
the following method is mentioned
of preserving the health of fruit
trees in grass lands. In Germany
they surround the roots of trees
with hemp breakings, not only
near the stock, but for some dis-
tance from the tree. The break-
ings of flax are made use of for
the same purpose, and it is said
they prove a defence against the
canker worm. Spent tar applied
to the roots of trees is likewise re-
commended.—See Mass. Agricul-
tural Repository, vol. VI. 283.
|
ORE WEED, sea weed, sea
ware, or sea wreck. These names
are applied to all the vegetables
which grow plentifully in the sea,
and on the muddy and rocky parts
of the shore below high water
mark.
The sorts are chiefly three; the
kali, or rock-weed, which strongly
adheres to rocks, and which is
allowed to be of the greatest value
for manure. The alga, called eel
grass, or grass wreck, is of the
next rank as to its richness. But
there is another sort, consisting of
a broad leaf with a long shank or
stem, of an inch diameter, by some
ignorantly called kelp; this is said
by Sir A. Purves to be of the least
value of any of the sea weeds.
However, none of them are unim-
portant for fertilizing the earth.
All vegetables when putrefied
are a good pabulum for plants;
for they consist wholly of it. But
the value of marine vegetables is
greater than that of any other; for,
besides the virtues of the other,
they contain a large quantity of
salt, which is a great fertilizer.
Mr. Dixon thinks those weeds
which grow in the deepest water
are the best. Perhaps they con-
tain a greater proportion of salt
than those which grow near the
shore, as they are seldom or never
wetted with fresh water.
A great advantage that these
plants have above any other, is
their speedy fermentation and pu-
trefaction. The farmer has no
need to wait long after he has got
them, before he applies them to
the soil. The rock weed may be
ploughed into the soil, as soon as
ORE
305
ORE
it is taken from the sea. This is
practised in those parts of Scotland
which lie nearest to the shore; by
which they obtain excellent crops
of barley, without impoverishing
the soil. Neither have they any
occasion for fallowing to recruit it.
In hills of potatoes, it answers
nearly as well as barn dung. I
have known some spread it upon
young flax newly come up, who
say it increases their crops surpris-
ingly. The flax may grow so fast,
and get above this manure and
shade it, so soon, as to prevent
evaporation by the sun and wind;
so that but a small part of it is
lost; and flax is so hardy a plant
that it does not suffer by the vio-
lence of salt, like many other
young plants.
,
But I rather think it is best to
putrefy sea weeds before they are
applied to the soil. This may
speedily be accomplished by lay-
ing them in heaps. But the heaps
should not lie naked. Let them
be covered with loose earth or
turf; or else mixed in compost
dunghills, or laid in barn yards
with divers other substances. This
substance will soon dissolve itself,
and what is mixed with it, chang-
ing to a salt oily slime, very pro-
per to fertilize light soils, and not
improper for almost any other.
As to the eel grass, &c. the best
way is to cart it in autumn into
barn yards, filling the whole areas
with it, two or three feet deep. It
may be either alone, or have a
layer of straw under, and another
above it. When it has been tramp-
led to pieces by the cattle, and
mixed with their stale and dung, it
will be the fittest to be applied to
the soil. It being a light and bi-
bulous substance, it will absorb
the urine, which is totally lost by
soaking into the earth, unless some
such trash be laid under cattle to
take it up, and retain it.
Farmers who are situated near
to the sea shore have a vast ad-
vantage for manuring their lands.
If they were once persuaded to
make a spirited improvement, they
might enrich their farms to almost
any degree that they please.
They should visit the shores after
spring tides and violent storms,
and with pitchforks take up the
weeds, and lay them in heaps a
little higher up upon the shore;
which will at once prevent their
growing weaker, and secure them
from being carried away by the
next spring tide. '
Many are so situated that they
can drive their carts on a sandy,
hard beach, at low water, to the
rocks; and fill them with weeds.
Can they be so stupid as to neglect
doing it? It is even worth while to
go miles after this manure with
boats, when it cannot be done more
easily.
It has often been observed that
manuring with sea weeds is an ex-
cellent antidote to insects. It is
so, not only in the ground, but al-
so upon trees. I have an orchard
which has been for many years
much annoyed by caterpillars. Last
spring, about the last of May, I put
a handful of rock weed into each
tree, just where the limbs part from
the trunk; after which I think there
was not another nest formed in the
whole orchard. April is a better
39
306
OSI
ORE
time to furnish the trees with this
antidote to insects. And the month
of March is perhaps better still.
Putrefied sea weeds should, I
think, be used for crops of cabba-
ges, and turnips, and for any other
crops which are much exposed to
be injured by insects.
barren are rendered fruitful by lay-
ing this manure about their roots.
OSIER, Salix, Sallow, or Willow
Trees. According to Mr. Miller
there are fourteen species; the
twigs of some of which are much
used by basket makers in Europe.
A sort of grey or brown willow
grows naturally in this country, in
low moist places. But it is only
a bushy shrub, of slow growth.and
has not that toughness in its shoots
for which some of the foreign wil-
lows are valued.
Two sorts are propagated in this
country, which were brought from
One disadvantage attending the
business of farming in this country,
is, that our cold winters put an en-
tire stop to the fermentation, and
putrefaction of manures. This may
be in some measure obviated by
the use of rock weed, which is so
full of salt that it is not easily fro-
zen: Or if frozen, it is soon thaw-Europe. The young shoots of the
ed. I have been informed that yellow sort have a golden colour;
some have laid it under their dung- but the trunks of the trees are al-
hills by the sides of barns; in which most black. The green sort bids
situation it has not frozen; but by fair to be more useful than the oth-
its fermentation has dissolved it- er. They will grow in almost any
self, and much of the dung that lay soil, and come to be large trees;
upon it. There is undoubtedly a but a moist soil suits them best.
great advantage in such a practice. I have known the green sort to
Another advantage of this kind grow where the ground is some
of manure, which must not be for- part of the year flowed with wa-
gotten, is, that it does not encour- ter, as in the borders of rivers and
age the growth of weeds so much ponds.
as barn dung. It is certain it has
none of the seeds of weeds to pro-
pagate, as barn dung almost always
has. But some suppose that its salt
is destructive to many of the seeds
of the most tender kinds of plants;
if it be so, it is only when it is ap-
plied fresh from the sea, at the time
of sowing. But even this is doubt
ful.
This manure is represented in
the Complete Farmer to be twice
as valuable as dung, if cut from the
rocks at low water mark; that a
dressing of it will last three years;
and that fruit trees which have been
It might be advisable for the
people in some parts of the coun-
try to propagate them for the sake
of the wood. I know of no other
trees that increase nearly so fast
as both these kinds do. A prodi-
gious quantity of wood might be
obtained from an acre planted with
them. In less than twenty years
they would be large trees. I have
known sets, or cuttings of the
smallest size, in ten years, grow to
the size of thirty inches round, or
ten inches diameter.
The trees are easily propagated
by cuttings, or sets, either in spring
OUT
307
Ο Χ
OX, a castrated bull. Till they
are four years old, they are usually
called steers, afterwards oxen.
Oxen that are white, black and
white, or a very pale red, are sel-
dom hardy, or good in the draught.
Red and white oxen are often
good; but the darkest coloured
oxen are generally best. Brown,
dark red and brindled are good
colours.
or fall. If in spring, they should | flung into the yard, without the
be planted early, as soon as the trouble of carrying; where they
ground is thawed. Young sets will be mixed and mellowed by
should be three feet long, and two- the trampling of beasts, and con-
thirds of their length in the ground. tribute to the increase of manure.
Live hedges may be more cheap-
ly and expeditiously made of osiers
than of any other plants. Stakes
or truncheons of seven or eight
feet long may be set in a spungy
or miry soil; they will take root
and grow, and form a hedge at
once. This saves the cost of se-
curing a young hedge. It is with
great pleasure that I observe some
fences of this kind are begun in
the country. It is a very cheap
and easy method of fencing, which
cannot be too much encouraged.
The trimmings of the hedges will
be of great value in towns where
wood is become scarce, and may
be had yearly. See Willow.
The signs of a good ox are these:
Thick, soft, smooth and short hair;
a short and thick head; glossy,
smooth horns; large and shaggy
ears; wide forehead; full, black
eyes; wide nostrils; black lips;
a thick fleshy neck, and large
shoulders; broad reins; a large
belly; thick rump and thighs; a
straight back; a long tail, well co-
vered with hair; short and broad
hoofs.
OVERFLOWING of the GALL,
a disease in horned cattle, known
by a copious discharge of water at
their eyes.
To cure it, take a
hen's egg, open the end, and pour
off the white, reserving the yolk;
then fill up the cavity with equal
quantities of soot, salt and black
pepper; draw out the tongue of
the animal, and with a slender
stick push the egg down his throat.
It should be repeated two or three
mornings. It seldom fails to cure.
OUT HOUSES, slight buildings
that belong to a mansion house,
but stand at a little distance from
it. When it can conveniently be
so ordered, the out houses of a
farmer ought to be so placed as to
be all contiguous to the farm yard.
Then all the dung, filth and rubbish. If oxen are worked in the yoke
they afford at any time, may be in wet and rainy weather, which
Steers at the age of two
of two years
and a half, or earlier, may be yok-
ed and trained for the draught.-
If it be longer delayed, they are
apt to be restiff and ungovernable.
They should not be worked by
themselves, but in a team with
other cattle which have been used
to labour. Their work should be
very easy at first, and only at short
intervals, as they are apt to fret
and worry themselves excessively.
A gentle usage of them is best,
and beating them should be avoid-
ed.
308
OX
Ο Χ
sometimes unavoidably happens,
their necks are apt to become sore.
To prevent this, a little tallow
should be rubbed on the parts of
the yoke which lie upon their
necks, and also upon the bows.
When steers come to be four
years old, they have one circular
ring at the root of their horns,
at five two rings, and one ring is
added each year; so that if you
would know the age of an ox,
count the rings on one of his horns,
and add three, which amounts to
the true number of his years. It
is the same in a bull, and a cow.
In very old cattle, these rings are
sometimes rather indistinct.
When an ox has completed his
eighth year he should be worked
no longer, but be turned off to
fatten. His flesh will not be so
good, if he be kept longer. A
little blood must be taken from
hi, that he may fatten the faster.
A valuable paper "On the Ad-
vantages of Oxen in preference to
Horses," by the Hon. TIMOTHY
PICKERING, was published in the
Massachusetts Repository and
Journal for July, 1820, vol. VI.
No. 2., from which the following is
extracted:
count of the Improved Scottish
Husbandry, mentions two distin-
guished farmers of the name of
Walker, who, contrary to the ge-
neral practice of their neighbours,
persisted in the use of ox-teams as
profitable on their farms. Two
oxen, harnessed like horses in a
plough, performed the same labour,
without losing a turn. After the
experience of twenty years, these
farmers pronounced oxen fit for
every agricultural labour, travel-
ling on hard turnpike roads ex-
cepted.
6
"It would seem that horse har-
ness is generally, if not universally
used for oxen in Scotland, the col-
lars being reversed. Sir John
Sinclair says, the principal objec-
tion to the use of oxen is the diffi-
culty of shoeing them.' The fa-
cile mode of shoeing oxen in New-
England would remove that objec-
tion."
In a letter, published on the
next page of the same work, Mr.
Pickering gives the testimony of
an "experienced farmer of Penn-
sylvania, whose prejudices were
opposed to the use of oxen for la-
bour, and where horses, with very
few exceptions, constitute the far-
"I have been inclined to enter- mers' teams. This farmer, Mr.
tain the opinion (perhaps an erro- William Ashford, in a letter to
neous one) that oxen might be John Vaughan, Esq. says:-
trained (beginning with their first" There is another thing in which
acquaintance with the yoke) to a I was wrong in not taking your
greater quickness of movement advice, viz. not keeping oxen in-
than is common; and that this stead of horses: this spring all my
might be rendered habitual. I horses became sick, and I was
have seen a pair of oxen in a forced to buy a pair of oxen.
plough keep pace with another supposed I should be tired of them;
plough drawn by a pair of horses. but on the contrary I am tired of
And Sir John Sinclair, in his ac- horses; as I find that with my two
1
PAN
309
PAN
1
oxen, I can do more work than
could with four horses, and with
half the expense. I have worked
horses for forty years, and if I had
used oxen in their place, they
would have put five hundred
pounds in my pocket."
To train oxen, put a broad strap
round their necks: fasten one end
of a cord to it, and the other end
to a large log of wood: permit the
ox to drag it about as he feeds in
his pasture before he is put into
harness, by which his docility is
much forwarded.-Transactions of
the Society of Arts, 1800.
OYSTER SHELLS are an ex-
cellent manure, but being large
they should be burnt to lime be-
fore they are applied to the soil.
P.
PALE, a pointed stake, used in
making enclosures, partitions, &c.
Gardeners oftentimes have occa-
sion to make pale fences, to secure
choice apartments from the en-
trance of tame fowls, which will
not often fly over a paled or pick-
etted fence: as well as to prevent
the intrusion of idle and mischiev-
ous people.
PAN, a stratum of compact
earth under the soil. In some
places it is so hard that it cannot
be dug through without pickaxes
or crows. If the pan be low, the
soil is said to be deep and good;
but if near the surface, the soil is
thin and poor. The common
depth in good land is from eighteen
to twenty-four inches.
The deeper strata, or layers in
If
the bowels of the earth, are sup-
posed to have been formed, by the
diurnal rotation of the earth, be-
fore it had become compact and
solid. But this stratum being
more constant and regular, the for-
mation of it, if I mistake not, should
be ascribed to other causes.
we suppose that this and the soil
above were intermixed, and of one
consistence after the creation, the
pan must have been formed long
before this time, by the subsiding
of the more ponderous parts of the
soil. For it has been often ob
served, that clay, chalk, and lime,
which have been laid on as ma-
nures, after some years, disappear
from the surface, and are found a
foot or more beneath it. Rains,
and fermentations in the soil, make
way
for the descent of the heaviest
particles contained in the soil.
It is in favour of this hypothesis,
that the pan under the soil most
commonly bears an affinity to the
soil itself. Under a gravelly soil,
there is a large proportion of gra-
vel in the pan; under a sandy one
[it usually is found to consist chiefly
of sand; and under a stiff loam it
is commonly clay: I think it is al-
ways found to be so.
But I suppose the operation of
frost should be considered, as as-
sisting in forming the pan. All
the soil above it is usually hoven
by the frost in winter. At least it
is so in this latitude. We see rocks
and stones below the surface when
the ground is frozen, which before
were on a level with it; and in a soft
soil they do not rise quite up to their
former situation, when the ground
310
PAN
PAN
is thawed. The frost does more
than tillage, and perhaps more than
rains, or fermentation, towards
causing the more ponderous parts
of the soil (or ponderous bodies
in the soil) to subside, or sink.
be the case. It ought also to be
lower in the earth, and the soil
deeper; and future observations
may convince us that this also is
fact.
Another corollary may be, that
deeper ploughing than is usually
The frost may have another in-
fluence in increasing the compact-practised in this country would be
ness of the under stratum. As proper. For it seems that nature
the frost expands the soil, the pres- designed all the strata above the
sure of it downward is increased; pan to serve for pasture of plants.
by which pressure, the matter of And it is well known that the more
which the pan consists, is made it is stirred and mixed, the fitter it
most close and hard, like earth is for this purpose; not only be-
that has been violently rammed. cause it lies the more loose and
But this perhaps can take place, open, but because the more of the
only when the frozen stratum is food of plants will be contained in
held down by strong objects, which it.
reach far below the frost and pan;
as the stumps of large trees deeply
rooted, large rocks, &c.
But it will be objected, that
some soils appear to have no pan
under them. To answer this, it
may be said, that perhaps some
soils were originally made up of
particles equally ponderous; so
that one had no more tendency to
subside than another. Or else the
looseness and openness of the
under earth in such places, was so
great that it could not stop the
ponderous parts of the soil in their
descent; so that they have been
dispersed among the loose earth,
and part of them gone to a very
great depth.
If I have given a just account of
the formation of the pan, will it
not follow, that this under stratum
is less penetrable in cold than in
warm latitudes, when made of like
materials? So far as my observa-
tion has extended, this appears to
Such a stratum, at a right dis-
tance from the surface, is a great
benefit to the soil. For, as no ma-
nures can easily penetrate it, they
must remain in a good situation to
be taken up by the roots of vege-
ables. But where there is no
compact under stratum, unless at
a great depth, manures laid upon
the soil are partly lost. Hence
appears the great propriety of
claying and marling such soils. In
a long course of tillage, these
dressings will subside, and do
something towards forming the
stratum that is wanted.
But to form a good under stra-
tum at once, where it is wanted,
let one hundred or more loads of
clay be spread on an acre of sandy
grass land. After it has lain,
spread upon the surface one win-
ter, let it be made perfectly fine
and even by a bush harrow, and
rolled. Afterwards turn it under
with a very deep ploughing. This
PAN
* 311
PAN
will greatly assist a weak dry soil
to retain moisture, and to hold the
manures that shall be given it. It
will be a lasting benefit. But this
ploughing should be done at a
time, when the clay is so damp
that it will turn over in whole
flakes.
When a plot of ground intend-
ed for a garden wants an under
stratum, it may be advisable to
dig trenches four feet wide, and
place a regular bed of clay in the
bottom. The second trench may
be contiguous to the first, and the
first be filled up with the earth
that is taken out of the second;
and so on till the whole work is
completed.
Some have put themselves to
the expense of this operation, only
with a view to get rid of all the
seed of weeds in a garden which
had long lain neglected, placing
the upper part of the soil at the
bottom.
PANAX, GINSENG, or NIN-
SENG. As this plant is a native
of our country, and is become a
considerable article of commerce,
I think it is necessary that every
one should know how to distin-
guish it from all other plants when
he meets with it. I desire there-
fore to entertain the reader with
Mr. Miller's account of it.
"It hath male and hermaphro-
dite flower on distinct plants.
The male have simple globular
umbels, composed of several co-
loured rays, which are equal. The
flower hath five narrow, oblong,
blunt petals, which are reflexed,
sitting on the empalement, and five
·
oblong slender stamina inserted in
the empalement, terminated by sin-
gle summits. The hermaphrodite
umbels are simple, equal, and clus-
tered; the involucrum is small,
permanent, and composed of sev-
eral awl-shaped leaves. The flow-
ers have five oblong, equal petals,
which are recurved, and five short
stamina terminated by single sum-
mits, which fall off, with a round-
ish germen under the empalement,
supporting two small erect styles,
crowned by simple stigmas. The
germen afterwards becomes an
umbilicated berry with two cells,
each containing a single heart sha-
ped, convex, plain seed.
"The species are, 1. Panax quin-
quefolium, foliis ternis quinatis; or
panax with trifoliate cinquefoil
leaves; called ninzin. 2. Panax
trifolium, foliis ternis ternatis; or
panax with three trifoliate leaves.
"Both these plants grow natur-
ally in North America; the first is
generally believed to be the same
as the Tartarian Ginseng. It has
a fleshy taper root, as large as a
man's finger, which is jointed, and
frequently divided into smaller fi-
bres downward. The stalk rises
above a foot high, naked to the top,
where it generally divides into
three small foot stalks, each sus-
taining a leaf composed of five
spear shaped lobes, which are saw-
ed on their edges; they are of a
pale green, and a little hairy. The
flowers arise on a slender foot stalk,
just at the division of the foot stalks
which sustain the leaves, and are
formed into a small umbel at the
top; they are of an herbaceous yel-
312
PAR
PAR
low colour, composed of small pe-
tals, which are recurved. These
appear the beginning of June, and
are succeeded by compressed heart
shaped berries, which ripen the be-
ginning of August. The Chinese
affirm that it is a sovereign remedy
for all weakness occasioned by ex-
cessive fatigues, either of body or
mind; that it cures weakness of
the lungs and the pleurisy; that it
stops vomitings; that it strengthens
the stomach, and helps the appe-
tite;
that it strengthens the vital
spirits, and increases the lymph in
the blood; in short, that it is good
against dizziness of the head, and
dimness of sight, and that it pro-
longs life in old age."
Mr. Miller found he could not
propagate this plant by the seed,
either raised in England,or brought
from America. None of the seeds
would grow. He believes the her-
maphrodite plants should have some
of the male plants standing near
them, to render the seed prolific;
for all the plants he saved seed
from, had only hermaphrodite flow-
ers.
with rushes should first be drained,
and then pared and burnt. But
burning is prejudicial to sandy, dry
and flinty soils, containing little ani-
mal or vegetable matter.
A new method of " burning with-
out fire" has been lately discover-
ed. This consists in substituting
quick lime for fire. The lime in its
most caustic state, fresh from the
kiln, is laid upon the vegetable sur-
face to be consumed; and before
it is weakened by exposure to the
air, a quantity of water, just suffici-
ent to put it in powerful action, is
applied. This process unites the
advantages of burning and liming;
and is probably the readiest and
cheapest mode of fertilizing soils
which super-abound with vegetable
matter, and for which lime would
prove a suitable manure. See
Code of Agriculture. Likewise
Burning the Soil.
•
PARSNEP, Pastinaca, an escu-
lent root, of a sweet taste, and of a
very nourishing quality.
Parsneps must have a mellow,
rich and deep soil, not apt to be
very dry. The best tasted roots
are produced in a soil that is more
sandy than loamy. When they are
cultivated in kitchen gardens, the
ground should be dug uncommon-
ly deep; eighteen or twenty inch-
PARING AND BURNING. Pa-
ring the surface of the soil, and
burning the sods, is a process, high-
ły recommended by writers on ag-
riculture, and is useful in all cases
where an excess of vegetable mates at least. No common plough-
ter renders the soil too rank. It is ing will loosen the soil to a suffici-
scarcely possible to redeem fens ent depth. The goodness of a crop
and peat mosses from a state of bar- of these roots depends much upon
renness without the assistance of their length.
fire. Old pastures, whose surface
has become mossy, and unproduc-
tive, or covered with useless and
coarse herbage, are best reclaimed
in this way. A meadow overrun
If they be set near together,they
will not grow to a large size. I
sow them in rows across the beds,
15 inches apart, and allow about 6
inches from plant to plant at the
PAR
313
PAR
possibly grow a little in the spring,
before there is opportunity to take
last thinning, which may be early,
as they are not often hurt by insects.
I have seldom known any to be de-them up, if they escape rotting.
stroyed by them.
The seeds should be sown as
early as in March, if the ground be
thawed, and not too wet. Some
sow them in the fall; but that is
not a good practice, because the
ground will grow too close and stiff,
for want of stirring in the spring;
which cannot well be performed in
gardens, without danger of injuring
the roots. And weeds will be more
apt to abound among them, if they
be sown in autumn.
The manure that is used for pars-
neps should be very fine and rot-
ten, and quite free from straws and
lumps; otherwise it will cause the
roots to be forked, which is a great
damage to them. They require
but little manure, as they draw
much of their nourishment from a
great depth. What manure is giv-
en them, should be spread before
digging the ground, that some of it
at least may go deep. They do not |
impoverish the soil. I have raised
them near thirty years in the same
spot, on a soil not naturally rich,
and with a very slight yearly dres-
sing. The crops are better than
they were at first: And the earth
is become very black to a great
depth.
Parsneps will continue growing
so late as till the tops are killed by
the frost, if not longer. Some let
them remain in the ground through
the winter, expecting that they will
grow larger in that season. But it
is not possible they should grow at
all, so long as they are enclosed
with the frozen soil. They may
But their growing will be chiefly
sprouting at the top, which hurts
them for eating. As soon as they
begin to sprout, which will be as
soon as the ground is thawed, they
will begin to grow tough, and to
have a bitterish taste.
The best way is to dig them up
about the last of November, or in
the beginning of December. Let
them not be wounded, or so much
as touched with the spade in doing
it, if it can be avoided; neither
should the tops be cut off very close
to the roots, nor any of the lateral
roots cut off. In either case the
roots will rot, or become bitter.
Many lose their parsneps, or
make them sprout, by putting them
into a warm cellar. It is better to
keep them in some out-house, or in
a cellar that freezes; for no degree
of frost ever hurts them. But to
prevent their drying too much, it is
best to cover them with dry sods,
or else bury them in sand that has
no moisture in it. Beach sand is
improper, because the salt in it
will make them vegetate.
It is said by European writers,
that parsneps are an excellent food
for swine, and useful for feeding
and fattening all sorts of cattle.
If we would cultivate them for
these purposes, the horse hoeing
husbandry must be applied. The
ground must be trench ploughed in
October, and all the stones careful-
ly taken out. The trench plough-
ing must be repeated before the
end of November, the soil made
fine by harrowing, laid in beds of
40
314
PAS
PAS
from three to four feet wide, and
sown by a line in drills on the mid-
dle of the beds. There may be
either one or two rows on a bed.
If there be two, they should be full
twelve inches apart, and the inter-
vals proportionably wider.
Autumnal sowing in the field cul-
ture is not amiss, as the ground is
to be kept light by horse hoeing.
In this operation the ground should
be stirred very deep. The plough
should go twice in a furrow. At
the last ploughing, the furrows
should be turned towards the rows.
PASTURE, according to the
language of farmers in this country,
means land in grass for the summer
feeding of cattle.
To manage pasture land advan-
tageously, it should be well fenced
in small lots, of four, eight or twelve
acres, according to the largeness
of one's farm and stock. And these
lots should be bordered at least
with rows of trees. It is best that
trees of some kind or other should
be growing scattered in every point
of a pasture, so that the cattle may
never have far to go in a hot hour
to obtain a comfortable shade. The
grass will spring earlier in lots that
are thus sheltered, and they will
bear drought the better. But too
great a proportion of shade should
be avoided, as it will give a sour-
ness to the grass.
Small lots thus sheltered,are not
left bare of snow so early in the
spring as larger ones lying bare, as
fences and trees cause more of it
to remain upon the ground. The
cold winds in March and April hurt
the grass much when the ground is
bare. And the winds in winter will
not suffer snow to lie deep on land
that is too open to the rake of winds
and storms.
It is hurtful to pastures to turn
in cattle too early in the spring:
and most hurtful to those pastures
in which the grass springs earliest,
as in very low and wet pastures.
Potching such land in the spring,
destroys the sward, so that it will
produce the less quantity of grass.
Neither should cattle be let into
any pasture, until the grass is so
much grown as to afford them a
good bite, so that they may fill
themselves without rambling over
the whole lot. The 20th of May
is early enough to turn cattle into
almost any of our pastures. Out of
some they should be kept later.
The driest pastures should be used
first, though in them the grass is
shortest, that the potching of the
ground in the wettest may be pre-
vented.
The bushes and shrubs that rise
in pastures, should be cut in the
most likely times to destroy them.
Thistles, and other bad weeds,
should be cut down before their
seeds have ripened; and ant hills
should be destroyed. Much may
be done towards subduing a bushy
pasture, by keeping cattle hungry
in it. A continual browsing keeps
down the young shoots, and totally
kills many of the bushes. Steers
and heifers may mend such a pas-
ture, and continue growing.
But as to cleared pastures, it is
not right to turn in all sorts of cat-
tle promiscuously. Milch kine,
working oxen, and fatting beasts,
should have the first feeding of an
enclosure. Afterwards, sheep and
PAS
315
PAS
horses. When the first lot is thus
fed off, it should be shut up,and the
dung that has been dropped should
be beat to pieces, and well scatter-
ed. Afterwards, the second pas-
ture should be treated in the same
manner, and the rest in course,
feeding the wettest pasture after
the driest, that the soil may be less
potched.
Something considerable is saved
by letting all sorts of grazing ani-
mals take their turn in a pasture.
By means of this, nearly all the ber-
bage produced will be eaten ; much
of which would otherwise be lost.
Horses will eat the leavings of
horned cattle; and sheep will eat
some things that both the one and
the other leave.
But if in a course of pasturing,
by means of a fruitful year, or a
scanty stock of cattle, some grass of
a good kind should run up to seed,
and not be eaten, it need not be re-
gretted; for a new supply of seed
will fill the ground with new roots,
which are better than old ones.
And I know of no grass that never
needs renewing from the seed.
A farmer needs not to be told,
that if he turn swine into a pasture,
they should have rings in their no-
ses, unless brakes and other weeds
need to be rooted out. Swine may
do service in this way. They
should never have the first of the
feed; for they will foul the grass,
and make it distasteful to horses
and cattle.
Let the stock of a farmer be
greater or less, he should have at
least four enclosures of pasture
land. One enclosure may be fed
two weeks, and then shut up to
Each one
grow. Then another.
will recruit well in six weeks; and
each will have this space of time to
recruit. But in the latter part of
October, the cattle may range
through all the lots, unless some
one may become too wet and soft.
In this case, it ought to be shut up,
and kept so till feeding time the
next year.
But that farmers may not be
troubled with low miry pastures,
they should drain them, if it be
practicable, or can be done consist-
ently with their other business. If
they should produce a smaller quan-
tity of grass afterwards, it will be
sweeter, and of more value. It is
well known, that cattle fatted in a
dry pasture,have better tasted flesh
than those which are fatted in a
wet one. In the old countries it
will fetch a higher price. This is
particularly the case as to mutton.
Feeding pastures in rotation, is
of greater advantage than some are
apt to imagine. One acre, man-
aged according to the above direc-
tions, will turn to better account,as
some say who have practised it,
than three acres in the common
way. By the common way I would
be understood to mean, having
weak and tottering fences, that will
drop of themselves in a few months,
and never can resist the violence
of disorderly cattle; suffering
weeds and bushes to overrun the
land; keeping all the pasture land
in one enclosure; turning in all
sorts of stock together; suffering
the fence to drop down in autumn,
so as to lay the pasture common to
all the swine and cattle that please
to enter; and not putting up the
316
PEA
PEA
fence again till the first of May, or
later. Such management is too
common in all the parts of this
country with which I am most ac-
quainted. I would hope it is not
universal.
a well known kind of fruit tree,
Mr. Miller reckons no less than 31
sorts, besides a number of less va-
lue. What we call the rareripe,
is almost the only sort.
Peach trees should be cultivated
near to or in the borders of gardens.
When they are propagated by plant-
ing the stones, they should be ta-
ken from fruit that has thoroughly
ripened on the tree, and be plant-
ed in October, three inches under
the surface. The trees may also
be propagated by inoculating upon
plums and apricots. This will un-
doubtedly render them longer lived.
When the trees are transplant-
Land which is constantly used as
pasture, will be enriched. There-
fore it is advisable to mow a pas-
ture lot once in three or four years,
if the surface be so level as to ad-
mit of it. In the mean time, to
make amends for the loss of pas-
ture, a mowing lot may be pastur-
ed. It will thus be improved: And
if the grass do not grow so rank af-
terwards in the pasture lot, it will
be more clear of weeds, and beared, the downright shoot of the roots
better grass. Alternate pasturing
and mowing has the advantage of
saving a good deal of expense and
trouble, in manuring the mowing
grounds.
should be pruned very short, and
the lateral ones be left at a good
length; for if the trees draw much
of their nourishment from a great
depth, the sap will be crude, and
Though pastures need manuring the fruit not so good. As these
less than other lands, yet, when trees are natives of a warmer cli-
bushes, bad weeds, &c. are burnt mate they ought to have a south-
upon them, the ashes should be ern exposure. They should also
spread thinly over the surface. The be screened from the direct influ-
grass will thus be improved: Andence of north, and north-easterly
grass seeds should be sown upon winds.
the burnt spots, that no part may
be vacant of grass.
Sheep, calves and horses, unless
they are worked, it is said require
no water in their pastures. The
want of water induces them to feed
in the night, when the dew is on
and the grass the more nutritious.
Cows however want pure water.
In pastures, which are on side
hills, water may generally be ob-
tained by digging horizontally into
the side of the hill, till it is found,
and then carrying it out with a pipe.
PEACH TREE, Amygdalus,
The soil that suits them best is a
dry light loam; and the surface
should be constantly tilled, and
moderately manured with old rot-
ten dung.
If too great a quantity of peach-
es appear on the trees, so as to
crowd each other, they should be
speedily thinned, by taking off the
poorest: For if they be suffered all
to remain on the tree, much of the
fruit will drop off unripe: What
remains will not be so perfect, and
perhaps fewer in number.
As the fruit grows not on spurs,
PEA
317
PEA
}
·
but on the shoots made in the last remain fruitful for many years.
preceding year, Mr. Miller directs, Three years after the trees are cut
that the new shoots should be short- off by the ground, they will be suf-
ened, by cutting them yearly in ficiently large and bushy to shade
October, leaving them from five to the ground so as to prevent grass
eight inches in length, according as of any kind from matting or bind-
they are weaker or stronger. Iing the surface, so as to injure the
have practised this method of cut-trees; therefore ploughing is use-
ting in October for several years; less, as well as injurious; useless
which has caused trees, which were because nothing can be raised in
before barren, to bear some fruit. the orchard by reason the trees
And I observe that the branches of will shade all the ground, or near-
the trees are not so often killed by ly so; injurious because either the
the frost in winter. But the trees roots, stock or branches will be
have now become sickly and bar-wounded.
ren.
Mr. Thomas Coulter of Bedford,
Penn. gives some directions for cul-
tivating peach trees, which he has
practised with success in Pennsyl-
vania and Delaware for forty-five
years. See Trans. Amer. Philad.
Soc. vol. 5.
Mr. Coulter says that peach trees
should have no manure, as it cau-
ses them to produce worse and
smaller fruit.
A blue fly attacks peach trees
from about the middle of July to
the middle of September, and gen-
erally deposits its eggs in the bark
eggs hatch into worms, which eat
off the bark quite round the tree.
To guard against this, raise a little
hillock in the month of June round
the tree, about a foot high, so as
completely to cover that part of
the bark, kept moist and tender at
the surface of the ground. This
hillock will not stand so long at one
height as to make tender the bark
above, as the rain will gradually
wash it down level with the surface,
and it must be raised again every
summer.
Mr. Coulter advises to transplant [at the surface of the ground. These
peach trees, as young as possible
when you mean them to stand; if
in the kernel, so much the better.
To plant them 16 feet apart both
ways, except you would wish to
take your waggon through the or-
chard to carry the peaches away;
in that case give 24 feet distance
to every fifth row, one way, after
transplanting. In the month of
March or April, in the third year
after transplanting, cut them all off
by the ground,and let all the sprouts
and scions grow. From four to six
will, generally, come to maturity;
the rest will die, and should be cut
away, taking care not to wound the
stock. The sprouts growing all
round the old stump, when loaded
with fruit, will bend and rest on the
ground in every direction, and will
To take out the worm, the roots
must be uncovered, and the spot.
looked for where the gum oozes
out; follow the cavity round with
the point of a knife, until you come
to the solid wood, and lay the whole
open; the worm will be found,
318
PEA
PEA
with a white body and black head;
which must be destroyed, and the
hole filled up with cow manure,
rendered adhesive by lime sand and
ashes, as directed by Forsyth. See
Orchard.
Soap suds, heated after a family
wash, and poured on the roots of
the trees, about the middle of Au-
gust, have been used with success
in destroying the eggs, or the young
worm.
and must be left to the judgment of
the person, who performs the op-
eration.
Mr. William Coxe, of Burlington,
N. J. prefers a northern aspect
for peach trees: "I have tried,"
he remarks, "with great success a
northern aspect,and even the north
side of a building for apricots, the
tenderest and earliest of our fruits.
The northern situation of the rising
and setting sun, is sufficient to im-
part to them a large portion of heat
in the long days of summer; while
the blossoming is retarded by the
greater shelter afforded by the po-
sition of the sun in the spring.'
American Farmer, vol. II. p. 71.
""
Mr. John Ellis, of New-Jersey,
directs taking away the dirt round
the tree, so as to expose the root
to the depth of about six inches,and
surrounding the tree with straw
about three feet long, and apply it
lengthwise about an inch thick, the Peach trees are subject to a dis-
butt-ends of the straw resting on the ease called the "Yellows," of
ground at the bottom. This straw which we have seen no particular
should be bound with three bands, description. The remedy howev-
one near the top, one at the mid-er is wood ashes, scattered about
dle, and the third at the surface of the roots, which is said to be un-
the earth. Fill up the hole at the failing. American Farmer, vol. II.
root with earth, and press it close- p. 187.
ly round the straw. When the
white frosts appear, the straw
should be removed, and the tree
remain uncovered until the blos-
soms put out in the spring. By this
process the fly, it is said, is pre-a
vented from depositing its egg with-
in three feet of the root, and al-
though it may place its egg above
that distance, the worm travels so
slow, that it cannot reach the
ground before frost, and therefore
is killed before it is able to injure
PEAR TREE, Pyrus. Pears
have a nearer affinity to quinces
than to apples: For a pear scion
will grow upon a quince stock, but
not so well upon an apple: And
quince scion will grow upon a
pear stock.
The vast variety of pears, which
are cultivated in the world, have
been obtained from the seeds,
which, like those of the apple, will
produce fruit trees different from
the parent tree. Seeds sometimes
bring degenerate, and sometimes
Mr. Forsyth recommends thin-improved fruit trees. So that all
ning the peaches, when they are the best grafted fruits have been,
about the size of a small 'marble, some time or other, produced by
which ought to be done according nature itself: And though the fruits
to the strength and size of the tree, vary, there is not a specifical differ-
the tree.
ence,
1
PEA
319
PEA
Though the pear will grow upon
the quince, or even upon the white
thorn, it should not be grafted on
the former, unless it be for dwarf
trees, and even for these it is not
good; and in no case upon the lat-
ter. The stock of the thorn will
not grow to so large a size as the
scion will: The trees will therefore
be top heavy, and short lived, as I
have found by experience. There-
fore it is best in general, that pears
should be grafted upon pears.
The propagation of pear trees
from the seeds, and the culture of
them in nurseries, do not differ
from the propagation and culture
of apple trees. See Nursery.
4
Tōō
10
which destroy the young branches
of the pear tree, and the leading
shoots of the Weymouth pines
"The genus, to which this insect
belongs is called Scolytus,of which
it is an undescribed species. It is
precisely or of an inch in
length, in diameter; of a deep
brown colour, the legs and anten-
næ pale, and of a rust colour; the
thorax in front is rough with small
tubercles which point upwards and
is studded with erect bristles, as
are also the elytra or wing-cases
and other parts of the body. The
elytra are striated with slightly im-
pressed points, and between the se-
ries of points are rows of bristles.
The plane of the anterior opening
of the thorax, which receives the
head, is nearly at right angles with
that which joins the abdomen, so
that the head is entirely under-
neath. The eyes are oblong, and
the antennæ inserted at their lower
and anterior edge.
Pear trees bear fruit at the ends
of the last year's shoots, as well as
upon the spurs. Therefore, the
new shoots should not be shorten-
ed, lest the fruit be diminished:
And, for the same reason, these
trees should never stand so near to-
gether as to crowd each other. But
the distance at which the trees are "The mischievous effects of this
to be set in an orchard, or in a minute insect are observed in June
grove, depends partly upon the na- and July; the dead part of the
ture of the trees, as some grow lar-branches of the pear tree should be
ger than others; and partly upon immediately cut off and burnt with-
the fruitfulness of the soil. In gen-out delay, as the insects have not
eral they may be allowed to stand then left them.'
nearer together than apple trees.
These, as well as other fruit trees,
should have the ground tilled about
them, to promote their growth and
fruitfulness, at least until they are
become so large as to bear plenti-
fully, and occasionally from time to
time afterwards.
""
Mr. Forsyth gives a catalogue
of more than seventy different
kinds of this fruit.
A writer in the American Farm-
er, vol. II. p. 347, mentions a dis-
ease, which affects pear trees,which
causes a withering of the interior
bark, especially the limbs appear-
The Massachusetts Agriculturaling in spring, in spots and bars, and
Repository, vol. IV. No. III. con-
tains a description by Professor
Peck, with drawings of the insects
more extended affections of the
same kind, spreading to the de-
struction of the individual limb,
}
320
PEA
though the superior parts of the
limbs are often unaffected by the
disease, and are only destroyed by
being cut off from the main stock.
This disease takes place, when a
warm winter, especially a warm
February is followed by a cold
March. He thinks that manuring
and high cultivation are the causes
of the disorder, by causing the sap
to flow too exuberantly when win-
ter relaxes a little of its rigour.
The remedy he proposes is to let
the trees grow naturally, with
shrubs and grass about their roots;
but we doubt exceedingly both as
to the supposed cause of the evil,
and the proposed remedy.
PEASE, Pisum. The varieties
are SO numerous, that I shall
not undertake to distinguish
them. They are cultivated in
gardens and in fields. The gar-
den culture is thus: After the
ground has been well dug, raked
and levelled, mark it out in double
rows one foot apart, and leave in-
tervals of three feet between the
double rows, so that when they are
brushed, there may be a free pas-
sage through the intervals. Open
the trenches three inches deep with
the head of a rake, or with a hoe;
scatter in the pease at the rate of
about one to an inch, or nearer to-
gether if you have plenty of seed;
and then cover them with a rake.
Or small marks may be made for
the rows, and the pease pricked in
with a finger to the same depth,
and the holes filled with a rake.
The former method is best, as the
mould about the pease is left light-
er; and it is more expeditiously
performed.
PEA
The ground should be hoed,and
kept clear of weeds; and when the
young plants are six inches high,
the stems should be earthed up a
little, and each double row filled
with brush wood, so that each
plant may climb, and none of them
trail upon the ground. The brush
should be set strongly in the earth,
or they will not bear the weight of
the plants in windy weather. I set
the larger bushes strongly between
the rows, making the holes with a
crow bar; and then the smaller
bushes in the rows as leaders.
The latter may be sharpened a lit-
tle at the points, and pushed in by
hand. They will be the more
fruitful for brushing or sticking, as
well as more sightly, and more
conveniently gathered. But the
low dwarf kinds seldom need any
supporting.
Whatever be the sort, no weeds
should be suffered to increase
among them; and the alleys should
be hoed deep once or twice after
brushing. But the soil should not
| be very rich, lest the plants run
too much to haulm. The most
hungry part of a garden answers
well for pease.
The earliest sorts of pease will
somtimes be ripe in June: So that
a crop of potatoes, turnips, or cab-
bages, may be had after them.
For field pease, land that is
newly ploughed out of sward is
generally accounted best; and
land which is high and dry, and
has not been much dunged. A
light loamy soil is most suitable for
them; and if it abound with slaty
stones it is the better. But they
will do in any dry soil. The
7
PEA
321
PEA
sorts that grow large should have
a weaker soil; in a stronger soil
the smaller sorts answer best.
The manures that suit pease best
are marle and lime.
Horse-hoeing husbandry appli-
ed, if it were practicable, would
greatly assist the growth of pease.
They soon begin to trail upon the
ground, that the season in which
this culture can be applied, is ex-
tremely short. But some have
obtained very good crops in this
way. Much of the seed at least
might be saved.
Our farmers do not commonly
allow a sufficient quantity of seed
for pease, in broad-cast sowing.
When pease are sowed thin, the
plants will lie upon the ground,
and perhaps rot: When they are
thick, the plants will hold each
other up, with their tendrils, form-
ing a continued web; and will
have more benefit of the air.
*
At Fryburgh and Conway, as I
am informed, the farmers sow
three bushels on an acre, according
to the practice in England; and
their crop, one time with another,
is upwards of twenty bushels.
This is certainly better for them,
than to sow one bushel, and reap
fifteen: But he that sows one
bushel only on an acre, must not
expect, one time with another, to
reap twelve.
!
:
the pease in which they lodge to
nearly one half, and their leavings
are fit only for the food of swine.
The bugs, however, will be all
gone out, if you keep them to the
following autumn. But they who
eat buggy pease, the winter after
they are raised, must run the ven-
ture of eating the insects.
If sown in the new plantations,
to which this bug has never been
carried, pease are free from bugs:
For the insects do not travel far
from their native place. There-
fore, care should be taken not to
carry them, as some are apt to do,
in seed, from older settlements.
Even in the part of an old farm,
near to which pease have not for
a long time, if ever, been sown, a
crop of pease are not buggy, if
clean seed be sown. There-
fore, in such places, one may
guard against this insect, by sow-
ing pease which are certainly
known to be clear of them. But
if the contrary be known, or even
suspected, let the pease be scalded
a quarter of a minute, in boiling
water; then spread about, cooled,
and sown without delay. If any
of the bugs should be in the pease,
this scalding will destroy them:
And the pease, instead of being
hurt, will come up the sooner, and
grow the faster.
All pease that are sown late,
should be steeped, or scalded, be-
fore sowing. They will be for-
warder. But pease should always
be sown as early as the ground can
The only insect that commonly
injures our pease, is a small brown
bug, or fly, the egg of which is de-
posited in them when they are
young, and the pods easily perfo-be got into a good tilth, without
rated. The insect does not come any silly regard to the time of the
out of his nest, till he is furnished moon; by which I have known
with short wings. They diminish some miss the right time of sowing,
41
322
PEA
PEA
ì
and suffer much in their crop. | proportion of their nourishment
The real causes of a crop not ri- from the air, than most other
pening equally, are bad seed, poor plants; for it is observable that
culture, and sowing too thin. If they continue their greenness long
the ground be ploughed but once, after the lower parts of the stems
it should be harrowed abundantly. are dead to appearance.
But on green sward ground, I think
it should be ploughed early in au-
tumn, and cross ploughed and har-
rowed in the spring. In old ground,
as it is called, it is no bad way to
plough in the seed with a shoal |
furrow It will be more equally
covered, and bear drought better;
and I should think the crop would
ripen more equally. There is no
danger of their being buried too
deep, 'in our common method of
ploughing. The European farmers
think six inches is not too great a
depth for pease to be covered in
moist soils, and four inches not too
deep in clay.
Changing the seed is a matter of
very great importance; for pease
are apt to degenerate more ra-
pidly than almost any other plants.
Seeds should be brought from a
more northern clime; for those
which ripen earliest are best. I
would change them yearly, if it
could be done without much trou-
ble or cost. Once in two or three
years is necessary.
If weeds come up among field
pease, while they are young, they
should be weeded. But when
they are grown up, they will hin-
der the growth of weeds by their
shade, unless they are sown too
thin. Pease sown thick form so
close a cover for the soil, that
they cause it to putrefy; they are
therefore called an improving
crop: But they also draw a greater
Garden pease are harvested by
picking them off as they ripen;
but field pease must unavoidably
be harvested all at once. They
should be carefully watched, and
harvested, before any of them are
so ripe as to begin to shell out.
Those among them which are un-
ripe, will ripen, or at least become
dry, after they are cut or pulled
up; and such pease, well dried,
are not commonly bad for eating,
though ill coloured. To dry them,
they should be laid on the ground
in small heaps, as light and open
as possible, the greenest of the
straw and pods uppermost. The
heaps should never be turned up-
side down, though rain should fall,
but they may be gently lightened
up, if they settle close to the
ground. This will be sufficient.
When thoroughly dried, they
should be carefully removed to
the barn, at a time when the air is
not dry, and thrashed without de-
lay. But if the thrashing must be
delayed, it is better to keep them
in a stack than in a barn.
After winnowing, pease should
lie on a floor, three or four inches
thick, and air should be let into
the apartment, that they may be
dried; which they will be in two
|
or three weeks, the weather being
generally dry. After this they
may be put into casks to keep.
Our common method of pulling
up pease by hand, is too laborious.
J
PEA
323
PEA
They should be cut or pulled up
with a sharp hook in the form of a
sickle; fastened to a long handle.
Some perform it expeditiously with
a common sickle. But this is lit-
tle, if at all, less laborious than do-
ing it with the hand.
When land is in suitable order,
field pease may be cultivated ac-
cording to the new husbandry, with
advantage. M. Eyma found his
crops were half as large again in
this way, as in the old husbandry,
besides saving half the seed. The
intervals between the double rows
should be near four feet wide, or
there will not be sufficient room
for horse-hoeing. And this should
be done with, before the plants
begin to trail on the ground.
Pease are said to be much im-
proved for the purpose of feeding
hogs by steam boiling. The Do-
mestic Encyclopedia recommends
grinding them for that use.
"It is a great error in those per-
sons, who sow the rows of tall
growing pease close together. It
is much better in all those sorts
which grow six or eight feet high to
have only one row, and then leave
a bed ten or twelve feet wide for
onions, carrots, or any crops, which
do not grow tall.
"The advantages which will be
derived are, that the pease will
not be drawn up so much; be
stronger; will flower much nearer
the ground, and in wet weather
can be more easily gathered with-
out wetting yourself."-Domestic
Encyclopedia.
The same work recommends
sowing pease in rows of circles,
three feet in diameter, with a space
of two feet between each circle;
and if you want more than one
row of circles, leave a bed of ten
or twelve feet before you begin
another.
PEAT, a kind of earth, or ra-
ther a fossil, used in some coun-
tries for fuel.
·
It is often found in low, miry,
and boggy places, that lie between
hills. That which is the most
solid is the most valuable. It lies
at different depths; sometimes,
very near the surface; sometimes
eight or ten feet below it. The
best way to find it is by boring.
The stratum above it is most com-
monly mud, or moory earth.
suppose many places where it
is found to have been originally
ponds; and that they have been,
either suddenly, at the time of
Noah's flood, or gradually since,
filled up with wood, and other
vegetable substances, which, by a
slow putrefaction, have been
changed into the substance we call
peat. For some undissolved trunks
of trees, bark, &c. are found among
it.
It is sometimes found in interval
lands, and near to the banks of
rivers. In these places, the shift-
ing of the beds of rivers, caused by
the choking of the old currents,
will afford a probable account of
its formation.
Peat is distinguishable by its
cutting very smooth, like butter or
lard, by its being free from grit,
and its burning freely, when tho-
roughly dried. It will not dissolve
when exposed to the air for a long
time, but become hard like cinder.
A dry season is the best oppor-
324
PEA
PEA
"After setting fire to it at a
proper place, before on purpose
prepared, it is watched in the burn-
ing: And the great art is to keep
in as much of the smoke as possi-
ble, provided that as much vent is
left as will nourish and feed the
fire.
tunity for digging it, as the labour-plete the heap. A heap will con-
ers are but little incommoded by sist of from one hundred to a thou-
water. They who dig peat for sand loads.
fuel, should have long angular
spades, the blades of which should
be spiked like a carpenter's bur,
with which it may be easily cut
out of the pits, in pieces four in-
ches square, and twenty inches in
length. These should be laid sin-
gly on the surface to harden.
When they are partly dry they
are piled open, athwart each other:
And in a few days of drying wea-
ther, they will be fit to cart, and
store for fuel. This fuel must be
constantly kept in a dry place.
It has been found by trials that
the ashes of peat is a very impor-
tant manure, of three times the
value of wood ashes. Fifteen
bushels are allowed to be a suffi-
cient top-dressing for an acre. It
is an excellent manure for cold
grass lands; and for all such crops
in any soil as require much heat.
They should be sowed by hand,
as they can thus be more evenly
spread. It may be done in winter
with the least danger of hurting
plants by its heat. If sown in
summer, it should be just before
rain, when it should be immedi-
ately deprived of its burning qua-
lity.
The method of burning peat to
ashes, I will give from the Museum
Rusticum, as I have had no expe-
rience in it myself.
"As soon as it is dug, some of it
is mixed in a heap regularly dis-
posed with faggot wood, or other
ready burning fuel: After a layer
or two of it is mixed in this man-
ner, peat alone is piled up to com-
"Whenever a crack appears,
out of which the smoke escapes,
the labourer in that place lays on
more peat; and if the fire slackens
too much within, which may be
known by the heat of the outside,
the workmen must run a strong
pole into the heap, in as many
places as is needful, to supply it
with a quantity of fresh air. When
managed in this manner, the work
goes on as it should do. It is no-
ticed, that when once the fire is
well kindled, the heaviest rain does
it no harm whilst it is burning."
To preserve the ashes for use, this
writer proceeds thus:
"It is necessary to defend the
ashes from the too powerful influ-
ence of the sun, air, dews, rain,
&c. or great part of their virtue
would be exhaled and exhausted.
If the quantity of ashes procured
is not very great, they may be easily
put under cover in a barn, cart
lodge, or hovel; but large quanti-
ties must necessarily, to avoid ex-
pense, be kept abroad; and when
this is the case, they should be or-
dered as follows:
"A dry spot of ground must be
chosen; and on this the ashes are
to be laid in a large heap, as near
as possible in the form of a cone
PEA
325
PER
visible for three years; and they
will not leave land in an impover
standing on its base, the top as
sharp-pointed as possible: When
this is done, let the whole be co-ished state.
vered thinly over with a coat of
soil, to defend the heap from the
weather: The circumjacent earth,
provided it is not too light and
crumbly.
“When thus guarded, the heap
may very safely be left till Janu-
ary or February, when it is in
general the season for spreading it.
But before it is used, it is always
best to sift the ashes, &c."
Mr. Eliot supposed it was neces-
sary to dry the peat before burn-
ing: But perhaps he never tried
the above method. He says, if it
be stifled in burning, it will be coal
instead of ashes; and that the red
sort makes better charcoal than
that made of wood.
It is happy for mankind, that
bountiful Providence has prepared
and preserved this precious trea-
sure, containing the essence of
vegetables, by which they may be
supplied with fuel in their houses,
manure for their lands, and coal
for smiths' forges. But in vain it
is provided, unless men will search
for it, and make use of it. There
is no reason to doubt of its being
as plenty in this country, as in any
other. When Mr. Eliot searched
for it, he tells us he soon found it
in seven different places. Peat is
now found in great abundance and
is much used.
The ashes are said to have a
better effect upon winter, than up-
on summer grain; and to be not
good for leguminous plants, as it
makes their haulm too luxuriant.
The good effects of a dressing are
PERRY, a liquor made from
pears, in the same manner as cyder
is from apples. The pears should,
in general, be ripe before they are
ground. They will not bear so
much sweating as apples. The
most crabbed and worst eating
fruit, is said to make the best
perry. After perry is made it
should be managed in all respects
like cyder. Boiling has a good
effect on perry, changing it from
a white to a flame-coloured and
fine flavoured liquor, which grows
better by long keeping and bot-
tling.
PERSPIRATION of PLANTS,
the passing off of the juices that
are superfluous, through pores pre-
pared by nature on their superfi-
cies for that purpose...
The analogy which plants bear
to animals, is in no instance more
remarkable than in this evacuation.
The parts of a plant which contain
the excretory ducts, are chiefly
the leaves. For we find, that if a
tree be continually deprived of its
leaves for two or three years, it
will sicken and die, as an animal
does when its perspiration is stop-
ped. But smear the bark on the
stems with any glutinous substance
sufficient to stop any pores, and no
great alteration will be observed
in the health of the tree, as has
been proved by experiment. And
as M. Bonnet has proved that
leaves generally imbibe the mois-
ture of the atmosphere on their un-
der surface, it is not reasonable to
suppose that the pores for transpi-
326
PLA
PER
1
ration are placed on their upper | the perspirable matter of plants be
surface? But that the stems of injurious to plants, it does not fol-
plants contain some bibulous pores, low that it is so to animals. It is
seems evident from this, that when thought to be not so in general,
placed in the earth, they will send but the reverse. The effluvium
out roots. But these pores in of poisonous plants is an exception.
the stems are so few, that the stop- PLANTS. Sir Humphrey Davy
ping of them does not materially says, that every plant examined as
injure a plant.
to external structure, displays at
least four systems of organs, or
some analogous parts. First, the
Root; secondly, the Trunk and
Branches, or stem; thirdly, the
Leaves; and fourthly, the Flowers
or Seeds. The roots of plants in
their anatomical division are very
similar to the trunk and branches.
The root may indeed be said to be
a continuation of the trunk termi-
nating in minute ramifications and
plamenta and not of leaves.
•
As animals have other ways of
throwing off those parts of their
food which are not fit to nourish
them, it is no wonder that plants
have been found to perspire insen-
sibly a far greater quantity than
animals. Plants cannot choose
their food as animals do, but must
take in that which is presented by
the earth and atmosphere, which
food in general is more watery,
and less nourishing, than that of
animals; and for these reasons,
also, it might be justly expected,
that the matter perspired by a
plant should be vastly more than
that perspired by an animal of the
same bulk; and this has been
found to be the case. See the ar-
ticle Leaves.
A practical inference or two
from the copious perspiration of
plants may be, that the plants we
cultivate should not be set too
close, that they may not be incom-
moded, or rendered sickly, by the
unwholesome steams of each other.
They are as liable to be injured
this way, for ought that appears to
the contrary, as animals are. And
the water that drips from trees
upon smaller vegetables is known
to be not healthy for them; the
reason is, because this water con-
tains some of the matter which is
perspired from the trees. But if
The bark is covered by a thin
cuticle or epidermis, composed of
a number of laminæ, or scales.
Immediately beneath the epider-
mis, is the parenchyma, a soft
substance, consisting of cells filled
with fluid, having almost always a
greenish tint. The innermost part
of the bark is constituted of corti-
cal layers, and their numbers vary
with the age of the tree.
It has been shewn by the ex-
periments of Mr. Knight, and
those made by other physiologists,
that the sap descending through
the bark, after being modified in
the leaves, is the principal cause
of the growth of the tree; thus, if
the bark is wounded, the principal
formation of new bark is on the
upper edge of the wound; and
when the wood has been removed,
the formation of new wood takes
place immediately beneath the
bark.
PLA
327
PLA

The wood of trees is composed
of an external or living part, call-
ed alburnum, or sap-wood, and of
an internal or dead part, the heart-
wood. The alburnum is white and
full of moisture, and in young trees,
and annual shoots, it reaches
even to the pith. The alburnum is
the great vascular system of the
vegetable through which the sap
rises, and the vessels in it extend
from the leaves to the minutest
filaments in the roots.
J
The pith occupies the centre of
the plant; its texture is membra-
nous; it is composed of cells, which
are circular towards the extremity,
and hexagonal in the centre of
the substance. In the first infan-
cy of the vegetable, the pith
occupies but a small space. It
gradually, and in annnal shoots and
young trees, offers a considerable
diameter. In the more advanced
age of the tree, acted on by the
heart-wood, pressed by the layers
of the alburnum, it begins to di-
minish, and in very old forest-
trees, disappears altogether.
·
•
The leaves, though infinitely di-
versified in their forms, are in all
cases similar in interior organiza-
tion, and perform the same func-
tions.
The alburnum spreads itself
from the foot-stalks into the very
extremity of the leaf; it retains a
vascular system and its living
powers; and its peculiar tubes
particularly the tracheæ, may
distinctly seen in the leaf.
+
PLASTER OF PARIS. Great
differences exist among agricul-
turists respecting the uses of
gypsum, and the manner of its
operation. Some have supposed
that its efficiency as a manure is
altogether owing to its power of
attracting moisture from the air.
But Sir Humphrey Davy is of
opinion, that but little effect can
be produced by such attraction.
"When combined with water," he
observes, "it retains that fluid too
powerfully to yield it to the roots
of the plant, and its adhesive attrac-
tion for moisture is inconsidera-
ble; the small quantity in which it
is used likewise is a circumstance
unfavourable to this idea." Some
have supposed that gypsum assists
in promoting the putrefaction of
animal substances, and the decom-
position of the manure in the soil.
Sir Humphrey Davy, however, has
proved by repeated experiments,
that it rather retards than accele-
rates petrefaction. This philoso-
pher likewise says, "In examining
the ashes of sainfoin, clover and
rye-grass, I found that they afford-
ed considerable quantities of gyp-
sum; and this substance, probably
is intimately combined as a neces-
sary part of their woody fibre. If
this be allowed, it is easy to explain
the reason why it operates in such
small quantities; for the whole of
a clover crop, or sainfoin crop, on
an acre, according to my estima-
tion, would afford by incineration
only three or four bushels of gyp-
sum. The reason why gypsum is
not generally efficacious,is probably
because that most cultivated soils
contain it in sufficient quantities
for the use of the grasses. In the
common course of cultivation gyp-
sum is furnished in the manure ;
for it is contained in stable dung,
328**
PLA
PLA

and in the dung of cattle fed on
grass; and it is not taken up in
corn crops, or crops of pease and
beans, and in very small quantities
in turnip crops; but where lands
are exclusively devoted to pastur-
age or hay, it will be continually
consumed. Lord Dundas informs
me, that having tried gypsum with-
out any benefit on two of his es-
tates in Yorkshire, he was induced
to have the soil examined for gyp-
sum, and this substance was found
in both the soils."-Elements of
Agricultural Chemistry, p. 224,
225. Philadelphia Edition.
It has been made a question,
whether burning and calcining
gypsum make any difference with
regard to its fertilizing properties.
This is said to be the practice of
the French cultivators, and was
likewise recommended by Mr.
Deane. But an English writer on
agriculture says, that "calcining
is not likely to make any differ-
ence, because the sulphuric acid
in gypsum cannot be expelled by
the most violent heat of the fur-
nace; and an experiment of Ar-
thur Young countenances the as-
sertion, that the effects of gypsum
are the same, whether calcined
or rough." Others have suppos-
ed that the sulphuric acid, which
forms one ingredient of gypsum,
"diluted with water by the che-
mistry of nature," may be instru-
mental in converting the starch of
plants into sugar. "As starch
boiled in water with sulphuric
acid, and thereby changed into su-
gar, increases in weight without
uniting with any sulphuric acid or
gas, or without forming any gas,
4
we are under the necessity of as-
cribing the change solely to the
fixation of water. Hence we must
conclude that starch sugar is no-
thing else than a combination of
starch with water in a solid state.
The sulphuric acid is neither de-
composed, nor united to the starch
as a constituent; nevertheless it is
found that long boiling in pure wa-
ter does not convert the starch into
sugar.* This fact opens a large
field for rational speculation on the
physiology of vegetables; as it
renders it possible that some of the
mineral acids in the sap of plants,
after acting chemically on the
juices concocted into pulp, may be
thrown out unchanged; they may
alter the flavour without entering
into the essence.
"Another step in the process of
conversion brings us to pure sul-
phur. Some plants yield this on
analysis. Seeds sown by way of
experiment on nothing but this
mineral, have produced healthy
plants; and many soils, which na-
ture has impregnated with sulphur,
are highly fertile."t
It is possible that the sulphuric
acid contained in gypsum may give
that substance its principal value
as a manure. And it would be
well to ascertain, by experiment
the efficacy of sulphuric, and other
mineral acids, by applying them,
in a very diluted state, as a liquid
manure to plants, and likewise to
in Annals of Philosophy, for December
* See a Translation of the original Paper,
1815. (No. XXXVI. pp. 425, 426.)
† See a Treatise on Soils and Manures,
appended to the Philadelphia Edition of
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, Article
Gypsum.
PLA
329
PLA

mix them with composts, in such
proportions as may be most likely
to ascertain their fertilizing quali-
ties, if any such exist.
It has been affirmed that gypsum
is not useful as a manure in the
vicinity of the sea. And the wri-
ter last above quoted observes,
that "on the hypothesis that sea-
air destroys the fertilizing princi-
ple in gypsum, Mr. R. Bakewell,
a correspondent of the Monthly
Magazine, proceeds to account for
its failure as a manure in so many
parts of the country. It is enough
to dispel this opinion, to name the
county of Kent, in England, as the
place where it has most fully suc-
ceeded." It has likewise been used
on Long Island, in America, in the
vicinity of the sea, with good effect,
and in the state of Maine on the
margin of the sea:
Dr. Jos. E. Muse, of Maryland, |
in an essay on the subject of gyp-
sum, and its mode of operation,
published in the American Farmer,
vol. I. p. 338, gives it as his opi-
nion "That the chief, if not the
whole cause of the efficacy of gyp-
sum in promoting vegetation, is to
be found in its tendency to become
phosphoric. This gentleman pro-
duces many chemical facts, and
deductions therefrom, to shew that
gypsum by exposure to the atmos-
phere, becomes phosphoric; and
that phosphorus exists in vegeta-
bles.
Dr. Gorham, in a paper read
before a Society in Boston, July
16th, 1813, and published in the
Massachusetts Agricultural Jour-
nal, vol. III. No. 2., gives it as his
opinion, that "when the plaster of
42
Paris is applied to the seed, it stimu-
lates the little rod, the action of the
vessels is thus increased, absorp-
tion goes on more rapidly, and it
acquires more nourishment in a
given time than in ordinary circum-
stances; the consequences are a
quick growth and enlargement of
the organs," &c.
Col. Taylor, of Virginia, ob-
serves, in substance, that he sows
of plaster from three pecks to one
bushel to the acre. Sown on
clover in the spring, it benefits it
considerably. And in any other
mode he ploughs it in. The best
way of using it is in the spring upon
the long manure of the preceding
winter, to be ploughed in with it.
He thinks it a valuable ally, but
by no means a substitute for ma-
nure. That there should be in-
tervals of two, three, or four years
between applying it to the same
land. That its effect is graduated
by the quantity of vegetable mat-
ter on which it is sown. That
upon close grazed land it does lit-
tle good at first, and repeated
would become pernicious; and
that it must be united either with
long manure of the winter, or the
ungrazed vegetable cover produc-
ed in the summer.
That all crops
are ultimately improved by its im-
proving the soil, even when its
effects are not immediately visible,
but he does not recommend it as
a top-dressing, except for clover.
M. Canolle, a French writer,
observes, that plaster acting, or
operating chiefly on the absorbent
system of plants, its effects are not
like those of manures buried in the
soil, which act principally on the
roots. The latter according to
830
PLO
PLA
their particular nature divide, sof-
ten, enrich, warm, or stiffen the
soils with which they are mixed.
The quantity of plaster spread
upon the land is so trifling, that it
can have little effect on the soil.
I speak from experience. Plas-
ter buried in the earth where sain-
foin has been sown, has produced
no visible alteration; whilst the
same quantity of plaster spread
over the same surface of sainfoin,
has produced the most beautiful
vegetation.
"From this experience, so uni-
form in the application of plaster,
I am led to believe, that one must
consult as well the nature of the
soil, as the kinds of plants to which
we apply plaster. Thus, whatever
may be the soil on which clover,
lucern, and sainfoin naturally flour-
ish vigorously, or with that vigour
which encourages us to apply ma-
nure, there is no risk in trying
plaster.
"It is to be remarked, that plas-
ter operates on plants in a direct
ratio to the size and number of
their leaves. I have spread plas-
ter on land, where sainfoin was
mixed with the common grassès
which compose our meadows.
The growth of the sainfoin and
wild honey-suckle has been, be-
yond comparison, greater than that
of the common grasses. It is to
this cause I attribute the failure of
success on grass-ground, chiefly
filled with common grasses. I
have a field of lucern separated
from a natural meadow only by a
brook. I have greatly increased
the lucern by the plaster, whilst
the effect of a like quantity on the
adjoining grass-land, was scarcely,
if at all, perceptible."
PLOUGH. It would not be
possible to give any accurate idea
of modern improvements in the
construction of this very useful
implement, without long descrip-
tions, and expensive drawings, in-
compatible with the general design
of this work, we can, therefore,
only give some general rules for
the construction of ploughs, and
refer our readers to more volumi-
nous and elaborate works for fur-
ther and more minute information
on this subject.
"The great points to be attend-
ed to in ploughing, are, 1., to open
a fair regular furrow; and 2., to
do this with as little resistance as
possible. It is believed that these
advantages are to be obtained, by
the use of a plough, to which the
mould-board, invented by THOMAS
JEFFERSON, is affixed, and of which
the annexed views will give a clear
idea.
"The following account of this
mould-board, and of the principles
upon which it is constructed, are
taken from a communication, ad-
dressed to Sir JOHN SINCLAIR, in
1798, then President of the British
Board of Agriculture, and inserted
in the 4th volume of the Transac-
tions of the American Philosophi-
cal Society, vol. IV. p. 314.
"The mould-board should be a
continuation of the wing of the
Ploughshare, beginning at its hin-
der edge, and in the same plane.
Its first office is to receive the sod
horizontally from the wing; to
raise it to a proper height for be-
ing turned over; and to make, in
PLO
331
PLO
its progress, the least. resistance
possible, and consequently to re-
quire a minimum in the moving
power. Were this its only office
the wedge would offer itself as the
most eligible form in practice.
But the sod is to be turned over
also. To do this the one edge of
it is not to be raised at all; for to
raise this would be a waste of la-
bour. The other edge is to be
raised till it passes the perpendicu-
lar, that it might fall over of its
own weight. And, that this may
be done, so as to give also the least
resistance, it must be made to rise
gradually from the moment the sod
is received. The mould-board
then, in this second office, operates
as a transverse, or rising wedge,
the point of which sliding back
horizontally on the ground, the
other ends continues rising till it
passes the perpendicular. Or to
vary the point of view, place on
the ground a wedge of the breadth
of the ploughshare, of its length
from the wing backwards, and as
high at the heel as it is wide:
draw a diagonal on its upper
face, from the left angle, at the
point, to the right upper angle
of the heel bevil the face from
the diagonal to the right bottom
edge, which lies on the ground.
That half is then evidently in the
best form for performing the two
offices of raising and turning the
sod gradually, and with the least
effort; and if you will suppose the
same bevil continued across the
left side of the diagonal; that is,
if you will suppose a straight line,
whose length is at least equal to
the breadth of the wedge, applied
on the face of the first bevil, and
moved backwards on it, parallel
with itself and with the ends of the
wedge, the lower end of the line
moving along the right-bottom-
edge, a curved plane will be ge-
nerated, whose characteristic will
be a combination of the principle
of the wedge in cross directions,
and will give what we seek, the
mould-board of least resistance. It
offers too this great advantage, that
it may be made by the coarsest
workman, by a process so exact
that its form shall never be varied
a single hair's breadth. One fault
of all other mould-boards is that,
being copied by the eye, no two
will be alike. In truth, it is easier
to form the mould-board I speak
of with precision, than to describe
that method either by words or fi-
gures."
To this is appended a more mi-
nute description, applicable to
drawings, with letters of reference,
&c.-See Domestic Encyclopedia,
vol. III. p. 113., and American
Farmer, vol. II. p. 185.
Robert Smith, of the township of
Buckingham, Buck's county, Penn-
sylvania, gives the following rules
for constructing ploughs.
"In constructing ploughs, the
beam ought to be placed directly
over the land side of the plough,
so that the cut of the coulter may
be square with the cut of the
share; and the land should be
given to the plough, between the
coulter mortice, and the fore end
of the beam: for if the cutting of
the share and coulter makes an
acute angle with the land, then
the plough will incline to fall to
332
PLO
PLO
the right; but if it makes an ob-
tuse angle, then it will incline to
fall to the left. A plough for two
horses ought not to be less than
nine inches, nor more than ten in
ches wide in the bottom, and for
three horses from eleven to twelve
inches wide. The share should
never differ much in width from
the plough. The cut of the share
and bottom of the plough, should
be exactly in one plane. A three
horse plough requires no land in
its construction. A crook of three
inches and a half in the beam, be-
fore the coulter mortice to the
right, will suffice for the land of a
two-horse plough. A plough with
a long beam runs the steadiest,
and it being long prevents the
plough from kicking; and long
shafts give the ploughman a great-
er command of its direction. The
cast-iron plate ought to be scoured
with a grit stone before it is used."
Freeborn's patent plough is
highly recommended, but we are
not able to give a description of it;
and perhaps it is so well known
among practical farmers, that a
description is not necessary. The
Hon. Josiah Quincy gives this
plough the following recommenda-
tion.
"Concerning its superiority, I
have had the opinion of every
practical farmer, who has witness-
ed its operation, I believe without
exception. The effect upon my
farm is this; that I now break up,
with care, the same quantity and
qualities of land, say one acre in a
day, with one yoke of oxen and
one man, who both holds and drives,
which was never before to my
knowledge, broke up with less than
two yoke of oxen and two men.
My ploughmen agree, that it takes
one-third less power to do the same
work than common ploughs re
quire."-Massachusetts Agricultu-
ral Repository, vol. V. p. 262.
PLOUGHING, the operation
of turning, breaking and loosening
the earth with a plough.
One rule to be regarded in
ploughing is, that no land, ex-
cepting green sward, should be
ploughed when it is so wet that it
will not easily crumble. For the
principal design of ploughing is to
break the cohesion of the soil, and
set the particles of it at such a
distance from each other, that even
the smallest and tenderest roots of
plants may find their way between
them in quest of their nourish-
ment.
When, in ploughing, of land in
tillage, the furrow turns over like
a dead mass of mortar, ploughing
can be of no advantage at all.
The soil becomes no lighter or
looser by it, but rather heavier,
and more compact. On the con-
trary, land should not be ploughed
when it is too dry; because it re-
quires the more strength of team
to perform it, nor can the furrows
be so well turned over.
The plough should be used much
more than it is in this country.
When a crop of barley or wheat is
designed, the ground should, at
least, be thrice ploughed; for a
crop of Indian corn, twice is not
too much. The extra expense
will be repaid by the increased
crops. The advantages of fre-
quent ploughing have not been
PLO
333
PLO
duly considered. By often re-off close to the bodies of stumps,
peated ploughings, land may be before ploughing, the horizontal
brought to any degree of richness roots which lie near the surface;
almost that is desired. Frequent especially if there be no stones,
ploughings are destructive to nor gravel in the way, to hurt the
weeds, and save much labour in edge of an axe. When this is
hand hoeing and weeding; besides done, the strong plough will be
making a greater quantity of pas- apt to take out the most of the
ture for plants, preparing the roots so parted. And the frosts of
vegetable food the better to enter a few winters will be the more
the roots of plants, and disposing likely to heave out the stumps, or
the soil to imbibe the rich and fer- so to loosen them that they may be
tilizing particles of the atmosphere. easily removed. I have conquer-
As it is known that repeated ed the stumps of white pine in this
ploughings supply the place of ma- manner; but stumps which rot
nure; where manure is scarce, very soon it is not of such impor-
farmers have need to plough the tance to manage in this way.
more frequently. Mr. Tull was
of opinion that it was a cheaper
method to enrich land by plough-
ing than by manuring. In some
situations it undoubtedly is so.
But it is best that land should have
enough of both, when it is practi-
cable.
And the more to promote the
fertilization of the soil by plough-
ing, let the farmer plough as much
of his ground as possible while the
dew is on it, because dew contains
much nourishment for plants. The
early riser has the advantage of his
sluggish neighbour; not only in
ploughing, but also in harrowing
and hoeing, to greater advantage.
When land is to be ploughed
that is full of stumps of trees and
other obstacles, as land that is
newly cleared of wood, or that is
rocky, the strong plough should be
used; and the strength of the team
must be proportioned to the
strength of the plough; and the
plough to the condition of the soil.
It is sometimes advisable, to cut
The plough must go deeper in
breaking up new ground, than old.
Otherwise the little hollows will
go unploughed; and there will not
be mould enough raised in the hil-
locks to level the surface, and
leave sufficient depth for the roots
of plants to extend themselves.
The last of summer, or the be-
ginning of autumn, is the right sea-
son for ploughing new ground.
For it will be best to harrow, and
cross plough it, before it is seeded,
that the soil may be thoroughly
mixed and pulverized. There-
fore, the first ploughing should be
perforined so long beforehand,
that before the second, the turfs
may ferment and become partly
rotten. But this is not to be ex-
pected, if the ground be ploughed
late in the fall; because the sun,
at that late season, will not warm
the ground enough to bring on any
fermentation before the following
spring, when the ground is to be
sowed. For fall sowing, the ground
should be broken up still earlier;
334
PLO
PLO
i
either in spring or summer will do
very well, if time can be spared
for it.
But it is best that the most or
all of our tillage land should be
ploughed in autumn, both in new
and old ground. It saves time.
and labour in the following spring,
the hurrying season, when more
work is to be done than we can
well get time for; and when our
teams are usually much weaker
than they are in the fall. But
land ploughed in the fall must be
again ploughed in the spring; and
a weaker team will perform it for
its having been ploughed in au-
tumn. In very light old ground
a single horse may perform it; and
two ploughings are better than one
in most cases.
Green sward land may be
ploughed at any season of the
year, if it be not too dry, nor too
much frozen. In the former case
the plough will go very hard; in
the latter ploughing is impractica-
ble, which is the case for four
months together, commonly, from
the first of December to the last
of March.
Farmers generally choose to
plough green sward ground when
it is pretty wet, if it be not miry;
because the labour is more easy
for man and beast.
The depth that the plough should
go is a matter that ought to be at-
tended to. The depth should be
governed in some measure by the
staple of the soil. Where the soil
is deep, deep ploughing is best.
But where the soil is very thin,
shoal ploughing is necessary; for
if the plough turn up much of the
under stratum, and mix it with the
soil, it will be rather hurtful, at
least for some years after.
Land should always be ploughed
out of sward with a deeper furrow
than will be necessary afterwards,
through the whole course of tillage.
All the after ploughings will be
the more easily performed.
Mr. Young, by attending parti-
cularly to the depth of ploughing
in various towns in England, found
that the average depth in sandy
soils was four inches, in loamy
soils four and three quarters, and
in clayey soils three and an half.
But in Ireland they plough much
deeper; sometimes not less than
nine or ten inches.
Our farmers are sometimes led
to plough too shallow, to save a
little labour. And some are too
much afraid to turn up what they
call dead earth. But they should
know that all the soil above the
hard pan may be well employed
in tillage, for some crops or other;
The English farmers practise and that if they turn up a red soil,
ploughing green sward in January, it will in a year or two become
not only because they have lei- dark, and fit to nourish plants, by
sure, but because it is so wet as to being exposed to the sun and the
plough easily. They call it plough-weather, and imbibing rich parti-
ing in lays; and it is said to be cles from the atmosphere.
well performed, when the sward is
all completely turned over, with-
out lapping one furrow on another.
Trench ploughing is sometimes
practised to advantage; and the
culture of some plants with tap
PLO
335
PLO
roots requires it. This is done by
passing a plough twice in a furrow.
Ground may be thus ploughed to
the depth of twelve or fifteen in-
ches. But, instead of this double
labour of the plough, where la-
bourers are plenty, the furrows
may be deepened with shovels, by
a number of hands following the
plough.
our deepest soils this culture than
we do at present. But wherever it is
once begun, it should be continu-
ed, at least through a course of
tillage; or else the first ploughings
will be worse than lost. The best
of the soil would be buried at such
a depth as to become almost use-
less, unless it were alternately
brought near the surface, by after
ploughings equally deep.
The
In old countries, where lands
have been tilled for a thousand Regard should be had to the shape
years, and have been frequently of the land in ploughing. They
manured, the rich black soil has who plough a steep hill up and
been growing deeper and deeper. down injure their cattle, and miss
So that trench ploughing by this of ploughing their land to advan-
time may be very proper in many tage. The furrow that is drawn up
of their fields; and even neces- hill must be excessively shoal; or
neces-hill
sary to bring up the strength of the team much stronger than com-
manures, which has subsided tomon. For this reason a hill should
a greater depth than common be ploughed horizontally; with fur-
ploughing reaches.
rows as nearly parallel to the base
But there is only a small pro-as possible. This may be easily
portion of our land in this country, done when all the sides of a hill
to which trench ploughing is suita- are to be ploughed at once.
ble, or which will well pay the rains will carry much of the finest
cost of it. In most of our soils, of the soil to the bottom of the hill
even where the hard under stra- if the furrows are made up and
tum, or pan, lies deep, trench down. But ploughed the other
ploughing would throw up so much way, the hentings, or parting fur-
cold hungry earth, and bury the rows, will be sufficient drains; and
upper mould so deep, as to render the water will move so slowly in
the land very barren at first. The them, that none of the soil will be
places where it would answer best, washed away. But when a hill is
are hollows, into which much ve- very steep, no turning of a furrow
getable mould has been washed upwards should be attempted.
down from the neighbouring And if only one side of a steep
heights, which has a black moory hill is to be ploughed, the furrows
soil to a great depth; and such should be all cut the same way,
spots as have been used as gardens, the team returning light after each
and have been often dug with the furrow.
spade.
If labour of men and teams were
as cheap as it is in some countries, it
would be advisable, to give more of
The reader will perceive, that
what is commonly called cross
ploughing on hills' sides is not ap-
proved. But cross-ploughing of
336
PLO
PLO
land that is level, or gently sloping,
is oftentimes very proper. Land
in general should be ploughed one
way and the other alternately, that
it may be the more thoroughly
pulverized and mixed; that is,
when the shape of the ground and
the dimensions of a lot admit of
it.
Green sward ground, that is
broken up in the fall is usually
cross-ploughed in the spring fol-
lowing. But this should not be
done without caution. For if the
turf be not considerably rotted,
cross-ploughing will only drive it
into heaps, instead of cutting it to
pieces: Neither will the harrow
reduce the turf to powder. In
this case it will be best to omit the
cross-ploughing: And after a hea-
vy harrowing lengthwise of the
furrows, seed the land with pease,
potatoes, maize, or any thing that
will do well with such culture.
Some plough green sward in the
spring and seed it without delay.
It sometimes does well for maize,
oats, and flax, if well dunged; or
for pease and potatoes without
much dunging. Potatoes seem to
do better than any thing else. But
the holes must be made quite
through the furrows, whether
dunged or not. As this crop re-
quires the greatest part of its
nourishment in the latter part of
summer, about that time the turf
comes to be in its best state for
yielding nourishment to plants.
For a crop of winter wheat the
tillage ground should be ploughed
in the spring, again in June, and
lastly just before sowing. What-
ever manure be put on, it should
be just before the last ploughing,
and ploughed in immediately. If
the grain be ploughed in with a
shoal furrow, it will not be so apt
to be killed by the winter. The
roots will lie deeper than those of
harrowed grain; and it will the
better bear drought in the follow-
ing summer, if that should happen.
For other seeding in general, or
for whatever is planted or sown in
the spring, on what we call old
ground, it should be ploughed near
the time of seeding, although it
were ploughed in the fall; and the
nearer to the time of seeding the
better. The seeds will be the
better supplied with moisture to
make them vegetate; and the crop
will have the better chance of be-
ing able to outgrow and stifle the
weeds, and have the benefit of a
looser soil, during the whole of its
growth. These autumnal plough-
ings, I have found to be greatly
advantageous, especially in clays,
and in stiff loams.
Many, to save labour, plough
their land so shallow for sowing,
as scarcely to take up the roots of
the weeds. Men of common un-
derstanding, I should suppose,
need not be told that this is bad
husbandry: For it may rationally
be expected that there will be a
larger crop of weeds, than if it had
not been ploughed at all; and that
the roots of the plants will not
have sufficient room to extend
themselves. Ploughing the ground
in autumn will have a tendency to
prevent this most absurd conduct
in the spring, which many go into
that they may favour their teams
in a faint season.
PLO
337
PLO
come drier, by frequent and deep
horse-hoeings.
Good crops of
corn have been obtained in this
method, on land, which, with plain
ploughing, would have produced
next to nothing.
That seed may be sown as early
as possible, many are led to make
the seed furrow before the ground
is sufficiently dry. If the crop
should be a little earlier, it will be
the poorer. It will be slower in
coming up; more of the seeds will Most of our clay soils, which lie
fail; the blade will be more slen-level, require this sort of culture;
der; nor will it grow so fast as if for this more than any other soil is
it were sowed later, when the liable to be injured by overmuch
ground is warmer. Sometimes it wetness.
will not grow at all for a long time,
but become so stinted, that a crop
must be despaired of. No prac-
tice can be worse than to give the
seed furrow in stiff soils, before
the ground is sufficiently dried.
Land that is low and flat, and
therefore apt to be too wet and
heavy, ought to be ploughed in
ridges. The ridges may have two,
three or four furrows on each side,
according as the ground is wetter
or drier. The wettest ground
should have the narrowest ridges;
but they should never be narrower
than four furrows in a ridge. The
rows will be between four and five
feet apart, if one row of plants be
set on each ridge. But if there
be six or eight furrows in a ridge,
it may admit of two rows, one on
each side of the veering.
After lying in ridges through
the winter, the ridges should be
thrown into the hollows by ano-
ther ploughing in the spring ;
which will bring it into good order
for seeding.
Or if it should be too miry to be
ploughed in the spring, either Indi-
an corn or potatoes may be planted
on the ridges; and what is want-
ing of the proper tillage, may be
made up after the ground is be-
And the drier it lies the
weaker will be the cohesion of its
parts.
•
Some soils which lie gently slop-
ing are so wet as to need ridging.
It is not best to make the ridges
directly up and down the slope,
nor horizontally, but on a medium
between both. But where the
land will admit of it, the ridges
should lie north and south. It is
no bad practice to lay lands to
grass in ridges or beds. For too
much wetness is apt to hurt grass
lands, as well as lands for tillage,
whether they are used for mowing
or pasturage. In the former, the
grass will be too sour to make
a good hay; in the latter, not only
the grass will be bad, but the soil
so soft as not well to bear the tread
of cattle. I have found that not
only better grass, but a greater
quantity, will be produced in this
method. Nor will the soil so soon
become hard and bound.
Nor is it a bad practice to split
the hills with the light plough in
autumn, after a crop of corn;
even though the ground be not
seeded till the following spring.
One side of a row of hills is plough-
ed off with one furrow, and the
other side ploughed off the contrà-
ry way by another furrow, so as to
43
338
PLO
PLO
form veerings, or ridges, in the in-
tervals. It is performed with less
than half the expense of a plain
ploughing; and nearly the whole
of the surface is either taken up
or covered. European writers
think land should be ploughed im-
mediately after a crop of corn,
to prevent the stubs from robbing
the soil of its juices. Be this as it
may, the ploughing is at least as
useful as other autumnal plough-
ing; and where dung has been put
in holes, it mixes it with the soil;
not to mention the burying of some
of the stubs and leaves of the corn,
which is of some advantage to-
wards enriching the soil.
vallies. At the same time, the
vallies would not so often be over-
charged with water. Furrows
eight or ten feet apart would an-
swer, and the ribbing would not
want to be repeated for a long
time. The furrows should be as
nearly horizontal as possible, as
well as in tillage land.
The following maxims respect-
ing the proper depth of ploughing
are chiefly derived from the Code
of Agriculture.
1. The depth to which land
ought to be ploughed, must first be
regulated by the depth of the soil.
On these soils, more especially on
a rocky substratum, the ploughing
There is another way of plough- must necessarily be shallow. 2.
ing, called ribbing; which is mak-The depth ought likewise to de-
ing furrows unconnected with each
other, three feet or more asunder.
It is but a fourth part so much work
as ploughing plain. One very
considerable advantage of it is, in-
creasing the superficies of the soil,
by which it is more exposed to the
action of frost, air, and dews, and
absorbs the largest quantity of nu-
tritive particles.
pend on the means of improving
the soil;-for where the land is
poor, and the means of enriching
it is scanty, the depth of ploughing
ought to be in proportion to the
quantity of manure which can be
obtained. 3. Deep ploughing is
highly advantageous upon every
soil excepting those where the sub-
stratum is of an ochry sand. In
In tillage land that is steep, rib- fact such are scarcely worthy of
bing is a further benefit to the soil, being cultivated, unless in situa-
as it prevents, the washing down of tions where much alluvial compost,
the vegetable mould, and the (or short town manure can be pro-
strength of manures. With this cured. 4. It is a general rule,
view the operation should be per-
formed in autumn. And the plough
must pass horizontally, or nearly
so, not up and down the steep.
never to plough so deep as to
penetrate below the soil that was
formerly manured and cultivated,
excepting upon fallow, and then
In pastures or grazing land, de- only when you have plenty of lime
clivities would produce the more or dung to add to, and improve the
grass, if they were ribbed ; as the new soil. 5. Many farmers re-
benefit of sudden rains would not commend, when fallowing land, to
so soon be over, by means of their go as deep as possible with the first
quickly running down into the furrow; by which the subsequent
PLO
339*
PLO
grown. 3. When grass only two or
three years old, more especially
where it has been pastured with
sheep is broken up; because, ow-
ing to the extreme condensation of
the soil, by the trampling of the
sheep, a furrow, even of a moder-
ate depth, to appearance, will make
the plough penetrate below the
staple that had been cleared, by
the culture given during the previ-
ous fallow."
The advantages of deep plough-
ing, according to the same writer
are, "1. Bringing up new mould,
which is peculiarly favourable to
clover, turnips, beans, and pota-
toes; and indeed without that ad-
furrows will be more easily done,
and to expose the soil to the winter's
frost, and to the summer's heat:
but when the land is ploughed in
spring, for a crop of oats, a strong
soil cannot be ploughed with safety,
above five or six inches. 6. Deep
ploughing is advisable on moorish
cold soils, as it affords a greater
scope for the roots of plants to
procure nourishment, admits the su-
perabundant moisture to subside
from them, and prevents the sum-
mer drought from making any in-
jurious impression on the growing
crops; for, on such land, shallow
ploughing exposes vegetation to be
starved or drowned in wet wea-
ther, and to be scorched or wither-vantage, these crops usually dimin-
ed in dry. 7. It is unnecessary to
plough deeper, when the seed is
sown, than where there is a fair
probability of the different kinds of
plants sending their roots; and as
beans, clover, and turnips, the only
tap-rooted kinds usually cultivated
in this country, seldom send their
shoots above seven or eight inches
down into the soil, and the culmife-
rous species not so far, it is probable
from these circumstances that from
seven to eight inches may be deep
enough for all the purposes of ordi-
nary culture.
culture. Occasionally, how-
ever, ploughing even ten inches in
the course of a rotation, during the
fallow process is advisable.
"Deep ploughing is not to be
recommended: 1. When lime or
marle has been recently applied,
as they have such a tendency to
sink from their weight, and the
moisture they imbibe. 2. Where
turnips have been eaten off by
sheep on the land where they were
ish in quantity, quality and value.
2. Deep ploughing is likewise of
great consequence to every species
of plant, furnishing not only more
means of nourishment to their roots,
but, above all, by counteracting the
injurious consequences of either
too wet, or too dry a season. This
is a most important consideration,
for if the season be wet, there is a
greater depth of soil to absorb the
moisture, so that the plants are not
likely to have their roots immersed
in water; and in a dry season it is
still more useful, for in the lower
part of the cultivated soil, there is
thus a reservoir of moisture, which
is brought up to the roots of the
plants, by the evaporation which
the heat of the sun occasions. 3.
By deep ploughing animal and ve-
getable manures, which have such
a tendency to rise to the sur-
face are properly covered. This
cannot be done by shallow plough-
ing, in consequence of which much
340
PLO
PLO
$
of the value of such manures is lost. [al Society observes: I entertain no
And 5. By deep ploughing, a hea- doubt of the utility of deep plough-
vier crop is raised than can be got ing; not at once, on our lands in
from a shallow furrow. An intel- general, but by an increase of two
intel-general,
ligent farmer, indeed, after point- or three inches at every annual
ing out that deep ploughing increa- ploughing, till the earth be stirred
ses the staple of the soil, keeps the and pulverised to the depth of ten
roots of the corn from being injured or twelve inches.
by wetness, and also enables the
crop longer to resist drought, adds,
"I have ever found deep ploughing
attended with great crops, when
ridges, shallow ploughed, in the
same field were but indifferent :"
Which seems a decisive proof in
favour of deep ploughing."
It is stated in a communication
for the American Farmer,by George
W. Jeffreys, Esq. of North Caroli-
na, that "Deep ploughing is be-
coming much more general every
day, and this is greatly facilitated by
the use of cast-iron mould-boards,
which are now generally used here.
By a little use they become bright
and smooth, the obstruction is con-
sequently less, and deep ploughing
is more easy. The advantages of
deep ploughing in corn crops are
very great. The deeper the soil is
ploughed the greater may be the
quantity of corn planted on an acre,
or any given quantity, and the crop
thereby greatly increased. At the
commencement of my system of
farming, my corn was planted about
six feet by three. I now plant it
on the same land, five feet by two,
in many places nearer, with two
stalks in a hill, being near doubly
as close as formerly, and the crops
are nearly in the same proportion."
American Farmer, vol. II. p. 15.
The Hon. Timothy Pickering,in
an address to the Essex Agricultur-
A loose, sandy soil may be
ploughed too much; see the arti-
cle Sandy Soil. Stiff clayey soils
can hardly be ploughed too often,
and they will likewise require to be
rolled, and harrowed often.
PLOUGHING HORIZON-
TALLY. In a letter from Mr.
Jefferson to T. Dalton, Esq. pub-
lished in the Massachusetts Agri-
cultural Repository, vol.IV. p. 320.
Mr. Jefferson observes that "A
method of ploughing our hill sides
horizontally, introduced into this
most hilly part of our country, by
Col. J. M. Randolph, my son-in-
law, may be worth mentioning to
you; he has practised it a dozen or
fifteen years, and its advantages
were so immediately observed,that
it has already become very general,
and has entirely changed and reno-
vated the face of our country. Ev-
ery rain before that, while it gave
temporary refreshment did perma-
nent evil, by carrying off our soil,
and fields were no sooner cleared
than wasted. At present we may
say, that we lose none of our soil,
the rain, not absorbed in the mo-
ment of the fall, being retained in
the hollows between the beds, un-
til it can be absorbed.
"Our practice is, when we first
enter on this process with a rafter
level of ten feet span, to lay off
guide lines conducted horizontally
PLO
341
POL
*
PLUM TREE, Prunus. The
Plum is generally supposed to be a
native of Asia, and the Damascene
to take its name from Damascus, a
city in Syria.
around the hill, or valley, from one
end to the other of the field and
about thirty yards apart. The steps
of the level on the ground, are
marked by a stroke of the hoe, and
immediately followed by a plough Mr. Forsyth reckons more than
to preserve the trace. A man or thirty varieties of this fruit, for
a lad with the level, and two small which see his treatise on Fruit
boys will do an acre of this in Trees. The soil in which they are
an hour, and, when done it re- planted should be made two feet
mains forever. We generally le- and an half, or three feet deep, of
vel a field the year that it is put in- good light fresh loam. The trees
to Indian corn, laying it in beds of should not be headed down till they
six feet wide, with a large water begin to throw out fresh shoots.
furrow between the beds, until all Strong trees should be cut a foot
the fields have been once levelled. from the ground; and those that
The intermediate furrows are run are weak, about half that length.
by the eye of the ploughman. They should not be headed down
Governed by these guide lines the till they begin to bud, and then cut
inequalities of the declivity in the as near the eye as possible, that
hill will vary in places the distance the young shoot may cover the cut.
of the guide lines, and occasion They should not be headed at the
gores, which are thrown into short time of planting,as that practice oft-
beds. As in ploughing very steep en proves fatal to them. Plum
hills horizontally, the common trees, as well as all other fruit
plough can scarcely throw the fur-trees,should be pruned in the spring
rows up hill, Col. Randolph has instead of autumn or winter.
contrived a very simple alteration
of the share, which throws the fur-
row down hill, both going and com-
ing. It is as if two shares were
welded together, and at a right an-
gle to each other. This turns on
its bar as on a pivot, so as to lay
either share horizontally; then the
other, becoming vertical acts as a
mould-board. This is done by the
ploughman, in an instant, by a sin-
gle motion of the hand at the end of
every furrow."
A drawing and description of the
rafter level referred to in the pre-
ceding extract may be seen in the
"American Farmer," vol. I. page
358.
Mr. Yates, a respectable farmer
of Petersham, Mass. informs that
the insects which occasion black
bunches on plum trees, are pre-
vented by digging around the roots
in the spring, and putting in half a
bushel of ashes, and covering them
with earth. Also, that the slug
worm is destroyed by putting tan-
ners' bark round pear trees; the
bark used was mostly hemlock, with
a little oak bark mixed with it.
POLL EVIL, "an imposthume
on the poll of a horse. At first it
requires no other method of cure
than what is common to other
| boils, and inflamed tumours. But
sometimes it degenerates to a sin-
:
342
POL
POL
7
uous ulcer, through ill management
or neglect.
will be to bleed plentifully and ap-
ply a red oak poultice, which will
sometimes disperse the swelling,
and put an end to the disease. But
whenever the tumour is critical,
having all the signs of matter, and
appears not benefitted by the ap-
plications already recommended, it
will be advisable to bring it to a
head as speedily as possible, with
the following poultice; corn-meal,
marsh-mallows, oil turpentine and
hog's lard. When the tumour be-
comes ripe, or full of matter, it
may be either opened or permit-
ted to break of itself—if opened
with a knife, great care should be
used to prevent wounding the ten-
dinous ligament that runs along the
"There is a small sinus under the
noll bone, where the matter is apt
to lodge, unless care be taken to
keep the part firm with a bandage:
But instead of that the farriers gen-
erally use to thrust in a long teat,
which raises the flesh, and opens a
way into the sinus. And thus an
ulcer is created where there needs
be none. All therefore that is fur-
ther necessary on this head is, to
caution the practitioner against
such ill methods. And if the tu-
mour has a very large cavity, it is
better to lay it open, than to thrust
foreign substances into it. And if
it acquires an ulcerous disposition,
it must be treated as such.” Gib-neck under the mane. When the
son's Furriery.
matter appears to be on both sides,
The following is extracted from the tumours must be opened on
a valuable work entitled "The both sides, and the ligament be-
Gentleman's New Pocket Farrier;" tween remain undivided; if the
by Richard Mason, M. D. publish-matter flows in great quantities, re-
ed in Richmond, Virginia, in 1820.sembling melted glue, and is of an
"The poll evil, like the fistula, oily consistence, it will require a
proceeds from some blow, bruise, second incision, especially if any
or external injury, and its conse- cavities are discovered by the fin-
quences are much to be dreaded.ger or probe; these should be
A horse thus diseased would be
well sold almost at any price,though
the cure is tolerably certain, yet
extremely slow. The poll evil is
an abscess or swelling found in the
sinews, between the noll bone and
the uppermost vertebræ of the
neck. When this swelling first
makes its appearance, bathe it fre-
quently with hot vinegar; and if the
hair be fretted off, with an oozing
through the skin,make use of equal
parts of vinegar and spirits of wine;
but if there be an itching,with heat
and inflammation, he safest way
opened by the knife, and the wound
should be dressed with spirits of
turpentine, honey, and tincture of
myrrh, until light and thick colour-
ed matter is found. Cleanse the
sore well with strong soap-suds and
a sponge; then take of verdigris
half an ounce, oil of turpentine four
ounces, of blue stone two ounces,
of green copperas half an ounce;
mix them well together, and hold
them over a fire until they are as
hot as the horse can bear them;
then pour them into the abscess,
and close the lips by one or two
PON
343
PON
stitches; this is to remain several
days without any other dressing ex-
cept bathing with spirits of wine.
Should matter flow in great abun-
dance, and of thin consistency, the
above application must be again
repeated until the matter decreases
in quantity and becomes of a whitish
colour and healthy appearance.
POND, a collection of still wa-
ter. A mill pool is so called,though
it gradually receives water in one
part, and discharges it in another:
So that it is not perfectly still wa-
ter. The water is so often shifted,
that it is not apt to putrefy.
Pastures that are destitute of
water, should have artificial ponds
made in them, for watering places.
"Observe where rushes, reeds,
flags, and other aquatic plants grow
spontaneously; or where frogs are
observed to lie squatted down close
to the ground in order to receive
its moisture. Or observe where a
vapour is frequently seen to rise
from the same spot. Some say,
wherever little swarms of flies are
seen constantly flying in the same
place, and near the ground, in the
morning after sun-rise, there is wa-
ter underneath." "If a well is
made in a sloping ground, and the
declivity is sufficient to give it a
horizontal vent, it will be worth the
husbandman's while to dig such a
passage, and by means of pipes, or
any other conveyance, to carry the
water across the light soil, through
which it might otherwise sink. The
greatest quantity of water will be
obtained in this manner, because
there will be a continual stream."
There is no difficulty in making a
durable pond in a clayey soil. Let
a large hollow basin be made in
such earth, and it will preserve the
water that falls in rain. But it is
apt to be thick and dirty, if some
pains be not taken to prevent it.
The declivity, by which the cattle
enter, should be paved, and gravel
should be spread on the bottom.
Or it might be better if the whole
were paved.
There are many large naturat
ponds, which have outlets in one
part, and are supplied by brooks or
rivers in other parts; but a greater
number of smaller ponds which are
perfectly stagnant, unless when
they are agitated by winds. Such
ponds as the latter, in hot seasons,
are apt to become putrid, and con-
taminate the air about them. For
this reason they should, if possible,
be drained. And when the water
is not deep, and an outlet can be
made without too much cost, they
should be drained for the sake of
reclaiming the soil. This will be
of great value, as it commonly is
found to be extremely rich, being
made up of the finest particles of
soil, wafted into them by winds,and
of decayed vegetable substances,
besides the fine mould washed into
them by rains.
Many farms contain little sunken
spots, which are most of the year
covered with water, and produce
some aquatic bushes and weeds.
These are notorious harbours for
frogs; and are therefore called frog
ponds. They should be drained,
if it be practicable. It is common-
ly the case, however, that draining
them in the common way, by ma-
king an outlet, would cost more
than they would be worth when
"
:
344
POT
drained, because of the height of
the land on every side. But in this
if the banks be not clay, they
may be drained in the following
case,
manner.
POT
ties as the potatoe, and no one va-
ries so much as this does, in the
several requisites of productiveness,
and of excellent esculent qualities;
some being very dry and farinace-
Take notice on which side land ous, and others watery. The at-
that is lower than the pond is near- tentive and scientific observers of
est. On that side, in the bank near Europe have maintained that the
the pond, dig a kind of cellar, two varieties of the potatoe soon run
or three feet deeper than the sur-out; and they have gone so far as
face of the pond; do it in a dry to assert that their duration extends
season. If a hard stratum appear, only to fourteen or fifteen years, af-
dig through it; and leave digging ter which period they degenerate
where the bottom is loose gravel, in quality and productiveness.
or sand. Then make an open or This, certainly, is very much cor-
a covered drain from the pond to roborated by the fact, that not one
the cellar. The water will be dis- of the varieties, recommended by
charged from the pond, and soak Dr. Deane in his last edition is now
into the earth through the bottom Jeven known in our country. Since
of the cellar, till a scurf is formed his time we have had many kinds,
on the bottom that will stop the which have had their day of suc-
water from soaking into the earth. cess, and have entirely disappear-
This scurf should be broken from ed. Perhaps there is no one fact
time to time, and taken away with better proved than this. We shall
a long handled hoe. Or, the cel-quote one example only. The
lar may be filled up with refuse red, or cranberry potatoe, which
stones, which I think is preferable 20 years since was the favorite,and
to the other method.
almost the only one in the Boston
market, has entirely disappeared.
We speak from experience, when
we say that it gradually diminished
in its productiveness till it entirely
disappeared.
If the pond should not then be-
come sufficiently dry, a small ditch
should be drawn round it, and dis-
charge itself into the cellar. The
land that is thus gained will be rich
muck, much of which may be cart-
ed away for manure; and common
earth, or sand, may replace it, with-
out detriment to the soil.
*
POTATOE, Solanum, a well
known vegetable. It was reported
to have been first brought to Eu-
rope by Sir Walter Raleigh, but
the better opinion is, that it is a na-
tive of the high table lands of South
America.
No plants go prolific in varie-
The foregoing facts would lead
us either to seek new and improv-
ed varieties from other countries,
or to endeavour, as the Europeans
do, to raise them from the seed of
the berry.
I shall here give the method of
doing it. Take the apples in the
beginning of October, before the
frost has hurt them: Hang them up
by the foot stalks in a dry closet,
where they will not freeze: Let
J

POT
345
POT
[suitable for potatoes than hogs'
dung, mixed with a great deal of
straw, or other rubbish. This dung
is late in fermenting, and therefore
affords the roots plenty of nourish-
as they want air and room,rubbish,
and even sticks and chips, or any
thing that makes the ground lie
light and hollow, encourages their
growth.
them hang till March or April:
Then mash the apples, wash the
seeds from the pulp, and dry them
in a sunny window. Sow the seeds
in a bed, about the first of May.
When the plants are four or fivement, when they most need it. And
inches high, transplant them into
ground well prepared, one or two
plants in a hill. They will produce
full grown apples, and some of the
roots will be as big as hens' eggs.
But if the seeds were sown in au-
But those roots are accounted
tumn, some of them would come up best for eating, which are raised
in the following spring. Nothing without dung. I once had a mid-
is more common than their appear-dling crop, by putting a handful of
ing in fields, where potatoes have
been raised the preceding year.
As potatoes are come to be of
more importance in this country,
than any other esculent root, and
are even an article of exportation,
I shall be the more particular in
pointing out the best methods of
cultivating them.
The land should be ploughed
deep for this crop; because roots
will commonly grow as low as the
soil is stirred, and no deeper. And
the more the ground is pulverised
before planting, the better will be
the crop.
old weather beaten salt hay in each
hill. New land, burnt, produces
excellent roots, and a large crop,
without any manure but what is
made by the burning; sometimes
not less than a peck in a hill.
The potatoe is so hardy a plant,
that it will grow in any kind of soil,
and even with the poorest culture.
It is a great improver of land; not
only by the rotting of its succulent
stalks, which should be buried in
the soil at, or immediately after dig-
ging; but the digging itself is a fur-
ther improvement. A crop of
of po-
tatoes is good to prepare land for
other crops. It is not uncommon,
on poor land, with very little culti-
vation and without manure, to ob-
tain one hundred bushels per acre.
But in Ireland, with deep plough-
Perhaps green sward ground
ought to be mentioned here as an
exception. I have had the largest
crops on such land, even with one
ploughing, and that just before
planting. I account for it thus:ing, or digging, with manure, four
Potatoes want air; such land af
fords it from the hollows under the
furrows, in no small quantity, both
fixed and putrid, and in the great-ducing a thousand bushels. As they
est abundance towards the end of
summer, when they require the
greatest quantity of nourishment.
No dung is found to be more
44
times that quantity is common:
And Mr. Young mentions one in-
stance of an acre in England, pro-
will grow almost any how, we are
tempted to neglect them; but no
crop that I know of will better pay
for good cultivation.
1
**
346
POT
POT
The first of May is perhaps the
right season for planting potatoes,
in a dry warm soil: But they will
sometimes produce well, though
planted at the last of June. An
early crop will be better ripened,
and more dry and mealy. A late
one is unsolid and watery, as the
roots do not arrive to their full ma-
turity.
the one having been planted whole,
and the other cut." Mass. Agr.
Rep. vol. V. p. 64.
The shooting parts exist in a po-
tatoe, in the form of a tree, of
which the stock is at the but,or root
end. I therefore take care to cut
athwart these parts as little as pos-
sible: For though they will grow
any way, the greater length of
shooting stem there is in a set, the
more strong and vigorous will be its
growth at first.
If dung be used, it may be spread
before the second ploughing, or else
laid under the sets. The latter me-
laid under the sets, will produce
more than if laid above them; as
Mr. Wynn Baker proved by accu-
rate experiments.
The feeding
roots should go into the dung, not
directly into hungry earth below;
and these roots strike downwards;
and therefore need some loose earth
under the dung to extend them-
selves into.
From experiments which have
been made since the time in which
Mr. Deane wrote, it has been found
that whole potatoes are best for
planting. The Hon.Josiah Quincy
in a letter to the Corresponding
Secretary of the Massachusetts Ag-thod will give a larger crop. Dung
ricultural Society, observes; "I
had directed my farmer to plant a
field of about six acres, with the
large red potatoe, called the River
Plate potatoe. Being not pre-
sent when he began the labour, he
had planted a part of two rows,with
the potatoe whole. Coming upon
the field, I objected to the practice
as wasteful, and directed him to cut
the residue of the potatoes, and to
put a mark so as the place where
the whole potatoes were planted,
might be known. In the whole
course of vegetation, the whole po-
tatoes had a decided superiority
over every other part of the field,
in the vigour and size of the tops;
and, at harvest, in comparing
these rows with the adjoining
rows, the product of the rows
planted whole exceeded an equal
extent of the adjoining rows, plant-
ed with cut potatoes, more than one
third. There was nothing in the
cultivation, or state of the land,
which could produce this differ-
ence, except the circumstance of
The fashionable way of planting
potatoes in hills, may be as good as
any in rough ground, or that which
is not well subdued. But in a rich,
mellow soil, well pulverised, the
drill method is to be preferred.
The setts may be either in single
rows, three feet, or double, one
foot apart, and from seven to nine
inches asunder in the rows.
of my neighbours planted in his
garden, drills and rows of hills al-
ternately of equal length, and equal-
ly manured; when he dug them he
found the drill rows produced twice
as much as the other. It is not more
labour to lay the dung in drills,
than in hills; and the labour of hoe-
One
POT
347
POT
ing is not increased. My trials in
the drill way, have produced only
half as much again. But I did not
put dung in the furrows, but always
put dung in the hills. My method
has been, in dry ground, first to
plough in the dung; then harrow;
raise the ridges, and dibble the sets
into the ridges.
|
potatoes is as follows. After the
ground is prepared, by ploughing
and harrowing, cut furrows with the
horse plough, forty inches apart;
drop the sets in the furrows; then
pass the plough along the back of
each furrow, which will throw the
earth of both furrows upon the sets
and afterwards level the ground
The lazy bed method, or trench with the back of a harrow, or with
ing, is most practised in Ireland. a harrow that has short tines if you
I
have tried it several times, and am will; but it is of no great conse-
convinced, that a greater quantity quence whether it be levelled at
on the same ground may be raised all. Another method of planting
in this way, than in almost any oth- is, to plough the ground plain,keep-
But the labour is so great, asing the furrows straight and regu-
lar, and drop sets in every third or
fourth furrow. But before this is
done, the ground should be plough-
ed and made level and fine with the
harrow.
er.
it must be performed with the
spade, that I dare not recommend
it, unless in particular cases, or to
those who have but little land.
It is a good, and very effectual
method, to subdue bad weeds in the
border of a field, which cannot well
be ploughed. But the soil should
be deep, that the trenches may not
go into the under stratum of hard
earth, nor too near to it.
|
But the method last mentioned
is fit only for a dry soil, where the
seed needs to be laid deep. Where
the soil is moist, a better way would
be to furrow the ground, and lay
the sets on the surface, close to the
backs of the furrows, and cover
them by turning another furrow to-
the sets too deep, the ridges may
be easily lowered, with a hoe or a
rake; but I do not apprehend it
would be necessary. The ridges
may remain as the plough leaves
them.
And in this way good crops may
be got in springy and miry places,
which are too wet for other tillage.wards each. If this should bury
But the work must be begun in au-
tumn. In October, mark out the
beds, five feet wide, leaving two
feet between each bed for the
trench: Spread the dung upon the
beds: Dig the trenches, and with
their contents cover the beds to the
depth of about five inches. In May
following, dibble the sets into the
beds, quite down to the dung, and
fill the holes with earth. Besides
getting a good crop, the soil will be
thus drained and subdued, and fit-deep as one horse can draw it. For
ted for ploughing, and tillage crops. want of a cultivator, a common
An expeditious way of planting light plough should go and return
As soon as rows of potatoe plants
are grown to the height of four or
five inches above the surface, or
earlier if the ground be weedy, the
cultivator, with two mouldboards,
should be passed between them, as
€
348
POT
POT
roots may be taken up. If they lie
in the ground till they are soaked
by the heavy autumnal rains, they
will be the worse; and the labour
of digging will be increased. Those
that do not much adhere to the
tops, may be thrown up by the cul-
in an interval, turning the earth at
the first ploughing from, and then
at the second towards, the rows.
After each ploughing the plants
should be weeded, and a little of
the fresh earth drawn close to their
stems, uncovering those which
chance to be covered by the culti-tivator, or by the horse plough,
vator, or plough. This operation
should be repeated three times, ta-
king care not to earth the plants too
much, as some are apt to do where
the ground is light and mellow: For
potatoes will not grow well more
than about five inches under the
surface, being too far removed from
the influence of the sun. The
ridges, or hills, should be rather
broad than steep; flat on the top,
that the water, which falls in rain;
may not be too much diverted from
the roots.
which will facilitate the digging.
But the tops should be pulled out,
and the fruit that comes out with
them gathered, before the plough
is passed under the rows. Some re-
commend a four or five pronged
fork, as the best instrument to dig
them with.
There is no difficulty in keeping
them through the winter, in a cel-
lar that is free from frost. Caves,
dug in a dry soil, preserve them
very well. They should be cover-
ed with two feet of earth over
them. If they are in danger of
frost in a cool cellar, they should
be covered with a little salt hay.
This any farmer may easily do, who
has a maritime situation.
In cellars, they are more forward
to sprout in the spring,than in caves.
Those which are for summer eat-
The last hoeing should be finish
ed before the plants are in blossom;
and before the branches begin to
trail upon the ground. Otherwise
a new set of roots will be formed,
too late to get their full growth,and
which will rob the former sets of
their nourishment. But if killing
weeds be necessary after blossoming, should be attended to in May,
ing, it may be done with the haud the sprouts rubbed off, and put into
hoe, observing not to earth up the a dry and dark place above ground.
plants at all.
A barn floor is well adapted for the
purpose. They do better than in
a cellar.
Cattle should be kept from a field
of potatoes, till the roots have got
their full growth, as carefully as
from a field of corn. For potatoes
will not grow after the tops are
browsed. They doubtless receive
as much of their nourishment
through the tops, as almost any
plants.
As soon as the tops are dead, ei-
ther by ripeness or by frost, the
They will thus keep
well till new potatoes are grown.
But if any light, come to them,
they will send out long shoots to-
wards the place where it enters.
Raw potatoes will keep swine
alive through the winter: But they
will not grow much with this food
alone. Parboiled, they are an ex-
cellent food for swine, and will al-
POT
349
POT
or thirty years past. The making
of a quantity that will serve for a
in a day or two. As soon as the
starch is settled to the bottom,
which it does in twenty minutes, the
water is renewed; and instead of
its standing in tubs, and being skim-
med, we strain it through a cloth.
Which of these methods is to be
preferred, I do not determine.
most fatten them. The English
farmers parboil them, not only for
swine, but for horned cattle. Iyear is always begun and finished
know of no food that will more in-
crease the quantity of milk in cows;
and they give milk no ill taste,
whether boiled or raw. In either
way cows are very fond of them.
For horses they should be boiled.
The largest and smallest, the irre-
gular shaped and the cut ones,
should be put by for the cattle:
For middling roots are best both
foreating and planting. Overgrown
ones are apt to be hollow and wat-
ery; and wounded ones rot, oftener
than sound ones.
Some suppose this starch is apt
to rot the things which are stiffened
with it; but this is a great mistake.
In an abstract of the Memoirs of
the Swedish Academy, the above
writer found the following account
of one of their methods of using
potatoes. "Mr. Charles Skytse
has proposed to distil brandy from
potatoes, in order to save the corn,
which is so dear in Sweden; and
finds by experience, that an acre of
much greater quantity of brandy,
than when sown with barley." It
is asserted that a gallon of good
strong spirit may be taken from six
pecks of boiled potatoes, by distil-
lation.
As a further recommendation of
this useful root, I may add, the fa-
rinaceous part of it makes an ex-
cellent starch, much superior, as
some say, and not half so costly, as
that made of wheat. The method
of making potatoe starch, accordingland set with potatoes, will yield a
to Mr. Weston, is as follows:
"Wash and pare them, grate them
upon large tin graters, and fill tubs
about half full with the pulp:
Then fill them up with water: Stir
it well once a day, for three or four
days, and take off all the scum.
About the 5th day take out the
pulp, and put it into shallow earth
en pans, such as are used for milk,
as much as will cover the bottom
an inch think, and put water upon
it.. Every morning pour off the
water, break up the starch, and add
fresh water. When it is thus be-
come very white, leave it in the
pans till it is quite dry, then put it
into paper bags, and put it in a dry
place to keep."
This sort of starch has been made
and used in my house, for twenty
The account given by Dr. An-
derson of his success in extracting
potatoe spirits is this: He boiled
72 pounds of potatoes, they were
then bruised, and passed through a
riddle along with some fresh water.
The pulp was then mixed with cold
water, till the whole amounted to
about 20 gallons. This was allow-
ed to cool, till it attained to such a
temperature, as would be proper
for mixing yeast with wort, when
some yeast was put to it. In ten
or twelve hours the fermentation
began, which continued very brisk-
350
POT
POT
1
japart each way, on any kind of soil
that is not too rich : Cover them
with straw, or refuse hay, to the
depth of about twelve inches. No-
thing more is to be done to them
till they are taken up. They will
be very clean, and the crop consid-
erable.
Potatoes may be spoiled by bad
management in harvesting. They
should be dug in cool overcast wea-
ther, gathered as soon as possible,
and kept moist with a quantity of
dirt about them. If they are dug
in warm and clear weather and ex-
posed to the rays of the sun, they
will sweat, and become strong, and
in time will turn green and become
poisonous.
ly for as many hours. After wait-
ing some time, and in vain warming
it a little, with a view to renew the
fermentation, he stirred it briskly,
which renewed the fermentation.
Stirring it daily, the fermentation
went on for a fortnight, and then
abated, and could not be renewed
by agitation or otherwise. It was
then distilled with due caution,care
having been taken to stir it in the
still, until it began to boil, before
the head of the still was applied;
and the fire was afterwards so kept
up as to keep it boiling briskly, till
the whole was run over. In con-
sequence of these precautions and
due rectification, he obtained an
English gallon of pure spirit, con-
siderably above proof, and about a In feeding stock with potatoes, it
quart more of a weaker kind, a is best to steam-boil or bake them.
good deal below proof. The Dr. Sir John Sinclair asserts that "there
says, it was in every respect the is something injurious in the juices
most agreeable vinous spirit he ever of the potatoe in a raw state, which
saw; and that in taste it somewhat cooking eradicates or greatly dis-
resembled fine brandy. According pels."
to this account, one acre of potatoes
might yield 300 gallons of good
strong spirit, worth at least 90%.
;
My new method of planting po-
tatoes is this. After the dung is
spread and ploughed in, and the
ground levelled with the harrow, I
raise the ridges about three feet and
a half apart, with the cultivator
and then dibble in the sets along
the tops of the ridges, about seven
or eight inches apart, laying each
set about as low as the surface was
before the ridges were made.
have had as good crops in this way,
as in any other.
I
The method of raising potatoes
understraw,is very simple and easy.
Lay the sets about eight inches
The following method of raising
this crop is pursued in England,and
probably will answer well in this
country.
Break up sward ground in au-
tumn, harrow it in the spring, and
spread barn dung, or other suitable
manure at the rate of about twenty
loads to an acre. In planting run
a furrow of proper depth, and draw
in the dung from a distance of
about twenty-seven inches next the
furrow, and distribute it evenly
along its bottom. On this the po-
tatoes are placed, about eighteen
inches apart if whole, but propor-
tionally nearer if cut in pieces,and
then covered by the next furrow.
Then two more furrows are run,the
POT
351
POT
1
pedia.
Fowls of every sort may be pro-
fitably fed on boiled potatoes and
meal mixed. A little alum, Arme-
nian bole, or other astringent sub-
stance, has been recommended to
mix with potatoes given to hogs to
stop their tendency to purge.
Potatoes may be preserved al-
most any length of time by slicing
and drying them in an oven or
kiln.
second of which is to be the bed | ture, is a description of an excel-
for the next row, and the manure lent implement, invented by Mr.
is again drawn into this, the seed Yeldall, for taking up potatoes,
placed as before, and covered by having four prongs, on barbs of
the next furrow. The rows in this iron, with a fang, in the form of a
way are every third furrow,or about double mould-board, drawn by
twenty-seven inches apt.
three horses or four oxen.
It en-
When the plants are about six in-ters the ground, under the bed of
ches above the surface of the potatoes, and throws the whole to
ground, it should be harrowed the surface." Domestic Encyclo-
across the rows, and the hoe should |
follow to set the plants right where
covered, and drawing some earth
around them. In due season, a
furrow, with a one-horse plough,
should be run on each side of the
rows, with the earth thrown up to
the plants, which is to be followed
with the hoe, which completes the
tillage of the plant. If any weeds
afterwards rise, they should be cut
up with a hoe,so as not to go to seed.
It has been affirmed that plucking
the blossoms from potatoe-vines in-
creases the crop. But Mr. Justin
Ely, of West-Springfield, asserts
that no benefit is derived from that
process. See Massachusetts Agri-
cultural Repository, vol. IV. p.324.
In gathering the crop, run fur-
rows on each side of the rows and
then a pretty deep one through the
middle, which turns up most of the
roots to the surface, for the purpose
of picking up by hand. A fork,
with four prongs, with the addition
of what may be called a fulcrum,
fastened by a pivot to the back part
of the handle may be used for rai-
sing the potatoes not turned out by
the plough. See Farmer's Assist-
ant, p. 301-2.
"In the report on the agriculture
of the county of Hereford drawn up
for the British Board of Agricul-
"To boil Potatoes-Put them in
cold water with the top of the pot
loosely on. Let them boil gradu-
ally in water that will just keep,
them covered; when the water has
boiled, put on the cover close, and
continue boiling them for some time
longer, till they are soft. Pour off
the water and let the potatoes drain
in a cullender. Then put them in
the pot again without water, and
drive off the moisture till they split.
Domestic Encyclopedia.
Payson Williams, Esq. of Fitch-
burgh, Mass. received a premium
from the Mass. Agr. Society for the
best crop of potatoes raised in
1820, being six hundred and four-
teen bushels on an acre.
POTATOE, SWEET, Convolvulus
Batata. The following is the me-
thod used by Mr. Joseph Cooper,
of New-Jersey, for cultivating this
root.
T
352
PRO
POU
·
He plants his seed-potatoes in a
hot-bed, and cuts off the sprouts,
and plants them in their destined
spots in the field, three or four
sprouts in a hill. In this way po-
tatoes are raised earlier, much seed
is saved, and much trouble of weed-
ing is avoided; for the sprouts
grow so fast, that they suffocate
weeds, &c.
The sweet potatoe grows best in
a mellow sandy soil, and the richer
the soil the better the crop.
er indemnify him for the corn and
grain that are requisite for their
support. Yet on a farm a few of
them may be useful, to pick up
what would otherwise be lost. And
in this view they seem to be profit-
able only part of the year. If con-
fined they will not prosper, though
they have a yard of some extent;
if not confined they will be mischie-
vous to the garden and field.
Poultry are most easily fattened
when kept in a dark place. They
"Sweet potatoes, especially should be furnished with gravel, but
those with red skins, yield a con- no water. Barley meal is said to
siderable quantity of farinaceous be their best food, which should be
matter, which forms a fine nutri- mixed so thin with water as to serve
tious jelly, when mixed with water. them for drink. Their thirst indu-
Bowen's patent sago is this pow- ces them to eat more than they oth-
der, which was for a long time pre-erwise would, in order to extract
pared by the above person, at Sa- the water, which is in their food.
vannah, in Georgia, chiefly for the This should not be put in troughs,
British army. The process was but laid on a board, which should
similar to that which is known in be washed every time fresh food is
Europe, for procuring the flour of put upon it. Foul and heated wa-
the common potatoe, viz. grating ter, says the Domestic Encyclope-
the clean roots, washing the mass dia, is the sole cause of the pip.
through brass sieves of different siz-
es, and collecting the flour at the
bottom of the vessel which receives
the fluid; finally drying it in pans
either in the sun or by a fire."
Domestic Encyclopedia.
J. Lowell, Esq. and some others
have succeeded in raising this bot
for several years, in Massachusetts.
See Agr. Rep. vol. VI. p. 265.
POULTRY, all kinds of tame
birds, as hens, geese, ducks, tur-
keys, &c.
These may be considered as part
of a husbandman's stock: But the
keeping of great numbers of dung-
hill fowls will not turn to his advan-
tage; as it is certain they will nev-
Hens, which do not lay in the
winter, should have access to slack-
ed lime, pounded bones, or oyster
shells, as something of the kind is
necessary to form their shells, which
are composed of the phosphate of
lime. When corn is given to fowls
it should be crushed, or soaked in
water.
A correspondent of the Ameri-
can Farmer is of opinion, from ac-
tual experiment, that pot-liquor is
a cure for the pip in poultry. vol.
I. p. 412.
PRONG HOE, a hoe with prongs
instead of a blade. Four or five
prongs are found best. It is easily
struck into the ground; and as the
QUA
353
QUI
tines are six or seven inches long,
it will stir the ground to the same
depth that a plough does. It is
useful in taking up all roots.
PUMPKINS. Pumpkins will
grow on any kind of soil which is
proper for hoed crops, but the land
cannot easily be made too rich for
them. The" Farmer's Assistant"
thinks they will grow better, when
planted by themselves, than when
raised, as usual together with Indi-
an corn. The hills in such case
should stand about seven feet apart
each way, and a number of seeds
should be planted in each hill, to
make an allowance for what may
be destroyed by insects.
A new and very large species of
pumpkin has lately been introdu-
ced into this country, of which it is
said more than five hundred pounds
can be raised from a single seed.
But these large sorts are not so
profitable as the common ones.
They are more tender, and will
not keep so well.
(6
'Pumpkins are excellent for fat-
ting horses. They, however, do
not relish them at first; and there-
fore must be kept from feeding, till
they are hungry, before the pump-
kins are offered to them; and let a
little salt be first sprinkled on this
food; when they will soon grow
fond of it, and eat it readily with-
out salt." Farmer's Assistant.
Q.
a web of the roots of strong grass-
es; but the mud under the sward
is very soft and yielding.
Such places should be drained
when it can be done without too
much expense. For its natural
produce consists of the worst water
grasses, cranberries, &c. but the
soil is always deep, and rich. See
the article Draining.
Mr. Eliot drained such a piece of
ground, and soon made it fit for
tillage.
QUINCE TREE, Pyrus Cydo-
nia, a small fruit tree, bearing a
large yellow fruit, useful in cookery
and medicine, but not fit to eat
raw.
It is easy to propagate the trees
by suckers, layers or cuttings, but
they require a moist soil. The cut-
tings should be planted early in au-
tumn. The trees require very lit-
tle pruning; the principal thing is,
to keep the stems clear of suckers,
and thin the branches where they
cross each other. Upright luxuri-
ant shoots in the top should also be
taken out, that the trees may not
have too much wood, which is bad
for all sorts of fruit trees.
1
Quince trees are highly esteem-
ed as stocks on which pears may
with great advantage be grafted or
budded. This operation greatly
improves the taste and flavour of
these pears, which arrive at matu-
rity in the summer and autumn ;
but it is by no means proper for
winter fruit, which is thus render-
ored hard and stony. This fruit is
generally boiled and eaten with su-
gar, in which form it may also be
usefully employed in cases of dy-
sentery. Five gallons of the juice
QUAKING MEADOW,
MARISH, low boggy land, that
shakes and settles under any one in
passing over it.
It has a sward that is tough,being
45
$
354
RAD
RAD
X
of quinces, mixed with twenty-five | maggots; to which sea water is an
pounds of sugar, and fermented, antidote; but with respect to this
make a delicious wine. Domestic root not quite effectual.
Encyclopedia.
To have a constant succession of
QUINCUNX ORDER, accor- radishes at table, the seeds should
ding to Mr. Miller, is applied to a be sown once a fortnight, from April
plantation of trees, disposed origi- to August. But in midsummer they
ginally in a square, consisting of sooner grow sticky and strong, than
four trees, one at each corner, and in spring or fall. They must there-
a fifth in the middle; which dispo- fore be eaten while they are young.
sition, repeated again and again, I have had better success with those
forms a regular grove, wood,or wil- sown in August, than in any other
derness; and, when viewed oblique- month. In hot houses they may be
|
ly, presents straight rows of trees, raised any month in the year. Or
and parallel alleys between them. those raised in autumn may be kept
in dry sand, fit for eating in the
winter.
QUITCH GRASS, otherwise
called Couch Grass. The only ef-
fectual way of extirpating this grass
is by horse and hand rakes, and
burning it.
R.
RACK, a frame made to hold
fodder for cattle, to prevent their
trampling it under foot, and wasting
it.
Those racks which are under
cover, as in sheep houses, horse sta-
bles, &c. may be constructed of al-
most any kind of wood
kind of wood; but those
which stand abroad should be of
such timber as lasts long in the
weather. The rails may be larch,
or white cedar, and the cross sticks
white oak. Such a one will en-
dure the weather many years.
RADISH, Raphanus, a pleasant
root, which has an attenuating vir-
tue, and is a good antiscorbutic.
I have had better success with
those sown as late as June or July,
than with those sown in the spring.
The earliest are apt to be destroy-
ed, or greatly injured, by the white
As radishes are uncertain in their
growth, the best method is to put
in the seeds between rows of other
plants; and they are so soon pul-
led up, that they will not incom-
mode the plants among which they
grow.
Radishes that are for seed re-
quire much room, as they grow to
a large size. For this purpose some
of the most thrifty ones should be
left standing; or else be transplant-
ed to a place where each shall have
as much room as near a yard
square. The ripeness of the seed
is known by the pods turning brown.
For this purpose the seeds must be
sown early in the spring, because
they ripen slowly.
"This root being liable to be
eaten by worms, the following me-
thod is recommended for raising
them: Take equal quantities of
buck-wheat bran, and fresh horse
dung, and mix them well and plen-
tifully in the ground by digging.
Suddenly after this a great fermen-
tation will be produced, and num-
RAI
355
RAI
bers of toad-stools will start up in
forty-eight hours. Dig the ground
over again and sow the seed, and
the radishes will grow with great
rapidity, and be free from the at-
tacks of insects. They will grow
uncommonly large. Buck-wheat
bran is an excellent manure of it-
self." Farmer's Assistant.
rain, helps to predispose the earth,
and its vegetables, to receive the
greater advantage from the water
that falls. It is also believed the
electric fluid, which is conducted
to the earth by rains, conduces
much to the invigoration of plants.
Rain not only gives fluidity and
motion to the food of plants con-
tained in the soil, but contains in it
self more or less of the ingredients
of it. The atmosphere contains
abundance of saline, earthy and
oleaginous particles; so that rain.
water cannot fail of being impreg-
RAIN, condensed vapour, which
falls in drops, and waters the earth.
This is of more advantage to the
husbandman than all his labour and
care. No kind or degree of cul-
ture will secure a crop,if the ground
do not receive a considerable quan-nated with them.
tity of moisture from the clouds;
for if the earth be not frequently
moistened, the food of plants in it
will become fixed; and there will
be no fermentation in the soil; so
that the roots of plants cannot re-
ceive any nourishment. Was it
not for the falling of dews the want
of rain would be much oftener de-
structive to plants than it is. Dews
are often great in a dry season; and
from dews plants receive a consid-
erable part of their nourishment.
It has been proved by a variety
of experiments, that a much great-
er quantity of rain falls at the sur-
face of the ground, than at the top
of a house, or other building;
which may be partly owing to the
vapour contained in the lower part
of the atmosphere, which is joined
to the drops in their descent.
Perhaps the action of the sun's
heat is proportionably greater in
vallies than on summits of hills; if
so,there is a happy balance between
heat and rain on all parts of the sur-
face of the earth. Though it is oft-
en regretted that low hollows are
overcharged with water, it is com-
monly soon exhausted by the heat
of the sun in summer, which is much
greater in vallies than on hills.
The due quantity of moisture
might indeed be supplied by water-
ing by hand, as long as wells,springs
and rivers were not dried up. But
the labour of doing it would be
worth more than all the crop. Nei-
ther would artificial watering have
so good an effect as rain,on account It may be asked, would it not
of the inferior quality of the water have been better, if a greater pro-
for this use, and the mode of apply-portion of rain had fallen on hills
ing it. The gentlest rains are gen- than on vallies? But they need it
erally most conducive to the growth not so much, because of the great-
of plants, and the fruitfulness of the er coolness of the air on hills.
soil, as all parts are more equally More of the fine mould would have
soaked; and cloudy weather, which been washed down into the hollows,
most commonly happens before and deeper channels would have
356
RIC
RAT
been made in the soil by the run-
ning of water, which would have
been considerable inconveniences.
The quantity of water that falls
in a year may be from twenty-five
to thirty inches. If the whole were
to fall at once, destructive deluges
would be experienced, and droughts
equally destructive. It is the fre-
quency of rains that renders the
earth fruitful. To some soils, as
stiff clays and loose sands, frequent
rains are more needful than to oth-
ers. The former imbibes the water
too slowly; the latter parts with it
too speedily. These two kinds of
soil, therefore, need the most fre-
quent showers.
The same poison which I pre-
scribed for mice, will well serve to
destroy these animals. But the best
way is to catch them in a cage made
of wire, in a cubical form, enclo-
sed in a wooden box. Each side of
the cage should be a plane of about
fifteen inches square.
Take one quart of oat meal, four
drops of oil of rhodium, one grain of
musk, two nuts of nux vomica pow-
dered; mix the whole together,
and place it where the rats fre-
quent; continue to do so while they
eat it,and it will soon destroy them :
Or, take equal quantities of un-
slacked lime, and powdered oat-
meal; mix them by stirring, with-
out adding any liquid, and place a
small quantity in any place fre-
quented by rats. They will ea-
In some years the rains are so
ordered, as to make the seasons
most fruitful. A moderate quanti-
ty in each week through the sum-gerly swallow the preparation, be-
mer will be apt to supply so much
moisture, and keep up such a de-
gree of fermentation in the soil, as
is most conducive to the progress
of vegetation.
Farmers in this climate generally
wish for but little rain in April, and
for much in May and part of June;
then less in hay time, and English
harvest. But as it is not left to us
to order this matter, we should en-
deavour to accommodate ourselves
to the seasons; and to assist nature
whenever we have opportunity for
doing it, draining land which is too
wet, watering that which is too dry,
and applying more manures to dry
soils, which will make them more
retentive of water.
RATS, a mischievous kind of
vermin too well known to the
farmer. No walls that I know of
have been found to be sufficient
barriers against them.
come thirsty, and the water which
they drink will cause the lime to
swell, and thus destroy them.
RICE, or Oryza, is a genus of
plants consisting of several species,
which, however, may be divided in-
to two varieties, viz. Mountain-rice,
which grows on dry elevated soils,
and Marsh-rice sown in low swampy
districts. According to the Domes-
tic Encyclopedia, Mr. Bordley
raised the former kind of rice on
dry sandy land at Annapolis, in Ma-
ryland. It is not impossible but
this plant may be gradually intro-
duced into the northern States, and
made to grow on dry and elevated
ground. This is a great desidera-
tum, as rice is the cheapest nutri-
ment known; containing, it is said,
96 parts in 100 of nutritive matter.
"The following directions re-
specting the water culture of rice,
RIC
357
ROL
66
*
REED, Arundo, "the name of
an aquatic plant, infesting low
grounds. The best method of de-
stroying them, is by draining the
land. Ashes and soot will kill
them. So will ploughing the land,
are furnished by one of the most | len rice with the fingers. Keep
successful cultivators of that article dry, and hoe through the field. Hoe
in the State of South-Carolina. the third time and pick, clean. This
Begin to plant about 25th of will be about the beginning of July.
March, and trench shallow and Then flood as you hoe. Let the
wide, and scatter the seed in the water be the same depth as before.
row; make 72 or 75 rows in a task, If any grass has escaped, it must be
and sow two bushels to an acre. picked in the water after it shoots
"1st. Hoe about the end of April,or out. This is called the fourth hoe-
beginning of May, when the rice is in ing, but the hoe is never used ex-
its fourth leaf; then flood,and clear cept for some high places, or to
the field of trash. If the planting clean the dams. If the rice is flag-
|
be late, and you are likely to be in gy and likely to lodge, flood deep to
grass, flood before hoeing; but hoe-support it, and keep it on until fit
ing first is preferable. The best to harvest." Domestic Encyclope-
depth to flood is three or four inch-dia, vol. p. 175. 3d edition.
es. It is a good mark to see the
tops of the rice just out of the wa-
ter; the deep places are not to be
regarded; the rice will grow through
in three or four days. Observe to
make a notch on the frame of the
trunk, when the water is of a pro-and laying it in high ridges. They
per depth; if the rains raise the always indicate a good soil." Com-
water above the notch, or it leaks plete Farmer.
out, add or let off accordingly. This RIDGLING, a male animal, half
is done by putting a small stick in castrated. A horse of this kind is
the door of the trunk, about an inch as troublesome as a stallion, or more
in diameter; if scum or froth ap- so; but is not fit to be depended on
pear in eight or ten days, freshen as one. A ridgling hog will never
the water, take off the trunk doors, be fat, nor grow so large as a bar-
run off the water with one ebb, and row, till his castration be complet-
take in the next flood; then regu-ed; as it may be by making an
late as before. Keep the water on opening in the belly, when the case
about fifteen or seventeen days, ac- is the most difficult. They should
cording to the state of the weath-be either killed young,or complete-
er; that is, if a hot sun, fifteen days, ly castrated. The flesh of a young
if cool and cloudy, seventeen days, ridgling pig is good; but that of an
counting from the day the field is old one disagreeable,
flooded; then leak off with a small
stick for two days, then run off the
whole, and keep the field dry. In
four or five days after, hoe the se-
cond time, stir the ground, whether
clean or not, and comb up the fal-
1
ROLLER, a cylindrical instru-
ment to pass over lands, to answer
several good purposes in husban-
dry.
Those rollers which are cut out
of free stone, being heavier than
358
ROL
wooden ones, are best to smooth,
and harden, the alleys in gardens,
walks, &c. But wooden ones an-
swer better in tillage, when they
are sufficiently large. A roller for
field husbandry should be five or six
feet long; so that it may perform
much in a short time, being drawn
by a horse or a yoke of oxen, for ei-
ther of which it may be easily har-
nessed. It should be made perfect-
ly round and sinooth, that it may be
drawn the more easily, and press
the ground the more equally in all
parts. And it should be from eigh-
teen to twenty-four inches diameter.
Being large, the pressure will be
greater; and the surface will be left
the more level.
A spiky roller, or a roller filled
with spikes, six or seven inches
long, sharp pointed at the outer
ends, is sometimes used in the old
countries, to pulverise cloddy land
in tillage, or to brake and open the
sward of grass land when it is bound,
and too compact. After grass land
is so broken,a top dressing will have
the better effect. A roller is some-
times armed with circular knives,
four or five inches broad, put on in
the manner of hoops, the edges at
right angles with the axis of the rol-
ler, twenty inches from each other,
They use these instruments to cut
the sward into strips, in order to
cut up the turfs with a sharp ironed
plough for burn beating. This man-
ner of doing the work, is far less ex-
pensive than cutting up the turfs
with the beating axe. But the
sward of land to which this instru-
ment is applied, ought to be ex-
tremely level, and free from stones
and strong roots.
ROL
Sir John Sinclair has the follow-
ing remarks on this subject. "The
roller is the most useful implement,
for breaking hard clods expeditious-
ly, and smoothing the surface of
land when in tillage, ever yet in-
vented. It is likewise of use to
grass lands laid down for hay; and
heavy rollers would prevent those
ant hills, by which so many pastures
are deformed. Rollers are made
of various substances; as wood,
freestone, granite, or cast iron ; but
on the whole the two latter are to
be preferred. It is of importance
that the weight of the roller should
be in proportion to the extent of
the surface on which it rests, and
the nature of the land on which it
is to be employed. The best plan
is that of having two rollers, each
about two feet and a half in length,
and both placed in one frame, so as
to roll clear of one another. This
is the most suitable both for corn
crops and sown grass, as it neither
tears up the tender soil, nor injures
the young plants. Besides the la-
bour in turning is much less severe
on the frame, and on the cattle.
Every farm ought to be provided
with rollers of different diameters
and weights, so as to suit the seve-
ral purposes to which they are des-
tined; those of a small diameter are
generally applied to land in tillage;
and those of a large diameter, with
double shafts to grass lands. Heavy
rollers are of great use for destroy-
ing worms, slugs, and other vermin
in the soil." Code of Agriculture.
ROLLING, smoothing and mo-
derately hardening the surface of
land, by drawing a roller over it.
The rolling of land in tillage
ROL
359
ROL
should be done only in dry weath-
er; never, when the soil is so wet
as to stick to the roller.
|
Some of the European farmers
prefer rolling after the grain has
risen to the height of four or five
inches. But of the utility of this
we are not yet convinced by a suf-
ficient number of trials.
No soil will admit of rolling that
is very uneven, or much rocky or
stony. But small round pebbles in
a mellow soil, well pulverised,need
In all kinds of soil that are laid
not prevent rolling: For the roller down to grass, rolling is necessary,
will press them all into the soil. to lay the surface so smooth and
Land that is apt to have a stiff crust even as to facilitate mowing and ra-
formed upon it, by lying only a few king. And those kinds of sowed
weeks, I think should not be rolled; corn which are to be cut with the
because it will cause the crust to scythe, and raked, should be rolled,
be the more hard and stiff. But the that loss may be prevented in har-
advantages of rolling in a light and vesting. Without it, a crop of bar-
rich soil are so great, that it is pity ley cannot be well taken up clean
that the practice of it is so general-with a rake, especially when the
ly laid aside in this country.
corn is short and small, as I have
often found to my loss. Some wri-
ters on husbandry think a crop of
barley, in particular, will be consi-
derably larger for rolling it, as it is
a dry seed, that needs to be well
enclosed with mould, in order to its
vegetating. Lands that are in grass,
may be kept even by a yearly rol-
ling, which will press down mole
hills and other unevennesses, and
cause the grass to grow thicker. It
will also be an advantage to be able
to mow it the more closely.
Rolling, after sowing and har-
rowing, will cause the mould to
enclose the seeds; much of which,
otherwise, lying in cavities that
soon become dry, is apt to fail of
vegetating.
Rolling also fills up ten thousand
little cells, which, when left open,
are haunts and harbours for flies
and other noxious insects; besides,
it has the advantage of destroying
some kinds of insects in the opera-
tion. It is peculiarly beneficial on
this account to a crop of turnips.
And some recommend passing the
roller over turnip ground, not only
when the seed is newly sown, but
after the plants are up.
When a clay soil is sown, rolling
breaks many lumps, or hard clods,
which have escaped the plough and
the harrow. But an over light soil,
which is apt to dry too fast, needs
rolling more than any other. It
serves to prevent the evaporation
of moisture, by making it less po-
rous.
"An intelligent farmer maintains
that if draining is the first,manuring
the second,and cultivation the third,
rolling ought to be considered as
the fourth principal operation in the
process of agriculture. Its impor-
tance indeed, is every day becom-
ing more apparent, and new advan-
tages are derived from its use both
on arable and on grass lands.
•
"Wheat should always be rolled
in the spring, after frosts, as it makes
the soil adhere more closely to the
roots of the plants, encourages ve-
360
ROO
ROL
getation, and strengthens the stems,
and renders the grain more perfect.
When any crop of grain is sown
with artificial grasses, rolling is par-
ticularly necessary, to make an
even surface, bruising all clods,and
pressing down any stones, it may
not be thought necessary to carry
off, to facilitate the future operation
of the scythe. Oats in a light soil,
may be rolled to advantage, imme-
diately after the seed is sown, un-
less the soil is so wet as to cling to
the roller. After turnips are sown
in drills, they ought immediately to
be rolled; to make the soil com-
pact, and to promote their speedy
germination. Not only for turnips,
but for all other crops, rolling du-
ring the night is found to be an ef-
ficient means of destroying slugs,
snails, the wire-worm, and other
vermin, so destructive to young
plants. Flax ought to be rolled im-
mediately after sowing; it makes
the seed vegetate equally, and pre-
vents after growth; the bad effects
of which are visible in every step
of the process of dressing flax.
"The other advantages in rolling
arable land are, that it renders a
loose soil more compact and solid.
This encourages the growth of
plants, by pressing the soil to their
roots. It likewise keeps in moist-
ure and prevents drought from pen-
etrating. When the soil is worked
up lightly, moisture either filters
through it too quickly, or is too
easily evaporated. In a dry sea-
son this may occasion a very mate-
rial difference in the crop, more es-
pecially in a light soil. Rolling is
executed to most advantage, across
the direction of the ridges, because
more adapted to ensure full benefit
to the furrows,which otherwise may
not be properly gone over."
ROOTS, the parts of plants that
are under the surface of the earth,
which imbibe the nutritious juice of
the earth, which feeds and increa-
ses the plants.
Botanists distinguish roots into
divers sorts, according to their dif
ferent forms. But the only distinc-
tion to which the husbandman needs
to give his attention, is, to consider
roots as of the tap, bulbous, or fi-
brous kind. Of the first kind are
the carrot, parsnep, beet, &c. of
the second, the potatoe, onion, tur-
nip, and several others; of the last,
wheat and other kinds of grain, and
many grasses.
But still there are, perhaps, but
few plants which have only one of
these kinds of roots, though the
form that is most obvious is the
one which gives the name to
the root. Carrots, and other
tap rooted plants, send out hori-
zontal fibres to a considerable dis-
tance. Trees in general have both
tap and fibrous roots. A turnip has
the three kinds of roots, having a
bulb, a tap, and many lateral fibres
from the tap.
Mr. Mills, on this subject says,
the roots that proceed immediately
from the seed, are always of the
carrot or tap kind. Tap roots
strike down perpendicularly into
the earth, till it becomes too hard
to admit of their farther passage;
but when the soil is deep,and easily
pierced,they penetrate sometimes
to the depth of several yards, un-
less they are cut or broken; in
which case they alter their direc-
ROO
361
ROO
tion. This is frequently observed;
particularly in plants raised in wa-
ter only. The tap roots shoot out
branches which extend horizon-
tally; and these branches are
stronger, in proportion as they are
nearer to the surface of that layer
of earth, which is stirred by the
plough or spade.
These are the roots which we
calling creeping or fibrous. They
extend sometimes to a considera-
ble distance from the plant that
produced them; but then they be-
come so minute, that the naked
eye can no longer trace them; es-
pecially when they have taken the
tincture of the earth that surrounds
them, as they generally do.
A carrot, for an example, which
seems to have only one great root,
furnished with some fibres, pushes
its roots, according to Mr. Tull, to
a considerable distance; but they
grow so very slender, that they
cannot be distinguished from the
earth that covers them, without
great attention. The case is the
same with almost all plants.
To convince the reader of this,
and at the same time to shew how
far the roots of plants can extend
in ground that is well loosened, he
recommends the experiment which
I have mentioned under the article,
Pasture of Plants, which see.
The following instances, says
M. Duhamel, shew what effort
trees will make, to find a proper
soil for the extension of their
roots. On examining those of a
hedge, at the side of which a ditch
had been dug, it appeared, that
after passing underneath the ditch,
they reascended, and spread them-
46
selves in the ploughed earth on
the other side.
He made the same observation
on a row of elms, which were very
near being killed by the digging of
a deep ditch pretty near them, in
order to prevent their roots from
damaging an adjacent piece of
ground. The elms shot out fresh
roots in the loose mould that drop-
ped into the ditch; these roots re-
ascended on the other side of the
ditch, and spread in the ploughed
ground, and the elms soon recover-
ed their former vigour.
He likewise observed, that on
digging a trench at a small distance
from a young elm, and filling it
with good mould, the roots of that
elm took their direction towards
the trench, and grew to a great
length in it.
•
These observations prove that
horizontal roots extend far, espe-
cially in loose mould: And as a
plant thrives in proportion to the
length of its roots, Mr. Tull justly
infers the necessity of keeping the
earth in tillage in a light state,
that the roots may easily penetrate
it.
A root that has been cut or bro-
ken, never grows longer, but soon
produces several new roots, all of
which gather the proper food of
the plant. Its means of subsistence
are therefore increased, by the
breaking of its roots, in digging or
ploughing, rather than otherwise.
In the horse-hoeing husbandry
many of the fibrous roots of the
growing plants are undoubtedly
cut off by the plough. But it oe-
casions the multiplying of the roots,
and consequently the greater nour-
ishment of the plants.
362
ROT
ROT
1
•
ROTATION of CROPS, a
course of different crops in succes-
sion, on the same piece of ground.
A writer in the Massachusetts | is a constant symptom. The lungs
Agricultural Repository, Vol. V., decay, and the whole body droops
page 326., recommends the field and languishes, in the same manner
culture of roots for the consump as persons in a hectic. The sick
tion of stock, and as the principal of the flock should be removed from
dependence of the farmer for its the sound sheep, that the infection
winter's support. He remarks. may spread no further among the
that 'the connexion of root culti- flock. See Sheep.
vation with a prosperous agricul-
ture is not a recent discovery, al
though it is the great boast of the
farming interest of England and The matter has not yet been
Scotland. More than fifty years sufficiently attended to by New
ago, a Dutch farmer asserted to England Farmers. This appears
Joseph Marshall, an intelligent by their often being necessitated
Englishman, at that time travelling to lay their tillage lands waste for
through the northern kingdoms of a considerable number of years,
Europe for agricultural informa that they may get recruited. The
tion, "that the foundation of all expense of recruiting worn out
good agriculture was the raising land is so great, that such a course
roots as the winter food for cattle." of crops ought to be preferred as
The reason is obvious. By this the soil will bear without material
system the greatest quantity of injury, or without being too much
food is raised upon the smallest exhausted. And, when other things
extent of land with the least labour. | are equal, such a course should be
What other cultivation can enable adopted, as requires the least la-
a farmer to raise fifty, sixty, and bour, or cost of manures and culti-
even one hundred tons of food of vation. When a course is well
an excellent quality upon a single chosen, it may be repeated on the
acre?
same spot perpetually, without
ROT, a disease in sheep, simi-damage to the soil.
lar to a pulmonary consumption in
men. A writer in the Scots Far-
mer thinks that if the disease have
not proceeded far, the animals may
be cured by feeding on turnips.
But this is rather to be doubted.
It is said to be caused by keeping
them in a pasture that is too moist,
producing rank and watery grasses.
The raging of this distemper in a
flock, is stopped by removing them
to a dry situation: But the indi-
viduals which are deeply seized
with it, are seldom cured. Cough
It is not to be expected, that the
best rules concerning this matter
can be established, but from the
experience of many years For
though it may be easy to compare
the respective advantages of diffe-
rent courses, in a few years, so as
to find which is more productive ;
it will take a much longer time to
determine which course will be
best on the whole. For the state
of the soil, at the end of a long
course, is to be taken into the ac-
count. And it is to be remembere
ROT
363
ROT
In countries where a spirited at
tention to agriculture has for a long
time subsisted, one would expect,
that people have most probably
adopted the best courses. It is
not amiss, therefore, to observe
what courses they generally prefer
in Britain and Ireland, taking care
not to go into a rash and inconsi-
derate imitation of them, without
making allowance for local differ-
ences, &c.
ed that a course that is suitable | in this country; what that varia-
for one soil, may not be so for ano- tion is, experience must discover.
ther.
Not only our climates, but also
our crops are different. We raise
some crops that they do not, and
not all that they do raise. But a
rule that is fit to be extended to all
countries, is, that two impoverish-
ing crops should seldom, or never,
succeed each other in a course.
And it is certain, that white or grain
crops in general, are apt to impover-
ish the soil, as they continue to draw
nourishment from the earth, for
some time after the leaves are
dead, and cease to receive nour-
ishment from the air. And all
plants that bear an oily seed, rob
the soil of much of its vegetable
food: Such are flax and hemp, sup-
posing them to continue in the
soil till the seed is ripe.
A common course in Ireland is,
turnips, barley, clover, wheat: or,
potatoes, barley, clover, wheat.
From the account, that Mr.
Young gives of the courses in dif-
ferent places, which he passed
through in his northern tour, the
following things are observable.
That where they do not fallow,
green and white crops follow each
other alternately; and that wheat
follows clover oftener than any
other crop That where fallowing
is practised, wheat is next, and
after it sometimes another white
crop; but not generally. It ought
to be never.、
The courses of crops in Ireland,
will furnish nearly the same obser-
vations.
The judicious farmer knows,
that some regard must be had to
the nature of the soil in a course of
crops. Those crops which require
a light soil, should make no part of
the course in a stiff one, and vice
versa.
But supposing the European
courses to be the best that can be,
some variation is surely to be made.
Reasoning from experience and
observation, I am led to believe,
that the following are as good
courses, as may be expected to be
introduced in this country. On
light warm soils, the first year,
corn dunged, pease, or potatoes
2d year, rye, barley, or buck wheat:
the 3d, and 4th, clover: the 5th,
wheat the 6th, and 7th, clover.
On cold and stiff soils, first, oats or
potatoes: 2d, potatoes well dunged:
3d, flax, or wheat: 4th, grass, and
so on till it needs to be broken up
again. Though these may serve
for general rules, yet as there is a
great variety in soils, and some far-
mers can obtain manure in greater
plenty than others, each farmer
must endeavour to accon date
his courses to his soil and other
circumstances.
The writer of a "Treatise on
甯
​364
ROW
ROT
Agriculture," originally published
in the Albany Argus, recommends
the following rotations of crops as
best adapted to the northern parts
of the United States.
"Medium course in sandy soils:
1st year, potatoes dunged; 2d.
rye, with turnips after harvest,
consumed on the fields; 3d, oats
and clover, or barley, and clover;
4th, clover; 5th, wheat, with tur-
nips after harvest consumed on the
field; and 6th, pease, or lupins.
or lentils. We have by this course
eight crops in six years, and five
of these ameliorating crops.
"Medium course in loamy soils:
1st year, potatoes dunged; 2d
year, wheat, with turnips as in the
preceding course; 3d year, Indian
corn and pumpkins; 4th year,
wheat and turnips as before. I
this course we have nine crops in
six years--five of which are ame
liorating crops. And
Medium course in clay soils;
first year, oats with clover; 2d.
clover; 3d, wheat; 4th, beans
dunged; 5th, wheat; 6th, the yel-
low vetchling."
An able writer in the Massachu
setts Agricultural Repository, Vol.
V. p. 334, recommends the follow-
ing rotation of crops, as best adapt
ed to the general state of agricul-
ture in Massachusetts; viz.
1st year. After breaking up
the sward, oats, sown thick, to be
cut for fodder.
2d year.
corn or both.
3d year Carrots or turnips or
both.
Potatoes or Indian
4th year. Barley or wheat, sown
with clover and herds'-grass or red
top.
5th year. Clover mowed.
6th year. Herds'-grass and clo-
ver.
In the autumn of the sixth year
land to be broken up, and on the
seventh year the same rotation re-
commences. See Indian Corn and
Flax.
ROWEL, a kind of issue, or ar-
tificial wound, made in the skin of
a horse, by drawing a skein of silk,
thread or hair, through the nape of
the neck, or some other part, an-
swering to what surgeons call a
seton.
Horses are rowelled for inward
strains, especially about the shoul-
ders or hips, or for hard swellings
that are not easily dissolved. The
rowel may be made in almost any
part, and should always be not far
from the diseased part, and about
a hand breadth beneath it. The
two ends of the rowel should be
tied together, that it may not come
out, and be smeared with lard, or
fresh butter, before it is put in.
Afterwards, it should be daily
smeared again, and drawn back-
wards and forwards, that the putrid
matter may discharge itself.
?
What are called rowels by the
English Farriers are made as fol-
lows: An incision is made through
the skin, about three eighths of an
inch long. Then the skin is sepa-
rated from the flesh with the finger,
or with the end of a blunt horn, as
far as the finger will easily reach.
Into this a piece of leather made
very thin, and round shaped, is in-
troduced, about the size of a crown
piece, having a large round hole in
the middle of it. Previous to in-
troducing the leather, it is covered
RUN
365
RUN
with lint or tow, and dipped in
some digestive ointment. Also a
pledgit of tow, dipped in the same
ointment, is put in the orifice, to
keep out the cold air. See Clark's
Farriery.
RUNNET, or RENNET, an
acid juice, contained in the maw
of a calf that has fed on nothing
but milk. When the rennet is to
be preserved for use, the calf should
be killed soon after he has sucked;
for then the curd is entire and un-
digested.
Dairy women usually preserve
the maw, and the curd contained
in it, after salting them; and then
by steeping this bag and curd,
make a rennet to turn their milk
for making cheese. But a method
which seems to be more simple,
and is equally good in every re-
spect, is, to throw away the curd,
and after steeping it in very strong
pickle, stretch out the maw upon
a slender bow inserted into it,
which will soon be very dry, and
keep well for a long time. Take
an inch or two of the maw thus
dried, and steep it over night in a
few spoonfuls of warm water;
which water serves full as well as
if the curd had been preserved,
for turning the milk. It is said
that one inch will serve for the milk
of five cows.
In the Bath papers, Mr. Hazard
gives the following receipt for
making rennet: "When the raw
skin is well prepared and fit for
the purpose, three pints of soft wa-
ter, clean and sweet, should be
mixed with salt, wherein should be
put sweet briêr, rose leaves and
flowers, cinnamon, mace, cloves,
and almost every sort of spice; and
if these are put into two quarts of
water, they must boil gently, till
the liquor is reduced to three pints,
and care should be taken that this
liquor is not smoked. It should be
strained clear from the spices, &c.
and when found to be not warmer,
than milk from the cow, it should
be poured upon the cell or maw;
a lemon may be sliced into it, when
it may remain a day or two; after
which it should be strained again,
and put into a bottle, where, if
well corked, it will keep good for
twelve months. It will smell like
a perfume; and a small quantity
of it will turn the milk, and give
the cheese a pleasing flavour."
He adds, "If the maw be salted
and dried for a week or two near
the fire, it will do for the purpose
again almost as well as before."
Another receipt is as follows: After
the maw has been well cleaned
and salted, and dried upon sticks
or splints, take boiled water two
quarts, made into brine that will
bear an egg, let it be blood warm,
put in the maw, either cut or
whole; let it steep twenty-four
hotirs, and it will be fit for use.
About a tea cup full will turn the
milk of ten cows. It should be
kept in glass bottles, well corked.
An ingenious correspondent, who
has made strict inquiry into this
subject, recommends the following
method of preparing a rennet,
which he has found to be better
than any other. "Throw away the
natural curd, which is apt to taint,
and give the bag a bad smell: Then
make an artificial curd, or rather
butter, of new cream, of sufficient
366
RYE
RUS
RUST, dark spots, of the colour
of the rust on iron, that appear on
the stems and leaves of blighted
grain. See the article Mildew.
Some sorts of grass are also sub-
quantity to fill the bag. Add three kinds, laid on plentifully, will keep
new laid eggs well beaten, one nut-down the rushes for a time: But to
meg grated fine, or any other good eradicate them perfectly, it is ne-
spice: Mix them well together, cessary to drain the land."-Com-
with three tea cup fulls of fine salt: plete Farmer.
Fill the rennet bag with this sub-
stance: Tie up the mouth: Lay it
under a strong brine for three days,
turning it over daily Then hang
it up in a cool and dry place for
six weeks, and it will be fit for use.ject to the same distemper.
When it is used, take with a spoon
out of the bag, a sufficient quantity
of this artificial butyrous curd for
the cheese you purpose to make:
Dissolve it in a small quantity of
warm water, and then use it in the
same manner, as other rennet is
mixed with the milk for its coagu-
lation."
Whatever kind of rennet the
dairy woman chooses to prepare,
she should keep it in mind, that
this animal acid is extremely apt
to turn rancid and putrefy, and take
care to apply a sufficient quantity
of salt to preserve it in its best
state. It should be as much salted
as possible. The strongest kind of
salt should be used. For it is pro-
bable that the rank and putrid taste,
which is so often in cheeses made
in this country, is owing to a putri-
dity in the rennet.
RUSH, Juncus, a troublesome
sort of plant, commonly found grow-
ing in wet and miry land.
"Rushes always indicate a good
soil. They may be destroyed by
lime, even after it has been slaked,
by sea coal ashes, or by draining
the land. Rushes thrive most in
land that is too cold and moist for
most other plants. Ashes, and
other warm manures of various
RYE, or RIE, Secale, a well
known grain, that is much cultivat-
ed in this country.
Though rye by itself makes a
dark-coloured, clammy, and unsa-
voury kind of bread, it is better to
mix with Indian meal in bread
than any other kind of English
grain; and for this reason, our far-
mers are the more fond of culti-
vating it.
Rye is as liable to suffer by rust,
as wheat; but it is seldom known
to be smutty. It is, however,
sometimes hurt by a distemper
called the Spur. See that article.
Mr. Miller thinks there is but
one sort of rye, though distinguish-
ed by farmers, into winter and
spring rye. The winter rye is
larger and heavier than the other,
and is commonly more profitable to
the farmer. This is sown in au-
tumn, at the same time as wheat.
The spring rye should be sowed as
early in the spring, as the ground
will admit of it.
Some sow their winter rye at
the last hoeing of Indian corn, and
hoe it in. This is a good practice,
when it is sown on flat land, or on a
rich or heavy soil, where grain is
apt to suffer by the frost of winter.
For the plants of rye will be mostly
RYE
367-
RYE
on the corn hills, and so escape in-
jury from frost: At least they will
most commonly escape, or so many
of them as are necessary to give a
good crop. The plants that are
killed will be those in the low
spaces between the hills.
|
two bushels per acre. But when
the grain is small, five or six pecks
may be a sufficient quantity. For
the smaller the grain the greater
the number of seeds.
The signs of ripeness are, the
yellow colour of the straw, the
Sandy and gravelly soils are most hanging of the ears, and the hard-
suitable for rye. It commonly ness of the grain. But some choose
prospers much better on such, than to cut it when in the milk, because
on richer soils: The principal rea- the flour will be whiter. The
son of which may be its ripening quantity, however, will be less, un-
earlier, and so escaping the blight. less it lie a good while on the
Weak land has strength enough to ground to ripen, which it may safe-
produce rye, and it does not ex-ly do in good weather, if care be
haust the soil so much as other
corn.
taken to keep the top ends from
the ground. Winter rye is some
times fit to harvest by the middle
of July even in the northern parts
of New-England: Spring rye is al-
ways later.
Some recommend sowing winter
rye for grazing and fodder. It af
fords very early feed for cattle in
the spring. Or it may be mowed
for hay two or three times in a
I have known the same spot
produce twenty crops of this grain
in succession, (excepting that it
was planted with Indian corn once
or twice, to subdue the weeds) the
crops yearly increasing, instead of
diminishing. The right method is,
to plough in the stubble as soon as
the crop is off; and in a fortnight
or three weeks, according as wea-summer. In countries that are dry,
ther and circumstances favour,
cross plough the ground, and sow
the seed. The stubble, so early
buried in the soil, serves as a ma-
nure. It will need no dung.
and do not naturally produce much
grass, this may be considered as a
good piece of husbandry.
Spring rye may be sowed very
late in the fall at first, and a little
It is said by some writers, that earlier each succeeding year, until
sowing rye two or three years on it may even be sown the May pre-
a warm dry soil, it will be forward-ceding the year in which it is har-
ed, so as to ripen a month earlier
than that which has been long cul-
tivated in other soils. This ought
to be attended to by farmers in
this country, where grain that
ripens late, is so apt to be blasted.
But this observation, possibly, may
not be founded in truth.
vested, and used the first season for
pasturing or mowing. And winter
rye may be sowed later and later
each fall, and at length sowed in
the spring, when it will become
Spring rye.
The Farmer's Assistant recom-
mends sowing winter
winter rye and
The quantity of seed to be sow-spring rye alternately, in order that
ed, is recommended by some, to be the ground might every other year
368
SAI
RYE
ing.
Mr. Gardner Whiting, of Charles-
town, Massachusetts, raised in the
year 1820, on one acre of land, on
Bunker Hill, forty-eight bushels
and four quarts of rye.
RYE GRASS, Lolium, a sort
of grass propagated in England for
hay, sometimes called Ray grass.
This grass is in good esteem in
England, and has been but little
be benefitted by the application of is easily separated by winnow-
gypsum. "The growing crop of
rye," says the author of that work,
"receives no benefit from the ap-
plication of this manure; but it
quickly covers the ground with a
fine sward of white clover; and as
soon as ground is thus swarded, it
is in good condition for bearing
any crop. Let the gypsum, there-
fore, be sown in the spring, on the
growing crop of winter rye; and
by the middle of October follow-cultivated in this country, as we
ing, the ground will be covered
with white clover; turn this sward
over in the latter end of the fall,
and in the spring sow a crop of
spring-rye; and, as soon as that is
taken off, turn the ground over
again for a crop of winter-rye; and
in the spring repeat the process of
manuring with gypsum as before,
for a crop of spring-rye, and thus
proceed with these crops alternate-
ly.
believe chiefly from the circum-
stance of its seeds not being for
sale with us. We know one, and
it is the only instance in which the
experiment has been extensively
tried. In this, the ray-grass was
sowed alone, and the field has con-
tinued for fifteen years to yield an
ample crop of excellent grass. See
Grasses.
S.
"In such a mode of culture, how-
ever, particular attention should
be paid to turning under the stub- SAINFOIN, Hedysarum Ono-
ble of the crop of spring-rye as brychis. This is a species of grass
quick as possible, in order that the which will grow on dry and strong
seeds of the growing weeds be pre-soils, which are unfit for other cul-
vented from ripening, as well as tivation, and will produce a ton of
for enabling other seeds, which hay to an acre, besides after growth,
may be buried in the soil to vege-on poor and shallow soils. It is an
tate, and thus be destroyed by the early grass, and therefore useful
after-ploughing and harrowing for for soiling, for which purpose it
putting in the next crop.
may be used for the fore part of
"Where winter rye is early the season and mowed the latter
sown, a bushel to the acre is pro-part. It will yield good crops for
bably sufficient; but for spring-ten or fifteen years, at the expira-
rye, a bushel and a half to the acre, tion of which time it affords an ex-
or perhaps more should be sown." cellent pasture for sheep.
The
It has been said that a peck of hay, it is said, will fatten horses
oats, sowed with a bushel of spring-without oats. It increases the
rye, will prevent its blasting. It quantity of milk in cows, and im-
!
SAL
369
SAL
proves the quality of the butter. | grew much larger and better than
the rest of the carrots; but I could
not perceive that the salt was at
all beneficial to the onions, or to
the turnips.
It should be sown early in the
spring, either by drilling it in rows
two feet asunder, or broadcast.
By the former method half a bushel
of seed is sufficient to stock an
acre; and at least four bushels are
required for the latter. During
the first season of its growth, no
cattle should be allowed to feed
upon it, nor should sheep be per-
mitted to graze upon it the second
season. At the end of five or six
years it will require dung, gypsum,
or composts of any kind, used for
other grasses.
*
SALT. Salt is one of the es-
sential ingredients of the nourish-
ment of plants; and some kind of
salt is contained in every plant.
Salt is of essential importance to
the farmer as a manure. It may be
applied to the soil, either by itself,
or mixed and dissolved in compost.
In the latter method, I have found
it to be a great fertilizer of land.
But if salt be applied unmixed
and undissolved, it will endanger
the existence of tender plants.
According to Mr. Ford's experi-
ment in salting flax ground, salt
seems to be highly beneficial to
that crop. He spreads the salt
over the ground, at the time of
sowing the seed; and thinks that
the quantity of salt should be dou-
ble that of the seed. From three
acres in flax salted, he had fifty
bushels of seed, and an excellent
crop of flax. It was thought that
the advantage of salting appeared
more in the seed than in the harle.
Mr. Eliot speaks of five bushels
of salt being applied to one acre of
flax, which is a much larger pro-
portion, and that it had an extra-
ordinary effect: And also of a crop
of wheat being increased by salt.
Salt is esteemed more efficacious
when mixed in composts than when
applied to the soil in its crude state.
All the salts will operate as ma-
nures, but if too much common salt
In June, 1786, 1 salted one bed be applied to lands at once it will
of my onions, one bed of my car- prove injurious, for awhile at least.
rots, and one bed of my early tur-Salt," says Sir John Sinclair, "is
nips; laying the salt under the sur-
face, in the centres of the intervals,
between the rows; at some distance,
perhaps six inches, from the plants,
that the salt might have time to be
dissolved, and altered, before the
fibrous roots should reach it. The
carrots of the salted bed, evidently
*Sainfoin will not answer in Massachu-
setts, nor, we suspect, in any of the New-
England States. It is too apt to be winter
killed.
47.
particularly useful when mixed
with a dunghill, or strewed over
farm-yard manures, at the time
they are carried to the field." A
mixture of soot and salt is recom-
mended by the same writer, as
preferable to any other manure.
Salt is likewise of use in prevent-
ing mildew. See Mildew.
It is said to be an excellent prac-
tice to keep salt under cover in
such a situation that cattle or sheep
may have recourse to it at plea-.
370
SAL
SAL
sure. Those cattle, however,,
which have not been accustomed
to so free an use of salt should be
brought to it by degrees.
known and practised in this coun-
try, that it cannot be necessary to
say any thing more, than that, we
fear, a misplaced economy pre-
vents as free an use of it, as would
be desirable. The earl of Dun-
donald, in his evidence before a
committee of the house of com-
mons in 1801, speaking of its use
as a manure, said, that when the
benefit of salt and saline substances
as manures should be fully under-
stood, the consumption of it for
these purposes would amount to
five times the quantity consumed
in Britain for all other purposes.
Its use was known to the ancient
Upon the occasion of an appli-
cation by the landed interest to the
British parliament in 1817 for a
reduction of the excise duties on
salt, on the ground of its great va-
lue as a manure, a committee of
parliament was appointed to take
evidence in the case; and the re-
sult of that evidence seems to esta-
blish, beyond all doubt, the great
benefit of salt as a manure. It is
still a question, whether the price
in this country will permit its use
to a great extent. We shall, how-Romans. Pliny speaks of it as fa-
ever, state some of the most inter-vourable to cattle. Lord Bacon
esting parts of the evidence. Of mentions sea sand as an excellent
course, in a work like this, we can manure on account of its salt.
give only a brief abstract.
In more modern times, the tes-
timony has multiplied to an extent,
which could not be given in a work
like this. In proportion as the
science of agriculture has improv-
The late Mr. Hitt, well known
for his treatise on fruit trees, de-
clares it to be of great use in de-
stroying insects which affect them.
He found also that water impreg-ed, the sentiment of the value of
`nated with salt, in the proportion
of one ounce to a gallon of water,
produced a visible effect on grass
land, materially improving it.
Dr. Holland, in his survey of
the county of Cheshire, states,
its advantage to rushy meadow
land, applied at the rate of eight
bushels to the acre. It killed the
rushy growth in April; but the
latter end of May, a flourishing crop
of rich grass made its appearance.
Lord Erskine, the present dis-
tinguished orator, also speaks of
salt, as a manure, in strong terms.
There is an abundance of evidence
furnished, as to the utility of salt
for cattle; but this is so universally
salt as a manure has gained ground.
Mr. Hollinshead, in a work printed
in 1802, declares salt to be the
cheapest, best, and most durable
manure ever used. It is admitted,
however, by all, that, used in ex-
cess, it is fatal to all vegetation.
The corrector of this article used
it on grass land in Roxbury at the
rate of a bushel per acre, and it
did not affect the vegetation inju-
riously. He intends to extend its
use, being satisfied of its salutary
effects. On asparagus, its effects
he proved this year to be very
useful. That plant, however, grows
in and near salt marshes.
It is affirmed to be an admirable
SAL
371
SAL
manure for onions. For meadow as any can be. But beef is greatly
lands, six bushels per acre is re-injured, and rendered unwholesome
commended to be sown as soon by a severe salting.
as the grass is off. By meadow A good method of preserving
lands, the English writers mean all beef, which I have known to be
grass lands, whether upland or low-practised for several years past, is
land.
as follows: For a barrel of beef of
the common size, reduce to pow-
der in a mortar four quarts of com-
mon salt; then eight ounces of
salt petre, and five pounds of brown
sugar.
This is not one tenth part of the
whole mass of evidence on the sub-
ject, yet we are constrained to say,
that there is a defect, to wit, that of
a well conducted course of experi-
ments on the principles, on which
all modern philosophy reposes.
Facts, not insulated ones, but a
mass of them in continuity, should
be collected. Trials on all soils,
and for several years, should be
made. And we hope our country
will have the honour, as with
respect to gypsum or plaster of
Paris, of leading the way to an ex-
tensive use of this natural product.
Though costly, the quantity re-
quired is so small, as to amount
to less than many other manures in
actual use.
音
​SALTING of MEAT, the me-
thod of preventing its corruption
for a long time, by the application
of common salt, &c.
As farmers are most commonly
too far distant from market places,
to be supplied from them with
fresh meat, and as it is most con-
venient for them to kill only at
certain seasons, they ought to be
well acquainted with the best me-
thods of keeping meat in good or-
der, by salting.
The common method of pre-
serving pork, reserving the lean
parts for use in the cold season,
and applying a large quantity of
salt to the fat, is perhaps as good
Let the salt be well rubbed
into the pieces, pack them close in
the barrel, and sprinkle the salt-
petre and sugar evenly over each
layer. No water at all is to be
applied. The juices of the meat,
if well packed, will form a suffi-
cient quantity of brine; and the
beef will keep sweet and good
through the following summer,
supposing it killed and packed in
the beginning of winter, or late in
autumn; and will not be too salt
to be palatable. Draining off the
brine and purifying it by boiling
and scumming, with the addition
of a little salt in the beginning of
summer, and returning the brine
upon the meat, will be a real im-
provement.
Dr. Anderson recommends a
similar method for preserving but-
ter. Take of sugar one part, of
nitre one part, and of the best Spa-
nish great salt two parts. Beat the
whole into a fine powder, mix them
well together, and put them by for
use. One ounce of this is to be
thoroughly mixed with a pound of
butter, as soon as it is freed from
the milk, and then immediately
put into the vessel designed to
hold it. After which it must be
pressed so close as to have no air
}
372
SAN
SAN
1
holes; and then so closely covered
that no air can come to it. If all
this is done, he thinks the but-
ter may be kept perfectly_sound
and good for many years. For he
has seen it at two years old, in
every respect as sweet and sound
as when only a month old.
The following receipt for pick-
ling beef has been highly recom-
mended.
→
For an hundred pounds of beef,
take sixteen pounds of bay or fine
salt, two pounds brown sugar, four
and an half gallons water, and six
ounces salt petre.
and not dissoluble in, or efferves-
cing with acids.
"These are subject to be vari-
ously blended and intermixed,either
with homogene or heterogene par-
ticles, particularly with flakes of
talc; and, according to these, and
their different colours, are to be
subdivided into different kinds, as
red, white, &c.
4
"As to sand, its use is to make
the clayey earth fertile, and fit to
feed vegetables: For such earth
alone, we find, is liable to coalesce,
and gather into a hard coherent
mass, as is apparent in mere clay.
The earth thus embodied, and as it
were, glued together, is no ways
disposed to nourish vegetables.
But if with such earth, a sufficient
quantity of sand be intermixed, it
will keep the pores of the earth
open, and the earth itself loose and
incompact; and by that means
give room for the juices to ascend,
and for plants to be nourished
thereby.
The salt, sugar, and water should
be put into a brass or copper ket-
tle over a fire. Stir the salt often,
and continue stirring it until the
salt has all dissolved, and the scum
has done rising. Take off the
scum as it rises. After this add
the salt-petre. Let the pickle
stand till it is about cold, or blood
warm. Have the beef cut in
smallish pieces, and packed pretty
close, free from any bloody pieces.
Add the pickle and cover it tight
from the air. Should there be any
appearance of mould on the sur-growth or increment at all, but is
face of the pickle, at any time, add
a handful or two of fresh salt.
SAND, is described as a genus
of fossils, found in minute concre-
tions, forming together a kind of
powder, the genuine particles of
which are all of a tendency to one
particular shape, and appear regu-
lar, though more or less complete,
concretions; not to be dissolved,
or disunited by water, or forming
into a coherent mass by it, but re-
taining their figure in it: transpa-
rent, vitrifiable by extreme heat,
"Thus a vegetable, planted, ei-
ther in sand alone, or in a fat
glebe, or earth alone, receives no
either starved or suffocated: But
mix the two, and the mass becomes
fertile. In effect, by means of
sand, the earth is rendered, in
some manner, organical: Pores
and interstices being hereby main-
tained, something analogous to
vessels, by which the juices may
be conveyed, prepared, digested,
circulated, and at length excerned,
and thrown off into the roots of
plants.
"Grounds that are sandy and
gravelly, easily admit both heat
SAN
373
SAN
and moisture: But then they are
liable to these inconveniences, that
they let them pass too soon, and
so contract no ligature, or else re-
tain it too long, especially where
there is a clay bottom: And by
that means it either parches or
chills too much, and produces no-
thing but moss and cankerous in-
firmities. But if the sand happens
to have a surface of good mould,
and a bottom of gravel, or loose
stone, though it do not hold water,
it may produce a forward sweet
grass; and though it may be sub-
ject to burn, yet it quickly reco-
vers with the least rain.
"Sea sand is accounted a very
good compost for stiff ground: For
it effects these two things; it makes
way for the tree or seed to root in
stiff grounds, and makes a fume to
feed it.
"Sand indeed is ap to push the
plants that grow upon it, early in
the spring, and make them germi-
nate near a month sooner than
those that grow upon clay, because
the salts in the sand are at full
liberty to be raised, and put into
motion, upon the least approach
of the warmth of the sun. But
then, as they are hasty, they are
soon exhaled and lost.
"The best sand, for the farmer's
use, is that which is washed by rain
from roads, or hills, or that taken
from the beds of rivers. The com-
mon sand, that is dug in pits, never
answers nearly so well. Sand
mixed with dung, is much better
than laid on alone: And a very
fine manure is made, by covering
the bottom of sheep folds with se-
veral loads of sand every week,
which are to be taken away, and
laid on cold stiff lands, impregnat-
ed as they are, with the dung and
urine of sheep.
"Besides clay land, there is ano-
ther sort of ground very improvea-
ble by sand. This is that sort of
black foggy land, on which bushes
and sedge grow naturally, and
which they cut into turf in some
places. Six hundred loads of sand,
being laid on an acre of this land,
meliorate it so much, that it will
yield good crops of oats, &c. though
before, it would have produced
scarce any thing. If after this crop
is taken off, the land be well dung-
ed, and laid down for grass, it
will yield a large crop of sweet
hay.
"Sea sand, which is thrown up
in creeks and other places, is by
much the richest of all sand for
manuring the earth: Partly its salt-
ness, and partly the fat and unctu-
ous filth that is mixed among it,
give it this great virtue. In the
western parts of England, that lie
upon the sea coast, they make great
advantage of it. The fragments of
sea shells also, which always abound
in this sand, add to its virtues:
And it is always the more esteem-
ed by the farmers, the more of
these fragments are among it.
"Sea sand is best, which is taken
up from under the water, or from
sand banks which are covered by
every tide. The smallest grained
sand, is the most sudden in its ope-
ration, and is therefore best for the
tenant, who is only to take three
or four crops: But the coarse,
or large grained sand, is much bet-
ter for the landlord, as the good it
374
SAN
譬
​SAN
does lasts many years."-Complete year it produced ten hundred
Farmer.
Sand entirely changes the nature
of a clayey soil; so that it will
scarcely ever become so compact,
as it was before sanding. Nor is
any other manure so good as sand,
to loosen and soften it. No other
will have so lasting an effect. From
being the least productive, a soil of
clay, by sanding, comes to be the
most fruitful of any, when it is suf-
ficiently sanded; for it has more of
the food of plants in it than any
other soil, wanting only to have its
cohesion sufficiently broken, to
give a free passage to the roots of
vegetables. For this purpose, a
very small dressing of sand will not
seem to produce any effect. A
layer of two and a half or three in-
ches will not be too much for land
in tillage, if it be a stiff clay.
The benefit of sanding does not
appear so much the first year or
two as afterwards: For the oftener
the land is tilled, the more tho-
roughly is the sand mixed with the
clay; by which the vegetable pas-
ture is more and more increased.
But sand laid upon clay land in
grass, will have a great effect, with-
out mixing it with the soil. I have
known half an acre of clay land
laid to grass, which became so
bound and stiff, as to produce only
two or three cocks at a mowing,
with a mixture of low moss and
other trash. The owner, in Octo-
ber, 1783, with one yoke of oxen,
carted on eighty loads of yellow
sand from the road, which was
about equal to forty carts full; le-
velled it with a harrow, and threw
in some hay seed. The following
weight of good hay: Last year it
produced twenty hundred; and it
is expected, that about thirty hun-
dred will be the weight of the crop
in the present year, 1786. The
sand not only added warmth to the
soil, but prevented the clay from
becoming so dry and hard as to
prevent the roots of the grass from
extending themselves in it.
SANDY SOIL, a soil in which
sand is the predominant ingredi-
ent.
It is seldom found unmixed with
other ingredients. Wherever it is
so, it is extremely barren, and of
little or no value. It will scarcely
produce weeds.
Some barren sands consist of
very fine particles, and have no
sward over them. The wind drives
them before it, and makes what
are called sand floods, which bury
the neighbouring lands and fences.
The fences near them should be
tall hedges to abate the force of
winds: And trees which require
but little nourishment from the
earth, should be planted in these
sands, that a sward may be obtain
ed upon them. See Locust Tree.
When a sandy soil is used in til-
lage, it should be for those crops
which require the most heat, and
are least apt to suffer by drought;
as maize, tobacco, rye, pease, &c.
The best manures for a sandy
soil, are marle, cow dung, and
swines' dung; mud from flats,
swamps, ponds, rivers, &c.
A
Clay is as beneficial to a sandy,
as sand is to a clayey soil.
dressing of clay two or three inches
thick, laid on a sandy soil, and well
SAN
375
SCR
mixed, will make it fruitful for
many years after, as I have foune
by experience. It brings the soil
to the right consistence, renders it
less porous, and causes it to retain
its moisture. At the same time it
is more retentive of manures ap-
plied to it: Perhaps the benefit re-
ceived from the clay will never be
wholly lost. Though the clay is
continually sinking further into the
earth, by means of every rain, deep
ploughing will return it to the sur-
face; so much of it at least as is
necessary. And
And repeated dress-
ings of clay may be needed.
"Rich sandy soils, under a re-
gular course of husbandry, are in
valuable. They are cultivated at
a moderate expense; and at all
seasons, have a dry soundness, ac
companied by moisture, which se-
cures excellent crops, even in the
driest summers.
season, after a crop of wheat or of
puise."-Code of Agriculture.
SAP, the fluid contained in
plants, which is drawn from the
earth and atmosphere, by which
plants are nourished, augmented,
and rendered fruitful. It answers
the same purposes as the blood
and other circulating juices in ani-
mals. It conveys nourishment to
all the parts.
In all plants there exists a system
of tubes or vessels, which in one
extremity terminate in roots, and
at the other in leaves. It is by
the capillary action of the roots
that fluid matter is taken up from
the soil. The sap, in passing up-
wards becomes denser, and more
fitted to deposit solid matter; it is
modified by exposure to heat, light,
and air in the leaves; descends
through the bark; in its progress
produces new organized matter;
"The management of sandy and is thus in its vernal and autum-
land, according to the system adopt-nal flow the cause of the formation
ed by the celebrated Ducket of of new parts, and of the more per-
Petersham and Esher, in Surrey, fect evolution of parts already
has been strongly recommended by formed."--Agricultural Chemis-
an eminent author. It was found-try.
ed on three principles:-1. Plough-
ing very deep: a due degree of
moisture was thus preserved in his
light land, by means of which his
crops were flourishing in seasons
of drought, which destroyed those
of his neighbours. 2. Ploughing
seldom, but effectually, by a trench
plough, or what he called a skim-
coulter plough, with which he bu-
ried the weeds that grew on the
surface; he has been known to put
in seven crops with only four
ploughings and 3. Occasionally
raising a crop of turnips the same
SCRATCHES, or Selenders, a
disorder between the hinder pas-
tern joints and hoofs of horses,
consisting of cracks and soreness,
with suppuration. It is trouble-
some commonly in the winter sea-
son only.
"Nothing tends so much to pre-
vent grease and swelling of the
legs, as frequent hand-rubbing, and
washing the heels carefully with
soap suds, as soon as a horse comes
in from exercise. In inveterate
cases, where the disease appears
to have become habitual in some
376
SEA
SEA
degree, a run at grass is the only
remedy; if a dry pasture be
procured where a horse can be
sheltered in bad weather, and fed
with hay and oats, it will be found
extremely convenient, as in such
circumstances he may perform his
usual labour, and at the same time
be kept free from the complaint."
-The Complete Farrier.
SEA WATER, this fluid, besides
water and particles of common
salt, contains, according to Dr.
Russel's account, sulphur, nitre
and oil.
As it undoubtedly contains much
of the essence of animal and vege-
table substances, by means of the
perishing and consuming of both in
it, it is fitter than mere salt to be
used as a manure, whether by it-
self, or in compost.
In the year 1786, one hundred
hills of potatoes near the shore
were watered with sea water,
about two quarts on a hill, being
one hour's work of a man. The
crop was half as much again, as in
the same number of hills adjoining.
The water was applied to the soil
just after planting the sets, which I
suppose to be the best time for
doing it, as there can be no danger
of burning the young shoots, and as
the salt will be mixed with rain and
the moisture of the earth, before
shoots are produced.
In the year 1787, alternate rows
were watered in the same manner
with sea water. The result of this
experiment was uncertain; be-
cause by ploughing off and on al-
ternately between the rows, the
earth of the watered and unwater
ed rows was blended together. But
altogether, a good crop was ob-
tained.
The same year a piece of flax
was, in the month of June, very
short and yellow on one side of the
piece; but of a good colour on the
other, and much taller: This in-
duced the owner to water the poor
side from the sea. In ten days it
was equal in length and colour
with that on the other side, though
very little rain fell in the time.
At pulling, the watered side was
evidently better grown than the
other. This was a sufficient de-
monstration of the advantage of
sea water, when the land lies ad-
joining to the sea shore; so that
the labour of applying it is incon-
siderable.
The above experiments were
made in a clayey soil.
In a sandy soil, the same year,
watering the ground where French
turnips were just sown, had an ex-
cellent effect. Though it was a
spot where the turnips had been
destroyed by insects, several years
successively, they generally escap-
ed this year. Not more than one
pailful was applied to a drill row
two rods in length, wetting the
ground over the seeds, soon after
sowing,
Salt water applied to tender
plants, most commonly proves too
strong for them, if applied when
the ground is dry. But if it be
wet, the strength of the water is
abated by mixing with the juices.
in the soil, before it is taken up by
the roots, and thus it is rendered
innocent and safe, as I have found
by experience. The seeds bear
the application of the sea-water,
better than the young plants do.
SEA
377
SEE
that number if a mile; as but little
time need be spent, either in load
ing or unloading. About ten loads
of a hundred gallons each would
"Sea water might be carried
from the sea some distance on the
land, to advantage, in the following
manner:-Take a one horse cart,
and suspend a tight box, rightly probably be sufficient for an acre
shaped, under the axletree; the at any one time."-Farmer's As-
box having a valve in the under-sistant.
side; drive the cart into the water,
and the valve opens, and lets that
fluid into the box; and, when the
cart is driven out, the valve closes
and holds the water.
"When the cart is driven out to
the ground on which the water is
to be spread, this operation may
be performed in the manner we
shall next describe: A tube is to
be provided, say, twelve feet in
length, with small holes bored into
it at the distance of six inches apart,
and the ends of the tube closed;
attach this to the under side of the
box, crossways, at either end, so as
to be out of the way of the wheels
of the cart.
"When you come to where the
water is to be spread, it is to be let
out of the box into the tube, by an
aperture for the purpose; and as
the cart moves along, the water runs
out of each of the small holes in the
tube, and thus sprinkles over a
piece of ground of twelve feet wide,
till the whole is exhausted.
"With the next load; begin
where the water ceased running
before, and thus continue the wa-
tered strip across the field. Then
take another strip of twelve feet
wide, adjoining that already water-
ed, and thus proceed till the whole
has been gone over.
SEEDS of Vegetables, "their
last product, by which their species
are propagated; being frequently
all the fruit of a plant, but some-
time's only a part included in the
fruit.
66
Every seed contains a plant in
embryo. The embryo, which is
the whole future plant in minia-
ture, is called the germ or bud;
and is rooted in the cotyledon, or
placenta, which makes its involu-
crum, or cover. The cotyledon
is always double; and in the mid-
dle, or common centre of the two,
is a point or speck, viz. the em-
bryo plantule, which being acted
on by the warmth of the sun and
of the earth, begins to protrude its
radicle, or root, downwards, and
soon after, its plumula, or bud, up-
wards; and as the requisite heat
continues, it draws nourishment by
the root, and so continues to unfold
itself and grow.
+
"The two cotyledons of a seed,
are a case to the little embryo
plant; covering it up, and shelter-
ing it from injuries, and feeding it.
from its own proper substance;
which the plantule receives and
draws to itself by an infinite num-
ber of little filaments, which it
sends into the body of the placen-
ta.
"In this way a man would carry "The cotyledons for the most
out, say, forty cart loads a day, at part abound with a balsam dispos-
the distance of half a mile, or halfed in proper cells; and this seems
48
378
SEE
SEE
.
to be oil brought to its greatest
perfection, while it remains tumid,
and lodged in these repositories.
One part of the composition of this
balsam is oily and tenacious, and
serves to defend the embryo from
any extraneous moisture; and, by
its viscidity, to entangle and retain
the fine, pure, volatile spirit, which
is the ultimate production of the
plant. This oil is never observed
to enter into the vessels of the em-
bryo, which are too fine to admit
so thick a fluid. The spirit, how-
ever, being quickened by an active
power, may possibly breathe a vital
principle into the juices that nour
ish the embryo, and stamp upon it
the character that distinguishes the
family; after which, every thing is
changed into the proper nature of
that particular plant.
they are one year old: This differ-
ence is in a great measure owing
to their abounding more or less
with oil; as also to the nature of
the oil, and the texture of their
outward covering. All seeds re-
quire some share of fresh air, to
keep the germen in a healthy state;
and where the air is absolutely ex-
cluded, the vegetative quality of the
seeds will be soon lost. But seeds
will be longest of all preserved in
the earth, provided they are buried
so deep as to be beyond the influ-
ence of the sun and showers; since
they have been found to lie thus
buried twenty or thirty years, and
yet vegetate as well as new seeds.
How the vegetative life is so long
preserved, by burying them so
deep, is very difficult to explain ;
but as the fact is very well known,
"Now when the seed is commit-it accounts for the production of
ted to the earth, the placenta still plants out of earth taken from the
adheres to the embryo for some bottom of vaults, houses, &c.
time, and guards it from the access
of noxious colds, &c. and evening seeds, there are many kinds
prepares and purifies the cruder which require to be sown soon
juice which the young plant is to re- after they are ripe; and there are
ceive from the earth, by straining many others which lie in the ground
it through its own body. This it a year, sometimes two or three
continues to do, till the embryo years, before the plant comes up:
plant being a little enured to its Hence, when seeds brought from
new element, and its root tolerably distant countries are
sown, the
fixed in the ground, and fit to ab-ground should not be disturbed, at
sorb the juice thereof, it then per- least for two years, for fear of de-
ishes, and the plant may be said to stroying the young plants.
be delivered; so that nature ob-
serves the same method in plants.
as in animals in the mother's
womb.
65
Many sorts of seeds will con
tinue good for several years, and
retain their vegetative faculty;
whereas others will not grow after
"In the common method of sow-
"As to the method of preserv-
ing seeds, the dry kinds are best
kept in their pods or outer cover-
ings; but the seeds of all soft fruits,
as cucumbers, melons, &c. must be
cleansed from the pulp and muci-
lage which surround them; other-
wise the rotting of these parts will
corrupt the seeds.
SEE
379
SHA
"When seeds are gathered, it an hundred years old, were also
should always be done in dry wea-made to vegetate by those means.
ther; and then they should be Old seeds may likewise be made
hung up in bags in a dry room, so to germinate by immersing them
as not to deprive them of air."-in water nearly boiling hot for
Dictionary of Arts.
"The seeds of plants exalted by
cultivation always furnish large
and improved varieties; but the
flavour, and even the colour of the
fruit, seems to be a matter of acci
dent. Thus a hundred seeds of
the golden pippin will all produce
fine large-leaved apple trees, bear-
ing fruit of considerable size; but
the tastes and colours of the apples
from each will be different, and
none will be the same in kind as
those of the pippin itself. Some
will be sweet, some sour, some
bitter, some mawkish, some aro-
matic, some yellow, some green,
some red, some streaked. All the
apples will, however, be more per-
fect than those from the seeds of
the crab, which produce trees all
of the same kind, and all bearing
sour and diminutive fruit."-Agri-
cultural Chemistry.
•
about half a minute, and cooling ·
them suddenly by exposure to air.
But if such seeds are sown when
the earth is cold, they will rot in
the ground.
SEEDING, the same as sowing
of seed. See the article Sowing.
SEEDLING, a root that springs
from seed sown. The name is appli-
ed also to the tender tops of plants
that have newly come from seed.
The little plants are thus distin-
guished from cuttings, layers, and
slips.
SEMINATION, the manner in
which plants shed and disperse
their seeds.
Some seeds are so heavy, that
they fall directly to the ground;
others are furnished with a pap-
pus, or down, that they may, by
means thereof, be dispersed by the
wind; and others again are con-
tained in elastic capsules, which,
bursting open with considerable
force, dart or throw out the seeds
to different distances. Some of the
second sort are wafted over vast
tracts of land, or even carried to
remote countries. The weed that
is peculiar to burnt land, and is
called fire weed, bas such a kind of
seed: It is not strange, therefore,
that we see it grow in burnt places,
many miles from where it has
It has been recommended when
seeds are intended to be sent a
great distance, or it is wished to
preserve them a long time, to wrap
them in absorbent paper, and sur-
round them by moist brown sugar.
Mr. Humboldt has found, that
seeds, which do not commonly
germinate, become capable of ger-
minating when immersed in oxyge-
nated muriatic acid gas mixed with
water. If the liquid be a little warm-grown before.
ed, it will quicken the vegetation SHADE, a shelter or defence.
of seeds surprisingly. Cresses thus against the heat of the sun. Cattle
treated exhibited germs in three need not only to be sheltered
hours. Seeds which were more than against cold and wet weather in
380
SHE
SHE
other seasons, but against heat in
summer. Therefore the pastures
in which they feed, should have
trees in them, that they may repair
to their shadow in the hottest hours.
Clumps are preferable to single
trees, as they not only afford a cool
shade, but may screen the cattle
from the violence of rain and
storms, some of which happen in
the time of grazing.
SHED, a slight roof or cover-square and short ones.
ing, of boards or other materials,
for temporary purposes. Where
boards are not easily obtained, sheds
may be covered with straw, which
will last a few years; or with the
bark of trees, which will be far
more durable.
one sheer, as they express it, that
is, has been sheared but once, or
is in its second year, it has two
broad teeth before: When it is
two shear, it will have four: When
three, six: When four shear, or in
its fifth year, it will have eight
teeth before. After this, their
mouths begin to break.
SHEEP, a well known tame
animal.
They multiply fast; they are
subject to but few diseases in this
country; their flesh is excellent
food, and their wool of the greatest
importance to this nation; in which
the woollen manufactory ought to
be encouraged, and may be carried
on to great advantage.
Mortimer says, "The farmer
should always buy his sheep from
a worse land than his own, and
they should be big boned, and have
a long greasy wool.
"For the choice of sheep to
breed, the ram must be young.
and his skin of the same colour
with his wool; for the lambs will
be of the same colour with his
skin. Those ewes which have no
horns, are found to be the best
breeders."
The farmers of Europe know
how to distinguish the age of sheep
by their teeth. When a sheep is
"The fat pastures breed straight
tall sheep, and the barren hills
But the
best sheep of all, are those bred
upon new ploughed land, the rea-
son of which may be easily guessed,
as such land is commonly the most
free from bad grasses.
"All wet and moist lands are
bad for sheep, especially such as
are subject to be overflowed, and
to have sand and dirt left on them.
The salt marshes are an exception
from this general rule: For their
saltness makes amends for their
moisture; any thing salt, by reason
of its drying quality, being of great
advantage to sheep. The best
time for sheep to yean, which go
twenty weeks with lamb, is in
April, unless the owner has any
forward grass, or turnips. Ewes
that are big, should be kept but
bare; for it is dangerous for them
to be fat at the time of their bring-
ing forth their young. They may
be well fed, indeed, like cows, a
fortnight beforehand, to put them
in heart.”
be
M. Buffon says, "One ram will
sufficient for twenty-five or
thirty ewes; but that he should be
remarkable for strength and come-
liness: That those which have no
horns are very indifferent: That the
head of a ram should be large and
SHE
381
SHE
thick, the forehead broad, the eyes
large and black, the nose short, the
neck thick, the body long, the back
and rump broad, the testicles large,
and the tail long: That the best
are white, with a large quantity of
wool on the belly, tail, head and
ears, down to the eyes: That the
best sheep for propagation, are
those which have most wool, and
that close, long, silky and white;
especially if, at the same time,
they have a large body, a thick
neck, and are light footed."
He says,
"that ewes fatten very
fast during their pregnancy; that
as they often hurt themselves, and
frequently miscarry, so they some-
times become barren; and that it
is not very extraordinary for them
to bring forth monstrous produc-
tions. But when properly tended,
they are capable of yeaning during
the whole of their life, or to the
age of ten or twelve years. But
most commonly when they come
to be seven or eight years old,
they begin to break, and become
sickly; and that a ram is no longer
fit for propagation after eight years,
at which time he should be knit,
and fattened with the old sheep."
According to the same writer,
sheep should in the summer be
turned out early in the morning to
feed; and in four or five hours,
after watering, be brought back to
the fold, or to some shady place.
At four o'clock, P.M. they should
be turned to their pasture again,
and continue there till evening;
and welle it not for the danger of
wolves, they should pass the night
in the open air, which would ren-
der them more vigorous, clean,
"
and healthy. As the too great heat
of the sun is hurtful to them, shady
pastures are best for them; or else
to drive them to a place with a
western descent in the morning,
and the contrary towards evening."
That their wool may be saved,
they should not be pastured in
bushy places, or where there are
briars. Sheep are often thus de-
prived of most of their fleeces;
which besides the loss of the wool,
is very hurtful to the animals, when
the weather is not warm.
The above writer directs, "that
every year a flock of sheep should
be examined, in order to find out
such as begin to grow old, and
ought to be turned off for fattening.
As they require a particular ma-
nagement, so they should be put in
a flock by themselves. They
should feed while the grass is mois-
tened with dew in the morning.
Salt should be given them to excite
thirst, as the more they drink, the
faster they will grow fat. But to
complete their fattening, and make
their flesh firm and solid, they
should have some corn or grain
given them." They may be fat-
[tened in the winter; but it is com-
monly too expensive, as they will
require a good deal of richer food
than hay. When sheep are once
become fat, they should be killed ;
for it is said they cannot be made
fat a second time. The teeth of
ewes begin to decay at five, those
of wethers at seven, and those of
rams not until eight.
We shear our sheep in general
too early in this country. In Eng-
land, where the spring is more for-
ward than in this country, the ap-
382
SHE
SHE
proved time of shearing is from
the middle to the latter end of
June. They should be washed in
a warm time. After
After this they
should run three or four days in a
clean pasture, before they are
shorn.. It is good for them to have
time to sweat a little in their wool,
after washing.
In shearing, great care should be
taken not to wound, prick, or cut
their skins with the shears. In
England, after shearing, the far-
mers smear their sheep with a
mixture of tar and fresh butter.
This not only cures any little
wounds that may chance to get in
shearing, but is supposed to fortify
their bodies against cold, and cause
their wool to grow again the soon-
er.
lowed to eat as much as they
please, their health requires it, and
they will pay well for it to the
owner.
Some are fond of having black
sheep in their flock. But their
wool is seldom so tine, or so strong,
as that of white ones. Nor is the
wool ever a perfectly good black,
and it is found difficult to give it
any good durable colour by dying.
There are a great many varie-
ties of sheep with differences more
or less marked. To give even an
abridged account of all the kinds
described in foreign publications
would require a volume.
In Eng-
land, the principal division of
sheep is into the LONG WOOL, and
the SHORT WOOL kinds. Among
those bearing long wool, are the
Teeswater, the Lincolnshire, the
South Downs, the Bakewell or
Dishley breeds, &c. &c. The ori-
If any cold rain happens soon
after shearing, the sheep should be
put up in a warm house. For if
they be left abroad, it is apt to begin of the last mentioned breed of
fatal to them.
sheep is thus described by an Eng-
But Mr. Young thinks they arelish writer.
so apt to be hurt by being kept
very warm, that they should never
be confined to a house, but always
have the door open, that they may
be in the house or the yard as they
choose. They will undoubtedly
prefer the warmer place when
they are newly shorn, if the air be
colder than common. Small flocks
commonly prosper better than
large ones, as they are not often so
overheated by crowding each other.
In France, fifteen pounds of salt
per annum are allowed to a sheep,
and fifty for each head of cattle.
The truth is, that in the inland
parts of this country, both sorts
should have salt often, and be al-
"Mr. Bakewell selected from
his own flock, and from the flocks
of others those sheep to breed from,
which possessed in the greatest
degree that perfection of form he
was desirous to retain and perpetu-
ate. By judiciously crossing them,
and selecting the most perfect of
their progeny, he at length suc-
ceeded in forming the breed, which
has been distinguished by the name
of the New Leicester, or Dishley
breed; and having attained his
object, he carefully guarded against
any future intermixtures with other
breeds. This breed exceeds all
others in its propensity to fatten;
and by crossing by rams with this
SHE
383
SHE
breed, a very considerable portion | the Spanish climate, it has been
of the long-wooled sheep in Eng- ascertained that the fineness of the
land have been greatly improved Spanish wool is not impaired by
in this respect.
breeding the sheep in England,
France, Saxony, Hungary, &c.
Mr. Custis, of Virginia, is rear-
ing a new breed of sheep, which
he calls the Arlington sheep, with
long-wooled fleeces for worsted
manufactures. They are a mix-
ture of the Bakewell breed with a
ram from Persia, imported by
General Washington.
"The peculiar characters of
these sheep have been well de-
scribed by Mr. Culley, an eminent
grazier in Northumberland, who
introduced the breed into that part
of England. The Dishley breed
are distinguished from other long-
wooled breeds by their fine lively
eyes, clean heads, straight, broad,
flat backs, round (barrel like) bo- The common practice of smear-
dies, very fine small bones, thin ing the bodies of sheep with a mix-
pelts, and inclination to fat at an ture of tar and fresh butter or
early age. The last property is other oily substance is not approv-
probably owing to the before speed of by Mr. Luccock, an English
cified qualities, which, from obser- writer, who says, "The oil which
obser-writer,
vation and experience, there is the mixture contains is most cer-
reason to believe extend generally tainly useful, but the tar, a dirty
through every species of domestic and tenacious substance, adheres
quadrupeds. The Dishley breed
is not only peculiar for the mutton
being fat, but also for the fineness
of the grain: the flavour is supe-
rior to the mutton of most other
long-wooled breeds. The weight
of the carcase may be stated in
general; ewes three or four years
old from eighteen to twenty-six
pounds per quarter; wethers, two
years old from twenty to thirty
pounds.'
""
Among the short-wooled sheep,
the English possess, besides the
Merino breed, the Ryeland, the
Shropshire, the Shetland, the Dor-
set, Wilts, &c. &c. Merino sheep
were first introduced into Great
Britain in the year 1787; and al
though it was formerly a general
opinion, that the excellence of
their fleece depended in a great
degree upon the temperature of
to the wool so closely as frequent-
ly to corrode the hair, rendering
the part to which it was immedi-
ately applied thin, rough and weak.
When affected by the filthy cus-
tom of smearing, the pile is less
capable of acquiring the softer and
more delicate tints, which it is so
often desirable to communicate to
the different articles of the woollen
manufacture. A portion of that
dirt, which it obstinately retains
through every previous process, is
dissolved among the ingredients of
the dying vat, and disqualifies
them from communicating that
vivid lustre, which they would
have afforded to a purer wool,
even though the artist supply his
pans with a much larger proportion
of the colouring materials. In the
subsequent processes of the manu-
facture, this filthy staple produces
384
SHE
SHE
•
much greater inconvenience, and
is subject to more considerable
waste than the purer pile, even
though we make every reasonable
allowance for the weight of dirt
which it obviously contains; in the
jenney and the loom, the machines
employed in spinning and weaving
it, more dexterity and patience are
required of the work people, and
the cloth which it produces is in
ferior in its quality, and smaller in
its quantity than might have been
obtained from the same pile in a
pure state. These objections to
tar, when it is applied to wool as a
substitute for the yolk of the sheep
are collected chiefly from the clo-
thiers' account of it, and appear
abundantly sufficient to prompt him
to require a less pernicious mix-
ture. The only circumstance,
which can be mentioned as a coun-
terbalance to these objections, is
the consistency which it gives to
oil or other greasy substances, with
which it is mingled, whereby they
are retained among the pile, al-
though exposed to the heat of the
animal and the detersive influence
of the rain. But if it be desirable
in all substitutes of this kind to
imitate as nearly as possible the
combinations of nature, we should
apply to the growing pile a thick
coating of soap in all cases where
the sheep is incapable from the
peculiarity of its constitution of
yielding a sufficient quantity of
yolk to secure a valuable fleece."
Luccock's Essay on Wool. 131-2. |
Large numbers of sheep should
not be penned together during
shearing, nor should their legs be
tied together in that process.
The wool of yearling sheep
should be kept by itself; because
it is said to make the cloth shrink
unequally, if mixed with the wool
of older sheep. The fleeces may
be sorted at shearing time, making
separate parcels of the thighs the
belly, the back, and sides.. Wool
should not be kept long without
washing, as in that case it is liable
to ferment and spoil in hot wea-
ther. After shearing, the horned
sheep should be examined to see
that the horns do not press on the
scull, or endanger the eyes. In
such case they should be sawed
off, tar applied to the stums, and a
double linen cloth tied over them
to keep off flies. At this time
lambs should be docked, castrated
and marked.
When ewes are intended to be
fatted, the lambs must be weaned
early, and then if the ewes take the
ram again, they will fatten the
better. Lambs thus weaned should
be put in a pasture of young and
tender grass out of the hearing of
their dams, and an old wether or
ewe should be put with them. The
ewes should be milked every day
or two for the first week, till their
milk dries up.
Lambs should be shorn the first
year. Lambs, which do not come
until the snow be gone, are most
easily reared., The rams should,
therefore, be kept from the ewes
till about five months previous to
the time the ground is generally
bare in the spring.
In Spain twenty five ewes are
allowed to a ram. Mr. Living-
ston. of New York, (who has writ-
ten an excellent treatise on sheep,
•
1
SHE
385
SHE
from which many of these direc-
tions are abridged) thinks forty
ewes are not too many for one
ram: and says that instances are
not unfrequent, where one ram
has served double and even treble
that number. If the ram, how-
ever, be not well kept, where so
many ewes are allowed, he will be
in danger of being injured.
close at the sides as to preclude
the free circulation of air. It
should be so large as not to cause
the sheep to be crowded. It should
contain some small apartments in
which to keep the ewes a few days
previous to, and after they have
lambs. These should be fed dur-
ing this time with succulent food,
and their apartments kept well-lit-
yard should be such as to keep out
dogs. If the flock be large, the
wethers should be kept by them-
selves. They do not require so
good keeping as the ewes and
young sheep.
Sheep need no water in the sum-tered. The fence round the sheep
mer, as they feed when the dew is
on. In winter they should have
access to it. When sheep have
colds and discharge mucus from
the nose, good feeding, together
with pine boughs, given them oc-
casionally, will cure them; or tar
spread over a board, over which a
little fine salt is strewed, will in-
duce sheep to lick up the tar,
and this will cure a cold.
Flocks of sheep thrive the bet-
ter for being changed frequently,
and those will be most benefited
which are taken from poor and put
into rich pastures. Their pastures
should be clear of weeds, briars
and burrs. Clover gives the best
pasture for sheep. There is a
species of laurel which is poisonous
to sheep.
If sheep are fed with a little In-
dian corn, about half a gill a day
to each, it will keep them in good
heart, prevent the wool from fall-
ing off, and enable the ewes to
rear their young much better. Mr. L. Hommedieu says, that an
They should have the best of hayointment made of gunpowder and
through the winter, and red clover brimstone, finely powdered and
is esteemed the best. About a mixed with currier's oil, and ap-
peck of salt applied to every ton plied to the throats of sheep, will
of hay is recommended. The rack prevent wolves from killing them.
in which the hay is put should be This must be renewed as often as
upright, so that in feeding the the ointment loses its moisture,
seeds, chaff, &c. may not fall into which may be four or five times in
the wool about their necks. Un- a season.
der the rack should be a trough
for catching the seeds of the hay,
and feeding the sheep.
Sheep should have a yard by
themselves, which should be spa-
cious in proportion to the number
of the flock. They should have a
shelter, close over head, but not so
49
Merino sheep are the most pro-
fitable. Mr. Livingston, in de-
scribing the result of his sheep
shearing in 1808, says, that from
twenty-nine common sheep he had
upwards of one hundred and four-
teen pounds, which he sold at
thirty-seven and an half cents a
386
SHE
SHE
pound. This, allowing one dollar
and fifty cents for the expense of
keeping each sheep for a year, fell
short three cents on each fleece of
paying for their keeping.
Eighty-three half-blooded ewes
gave upwards of three hundred and
ninety-three pounds; and forty-
seven half-blooded wethers gave
upwards of two hundred and thirty-
six pounds. This wool sold for
seventy-five cents a pound. Clear
profits on the fleece of each ewe
two dollars and three cents; on
the fleece of each wether, two dol-
lars and fifty-five cents.
Thirty-three fourth-blooded ewes
gave upwards of one hundred and
fifty-six pounds; and three wethers
of the same blood gave upwards of
sixteen pounds. This wool sold
for one dollar and twenty-five cents
a pound. Clear profits on the
fleece of each ewe four dollars and
seventy-five cents; on the fleece
of each wether, two dollars and
twenty-five cents.
the engrafting of a Merino stock
upon our common ewes, to in-
crease the size of the breed; and
in the selection of the ewes to take
those which are at least three
years old, as large as can be ob-
tained of the sort, with the belly
large and well covered with wool;
chine and loin broad, breast deep,
buttocks full, the eyes lively, the
bag large and the teats long, with
little hair on the hinder parts.
Mr. Livingston thinks the wool
of his Merino sheep, which he has
raised in this country, finer than
that of those imported. They will
endure the rigour of our winters,
and are successfully raised in Swe-
den, where the climate is much
colder than ours. He says, that
"like all other sheep, they will be
found the better for good keeping;
yet they will not suffer more than
others from neglect; and that they
will in every mixed flock be found
amongst the most thrifty in the se-
verest weather.
The ram, when put to the ewes,
should be better fed than usual.
A slice or two of bread, made of
Indian corn meal, may be given
him by hand two or three times a
day. When the ewes are not
suckling lambs, they may, at any
time, be made to take the ram by
feeding them with a little Indian
corn.
Seven full-bred ewes gave up-
wards of thirty-six pounds; and
one ram, fourteen months old, gave
upwards of nine pounds. This
wool sold at two dollars a pound.
Clear profits on the fleece of each
ewe, eight dollars and seventy-
five cents; on the ram, seventeen
dollars and twenty-five cents. This
wool was all sold at the above
prices, without being washed.
After Merino wool has been sort-
It has been ascertained thated, and is to be manufactured in
these sheep are as profitable for the family, let it be covered with
fatting as for their wool, as they soft water, mixed with one-third
become fat with a less quantity of urine, and stand fifteen hours or
food, in proportion to their bulk, longer, if the weather be cold. A
than any other kind.
cauldron is then to be put on the
fire with some soft water, and let
Mr. Livingston recommends
SHE
387
SHE
two-thirds of that which covers the
fleeces, be added to it. When so
hot as that the hand cannot bear
it, take out the wool, put it in
a basket, put the basket in the
cauldron, and there wash the wool
by pressing, without any wringing
of it, and then cleanse it in running
water. If the water in the caul-
dron become too dirty, take more
from that in which it was first
soaked.
Dry the wool in the shade; not
in the sun; let it then be beaten
with a rod, which takes out all
seeds, &c. and softens it; then pick
it, by opening it lengthwise care-
fully, and card it with cotton, not
with wool-cards. Carding ma-
chines are not to be used for this
wool, unless particularly fitted for
it.
The above is the European me-
thod of managing this wool before
carding, &c. but Mr. Livingston
thinks that if the wool be carefully
picked and carded, so as to get out
most of the dirt, and woven in this
way, that it will answer without
washing; in which case less oil or
grease will be necessary.
We shall here mention some of
the most common diseases to which
sheep are liable, with the most ap-
proved remedies.
Rot. For a description of this
disease, see the article Ror in its
alphabetical order. We shall here
add somewhat respecting its cure.
"Miller recommends parsley as
being eminently serviceable. Mr.
Rice recommends every farmer
to remove his sheep, in wet and
warm seasons, from such lands as
are liable to occasion the rot; but
if this be impracticable, he pre-
scribes a spoonful of common salt
for cach, together with a similar
quantity of flour, in a pint of water,
once or twice a week, by way of
preventive: and if the disorder be
in an incipient state, a similar dose
administered four or five succes-
sive mornings, will, in his opinion,
probably effect a cure; as the ad-
dition of the flour and water not
only abates the pungency of the
salt, but also disposes it to mix
more gradually, though at the same
time more efficaciously with the
chyle. Dr. Darwin, however,
thinks the salt would be more ser-
viceable, if it were combined into
a ball with about sixty grains of iron
filings, by means of flour, and in-
troduced into the sheep's throat
every morning for one week.
Massachusetts Agricultural Reposi-
tory, Vol. IV. p. 69.
See
The following recipe for the rot
in sheep is from Young's Annals,
Vol. XIII. p. 209. "Give to each
sheep one spoonful of spirits of
turpentine, mixed with two of wa-
ter, after fasting twelve hours-let
them have three doses, staying
six days between each dose; this
is said to have been used with suc-
cess, even in cases where the fleece
has been nearly gone, and the throat
terribly swelled."
Scab. "This appears by the
sheep rubbing the part affected,
and pulling out the wool in that
part with their teeth, or by loose
locks of wool rising on their backs
and shoulders.
"The sheep infected is first to
be taken from the flock, and put
by itself; and then the part affect-
388
SHE
SHE
ed is to have the wool taken off, as
far as the skin feels hard to the
finger, washed with soap suds and
rubbed hard with a shoe-brush, so
as to cleanse and break the scab.
Then anoint it with a decoction of
tobacco-water, mixed with the
third of lie of wood ashes, as much
grease as this lie will dissolve, a
small quantity of tar, and about an
eighth of the whole mass of the
spirits of turpentine. This oint-
ment is to be rubbed on the part
affected, and for some little dis-
tance round it, at three different
times, with an interval of three
days after each washing. With
timely precautions this will always
be found sufficient.
rows are directed to be traced,
parallel to that on the back, and
one should likewise be drawn
downwards, on each side between
the fore and hind legs.
After this application the sheep
may be turned among the flock
without any danger of the infec-
tion's being communicated. Ano-
ther remedy is an ointment com-
posed of three parts grease, and
one of spirits of turpentine.
Tick.-Ticks may be destroyed
by oil, a strong decoction of tobac-
co, or by tobacco smoke. The
smoke may be taken into the bel-
lows, the wool opened, the smoke
blown in, and the wool closed.
This should be repeated at proper
distances over every part of the
body. A still easier method, though
perhaps not so immediately effica-
cious is to part the wool of the
animal on each side of its spine,
from its head to its tail, and drop
some Scotch snuff in the opening.
Sir Joseph Banks, in a commu-
nication to the Society for the En-
couragement of Arts, directs for
this disorder, pure quicksilver, one
pound; Venice turpentine, and
common oil of turpentine half a
pound each; and of hog's lard four
pounds, to be triturated in a mor- Staggers.-"This is a species of
tar, till the mercury be completely apoplexy, arising from too great
incorporated with the ingredients. fulness of blood. It principally
The method of using this oint-attacks young lambs, which fall
ment is as follows. The head of down; and if not timely relieved
the sheep must first be rubbed; speedily perish. The mode of cure
after which a furrow is to be drawn generally adopted by shepherds, is
with the finger, from the region to bleed the creatures frequently
between the ears, along the back in the ege-vein, and to remove
to the point of the tail, so as to di- them to a coarse pasture, with a
vide the wool till the skin be ex-view to prevent a relapse."-Do-
posed to the touch. Next, the mestic Encyclopedia.
finger, being slightly dipped in the
preparation, should be drawn along
the skin. Similar lines should far-ley, made either of wood ashes, or
ther be opened down the shoul- pot or pearl ash, turned down the
ders and thighs, as far as the wool throat of a sheep that is hoven or
extends; and, if the animal be con- swoln, by eating too much green
siderably infected, two other fur- or succulent food, will give imme-
diate relief.
:
Hoven or swollen.-It has been
affirmed that a small quantity of
SHE
389
SHE
Purging.—A slight purging, when | 351, observes, that the dysentery
sheep are first turned to grass, will or flux in sheep has been cured by
not injure them. But when this is" rubbing with a cob between the
severe, the sheep should be housed, sheep's hoofs."
dosed with castor oil, and fed with
some crusts of wheat bread.
The fly or maggot is an insect,
which breeds in the skin of sheep.
If the animal be attacked before
shearing, it becomes sickly and in-
disposed; its wool, not yielding a
sufficient quantity of yolk, affords a
warm nest for the reception of the
eggs, which are speedily hatched.
The maggots immediately feed on
the flesh of the sheep; and if they
be not timely destroyed, the ver-
min will multiply so rapidly as to
destroy the animal in a short time.
The remedy recommended is cor-
rosive sublimate and turpentine
rubbed into the sore. Probably
spirits of turpentine, or fine salt,
would be equally efficacious.
Mr. Livingston, in the Trans-
actions of the Agricultural Society,
New-York, observes, that "the
legs of sheep are furnished with a
duct, terminating in the fissure of
the hoof; from which, when the
animal is in health, there is secret-
ed a white fluid, but when sickly,
ducts are stopped by the hardening
of the fluid.´´He has in some in-
stances found, that the sheep were
relieved, merely by pressing out
the hardened matter with the fin-
ger from the orifice of the duct in
in each foot, and thinks that it may,
in some cases, be proper to place
their feet in warm water, or to use
a probe or hard brush, for cleans-
ing this passage.
22
A writer in the Massachusetts
Agricultural Journal, Vol. III. p.
Worms in the head of sheep.-
The symptoms of this complaint
are seen in the animals lopping
their ears, shaking their heads,
scouring, stupidity, loss of appetite.
These generally terminate in con-
sumption and death.
Cure.-Force vinegar by a squirt-
gun or syringe into the head of the
sheep. This will produce sneez-
ing and convulsions in the sheep,
by which the worms will be dis-
charged. See Massachusetts Agri-
cultural Repository, Vol. III. page
325., and. Vol. IV. pages 30. 33.
140. 145. 190.
✓
In washing sheep, the use of wa-
ter impregnated with lime, is to be
avoided; for this substance de-
composes the yolk of the wool;
and wool often washed in calcare
ous water become rough and brit-
tle.
SHELLS, stony coverings, which
nature prepares for certain kinds
of animals in the sea, and by which
they are defended; which are
therefore denominated shell fish.
These shells are much of the
same nature as limestone, and are
one of the best kinds of manure.
No length of time deprives those
shells of their virtue, which are
buried deep in the earth. But shells
which lie on the surface of the
ground will gradually moulder, and
become lime.
This manure is so highly es-
teemed in some parts of Europe,
that the farmers even carry it in
bags upon horses to the distance
of several miles from the sea.
1
390
SLI
SHE
Shells may be applied to the soil
at one season of the year as well
as at another; excepting that they
should not be carted on at a time
when the ground is so wet as to be
poachy; because poaching is hurt-
ful to all soils. The farmer may
generally do this work at a time
when he is most at leisure. Even
in winter those may well be re-
moved, which lie lower in the sea
than high water mark.
Mr. Weston recommends that
shells be ground fine before they
are used as manure; and says, the
finer they are ground the farther
they will go. But it requires so
much labour to grind them, that I
doubt whether it be worth while to
do it, unless it be for gardens.
And in the long run, they will
benefit the soil as much without
grinding. Though the benefit of
them, when applied whole, do not
appear much in the first and second
year, the tillage of every year will
help to break and crumble them;
and in a course of years, by con-
tinual tillage, they will be sufficient-
ly dissolved, and intimately mixed
with the soil.
will lie with the concave sides up-
wards in the earth, and will stop
the water in its descent, and so as-
sist the soil in retaining moisture.
Mr. Eliot tried a sort of shell
sand, which he says he found to be
equal to good dung. If it had as
much effect as dung at first, it must
have been vastly better than dung
upon the whole: Because shells
are a lasting advantage to the soil.
SITHE, a well known instru-
ment to cut grass. This instru-
ment should consist of tough iron
and the best of steel, well wrought
together, and nicely tempered.
If the temper of a sithe should
prove to be too high, it may be
lowered by laying it to the hot sun
a few days in midsummer.
SLED, or SLEDGE, a carriage
without wheels, chiefly used to
convey loads when the ground is
covered with snow.
Plank sleds,
and framed sleds, are both used.
The latter for lightness are rather
preferable. But plank sleds are
more used for the heaviest loads,
as masts and mill logs. The com-
mon length of a sled is eight or
nine feet; but longer ones are
better for carrying boards, and long
timber.
SLIPS, twigs taken from a tree,
or shrub, to propagate by planting
them in a moist soil.
More than half, or even two-
It is chiefly the smaller shells
that should be thus used, such as
those of clams, muscles, &c. for
these will be sooner dissolved than
larger ones. As small shells are
mostly mixed with sand, or tena-
cious mud, they need not be se-thirds of their length, should be
parated from these substances.
Those that are mixed with sand
will be a proper dressing for cold,
stiff and clayey soils; and those
which are mixed with mud should
be laid upon soils that are dry
and light. For many of the shells
buried in the soil. They strike
root more easily than cuttings.
Early in the spring is the right sea-
son to perform it. I have the best
success when I do it as soon as the
ground is thawed in the spring,
The slips should either be plant-
SLO
391
SLU
ed immediately after they are taken
from the trees; or the lower ends
should be enclosed in wet clay till
they are set in the ground. This
last will be necessary when the
slips must be carried to any con-
siderable distance. And in this
case, they should lie for a while in
water before they are put into the
ground.
It is necessary to place them in
moist earth, rich, and finely pul-
verised; and they should be fre-
quently refreshed by a little water-
ing, unless the season be wet.
But it is the surest method to
plant slips in pots, especially of
those kinds which are least apt to
strike root. In this case, it will
not be at all difficult to give them
continually the right quantity of
moisture. Slips from almost any
kinds of trees and shrubs may be
thus made to grow; but they will
never make so large trees as those
which come from the seeds. They
will be the more fit, however, for
the borders of gardens.
SLOUGH, a deep muddy spot
of earth.
Soft and hollow places in roads,
where puddles of water stand after
rain, by means of the frequent
passing of loaded wheel carriages,
often become deep and trouble-
some sloughs. The way to pre-
vent their existence, is to make a
channel, or a covered drain, where
the shape of the ground admits of
it, to lead away the superfluous
water. For the ground will thus
be permitted to dry and harden, so
as to prevent the sinking of wheels
into it.
To cure a slough in a road, sink
|
pebbles, or any kind of stones into
the bottom, and cover them with a
thick coat of coarse gravel, or with
cinder from a smith's forge, or with
rubbish from a brick kiln. But
this should be done in a dry sea-
son.
SLUICE, a frame of timber,
serving to obstruct and raise the
water of the sea, or of a river, and
to let it pass as there may be oc-
casion for it.
Sluices are required for mills,
and for locks to carry on inland
navigation. But I shall only con-
sider those sluices which the hus-
bandman may find useful in flood-
ing of low lands, or watering a dry
soil with the Persian wheel, or in
reclaiming of marshes.
For the first and second of these
purposes, sluices with gates to raise
and let down are proper. But for
the last gates are not needed when
the stream is large.
The Persian wheel has floats
made hollow, and of such a con-
struction, as to raise the water from
a sluice, to the height of two-thirds
the diameter of the wheel; where
the floats discharge the water into
a trough; whence it is conveyed
away in such a manner as to water
the neighbouring lands.
For a
particular account of the machine,
see Mills's Duhamel.
For reclaiming of marshes, boxes
with shutters are used, especially
when but a small quantity of fresh
water will need to pass out through
the sluices. A box may be made
of four pretty wide and strong
planks, either nailed or pegged
together. The length of the box
must be equal to the thickness of
392
SMU
SMU
•
the bottom of the dyke; and rather
project a little at each end, that
the passages may not be obstructed
by dirt or sods falling from the
dyke. These boxes should be
placed in the lowest hollows of the
marsh, or in the creeks, and the
ground well hardened beneath
them, and on their sides. It is
better to place two or three boxes
side by side, if needful, than go to
the expense of building a more
costly kind of sluice. And each
hollow or creek, through which a
dyke passes, and wherever there is
likely ever to be fresh water to
convey away, should have one or
more of these little sluices.
Each box should have a clapper,
or shutter. The shutter is to be
fastened to the mouth of the box,
at the end towards the sea, with
hinges made of iron or wood. The
rising tide presses the shutter close
to the mouth of the box, so that no
water can enter; and at ebb tide
the fresh water, when there is any,
opens it by its pressure, and passes
out.
When it is found necessary to
build larger kinds of sluices, Beli-
dor's Architecture Hydraulique and
Muller, should be consulted.
SMUT, a distemper in grain,
which dissolves the substance of
the kernel, turns it to a black dust,
and bursts the coats of the kernels.
M. Duhamel distinguishes it by
its entirely destroying the germ
and substance of the grain; by its
affecting not only the ear, but the
whole plant, and extending itself
most commonly to all the ears
which arise from the same root.
He says he has found it as early as
in April, by opening a plant, and
taking out a young ear, not more
than the sixth of an inch long; that
a distempered ear, when it comes
out of its hose, looks lank and
meagre, and that the black powder
may be seen through the thin coat
of the grain; that the powder has
a fetid smell, and no consistency;
that it is easily blown away by wind,
or washed away by rain; and that
he has never found it to be conta-
gious, like the powder of burnt
grain.
M. Tillet observed that the up-
per part of the stalk of a smutty
plant is not commonly straight,
from about half an inch below the
ear; and that in that part it is stiff
and hard, and is almost entirely
filled with pith, very different from
the stems of healthy plants; whence
he concludes, that the ascent of
the sap is obstructed in the stems
of smutty plants.
The real cause of smut has es-
caped the researches of many phi-
losophers. M. Duhamel justly ob-
serves, that it cannot be a want of
fecundation, as it destroys both the
male and female organs, long be-
fore the time of fecundation.
He confutes the conjectures of
its being caused by wet upon the
ears, or the violent heat of the sun,
by observing that the ears are
smutty before they cease to be co-
vered by the blades. And if it
were owing to the moisture of the
earth, he observes, that there would
be more smutty plants in the low
and wet, than in the high and dry
parts of a field, which is not fact.
He adds, that he never could
make it appear that the distemper
1
SMU
393
SMU
is caused by insects, though he had
been of that opinion; and that Dr.
Hales has proved by experiment
that it cannot proceed from the
seeds being bruised by the flail, by
bruising a number of grains with a
hammer, which grew well after-
wards, and bore sound ears. The
same excellent reasoner refutes
the opinion of those, who impute
smut to dung of sheep or pigeons.
M. Aimen, M.D. has very ju-
diciously observed, "that the smut
of corn cannot derive its origin
from a defect in the sap, as all the
parts of the plant, except the ear,
look healthy, and there are plants
whose roots are perennial, which
appear vigorous, though their seeds
are smutty every year. He is of
opinion, that whatever weakens
the plant, is apt to bring on the
smut, and instances, as a proof of
this, that it is a frequent custom in
his country, to cut rye, as soon as
it spindles, for food for their cat-
tle; and that this rye generally
produces other ears, which seldom
contain any but distempered grain
To which he adds, that seed corn
which has been pricked, or run
through with a needle; or which
is not thoroughly ripe, and that
which produces lateral or second
ears, is subject to the smut."
99
He holds "that the distemper
proceeds from an ulcer which at-
tacks first the parts which sustain
the seeds, and afterwards spreads
to the rest of the flower. But
some will say, what is the primary
cause of that ulcer? In order to
discover it, M. Aimen examined
several grains of barley with a mi-
croscope: Some of thein were big-
50.
ger than others: Some were very
hard; and others yielded to the
pressure of his nail: Some were of
a deeper, and others of a lighter
colour; some`longer and others
rounder, than they ought to have
been: Their rind was somewhat
wrinkled in several places, where-
as in its natural state it is smooth:
And lastly, he perceived upon some
of them black spots, which, when
examined with a magnifying glass,
appeared to be covered with mould.
These grains were separated care-
fully, according to their several
conditions, and sown apart, though
in the same ground. All the moul-
dy grains produced smutty ears;
the shrivelled and parched, and
those that were attacked by in-
sects, either did not grow at all, or
did not produce any smut.
"He then singled out a parcel
of sound grains, sowed them, and.
some time after took them up, in
order to examine them again with
a magnifying glass. He found some
of them mouldy, replanted them
all, and observed that the mouldy
grains produced smutty ears.
“M. Aimen, without pretending
that this is the only cause of the
smut of corn, concludes, from these
experiments, that mouldiness is a
cause of this distemper."
+
That this philosopher has hit
upon the true cause of smut, seems
rather probable, when it is consi-
dered that mould is a kind of mi-
nute moss, and that the things
which most effectually kill moss
upon land, such as lime, &c. have
hitherto proved the best antidotes
to this distemper.
The methods of preventing it,
394
SMU
SMU
recommended by different writers,
are various.
The last mentioned writer thinks,
"that the best and ripest corn
should be chosen for seed, threshed
as soon as possible, and limed im-
mediately after; as well to keep it
from growing mouldy, as to destroy
the mould already formed, if there
be any: Adding, that every me-
thod he has tried to make corn so
prepared grow mouldy, has been
ineffectual, and that he has never
known it produce smutty ears.
"As weak plants are found to
be most subject to smut, he also re-
commends good tillage, as a sure
means of giving them strength and
vigour. And he observes, that the
lies made use of, preserve the
plants from mouldiness, and of all
of them lime seems to him to be
the most effectual."
Though liming at the time of
sowing, as is the practice in this
country, does not always prevent
smut, I would recommend it to far-
mers, to do it in the method that
M. Aimen mentions as successful.
The lime will probably have a
greater effect, when used so early,
than when the mouldiness on the
kernels is become older and more
deeply rooted. The subject I am
upon, is of so great consequence to
the farmer, and to the public, that
I shall make no apology to the
reader, for proceeding to lay be
fore him the opinions of other wri-
ters; although I shall run out this
article to what some readers may
call a tedious length.
M. de Lignerolle says, "That
the surest means of avoiding smut,
and that which he has practised
with success ever since the year
1739, on upwards of three hundred
acres of land, is, to change the seed
every year, to be very careful that
the seed corn be well dried, and
thoroughly ripe, and that it be not
smutty, nor have any smutty pow-
der sticking to it. He then pours
boiling water on quick lime, in a
large tub; and after the ebullition
is over, as much cold water as there
was hot, and stirs it all strongly to-
gether, in order to dissolve and tho-
roughly mix the lime. The quantity
of wheat intended to be sowed, is
sprinkled with this ley, and then
well stirred with a shovel, and laid
in as high a heap as possible. It
is best to keep the grain for a week
after this preparation, turning it
every day; for otherwise it would
heat so as to destroy the germ.
By these means he has not had any
smut, when the fields around him
have been infected with that dis-
temper."
+
"M. Donat, near Rochelle,
thinking the ingredients commonly
employed in the steeps too dear
for the use of farmers, studied for
some years to find out something
cheaper, easy to be had every
where, and therefore better calcu
lated to be of general use. I have
had the good fortune, says he, in a
letter to M. Duhamel, to accom-
plish what I wished; for I now use
only pigeons' dung, quick lime,
ashes, and sea salt, where this last
can be conveniently had. I have
sometimes made with these ingre
dients, steeped in water, so strong
a liquor, that it has even destroyed
the germ of the grain. But there
will be no danger of that, if care
SMU
395
SMU
·
is taken to observe the following of its heating. This I say from ex-
directions, which are the result of perience. The quantity of ley
seven years' successful experience, above prescribed, will serve to
even at times when farmers who prepare more than twenty bushels
have neglected to follow my exam- of wheat."
ple, have had such wretched crops,
as have not paid the charge of
reaping.
Mr. Tull observes, "that brin-
ing and changing the seed are the
general remedies for smut. The
former of these he had heard, was
discovered about seventy years be-
fore he wrote, by sowing some
wheat which had been sunk in the
sea, and which produced clean corn,
when it was a remarkable year
for
smut all over England: But he af
terwards doubts whether this might
not happen by its being foreign
seed, and therefore a proper change
for our soil. He tells us, that two
farmers, whose lands lay intermix-
ed, used seed of the same growth,
from a good change of land, and
that the one who brined his seed
had not any smut, whilst the other,
who neglected that precaution, had
a very smutty crop. But again he
doubts whether this seed might not
have been changed the year be-
fore, and so might not be greatly
infected: Or at least not more
than the brine and lime might cure.
He adds, that smutty seed wheat,
though brined, will produce a
smutty crop, unless the year prove
very favourable; for that favoura
ble years will cure smut, as unkind
ones will cause it: But, above all,
he assures us that the drill husban-.
dry is the most effectual cure."
"Take quicklime and pigeons'
dung, of each twenty five pounds,
forty pounds of wood ashes, and
twenty-five pounds of sea salt, or
salt-petre. Put all these into a
tub, large enough to hold half a
hogshead of common water added
to them. Stir them all well with
a stick, till the lime is quite dis-
solved. This ley will keep some
time without spoiling. It must be
stirred again just before the corn is
steeped in it. The grain is then
put into a basket, and plunged in
the lie, where it remains till it has
thoroughly imbibed it; after which
it is taken out, and laid in a heap,
till it is quite drained of all its mois-
ture: Or, which is a still better
way, take a mashing tub, fill it with
grain to within four inches of the
brim, and then pour in the ley well
stirred beforehand. When the tub
is full, let the ley run out at the
bottom, into some other vessel, in
order to use it again for more corn.
It is said, however, that a frequent
change of the liquor, in which dif-
ferent parcels of wheat are stock-
ed, is advisable. See close of this
article. Let the grain be then
taken out, and laid in a heap to A writer in the Museum Rusti-
drain; and continue in this manner cum, says, "having observed a-
to steep all your seed corn. The mongst wheat while green, though
wheat thus prepared, may be sow-shot up into spindle, several black,
ed the next day, and must not be blighted ears, I examined them,
kept above five or six days, for fear and found these were ears in which,
396
SMU
SMU
that they are in fact the very same
distemper, as indeed many writers
have considered them, making no
distinction. The antidotes for the
one, are certainly proper for the
other. For experience has shown
in many instances that what pre-
by some accident, the intention of
nature was prevented. I suppose,
by being detained too long in the
hose, and by the natural humidity
of the plant, a fermentation was
promoted in its ear, destroying the
small vessels through which the
corns were to receive nourish-vents the one prevents the other.
ment; by which means their con-
tents became black, dry, and dusty.
These ears growing up with the
others, imbibe moisture sufficient
to cause the dusty particles in the
grains in them to expand, and burst
the fine skin which contained
them: Being thus set at liberty,
the air, if it happen to be a dry
season, dries them again; by which
means they become light enough
to float therein, when separated
from the skin which held them.
If this happens when the wheat is
in the blossom, which it often does,
part of the dust enters the stigma
of healthy corns, and thereby in-
fects them: The pulp in those be-
coming black, a fermentation is
raised therein, which destroys the
life of the grain thus impregnated.
Hence the disagreeable smell is
acquired peculiar to this disease
(the smell in a grain of smut being
the same as in a black blighted
ear.")
By the black blight, this author
seems to mean the same as burnt
grain, burnt ear, or ustilago, in
which distemper the kernels do not
burst, but are converted to a dry
black powder. If his hypothesis
be just, as it is certainly plausible,
it will follow, that there is no more
difference between smutty and
burnt grain, than between a closed
and an open kernel of wheat: And
The remedy this writer pre-
scribes, appears to be a probable
one. "When the corn is shot into
spindle, and the ears begin to ap-
pear, let some persons go along
each furrow in the field, and care-
fully break off all ears of the black
kind; and when broken off, put
them into a bag, and carry them
away. As it is possible there may
be some of these diseased ears
which are not bursten, and there-
fore may escape being gathered,
these may be known by the stalk
at the neck being crooked back-
ward and forward five or six bends,
and the hose nearer to the head of
such, than in the ears which are
good."
Another writer in the Museum
Rusticum, says, "I have for many
years past escaped having smutty
crops, by a proper care of the seed
wheat before it is put into the
ground; and the method I pursue,
though efficacious, is in itself sim-
ple and cheap. I take four bush-
els of pigeons' dung, which I put
into a large tub: On this I pour a
sufficient quantity of boiling water,
and mixing them well together, let
them stand six hours, until a kind
of a strong ley is made, which, at
the end of that time, the grosser
parts being subsided, I cause to be
carefully drained off, and put into
a large keeve, or tub, for use.
SMU
397
SMU
66
This quantity is sufficient for eighty, thod of preventing both smutty
bushels of seed wheat."
and burnt ears. The bursting of
smutty ears in a field at the time
of blossoming, may infect the grains
in the sound ears; and, may
produce a mouldiness, which, if
not taken off, may cause the next
crop to be diminished and corrupt-
ed by one or both of these black
distempers.
My next care is to shoot into
this steep a manageable quantity
of my seed, which is immediately
to be violently agitated, with either
birchen brooms, or the rudders
that are made use of in stirring the
malt in the marsh tub, in a brewing
office. As the light grains rise,
they must be diligently skimmed
off; and after the seed has been
agitated in this manner, for the
space of perhaps half an hour, it
may be taken out of the steep, and
sown out of hand with great safety
And I can venture to say, that if
the land is in good heart, and has
been properly tilled, it will not,
when sown with these precautions,
produce a smutty crop."
Another gentleman, who signs
himself 4 Norfolk Farmer, " de-
clares, he has observed, that if the
seed was only well washed, it ne-
ver failed: That he washed some
seed which he knew to be smutty,
in a large tub, filled with plain,
simple water, stirring it violently
with birchen brooms, taking care
from time to time to skim off the
light. This answered very well,
and he has ever since continued the
practice." The same practice of
washing the seed, is recommended
by Mons. de Gonfreville, of Nor-
mandy, in the Foreign Essays on
Agriculture.*
It appears very probable, that
washing the seed very clean in se-
veral waters, may be the best me-
There is very little doubt that washing
is the most effectual part of all the above re-
cipes. Salt dissolved in water is as good as
any complex preparation.
But a Mr. Powell, in England,
writes to the compilers of the Com-
plete Farmer, that, in addition to
the usual brining and liming of
seed wheat, if one pound and a half
of red lead were sifted through a
cullender upon one bushel, stirring
the corn with a shovel, so that
every grain may have a spot or
two of the lead adhering to it, it
will effectually prevent smut: And
that fowls will not lie upon it. He
is confident, that even smutty seed,
so prepared, will produce a sound
crop.
A Mr. Marshall, a late British
writer on agriculture, says he was
informed by a Yorkshire farmer,
that he had made use of a solution
of arsenic as a preventive of smut,
and for twenty years it had prov-
ed effectual. The preparation is
made by pounding the arsenic very
fine, boiling it in water, and drench-
ing the seed with the decoction.
The method is to boil one ounce
in a gallon of water, from one to
two hours. Then add as much
water or urine as will increase the
liquor to two gallons. This will
answer for two bushels of wheat.
It may be sowed without drying,
or coating with lime. If this will
prove an effectual antidote against
smut, it may be further said in re-
398
SMU
SMU
new slacked lime to dry the whole
sifted upon it.
commendation of it, that it will
equally secure the seed against
birds, and against every kind of in- The following receipt is likewise
sects. Nor need any one be ap- from the same author. Dissolve
prehensive that a poisonous taint three ounces of blue vitriol in three
will be communicated to the crop. English gallons of water, (wine
The following observations are measure) for every three bushels
principally abridged from the of grain to be prepared. Let the
Code of Agriculture." Steep- liquid be put into a vessel capable
ing and washing seed wheat, as a of holding from sixty to eighty gal-
remedy for smut, is an excellent lons, in such a quantity that when
practice. When the wheat seed three or four Winchester bushels
is first put into any liquid, to run of wheat shall be poured into the
it very gently through a riddle, prepared liquor, it will rise five or
when not only the smut balls, but six inches above the corn. The
the imperfect grains, and the seeds grain should be frequently stirred,
of weeds will float, and may be and all that swims above the sur-
skimmed off at pleasure, which is face carefully removed. After the
not the case when the seed is put wheat has remained half an hour
hastily into the water. Pure cold in the preparation, it should be
water and lime may be effectual, taken out of the vessel and thrown
provided the seed be washed in into a basket, which shall allow the
several waters, repeatedly chang-water, but not the grain, to escape.
ed, until it be perfectly clean, and
then dried by quicklime, slacked
either with sea or with boiling
water. He recommends salt water
as being more effectual than even
boiling water and lime. The wa-
ter should be so impregnated with
salt that an egg will float in it, or
if sea water with such a quantity
of salt dissolved in it, as to be
equally strong, by which its spe-
cific gravity will be so increased
that all unsound grains will swim
in the pickle. About a bushel of
wheat at a time is put into a suffi-
cient quantity of this pickle, intention.
which, when stirred, all the light
or diseased grains will rise to the
top, and may be skimmed off.
The seed wheat is then separated
from the pickle, spread upon the
floor, and a sufficient quantity of
It should then be immediately
washed in rain, or pure water,
which prevents any risk of injuring
the grain. The seed ought after-
wards to be dried, either with or
without lime, before it is sown.
It is proper to observe, that the
grain should not be put into the
prepared liquor, unless it has
been well dressed, and is thorough-
ly dry. It may be kept without
injury.
The following miscellaneous par-
ticulars respecting smut, and the
means of preventing it, merit at-
1. The same water should ne-
ver be used but once in washing
wheat; even when brine is em-
ployed, it is safest to have fresh
liquor to each parcel. 2. Lime
is not only of service to dry the
SNE
399
SNO
easy to bend, it will cause the sithe
to tremble, which will hinder, in
some degree, its cutting; and ren-
der the labour of the mower more
difficult and fatiguing. It must be
naturally of the right crook, and not
cut across the grain of the wood.
seed, but by its caustic and anti-
septic qualities, it tends to destroy
putridity and animalculæ of every
description. 3. If smutty grain is
not threshed till the June or July
succeeding the year it was reaped,
the dust, it is said, will become too
volatile to attach itself to the grain
when threshed to occasion smut,
which by age looses the power. of
reproduction. 4. Notwithstand-
ing the violence of threshing mills,
they do not bruise the smut balls
so much as the flail. 5. Great
care must be taken, not to thresh
wheat on a floor where smutty
wheat has been threshed, nor to con-
vey the seed in a sack in which smut-thawed till July; as on the north-
ty wheat had been formerly put.
On the subject of steeping it
may be proper to add, that it would
be well to extend that operation
to other grains besides wheat.
Every sort of seed should be steep-
ed enough to promote a quick
vegetation, and to secure a more
uniform growth, which would great-
ly improve both the quantity and
quality of the grain; and if the
seed of barley and oats, as well as
of wheat were clothed with saline
and caustic particles, it would ei-
ther preserve it entirely from the
attacks of vermin, or destroy such
as may venture to eat of it.-See
an Essay on Smut in Wheat,"
Mass. Agr. Rep., Vol. V. p. 134.
SNEAD, or SNATHE, the staff,
or handle of a sithe. The right
timber for sneads, is white ash
that grows on upland, it being light
and stiff, which are two very ne-
cessary qualities: For if a snead
be heavy, it will help to tire the
mower; and if it be limber and
66
SNOW, a congealed vapour that
falls in little fleeces to the earth.
Snow lies upon the ground com-
monly, in this country, in the win-
ter months, and in March. Snows
sometimes fall in November and
in April; but they soon melt, and
do not remain on the ground unless
it be in the thick woods. In some
parts of the wilderness, it is not all
ern sides of high mountains, where
the trees form a deep shade.
Snow is beneficial to the ground
in winter, as it prevents its freez-
ing so solid, or to so great a depth
as it otherwise would. It guards
the winter grain and other vegeta-
bles, in a considerable degree, from
the violence of sudden frosts, and
from piercing and drying winds.
The later snow lies on the ground
in spring, the more advantage do
grasses and other plants receive
from it. Where a bank of snow has
lain very late, the grass will sprout,
and look green earlier, than in
parts of the same field which were
sooner bare.
A small snow, that falls level,
pretty late in the spring, is better
for the soil than rain. As it thaws
gradually, it does not run off, but
soaks directly into the ground,
moistening every part equally, fos-
tering the roots of grass, and other
vegetables. And till it is thawed,
the growing plants are guarded
400 ·
SOI
SOI
→
against the attacks of frosts and
winds. If a snow happen to fal:
after spring grain is sown, it does
not injure it at all, but rather as
sists its vegetating.
forms the surface, unless destroyed
by severe burning, or washed off
by violent rains, or biown away by
driving winds.
The original or unmixed soils, in
But they are commonly
more or less blended together.
In places where they are unmixed,
it would be a piece of excellent
husbandry to mix them, especially
where they are contiguous, apply.
ing gravel to moor earth, and moor
earth to gravel; sand to clay, and
clay to sand. And sand upon loam
would be an improvement.
In the northern parts of New-this country, are but few. Clay,
England, the ground in some years loam, sand, gravel, and till, or moor
is covered with snow for four earth, are perhaps all that ought
months, even in the cultivated to be reckoned as fit for cultiva-
fields. This is not regretted by tion.
the inhabitants, as they find it is a
great advantage for drawing masts,
logs, lumber, and wood, upon sleds,
which is much easier than carting
them. The roads are also far bet-
ter, when the ruts and sloughs are
filled, and every part paved with
ice, or condensed snow. The win-
ters, tedious as they are, seem too
short for the teamsters to finish
their winter business.
Meat that is killed in December,
may be kept tolerably, if buried
in snow, until spring. This is an
This is an
excellent method of preserving
fresh and good the carcasses of
turkies and other fowls.
Set an open cask in a cold place;
put snow and pieces of meat al-
ternately Let not the pieces
touch each other, nor the sides of
the cask. The meat will neither
freeze, grow dry, nor be discolour-
ed; but be good at the last of March.
The surfaces of the pieces should
be a little frozen, before they are
put into the snow, that the juice of
the meat may not dissolve the snow.
The cask should be placed in the
coldest part of the house; or in an
out-house.
+
SOIL, that part of the earth
which lies upon the hard under
stratum, over which there is com-
monly a cover of rich mould, which
1
A chalky soil is but seldom found
in this country. Marle is usually
at too great a depth to come under
the denomination of soil, and the
same may be said of peat. This
last cannot easily be reduced to
a condition fit for tillage. It is best
to destroy it, by digging it wholly
out for use, or by draining the
land, and burning the peat on the
ground. A chalky soil should have
sand and hot manures applied to it.
I do not consider a stony soil as
distinct from the rest, as removing
the stones would bring it under
some other denomination And
this ought to be done, when land
is to be used in tillage, that its ope-
rations may be facilitated.
Soils are commonly distinguish-
ed into shallow and deep, the lat-
ter of which is preferred, as the
under-stratum comes not so near
to the surface, but that the ground
may be stirred to a great depth;
and as it is fitted for the growing
SOI
401
SOI
of long tap-rooted plants, trees,
&c.
But the most common dis-
tinction of soils is into rich and
poor. This difference, which is
certainly very great, is not perhaps
natural. Richness, I imagine, is
rather to be considered as superin-
duced. All soils have, since the
creation, received large quantities
of fertilizing substances which were
adapted to improve them; and by
which, in most places, they have
been greatly mended. Not only
vegetable substances fallen upon
the surface, and changed by putre-
faction, have blended their salts
and oils in the spil: But the soil
has been drinking in vegetable food
by the dews and rains, and from
the air itself, which is loaded with
fertilizing particles. But some
spots have retained the added rich-
ness better than, others.
As to land which has been long
tilled, and often plentifully manur-
ed, it is not easy always to dis-
tinguish what was its original soil;
nor how rich or poor it was in its
natural state.
per matrix for fertilizing substances.
Some are too steep to retain them,
so that they are washed into the
hollows below. Some are so wet
as to sour and corrupt them; and
in some, there are are either mine-
ral waters, or steams which are un-
favourable to vegetation.
In tillage, the surface mould and
the soil beneath are mixed, and
the more so the better, as the sur-
face mould is made up as it were
of the essences of vegetables.
Soils, by some writers are divid-
ed into Sand;-Gravel;--Clay ;-
Chalk ;--Peat ;--Alluvial; and
Loam.
1. Sand consists of small grains
of silex, which are not soluble in
acids. If it has no mixture it can
hardly be cultivated, but it is rarely
found without a mixture of other
substances. The best mode of
improving its texture is by a mix-
ture of clay marl, sea ooze, sea
shells, peat, or vegetable earth.
See Sandy Soil.
2. Gravel. Gravelly soils are
composed of small soft stones,
sometimes of flinty ones; but they
often contain granite limestone and
improved by deep ploughing; by
mixing them with coats of clay,
chalk, marl or peat, &c. See Gra-
vel.
It does not follow, that all un-
cultivated soils ought to be equal-other rocky substances. They are
ly rich, by means of the general
advantages mentioned above; be-
cause some soils are better calcu-
lated than others to retain the food
of vegetables. Some are destitute
of a compact under-stratum; and
it is no matter of wonder that such
should appear hungry and barren;
for whatever richness they receive,
is either washed by rains into the
bowels of the earth or evaporat-
ed again.
Some soils are too
coarse, or too porous, to be a pro-
3. Clay. A clay soil is tenacious,
smooth and unctuous, and often
holds water like a dish. Its tex-
ture is improved by a suitable mix-
ture of common sand, sea sand and
above all, of limestone gravel,
where it can be obtained. Peat
moss also, that has for some time
been dug up, and exposed to the
51
402
SOI
SOI
1
action of the atmosphere, is useful,
and putrid and calcareous manure
is necessary in the course of its
cultivation, Dr. Kirwan asserts
that "the best manure for clayey
soils is marl, or a mixture of marl
and dung." See Clay and Clay
Soil.
4. Peat. This substance is of
vegetable origin, chiefly compos-
ed of various sorts of aquatics, im
mersed in stagnant water. In con-
verting peat into earth it is a rule
to plough and dig it in autumn, that
it may be exposed to the winter's
frost. See Peat.
5. Chalk. Chalky soils, as before
observed, are seldom found in this
country. A description of such
soils and their mode of cultiva-
tion may be found in The Code
of Agriculture, under the head
Soil.
6. Alluvial Soils are of two sorts;
one derived from the sediment of
fresh, and the other of salt water.
See Marsh and Meadow.
7. Loam. Loams are said to be
the most valuable of all soils. They
are peculiarly well adapted to the
convertible husbandry, for they can
be altered not only without injury,
but generally with benefit from
grass to tillage, and from tillage to
grass. They should not, however,
be kept in tillage too long, nor
while they are in cultivation, should
two white crops be taken in suc-
cession. See Loam.
vegetable matter, is most easily
heated, and soonest cooled.
The red colour in soils, is owing
to iron in various combinations. It
is favourable or adverse to fertility,
according to the nature of the com-
bination.
There are various modes of im-
proving soils.
"Soils with acids, or salts of
iron, may be ameliorated by the
application of earthy lime or chalk.
The sulphate of iron is thus con-
verted into a manure. If there be
an excess of calcareous matter in
the soil, it may be improved by the
application of sand, or clay, or
earthy substances. Soils too abun-
dant in sand, are benefited by the
use of clay, or marl, or vegetable
matter. A deficiency of vegetable
or animal matter must be supplied
by manure. An excess of vegeta-
ble matter is to be removed by
burning, or to be remedied by the
application of earthy materials.
The substances necessary for im-
proving soils are seldom far distant.
Coarse sand is often found im-
mediately upon chalk, and perhaps
always under it, while beds of sand
and gravel are commonly, below
clay, and clay and marl general-
ly below sand." Code of Agricul-
ture.
The constituent parts of soils,
chemically considered, are certain
compounds of the earths, silica,
lime, alumina, magnesia, and of the
oxides of iron and magnesium; and
animal and vegetable matters in a
decomposing state, and saline, acid
or alkaline combinations. For a
particular description of these, to-
A black soil, containing much gether with the mode of analysing
Soils are of various colours; the
principal are white, black and red.
White stiff clays are heated with
difficulty, and retain their heat on-
ly for a short time.
}
SO1
403
· SOI
soils by certain chemical substances
or reagents, we would refer our
readers to Davy's Agricultural
Chemistry. Lecture iv.
SOILING, or ASSOILING,
feeding animals with new mown
grass, or grass not dried, in racks,
or otherwise.
when torn or jagged with the teeth.
of the cattle, and no seed is wasted
by being trod down. They are
likewise obliged to feed without
making selection; and in conse-
quence the whole food is consum-
ed; the attachment or dislike to a
particular kind of food exhibited
by animals, offers no proof of its
nutritive powers. Cattle at first
refuse linseed cake, one of the most
nutritive substances on which they
can be fed. Elements of Agricul-
tural Chemistry.
A communication by the Hon.
Josiah Quincy to the Massachu-
setts Agricultural Journal, publish-
ed in Vol. VI. No. II. of that work
states that "There are six distinct
advantages, which those, who ad-
vocate soiling, propose to them-
selves by the practice, and on which
they establish the preference of
this mode to the common one of
pasturing cattle during the sum-
This is commonly practised in
some countries, where they put it
in racks, either under cover or in
yards. Thick grass will go much
further in this way, than if the cat-
tle were turned in upon it to feed
it off; as they would destroy and
corrupt more by half with their feet
and excrements, than they would
eat. But when it is given them in
racks, they will eat it up clean,
without wasting any of it. An acre
of rich land, used, in this way, will
summer a number of cows. By
the time that it has been once cut
over as it is wanted, the first part
will be fit to cut again. And the
labour of doing it is not to be reck-mer.
oned as any thing, as the trouble
of driving the cows to pasture will
be saved. This will be more than
a balance for the labour of soiling,
if cattle must be otherwise driven
to any considerable distance. And
it greatly recommends this prac-
tice, that a prodigious quantity of
manure may be collected by it,
which otherwise would be little
better than lost, the dung, being
scattered in pastures, where it eva-
porates in the air.
In feeding cattle with green
food there are many advantages in
soiling, or supplying them with
food, where their manure is pre-
served out of the field; the plants
are less injured when cut, than
"1st. The saving of land. 2d.
The saving of fencing. 3d. The
economising of food. 4th. The
better condition and greater com-
fort of the cattle. 5th. The great-
er product of milk. 8th. The at-
tainment of manure.
"The only offset to all these ad-
vantages is the labour of raising
and cutting the food, and feeding
and taking care of the stock." Ac-
cording to European writers the
saving of land differs, according to
its management, from one to three,
to one to seven."
acre kept for soiling will go as far
as three or seven kept for pasture,
in the support of stock The rea-
son of this diversity of statement,
That is, one
404
SÖI
in relation to the degree of saving,
among European writers, results
from the different ways, in which
the land, used for soiling is cultivat
ed.
With regard to saving of fencing,
Mr. Quincy observes that "the
general effect of soiling cattle is to
render all interior fencing absolute
ly useless; excepting those, which
surround the buildings, and lead
from these to the highway.
want of sufficient exercise, which is
inseparable from this mode of feed-
ing in stalls, is a popular, and when
not tested by fact, is deemed an
unanswerable objection. Yet all
those who have made the experi-
ment, and whose opinions I have
seen expressed upon the subject
are unanimous in declaring that no
ill effect results from this circum-
stance. One writer asserts that he
has kept a large herd several years
in this way, and during the whole
time "he never had an animal es-
sentially sick, had never one die,
and never had one miscarry."
As respects economy of food,
Mr. Quincy states that" There are
six ways by which beasts destroy
the article destined for their food."
1. By eating. 2. By walking. 3.
By dunging. 4. By staling. 5.
By lying down. 6. By breathing
on it. Of these six the first culy
is useful. All the others are waste-tends always feeding them there,
ful."
and keeping them there the chief
of the time. On the contrary it is
an essential part of the system to
It is to be observed that stall.
feeding of cattle, does not imply
keeping cattle in stalls, or in the
house the whole time. It only in-
In pastures, whatever is trod-
den upon or affected by the dung
of cattle, or their urine, is laid up-let them loose in yards, well shad-
on, or even long breathed upon is ed artificially or by trees, at least
lost. And this waste is always in two hours in the forenoon, and as
proportion to the richness and the many in the afternoon. When cat-
productive power of the pasture; tle are fed in the stall, they are
for just in that proportion is the wholly protected from eating noxi-
quantities of food injured by all ous vegetables; from drinking bad
the five modes of destruction above water; from all injury from being
stated. Whereas the same being worried by dogs, or one another;
cut and delivered to them sparing- they are kept through the heat of
ly in point of time, but sufficiently the day in the shade protected from
in point of quantity, will every par flies.
ticle of it be consumed. Besides
it is found by experience, that, this
mode of feeding, beasts will eat
many products of the earth, in the
stall, which they will absolutely re-
ject in the pasture."
In speaking of "The better con-
dition and greater comfort of the
cattle," Mr. Quincy observes "The
With respect to a greater pro-
duct of milk, it is stated by Mr.
Quincy that during the flush_of
feed, that is, for perhaps the first
month after cattle are turned to
pasture, there is little difference, so
far as respects the product of milk
between pasturing and stall feed-
ing. At that time there is gener-
Sor
405
SOI
ally a great supply of food, the cat- about eighty feet square, two hours:
tle are eager after it. They have in the forenoon and two in the after-
great opportunity to select. They noon. They were kept well lit-
feed quietly, and take only the most
nutritious and palatable. After
this month, if the stall feeder will,
this equality will gradually cease,
and in his favour. The pasture
food almost always grows more or
less scarce, according to the par-
ticular character of the season.
Whereas by taking care to provide
a regular succession of succulent
crops, he who feeds his beasts in
stalls may keep the milk product
unaffected by the state of the sea-
son to the end of autumn.
tered and well curried. While
they were out of the stable, the at-
tendant took that opportunity to
clean the stalls, and to supply fresh
litter. During winter, they were
fed, as is usual, with salt and fresh
hay and vegetables.-From June
to November, inclusive may be
considered, strictly speaking, as the
soiling season; by which is under-
stood, that, in which they are fed
with green food in the house. As
this is the critical period, I shall be
minute in the account of my pre-
Inparations and proceedings.
The attainment of manures.
pasturing the summer manure is "In the autumn preceding I had
almost wholly lost. It falls upon caused rye to be sown upon an in-
rocks, among bushes, in water verted sward, very thick, on about
courses, on the sides of hills. It is three acres. Early in April I pre-
evaporated by the sun, it is wash- pared and sowed, in manner as
ed away by the rain. Insects de- shall be stated afterwards, about
stroy a part. The residuum, a dry three acres and one quarter of land
hard cake, lies sometimes a year with Indian corn in drills. I also
upon the ground; often impeding sowed about three acres of oats and
vegetation, and never enriched the buck wheat broad cast, at the rate
earth in any thing like the propor- of three bushels to the acre, about
tion it would do, if it had been de the latter end of the month. The
posited under cover and kept free whole quantity of land, I thus pre-
from the action of the sun, in appro-pared to be used in soiling in aid of
priate and covered receptacles, to my grass, did but little exceed nine
be carted out annually in the pro-acres.
per season, and ploughed at once
under the surface.
Of these, that which I sow-
ed with rye turned out so poorly,
that I never soiled from it more
than five days, so that in fact the
Mr. Quincy gives the following
statement of his experience in soil-land thus prepared did, in efficien-
cy, but little exceed six acres.
ing.
66
My stock, consisting at an aver-
age of twenty cows, were kept in
their stalls through the whole year.
The practice was to feed them
about six times in a day, and to
permit them to range in a yard
"About the first of June, cattle
in general were this season turned
out to pasture. On the 30th of
May, my farmer began to cut the
sides of the road leading to my
house from the highway and orch-
406
SOI
SOI
ard. He continued to soil from
this and from grass growing in my
orchard until the seventh. On this
day he abandoned cutting the grass
for soiling and began to cut from
the winter rye. This was found
too tough, and it was quitted, and
my farmer returned to soiling upon
grass. Having cut over all the re-
fuse of my grass, by the 24th of
June, he then went into the poor-
est of my mowing land, and after
wards into my clover. From this
he continued to soil, until the 6th
of July. By this time he had gone
over not much short of three acres
of mowing land. On the 6th of
July, he began to soil from my oats.
He continued to soil from these
until the 21st of July. On the 21st
of July he began to soil on Indian
corn, on which he continued until
the 30th of July, when he recom-
menced soiling on corn fodder, and
continued upon it until the 30th
day of August. On this day he be
gan to cut over the road sides which
had been cut early in June. This
was continued only to the 2nd of
September, when he began to cut
the second crop of Indian corn,
growing upon the three and fourth
acres of Indian corn, which had
now shot up in great luxuriance.
from the roots of that, which had
been cut overbetween the 21st and
26th of July. On this soiling con-
tinued until the 8th of September.
On the 9th and 10th he soiled
upon about a fourth of an acre of
buck wheat. On the 11th soiled
on a second crop of clover. From
the 12th to the 15th inclusive, on
the corn stalks of about an acre of
sweet corn, and on the 16th on a
patch of millet and oats. This
was continued to the 20th, when
he began on two acres of Indian
corn, sown in drills on the first of
August, on land from which a crop
of peas had previously been taken.
Soiling was continued on this corn
until the 3d of October. From
this time until the 15th of October,
the soiling was wholly upon second
crop grass taken from various parts
of my mowing land.
From the 15th of October to
about the 20th of November, they
were kept wholly upon carrot and
turnip tops, arising from the top-
ping of about twelve acres of both;
being allowed always one fodder-
ing of salt hay. This finished the
summer feeding. From this time
they are kept wholly on salt and
English hay. The result then of
the experiment, so far as relates to
land, is the following:
The twenty head consumed the
products of
21 acres roadsides and orchards,
do. mowing land,
do. Indian corn, cut as fodder,
do. late and light barley,
3
3
2
3
do.
oats,
2
do.
late sown Indian corn af-
ter a pea crop,
do.
buck wheat,
1
do.
millet buck wheat and
oats,
17
acres.
This was the whole land which
was cut over for soiling; with the
exception of the after feed on the
mowing land and the tops of car-
rots and turnips. In comparing
this result with the former practice
of my farm, I apprehend the fol-
lowing statement to be just.
SOI
407
SOI
amount of summer product I have
not attempted to ascertain, but I
am satisfied that every thing con-
sidered, it is not less than one buck
some
I offset the keeping from the 11th
of September to the 20th of Novem-
ber against the old manner of let-
ting the cattle run at large during
the autumn months, on the mow-load per month per head, or on
ing land, to its great injury by twenty head of cattle, one hundred
poaching and close feeding.—If this and twenty load for the six soiling
should not be deemed sufficient, 1 months. In this estimate, I take
then make no estimate of the dif- into consideration the advantage
ference between keeping fifteen resulting from urine saved, by
head of cattle, the old stock, and means of loam, sand, or
twenty head of cattle my present imbibing recipient prepared to ab-
stock. After these allowances and sorb it.
offsetts, which no man can doubt It remains to show that the cost
are sufficiently liberal, then I state, of raising the food, cutting it, and
that my experiment has resulted in distributing it to the cattle, is com-
relation to land, in this, that I have pensated by these savings. Upon
kept the same amount of stock, by this point, my own experience has
soiling on seventeen acres of land, satisfied me that the value of the
which had always previously re- manure alone, is an ample compen-
quired fifty acres. [Mr. Quincysation for all this expence. Leav-
must have had bad pastures or bad-ing the saving of land, of food, and
ly managed ones; twenty five acres of fencing stuff, as well as the bet-
ought to have been enough for his ter condition of the cattle, as a clear
fifteen head of cattle.] The result gain from the system. As an evi-
is, in my opinion, even in this respect dence of this, I state my expences
greater than what is here stated. for labour in conducting the soiling.
This, however, is sufficient to ex- process.
hibit the greatness of the economy
of this mode, so far as relates to
land.
With respect to saving of fenc-
ing the previous condition of my
farm was this. I had at the lowest
estimate five miles of interior fence,
equal to sixteen hundred rods,
which at one dollar the rod was
equal to sixteen hundred dollars.
And annually for repairs and refit
ting, cost sixty dollars. I have now
not one rod of interior fence. Of
course the saving is great, distinct
and undeniable.
During the month of June, I
hired a man to do every thing ap-
pertaining to the soiling process;
that is, cutting the food, delivering
it, taking care of the cattle in the
day time, for fifteen dollars the
month, he finding himself. In this
arrangement it was estimated, that
I availed myself of half his labour.
At the end of the month I had the
manure measured, and I found that
the manure collected in my recep-
tacle, which was a cellar under the
barn, and not including that which
had been made, during the four
In relation to manures, the ef-hours each day, in the yard, amount-
fect of soiling is not less apparented to fifteen load. A quantity of
and unquestionable. The exact manure, which I could not have
I
408
SOI
SOI
placed on my farm for thirty dol-sues the subject, and observes that,
lars; and which I could have sold in soiling, being guided by the na-
there for twenty dollars, upon the ture of the climate, and by the con-
condition it should be carried away.sideration of the vegetables, select-
It cost me as above stated fifteened being best known and most suc-
dollars in the labour of the atten- cessfully cultivated in the neigh-
dant.
bourhood, I use but four, 1st. grass;
2d. oats; 3d. Indian corn; 4th.
cabbages."
He thinks, however, that it would
be wise and practicable to intro-
duce some vegetable, which, sown
the preceding year, would enable
the farmer to commence cutting
earlier. He considers one quarter
of an acre of his best grass produc-
ing land as appropriated to each
During the remaining five months
I added another man, because I
found that a great economy in vege-
table food would result from cutting
it into pieces by a cutting knife,
and mixing with it about one third
of cut salt hay, or straw. This was
done, and I kept an accurate ac-
count of all the labour of cutting
the food in the field, bringing it in-
to the barn, cutting it up there, cut-head of soiling cattle, for its sup-
ting salt hay or straw to mix with
it, mixing this food, and delivering
it to the cattle and found that-it
amounted to one hundred and forty
eight days labour. This estimated
at a dollar the day is one hundred
and forty eight dollars, to which
adding fifteen dollars paid for la-
bour, in the month of June, the
whole expense was one hundred
and sixty three dollars.
1
port between the 20th May and
1st of July. "Small fafers, who
should top-dress the land every
day, cut over, with water leached
from the manure heap, would re-
duce the extent of land required
for the process of soiling very con-
siderably." Oats, sowed as early
as possible, he uses for soiling near-
ly, or quite through the month of
July. "One square rod of oats, in
The manure at the end of the full milk, growing on land in pro-
soiling season, certainly equalled per, (that is high) tilth will support
one hundred and twenty loads, and one head of cattle a day. One
could not have been bought, and quarter of an acre, or forty square
brought there for three hundred rods, for thirty days, is a fair basis
dollars. Let it be estimated at only of calculation, and making a liberal
two hundred dollars in value. No allowance for accident."
"" The
man can question, I think, the cor- oats, if relied on for the whole
rectness of my assertion, that the month of July should be sowed in
value of manure obtained, is a clear succession, one half as early as the
compensation for the amount of la- seed can be got into the ground,
bour; and this including all the and the other half about a fortnight
expense of labour, connected with later. Indian corn should likewise
soiling.
be sowed at about the rate of a
In No. 4. vol. vi. of the Agricul- quarter of an acre for each head a
tural Repository, Mr. Quincy pur-month. The land to be in good
·
SOI
409
SOO
tined either for the market or win-
ter food for his stock.
"My prac-
tice has been to raise from eight to
twelve acres of vegetables. The
tops of which, with a single fodder-
ing of salt hay, per day, have been,
according to my experience, suffi-
cient to support equal to twenty
heart and tilth, "to receive at
least one ploughing and harrowing
about the latter end of April, or
beginning of May; after which light
furrows should be run three feet
asunder, at the depth of three or
four inches. In these furrows corn
should be sown broadcast, about
the thickness, and in the same man-head of cattle from the 15th of Oc-
ner that peas are sown, in the field tober to the middle or latter end of
culture of them. The corn may November."
then be covered by the plough. SOOT, condensed smoke, which
Although in my experience, a har-adheres to the funnels of chimneys.
row drawn lengthways and cross- It is replete with the oil and vola-
ways, followed by a roller, is suffi- tile salts which were contained in
cient and to be preferred for this the fuel, and is therefore an excel-
operation." Corn should be sown lent manure, much superior to
in the middle of May, the begin- ashes of any kind.
ning and middle of June, and even
as late as August, on which soiling
may be continued during Septem-
ber. In this month likewise grass
of the second crop may be used, Mr. Worlidge seems to think
from those acres from which soil-wood soot the best; but Mr. Mor-
ing was effected in June. The
grass of the second crop will gene-
rally enable the farmer to soil to
the 15th of October, if his grass
land is in proper tilth and heart.
"Reduced to a single statement,
my experience and system is, for
the support of my soiled stock,
during the months of July, August
and September, to sow in the
months of April, May, June and
July, equal to three quarters of an
acre of land for each head of cat-
tle soiled, in such succession as
will give also a regular succession
of succulent food in the three first
mentioned months."
From the 15th of October to the
middle or latter end of November,
Mr. Quincy depended upon the
tops of carrots and turnips des
52
Both wood soot and coal soot
should be carefully saved, and kept
from the weather, to be used as
top-dressings.
timer give the preference to that
which comes from pit coal, of which
forty bushels are allowed to be a
sufficient dressing for an acre. But
of this kind our farmers can obtain
but little; nor indeed plenty of
either, unless in the neighbourhood
of populous towns, where much of
it may be collected for use by those
whose business it is to clean chim-
neys.
Both kinds are to be used only
as top-dressings. The coal soot is
particularly good for low meadows,
or grass lands, which are sour and
mossy.
Soot is a good top-dressing for
winter grain. But it should be ap-
plied early in the spring. Not in
autumn, lest it should cause it to
grow too fast, by means of which
410
SOW
SOW
it will be the more liable to be de-
stroyed by the frost of winter.
Neither should it be applied late in
the spring; because in case of a
drought soon after, it will be apt to
burn too much.
Mr. Ellis recommends sowing
soot over turnips, as soon as they
are up. This will tend to prevent
flies from attacking them. But
that it may have have this effect, it
should be finely pulverised; sown
early in a morning before the dew
is off; and in a moderate quantity,
lest its heat should injure the ten-
der plants, to which it will adhere
and repel the insects. Sifting is
the best way of applying it. See
Manure.
SOWING, committing seeds to
the earth, for the purpose of ob-
taining a crop.
seeds, for instance, should be des-
titute of a vegetative power, a
tenth part more of such seeds
should be sown than the usual
quantity, supposing the seeds to be
in perfection.
In order to determine the good-
ness of the seed to be sown, you
should previously take fifty grains
at random from the parcel; sow
them in good mould, at a proper
depth, and carefully observe how
great a proportion fail of coming
up. They may be sown in a pot,
and kept in a warm part of the
house, or in a hot-bed, that the
farmer may have timely notice of
the quality of his seeds, when it is
too early in the spring to do it in
the open ground. Many have
missed of a crop, by not taking this
precaution. When seeds are sus-
pected of being too old to vegetate,
this previous trial should by no
means be neglected.
But if we wish to have seeds in
the best condition for sowing, they
should be well ripened on their
plants before they are gathered in;
There are three ways of seeding
the ground:-1. In hills as it is
called, or in squares: 2. In drills,
or continued rows: And 3. In the
broadcast method, or at random
with a cast of the hand; which last
method is always termed sowing.
The first requires the least quan-afterwards they should be kept
tity of seed, the last the greatest. perfectly dry, that they may not
But the crops will not be in pro- contract the least mouldiness; and
portion to the different quantities never be secluded from the air.
of seed.
With regard to sowing, several
things ought to be attended to; the
quality or goodness of the seeds;
the time of sowing them; the depth
that is best for them; and the
quantity, or proportion of seed to
the ground.
The quality of seed should be
ascertained, in order to determine
the quantity that is proper to be
sown; for if one tenth part of the
Mr. Miller found that air was
absolutely necessary to maintain
the principle of vegetation in seeds.
Having saved a parcel of fresh
seeds of several kinds, he took
some of each, and sealed them up in
glass phials; the other parts of the
same seeds he put into bags, and
hung them up in a dry place, iǹ a
free air. After a year had passed,
he took some of the seeds from
each phial, and each bag, and sow-
SOW
411
SOW
ed them at the same time, and on
different parts of the same bed.
The result was, that almost all the
seeds he took out of the bags grew
well; but, of those which had been
kept in the phials, not one came
up. This discovery was further
confirmed by experiments after-
wards. How careful then should
both farmers and gardeners be, that
no seeds designed for sowing be
kept totally secluded from the air!
All kinds of seeds are best kept
in their pods, or husks. Especially
they should be kept, when they are
designed to be transported to dis-
tant countries.
Accordingly, some of the best
writers recommend the lying of
seed wheat in the sheaf to the time
of sowing. And, that none but the
best of the grain may be sown, in-
stead of threshing, it is advisable
to strike a handful at a time gently
against a post, and collect what
falls out; because the heaviest and
best grain is always the most easily
detached from the ear.
Being furnished with good seeds,
the time for committing them to
the earth must in great measure be
determined by the judgment of the
experienced husbandman; because,
from various circumstances, it
comes to pass, that the true time
admits of some latitude. The time
for spring sowing will vary accord-
ing to the variation of the forward-
ness of the season; which may be
best determined by the respective
forwardness of trees and shrubs.
See the article Kalendar.
But there are other circumstances
to be taken into the account, which
may further vary the season for
spring sowing. A light warm soil
may receive the seeds earlier than
one that is strong and moist. The
former will arrive to the right de-
gree of dryness sooner than the
latter, and is earlier fit for the ope-
rations of tillage. And this is cer-
tain, that seeds that require the
earliest sowing, must not be sown
before the earth can be well pul-
verised. Neither should plants
that are easily killed by frost, be
so early sown as to be up till the
spring frosts are past.
I may add, a spot which has a
southern exposure may be seeded
rather earlier than land which de-
scends to the northward, or than
land which is level.
If seeds are sown too early, or
when the ground is too wet or cold
for them, they will either perish,
and fail of coming up; or if they
come up, it is slowly, so that the
plants become stinted in their
growth, and never arrive to a full
size.
If the right season for sowing
should elapse, the husbandman, be-
ing convinced of it, may accelerate
vegetation by steeping the seeds in
a ley of wood ashes, or any other
proper menstruum, so that they
may overtake in their growth those
which were sown in the right sea-
son.
-
The depth at which different
seeds should be buried in the soil
is various, according to the differ-
ence of seeds and soils. M. Du-
hamel found by experiment, that
but few seeds will come up at all,
when buried deeper than nine in-
ches; that some seeds rise very
well from the depth of six inches;
412
SOW
SOW
and that other seeds do not rise at
all when they are more than two
inches under the surface. And in
general those seeds, the body of
which is thrown above the surface 1
in vegetating, should have the less
quantity of soil above them, that
they may not meet with too much
resistance in rising; such as kidney
beans and many other sorts. Also
the same seeds may, and ought to
be buried deeper in a light and
dry, than in a heavy and moist soil.
When the ground is rolled after
sowing, the seeds will vegetate
the nearer to the surface; and
therefore they do not need to be
sown so deep, as' when the rolling
is omitted.
To determine what is the right
depth, 'in a doubtful case, Mr. Tull
has suggested an excellent method.
"Take a dozen of sticks for guages;
mark the first at half an inch from
the end; the next at an inch; and
so on, increasing half an inch to
each. Then, in the sort of ground
you intend to sow, make a row of
twenty holes, with the half inch
guage; put in twenty good seeds
and cover them, and stick up the
guage at the end of the row. Then
do the like with the rest of the
sticks. Observe how the seeds
prosper in the different rows, and
, you
will discover at what depth that
kind of seed should be buried."
However useful this experiment
may be, it can be of little or no
use in the old field husbandry; for,
in the broadcast way of sowing, the
seeds will be differently covered.
But sowing fields with the drill, in
equi-distant rows, when horse-hoe-
ing is not intended, cannot be too
1
much commended. It is worth
while to do it if it were only on
account of the seed that may be
saved by it. Much seed is wasted
in the common way of sowing;
for some of the seeds will be so
deeply covered, that they will not
vegetate: Some will be left on the
surface, which is a prey for birds,
and perhaps leads them to scratch
up some of the rest: Some will
lie so near the surface as to be de-
stroyed by variation of weather,
being alternately wetted
wetted and
scorched. And of those seeds
that grow, some rise earlier, and
some later, so that the crop does
not ripen equally. The seeds
will fall from the hand of the sower,
too thick in some spots, and too
thin in others, by means of the un-
evenness of the surface; and the
harrowing perhaps will increase
the inequality; so that many will
be so crowded as to be unfruitful,
while the rest have more room
than is necessary.
But when the seeds are put in
with the drill, they will all rise
nearly together; not so much as
one seed will be wasted, or lost,
supposing them sown at the right
distance; each one may have so
much room as is most conducive
to its growth; no starved heads
will appear, and the whole will
ripen together. Half a bushel of
wheat, or even a less quantity, in
this way, will seed an acre suffi
ciently. How great must be this
advantage at a time of great scar-
city of seed!
It is difficult to determine the
quantity of seed, that is best to be
sown in the broadcast way. Doubt-
SOW
413
SOW
less it should vary according to cir- I noticed by farmers; otherwise,
they surely would not continue
their old custom of sowing."
cumstances.
When seed is very large, and
full grown, two bushels may not be
more than equal to one that is small
and pinched, supposing the seeds
equally disposed to vegetate, which
is often the case. For the true
quantity should be estimated, ra-
ther by the number of grains, than
by measure or weight. Not that I
would recommend the sowing of
pinched grain, excepting in case of
necessity. For it is to be expect-
ed, in general, that the most per-
fect seeds will produce the best
plants.
The practice of farmers has been
various, as to the quantity of seed.
In England they sow from two or
three to four or five bushels of
wheat on an acre; six bushels of
oats, and four of barley. But the
above quoted author is very posi-
tive that a third part of the usual
quantities would be better.
The usual quantities in this coun-
try are not greater than five or six
pecks of wheat or rye, three bushels
of oats, and two of barley, for an
acre. And from these quantities,
been produced. Though, in old
countries, the crops are usually
larger than ours, I apprehend it is
not owing to higher seeding, but to
deeper and more perfect tillage,
better manuring, and frequent
changing of seed, with a judicious
rotation of crops.
Rich land will afford nourish-in some instances, large crops have
ment to a greater number of plants
than that which is poor. It has
been held by many farmers that
the poorer the land is, the greater
quantity of seed should be sown in
it. But Mr. Miller says, "This is
one of the greatest fallacies that
can be imagined; for to suppose
that poor land can nourish more The sowing of winter grain is
than twice the number of roots in perhaps a more difficult matter to
the same space, as rich land, is manage rightly, than vernal seed-
such an absurdity as one could ing. Farmers certainly mistake
hardly suppose any person of their interest, when they persist in
common understanding guilty of. sowing winter grain at a certain
Where the roots stand close, they time of the year, let the weather be
will deprive each other of nourish-ever so hot, and the ground ever
ment, which any person may at so dry. By heat and dryness, the
first sight observe, in any part of seeds will sometimes be so scorch-
the fields where the corn happens in the soil, that not a fourth part of
to scatter when they are sowing it; them ever come up. Therefore,
or in places where, by harrowing, if a drought happen at the usual
the seed is drawn in heaps, those sowing season, it will be needful to
patches will starve, and never grow defer sowing till some rain has fal-
to a third part of the size as the len, and the soil has got a due de-
other parts of the same field; and gree of moisture. How long it
yet, common as this is, it is little may be best to wait for such a fa-
414
SPA
SOW
But as the experience of persons
vourable opportunity, I will leave |
to the judgment of the experienc-in other countries may mislead us,
ed farmer.
Also, a spot that has been newly
cleared by burning, may be sown
later in autumn than other land.
It ought to be sown later, if the
,growth. before winter be wished
to be only equally forward; for the
ashes will so quicken the vegeta-
tion, that if it be seeded early, it
will attain to too large a growth be-
fore winter, and be the more in
danger of being killed by frost.
it is greatly to be wished that a set
of the most accurate experiments
were made by some judicious per-
son in this country, in order to as-
certain the best time for autumnal
sowing.
SPADE, an instrument used in
digging. Spades differ in their
shape and construction, according
to the different operations in which
they are to be used.
SPAVIN, a disease of horses,
being a tumefaction about the joints,
causing lameness.
"There are two kinds of spavin,
a blood spavin, and a bog spavin.
"A blood spavin is a swelling
hock.
It is doubtless much better to
sow winter grain rather early than
very late; because that which is
sown late, will not be furnished
with strong roots before winter,
and therefore will not generally and dilatation of the vein that runs
so well bear the frost. Though along the inside of the hock, form-
grain sown in December has some-ing a little soft swelling in the hol-
times prospered well, it ought not low part, and is often attended with
to encourage the farmer in sowing a weakness and lameness of the
so late; because the instances in
which it has succeeded have been
but few. On the other hand, it
should not be sown so early as to
give time for the stalks to shoot up
before winter. But perhaps it will
be found to be a good rule, to sow
grain the earlier in proportion as
the winters are longer and colder.
And yet, confining the true time
to certain days or weeks, would be
ridiculous.
M. de. Chateauvieux, from many
experiments, and long practice,
concludes, "that the best time for
sowing in such a climate as Geneva,
is from the 20th of August, to the
end of September, And he thinks
the first fortnight in October may
answer, if the sowing cannot be
done sooner.
"The cure should be first at-
tempted with restringents, and
bandage, which will contribute
greatly to strengthen all weaknesses
of the joints, and frequently will re-
move this disorder, if early appli-
ed. But if, by these means, the
vein is not reduced to its usual di-
mensions, the skin should be open-
ed, and the vein tied with a crook-
ed needle and wax thread passed
underneath it, both above and be-
low the swelling, and the turgid
part suffered to digest away with
the ligatures. For this purpose,
the wound may be daily dressed
with turpentine, honey, and spirit
of wine incorporated together.
"A bog spavin is an encysted
tumour on the inside of the hough,
1
SPA
415
SPI
or according to Dr. Bracken, a col- [ if attempted even on its first ap-
lection of brownish gelatinous pearance.
A blister of Spanish
matter, contained in a bag, or cyst, flies applied on the part affected,
which he thinks to be the lubricat (after shaving the hair off,) with a
ing matter of the joint altered, the bath of strong spirits or vinegar,
common membrane that encloses it and a week's rest, will frequently
forming the cyst. This case he suspend the lameness produced by
has taken the pains to illustrate in spavin for a time-but a radical
a young colt of his own, where, he cure may not be expected."
says, when the spavin was pressed
hard on the inside of the 'hough,
there was a small tumour on the
outside, which convinced him the
fluid was within side the joint. He
accordingly cut into it, discharged
a large quantity of this gelatinous
matter, dressed the sore with dos-
sils dipped in oil of turpentine, put-
ting into it, once in three or four
days, a powder made of calcined
vitriol, alum, and bole. By this
method of dressing, the bag slough-
ed off, and came away, and the
cure was successfully completed
without any visible scar.
"This disorder, according to the
above description, will scarcely
submit to any other method, ex-
cept firing, when the cyst ought to
be penetrated to make it effectual.
But in all obstinate cases that have
resisted the above methods, both
the cure of this, and the swelling
ca lled wind-galls, should, I think,
be attempted after this manner.
If, through the pain attending the
operation or dressings, the joint
should swell and inflame, foment it
twice a day, and apply a poultice
over the dressings, till it is reduc-
ed." Complete Farmer.
Mason's Farrier asserts that "a
spavined horse may be considered
as completely ruined, for a per-
manent cure can rarely be effected,
SPAYING, the castration of fe-
male animals, to prevent concep-
tion, and promote their fattening.
It is said, that spayed sows will
have a greater quantity of fat upon
their inwards than barrows, and
that they are, on the whole, more
profitable.
SPELT, a species of grain re-
sembling wheat, but smaller, and
darker coloured, bearded, with on-
ly two rows on an ear. It is used
in Germany for bread, and will
make malt. Of this grain the au-
cients are said to have made their
frumenty, of which they were very
fond. It may be sowed in autumn
or spring, and delights in a dry soil.
SPIKY ROLLER, a wooden
roller, armed with spikes, of im-
portant use in husbandry.
This instrument was formerly
just mentioned by Mr. Ellis; but
has been of late brought into use by
the ingenious Mr. Randall, of York,
in England: Who recommends,
that the roller be a cylinder of the
heart of oak, seven feet long and
eighteen inches diameter, with a
strong band of iron on each end.
Teeth or tines of iron, seven inches
long, are driven three inches into
the wood, and four inches apart, in
the quincunx order, over the whole
convex surface. The outer points
must be pretty sharp; and the ends
416
SPR
SPI
set on.
which go into the roller should be
ragged at the corners, to prevent
their coming out. The tines need
not be quite so strong as the teeth
of a harrow. The whole instru-
ment will weigh near a ton; and a
frame is to be annexed to it, for
the team to draw by; to which a
box may be added for the driver to
But beware of putting a
wild, restiff or unmanageable team
to this fearful instrument. The
strength of four oxen or three
horses, will be necessary to draw it.
The uses to which the spiky rol-
ler is to be applied, are, in the
first place, to reduce a stiff, stub-
born, and clotty soil, to a fine tilth
for sowing. This it will perform
with admirable expedition, by only
passing forwards, and back again
in the same track, reducing it even
to a perfect garden mould. And,
which greatly recommends it, it is
used to advantage when the ground
is too dry for ploughing; by means
of which, there need not be any
delay in preparing land for sowing.
"It is certainly an instrument,"
say the compilers of the Complete
Farmer, "that no farm, where the
land is stiff, or the least liable to
clot, should want. For, besides
the constant advantage of saving
labour, and bringing land to a better
condition for any kind of sowing,
than the plough and harrow, with
any assistance of the work of hands
can make it; in favourable sea-
sons, and under such circumstances
as Mr. Randall has mentioned, the
loss of the whole crop, by an other-
wise unavoidable delay beyond the
seed time, may be with certainty
prevented."
Another important use of this in-
strument, is, to renew the fruitful-
ness of grass land, when it is so
bound as to be almost barren, or
overrun with moss and bad grasses.
Mr. Randall directs, that a good
compost be prepared: And in
autumn, when the ground is a little
moist, that the spikes may enter
the soil easily, to pass the roller up
and down till the surface is well
broken: Then sow hay seeds, and
spread the compost over them, to
be followed with a smooth roller,
with a bush harrow after it. Thus
a fine sward will be renewed, and
good crops of the best grass will
follow.
But it is obvious to remark, that
the surface must be pretty level,
and the land free from stones, to
admit of these operations.
Mr. Randall also recommends
passing this roller in the spring,
over winter grain, to loosen the
surface, and increase vegetation,
and smoothing it afterwards with a
bush harrow. Though this may
seem to be a bold experiment, I
think it is probable it might have
a better effect than harrowing,
which is much approved by many,
as the tines would penetrate deeper,
and as the plants would be less
exposed to extirpation, than by the
horizontal motion of the harrow.
SPRING, one of the four sea-
sons of the year, so called from
the springing or shooting up of
vegetables, which in the winter
were in a torpid state.
This season includes, accord-
ing to common parlance, March,
April and May. It is the most
busy and hurrying season, for far-
SPR
417
SPU
bly be too great. It certainly is,
if they sow before the ground is
sufficiently dry to crumble, and be-
come light and fine by ploughing
and harrowing. For working the
ground when it is too wet, will fail
of bringing on the needful fermen-
tation, and tend to make it too
close and compact to nourish
plants. At least, these operations
may leave the soil as unfit to nour-
ish plants as they found it.
mers in this country, of any in the
year; partly owing to the long
continuance of frost, which com-
monly prevents all kinds of tillage
till near the beginning of April;
and in the northern parts, till the
end of that month. But sometimes
it is partly owing also to what we
might order otherwise, to sowing a
larger proportion than is necessary
of our grain in the spring, and neg-
lecting in autumn to cart out so
much of our manure as we might,
It is of no small importance,
that we complain of being so much confess, that spring wheat and rye
hurried with work in the spring.
be forward, that so they may not
But besides tillage and seeding, be late in ripening: And a good
which are enough to employ the method of quickening these crops,
whole time, there are other mat- is steeping and liming the seed.
ters to be attended to at this sea- The same end may be promoted
son. The fences are always to by top-dressings with warm com-
be examined, and repaired: For posts, ashes, &c. But land design-
though they were in good order in ed for this use, should be ploughed
the fall preceding, high winds, vio- and laid rough in autumn. It will
lent storms, and deep snows, may be the earlier in a condition to re-
overset, break or settle them, not ceive the seed in the spring. And
to mention the gradual decay and none but the driest parts of a farm
rotting of wooden fences. Or the [ should commonly be employed for
violence of frost may heave and crops of spring wheat or spring rye:
disorder them, Compost dunghills As to barley and oats they will bear
it will often be needful to make at to be sowed rather later: And
this season, especially if the ma- therefore are more fit to occupy
terials were not all obtainable in the lower and wetter parts of a
the preceding autumn.
farm. Oats especially are often
found to produce great crops in
such situations, if they be not sown
too early; or before the land is
sufficiently dry for the operations
of tillage.
•
But preparing and seeding the
ground must not be neglected, nor
slightly performed: For as a man
soweth, so shall be reap. Slug-
gishness at the beginning, will be
followed with want at the end of
the year.
SPRINGE, a device made of
twisted wire to catch birds, or other
SPRING GRAIN, that which is small animals.
sown in the spring.
SPUR, a bad distemper in rye.
The grains which are affected,
Farmers generally think they
cannot sow their wheat and rye too are thicker and longer than the
early. But their haste may possi-sound ones, commonly projecting
53
418
STA
SPU
1
beyond their husks, and mostly
crooked. They are dark colour-
ed, have a rough surface, and ap-
pear furrowed deeply from end to
end. They are bitter to the taste;
will swim in water at first, and then
sink to the bottom. But they are
easily distinguishable by their ex-
traordinary bulk and length.
objects, who had not any thing more
remaining, than the bare trunk of
the body, and yet lived in that
condition several days.
"As it is not every year that
the spur in rye produces these
dreadful accidents, Langius is of
opinion, that there may be two
kinds of this distemper; one which
is not hurtful to human constitu-
tions, and the other which occa-
Various have been the conjectures
concerning the cause of this dis-
temper. Some think it is occasions the gangrene. It is however
sioned by the bite of an insect: probable, that there is but one kind
Others ascribe it to fogs, dews, of spur, and that it does not sensi-
rain, &c. But as I have never
found any such distempered grains,
but in rye of a rank growth, I ra-
ther incline to ascribe it to too
great a pressure and flow of sap
into the kernels, while they are in
their most tender state, by which
they are too much distended, and
rendered incapable of throwing off
the grosser particles of sap; by
which means they become fungous
and misshapen.
M. Salerne, and others, have
given sad accounts of the diseases
with which numbers of people have
been afflicted, in some years, when
they have eaten freely of bread, in
which there was much of the spur-
red rye.
The peasants of Sologne, it is
said, sift out these grains, when
corn is plenty: But in a time of
scarcity, being loth to lose so much
grain, they neglect it. And then
they are wont to be attacked with
a dry gangrene, which mortifies
the extreme parts of the body, so
that they fall off, almost without
any pain.
bly hurt; first, when sufficient care
is taken in sifting the grain; and
secondly, when only a small part
of the corn is distempered. It is
also said, that the spur loses its bad
quality after the grain has been
kept a certain time: In which case,
the reason why some peasants are
attacked with the gangrene in years
of dearth, may be, that they con-
sume, their crop as soon as their
harvest is over."-Duhamel's Cul-
ture des Terres.
STABLE, a house, or lodgment
for house.
A stable should have an open
airy situation, and be as free as
possible from mud and wetness.
The floor should be built of pine
planks, not on à level, but descend-
ing backwards, that the stale may
not remain under the horses, so
that they may lie dry and clean.
As a horse is a cleanly animal,
hen roosts, hog sties, and necessary
houses, should not be too near to
his apartment. A stable should
have windows to open and shut,
that fresh air may be let in when
"The Hotel Dieu, at Orleans, the weather is hot: And it should be
has had many of these miserable | tight and warm in winter. Other-
STA
419
STA
I
wise the great vicissitudes of heat
and cold will do much hurt to the
animals; and the more as, being
tied up, they cannot use much mo-
tion. Some of the windows should
be glass, because horses are fond
of light. And it is better for their
eyes that they be not confined at
all to total darkness in the day
time.
A manger is necessary in a sta-
ble, to preventing wasting of hay.
Some choose their horses should
have their hay in racks. Others
think it puts a horse into an un-
natural posture, as he is used to
take his food from the ground. If
a rack be used, it should be per-
pendicular, not leaning towards
the horse, nor placed too high:
And the manger before it should be
two feet wide, or more. The hin-
der part of the rack should be made
shelving, that as the hay settles, it
may naturally press towards the
horse.
A box for provender may be fixed
at one end of the manger, in each
stall; or the manger inay be made
as tight as a box, to prevent loss
of grain. But the surest way to
prevent wasting, is to give a horse
his corn in a pail, with a strap of
leather to slip over his head, which
will prevent the loss of so much
as a single grain. It may be put
on or off in an instant. See the
article, Horse.
STACK, a large quantity of hay,
grain, or straw, piled up, pointed
at the top, and usually covered
with long straw, or thatch, to keep
out the weather.
Square and oblong stacks are
not good.
Round ones have a
less quantity of superficies in pro-
portion to their contents; and
therefore will receive less damage
from the weather.
When sheaves of corn are stack-
ed, the heads should be all turned
carefully inward. But if designed
to stand long, it should be on a floor
mounted on blocks, capped with
flat stones, to prevent the entrance
of vermin.
Farmers should not practise the
stacking of good hay, in a country
like ours, where timber for build-
ing barns is plenty and cheap. For
so much of the outside is always
spoiled by the weather, that they
may soon lose more in this way,
than the cost of a harn.
But much of the salt hay in
marshes must be stacked, on ac-
count of the difficulty of removing
it before winter. These stacks
must be mounted on what is called
a staddle, consistingf piles driven
into the ground, of such a height,
that the highest tides may not reach
the bottoms of the stacks.
STAGGERS, a disorder to
which both horses and neat cattle
are liable. If the staggering and
falling of a horse be owing to hard
riding in hot weather, Gibson di-
rects to take without delay a pint
of blood from his neck, and then a
quart from some vein in his hinder
parts, that so an effectual revulsion
may be made: And that he should
afterwards be kept on a moderate
and cleansing diet.
When the disease arises from an
apoplectic disorder, he must not
only be bled, as in the former case,
but be exercised every day with
chewing assafoetida and savin, and
}
420
STA
STA
the most noisome things that can
be got, which will put him upon
constant action, and forward the
circulation in the small vessels.
Afterwards recourse must be had
to clysters and strong purgatives,
rubbing and exercise.
the dew drops on its bosom, causes
the fields in the morning to glisten
and sparkle as if covered with a
thin sheet of ice. A horse that
feeds upon a pasture in this situa-
tion, must of course, collect large
quantities of this web and dew, and
When the disorder arises from very often the spider itself. They
vertigo, or swimming of the head, act upon the horse, producing de-
the animal reels, turns round and lirium, giddiness, apoplexy, and
falls. In this case, take an ounce sometimes death. The lungs ap-
of senna boiled in five pints of wa-pear to be the principal seat of this
ter, with four ounces of common disease; for in cases of dissection
treacle, with the usual quantity of they have been found much en-
oils, or lard, to throw in as a clys-larged and covered with large
ter. And repeat it for two or three brown spots, smell very offensively,
days. After which he may have a and have some appearance of mor-
drench of beer, in which roots of tification."-Mason's Farrier.
peony, angelica, rue, rosemary, This writer is the only one whose
flowers of lavender, and the like, works we have seen, who attri-
have been steeped. If the disease butes the staggers to the cause
should continue obstinate, balls of above mentioned. We shall haz-
cinnabar and assafoetida with bay-ard no opinion on the correctness
berries will be proper here, as well
as in apoplectic cases.
Some venture to put ginger, and
other stimulating things, into the
ear, to give the blood a quicker
motion. But this practice, though
it may chance to do service, is dan-
gerous. See Gibson's Farriery.
of his theory, but think it worth
attention and further inquiry. The
same writer recommends the fol-
lowing
REMEDY.
Take from the neck vein halfa gal-
lon of blood, three times in a week,
of sassafras tea three half pints,
"The staggers, in my opinion, plantain juice half a pint, assafoeti-
are produced by permitting a horse da half an ounce, saltpetre one tea
to feed on grass in the spring and spoonful, mix and give them as a
fall; late at night and early in the drench three mornings in a week;
morning; for early in the morning give an injection, composed of one
and late in evening, the fields and pint of meal, two quarts of water,
pastures are covered with a poi- one pint of molasses and one spoon-
sonous webb, which is spun and ful of hog's-lard-let the horse be
spread upon the grass by a small moderately exercised, and when-
spider. So rapidly, so industrious- ever he is standing should be well
ly does this little insect work, that | rubbed-give a mash twice within
in the space of one night, not a a week, composed of one gallon of
blade or spire of grass has been left bran, one table spoonful of sulphur,
untouched. This web, catching and one tea spoonful of saltpetre,
}
STA
421
STA
one quart of boiling sassafras tea,
and an eighth of an ounce of assa-
fœtida, not permitting the horse to
drink cold water for six hours af-
terwards. Should he be much
mended by this treatment, nothing
more will be necessary, except
feeding him on bran or light food
of any kind; but should he appear
to receive no benefit from these
attentions in four or five days, take
of calomel twenty-five grains, of
opium two drachms, powdered fen-
nel seed one drachm, of syrup of
any kind a sufficient quantity to
make the ingredients into a ball,
which may be given every morn-
ing for four or five days, by which
time the horse will get well if his
disease will admit of a cure.
"Horses that are confined in a
stable never have the staggers;
consequently it would be advisable
for every person, whose situation
will admit of it, to confine their hor-
ses, particularly at night, during
the spring and fall months."
A gentleman in North Carolina
asserts, that the following recipe
has been found, after repeated
trials, to be effectual.
Take of the expressed juice of
garlic six spoonfuls, which pour
down the horse's throat by means
of a horn, or give it to him in a
drench. If the first dose should
not relieve him, or he should ap-
pear to be maze-headed, repeat it
after an intermedium of two or
three hours. The juice of the
leek or onion, given in rather a
greater quantity, will produce
nearly the same effect.
STALE, the urine of animals.
The urines of different animals are
said to possess the same properties
as their dungs. They are of more
importance as manures than far-
mers in general are aware of.
They may easily convince them-
selves of this, if they will only con-
sider how much more a piece of
ground is enriched by folding than
one of the same size would be, by
laying the same dung, or an equal
quantity, upon it, that is dropped
on it by folding.
If the stale of a farmer's stock
were all saved, and well applied,
it might perhaps be of near as much
advantage as their dung. Every
possible method should therefore
be taken to prevent the loss or
wasting of it. Floors where beasts
are lodged, should be perfectly
tight; and they should be con-
stantly well littered with substances
that will absorb and retain the
stale; even with common earth,
when nothing else is at hand. Pens
in which beasts are kept should
have a layer of mulch: Or else the
surface of the ground should be
taken up, and used as a manuré.
Otherwise the urine is lost.
Mr. Hartlib praises the Dutch
for saving the urine of cattle as
carefully as the dung, to enrich
their lands. The older it is, the
better it is for this purpose. When
it is deprived of its fiery hot parti-
cles by time, it will be a great fer-
tilizer of every kind of soil. Co-
lumella recommends old urine as
an excellent application to the
roots of trees. But care should be
taken not to apply too much of it.
For trees have been sometimes
killed by urine.
STALLION, a stone horse.
422
STE
One that is kept for covering
should be well shaped. See the
article Horse.
He should be free from every
kind of distemper and natural
blemish, of a middle size at least,
with a good gait, neither addicted
to starting and stumbling, and of
such a colour as is most coveted.
For it may be justly expected, that
the colts will inherit the qualities
of the horse, let them be good or
bad.
STEAM-BOILER. This is an
implement which is very simple
and so useful that no farmer ought
to be without it. The following is
a description of its construction.
A steam boiler is commonly
made by setting a kettle holding
twelve gallons or more in a furnace
of brick or stone, and over this a
hogshead, with one head taken
out and the other bored full of
holes, is set so close that the steam
of the kettle when boiling, can only
rise through the holes, and thence
ascend among the articles to be
boiled in the hogshead and pass off
at the top. In this way a hogs-
head of potatoes will be nearly as
soon boiled as a small part of them
could have been, if placed in the
kettle underneath.
As the kettle must be so closed
as to prevent any steam from pass-
ing off, but through the bottom of
the hogshead or vat, a pipe or tube
must be set one side, through which
with the aid of a funnel the water is
to be poured into the kettle as of
ten as occasion may require. When
poured in, the tube is to be stopped
with a plug for that purpose.
Grain of all kinds may be steam
1
STE
boiled to great advantage, for feed-
ing and fatting cattle; but in that
case, it is requisite to have the
bottom of the hogshead covered
with a cloth, to prevent the grain
running down through the holes.
By experiments which have been
accurately made in Pennsylvania
upon Indian corn and potatoes,
used for fatting swine, it was found
that they increased in weight one
third faster on the boiled, than on
the unboiled food; or, in other
words, they gained three pounds
when fed on the former, where they
only gained two pounds when fed
on the latter.
STERCORARY, a store of dung,
or compost, kept under cover:
Also the building in which it is
kept.
In these places, if they are well
constructed, the manure will retain
its whole strength. The dung so
preserved, if I mistake not, will be
of double the value of that which
is managed in the common way.
For it is secured effectually from
washing rains, and drying winds;
as well as secluded from the direct
influence of the sun, which always
causes a copious evaporation from
uncovered dunghills.
To make a stercorary, Mr. Eve-
lyn directs, to dig a square or ob.
long pit, of a size proportioned to
the compost wanted, with the side
towards the field sloping, so as to
receive a cart, to load or unload
easily: The bottom to be well
paved, and the sides also made so
tight as to hold water, the whole
being under cover. Then the far-
mer's care must be to fill the pit
with compost suited to the nature
of his land.
STE
423
STE
small advantage, to have the dung
deposited, during the winter, in a
A good proportion of lime will
be proper in these composts, to as-
sist in dissolving the vegetable sub-place where no stop is put to its
stances. It is best that the layers fermentation by frost. Besides, it
of each substance should be thin, is to be remembered, that the freez-
as the heaps will need the less turn- ing causes a plentiful evaporation
ing and mixing afterwards.
of the strength of the manure,
which in this way is prevented.
It would be well to divide the
parts of the cellar under the scut-
It may be very convenient for
the farmer to build a stercorary ad-
joining to the side of his barn,
where the cattle are housed, cov-tles into pens, that the heaps may
ering it with a continuation of the
roof. In this case, the dung may
be thrown directly through the win-
dows into the heap; from whence,
through doors, it will not be diffi-
cult to shovel it into carts.
lie the more compact, and be less
liable to too much drying. And as
the heaps will need mixing with
the shovel, it will be convenient
to shovel the manure from pen to
pen.
But instead of making stercora-
ries, or dunghills, in the usual
modes, the Society of Improvers, in
Scotland, prefer middens, or mid-
dings as they are there called, as
it saves labour and expense in the
management of manures. "Take,
say they, in the field intended to be
But, instead of this method, some
gentlemen farmers in this country
have begun to set the example of
making cellars under their barns,
into apartments of which, the dung
is easily passed through scuttles in
the floors. Other substances may
be easily mixed with dung from
time to time as there may be occa-manured, a head ridge that is con-
sion. Or it may be kept to im- veniently situated. Plough it two
prove by itself. A cart way must or three times, as deep as can be
be prepared to go through the cel- in the cleaving way, if the ridge
lar, or one entrance at least, not so be high gathered, and harrow it
steep but that a common team may well: Then lay thereon your slimy
draw out a cart full. The floor clay, about a foot thick, a part of
should be well paved, and the wall the earth uncovered. Next lay a
made tight with mortar, to prevent thin layer of dung, another of clay,
the escaping of the fluid parts of and after that a layer of unslacked
the manure. But the floor over-lime, at least a foot thick: Then
head needs not to be very tight; be-
cause the stale will not be lost, if
it should pass through the seams.
throw up the earth left uncovered
on each side. After this repeat
another layer of clay, then lime
This method, in our cold coun- and finish with clay or sea wreck,
try may be allowed to be prefera- covered with earth. The more of
ble to building any other stercora- the slimy clay the better; for
ry; especially as part of the cellar though it may be cold, yet it will
may be employed in storing roots, not be the worse for a sandy hot
&c. for the cattle. For it is no ground. If you examine the clay,
424
STE
STE
was experienced by Mr. Eliot.
He built a cow yard very long and
narrow, at the side of a road, and
once in three or four days, he re-
moved the fences from the ends,
and gave it a deep ploughing.
The consequence was, that all the
earth which was stirred with the
ploughs became, in his opinion, of
equal value as a manure, with good
barn dung. The advantage of this
method of increasing manure is un-
speakably great. The manure of
a yard may thus be increased to ten
fold.
we doubt not but you will find it
a very fat substance; being, as we
conjecture, mostly muscle and
other shells mixed with earth,
brought by the tide and the river.
"After this bank has stood six
weeks or two months, incorporat-
ing and fermenting, turn and mix it.
Yoke your plough, enter upon your
stercorary with a cleaving furrow,
and continue repeating the plough-
ings the same way, until the very
bottom be ripped up; then harrow
it; it is impossible to overdo it. If
it is very cloddy, it should be har-
rowed between the ploughings.
The 3d volume of Memoirs of
Begin then in the middle, and the Philadelphia Agricultural So-
plough again and again in the gathciety, pages 222, 3,4,5, contains an
ering way, until it be brought into account of a Stercorary, erected
as narrow bounds, and be raised as by Mr. Quincy, of Massachusetts,
high as possible. Let all that the from which the following is extract-
plough has left be thrown up with ed.
shovels on the top. Every such
turning and heaping occasions a
new ferment, and improves the
manure. If the first heat should
go off before it is reduced to a fine
fat mould, it may be turned over
again, and will take a new heat.
About fifty or sixty cart loads of
this compost are used upon an acre
of ground-"
J
Any farmer may easily follow
this example, and suit his compost
to his soil. It will save much cart-
ing, especially when the land to be
manured with it lies at some dis-
tance from the farm yard. At the
same time it will reduce those dis-
agreeable ridges that gather in the
borders of lots that are long tilled,
which are always a richer soil than
the rest of the field and more fit for
this use.
An operation similar to the above,
"The area of my Stercorary is
90 feet by 40, the cellar is in the
shallowest part eight feet deep, in
its deepest twelve, and in the well
if I mistake not, fifteen.--It is open
nearly the whole length of one of
its short sides, and one half of the
long, viz. at the north and west,
besides large openings at the east.
There is always four or five feet
atmosphere above the top of the
manure, and between it and the
barn floor, and a constant current
setting one way or another. This
gives the advantage of a free cir-
culating air, which in general, in
such cases is not obtained.
"The great difficulty I have had
to encounter, arises from the ne-
cessity of an equal irrigation of
the heap; a difficulty which must
attend all permanently covered
Stercoraries. For water turned
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425
STE
upon the heap through spouts convenience, protection, for his
runs in currents, and is not equally stock, his hay, and his fodder, or
sprinkled over a heap like rain, they are little or nothing. We go
which is nature's process in this thither for the purpose only of
business. To obviate this diffi- looking at what the learned call the
culty I have constructed a very stercorary, but which farmers know
simple machine which answers per- by the name of the manure heap.
fectly. The stone piers which | What is its state? How is it lo-
support the beams of the barn, di-cated? Some times we see the
vide the cellar length ways into
three equal compartments. I have
a box six inches deep, four feet
wide, and about thirteen feet long,
which runs by means of wheels,
upon a sort of wooden rail way,
made by strips of planks and fixed
about a foot from the floor of the
barn; this is perforated with suita-
ble holes. A permanent spout
extends through the middle of the
cellar, and a moveable spout ex
tends from this to the perforated
box-regular openings are made in
the permanent spout, which may
be closed at will. It is also closed
at the end. By these means, the
box is filled from the reservoir and
pump, and each part successively
irrigated perfectly and with great
ease. A man by two days labour
can irrigate my whole cellar, and if
effectually done, thrice in a season
is sufficient."
barn yard on the top of a hill, with
two or three fine rocks in the cen-
tre; so that whatever is carried or
left there, is sure of being chiefly
exhaled by the sun, or washed away
by the rain. Some times it is to
be seen in the hollow of some val-
ley, into which all the hills and
neighbouring buildings precipitate
their waters. Of consequence all
its contents are drowned, or water
soaked, or what is worse, there hav-
ing been no care about the bottom
of the receptacle, its wealth goes
off in the under strata, to enrich
possibly the antipodes.
"Now all this is to the last 'degree
wasteful, absurd, and impoverish-
ing. Too much cannot be said to
expose the loss and injury which
the farmer thus sustains. Let the
farmer want whatever else he
pleases. But let no man call him-
self a farmer, who suffers himself
The following humerous exhibi- to want a receptacle for his ma-
tion of the faults of some farmers, nure, water-tight at the bottom, and
as respects the economy of their covered over at the top, so that be-
barn yards and stercoraries, is ex-low nothing shall be lost by drain-
tracted from "An Address to the
Massachusetts Agricultural Society,
by Hon. Josiah Quincy.
age, and above, nothing shall be
carried away by evaporation. Let
every farmer, wanting such protec
"As we proceed to the farm, we tion for his manure, be assured that
will stop one moment at the barn he loses by the sun and rain, ten
yard. We shall say nothing con- fold as much as will pay all his tax-
cerning the arrangement of the es, state, town, and national every
barn. They must include comfort, year. Let not the size of his ma
|
54
426
STO
STO
6
try, is commonly used by farmers
to express only live stock, or the
beasts that are kept upon a farm.
These should not be all of one
kind, but such an assortment as is
best adapted to the convenience
and profit of the farmer. The stock
should be adapted to the nature
and circumstances of the farm. -
nure heap be any objection. If it
be great he, loses the more, and
can afford the expense better. If
it be small, this is the best way to
make it become greater. Besides,
what is the expense? What is
wanted? An excavation, two or
three feet deep, well clayed, paved,
and dishing as it is called, of an
area from six to thirty feet square,
according to the quantity of the
manure; over head a roof made of
rough boards, and refuse lumber if
he pleases."--Massachusetts Agri
cultural Repository, vol. iv. p. 6.
STOCK. A term used by En-little past their prime, or full vi-
glish farmers, to express the quanti
ty of money or wealth a farmer
should have, to enable him to hire
and cultivate a farm to advantage.
Young stock, in general, is bet-
ter than old. The more there are
in a growing state, the greater is
the profit. And very old cattle,
when turned off to fat, do not an-
swer so well as those which are but
gour. It costs more to fatten
them, and the meat is not so valua-
ble.
It is best to begin with a considera-
The larger the farm a man hires, ble variety of animals; that the
the greater stock he should have farmer, by observing the profit he
in hand. Writers on husbandry gets from each kind, may afterwards
reckon the needful stock is equal vary, as he finds to be best. For
to the first years rent, and seed; this cannot be determined, but by
expense of horse keeping, clothes some experience: Because some
and pocket money; the cost of cat- animals prosper best on one farm,
tle to be kept, and farming uten and some on another; some best
sils of every kind; besides the launder one manager, and some un-
bour that must be hired, including der another.
fencing and draining.
It would not be amiss, if those
who hire farms in our country,
would carefully calculate these ex-
penses, before they take farms, and
consider their ability. For want
of this needful precaution, they of
ten find, when it is too late, that
they are unable to carry on the
culture to advantage, and are una-
ble to pay their rent. The conse-
quences are unspeakably bad and
distressing. Both the landlord and
tenant are sufferers.
A variety indeed, for other rea-
sons, is always best: One is, be-
cause almost every farm produces
a variety of food, some of which
will answer best for one animal,
and some for another. Even in
the same pasture, that which one
species of animals leave, another
will feed upon.
Also, the stock should vary, in
some proportion as the lands of a
farm do. As some farms contain
a large proportion of high and dry
pasture grounds, the greater quanti-
But the word stock, in this county of sheep should be kept. Where
STO
427
STO
low meadow abounds, the kind of or leap over fences; and many
stock should be increased, which times to become absolutely un-
will do best on coarse water-grasses; governable; so that they must
which is well known to be neat cat- either be killed, or sold off at a low
tle, that are young and growing. price; in either of which cases,
But if a farm yield a plenty of good there is often much inconvenience
sweet grass, it is the more suitable and loss.
for a dairy farm, and the greater
proportion of cows ought to be kept.
But on no farm should horses be
multiplied beyond the number
which are needed, or which can be
employed to advantage. For they
are great eaters, and require the
best of the fodder and pasture. A
small farmer can scarcely afford to
keep one, unless he puts him to the
draught.
Let a farm be what it will, it
should never be overstocked. This
is an error that too many farmers
in this country are guilty of. Doubt-
less it arises from a covetous dis-
position; but they sadly miss their
aim. Instead of gaining, they lose
by it. A half starved stock can
never be profitable.
A farm may be said with truth to
be overstocked, when a greater
number of animals are kept, than
can be well fed with its produce,
during the whole year. For it is a
ruinous practice, to suffer a beast
to
pine away, and lose, in one
part of the year, the flesh he gains
in another. And when the farmer
is constrained to purchase food for
his stock, he too often affords them
but a scanty allowance. Sometimes,
it is not in his power to obtain it.
The starvation of cattle, or keep-
ing them too short of food, not on-
ly prevents their being profitable
to the owner, but teaches them to
be disorderly, and to break through,
|
It is far better that some of the
stock of food should be left in the
spring, than that it should fall short.
It is a good reserve against a sea-
son of scarcity: And such seasons
often happen in this country by
drought.
The following general rules, as
to the management of stock may
deserve attention.
"1. Animals intended for the
butcher, should be kept in a state
of regular improvement. The finer
breeds are highly fed from their
birth, and are almost always fat.
With other breeds, and on pastures
of inferior quality, this is neither
necessary nor practicable. But in
every case, the same principle of
improvement should be adhered to,
and such animals ought never to be
allowed to lose flesh, in the hopes
of afterwards restoring it by better
feeding.
"2. The size should never be
above that which the pasture can
support in a thriving condition.
The attempt to raise them to an
undue size, by crossing, is censura-
ble. In regard to size, the stock of
every kind, and of all the various
breeds, should be proportioned to
the quantity, and the quality of
their intended food.
"3. The best pasture should be
allotted to that portion of the stock,
which goes first to market; the
next in quality to the breeders; and
428
STO
STO
the coarse pasture, to the inferior,
or growing stock.
than in the usual proportion of the
females to the males; and that it
has generally failed when the males
were disproportionally large.
"4. Great care should be taken,
not to overstock pasture, which is
attended with great loss to the The external form of domestic
farmer, and the community. This animals has been much studied, and
ought to be particularly avoided in the proportions are well ascertain-
young and growing animals. If ed. But the external form is an
they are kept poor during one part indication of the internal structure.
of the year, they will scarcely The principles of improving it must
thrive during the remainder; and therefore be found on a know-
whenever ill fed, will never attain ledge of the internal parts.
to their proper size and proportion. Of these the lungs are of the
"Lastly, the food, whatever it first importance. It is on their
may be, should not be too suddenly size and soundness that the strength
changed. It is seldom profitable and health of an animal principal-
to bring lean animals immediately ly depend. The power of convert-
from coarse to rich pastures; and ing food is in proportion to their
a change from dry, to succulent size. An animal with large lungs
food, and vice versa, should be is capable of converting a given
gradually effected. A change of quantity of food into more nourish-
pasture, however of the same quali-ment than one with smaller lungs ;
ty, tends to produce a greater ac- and therefore has a greater aptitude
cumulation of fat. Code of Agri- to fatten.
culture.
"Chest. The size and form of
The following observations rela- the chest indicate the size of the
tive to the size and form of stock lungs, of which the form should ap-
are by Henry Cline, Esq. an Eng-proach to the figure of a cone hav-
lish Surgeon. They have met the ing the apex situated between the
approbation of the most eminent shoulders, and its base towards the
agriculturists both in America and loins; a circular form of chest is
Great Britain.
preferable to one deep and narrow;
for though the latter may have
greater girth, the former will have
greater internal space in propor-
tion.
"It has been generally under-
stood that the breed of animals is
improved by crossing with the
largest males. This opinion has
done much mischief, and would
have done more if it had not been
counteracted by the desire of select-
ing animals of the best forms and
proportions, which are rarely to be
met with in those of the largest
size. Experience has proved that
erossing has only succeeded in an
eminent degree in those instances
in which the females were larger
"The Pelvis. The Pelvis is the
cavity formed by the junction of
the hip bones with the rump bone.
This cavity should be larger in a
female that she may bring forth her
young with less difficulty; when
this cavity is small, the life of the
mother and her offspring is endan-
gered.
"The size of the pelvis is indicat-
STO
429
STO
ed by the width of the hips, and the the improvement of form, from Mr.
space between the thighs; the Cline's principles, is the selection
breadth of the loins is always in of males for breed of a proportion-
proportion to that of the chest and
pelvis.
►
ally smaller size than the females,
both being of approved forms; the
size of the foetus depends on the
size of the female, and therefore
when the female is disportionally
small, her offspring has all the dis-
proportion of a starvling from
want of due nourishment.
"Head. The head should be
small, by which the birth is facilitat-
ed to the offspring, it also indicates
the animal to be of a good breed,
and occasions less weight of unpro-
fitable substance to the consumer.
"Horns are useless to domestic The larger female has also a
animals, and occasion a great greater supply of milk, and her off-
weight of bone in the head. The spring is therefore more abundant-
skull of a ram with horns weighed ly provided with nourishment after
five times as much as that of one birth.
without horns, each being four
years old. A mode of breeding,
which would prevent the produc-
tion of horns, would therefore af
ford a considerable saving.
"The length of the neck should
be proportioned to the height of the
animal, that it may collect its food
with ease.
"Muscles. The muscles and
tendons, which are their append-
ages, should be large, by which an
animal is enabled to travel with
greater facility.
When the female is large in pro-
portion to the male, the lungs of the
offspring will also be greater. By
crossing in this manner, there are
produced animals with remarkably
large chests, as has been often
noticed; the advantage of large
lungs has been already pointed out.
In animals where activity is re-
[quired, this practice should not be
extended so far as in those which
are intended for the food of man..
The size of animals is common-
ly adapted to the soil which they
inhabit; when the produce is scan-
ty the breed is small; the large
sheep of Lincolnshire would starve.
where the small sheep of Wales
find abundant food.
"Bones. The strength of an
animal does not depend on the size
of the bones, but on that of the
muscles; many animals with large
bones are weak, their muscles be-
ing small. Animals imperfectly Crossing may be attended with
nourished during growth have their bad effects, even when begun on
bones disproportionally large. If good principles, if the above rule
this originates from a constitutional be attended to throughout; for in-
defect, they remain weak during
life; large bones may therefore
indicate an imperfection in the or-
gans of nutrition.”
Of the improvment of form. The
chief point to be attended to for
stance, if large ewes were brought
to Wales, and sent to the rams of
the country, the offspring would be
of improved form; and if sufficient-
ly fed, of a larger size than the na-
tive animals, but the males of the
430
STO
STO
breed would be disproportionately
large to the native ewes, and there-
fore would produce a starveling ill
formed race with them.
The general mistake in crossing
has arisen from an attempt to in-
crease the size of the native race
of animals; being a fruitless effort
to counteract the laws of nature;
which from theory, from practice,
and extensive observation, Mr.
Cline, concluded to be decidedly
wrong; for in proportion to this
unnatural increase of size, they be-
come worse in form, less hardy,
and more liable to disease.
The Massachusetts Agricultural
Repository, vol. vi. p. 78., contains
some valuable remarks on the sub-
ject of "Dairy Stock," by S. W.
Pomeroy, Esq. We shall give the
following extract, which presents
an important fact, not sufficiently
known or attended to by writers
who have treated on the same or
similar subjects.
"In the selection of bulls, most
farmers confine their attention
to form and colour only, instead of
tracing their descent to a valuable
dairy stock. It has been observed
by Linnæus that those properties
of animals which relate to the ves-
sels, or in scientific terms, the cor-
tical substance, or vascular system,
are der ved from the males," and
among other examples tending to
confirm this opinion, he states
❝that a cross from the male Angora
goat, with the common female
goat produces that fine wool or
substance, called Camel's hair; but
that the progeny from the male
common goat with the female An-
gora, is productive of nothing but
the same worthless hair of the sire."
See likewise Agricultural Reposi-
tory, vol. iv. p, 257.
STONES, well known hard and
brittle bodies, which abound in
some lands. Those of the slaty
kind, or which are flat or square
cornered, are fit for building wall
fences, and should be applied to
that use. And many of the pebble
kind may go into walls among
others of a better shape; especial-
ly if the wall is built double, as it
always should be where stones are
plenty. Where there are more
stones than are needed, the walls
may be made thicker and higher
than is needful on other accounts;
and lots should be made the smaller;
for there are certain conveniences
in having small sized lots, though
they may not be thought necessary,
in any other view than for dispos-
ing of the stones.
Pebbles are a greater annoy-
ance on a farm, as they need re-
moving, but are not very good for
any kind of building. Picking
them off very minutely, for com-
mon field tillage, is not needful.
But the largest pebbles should be
taken away.
Stones that are very large, and
which cannot with ease be remov-
ed whole, may be blown to pieces
with gunpowder. They will be
not only more handy for removing,
but far better to put into walls.
For the blowing of round stones
will make some square and regular
faces. They will often come
cheaper in this way than if they
were dug out of quarries. As the
soil that is occupied by a large
stone is better than the rest of the
STO
431
STO
field, it is purchased at an easy rate
by removing the stone.
But another method of breaking
rocks, which ought to be generally
known, and which sometimes turns
out cheaper, is this: Drill two holes
in a stone, ranging with the grain,
when that can be discovered by
the eye. Then filling each hole
with two semi cylindrical pieces of
iron, drive a long steel wedge be-
tween them. The stone will thus
be split open. And, commonly,
very regular shaped pieces for
building may be thus obtained.
Another method is, to burn an
inflammable piece of dry wood,
laid on the part where you wish a
flat rock to open. Thus the rock
is heated in a straight line, and
may be made to open in that part,
by a smart blow of a maul. This
method often answers well when
the stones are flat shaped, and not
too thick.
That stones which are so large
as to obstruct the operations of
husbandry, ought to be removed
from land in tillage, all will agree.
But it has been long a disputed
point, whether the smaller stones
should be taken away. Some have
contended that they add fertility to
the soil.
That the moisture of the soil is
as much greater, as the proportion
of room the stones take up in the
soil is undeniable; unless the stones
occasion some evaporation. But
many fields need not any increase
of moisture, but would rather be
improved, by being made as much
drier as they can be, by removing
the stones from the surface.
M. Duhamel is of opinion, that
no stones increase fruitfulness, un-
less they be lime stones, marle, or
those that are of a calcareous na-
ture. These, by rubbing against
each other, &c. in the operations
of tillage, do probably yield a dust
that increases the richness of land.
But all stones in tillage land are
so troublesome, and so much in-
crease the labour of tillage, that,
when they are not calcareous, they
should be taken away, or at least
so much thinned, that ploughing
and hoeing may be comfortably
performed, and without much in-
jury to the tools used by the farm-
er.
Fixed stones under the sur-
face should be removed, or so sunk
by diging under them as to put
them out of the plough's way,
that ploughing may be performed
without danger of destroying the
plough.
To know whether stones are
calcareous or not, they should be
tried with aqua fortis, or spirit of
sea salt. For stones on which the
spirit does not effervesce, can be
of no advantage to the soil. By
the way, I do not expect that
calcareous stones will be found in
many fields in this country.
Ground that is laid down for
mowing must have even the small
stones taken out of the way of the
scithe. But, instead of picking
them up, some recommend driving
them down into the soil, when the
ground is so soft in the spring that
it can be easily done. In this case
a field will not be disfigured with
the heaps, nor any of the surface
lost.
STOOKING, or SHOCKING,
setting sheaves into shocks to guard
corn from wet.
432
STR
STR
Farmers have various methods
of doing this. But I would propose
for their consideration, a method
inserted in the Museum Rusticum,
Vol. II. page 250.
"Ten sheaves are disposed in
two rows, each row leaning against
the other; then two sheaves are
laid on the top, so as to meet at
the centre with their tails, and to
slope downwards.”
The writer thinks, and with good
reason, that this method is very fa-
vourable to drying the corn, if it
needs it, as well as to defending it
from rains. Thicker built shocks,
if they chance to get wetted, will
need opening to dry the sheaves.
In general, it is better for the
corn to stand in shocks a few days
in the field, than to carry it sooner
to the stack or mow. There will
be less danger of its taking damage
by heating.
STOVËR, fodder for cattle.
See Fodder.
STRAIN, vulgarly called Sprain,
a violent extension, or stretching
of the sinews, or tendons, by which
the fibres are sometimes broken.
All sorts of animals, and parti-
cularly horses, are liable to lame-
ness by strains.
My designed brevity will not
permit me to treat fully on this
subject. But let it be noted, that
when a horse is lamed by straining,
he should be permitted to rest, and
be secured from wet and cold.
Rest alone will sometimes recover
the tone of the fibres, and complete
the cure.
But bad strains should have some
suitable applications to the parts
affected, "Qily medicines are in
general to be avoided, on account
of their relaxing quality: But oil
of turpentine may be admitted.
A part that is lamed by straining
should be bathed thrice a day, with
hot verjuice or vinegar, in which a
small piece of soap may be dis-
solved.
Early in the disease, if the part
be swelled, a poultice should be
applied after bathing. It should be
made of oatmeal, rye meal or bran,
boiled in vinegar, strong beer, or
red wine lees, with lard enough to
prevent its growing stiff.
After the swelling is down, bathe
with camphorated spirits of wine,
mixed with half as much oil of tur-
pentine. Or, instead of the oil,
take sharp vinegar, and spirit of
vitriol, in equal quantities.
Keep on a linen bandage, drawn
pretty tight, if the part affected
will admit of it. But long resting
from labour, will in some cases be
needful. For further direction, the
reader may see Bartlet's Farriery.
Mason's Farrier prescribes the
following remedies for strains.
NUMBER I.
"Take of sharp vinegar, one
pint, spirit of any kind half a pint,
camphor one ounce; mix them
well together, and bathe the part
injured twice a day; a piece of
flannel wet with the mixture, and
wrapped around the part, will be
very beneficial; take from the
neck vein half a gallon of blood.
NUMBER II.
"Take of opodeldoc a piece the
size of a marble, and rub it on the
strained part with the naked hand,
until the hand becomes dry, twice
a day; should the injured part re-
STR.
433
STR

şist both of those remedies, you |
may conclude the injury is a very
serious one, which nothing but time
can relieve, and the horse must be
turned out upon grass a sufficient
length of time for nature herself to
perform the great operation.
STRANGLES, "a swelling un-,
der the throat of a horse, between
the two jaw bones, which seems
not to differ very much from that
which in a human body is called
the quinsy. Its seat is not so much
upon the glands as on the muscles;
and therefore it comes the more
readily to an imposthumation.
"If the swelling has a tendency
'forwards between the jaws, so that
the passages of the throat are not
in danger of being choked up by it,
the safest way is to ripen, and bring
it to a suppuration; and for that
end anoint the part with ointment
of marsh mallows, covering them
up warm. Or take oil of bays and
fresh butter, of each a like quan-
tity, ointment of marsh mallows
the weight of both: Or the poul-
tice recommended for the glanders
may be applied warm twice a day.
After the swellings are ripe, and
that you perceive matter in them,
but that they do not break, which
perhaps may be hindered by the
thickness of the skin, you may open
them with a lancet; but if they do
<not ripen as you could wish, you
had better make use of a hot iron,
and sear the outside pretty deep.
But whether you open them by in-
cision, or by the iron, you must be
sure to make your operation in the
lowermost dependent part, that the
matter may more easily run off.
55
While you observe this method
your incision need be but small.
"As soon as the matter is nearly
discharged, you may press out what
remains with your thumb. Then
make a dossil of fine flax, dip it in
warm basilicum, and introduce it
into the orifice, but not too far nor
must it be continued above three
or four days in any common case:
For keeping the orifice too long
open will derive too great a quan-
tity of matter upon the parts, caus-
ing them to ulcerate, or to turn
fistulous. Therefore when the
running abates, only apply smooth
flat pledgets of lint, armed with the
same ointment, and above them
thick compresses of soft canvass,
in several doubles, to fill up the va-
cant place between the jaws, that
the divided parts may again be
united. If hard lumps remain after
the sores are healed up, they may
be removed by the following plas-
ter. Take diachylon and red lead
plaister, of each four ounces, pitch
two ounces; dissolve them with a
sufficient quantity of oil or lard.
Then take bole in fine powder an
ounce and an half, and stir into this
mixture, and make it to the consis-
tency of a plaister. This must be
spread on leather, or thin dowlas,
and after the hair has been clipped
off very close, it may be notched
and applied all under his chops,
where it is to lie as long as it will
stick on: And by the help of this
all the little hardnesses will be dis-
solved,
"Sometimes this distemper is
cast off chiefly by the nose and
sometimes the discharge is inward,
about the roots of the tongue. In
434
STR
STR
this case most of the matter issues
also from the nose. * either case,
the horse should be moderately
ridden. But it will be very proper
to wash his mouth sometimes with
honey of roses; for that will keep
it clean, and prevent ulcers. But
if sores are like to continue, dis-
solve a quarter of an ounce of crude
sal ammoniac in a pint of water,
and wash his mouth with it once
or twice a day.
"If the cure seems imperfect,
and the horse does not thrive upon
it, recourse may be had to purging;
for which purpose I chiefly recom-
mend the preparations of aloes;
because these are the most effec-
tual to work upon the blood, &."
Gibson's Farriery.
STRAWBERRY, Fragaria, a
well known fruit which is much
esteemed.
Mr. Miller reckons four sorts;
the wood strawberry, the Virginia,
or scarlet strawberry, the hautboy
strawberry, and the strawberry of
Chili.
It is the scarlet strawberry that
is most common, and perhaps most
worthy of cultivation. Our grass
fields often produce these straw-
berries in plenty. But it is better
to have a spot of ground devoted
to the culture of them; as they will
be much larger and better flavour-
ed; and as the trampling of the
grass in the mowing grounds may
be thus in some measure prevent-
ed.
A light loamy soil is best for
them: And but little dung should
be applied to the soil, as a large
quantity will cause them to run
much, and to be less fruitful.
The time to remove these plants,
is said by the above mentioned au-
thor to be September, or the be-
ginning of October. But they are
known to do well in this country
when removed early in the spring,
and watered a few times after it.
But they will bear little fruit that
year.
He directs," That the ground
should be cleaned from the roots of
all bad weeds. For as the plants
are to stand three years, before
they are taken up, those weeds
would overbear the plants.
"The usual method is, to lay the
ground out into beds of four feet
broad, with paths two feet, or two
and a half broad between them.
These paths being for the conven-
ience of gathering the strawberries
and for weeding and dressing the
beds. The plants should be in the
quincunx order, and fifteen inches
apart, so that there will be but three
rows in each bed.
"The plants should never be
taken from old neglected beds,
where the plants have been suffer-
ed to run into a multitude of
suckers, or from any plants which
are not fruitful; and those offsets
which stand nearest to the old
plants should always be preferred
to those which are produced from
the trailing stalks at a greater dis-
tance.
"During the summer, the plants
should be constantly kept clean
from weeds, and all the runners
should be pulled off as fast as they
are produced. If this is constantly
practised, the plants will become
very strong. Where proper care
is taken of the plants the first sum-
STR
435
'STR
mer, there is generally a plentiful
crop the second spring; whereas,
when this is neglected, the crop
will be thin and the fruit small.
"The old plants are those which
produce the fruit; for the suckers
never produce any till they have
grown a full year; therefore it ap-
pears how necessary it is to di-
vest the old plants of them; for
wherever they are suffered to re-
main, they rob the fruitful plants of
their nourishment, in proportion to
their number; for each of these
suckers sends out a quantity of
roots, which interfere, and are so
closely matted together, as to draw
away the greatest part of the nour-
ishment from the old roots, where-
by they are weakened. And the
suckers also render each other
very weak, hence the cause of
barrenness. For I have known,
where the old plants have been
constantly kept clear from suckers,
they have continued very fruitful
three years, without being trans-
planted.
the ground and break the clods.
And in this operation the tan which
was laid over the surface will be
buried, which will be a good dress-
ing to the strawberries. Then if
the surface is covered with tnoss,
it will keep the ground moist, and
secure a good crop of fruit; and
the moss will preserve the fruit
clean. When heavy rains fall, af-
ter the fruit is full grown, there
will be no dirt washed over them,
which frequently happens where
this is notpractised." Miller.
Gypsum is said to produce
powerful effects as a manure for
strawberry-plants. Straw may be
laid under the vines to keep the
fruit from the ground instead of
moss.
STRAW CUTTER. A machine
for cutting straw and corn stalk was
invented by Mr. Elihu Hotchkiss,
of Brattleborough, Vermont, which
was recommended by the Trustees
of the Massachusetts Agricultural
Society as being the best and cheap-
est for the purpose known in this
country. The Society's premium of
seventy five dollars was paid to the
inventor, and the patent right for
Massachusetts was purchased by
the Society. For a description of
this machine with drawings, see
Massachusetts Agricultural Reposi-
tory, vol. iv. p. 93.
"In autumn divest the plants of
any strings or runners which may
have been produced, and of all the
decayed leaves, and clear the beds
of weeds. Then the paths should be
dug up, and the weeds buried which
were taken from the beds, and some
earth laid over the surface of the
beds, between the plants. This STRING HALT, a kind of lame-
will strengthen and prepare them ness peculiar to the hind quarters
for the following spring. And if of a horse, which occasions a sud-
after this, there is some old tanners' den jerking of the legs upwards in
bark laid over the surface, between his going. When it seizes the out-
the plants, it will be of great ser- side muscles the horse straddles
vice to them. In the spring, after and throws his legs outwards. But
the danger of hard frost is over, the when the inside muscles are affect-
beds should be forked, to loosened, his legs are twitched up to his
436
STU
belly. Sometimes it is only in one
leg, sometimes in both The cure
is difficult, and rarely accomplish-
ed.
Rubbing and fomentations are
recommended, with daily moderate
exercise: By which the blood and
spirits may be equally derived into
the disordered muscle and its cor-
responding one. See Gibson and
Clark.
STU
means of this, the coulter will but sel-
dom be clogged with the stubble. If
this rolling be neglected, a small
roller annexed to the fore end of
the plough beam, in the place of a
foot, or even a foot itself,will greatly
help to clear the way for the coulter.
When stubble is on a soil that is
stiff, it is not accounted, so advisa-
ble to plough it in. For such land
STUBBLE, the stumps of reap-is not apt to cover the stubble so
ed grain, or the parts of the stems
left standing in the field.
closely as to cause it speedily to
putrefy. It will often lie in a sound
unaltered state for a long time, and
be very troublesome at the next
ploughing.
When the land is light and sandy,
the stubble of wheat and rye should
be ploughed into the soil to enrich it.
For this will have as good effect as
a moderate manuring with dung;
especially if it be ploughed soon
after the crop is taken off; for then
the stubble is in its best state. But
after it has been exposed for some
time to the sun and wind, it has
much less virtue in it to enrich the
soil. If this operation be perform-insects and vermin.
ed in season, the stubble, together
with what weeds are growing among
it, will be equal to the best green
dressing.
But if the ground should be
seeded after one ploughing, it might
be expected the stuble would ren-
der the ground so hollow and ca-
vernous as to starve many of the
plants that grow upon the surface.
At the same time these hollows
would be receptacles for noxious
insects and vermin. But in a light
sandy soil, the stubble is soon re-
duced to a condition to nourish
vegetables.
The better way, therefore, to
But with ploughs of the common dispose of the stubble on stiff lands,
construction, the ploughing of stub- is, to mow it, collect it, and carry
ble ground is disagreeable work; it into the farm yard; where, by
neither can it be well performed. the trampling of the cattle, and
The plough is so apt to choak up, mixing it with their excrements,
that it is more than one man can it will be converted, before the
well do to keep it clear. Ploughs following spring, into a rich and
for this work should be much deep-valuable manure. And it is almost
er built than the common ones. incredible how much a farm may
And this work might be greatly be, in this way, improved and fer-
facilitated, if a heavy roller were tilized.
passed over the stubble, to lay it
flat to the ground before ploughing.
When this is doing, great care should
be taken to pass the roller the same
way that the plough is to go. By
While in the old countries they
are under the necessity of making^
use of part of their stubble, in
thatching the roofs of their build-
ings, and of part of it for fuel, the
STU
437
STU
farmers in this country have the
privilege of converting the whole
of theirs to manure. And perhaps
it may be as well to do so, on
whatever soil it is, as to turn it in
with the plough; for it is not easy
to bury it completely by ploughing;
and the part which is not covered
is of little or no advantage to the
ground.
An English writer states, that
"Mr. W. Curtis, of Lynn, Norfolk,
found very beneficial effects from
burning the stubble of oats, which
was left eighteen inches high for
that purpose. On a field broken
up from old pasture the same year,
he afterwards sowed wheat and
oats in succession on the same
ground, the stubble of both which
was burned in the same manner.
The ashes were in every case
ploughed into a small depth, and
the verges of the field mowed to
prevent accidents. After the third
crop of corn, all of which were
abundant and remarkably free from
weeds, the field was laid down with
clover and grass seeds, and the en-
suing crops both of hay and grass
proved infinitely finer than those
before the ground was broken up.
Another piece of land was crop-
ped for three successive years in
the same manner as the first, to
which it was similar in every re-
spect of soil, aspect and previous
management, but in which the stub-
ble was ploughed in, instead of be-
ing burned; the produce of each
crop on it was much inferior to
that of the first experiment, and
the weeds increased so greatly,
that in laying it down to grass, they
quite overpowered the grass seeds,
•
so much so, that it was necessary
to re sow it; and ever after, while
Mr. Curtis held it, the grass and
hay produced were coarse and full
of weeds; and consequently infe-
rior both in value and quantity to
those of the other field, on which
the stubble had been burned.”
In burning stubble, the danger
which is to be apprehended from
the spreading of the flames may,
perhaps, be obviated by tracing à
furrow round the field, and setting
fire to the stubble on the inner
edge of the furrow.
STUMP, the part of a tree
which remains fast in the ground
after felling.
Stumps are very troublesome for
some years after trees are removed,
unless they be taken out. But do-
ing this is commonly thought to be
too much labour, especially when
they are of any considerable big-
ness.
Mr. Evelyn's engine for pulling
up large roots, may be thought
useful by those who are in haste to
have their land thoroughly cleared,
and do not grudge the expense of
doing it. See Complete Farmer,
under the article Stump.
M. de Turbilly advises to the
blowing up stumps with gun pow-
der. But I think my countrymen
will hardly go into this method, un-
less it be in particular cases.
Most of the stumps of hard wood
trees will be so decayed in their
roots in six or seven years, that
they may be easily taken away.
So will some of the soft woods.
But the stumps of white pine trees,
that are large, will last more than
half a century. However, when
1
438
SUN
STY
they are well dried, and have some-
what decayed, they may be con-
quered by fire, where there is
plenty of wood to pile on them.
But before this is attempted, the
earth should be removed from their
sides, and if practicable from un-
derneath them, allowing them a
few days to dry. A good method
of destroying the stumps of white
pine trees is, to dig up the smaller
ones, and pile them round the
larger; and when they have be-
come dry, set fire to them.
The stumps of trees are such
hindrances to the operations of til-
lage, as greatly diminish the profit
of farming. Where land abounds
with them, they are equal to a
heavy tax. This should be con-
sidered by those who have the
power of taxing new settlements.
It is horrid oppression, to tax lands
that are full of stumps of trees,
equally with the oldest and most
improved.
STY, a small house, or hut, in
which hogs are kept, or lodged.
Hogs that are not confined should
always have a sty, or cot, to lodge
in, placed in a convenient situation,
and easy of access. It should be
very tight, warm and dry, of what-
ever materials it may be built, and
kept well littered: For if swine
have not a warm lodging, or are
much pinched with the cold, they
will be injured in their growth.
That a sty may be the warmer,
the door of it should be no larger
than is needful for the swine to
pass through. And a door should
be hung in this passage by the top,
that it may be pushed up by their
noses, either inwards or outwards,
as there shall be occasion. The
swine will not fail to open it, and
it will shut of itself. See Hogsty.
SUBSOIL. The value of a soil de-
pends much upon the nature of the
subsoil, or under stratum. A reten-
tive clayey subsoil is injurious to
land, which is naturally moist. But
a clayey subsoil is serviceable to a
sandy soil, by retaining moisture,
and supplying what is carried off by
evaporation, or consumed by plants.
When the surface soil is thin, a
stony subsoil is generally prejudi-
cial, unless it be composed of lime-
stone, and then the soil, though
thin, is remarkably fertile.
SUCKER, a young twig, or
shoot, from the stock, roots, or
limbs, of a plant or tree.
SUNFLOWER, Helianthus, one
of the largest of annual plants, so
well known as to need no descrip-
tion.
The sunflower is a native of
America; but has been carried in-
to England, where it flourishes.
It bears very large discous flowers,
and produces a large quantity of
black seeds, which are of use for
feeding poultry.
The seeds should be sowed early.
They will grow in almost any soil.
The young plants may be trans-
planted at any time, before they
are six or seven inches high, only
observing to take up a ball of earth
about their roots. They should
be placed in the northern borders
of gardens, if in gardens at all,
where they will do the least harm
to other plants by their shadow;
and they should stand not less than
two feet asunder. They will rise
to the height of a dozen or fourteen
feet.
SUR
439
SUR
It is said that the seeds of this
plant will afford an oil equal to
olive oil, and that seventy bushels
may be raised from an acre. A
bushel of seed, we are told, will
yield a gallon of oil as fine as that
which we import from Florence;
and the mass which remains after
pressing out the oil is useful as food
for hogs, poultry, &c. This plant
gives out great quantities of oxygen
gas, or vital air, and, on that ac-
count, it has been recommended
to cultivate it in unwholesome
places. In England it has been
applied to other valuable uses.
The fibres of the bark have been
substituted for hemp; and the
stalks, when dried, are used for
fuel, the pith affording tinder. The
leaves, when green, are a good
food for rabbits. It may be raised
in rows like Indian corn.-See
Massachusetts Agricultural Reposi-
tory, Vol. III. pages 70, 71.
A correspondent of the "Ame-
rican Farmer" states (Vol. II. p.
46), that he planted sunflower seed
on the ninth of May, in a rich
black soil, drill fashion, rows four
feet apart, plants from two to three
feet asunder when thinned, amount
ing to eight square rods. They
grew well under a common corn
cultivation, ripened, and the seed
heads were cut off the stalks and
thresher about the 11th of Octo-
ber. The crop was at the rate of
ninety bushels to the acre.
SURFEIT, a disease to which
cattle, and horses especially, are
liable.
It is produced by various causes;
it comes from intense labour, from
overheating, and from diseases not
well cured.
"A horse is said to be surfeited,
when his coat stares, and looks
rusty and durty, though proper
means have not been wanting to
keep him clean. The skin is full
of scales and dander, that lie thick
and mealy among the hair, and is
constantly supplied with a fresh
succession of the same for want of
due transpiration. Some horses
have hurdles of various sizes like
peas or tares: Some have dry fix-
ed scabs all over their limbs or
bodies; others a moisture attended
with heat and inflammation; the
humours being so sharp and vio-
lently itching, that the horses rub
so incessantly, as to make them-
selves raw.
1
Some have no erup-
tions at all, but an unwholesome
look, and are dull, sluggish, and
lazy; some appear only lean and
hidebound; others have flying
pains and lameness, resembling a
rheumatism; so that in the surfeits
of horses, we have almost all the
different species of the scurvy, and
other chronical distempers.
"The following method is usu-
ally attended with success in the
dry species. First, take away about
three or four pounds of blood; and
then give the following mild purge,
which will work as an alterative,
and should be repeated once a
week or ten days, for some time.
Take succotrine aloes six drams,
or one ounce; gum guaicum half
an ouuce; diaphoretic anti-
mony, and powder of myrrh, of
each two drams; make into a
ball with syrup of buckthorn.
"In the intermediate days, an
ounce of the following powder
should be given morning and even-
ing in his feeds.
440
SWA
SUR
I'
Take native cinnabar, or cinnabar
of antimony finely powdered,
half a pound; crude antimony
in fine powder four ounces; gum
guaicum also in powder four
ounces; make into sixteen doses
for eight days:
give cooling physic twice a week;
as, four ounces of lenitive electua-
ry, with the same quantity of cream
of tartar, with four ounces of glau-
ber salts, quickened, if thought pro-
per, with two or three drams of
powder of jalap, dissolved in water
gruel, and given in a morning fast-
ing.
er.
"This medicine must be repeat-
ed till the horse coats well, and all
the symptoms of the surfeit disap- "After three or four of these
pear. If the horse is of small value, purges, two ounces of nitre made
two or three common purges should into a ball with honey, may be
be given, and half an ounce of anti-given every morning for a fort-
mony, with the same quantity of night; and if attended with suc-
sulphur, twice a day, or the altera- cess, repeated for a fortnight long-
tive balls with camphire and nitre.
"If the little scabs on the skin
do not peel off, anoint them with
the mercurial ointment; during the
time of using which, it will be pro-
per to keep the horse dry, and to
give him warm water. This oint-
ment properly rubbed into the
blood, with the assistance of purg-
ing physic, has frequently cured
these kind of surfeits, without any
other assistance.
"The powders above mentioned
may also be given with the horse's
corn; or a strong decoction of
guaicum shavings, or logwood, may
be given alone, to the quantity of
two quarts a day. These, and in-
deed all alterative medicines,
must be continued for a long time,
where the disorder proves obsti-
nate.
"The diet should be cool and
opening; and if the horse is hide-
bound an ounce of fenugreek seeds
should be given in his feeds for a
The wet surfeit, which is no
more than a moist running scurvy,
appears on different parts of the
body of a horse, attended some-month or longer. And as this dis-
times with great heat and inflamma-
tion: The neck oftentimes swells
so in one night's time, that great
quantities of a hot briny humour is
sue forth, which, if not allayed, will
be apt to collect on the poll or
withers, and produce the poll-evil
· or fistula. This disease also fre-
quently attacks the limbs, where it
proves obstinate, and hard to cure;
and in some horses shews itself
spring and fall.
"In this case bleed plentifully,
avoid externally all repellers, aud
order often proceeds from worms,
give the mercurial physic too, and
afterwards the cinnabar powder, as
above directed; but as in general
it is not an original disease, but a
symptom only of many, in the cure,
regard must be had to the first
cause; thus as it is an attendant on
fevers, worms, &c. the removal of
this complaint must be variously
effected." Complete Farmer.
SWAMP, wet sunken land. See
the article Bog.
SWARD, the surface of grass
ground.
SWA
441
SWA
The sward is formed of a web of
the roots of grass, mixed with the
best mould. The common English
grass, or poa, forms a very firm and
tough sward, which may be cut up
and used as turf. Herdsgrass has
a weaker sward; and clover, being
tap rooted, forms a very weak and
and crumbly sward. The first kind
bears the tread of cattle, and the
pressure of wheels far better than
the others.
The sward is wisely contrived by
the Author of Nature, for the re-
cruiting and enriching of land. At
the same time that it prevents the
descending of the food of vegeta-
bles too deep into the soil, it is con
tinually collecting it from the at-
mosphere. So that for a long
course of years, some grass lands
will afford good crops of hay with
little or no manuring.
The sward always contains the
richest part of the soil. Accord-
ingly it is always found, that land
newly ploughed out of sward is
more fruitful than that which has
been longer in tillage. Sometimes it
will bear as good a crop without
dung, as it will in succeeding years,
well dunged.
Other things being equal, a
sward that is always fed very
close does not gather richness so
fast as one that has more fogge. In
the one case, the vegetable food in
the atmosphere is blown away; in
het other, it is entangled in the fog-
ge, retained by it, and carried into
the soil by rains, and melting snows.
A sward on which cattle lie
much, or where swine frequently
run, as in the borders of many of
56
our roads, becomes very rich. So
that if the surface be pared off, to
the thickness of two or three inches,
and laid in heaps to ferment, with
the grassy sides inward, it will soon
become an excellent manure. A
dressing of this will surprisingly re-
new the fertility of an old worn out
field. But a mixture of dung with
this manure will be no small advan-
tage.
By the sides of fences, a sward
gathers richness faster than in the
other parts of a field. The vegeta-
ble food which floats in the air, the
earthy parts especially, may be
supposed to fall, for the same rea-
son that snow does, and remain, un-
der the lee of fences. And the bank-
ing up of snow in these situations
is another cause of enriching the sur-
face of the ground. By lying for some
time after the ground is bare, being
peculiarly adapted to catch and
retain the food of plants, it conveys
the more of it into the sward. High
and close fences produce these ef-
fects more observably than low and
open ones. But this is to be under-
stood with limitation; for it is ob-
served that a close fence seven or
eight feet high has often a much
smaller bank of snow under its lee
than a fence of but four or five feet.
When the sward of mowing
ground binds too much, it should
be broken up and tilled. But to
prevent binding, it should not be
fed very close after mowing; and
especially a sprinkling of well rot-
ted compost, applied in autumn,
will not only prevent binding, but
increase the next crop, to such a
degree, that manure cannot be bet-
ter applied.
1
442
SWI
SWARTH, or SWATH, a line
or row or grass, or corn, &c. cut
down by the mower.
The double swarth is where the
grass of two swarths is thrown to-
gether in mowing. It saves a lit-
tle labour in raking to make the
double swarth the centre of a win-
drow. But when the crop is thin,
this is an object unworthy of atten-
tion.
SWINE, the name of a species
of tame quadruped animals, well
known in all countries.
Sowen is the old English plural
of sow, whence the name swine,
which custom has applied to the
whole species of hogs.
SWI
beasts, fowls and fish, and the
grounds of cider, beer and other li-
quors.
As this animal is much disposed
and adapted to do mischief, those
that are permitted to go at large,
should be well yoked, that they
may not break through fences.
And whether they go at large or in
pastures, they should always be
ringed in the nose, to prevent their
tearing up the ground too much, in
search of roots. When kept in pens,
they need ringing also, that they
may live the more quietly together,
and not tear and wound each other.
Their running at large is, per-
haps, not advisable, unless it be in
wide roads, or in places where
there is a large outlet for them;
or where grass, brakes, acorns, or
are not to be found in plenty. For
they are exposed to the more acci-
dents; and in some of our settle-
ments, which border on the wilder-
The keeping of swine is of es-
sential advantage to the husband-
man; because they feed much
upon things, which would other-nuts of beech, chesnut, or hickory,
wise be of no considerable service
to him. The roads, and commons,
in the farming towns of this coun-
try, afford swine, excepting in win-
ter, the greatest part of their scan-ness, the bears are apt to catch
ty living. For they feed heartily, them. And the most of our pub-
not only on grass, but many sorts lic roads are so much frequented by
of weeds, the tops and roots of fern, other hungry beasts, that the swine
the roots of several kinds of aqua- can have but little advantage from
tic plants, &c. They pick up the grass.
grain and seeds that are necessarily
scattered about the harn and out
houses, besides eating worms and
many kinds of insects.
Besides, the farmer's house af-
fords many things which contribute
to their support, which would
otherwise be lost, such as whey,
sour skimmed milk, and butter
milk, the washing of tubs and dish-
es; animal and vegetable food that
has accidentally got corrupted, de-
cayed and rotten fruit, the offal of
But in case of necessity, when
the farmer happens to have no
suitable pasture for his swine, let
the wash from the house be regu-
larly given them, morning and ev-
ening, to prevent their wandering
away too far from home. This
will induce them always to lodge
at home, especially if they have a
good sty to receive them in inclem-
ent weather; by means of which
they will be the less in danger of
being lost, or of straying too far
from home.
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443
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I am sensible that the method of
management I here recommend, is
liable to one considerable objec-
tion; which is, that if they be feding out the clover.
at all at home, they will be apt to
haunt the house all the time,
crying for more, and never go
way far in quest of food.
bring them well forward in their
growth, but they should have rings
in their noses to prevent their root-
Instead of attempting to answer
this objection, I wish I could make
it appear a sufficient argument to
convince farmers of the great ad-
vantage, or the necessity of having
good enclosed pastures for their
swine. They will be safer, and
fare better; and the cost of it is not
great.
The hog pasture should be so
near to the dwelling house, that it
may not be troublesome to carry
the wash to the swine: And yet
so far off that the people in the
house may not be stunned with
their noise. And a warm cot must
be made in some convenient part
of their pasture, for them to lodge
in.
It has been proved, by many
trials, that hogs, in such a pasture,
may be kept in good plight, with-
out any other food. Some say
they may be half fattened.
Arthur Young, Esq. of Great
Britain, in the summer of the year
1766, pastured sixty four swine of
various sizes, on two acres of clo-
ver ground. And allowing two
pence half penny per week, one
with another, their feedings a-
mounted to seventeen pounds, six-
teen shillings sterling. Their keep-
ing was set at a low rate, six months
feeding for one swine being 5s. 5d.
and the profit of the clover put to
this use is astonishing. He assures
the public that all these swine
grew
very fast. And in his opinion, this
use of clover is greatly preferable
to making it into hay. I think this
is not to be doubted, though the
To prepare a pasture for them, crop of hay were supposed to be
let the ground be broken up, tilled the greatest that is ever obtained.
and manured, and then laid down It should be remembered, that
with clover. For swine are more the pasturing with swine will en-
fond of this grass than of any other rich land more than pasturing with
which our country produces. Let other beasts, and hereby the pro-
the quantity of land be so propor- fit of the farmer will be increased.
tioned to the number of swine, that And if a common clover lay will
they may keep the grass from run- produce a good crop of wheat,
ning up to seed. For this will pre- much more may be expected of the
vent waste; and the shorter the same kind of ground, after pastur-
grass is, the sweeter it will be, anding swine upon it; as their dung
the more tender and agreeable to adds much to the fertility of the soil.
their palates.
I suppose that one acre of rich
land in clover, will support twenty
or more swine, large and small to-
gether, through the summer; and
誊
​Hogs may be turned into their
pasture about the first of May, and
kept in it till the last of October.
And if, in May and October, the
grass should not be quite suffi-
444
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S WI
·
cient for their support, some pota-
toes or other roots may be thrown
to them.
The fence about the pasture
should be so tight and strong that
the swine will not need to be yoked:
Because yokes do much towards
preventing their growth, as I have
found by letting yoked and unyoked
ones of the same litter run together
in a pasture.
keep the ground light and loose;
destroy insects that infest the trees,
and feed heartily on the premature
apples that fall, which the farmer is
too often tempted to grind up for
cider. And the shadow of the trees
will be very grateful and comforta-
ble to them in summer. An orch-
ard may be prepared with clover
as well as any other spot of ground.
But it should be remembered that,
It will be a great advantage to a when the trees in an orchard are
hog pasture, to have plenty of wa-young and small, swine should not
ter in it through the summer. Run-be permitted to go among them?
ning water is best, as it will afford For there will be danger of their
them the most wholesome drink, wounding them, and stripping off
and at the same time, serve as well some of the bark.
as any other for them to wallow in ;
and it will keep them clean, which
is no small advantage.
But the most dirty puddle water
is better than none, as they can cool
themselves in it in hot weather,
which is greatly refreshing to them,
and conducive to keep them in
health.
The best way of managing swine
is, to keep them always in middling
plight: Not too fat, lest their
health should be in danger, espe-
cially when the weather is hot:
Not too lean, because this is apt to
give them a ravenous appetite, and
tempt them to eat things that are
not wholesome for them. Those
that have been long starved, can
not be made fat without great ex-
pense: Sometimes more than they
will repay with their flesh.
When it can with convenience
be so ordered, it is an excellent
piece of husbandry, to make a hog
pasture of an orchard. Their dung
is allowed to be the very best of
manure for the trees. They will
I would not wish to have the
keeping of swine wholly engrossed
by the farmer. In populous towns,
where there is so much as room for
gardens, every family should keep
at least one, to take off the refuse of
the kitchen, dish water, &c. which
would be otherwise thrown away.
Let him be kept in a pen, or sty,
perpetually. For the weeds even
of a small garden, thrown into his
pen, will be ten times better for
him, than all he can pick up in the
streets, though there may happen.
to be a little grass in the bye lanes.
He should be fatted and killed in
the fall; and a half year old shoot,
bought in, to supply his place.
They who keep but one swine, or
even two,
even two, had better purchase
their pigs than attempt to breed
them.
It is perhaps of more consequence
than some are aware of, to be fur-
nished with the best breed of swine.
There has been very little care
hitherto, in our country,taken about
this matter,
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445
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It would far exceed our limits to |
give a description of the different
breeds of this animal. Among the
best are the Byfield breed, the Bed-
ford breed, and the recent impor-
tations from England, which seem
to be a cross of the Chinese breed,
with the larger and coarser breeds
of Great Britain.
In the breeding of swine care
should be taken to have them pig-
ged in the right season, about
March or April. These will bear
the rigour of the following winter,
much better than those which come
later: Though a sow will farrow
three times in a year, it is better
that they should do it only twice.
The above mentioned writers
say, "It is common for sows to
have thirteen or fourteen pigs at a
litter: But the sow can rear no
more than she has teats to suckle
them with the rest must therefore
be destroyed, or put to other sows.
If a sow miss the time of going to
boar, that she might in course have
done, give her some oats parched
in a pan, in her wash, or the small
end of a runnet bag, and it will
cause her quickly to go to boar.
The pigs which you rear, after you
have chosen out the best for boars
and sows, the males must be gelt,
and the sows spayed."
The most eligible food for store
hogs in winter ought to be known,
regard being had to the cost of the
food, and the advantage gained in
the growth of the swine. Raw
potatoes seem to be the most fash-
ionable food in the northern parts
of New England. But if swine
are wholly confined to this food,
they will but just live, without in
creasing much in their growth.
But boiled potatoes will make them
grow and even fatten them. Roast-
ed potatoes are still better for
them than boiled, as they are less
watery.
From some late experience I
have had of feeding them with raw
carrots, I judge them to be a more
fattening food than even boiled po-
tatoes. The swine are exceed-
ingly fond of them, sometimes pre-
ferring them to Indian corn. Aud
I think the cost of raising carrots
will not be found greater on the
whole, where the soil is suitable
for them, than that of raising pota-
toes.
The feeding of store swine con-
stantly with any kind of corn,
seems to be too expensive. Possi-
bly it will be found, upon further
trial, that carrots are the best sub-
stitutę. Red beets are also a good
food for them, and parsneps excel-
lent: But turnips and cabbage are
improper.
Mr. Young made many accurate
experiments in order to find out
the cheapest and best method of
feeding swine in sties. The result
of the whole was, that boiled car-
rots had the preference.
Sows and pigs on a farm, as hc
justly observes, should have the
benefit that arises to swine from
the dairy. The rest of the swine.
may be fed chiefly on clover in
the summer, and on roots in the
winter, if this rule be observed,
the dairy farmer may keep a
very great number of swine to ad-
vantage.
But it should not be forgotten,
that swine are, in one respect at
446
SWI
SWI
least, like human creatures, apt to
be cloyed when confined wholly to
one kind of food. They should
therefore be, in some measure gra-
tified with variety. It has been
often remarked, that potatoes suit
hogs better in summer than in win-
ter. The secret is, that in summer
no hog is wholly confined to pota-
toes; for he gets at least some
grass and weeds.
I know not whether it has ever
yet been determined, at what age
it is, best, or most for the owner's
interest, that swine should be fat-
ted and killed. That it is in no
part of the first year, excepting the |
China breed, I suppose will be gen-
erally granted. For as they have
not
near attained to their full
growth, it cannot be expected that
they should be so quickly, or so ea-
sily fatted by feeding. But as the
young pork is more palatable, some
will prefer it on the whole, though
it should be more dearly obtained.
The more common practice is,
to kill them at about the age of a
year and a half. But I suspect the
profit would be greater, if they
were kept one year longer. For it
is well known, that they bear the
cold of the second winter much bet-
ter than that of the first. As their
growth is nearly or quite complet-
ed, they are the more easily fat-
tened; and I never could perceive
but tha the pork was equally good
and palatable, as those killed at
eighteen months old.
According to the opinion of the
Rev. Mr. Eliot, the best time in
the year to shut up hogs to fatten
them, is the month of August. I
rather prefer the month of Sep-
|tember, when it may be depended
on, that they will not suffer at all
by the heat in their confinement:
And there will be time enough to
make them fat, before the weather
comes to be extremely cold.
He that attempts to fatten his
hogs in winter will be a loser: For
it has been found by long experi-
ence, that they do not gain in their
flesh near so fast in a frosty, as in a
temperate season. I therefore
take care to get them fit for the
knife by the beginning or middle of
December, and I should choose to
kill them still earlier, were it not
for the advantage of keeping the
lean part of the pork for some time
without salting; as it most com-
monly may be done by exposing it
to frost, in the coolest part of a
house.
But a very important question is,
what food and management is best
in fattening swine? Pease answer
well, when the price of them is low.
But I am constrained to give the
preference to Indian corn.
Let
them be fed in September with
green ears from the field. There
is nothing they will devour more
greedily than this corn, and even
the cobs with it.
In Indian harvest, the unripe ears
should be picked out, and given to
the hogs that are fatting, without
delay: Or as fast as they can eat
them: For it will do them four
times as much good in this state,
as it will after it is dried, it being
difficult to dry it without its turning
mouldy, or rotten; so
that they
will scarcely eat any of it in this
state, unless they be kept shorter
of food than fatting hogs should be.
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447
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After the unripe corn is used,
that which is ripened must be given
them.
a good deal, when they are fed only
on corn, or stiff dough.
To prevent measles, and other
disorders in hogs, while they are
fatting, and to increase their health
and appetite, a dose or two of brim-
stone, or antimony, given them in
their dough, is useful, and should
not be neglected.
Some change of food may be
advisable, in every stage of their
existence, as it always seems to in-
crease their appetite. But while
they are fatting, laxative food in
general should be avoided, as these
animals are seldom known to suffer
by costiveness, especially when
they are full fed, but often from the
contrary disorder. If they chance
to be costive, a little rye will help
them.
If it be thought most convenient
to feed them with corn of the
preceding year, it should not be
given them without soaking, or
boiling, or grinding it into meal.
For they will not perfectly digest
much of the hard kernels; it be-
ing often too hard for their teeth.
It has been thought by good judges,
that the corn will be at least a sixth
part more advantage to the swine,
for soaking it in water. But there
is, if I mistake not, still more ad-
vantage in grinding it. What new
corn is given them, may be in ears,
as it is not hardened enough for
grinding. I know of nothing that
will fatten hogs faster than a dough
of meal and water. But as this is In feeding, steady care should
expensive food, the dough may be taken that not one meal should
be mixed with boiled potatoes, or be missed, nor mistimed, and their
boiled carrots. They eat these water should never be forgotten.
mixtures as well as dough by it-They should always have as much
self; and it appears to make no
material difference in their fatten-
ing. In this mixture, barley meal
will answer instead of Indian:
Which should be attended to in
our more northern parts, where
two bushels of Barley may be as
easily raised, as one of Indian corn.
Both kinds of meal I have found to
be a good mixture with boiled po-
tatoes; but it should by all means
be a little salted to give it a good
relish.
While hogs are fatting, little or
none of the wash from the kitchen
should be given them. Their
drink should be fair water, which
they relish better than any other
drink, and of which they will drink
food as they will eat up clean; but
never more than that quantity, lest
they defile it, and it be wasted. A
little at a time, and often, is a good
rule.
If their skins be scùrfy, or in-
clining to manginess, a little oil
poured upon their backs, will cause
it to come off. And some say, a
small mess of rye now and then, as
a change in their food, is good
against these and other disorders.
If the issues in their fore legs
should chance to get stopped, every
attempt to fatten them will be in
vain. These therefore should be
watched; and if found to be stop-
ped, they should be rubbed open
with a corn cob.
448
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SWI
Rubbing and currying their hides
very frequently, is of advantage to
keep up perspiration. It is grate-
ful to the animals, as well as con-
ducive to their health and growth.
A proper scrubbing post in the
middle of their pen will not be
amiss. And during the whole time
of their fatting, they should have
plenty of litter. They will lie
the more dry and warm, and it
will be more than paid for, by the
increase of good manure.
on cut clover will fall away.”
(Memoirs of the Philadelphia Ag-
ricultural Society, Vol. II. p. 33.)
The same gentleman asserts that
hogs, while fatting, should con-
stantly have some dry rotten wood,
kept in the pen, which they will
eat occasionally, and it proves very
beneficial to them. It is also de-
clared, as well by that gentleman
as other writers, that food when
soured by a proper degree of fer-
mentation is much the best for fat-
ting swine, and that one gallon of
sour wash will go as far as two of
sweet for that purpose. Mr. Young
says, that the best method of feed-
grind it to meal, and mix it with
water in cisterns for that purpose,
at the rate of five bushels of meal
to a hundred gallons of water.
When hogs are killed, a single
one should not be left to live alone
in a pen. He will be apt to pine
too much after his former compa-
nions: And in cold weather he willing all kinds of grain to hogs is to
suffer for want of lodging so warm
as he has been accustomed to do.
The fat part of pork should be
plentifully salted with the best and
strongest clean salt. It will take
three pecks for a barrel. The
pork should be kept continually
under pickle; for if it be exposed
ever so little to the air, it will be-
come rusty and unpalatable. See
Hogsty.
Boiled or steamed clover hay
will serve to keep hogs during win-
ter, but the addition of potatoes or
carrots, boiled or steamed with the
hay will be an improvement. For
the best mode of boiling or steam-
ing, see Steamboiler.
Mr. Young directs soiling swine
in a yard in preference to feeding
them on clover in the field during
summer. But Judge Peters, of
Pennsylvania, says, "In summer
my hogs chiefly run on clover.
Swine feeding on clover in the
fields will thrive wonderfully;
when those, (confined or not) fed
"Mr. Timothy Kirk, of York-
town, Pennsylvania, fed one pig
with boiled potatoes and Indian
corn, and another with the same
articles unboiled. The two ani-
mals were weighed every week,
and the difference between them
was as 6 to 9. The experiment was
continued several weeks, and the
animals alternately fed upon boil-
ed and unboiled food, with an uni-
formity of result, which sufficiently
proved the very great profit arising
from boiled food."-Domestic En-
cyclopedia.
We shall here take notice of
some of the diseases to which
swine are liable, and point out
their remedies.
The Mange is an eruption in the
skin, caused by the want of cleanli-
ness in the hogstye. It causes so
great an irritation, that the animals
SWI
449
TAI
rub themselves till a scab is pro- Agriculture, gives the following
duced, and in a short time ulcera- remedy: A handful of nettles is to
tion ensues.
be previously boiled in a gallon of
small beer, when half a pound of
flour of sulphur, a quarter of a
pound of elecampane, three ounces
of liquorice, and a quarter of a
pound of aniseeds are to be added
in a pulverized state.
This pre-
paration should be administered in
milk, and the quantity here stated
is said to be sufficient for six doses.
Staggers. In this disorder the
animal turns round rapidly, and if
not assisted will die in half an hour.
Dr. Norford (Annals of Agri-
culture, Vol. XV.) recommends the
following ointment, which seldom
fails to effect a perfect cure, pro-
vided it be properly applied, and
the animals kept clean after the
disease is removed. Take three
ounces of hog's lard, one ounce of
fine flour of sulphur, two drachms
of white hellebore, newly pulveriz-
ed, and half an ounce of the water
of kali, prepared in the shops.
These ingredients are to be tho- Remedy. You will see a bare
roughly incorporated, so as to form knob in the roof of the mouth.
an unguent; the whole of which is Cut it and let it bleed. Take the
directed to be rubbed on to the powder of loam and salt, rub it
animal at one time, and is said to with it, and then give the hog a
be sufficient for a hog of six or little urine. See a letter from J.
seven stone: if the ointment be P. De Gruchy to Hon. Richard
properly applied, there will be no Peters, published in "Memoirs of
need of a repetition. If the hog the Philadelphia Agricultural So-
has a slight cough, doses of anti-ciety, Vol. II. p. 28.
mony from half an ounce to an
ounce and an half, according to the
size of the animal, should be finely
pulverized, and mixed with his
food, for ten days or a fortnight.
When from long neglect, the neck,
ears, and other parts become ulgishness, to which horned cattle
cerated, they should be anointed
every third or fourth day with an
ointinent made of equal parts of tar
and mutton suit, melted together,
till the cure is completed.
The Murrain is known by the
animal's hanging down his head
which is swollen; short and hot
breathing; palpitation of the heart,
staggerings, and an abundant se-
cretion of viscid matter from the
eyes.
T.
TAIL SICKNESS, a distemper
attended with weakness and slug-
are liable in the spring. The end
of the tail becomes hollow and re-
laxed, but not, as some have as-
serted, destitute of feeling. A cure
is easily effected, by the amputa-
tion of a small piece of the tail,
which will be attended with a dis-
charge of some blood. But when
the tail is but little affected, and
near to the end, a slit of one inch,
or an inch and a half, in the end of
the tail, is preferable to amputa-
The 36th volume of Annals of tion.
57
450
ΤΕΑ
TEA
TEAM, the beasts that are used excessive slowness may be prevent-
together in draught.
ed, care should be taken never to
The right ordering and manage-overload them. When their work
ment of a team is a matter of no is easy, they may be quickened
little consequence to the farmer, without danger of hurting them
not only in ploughing and harrow- and their contracting a habit of
ing, but in carting and sledding. moving slowly may be thus pre-
vented.
In some countries, teams consist
only of horses, but in a new
country, where roads are bad, and
the ground full of obstacles, this
will not answer. A horse team
travels so much quicker than oxen,
that where there are many obsta-
cles, no harness will hold them;
and violent jerks would injure and
discourage if not ruin, the horses.
But in fields that are perfectly
cleared, ploughing with horses may
be performed with much greater
despatch and advantage. An acre
and a half is but a moderate day's
work for a team of horses, whereas
an ox team seldom does more than
an acre. And there is a propor-
tionable advantage in teaming on a
good road with horses.
But when it is considered how
much more expensive the support
of horses is, than that of oxen, and
that an ox, when past labouring, is
valuable for beef, the general use
of horses in the draught is not to
be accounted eligible, in any coun-
try. Mr. Marshall computes that
a million sterling annually is lost
in Britain, by the using of horses
for draught instead of oxen: And
that a hundred thousand persons
might be supplied with a pound of
animal food per day, without con-
suming one additional blade of
grass, if oxen were used in general.
The slowness of oxen is partly
natural, and partly acquired. That
;
It is also found, that old oxen are
always apt to be slower than young
ones. It is not advisable, there-
fore, to continue to work them till
they are old; but to turn them off
at six or seven years old, at which
age they will be better beef than
older cattle.
Perhaps a team consisting partly
of oxen and partly of horses, may
be found to be, upon the whole, of
the greatest advantage, especially
among small farmers. For they
find it needful to keep one horse or
more, which will be idle most of
the time, unless they work him in
the team with the oxen.
The methods of harnessing a
team, are so well known to farmers
by their experience, that they
would perhaps scorn to be instruct-
ed in it. But I would recommend
it to them to take it into conside-
ration, whether
whether improvements
might not be made in this article
of rural economy. Particularly,
whether the hard and heavy wood-
en yokes with which oxen are
worked, should not give place to a
mode of harnessing similar to that
of horses. Collars, to open and
shut at the top, with hames and
traces, for oxen, are used in Eng-
land, and have been recommended
by some of its ingenious writers.
But if this advise should be gene-
rally followed in this country, the
·
་
TEA
451
THI
use of two-wheeled carts must be
laid aside, the wooden yokes being
necessarily connected with them.
See the article Waggon.
TEASEL, CARDUUS FUL-
LONUM, or Fuller's Thistle, Dip-
sacus, a species of thistle, the heads
of which are of use to raise the
nap on woollen cloth. They are
fitter to work on fine than on coarse
cloths.
This is a plant which ought to be
cultivated in this country, in order
to facilitate and improve the manu-
facture of woollen. And from
some trials that have been made
it appears that it may be done
without difficulty.
Mr. Miller says,
"This plant is
propagated by sowing the seeds in
March, upon a soil that has been
well prepared." Any time in April
will answer in this country. "About
one peck of seed will sow an acre;
for the plants should have room to
grow, otherwise the heads will not
be so large, nor in so great quan-
tity. When the plants are come
up, they must be hoed in the same
manner as is practised for turnips,
cutting out all the weeds, and sing-
ling out the plants to about eight
inches distance. And as the plants
advance, and the weeds begin to
grow again, they must be hoed a
second time, cutting out the plants
to a wider distance; for they should
be left, at last, a foot asunder, and
should be kept clear from weeds,
especially the first summer: For
when the plants have spread so as
to cover the ground, the weeds
will not so readily grow be-
tween them. The second year
after sowing, the plants will shoot
up heads, which will be fit to cut
about the beginning of August; at
which time they should be cut,
and tied up in bunches, setting
them in the sun, if the weather be
fair; but if not, they must be set in
The common
rooms to dry them.
produce is about a hundred and
sixty bundles, or staves, upon an
acre, which they sell for one shil-
ling a stave."
Those who would see a more
particular account of this useful
plant, may consult the Complete
Farmer.
TETHER, or TEDDER, a
rope with which a horse is tied in
the field. He may be fastened by
the neck, or the foot, or head,
shifting his situation as often as
needful. Where grass grows in
part of a lot, with a tillage crop
growing on part of it, it is often
convenient to feed off the grass in
this way.
THATCH, straw laid on the
top of a building, or stacks, to keep
out the weather. In this country
it is used only for stacks, sheds and
hovels.
THILL HORSE, the hinder-
most horse in a team, which goes
between the thills or shafts.
THISTLE, Carduus, a prickly
weed found in tillage and pasture
lands. It indicates a rich soil; but
it is a very troublesome weed, as it
exhausts much of the strength of
the soil, and easily propagates itself
far and wide, by its downy seeds,
which are wafted by the wind to
considerable distances.
An effectual way to subdue this-
tles is, to pull them up by hand
while they are small, or before the
452
THR
THR
usual time of cutting them. It
may be easily done after a consi-
derable rain, while the ground is
soft by being moistened. But the
operator must have his hands well
defended by gloves of stout leather.
They may be taken out at any
time with a strong spade. Or
thistles may be cut up in autumn,
about the beginning of September,
and burnt before they have scat-
tered their seed. A thorough til-
A thorough til
lage of the land, or a good summer
fallowing, will subdue them.
But it signifies little for one far-
mer to destroy the thistles in his
ground, so long as they are suffer
ed to flourish in contiguous fields;
because the seeds are wafted in
the air from field to field, to a con-
siderable distance. For this rea-
son it is, that in France, a man may
sue his neighbour for neglecting to
thistle his ground in the proper
season; or may employ people to
do it at his expense.
Not only the fields, but the bor-
ders and hedges around them,
should be cleared of thistles, or a
complete conquest over them will
never be obtained. And this is the
most difficult part of the work.
this instrument, that they will not
vegetate. That which is to be
sowed, should therefore be extri-
cated from the heads in some bet-
ter method. Striking the grain by
handfulls, against a beam or post, is
recommended. Some sorts of
seeds should be beaten out with a
staff, or a slender rod.
Turning a heavy wooden wheel
upon grain, by a horse, might be the
means of saving a good deal of la-
bour. This is the common method
of getting out the seeds of clover:
And it might answer equally well
for any other kind of smooth and
slippery seeds. The wheel holds
the chaff in its place and drives the
seeds before it.
An engine was once made by a
gentleman in the state of New-
Hampshire, consisting of a broad
framed wheel, filled with heavy
fliers, which, as the wheel turned,
fell out forwards upon the grain,
with considerable force. There
was thus two kinds of force at once
applied to the grain, the pressure of
the wheel, and the strokes of the
fliers.
The ancient practice of treading
out corn with oxen and horses must
Thistles, cut an inch above have been exceedingly inconven-
the ground, will not be so difficultient. It is no wonder that it has
to subdue as those cut at the same been long disused in most places.
time with the hoe, and below the
surface. In the former case, the
remaining stub of the thistle gets
filled with water, which rots and
destroys the plant.
THRASHING, beating out corn,
seeds, &c.
This is commonly done with a
flail. But it is greatly suspected
that many seeds are so bruised by
When the work is performed,
with a flail or otherwise, the work-
man should either be bare footed,
or have soft shoes, or Indian moc-
kasins on his feet, that he may not
crush the corns by treading on them.
Wheat, when it is new, is particu-
larly liable to be crushed.
Mr. Mortimer thinks it a day's
work for a man with a flail to thrash
1
1
THR
453
THR
| much more expeditiously. 3. Pil-
fering is avoided. 4. The grain is
less subject to injury. 5. Seed
corn can be procured without dif
ficulty from the new crops. 6.
The market may be supplied with
four bushels of wheat, or rye; six
of barley, or five of oats, beans, or
pease. But Mr. Lisle says, a good
thrasher assured him, that twelve
bushels of oats, or barley, are
reckoned a good day's thrashing,
and five or six bushels of wheat.grain more quickly in times of scar-
But no certain rule can be given, city. 7. The straw, softened by the
by reason of the difference in grain. mill is more useful in feeding cattle.
Every one knows that large plump 8. If a stack of corn be heated, it
grain is more easily thrashed, than may be threshed in a day and the
that which is poor and blighted. grain preserved from injury. 9.
The threshing mill lessons the in-
jury from smutty grain; and 10.
By the same machine, the grain
may be separated from the chaff
and small seeds, as well as from the
The beards of barley come off straw. Before the invention of
the more easily in thrashing, when threshing mills, farm servants and
the swaths of this corn have taken labourers endured much drugery;
the dew before it is housed. It the large corn farmer sustained
often requires much thrashing after much damage from bad threshing;
it is extricated from the straw. It and had much trouble, vexation
will keep well in a mow unthrash
and loss from careless and wicked
ed, for a year, or longer.'
servants; but now, since the intro-
duction of this valuable machine,
all his difficulties, in these respects
are obviated.”
This work should be performed
when the weather is dry, both on
account of the ease of the labourer,
and the grain itself, which will keep
the better afterwards.
Beans and peas always thrash
best after sweating in the mow,
which they are apt to do. After
kiln drying, or drying in the sun,
The Edinburgh Encyclopedia,
they will keep a long time in the New York edition, gives a descrip-
granary, though laid ever so thick. tion of a threshing machine, invent-
Threshing Machines, of vari-ed by Mr. Mickle, which, on a
ous kinds have
have been invented large scale, aud driven by water,
and put in use since Mr. Deane threshes, fans and cleans wheat, at
wrote. Sir John Sinclair says that the rate of sixty bushels an hour.
the threshing machine is consider- On a smaller scale, worked by two
ed to be the most valuable imple-horses and three hands to attend to
ment that modern times have pro-
duced, and states the following ad-
vantages as resulting from them.
"1. From the superiority of the
mode one twentieth part more is
gained from the same quantity of
straw than by the old fashioned
method. 2. The work is done
it, this machine will thresh and
clean sixty bushels of wheat, or
double that quantity of oats in eight
hours. Rollers, or small mill stones
are added to many of these ma-
chines for crushing or grinding
grain. Knives for cutting hay
might be added.
454
TIL
TIL
Mr. Elihu Hotchkiss, of Brattle-
borough, Vermont, has invented,
and taken a patent for a threshing
machine, which obtained a pre-
mium from the Massachusetts Ag-
ricultural Society, in 1818. The
Society likewise purchased the pa-
tent right for Massachusetts, and it
may be found among the imple-
ments belonging to that Society.
TIKE, a most disagreeable in-
sect, bred in the woods, and found
on sheep, dogs, cattle, &c. By
drawing nourishment from animals,
they swell themselves up to a large
size.
See Insect.
TILLAGE, the work or business
of tilling, or working the ground,
including ploughing, hoeing and
harrowing. See those articles.
lands, or beds to four swaths
breadth: And finding by experi-
ence, that considerable parts of
each land, towards each furrow,
are starved by the coldness of the
water dripping from the higher
parts of the lands, they have for
many years altered their former
method: And only ploughed the
half of each land, viz. the two mid-
dle swaths: So that they have now
excellent rye growing on the high-
er and drier half of every land, and
excellent meadow on the lower and
wetter half, which being just two
swaths, is mowed with great ease
and exactness.
"It will perhaps be thought by
some, that by making narrower
lands, they might have more dry
land, and consequently more corn.
But I apprehend that these indus-
trious husbandmen find by experi-
ence, that when they make their
lands narrower, and consequently
with less descent, the water stag-
The same field should not be
kept in tillage perpetually. It an-
swers a better purpose to lay a
field sometimes to grass. No rota-
tion of tillage crops can be so good,
as to have some years of grass taken
into the course. It makes the vari-nates in the higher parts, and con-
ty greater, and it checks the in-
crease of certain insects, as well as
destroys some kinds of weeds.
High lands are usually selected
for tillage. But low and moist
lands, well drained, ridged, and
water furrowed, are often more
productive; and there is less dan-
ger of exhausting them, and reduc
ing them to a barren state.
A correspondent of the editors
of the Museum Rusticum, says,
"The inhabitants of Market Weigh
ton have five fields, two of a sandy
soil, and three of a strong clayey
soil: The two former destined to
rye, and the others to wheat. Their
sandy lands are disposed in ridges,
sequently spoils their whole crop.
Nor could they, I suppose, sow
more corn on their lands, in their
present disposition, with conveni-
ence, as their present method allows
them just one swath on each side.
66
They have rye and meadow in
one of their two sandy fields every
other year, and a fallow the next
year. The saving half of the field
in grass affords good grass for their
sheep, &c. in that year; and allows
them to keep a good stock there-
on; and this stock, in return, ma-
nures the ground considerably,
both the fallow and the swath.
One of their fields affords them
plenty of spring corn; and thus
TIM
455
TIM
they are supplied with wheat, rye,
spring corn, meadow and summer
grass, from their five fields, which
in any other management they
could scarcely be." Museum Rusti-
cum, Vol. VI. page 83.
To TILLER, to spread, or mul-
ply shoots.
Grain that is sown thin, in a good
soil, will produce a considerable
number of stalks and ears from one
root. Winter grain will tiller more
than that which is sown in the
spring; for which reason spring
grain should be sown thicker.
TILTH, the state in which
ground is after tilling. When it is
well pulverised, and made light to
a sufficient depth, it is said to be in
good tilth.
TIMBER, wood for building,
mechanism, &c.
It has been and still continues to
be a very general opinion, that tim-
ber should be felled in the winter,
while the sap is down.
M. Buffon, of the Royal Acad-
emy of Paris, has proved by a va-
riety of experiments, that the tim-
is more
ber of trees thus barked
solid, hard, weighty and strong,
than the timber of trees felled in
their bark, and thence concluded,
with probability, that it is more
durable. I suspect that the in-
creased strength and solidity of the
wood were in the blea, or what is
vulgarly called the sap of the tree.
The surface so exposed will soon
be too hard to permit the entrance
of any worm. The saving of the
bark for tanning is sometimes so
important an object, where wood
has become scarce, that it may
well be worth while to go into this
practice. It is doubtless better
than the practice in England,
where felling begins about the end
of April; a statute requiring it to
be done then, that the bark may
be saved for the advantage of tan-
ning leather.
The ancients chiefly regarded
the age of the moon in felling their
timber. Their rule was to fell it
in the wane, or four days after the
new moon, or sometimes in the
last quarter. But this is of little
consequence. For the sap will be
down when the weather continues
day and night to be frosty, be the
moon's place as it may.
This has been for many years
past disputed, and an abundant
mass of evidence has been produc-
ed to shew that timber should be
cut or felled in mid-summer, with
a view to its durability. It is so
very much opposed to vulgar opin-
ion that it requires much inquiry,
and frequent experiments to settle
it. But it is proper, in such a
work as this, to announce the mo- Timber should be cut at the
dern opinion, in order to induce far-right age. For if the trees be too
mers to make the experiment.
When the bark of timber trees
is wanted for use, the bark may be
stripped off from the trunks in May
or June, while the trees are stand-
ing, and the trees felled in autumn
following, or rather in winter.
young, or too old, the timber will
be less durable. It is said that oak
trees should not be cut under sixty
years old, nor above two hundred.
Trees should however be cut in
their prime, when almost fully
grown, and before they begin to
456
TOB
TOB
decay; and this will be sooner or
later according to the quality of
the soil, or the nature of the cli-
mate.
While timber is seasoning, it
should not be much exposed to the
weather, or the heat of the sun, that
it may not dry too rapidly, and
spring, warp, or crack. Neither
should pieces be piled too close on
each other, but kept apart by short
sticks across, to prevent mouldi-
ness and decay, by permitting the
air to pass through the pile. The
same observations will apply to all
kinds of valuable boards.
leigh imported it into England, and
is very generally used, in one way
or other, by persons of both sexes.
It need not to be told how much
many abuse themselves with it. It
has its name from Tobago, one of
the Caribbee islands.
To cultivate this vegetable suc-
cessfully, burn the surface of a piece.
of ground, as early as possible in
the spring; rake it well, and sow
the seeds pretty thin. Or if the
goodness of the seeds be suspected,
they may be sown a little thicker.
When the leaves are as large as the
nails of one's fingers, the plants
may be removed.
A sandy or gravelly soil should
be chosen, as most suitable to the
nature of this plant, which requires
much heat, and is not apt to suffer
by drought; and a southern expo-
sure is best.
"In order to preserve timber
from cracking while seasoning, let
it be blocked out for the purposes
wanted, and laid in a hay-mow,
when the hay is carted in. When
the hay is dealt out the next winter,
the timber may be taken out, well
seasoned, and free from cracks. The ground should be prepared
This is an excellent plan for sea- for the plants, by several plough-
soning all kinds of timber for car-ings and harrowings; and be made
riages, &c. When this is to be rich by folding. Or, if the folding
done, if the trees be felled in the be omitted, old dung of the hottest
winter, let them lie in logs, until kinds should be put in the holes.
hay time arrives."-Farmer's As-
sistant.
C
It is published in the Memoirs
of the Philadelphia Society, for the
promotion of Agriculture," that sa-
tisfactory experiments have proved
that timber used for posts will last
considerably longer, by setting the
end in the ground, which was up-
permost as it grew.
ses.
TIMOTHY GRASS. See gras-
TOBACCO. Nicotiana, a well
known narcotic plant, which has
become very important, in Europe
and America, since Sir Walter Ra-
But the common way of raising
tobacco in cow pens, and barn
yards, without pulverising the soil,
is detestable. The taste of such
tobacco is intolerable.
The ground being well prepared,
let the young plants be transplanted
into it in a wet day about three feet
asunder, or three feet and a half.
After this it will be needful to
keep the ground clear of weeds, and
the plants should be daily viewed
and examined, to clear them of the
worms that eat them; for there is
a sort which have a voracious appe-
tite for this kind of food, though it
TOB
457
TOB
is a sovereign antidote to all other
insects.
to sweat, for the time of forty-
eight hours at least. After which
let holes be made with a gimblet in
the lower ends of the stems, and
the plants connected by two and
two, with sticks about eight inches
long thrust into those holes; then
hang them upon smooth poles,
The tops of the plants should
be broken or cut off, at the height
of three feet, or a little less or more,
according to the greater or less vi-
gour of the different plants; those
excepted which are to bear seed,
which should be some of the stout-placed about sixteen inches apart,
est and most thrifty. It should be in an apartment which is pretty
done so early in the summer, as to tight.
allow time for the upper leaves to
grow to the same size as the lower
ones; of which the cultivator inust
be his own judge, attending to cir-
cumstances. All the plants should
be topped about the same time, let
their height be greater or less; for
if this be done too late, though
there will be a greater number of
leaves, the tobacco will be of a
worse quality, nor will the quantity
in weight be much, if at all, in-
creased, because the leaves will be
thinner and lighter.
The suckers which shoot out at
the foot stalks of the leaves, should
be broken off as often as they ap-
pear; that so the leaves may have
all possible advantage of the sap of
the plants to perfect them.
The maturity of tobacco is known
by certain small dusky spots ap-
pearing on the leaves. When it is
in this state, it should be cut down
carefully with a strong knife, below
the lower leaf, on the morning of
a sunny day, and the plants laid
singly in the sun to wither, which
if they do not sufficiently in one
day, must be in the same manner
exposed the next day.
Being entirely withered, the
plants should be laid in close heaps.
in the barn, or some other building,
As the tobacco turns dry and
brown, the plants should be slip-
ped nearer together on the poles.
But this should be done only when
the air is damp, and when the leaves
do not crumble. It is often found
convenient to reduce them to close
order to make room for the re-
mainder of a crop, which will be
ripe later.
From the roots of plants which
are cut early, suckers will arise,
and give a second crop; but it
will be of an inferior quality. It
may stand out till late in autumn, as
a small degree of frost will not in-
jure it.
When the tobacco has hung till
all the greenness is gone out of the
leaves, and at a time when the air
is damp, the leaves should be strip-
ped from the stalks, tied up in
hands, packed in casks or chests,
well pressed down, and kept in a
dry place. But by no means in a
cellar, which would soon spoil it.
It will not be so fit for use the first
year as afterwards.
That is the best tobacco which
is raised with the least assistance
from manure. And, as high ma-
nuring is required when it is culti-
vated in cold climates, I cannot
wish to see many attempts to do it,
58
458
TOP
TOP
in any place that is north of the
forty second degree of latitude.
In cold countries, the leaves are apt
to be very thin, and so weak that
they will scarcely hold together
in the curing; and it is far from
being so well flavoured as that
which comes from the southern
states; from whence I wish it may
be always imported. For I sup-
pose we ought in general to culti-
vate only those vegetables, to
which our climate is most suitable.
TOP DRESSING. Dung or
other manures, spread over the
surface of the ground, for the nour-
ishing of plants that are growing in
it. These manures should be well
pulverised, that they may be spread
evenly.
the country in general, would soon
appear to be the happy consequen-
ces.
The materials used for top dres-
sings are numerous, and various.
See the article Manure.
There is scarcely any question, on
which farmers are more divided,
than as to the policy of applying
manure as a top dressing to grass
lands, in the spring or all. The
reasoning seems to be in favour of
spring dressing, and it is supported
by many excellent names. But, it
ought to be known, that intelligent
farmers, near, the metropolis, most
generally dress their lands in au-
tumn.
1
Besides, the reason stated
above, that grass lands are less in-
jured by carting over them in the
fall; it may be added, that it is a
season of greater leisure, and al-
though it is confidently asserted,
that the manure is wasted by rains
and snows, yet much ought to be
allowed on the other side, for the
protection afforded by the top dres-
sing, to the tender roots of the
plants during winter, and ought we
not to add something for the low
temperature of the atmosphere in
winter, which prevents evapora-
tion? Whatever principles of fer-
Top dressings are used with ad-
vantage, for grain, grass, flax, &c.
The timing them judiciously is a
matter of no small importance.
They should not be too freely given
to winter grain in autumn, lest they
unseasonably produce a luxuriant
growth, at a time when it exposes
the tender plants to be the more
injured by 'frost. The right time
to give this culture to grain, is just
at the season when it is earing; for
then is the time when it seems to
require the greatest supply of nour-tility exist in manure, are in winter
ishment.
If the application of top dressings
to mowing grounds were generally
practised in this country, and year-
ly repeated as it ought to be, in-
stead of the present general, or ra-
ther, universal neglect of it, it
would put a new face upon things.
A vast plenty of hay, double crops,
two cuttings in a year, and much
increase of wealth to farmers, and
carried down into the soil. We are
fully convinced, that a scorching
sun, and drying air, are more per-
nicious to manures, spread thinly
over the surface than any drench-
ing rains can be, unless on declivi-
ties, where top dressings are un-
questionably of less value than on
level grounds. The fact, that far-
mers who grow rich by supplying
the great towns with hay, generally
TRA
459
Ꭲ Ꭱ Ꭺ
adopt the practice of fall dressing
their grass lands, deserves weight.
Sir John Sinclair recommends
top dressing the growing crop,
when it is suspected that the land
is not rich enough to bring a full
crop to perfection, and says, this
should be done early in the spring,
when the land is sufficiently dry to
bear the treading of a horse with-
out poaching; and after the ma-
nure has been applied, the land
should generally be. harrowed or
rolled. Boot, ashes, and other
light manures, are thus most ad-
vantageously made use of."
1
whence they are prodded as may
be, excepting perhaps when they
are to be replanted immediately
after they are taken up. But it
will require great care to plant
them in such a manner as not to
distort, or entangle the fibrous
roots, which, if done, will be worse
for the plant than if they were cut
off. Then prune off all the bruised
or broken roots, all such as are ir-
regular, and cross each other, and
all downright roots, especially in
fruit trees. Shorten the lateral
roots in proportion to the age,
the strength, and nature of the
trees; observing that the walnut,
mulberry, and some other ten-
der rooted kinds, should not be
pruned so close as the more hardy
sorts of fruit and forest trees. In
Some vegetables indeed, need young fruit trees, such as pears, ap-
to be transplanted twice, especial- ples, plumns, peaches, &c. that are
ly some kinds of trees, first from the one year old from the time of their
seed bed into the nursery, after-budding or grafting, the roots may
wards from the nursery into orch-be left only about eight or nine in-
ards, groves, forests, &c.
TRANSPLANTING. Remov-
ing plants from their seed bed, and
setting them in other places, where
they will have better room to per-
fect their growth.
The first thing in the latter trans-
planting of trees is, to have the
ground prepared before the trees
are taken up, that so they may re-
main out of the earth as short a
time as possible; the next is, to
take up the trees. In doing this,
carefully dig away the earth round
the roots, so as to come at their
several parts to cut them off: For
if they are torn out of the ground
without care, the roots will be bro-
ken and bruised, to the great injury
of the trees. When you have ta-
ken them up, prepare them for
planting, by pruning the roots and
heads. All the small fibres are to
be cut off, as near to the place from
ches long: But in older trees, they
must be left of a much greater
length. But this is only to be un-
derstood of the larger roots.
"The next thing is the pruning
of their heads, which must be dif-
ferently performed in different
trees; and the design. of the trees
must be considered. Thus, if they
are designed for walls or espaliers,
it is best to plant them with the
greatest part of the heads, which
should remain on till they begin to
shoot in the spring, when they
must be cut down to five or six
eyes, at the same time taking care
not to disturb the roots. But if the
trees are designed for standards,
you should prune off all the small
460
TRA
TRA
so that it may fall in between every
root, that there may be no hollow-
ness in the earth. Then having fil-
branches ose to the place where
they are produced, as also irregular
ones, which cross each other; and
after having displaced these branch-led up the hole, gently tread
es, you should also cut off all such
parts of branches as have by any
means been broken or wounded;
but by no means cut off the main
leading shoots, which are necessa-
ry to attract the sap from the root,
and thereby promote the growth of
the tree.
66
down the earth with your feet, but
do not make it too hard; which is
a great fault, especially if the
ground be strong and wet.
"Having thus planted the trees,
they should be fastened to stakes
driven into the ground, to prevent
their being displaced by the wind,
and some mulch laid on the surface
of the ground about the roots. As
to such as are planted against walls,
their roots should be placed about
five or six inches from the wall, to
which their heads should be nailed,
to prevent their being blown up by
the wind." Dict. of Arts-
The smaller species of vegeta-
bles, and particularly annuals, are
removed but once, if at all. A
rainy or damp season, if such a one
happens, should be chosen for this
operation, as the plants will need
the less watering by hand, or shel-
Having thus prepared the trees
for planting, you must now pro-
ceed to place them in the earth:
But first, if the trees have been long
out of the ground, so that the fibres
of the roots are dried, place them
eight or ten hours in water, before
they are planted, with their heads
erect; and the roots only immers
ed therein, which will swell the
dried vessels of the roots, and pre
pare them to imbibe nourishment
from the earth. In planting them,
great regard should be had to the
nature of the soil; for if that be
cold and moist, the trees should betering from the heat of the sun.
planted very shallow; and if it be But when it is found necessary
a hard rock or gravel, it will be bet- to do it in dry weather, the evening
ter to raise a hill of earth where should always be preferred to the
each tree is to be planted, than to morning, as the coolness and damp-
dig into the rock or gravel, and fillness of the night will do much to
it up with earth, as is too often prevent the withering of the plants.
practised; by which means the Plants which are only to be car-
trees are planted, as it were in aried a few steps should be remov-
tub, and have but little room to ex-
tend their roots.
"The next thing to be observed
is, to place the trees in the hole, in
such a manner that the roots may
be about the same depth in the
ground, as before they were taken
up: Then break the earth fine with
a spade, and scatter it into the hole,
ed with a gardener's trowel, for
when a good ball of earth is taken
up, and put into a hole with a plant,
the roots are but little disturbed,
or altered, and the plant not at
all affected by its removal.
Mr. Forsyth says "in transplant-
ing trees, especially large ones, I
consider it to be of great conse-
t
TUM
461
TUM
quence, that they be placed in the
same position, (that is, having the
same parts facing the same points
of compass) as formerly. If you
take notice when a tree is cut down,
you will find that three parts in four
of the growth are on the north
on the north
side."
For the mode of transplanting
turnips, which will apply to cabba-
ges, &c.
See article Turnip.
TREE, a large vegetable, with
one woody stem arising to a con-
siderable height.
Trees are distinguished into ev-
ergreens and deciduous; the for-
mer hold their leaves during the
winter, the latter shed them in au-
tumn. They are otherwise dis-
tinguished into standards and
dwarfs; and again into timber and
fruit trees.
TROWEL, a tool which is of
great use and advantage, in gar-
dening; especially in transplanting
small and tender plants, as by tak-
ing up a ball of earth about their
roots, it prevents injury to the
plants. It is made like the trowel
used by bricklayers, excepting that
hollowed into the shape of a
large gouge.
TUMOUR, "a preternatural
swelling in any part of a horse, aris-
ing from external injuries, or inter-
nal causes.
apply, especially to the legs, a
poultice of red wine lees, or beer
grounds, and oatmeal; or vinegar,
oil and oatmeal; either of these
may be continued twice a day, after
bathing, till the swelling abates;
when, in order to disperse it entire-
ly, the vinegar should be changed
for camphorated spirit of wine, to
four ounces of which may be added
one of spirit of sal ammoniac; or
it may be bathed with a mixture' of
two ounces of crude sal amn:oniac,
boiled in a quart of chamber ley,
twice a day, and rags dipped in
the same may be rolled on.
64
Fomentations made by boiling
wormwood, bay leaves, and rose-
mary, and adding a proper quanti-
ty of spirits, are often of great ser-
vice to thin the juices, and fit them
for transpiration; especially if the
injury has affected the joints.
"But in bruises, where the ex-
travasated blood will not by these
means be dispersed, the shortest
way is to open the skin, and let out
the grumes.
"If the swelling fixes under the
jaws, behind the ears, on the poll,
withers, or in the groins and sheath,
&c. it should be encouraged and
forwarded by ripening poultices,
wherever they can be applied.
Oatmeal boiled soft in milk, to
which a proper quantity of oil and
Swellings caused by externallard is added, may answer this pur-
accidents, as blows and bruises,
should at first be treated with res-
tringents. Let the part be bathed
frequently with hot vinegar or ver-
juice, and, where it will admit of a
bandage, let a flannel wetted with
the same be rolled on. If by this
method the swelling do not abate,
pose, applied twice a day, till the
matter is perceived to fluctuate
under the fingers, when it ought to
be let out. For which purpose,
let the tumour be opened with a
knife or strong lancet, the whole
length of the swelling, if it can be
done safely, for nothing contributes
462
TUR
TUM
so much to a kind healing, as the
matter's having a free discharge,
and the opening being big enough
to dress to the bottom.
66
"This last, applied early, will
prevent a fungus, or proud flesh,
from shooting out; for if you dress
too long with the above digestive,
Pledgets of tow spread with the fungus will rise fast and give
black or yellow basilicon (or the some trouble to suppress it; when
wound ointment) and dipped in the it will be necessary to wash the
same, melted down with a fifth part sore as often as you dress, with a
of oil of turpentine, should be ap- solution of blue vitriol in water, or
plied to the bottom of the sore, and to sprinkle it with burnt alum and
filled up lightly with the same with- precipitate. If these should not be
out warming. It may be thus powerful enough, touch with a
dressed once or twice a day, if the caustic, or wash with the subli-
discharge is great, till a proper di-mate water, made by dissolving
gestion is procured, when it should half an ounce of corrosive sublime
be changed for pledgets spread with in a pint of water.
the red precipitate ointment, ap-
plied in the same manner.
"Should the sore not digest kind-
ly, but run a thin water and look
pale, foment as often as you dress
with the above fomentation; and
apply over your dressing the strong
beer poultice, and continue this
method till the matter grows thick,
and the sore florid.
"The following ointments will
generally answer your expectations
in all common cases, and may be
prepared without, as well as with
the verdigrise.
Take Venice turpentine and bees
wax; oil of olives one pound and
a half yellow rosin twelve
ounces; when melted together,
two or three ounces of verdigris
finely powdered may be stirred
in, and kept so till cold, to pre-
vent its subsiding.
Take of yellow basilicon, or the
above ointment without verdi-
gris, four ounces; and red pre-
cipitate finely powdered half an
ounce; mix them together cold,
with a knife or spatula.
"But this trouble may in great
measure be prevented, if the sore
is on a part where bandage can be
applied with compresses of linen
cloth; for even when these ex-
crescences regerminate, as it were,
under the knife, and spring up in
spite of the caustics above men-
tioned, they are to be subdued by
moderate compression made on the
sprouting fibres by these means."
See more on this subject in Bar-
tlet's Farriery, page 236.
TURF, a clod filled with grass
roots, taken from the surface of the
ground.
That which is used as fuel in
some countries, is properly the
sward of a wet and boggy soil, and
consists of a sulphureous earth,
and the roots of aquatic vegetables.
In Flanders, they pare their turf
from the surface of the earth, and
cut it in the form of bricks.
The Dutch take their turf from.
the bottom of the canals which di-
vide their lands; by means of which
they keep their dikes clear and
navigable.
TUR
463
TUR
In the north of England and
Scotland, turf is dug out of soft,
moist, rotten earth, which they call
peat moss. It is decayed moss
mixed with moory earth, and aqua-
tic grass roots.
Some writers confound turf with
peat, as if they were the same sub-
stance. Peat consists of decayed
wood, large trees in a sound state
being often found in a peat soil,
and those that are changed into
peat retain their shape. Nut shells
and leaves are observed in it, which
indicate that peat was originally
wood. Turf is therefore quite a
different substance, of much less
value as fuel; and yields a weaker
kind of ashes.
Turf also differs from peat, as in
places where turf is cut out it will
in some years be renewed; but
this is not the case with peat, which
being once dug out is never renew-
ed.
TURKEY, a large domestic
fowl, brought from Turkey, and is
called by the name of its country.
As many of them are reared in |
the farming towns in this country,
I shall here give directions from a
good writer, how it may be done
with success.
"Most of our housewives, says a
Swedish author on husbandry, have
long despaired of success in rearing
turkies; and complained that the
profit rarely indemnifies them for
their trouble, and loss of time:
Whereas, continues he, little more
is to be done than to plunge the
chick into a vessel of cold water,
the very hour, or if that cannot be,
the day it is hatched, forcing it to
swallow one whole pepper corn,
and then restoring it to its mother.
From that time it will become
hardy, and fear the cold no more
than a hen's chick. After which it
must be remembered, that these
useful creatures are subject to one
particular malady whilst they are
young, which carries them off in a
few days. When they begin to
droop, examine carefully the fea-
thers on their rumps, and you will
find two or three, whose quill part
is filled with blood. Upon draw-
ing these the chick recovers, and
after that requires no other care
than what is commonly bestowed
on poultry that range in the court
yard.
"These articles are too true to
be denied; and in proof of the suc-
cess, three parishes in Sweden
have, for many years, gained seve-
ral hundred pounds by rearing and
selling turkeys."-Rural Economy,
page 739.
Buck wheat is accounted a good
food for turkeys; but insects con-
tribute much to their living in sum-
mer. When grasshoppers are
plenty, they will fatten upon them.
R. Weston, Esq. recommends
fattening turkeys with walnuts,
given them whole. See his Tracts,
page 190.
TURNIP, a white esculent root.
The sorts, according to Mr. Mil-
ler, are three; the flat, or round.
shaped turnip, the long-rooted, and
the French turnip.
Of the first sort some are green
topped, others red purple topped;
the yellow; and the early Dutch
turnip, which are not of so much
value. The last sort is sown early
in the spring, to supply the markets
464
TUR
TUR
|
in the beginning of summer. The than the usual time, it need not be
green topped turnip is preferred to regretted; but the opportunity
the rest, as it grows to a larger ought to be embraced.
size.
Turnips love a light sandy or
gravelly soil, or a sandy loam. It
should be made soft and fine, but
not too rich, lest the turnips be
rank and ill-tasted.
Ground that has been newly
cleared, yields the largest and
sweetest turnips; and on such a
spot there is the least danger from
insects.
Next to new land, swarded
ground is to be chosen for a crop
of turnips; and the way to prepare
it is, to plough it pretty deep in the
spring, and fold it by turning in the
stock for a good number of nights.
For there is scarcely any of our
fields sufficiently rich to produce
turnips without manuring: And
folding hitherto appears to be the
best method of enriching the
ground for this purpose. It should
be well harrowed as often as once
a week, while the folding is con-
tinued, to mix the excrements of
the cattle with the soil.
I have sown them in drills the
first week in August, and had a
good crop. One great advantage
of sowing so late is, that the tur-
nips will escape insects. And if
the crop should not happen to be
quite so large as if the sowing had
been earlier, the roots will not fail
of being better for the table.
One pound of seed is the com-
mon allowance for an acre of land.
But to guard against the fly, the
quantity may be a little increased.
And it is recommended by judicious
writers, that it be a mixture of equal
parts of new and old seed, that the
plants coming up at different times,
the one sort or the other may
chance to escape the insects. With
this view, Mr. Tull constructed his
turnip drill to lodge the seeds at
different depths, which it seems
had the desired effect.
The seed sown broadcast must
be harrowed in with a short tined
harrow, and then rolled with a
wooden roller, to break the clods,
and level the surface.
The ground should be cross
ploughed as soon as the soil is suffi- In a week, or thereabouts, the
ciently rotten, and reduced by har-young plants will be up: And if it
rowing to a fine tilth, before it is be a dry season, the fly will be apt
sowed. Where a good stock is to destroy them: To prevent which,
kept, as much as an acre may be some powdered soot, or lime, may
sufficiently folded.-See Folding. be sowed very thinkly over them,
The time for sowing the seed is by sifting, in a dewy morning.
about the middle of July. Doing This will quicken the growth of
it on a set day is ridiculous: For a the plants, as well as otherwise de-
time should, be chosen when the fend them. And the faster the
ground has the right degree of plants grow, the sooner they will
moisture to make the seed vege- unfold their rough leaves, and be
tate; and if this should happen a out of danger of the fly. Or it
week earlier, or a fortnight later may answer well to sprinkle the
!
TUR
465
TUR
ground with an infusion of elder,
wormwood, or tobacco. But it
must be done seasonably, as soon
as the plants are up.
But if the young plants cannot
be saved, as it may sometimes so
happen, the ground may be har-
rowed, and sowed again, the cost
of seed being but little, to com-
pare with the loss of a crop.
profitable: How much more pro-
fitable may it be expected, if they
had sufficient room, and were not
robbed of their nourishment by
standing too near together?
In England, the drill husbandry
has been applied to turnips, and
the produce has exceeded those
sown broadcast, which have been
hand-hoed. The late Lord Vis-
When the plants have got five count Townsend made a fair trial,
or six leaves, they should be hoed, and found that the crop of an acre
and the plants cut out to six or of drilled turnips weighed a ton
eight inches asunder. In the se- and a half more than that of an
cond hoeing, which should be three acre in the old husbandry, though
or four weeks after the first, they the latter were well hand-hoed.
should be further thinned, to the For two years past, I have sown
distance of fourteen or fifteen in-turnips in the drill way, in the
ches; especially if they are design- poorest part of my garden, where
ed for the feeding of cattle. The a crop of pease had grown the
roots growing at such a distance same summer, and never had bet-
will be large, so that what is want-ter turnips. They were sufficient-
ing in number, will be more than ly large for the table, though they
made up by their bulk. But if grew so near together in the rows
they are designed for the table, that the roots crowded each other,
they need not be more than from and were not sown earlier than
six to ten inches apart, as over-about the tenth of August. The
grown ones are not so fit for this earth was hoed into ridges three
purpose.
feet apart, and a single channel
But few have been hitherto rais-seeded on each of the ridges. This
ed in this country, for the feeding is the more observable, as I have
of cattle. But if our farmers would often sown turnips in the broadcast
follow the directions given above, way, on the same spot, and at the
they would find it easy to raise usual time of sowing fall turnips,
hundreds of bushels for their stocks. and never before raised any that
Forty-seven tons have been the were fit to eat. I have also for
crop of an Irish acre, as Mr. Winn several years raised turnips in the
Baker testifies, under his culture. field in the drill way. The ridges
Those who have made no spirited were raised in May with the culti-
trials, will hardly conceive how vator, about three feet apart. They
much the hoeings will increase were kept clear from weeds till
their crops. Even without hoeing, about the last of July, by the cul-
where the weeds are suffered al- tivator and the hand-hoe, and then
most to stifle them, a crop of tur sown in single drills. Nothing
nips sometimes turns out to be more was necessary afterwards,
59
466
TUR
TUR
1
except thinning and once hoeing. till the seed is ripe. Stakes and
The crops were so much better laths may be needful round the
than I have obtained from broad-outside, to keep the branches from
cast sowing, that I am induced to falling to the ground before the
persist in, and recommend this seed is fully ripe.
method.
A crop of turnips in the old hus-
bandry prepares the ground excel-
lently for a crop of wheat, or flax,
the following year. But it would
be in much better order, if the
turnips were horse-hoed.
In other countries, they feed the
turnips off of the ground with sheep;
or draw them up for neat cattle,
through the winter, as fast as they
are wanted; and even let them
stand until spring, when it is con-
venient.
But in this country, they must be
harvested in autumn, about the
end of October, or even earlier in
some places; and then stored in
cellars, out of the way of the frost;
which must needs be a drawback
on the profit of this crop. Those
that are designed for the table in
winter, should be buried in, or co-
vered with, dry pit sand, to pre-
vent their becoming corky.
The most excellent mutton is
fatted on turnips, and they are a
good food for horned cattle. But
milch cows should not be fed very
plentifully on turnips, as there is
some danger of their giving the
milk an ill taste.
To produce good turnip seeds,
some of the best roots, of the mid
dling size, which have begun to
sprout, should be planted early in
the spring, in a good spot, free from
shade. They should be in rows,
eighteen inches asunder, and the
ground must be kept clear of weeds
The right culture of the French
turnip is much the same as the
above, excepting that they should be
allowed more room, and that the
ground should be tilled to a greater
depth than is necessary for the
other sort, and sowed at the end of
June.,
They should not be sown in the
spring; for this will make them
hard and sticky; nor more than
about a month earlier than other
fall turnips. I have known it an-
swer well to sow both kinds mixed
together, where the soil has been
mellow and deep. But I rather
prefer sowing each kind by itself;
because the one requires to be ear-
lier sowed than the other.
As there are some other insects
which prey upon turnips, besides the
fly, while they are in seed leaf or
afterwards, it has led some to set
plants of tobacco, perhaps six or
eight feet apart, among their tur-
nips, which is thought to have an
excellent effect.
Mr. M. Mahon gives the follow-
ing directions for the field culture
of turnips.
"The ground intended for the
production of turnips in the ensu-
ing season ought to be deeply
ploughed in October or November,
and to be left in that rough state,
to receive the benefits of the win-
ter frosts, &c. In the April fol-
lowing, when it is perfectly dry,
barrow it, and let it lie so till the
middle of May, when it should
TUR
467
TUR
have another deep ploughing across,
or contrawise to the former; the
first week in June harrow it, and
towards the end of that month,
give the field a light coat of well
rotted manure, and immediately
plough it in lightly; after which
the soil and manure are to be in-
corporated, by harrowing the
ground effectually with a weighty
harrow.
your prepared turnip ground once
more, lightly; give it one or two
strokes with the harrow all over,
and sow the seeds immediately on
the fresh surface. The method of
sowing is generally by broadcast,
with a hign and even hand; but
some sow it in rows by means of a
machine called a turnip drill, which
method is greatly approved of, par-
ticularly, as by it much labour is
saved in hoeing and thinning the
plants.
"The time of sowing depends
much on the application; when
turnips are intended for early con- "In the former method the seed
sumption, they may be sown soon is covered by drawing a light har-
after the middle of July. The row backward, that is, wrong end
general mode in the middle states, foremost, to prevent the lines,
is to begin to sow about the twen- which are generally set somewhat
tieth of July, and to continue sow-pointed forward from tearing up
ing as convenient, from this time the sods, and burying the seed too
to the middle of August, or a few deep.
days after.
"If the farmer could insure his
first crop, I would not advise him
to sow till the last four days in
July, or even to the third or fourth
day of August, but liable as the
turnip crop is to numerous ac-
cidents and miscarriages, it is pru-
dent to have a week or two in re-
serve for a second sowing, in case
the first should fail.
The quantity of seed sown on
an acre, by the great turnip far-
mers, is never less than one pound;
more frequently a pound and an
half, and by some two. If every
grain was to come to perfection, a
quarter of a pound would be more
than sufficient; but having to en-
counter so many accidents, a pound
is the least quantity that ought to
be sown on an acre.
The period in which you in-
tend to sow being arrived, plough
"One of the most important
parts of the treatment due to the
cultivation of the turnip yet re-
mains to be done, that is, to roll
the field with a heavy roller imme-
diately after harrowing in the seed,
provided the ground is sufficiently
dry, or as soon after as it is in a fit
condition. By this means the clods
are broken, and much of the seed
that would otherwise be exposed to
birds, &c. will be covered and the
surface rendered smooth and com-
pact thereby, and consequently
more retentive of moisture, which
will greatly promote the vegetation
of the seed and growth of the
plants.
"But the all important point is,
that the rolling of the ground, is
experimentally found to be the
most effectual method, hitherto
discovered for the preservation of
the rising crop from the destruc-
468
TUR
TUR
tive depredations of the fly. The
turnip fly is always found most nu-
merous in rough-worked ground,
as there they can retreat and take
shelter under the clods or lumps of
earth, from such changes of wea-
ther as are disagreeable to them,
or from the attacks of small birds
and other animals.
66
Experiments have been tried,
on coating the seed with sulphur,
soot, &c. and of steeping it in train
oil and in solutions of various kinds,
as a security against the fly, but
the result has not been such as to
establish any practice of this na-
ture.
66
Hoeing the plants, and setting
them out, as it is called, comes
next under consideration. The
method of doing this dexterously is
difficult to describe; nothing but
practice can teach it. A boy in
the turnip counties, by the time he
is the height of the hoe, begins to
make use of it; consequently every
man who has been bred there to
country business, is a turnip hoer,
yet not always, even with this ad-
vantage, an expert one.
"The operation to be perform
ed dexterously and well, requires
a quickness of eye and a dexterity
of hand that every man is not fa-
voured with; while some men
catch the proper plants to be sing-
led, and set them out with a rapi-
dity and neatness of execution very
pleasing to the observer.
"The critical time of the first
hoeing is, when the plants as they
lie spread upon the ground, are
nearly the size of the palm of the
hand; if, however, sed weeds be
numerous and luxuriant, they ought
to be checked before the turnip
plants arrive at that size; lest by
being drawn up tall and slender,
they should acquire a week, sickly
habit.
"A second hoeing should be
given when the leaves are grown
to the height of eight or nine in-
ches, in order to destroy weeds,
loosen the earth, and finally to re-
gulate the plants; a third, if found
necessary, may be given at any
subsequent period."
The common white turnips
should be used before spring, as
they are apt to become spongy;
but the ruta baga will keep longer,
and may be used after the first
mentioned are exhausted.
For further information relative
to the culture of this plant, see
Massachusetts Agricultural Reposi-
tory, Vol. V. p. 21. Vol. VI. p,
36. 39. 265.
|
A treatise upon the Ruta Baga,
or Swedish turnip, has been writ-
ten by William Cobbet, from which
the following notices are extracted.
Description of the Plant.-"The
leaf of every other sort of turnip is
of a yellowish green; but the leaf
of the Ruta Bage is of a blueish
green, like the green of peas when
of their full size, or like the green
of a young and thrifty Yorkshire
cabbage; hence it is called the
Cabbage Turnip. The outside of
the bulb of the Ruta Baga is of a
greenish hue, mixed towards the
top with a colour bordering upon
the red; and the inside, if they are
true and pure, is of peep yellow,
nearly the colour of gold."
Mode of saving and preserving
the seed." The Ruta Baga is apt
TUR
469
TUR
"I took care to have the manure
placed so as to be under the mid-
dle of each ridge, that is to say,
just beneath where my seed was
to come, which was sown princi-
to degenerate, if the seed is not
saved with care. In England, we
select the fairest roots, and of the
best form, for seed, rejecting all
such as are of a whitish colour, or
greenish towards the neck, prefer-pally in this manner:-A man went
ring such as are of a reddish cast.
These, when selected, should be
carefully preserved over the win-
ter, and set in the month of March
or April in a rich soil, remote from
any roots of the turnip or cabbage
kind, to preserve the seed pure
and unmixed. Two or three roots,
if they do well, will yield seed
sufficient for an acre of land. Let
the seed remain in the pods until
the time of sowing."
Time of sowing." The time of
sowing may be from the 25th of
June to the 16th of July, as cir
cumstances may be."
Quality and preparation of the
Land." As a fine, rich, loose
garden mould, of great depth, and
having a porous substratum, is best
for every thing that vegetates, ex-
cept plants that live best in water,
so it is best with Ruta Baga.
know of no soil in the United
States, upon which this root may
not be cultivated with the greatest
facility, excepting a pure sand, and
a stiff clay, which are very rare in
this country.
Manner of sowing." My plough-
man puts the ground up in little
ridges, having two furrows on each
side of the ridge, so that each ridge
consisted of four furrows, and the
tops of the ridges were about four
feet from each other; and as the
ploughing was performed to a great
depth, there was of course a very
deep gutter between every two
ridges.
along by the side of each ridge,
and put down two or three seeds
in places ten or twelve inches dis-
tance from each other, just draw-
ing a little earth over, and pressing
it lightly upon the seed, in order
to make it vegetate quickly, before
the earth became too dry. In this
method four pounds of seed sowed
seven acres. Two men sowed the
whole seven acres in two days.
"Broadcast sowing will, how-
ever, generally be preferred; but
when I have spoken of the after-
culture, I shall compare the two
methods, that the reader may de-
cide for himself.
After-Culture.--" When the
plants were fairly up, we went with
a small hoe, and took out all but
one in each ten or twelve inches,
and thus left them to stand single.
We next went with a hoe, and hoed
the tops of the ridges, about six
inches wide on each side of the
rows of plants, and then horse-
hoed between the rows, with a
common horse-plough, after the
inanner of tilling Indian corn, or
potatoes, by first turning the earth
from the plants, and next towards
the plants at the second hoeing.
There is no ground lost in these
|
wide intervals, for the lateral roots
of the large turnip, as well as the
Ruta Baga, will extend six feet
from the ball of the plant; and my
crop of thirty-three tons, or thir-
teen hundred and twenty bushels
470
TUR
TUR
four feet asunder on the ridges,
there are ten thousand eight hun-
dred and thirty turnips, on each
to the acre, taking the whole field
together, had the same intervals;
and less than this, as was practised
by my neighbours, always dimin-acre of ground and therefore, for
ished the crop. Wide as the in- an acre of ground to produce thir-
vals were, the leaves of some of ty-three tons, each turnip must
the plants would nearly meet across weigh nearly seven pounds.
the rows, and I have had them fre-
quently meet in England.
"In the broad cast method, the
after culture must of course be con-
fined to hoeing, or as Tull calls it,
scratching.
"In England, the hoer goes in
when the plants are about four in-
ches high, and hoes all the ground
over, setting out the plants at the
distance of about eighteen inches;
and if the ground becomes foul, he
is obliged, in about a month after-
wards to họe the ground over
again. This is all that is done, and
a very poor all it is, as the crops on
the very best lands invariably show,
when compared with the ridge-
crops."
Transplanting.—" This is
third mode of cultivating the Ruta
Baga, and in certain cases far pre-
ferable to either of the others. My
large crops at Botley, (England,)
were from roots transplanted.
66
"From a large field 1 afterwards
set on the 13th of July, I weighed
one waggon load, which averaged
eleven pounds each, and several
weighed fourteen pounds, which
would probably give fifty tons to
the acre.
"The plants will succeed best
when set in fresh earth, or earth re-
cently proved by the plough.
"When we have our plants,
and hands all ready, the plough-
man begins, and turns in the ridg-
es, (which have been prepared as
before stated ;) that is, he turns the
ground back again, so that the top
of the new ploughed ridge stands
over the place where the deep
furrow was before he began. As
a soon as he has finished the first
ridge the planters begin to set,
while he is ploughing the second,
and so on through the field. This
process is not very tedious, for in
1816, I had fifty-two acres of Ruta
Baga planted in this way, and a
crop of more than fifty thousand
bushels. A smart lad will set half
an acre per day, with a girl or boy,
to drop the plants, and I had a man
who would set often an acre a day.
Care must be taken not to bury
the heart of the plant. I observed
how necessary it was to fix the
plant firmly in the ground; and as
the planter is strictly charged to do
this, he is apt to pay little atten-
tion to the means by which the ob-
"I prepared one field of five
acres, and another of twelve, with
ridges, in the manner described for
sowing, and on the 7th of June in
the first field, and on the 20th of
July in the 2nd, I set my plants, as
in sowing, twelve inches asunder.
I ascertained to an exactness, that
there were thirty three tons to the
acre, throughout the whole seven-
teen acres, and after this, I have
never used any other method.
"In my usual order, the rows
TUR
471
TUR
$
done. But if a vacancy remains
below the bottom of the plant, it
will not thrive well. This is true
in all transplantings, both of roots
ject is accomplished. The thing is
done easily enough, if you cram the
butts of the leaves down below the
surface. But this brings the earth
with the first rain at least over the land trees."
heart of the plant; and then it will
never grow at all.'
""
The reasons which Mr. Cobbett
gives, in favour of transplanting are
as follow.
1. "Time may be gained for
one or two extra ploughings, be-
tween the 25th of June, and the
25th of July, or even the 25th of
August.
2. "This transplanted crop, may
follow some other crop, such as
early June cabbages, early peas,
or potatoes, kidney beans, peas,
white onions, &c.
Time and manner of harvesting.-
Mr. Cobbett, here recommends,
that the earth be turned off from
the roots by an ox plough, in dry
set in, and then gathered by hand,
which will save the trouble and
expense of loosening them by the
spade, and greatly expedite the
work.
"Observe well what has been
said about fresh earth, and never
forgetting this, let us talk about
the art of planting. We have a
setting stick, which should be the
top of a spade handle cut off about
ten inches below the eye, and
pointed smoothly, the planting is
then done in the manner of setting
cabbages. Choose a dry time for
your transplanting for this reason;
if your plants are put into wet
ground, the setting stick squeeses
the earth up against the plant in a
mortar like state; the sun comes
and bakes this mortar into a hard weather, before the hard frosts
glassed clod; the hole also, made
with the stick is smooth upon its
sides, and presents an impenetra-
ble substance to the roots and fibres
of the plant, and thus the vegeta-
tion is greatly cherished; but when
plants are set in dry earth, the re-
verse of all this is true, and the
fresh earth will supply proper
moisture under any degree of
drought. The hole thus being vered close and secure."
made in dry weather, set your plant
without bending the point; support
it with one hand firm in the hole,
and with the other hand, apply the
setting stick to the earth on one
side of the hole, so as to form a
sharp triangle with the plant, then
thrust the stick down a little below
the bottom or the point of the plant,
and with a little twist, press the
earth up to the plant, at the point
or bottom of the root, and it is or steamed.
"The crop when pulled, may
be secured over winter in the usual
manner of securing potatoes, either
in the cellar or in the pits dug in
some dry part of the field and co-
Uses and mode of applying the
crop.-1. "As food for cattle, cows,
sheep and hogs both raw and boil-
ed or steamed, (which is prefera-
ble,) or even poultry when boiled
or steamed.
2. "Cows that give milk, breed-
ing sows, ewes with lamb, their
lambs and even pigs, at weaning are
greatly benefitted by the use of
Ruta Baga, especially when boiled
472
TUR
TUR
3. "This root by far surpasses'
the turnip when fed off by sheep
with hurdles, or otherwise, or by
hogs upon the field.
4. "The tops when cut before
the roots are gathered, are valuable
as green feed for all the stock men-
tioned above. An acre will yield
about four waggon loads.”
Mr. Cobbett says, that the Ruta
Baga is not so good till it arrives at
a mature state, which will be in
February.
some. See remarks, by Mr. James
Thacher, Massachusetts Agricultu-
ral Rep. vol. vi. p. 39, 40.
TURNIP CABBAGE. "A spe-
cies of cabbage, so called, because
the stalk, at some distance from
the ground, after rising of the usual
thickness, and in the manner of
those of other cabbages, enlarges
suddenly to such a degree, that it
forms a knob of a very large tur-
nip, of which likewise it has some-
times the figure, though it is in ge-
neral more oblong.
bage is distinguished from all others.
From the top of this turnip rise a
number of leaves, of a greenish red,
or sometimes greenish purple co-
lour; which answer to the radical
leaves in other plants. They do
not, though this plant is truly of the
cabbage kind, ever close together,
and form a compact globular, or
oblong mass, as in the common
species; but keep their erect
growth, or turn outwards.
Common salt is said to be an ex- |
cellent manure for turnips, but it "By this peculiar formation of
would probably do best to be mixed the stalk, or production of the tur-
with dung or compost.
nip like knop, together with its be-
The ruta baga, may be considering perennial, this species of cab-
ed as an important acquisition to
our Agricultural productions, af
fording an excellent fresh forage for
horses, cattle, sheep, and swine,
throughout the season. The requi-
sites for its cultivation are; 1st, deep
ploughing, and plentiful manuring;
2nd, pulverising the earth in the
most effectual manner; 3rd, plant-
ing the seed, and transplanting the
plants as speedily as possible, after
manuring and ploughing, that the
germs and roots may receive all the
advantage of a fresh fermentation,
and rolling down and pressing
down the earth after sowing; 4th,
deep ploughing between the roots,
by which the mould is exposed to
the influence of the air, and those
chemical changes facilitated, on
which the growth of vegetables es-
sentially depends. Ridging on
land naturally dry is injurious,
and intervals between the rows of
two and an half, or three feet, in-
stead of four feet as recommended
by Mr. Cobbett, are preferred by
"From among these leaves
spring a number of other stalks, of
which those that are nearer the ex-
tremity, branch, and send out flow-
er stalks, spreading horizontally;
and those that are more in the cen-
tre grow erect, and without branch-
es. On these stocks are leaves,
springing out alternately, and of
the same colour with the others.
The flowers are small and yellow,
and succeeded by long cods, full
of seed, of the size of that of mus-
tard, and a lighter brown colour.-
Complete Farmer.
TUR
473
TUR
It grows wild near Dover, in
England; but it is doubted whe-
ther it be indigenous. When it is
cultivated in gardens, it is rather as
a curious than as an esculent plant
Yet it is eatable, and is recom-
mended by Mr. W. Baker, for the
use of seamen: And he thinks it
of importance as winter food for
cattle. I have not yet known tri-
als enough of it in this country, to
be able to ascertain its value. But
its bidding defiance to all inclemen-
cies of weather, after it is once
firmly rooted, is a circumstance
that ought to incline us to make
trial of it.
In the Bath Society papers, is the
following account of Sir Thomas
Reevor's method of cultivating this
root. "In the first or second week
of June, I sow the same quantity
of seed, hoe the plants at the same
size, leave them at the same dis-
tances from each other, and treat
them in all respects like the com-
mon turnip. In this method I have
always obtained a plentiful crop of
them. On the 23rd of April last,
having two acres left of my crop, I
divided them by hurdles into three
equal parts. Into the first part I
put twenty four small bullocks and
thirty middle sized wethers, which,
at the end of the first week, I shift-
ed into the second division, and
then put seventy lean sheep into
what was left of the first: These
fed off the remainder of the turnips
left by the fat stock: And so they
were shifted through the three di-
visions, the lean flock following the
fat, till the whole was consumed.
The twenty four bullocks, and the
thirty fat wethers, were fed four
weeks, and the seventy lean
sheep as long. So that the two
acres kept twenty four bullocks
and one hundred sheep four
weeks. The value, at the rate of
keeping at that season, cannot be
less than 4d. a week for each sheep,
and 1s. 6d. a week for each bul-
lock, which amount together to
£ 14 10 8, for the two acres. Thus
you see that in providing a most
incomparable food for cattle, in that
season of the year in which the
farmer is most distressed, and his
cattle almost starved, a consider-
"The turnip cabbage," says a
Mr. North, " is one of the hardiest
roots that grow; and I dare affirm,
might be propagated to great ad-
vantage, for feeding sheep, &c.
For in the most severe winter that
I can remember, when cabbages,
turnips, &c. have all been demol-
ished by the extremity of the wea-
ther, the turnip cabbages have not
been hurt. They are a very solid
and juicy root, and do not grow
spongy when they are old, as tur-
nips do. The tops may be cut off,
and given to sheep in the spring,
and the root laid by in an out house,
to feed them in April and May,
when no other roots can be had.
Sheep are so fond of these roots,
that they will leave the best tur-
nips for them. They will eat them
tops and bottoms as they are grow-
ing in the fields." Mr. North is
not very accurate, in calling the
turnip part of this cabbage a root,
as it is only an enlargement of the
upper part of the stem, and seve-able profit may be likewise obtain-
ral inches above the ground.
ed.
60
474
VIN
VIN
"The land on which I sow tur-
nip rooted cabbage is a dry mixed
soil, worth only fifteen shillings per
acre."
The white sweet water, the Chas-
selas blanc, the white muscadine,
and other white grapes, may be
best to cultivate in gardens, as they
My account of the culture of
vines, shall be an abridgment of
what Mr. Miller has written on
this subject, in his Gardener's Dic-
tionary.
The Bath Society have subjoin-are in general more palatable for
ed, "that this account is as inter-eating.
esting as any they have been ever
favoured with, and recommend it to
farmers in general, that they adopt
a mode of practice so decisively
ascertained to be highly judicious
and profitable."-Encyclopædia.
Whether this plant, which has
but newly found its way into our
country, is hardy enough to bear
the frost of our winters, I suppose
is yet to be proved.
V.
"All sorts of grapes are propa-
gated either from layers or cuttings
The latter is preferred; because
the roots, being slender, are apt
to get dried, and die by transplant-
ing.
"Make choice of such shoots as
are strong, and of the last year's
growth. Cut them from the old
VETCH. A small species of vine, just below where they were
pulse or pea, much used in En- produced, taking a knob, or piece
gland, as well for a green crop to of the two years wood, to each,
be ploughed in, to enrich the which should be pruned smooth.
ground, as for a crop sometimes Then cut off the upper part of the.
made into hay, and sometimes suf-shoots, so as to leave the cutting
fered to ripen, and the seeds given
to animals. In the northern parts
of this country, though often tried
they have not been found to answer.
It is doubted whether they can be
successfully cultivated in any part
of our country.
VINE, vitis, an important plant
of the creeping kind, famous for its
fruit, the grape, and the generous
liquor it affords for the use of man-
kind.
about sixteen inches long. When
the piece of old wood is cut at
both ends, near the young shoot,
the cuttings will resemble a little
mallet. In making the cuttings af-
ter this manner, there can be but
one taken from each shoot; where-
as most persons cut them into
lengths of about a foot, and plant
them all, which is very wrong; for
they will not be so fruitful.
up-
"Cuttings, thus prepared, if not
Those who would cultivate vines then planted, should be placed with
in gardens, should procure those their lower part in the ground, in
sorts which have been found to a dry soil, with litter over their
prosper well in cold countries: per parts to prevent their drying.
Particularly those which ripen their They may thus remain till the be-
fruit well in Great Britain, Germa-ginning of April, (May in this coun-
ny, or the northerly parts of France. try) then take them out, and wash
VIN
475
VIN
!
them from the filth they have con- | of your vines. Also raise the earth
tracted, and if you find them very up to the stems of the plants, so as
dry, let them stand with the lower to cover the old wood, but not so
parts in water six or eight hours, deep as to cover either of the eyes
which will distend their vessels, of the last year's wood. After this
and dispose them to take root. they will require no further care till
"Then, the ground being pre- they begin to shoot, when you
pared, the cuttings should be plan- should look them over carefully, to
ted. Open the holes about six rub off all weak dangling shoots
feet distance from each other, put- leaving no more than the two shoots
ting one good strong cutting into which are produced from the two
each hole, which should be laid a eyes of the last year's wood, which
little sloping, that their tops may should be fastened to the wall. And
incline to the wall: It must be put till the vines have done shooting
in so deep, that the uppermost eye look them over in three or four
may be level with the surface of weeks, to rub off all the lateral
the ground.
shoots as they are produced, and
to fasten the main shoots to the
wall as they are extended in length,
which must be shortened before
it will be proper to nip off their
tops, which will strengthen the
lower eyes. And during the sum-
mer keep the ground clear from
weeds; and permit no plant to
grow near the vines, which would
"Having placed the cutting in
the ground, fill up the hole gently,
pressing down the earth with your
foot close about it, and raise à lit-the middle or end of July, when
tle hill just upon the top of the cut-
ting, to cover the upper eye quite
over, which will prevent its drying.
Nothing more is necessary, but to
keep the ground clear from weeds
till the cuttings begin to shoot; at
which time look over them careful-not only rob them of their nourish-
ly, to rub off any small shoots, if
such are produced. You must
continue to look over them once in
three weeks during the summer
season, and rub off all lateral
shoots that are produced, and keep
the ground clear from weeds.
"The Michaelmas following, if
your cuttings have produced strong
shoots, prune them down to two
eyes. Being cut thus early in au-
tumn, the wounds will heal before
the bad weather comes on, and the
roots will be strengthened.
"In the following spring, gently
dig the borders, to loosen the earth,
but be careful not to injure the roots
ment, but shade the lower parts of
their shoots, and prevent their ri-
pening: Which will not only
cause their wood to be spongy and
luxuriant, but render it less fruitful.
"As soon as the leaves begin to
drop in autumn, prune these young
vines again, leaving three buds to
each of the shoots, provided they
are strong : Otherwise shorten
them down to two eyes: For it is
a very wrong practice to leave
much wood upon young vines, or to
leave their shoots too long, as it
weakens their roots. Then you
should fasten them to the wall,
spreading them out horizontally
476
VIN
VIN
each way, that there may be room
to train the new shoots the fol-
lowing summer. And in the spring
the borders must be digged as be-
fore.
on the shoots of the same year,
which come out of the buds of the
last year's wood.
"The best method is to shorten
the bearing shoots to about four
eyes in length, because the lower-
most seldom is good, and three
buds are sufficient; for each of
these will produce a shoot, which
generally has two or three bunches
of grapes: So that from each of
those shoots may be expected six
or eight bunches, which are a suffi-
cient quantity. These shoots must
be laid about eighteen inches asun-
der, for if they are closer, when the
side shoots are produced, there will
not be room enough to train them
against the wall.
"The third season, you must go
over the vines again, as soon as
they begin to shoot, to rub off all
danglers as before, and train the
strong shoots in their proper places,
which may be supposed to be two
from each shoot of last year's wood.
But if they attempt to produce two
shoots from each eye, the weakest
of them must be rubbed off. If any
of them produce fruit, as many
times they will the third year,
you should not stop them so soon
as is generally practised upon the
bearing shoots of old vines; but "At the winter pruning of your
permit them to shoot forward till a vines, you should always observe
month after mid-summer, at which to make the cut just above the eye,
time you may pinch off the tops of sloping it backward from it, that if
the shoots: For if this were done it should bleed the sap might not
too soon, it would spoil the buds flow upon the bud. And where
for the next year's wood, which in there is opportunity of cutting
young vines must be more care-down some young shoots to two
fully preserved than on older
plants.
"During the summer, you must
constantly go over your vines, and
displace all weak lateral shoots as
they are produced, and carefully
keep the ground clear from weeds,
that the shoots may ripen well."
+
eyes, in order to produce vigorous
shoots for the next year's bear-
ing, it should always be done; be-
cause in stopping those shoots
which have fruit on them, as soon
as the grapes are formed, which is
frequently practised, it often spoils
the eyes for producing bearing
branches the following year, and
this reserving of new wood is what
the Vignerons abroad always prac-
tice in their vineyards. The best
After three years, the vines are
considered as grown up; and con-
cerning the management of grown
up vines, the same writer says;
"Vines rarely produce any bear-season for pruning of vines is about
ing shoots from wood that is more the middle or end of October.
than one year old; therefore great
care should be taken to have such
wood in every part of the trees;
for the fruit is always produced up-
"The latter end of April, or
the beginning of May, when the
vines begin to shoot, carefully look
them over, rubbing off all small
VIN
477
VIN
buds which may come from the
oldwood, which only produces
weak dangling branches, as also
when two shoots are produced from
the same bud, the weakest of them
should be displaced, which will
cause the others to be stronger;
and the sooner this is done the bet-
ter for the vines.
"After one month, go over them
again, rubbing off all the dangling
shoots as before; at the same time
fasten up all the strong branches,
that they may not hang from the
wall. Towards the middle of
June, stop the bearing branches,
which will strengthen the fruit, pro-
vided you leave three eyes above
the bunches: For if you stop them
too soon it will injure the fruit, by
taking away that part of the branch
which is necessary to attract the
nourishment to the fruit, as also
to perspire off the crudities of the
sap.
followed, when the vines are train-
ed to espaliers, or to wooden fen-
ces; and the pruning, stopping, &c.
in vineyards, are the same as in
gardens, or green houses.
The vines in vineyards must be
supported by stakes; by two short
ones the first year, by longer ones
the next, and so on as there shall
be occasion. But as to those
things which are most peculiar to
vineyards, the above author di-
rects that the soil which is to be
chosen for the purpose, is that
the surface of which is a light san-
dy loam, not more than a foot and
a half or two feet deep, with a grav-
elly or chalky bottom; but if the
soil have a bottom of strong clay or
loam, it is not fit for this purpose.
As to the situation of the place, it
should incline to the south, with a
gradual descent, that the water may
drain off; but a steep slope is not
good as it will not so well hold the
manure.
To prepare the soil for planting,
he says, "In the spring, if the
ground is green sward, it should
be ploughed as deep as the surface
"But though I recommend the
stopping those shoots which have
fruit at this season, it is not to be
practised upon those shoots which
are intended for bearing the next
year; for these must not be stop-will permit; then well harrowed to
ped before the middle of July, lest
you cause the eyes to shoot out
strong lateral branches.
66
break the clods, and cleanse it
from the roots of noxious weeds.
After this, it must be frequently
ploughed and harrowed for one
year, to render the surface light.
The following spring the ground
should be ploughed again, and af
ter making the surface even, the
rows should be marked out from
south-east to north-west, at the dis-
tance often feet from each other; ;
and these rows should be crossed
The same directions should be again at five or six feet distance,
During summer rub off dang-
ling branches, and train the shoots
to the wall as before, which will ac-
celerate the growth of the fruit,
and admit the air to them, which
is needful to ripen, and give them
a rich flavour. But you must
never divest the branches of their
leaves."
478
VIN
VIN

which will mark out the places
where the plants should be placed."
But as we are favoured with a drier
atmosphere, I should think the rows
may as well be planted nearer to-
gether, as it will be a saving of
ground and labour.
เ
He adds, the proper kinds of
grapes should be chosen. The
Vignerons abroad always observe
that the grapes which are good for
eating never make good wine;
and therefore make choice of those,
whose juice, after fermenting, af-
fords a noble rich liquor. These
grapes are always austere, and not
so palatable.' He supposes the
sort most proper for vineyards in
England, is the Auvernat, or true
Burgundy grape; and thinks it best
that a vineyard should produce on-
ly one kind of grapes; because the
mixing of the juice of several toge-
ther, will cause the wine to fer-
ment at different times."
After the cuttings are planted,
he recommends keeping them clean
from weeds; and as the rows are
at a great distance from each other,
he allows that the spaces between
may be sown, or planted with any
kinds of esculent roots, which do
not grow tall, provided there is pro-
per distance left from the vines,
and care taken that the vines be
not injured by the crops, or in gath-
ering, or carrying them off the
ground. And this husbandry may
be continued till the vines come to
bearing; after which there should
be no sort of crop put between
them, because the cleaner the
ground is kept, the more heat will
be reflected to the grapes.
"The ground should be yearly
well dug or ploughed, and always
kept free from weeds;
the roots of the vines will other-
wise be robbed of their nourish-
ment.
"When a vineyard is arrived to
a bearing state, it should be so
pruned, that there should be never
too many branches left on a root,
nor those too long; for though there
may be a greater quantity of fruit
produced, yet the juice will not be
so good as when there is a moder-
ate quantity; and the roots will be
weakened, which is found to be of
bad consequence. The number of
branches which the Italians leave
upon a strong vine are four;
two of the strongest have four
eyes; and the two weaker are
shortened down to two eyes each.
Shoots that have borne fruit, are
either cut quite away, or reduced to
two eyes.
"The ground of a vineyard
should not only be constantly well
tilled, but a dressing of some good
manure applied to it every third
year, in the spring, and well mixed
with the soil.
.
"When a vineyard is carefully
dressed, it will be as pleasing a
sight, as any plantation of trees or
shrubs whatever. If the rows be
regular, and the stakes exactly
placed, and the upright shoots
stopped to an equal height, there is
nothing in nature which will make
a more beautiful appearance. And
during the season that the vines are
in flower they emit a most grateful
scent, especially in the morning and
evening. And when the grapes be-
gin to ripen there will be fresh plea-
sure in viewing them.”
VIN
479
VIN
and ·
A vineyard that is well managed | ble matters to vinegar, is thus de-
will bear fruit the third year from livered by Dr. Shaw: "Take the
the planting; the crops will be skins of raisins, after they have
growing larger till the seventh or been used in making wine
eighth year; and remain fruitful pour three or four times their own
till about the fiftieth year; after quantity of boiling water upon
which it will begin to decline, and them, so as to make a thin aque-
die away.
ous mixture. Then set the con-
taining cask, loosely covered, in a
warmer place than is used for vi-
nous fermentation; and the liquor,
in a few weeks time, will become
a clear and sound vinegar; which
being drawn off from its sediment,
and preserved in another cask,
well stopped down, will continue
perfect, and fit for use."
But instead of the cutting culture
of the vine some have recommend-
ed that a plantation of trees of low
growth be made, placed at proper
distances, with a vine planted at
the root of each, which will climb
up the trees, and bear fruit without
cutting. The ground between the
rows should be continually well
tilled and manured.
Much labour might be saved by
this mode of culture; and that it
might answer, the fruitfulness we
often observe in wild grapes may
lead us to conclude. It seems to
be following nature; but the fruit
must be waited for, a considerable
number of years after planting.
And after all, it never will yield so
good a wine, as vines that are kept
low by cutting; for the low vine-
yards in France afford a much
richer wine than the high ones,
though less in quantity. The for-
mer are but three or four feet high,
the latter seven or eight, and both
cultivated by cutting.
For further directions respecting
the culture of vine, see Forsyth on
Fruit Trees, chap. VIII. Massa-
chusetts Agricultural Repository,
vol. VI. p. 66.
VINEGAR, sour wine. But the
name is also applied to any acid
penetrating liquor, prepared from
wine, cyder, beer, &c.
The process of turning vegeta-
All such things as have under-
gone, or are fit for, a vinous fer-
mentation, will afford vinegar.
Our common summer fruits, sap of
maple trees, and other vegetables,
and even the pomace from which
cyder has been pressed, will make
vinegar, by means of only the ad-
dition of water, and exposing it to
the open air, and warmth. But
some spirit should be added to
weak vinegar, to give it a body,
and fit it for keeping.
"Liquor to be changed into
vinegar, being kept warmer than
in vinous fermentation, it begins in
a few days to grow thick and tur-
bid; and without throwing up bub-
bles, or hissing, as happens in vi-
nous fermentation, deposits a co-
pious sediment. The effect of this
separation begins first to appear on
the surface of the liquor, which ga-
thers a white skin that daily in-
creases in thickness, till at length
it becomes like leather; and now
if it continues longer in this state,
the skin turns blue, or green, and
480
ULC
VIV
T
would at last grow fetid and pu- | der to disperse the swellings, and
trefy. Therefore, in keeping down
this skin, as it grows, and thrusting
it gently to the bottom of the ves-
sel, consists much of the art of
vinegar-making, especially from
malt,"
Mr. Genet, of New-York, gives
the following directions for making
vinegar of whey.
"After having clarified the whey,
it is poured into casks with some
aromatic plants or elder blossoms,
as suits the fancy, and exposed in
open air to the sun, where it soon
acquires an uncommon degree of
acidity."
prevent their coming to matter;
bleeding and purging at the same
time for that purpose; but as in
young horses they seem to be cri-
tical, the practice by suppuration
is certainly more eligible and safe :
For want of properly affecting
which, the humours frequently set-
tle, or are translated to the lungs,
and other bowels, or falling on the
fleshy part of the hind quarters,
form deep imposthumes between
the muscles, which discharge such
large quantities of matter as some-
times kill the horse, and very often
endanger his life."-Bartlet's Far-
riery, page 99.
ULCER, "a solution of the soft
part of an animal body, together
with the skin.
VIVES, a disease in horses,
which differs from the strangles
only in this, that the swellings of
the kernels under the ears of the
horse (which are the parts at first
chiefly affected) seldom gather, or
come to matter, but by degrees
perspire off, and disperse, by warm
clothing, anointing with the marsh
mallow ointment, and a moderate
bleeding or two. But should the
inflammation continue notwith-discharge a gleety thin matter, and
standing these means, a suppura-
tion must be promoted.
"The first intention in the cure
of ulcers, is bringing them to digest,
or discharge a thick matter; which
wi.. in general be effected by the
green ointment, or that with pre-
cipitate. But should the sore not
digest kindly by these means, but
look pale, you must then have re-
course to warmer dressings, such
"When these swellings appear as balsam, or oil of turpentine,
in an old or full aged horse, they melted down with your common
are signs of great malignity, and digestive, and the strong beer
often of an inward decay, as well poultice over them. It is proper
as forerunners of the glanders. also in these sores, where the cir-
Take of crude mercury, or quick-culation is languid, and the natural
silver, one ounce; Venice tur-heat abated, to warm the part, and
pentine, half an ounce; rub to-quicken the motion of the blood,
gether in a mortar till the glo- by fomenting it well at the time of
bules of the quicksilver are no dressing; which method will thick-
longer visible; then add two
then add two en the matter, and rouse the native
ounces of hog's lard.
heat of the part, and then the for-
"Some authors recommend this mer dressings may be reapplied.
ointment to be used at first, in or-
"If the lips of the ulcer grow
ULC
481
ULC
hard or callous, they must be pared | which is of a sharp and caustic na-
down with a knife, and afterwards ture, is recommended on Mr. Gib-
rubbed with the caustic.
son's experience.
Take of Roman vitriol half an
ounce, dissolve a pint of water,
then decant and pour off gently
into a large quart bottle; add
half a pint of camphorated spirit
of wine, the same quantity of
the best vinegar, and two ounces
of Ægyptiacum.
"This mixture is also very suc-
"Where soft fungous flesh be-
gins to rise, it should carefully be
suppressed in time, otherwise the
cure will go on but slowly. If it
has already sprouted above the sur-
face, pare it down with a knife,
and rub the remainder with a bit
of caustic; and to prevent its rising
again, sprinkle the sore with equal
parts of burnt alum, and red pre-cessfully applied to ulcerated grea-
cipitate; or wash with the subli- sy heels, which it will both cleanse
mate water, and dress with dry lint and dry up.
even to the surface, and then roll
over a compress of linen as tight
as can be borne; for a proper de-
gree of pressure, with mild appli-
cations, will always oblige these
spongy excrescences to subside,
but without bandage the strongest
will not so well succeed.
"These sinuses, or cavities, fre-
quently degenerate into fistulæ,
that is, grow pipey, having the in-
side thickened, and lined as it were
with a horny callous substance. In
order to their cure, they must be
laid open, and the hard substance
all cut away. Where this is im-
practicable, scarify them well, and
trust to the precipitate medicine
made strong, rubbing now and then
with caustic, butter of antimony, of
equal parts of quicksilver and aqua
fortis.
"When a rotten or foul bone is
an attendant on an ulcer, the flesh
is generally loose and flabby; the
discharge oily, thin and stinking,
and the bone discovered to be ca-
"All sinuses, or cavities, should
be laid open as soon as discovered,
after bandages have been ineffec-
tually tried; but where the cavity
penetrates deep into the muscles,
and a counter opening is impracti-
cable or hazardous; where, by a
continuance, the integuments of
the muscles are constantly dripping
and melting down; in these cases
injections may be used, and will
frequently be attended with suc-rious, by its feeling rough to the
cess. A decoction of colcothar
boiled in forge water, or solution
of lapis medicamentosus in lime
water, with a fifth part of honey
and tincture of myrrh, may be first
tried, injecting three or four ounces
twice a day, or some rosin melted
down with oil of turpentine may be
used for this purpose. If these
should not succeed, the following,
probe passed through the flesh. In
order to a cure, the bone must be
laid bare, that the rotten part of it
be removed; for which purpose,
destroy the loose flesh, and dress
with dry lint; or the dossils may
be pressed out of tincture of myrrh
or euphorbium. The throwing off
the scale is generally a work of
nature, which is effected in more
61
482
WAG
URI
or less time, in proportion to the
depth the bone is affected, though
burning the foul bone is thought by
some to hasten its separation.
"Where the cure does not pro-
perly succeed, mercurial physic
should be given, and repeated at
proper intervals: And to correct
and mend the blood and juices, the
antimonial and alterative powders,
with a decoction of guaiacum and
lime water, are proper for that
purpose."-Bartlet's Farriery, P.
253.
URINE, a serous and saline
fluid, separated from the blood, and
emitted by the canal of the ure-
thra.
Considered as a manure, this is
an important liquor; it is supposed
to be richer than the stale of beasts.
The difference may be as that of
human ordure to barn dung.
pail was full, sprinkled it on her
meadow, the grass of which looked
yellow at first, but afterwards grew
surprisingly.
Human urine therefore should
be considered as of great value to
the farmer. A good method of
using it is, to throw it upon com-
post dunghills which are under co-
ver.
Also, old urine is preferable to
dung for manuring of trees, as it
penetrates -better to their roots;
and it is said to remove divers in-
firmities of plants.
W.
WAGGON, a carriage, or cart,
mounted on four wheels.
Waggons answer much the same
ends as common carts; but are
greatly to be preferred, especially
in journeying; and they are quite
necessary for horse-teams, espe-
cially when the horses are harnes-
sed by two and two, as they ought
to be in large teams. And if oxen
are used they should be harnessed
in the same manner as horses.
The advantages of waggons are es-
pecially these two.
Mr. Bradley relates, as of his
own knowledge, that human urine
was thrown into a little pit con-
stantly every day, for three or four
years. Two years after some earth
was taken out of this pit, and mixed
with twice as much other earth, to
fill up a hollow place in a grass
walk. The turf which was laid
upon this spot grew so largely and
vigorously, besides being much 1. They are far less fatiguing to
greener than the rest, that by the the oxen than carts; because they
best computation he could make, have to bear only the weight of the
its grass in a month's time, was tongue upon their necks; whereas,
above four times as much in quan-in carts, and on descending ground,
tity as that of any other spot of the
same size, though the whole walk
was laid on very rich ground.
And Mr Hartlib instances a wi-
dow woman near Canterbury in
England, who saved in a pail all
the urine she could, and when the
the oxen are crushed to death, as
it were, with bearing a great part
of the load; or in ascending a hill,
the load pulls their necks upwards,
so that they are almost choked and
rendered incapable of drawing the
load. Bulky loads, such as hay,
WAL
483
WAT
and the like, produce these bad | ble, to make them bind the better
effects in the greatest degree.
with the mortar. In summer, they
should be covered up as fast as
they are laid, to prevent the wall
from drying too st. In winter,
they should be well covered to
protect them from snow, rain, and
frost, which are all hurtful to the
cement. But in the coldest part
of winter mason work can hardly
be performed at all in this country.
Walls laid in this season are not
expected to be durable.
2. Waggons are better for the
roads, as the wheels do not make
so deep impressions in the ground
as those of carts. The load bear-
ing equally on four wheels, each
wheel bears but half so much
weight as one wheel of a cart.
Consequently, a waggon wheel
presses the ground with but half
the force of a cart wheel; and
therefore penetrates to but half the
depth; supposing the tire in both
to be of equal breadth. If team-
sters used only waggons upon our
roads, the roads would soon be
found to be greatly mended, as
they would be freed from those
deep ruts, which are so disagreea-ly applied will sometimes cure
ble and dangerous to travellers.
WALL, the principal part of a
building, serving both to enclose
and support it.
a
J
WARBLES, small hard tumours
on the saddle part of a horse's back,
occasioned by the heat of the sad-
dle in travelling. They are usu-
ally called Saddle Boils.
A hot greasy dish clout frequent-
them. When this fails, campho-
rated spirit of wine will be found
more effectual especially if a lit-
tle of the spirit of sal ammoniac
be added.
WATER, a simple, transparent
fluid, which becomes solid with a
certain degree of cold.
The walls with which farmers
are most concerned are fences of
stone upon their farms. See the
article Fence. The walls of cel-
lars, even in the poorest farm A general division of this fluid is
houses, ought to be so constructed into salt and fresh. But according
as to keep out all frost. There- to Dr. Shaw, it seems divisible into
fore the upper half of the wall as many different species, as the
should be laid in good lime mor-earth is into strata or beds. Thus
tar. This will render banking to
keep out frost unnecessary. And
banking should be avoided, as it
causes the sills of houses to decay.
It requires yearly attention and la-
bour, and gives to a house an ill
appearance.
When brick walls are to be built
for houses, &c. particular care
should be taken in laying the bricks.
In summer they should be laid as
wet, and in winter as dry as possi-
there are mineral waters, of vari-
ous kinds, according to the minerál
substances through which they
pass, and by which they are by any
means impregnated. Water may
therefore be as compounded a body
as earth; and perhaps neither of
them can any where be found per-
fectly pure or unmixed.
Water is of infinite use in all the
works both of nature and art; as
without it there could be no gene-
484
WAT
WAT
Watering the ground also pro-
motes the putrefaction of every
substance, whether animal or ve-
getable, contained in the soil, or
lying on the surface.
ration, nutrition, or growth in any that water deposits a fertilizing se-
animal, vegetable, or mineral bo-diment, which changes the surface
dies. The blood could not flow in of the soil to a dark colour.
the veins, the ap in the vessels of
vegetables, nor the particles of mi-
nerals concrete or grow together,
without water. Neither could
there be any corruption, fermenta-
tion, or dissolution performed with-
out it. But I must not attempt to
speak of all its uses, being limited
by my general subject.
Where a good head of water can
be made without too great an ex-
pense; or where a brook, or part
of a river, can be so diverted from
its course, as to be made to spread
its waters over the neighbouring
grass grounds, it should be attend-
ed to, as a matter of no small im-
be perfectly under command;
otherwise it may prove rather hurt-
ful than beneficial. Too much of
it would be as great an evil as too
little.
Those however have grossly mis-
taken the matter, who have sup-
posed water to be the sole food by
which vegetables are nourished;
though it must be allowed to be ab-portance. But the water should
solutely necessary to their nourish-
ment and growth. It is an impor
tant agent in mixing and dissolving
the other ingredients of the food of
plants gives them the fermenta-
tion that is necessary, and is an es-
sential part of the nutritive steam
that enters the roots and other parts
of vegetables. And the purest wa
ter contains in itself many earthy
particles, as appears by the crusts
that adhere to the insides of vessels
in which water is often boiled.
Nor is water wholly destitute of
salts and oils. It is no wonder,
therefore, that a plant will live, and
grow for some time, with its roots
thrust into a vessel of water. For
even in this situation, it partakes
of every necessary ingredient of its
natural food, though not in the
right proportions.
Water not only serves thus as a
vehicle to the food of plants, but
carries with it where it runs in
streams many particles of vegeta-
ble mould, &c. which enrich the
soil. After heavy rains, it is found
Particular care should be taken
that the water which is led over
grass grounds, be only such as is
fit to nourish plants, which chaly-
beate waters, or springs impreg-
nated with a mineral acid, certainly
are not. Such water is rather poi-
sonous to plants, and prevents their
growth.
The quantity of water thrown
over the land should be rightly pro-
portioned; a light sandy soil will
bear more, a stiff soil a less quan-
tity, without overcharging the ves-
sels of the plants, or cooling them
too much.
The channels should be so made
that the water may be communi-
cated to every part, excepting
where there are little hollows which
are naturally wet. The main
channel should be broad, and its
descent but just enough to cause
WAT
485
WAT
the water to run; and from the
main channel, a great number of
very narrow ones should be cut,
that the water may be well spread
through every part of the surface.
Watering the ground in this man-
ner should be avoided when the air
is extremely hot; because heat
draws the water too hastily into the
plants, which renders them weak.
The night time should be preferred
to the day for letting out the water,
or a day that is cool and cloudy
may be chosen, rather than one
that is hot and dry.
No water should be admitted in
the spring, till after the ground
which has been hoven by the frost
is well settled. But afterwards,
and in a dry spring, watering may
be plentifully used, till the grass be-
gins to spring up. After the shoot-
ing of the grass, the water should
be administered more sparing-
ly, or not at all if the weather
proves rainy. And when the grass
comes to be tall, no water should
be applied, but in case of necessity,
as when a drought prevails, which
would otherwise shorten the crop;
for if it were applied at this time
in a large quantity, the grass would
be lodged; or if the water be not
clean, it will foul the grass, and
give the bay an ill taste.
After the second crop of hay is
taken off, water may be thrown
over the ground in plenty; for the
ground is then very dry, and the
weather so cool, that vegetables
will not be injured by plentiful
watering.
Ground that is thus watered will
produce plenty of grass, unless it
should happen to be too much
chilled by watering; to prevent
which it should have a sprinkling
of some warm compost, soot, or
other hot dressing, each year, in
autumn.
Care should be always taken to
leave off this watering before the
month of December, when strong
frosts are expected; because frost
destroys all vegetables much more
when they are full of sap, and
where the soil is very wet.
When you wish to water land
which is above the level of an ad-
jacent stream, an engine may be
used to raise it to the proper height.
They who are willing to be at this
expense may find descriptions of
Archimedes' watering screw, the
Persian wheel, M. Belidor's wheel,
and an engine invented by M. de la
Bay, in the Complete Farmer, arti-
cle Water.
WATER FURROWING, draw-
ing furrows in the lowest parts of
a field of wheat, or other winter
grain, as soon as it is harrowed in,
in order to draw off the superflu-
ous water, that none may stand
on the surface during the win-
ter.
This piece of good husbandry is
considered, in the old countries, as
indispensably necessary; unless
when a field is on such a declivity
that the water cannot stand on it.
For if water stand long upon corn,
in a frosty season, or almost any
season, it will either be killed, or
so stinted in its growth, that it will
produce nothing.
If this practice were adopted by
my countrymen, the labour of do-
ing which is but a trifle, I am per-
suaded they would find so great an
486
WEA
WEA
advantage in it, that they would
not afterwards incline to lay it
aside. It is probable it might pre-
vent the winter killing of much
grain, an evil that is greatly com-
plained of.
WATERING, applying water
to plants to nourish them.
Innumerable advantages would
arise to the husbandman from a
foreknowledge of the changes of
the weather; and even from a fore-
knowledge of the general charac-
ters of the approaching seasons. In
the former case, he would be able
to order his business from day to
day in the best manner, and so
prevent much hurry, perplexity and
hay making and harvesting; in the
latter, he would be happily direct-
ed in his choice of crops, and the
best methods of cultivating them.
And as this knowledge is not to be
obtained, the ability to make very
probable conjectures is nextly to
be coveted, as it will be found to
answer very valuable purposes.
Vegetables that are newly trans-
planted, as they have their roots
more or less diminished, or other-loss; especially in the seasons of
wise injured, often need watering
till they have taken new root. But
this should be done with caution.
If a dry season follow the trans-
planting, let them be watered if
they appear to droop, only on
evenings, and in cloudy weather,
and with water that has been ex-
posed, one day at least, to the shin-
ing of the sun; not with water di-
rectly from a well, or a cold spring,
as it will give a chill to the plants.
Only a small quantity should be
applied at once, that it may have
an effect similar to that of a re-
freshing rain. For water, applied
too plentifully, sometimes washes
away the finest of the mould from
the roots; or makes little cavities
about them, which admit too much
air.
In a dry season, whole gardens
sometimes need watering; and in
doing it the above precautions are
to be regarded. They are happy
who have a piece of standing wa-
ter in their garden or a rivulet near
at hand, from whence the garden
may be watered without much la-
bour.
WEATHER. The state or con-
dition of the atmosphere with re-
gard to heat, cold, wind, rain, frost,
snow, &c.
|
Virgil, and other early writers on
husbandry, pointed out many rules
of prognosticating the changes of
weather in their own countries.
But these will not universally, and
perhaps not generally, apply in
other regions. Persons ought
therefore to be careful that they
do not lay too much stress upon
them.
Journals of the weather, winds,
and state of the atmosphere, should
be made and kept in every climate
in this country; from the compar-
ing of which for a course of years,
it is profitable that some valuable
prognostics might be formed,
which have not yet been thought
of.
The observations made in one
climate, will not perfectly answer
for another, even in the same coun-
try. In some parts of the state of
Massachusetts, for instance, a south
wind in a summer morning forebodes
WEA
487
WEA
a hot day, and in other parts a cool
one; and the changes of weather
are not just the same in the mari-
time as in the inland parts. The
latter are hotter in summer and
colder in winter than the mari-
times.
That our farmers may enable
themselves to form judicious prog-
nostications, some parts of knowl-
edge, falsely so called, ought to be
unlearned, or exploded; as weeds
must be extirpated that useful
plants may be nourished.
Those who draw their prognos-
tics from the motions and aspects
of the celestial bodies are certainly
less apt to attend to more sure ob-
jects in the earth and atmosphere.
If any celestial influence is to
be much regarded in this case, one
would think it ought to be only
that of the earth's satellite, the
moon, because of its nearness.
That she influences the tides is
well known; and these may have
a small influence on the winds and
weather. And probably vapours
may be more copiously raised when
she is nearest to the earth, which
affords a greater probability of ap-
proaching rain or snow.
But what reason can there be as-
signed, for supposing that her place
in the heavens at the moment of
her full, change, or quartering, can
have any influence on our atmos-
phere? Or that the weather in the
latter quarters, should be governed
by that in her former quarters?
These things, though believed by
many, have never been confirmed
by any set of accurate observa-
tions. The few that I bave made
have rather tended to refute them.
Barometrical observations may
be of some real use. "In general,
it may be expected, that when the
mercury rises high, a few days of
fair weather will follow; if it falls,
rain may be expected."
|
Birds of passage have always
been supposed to indicate the
nearness of approaching seasons,
by their removing to different cli-
mates.
It is well known that the wea-
ther is much governed by winds.
Rain is very often preceded, and
accompanied by a south-east wind,
and snow by a wind from the
north-east, or north north-east:
And an east wind, continued twelve
hours, seldom fails to bring rain;
and yet some rain often times
comes from every other quarter.
When the winds blow, from any
point betwixt north and west the
weather is expected to continue
fair and dry.
The weather is oftener unsettled
about the times of the equinoxes,
than at other seasons: And high
winds and storms are more to be
expected.
Falling weather oftener happens
a little before or after the full and
change of the moon than at other
times, especially if she happen to
be near to her perigree, at the
time of these changes. For the
attraction of vapours from the sur-
face of the earth is then greatest..
}
The redness of the sky at the
rising of the sun, has ever been con-
sidered as a sign of foul weather ap-
proaching; but it is far from being
infallible.
The falling of heavy dews is a
sign of the continuance of fair
weather.
488
WEE
WED
The setting of the sun behind a
black, watery cloud, betokens ap-
proaching rain.
The wading of the sun, as it is
called is a pretty sure sign that foul
weather is very near.
When the disc of the sun, either
at rising or setting, appears very
broad and dim, the atmosphere is
charged with plenty of vapour,
which will soon condense and fall
upon the earth.
The contrary
happens when the sun appears
brilliant, small and dazzling, at ris-
ing and setting, as these appearan-
ces indicate a dry state of the air.
The copious evaporation of boiling
water is a pretty sure sign of fal-
ling weather. For I suppose this
arises from the same cause, (whate-
ver it be) as the increased ascent of
vapours in general.
The wind commonly blows from
the point from whence meteors
are seen to shoot in the night pre-
ceding.
When swine are busy in collect-
ing sticks and straws, foul weather
is approaching.
Many more signs of changes in
the weather might have been men-
tioned: But I study brevity.
WEDGE. One of the mechani-
cal
powers, the force of which is
extremely great.
hard knots. The head should be
about two inches thick, and the
length of the wedge from eight to
nine inches.
WEEDING. The operation of
destroying weeds among useful
plants, or of freeing from weeds.
There are several methods of
doing it. Where plants in beds,
whether sown broad cast or in
rows, are young and small, and
are infested with weeds, the weeds
must be pulled up with the thumb
and finger; or else cut out with the
weeding hook. When weeding is
done by hand, care should be ta-
ken that the roots be not left in the
ground. Therefore the fingers of
the weeder should go into the soil
more or less, according to the
strength of the roots. The weeds
may be saved in baskets, and thrown
to the swine. Where the plants
are larger, the weeds may be kil-
led by a hoe with a sharp edge,
which should be wider or narrow-
er, according to the distance at
which the plants ought to stand
from each other after hoeing. But
it is necessary that the hoeing be
performed in dry weather; other-
wise many of the weeds will re-
vive, and grow: And the forenoon
is better than the afternoon for this
work, because a dewy night com-
ing on before they are withered,
The wedge is a triangular prism,
whose basis are acute angled trian-some of them will get rooted be-
gles.
The wedge is a needful imple-
ment among farmers, for the cleav-
ing of their wood and timber. It
should be made of a soft kind of
iron, that it may not be broken
near the point, by driving it in fros-
ty weather, or by forcing it into
fore the next morning. Weeders
should be careful that they tread
upon weeds that they hoe or pull
up, as little as possible; because
doing this will close the earth
about them and prevent their dy-
ing.
When small plants stand in rows
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489
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according to the drill husbandry,
the plants in the rows must be once
weeded, and thinned as in gardens;
but the weeds in the intervals are
to be more expeditiously destroyed
with the plough, horse hoe, or cul-
tivator.
WEEDS, useless or noxious
plants, or vegetables not to be cul-
tivated.
stiff and hard; and so compact that
the roots of tender plants cannot
extend themselves in it. This bad
quality is possessed, in a remarka-
ble degree, by the quitch grass, and
by some other weeds.
3. Weeds prevent plants from
tillering, or branching out from
their roots, as many kinds, and par-
ticularly the farinaceous, which
are the most valuable, are inclined
to do, when they have room. But
the growing of a multitude of weeds
among them reduces them to a
Weeds infest all kinds of land
more or less, and occasion abun-
dance of labour for the farmer,
and the gardener, so much that we
seldom find it perfectly accomplish-crowded situation; the consequence
ed.
Weeds are several ways hurtful
to the crops that are cultivated.
1. They rob other plants of the
food that should nourish them. For
they require as much nourishment
from the earth as better plants do;
and in general they are fed with
the same kind of juices: For it has
been proved, that the food of all
plants is nearly the same. So that
wherever weeds are suffered to
stand and grow among plants, the
crop will receive proportionably
the less quantity of nourishment
from the earth. It will also re-
ceive the less nourishment from
the air, unless the weeds are of a
much lower stature than the plants
that were meant to be cultivated,
and nearly covered by the plants.
2. Weeds also lessen the quan-
tity of pasture for plants in the soil.
For their roots occupy and fili ma-
ny of those interstices in the soil,
which would have been occupied
by the roots of the cultivated plants.
And many kinds of weeds have
such a multitude of strong and bind-
ing roots, that they render the soil
is, that they shoot up only. single
stalks, by which means the crop is
greatly diminished.
4. Weeds deprive plants of that
free circulation of air about them,
which is necessary to their being in
a healthy and vigorous state. For
want of this they run up weak, re-
main of a loose and spongy contex-
ture, and bend down and lodge by
their own weight, unless the weeds
happen to be so strong as to hold
them up.
5. Weeds, besides the general
evil of taking away the food of
plants, rob the soil, particularly of
its moisture, and speedily reduce
it to such a dry state that neither
weeds nor other plants can receive
from it any vegetable food, for
want of that proportion of moisture
which is necessary to give it flui-
dity. Accordingly it is observa-
ble that the abounding of weeds
brings on an early appearance of
drought.
Lastly, some weeds of the creep-
ing kind twine about the plants in
such a manner as to prevent their
growth, and the circulation of their
هيه
62
490
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sist upon is, that no seeds of weeds
should, by any means, be carred
into the fields. And that this evil
may be avoided, no dung nor com-
post, should be laid upon the soil,
until it has undergone.such fermen-
tations in heaps, as to allow oppor-
sap. Others overtop them, and
shut out the direct influence of the
sun, and further oppress them with
their unwholesome dripping on
them. And there are still others,
the dodder in particular, which
draw their nourishment directly
out of the bodies of plants, by strik-tunity to destroy the vegetative
ing their fibres into them, and cause quality of all the seeds that are
them to languish.
contained in it. Therefore all
dunghills intended for the manur-
So that, on the whole, the mis-
chiefs done by weeds are so greating of sowed fields, should be shov-
and many, that when they are suf
fered to grow unmolested among
useful plants, whatever culture has
been given to the soil to prepare it
for a crop is thrown away; and the
seeds that are sown are entirely
wasted and lost.
Weeds may be divided as plants
in general are, into annuals and pe-
rennials; or, as Mr. Dixson has
done it. into those which are propa-
gated by the seed, and those that are
propogated by the root. But I shall
pursue a method which is different
from both, and which better suits
my present inclination: And only
consider those weeds in a general
way, which chiefly infest our lands
that are in tillage, and those that
prevail in our grass land; and how
to prevent the existence, or preva-
lence of these kinds; and the best
methods of preventing, subduing
and destroying them.
1. As to those which infest land
that is employed in tillage, and
which are very numerous, there
are several ways to prevent their
existence in fields; at least, to pre-
vent their arising in such plenty as
to be very troublesome or detri-
mental to the crops.
|
eled over two or three times in a
summer; by means of which., most
or all of the seeds contained in the
heaps will vegetate, and be destroy-
ed.
But when land is laid down
for grass, this precaution is not
necessary: Because tillage weeds
will not flourish in grass lands; at
least not so much as to do any
great damage.
But when there is a necessity of
using new dung, which abounds
with the seeds of weeds, on land
to be continued in tillage, let it,
if possible, be applied only to a
hoed crop, in the tilling of which,
the weeds will be destroyed as fast
as they rise, during the summer.
Or, if low ground hay has been
used by itself, in feeding the young
part of the stock (as indeed it
ought always to be) let the dung
that is made of that be laid on the
driest parts of the farm. There
will be no danger in laying it on
while it is new; for if the seeds
sprout and come up, they will
not prosper, as the soil does not
suit their nature, being mostly aqua-
tics.
As to other manures, such as
marle, mud, ashes, lime, soot, sea
The first thing that I would in- weeds, &c. these having no seeds
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491
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in them that will grow upon land,
there is no danger of their causing
the ground to become weedy. If
they do this, in any measure, it
must be only by vivifying latent
seeds in the soil.
On land that is designed to be sow-
ed the next year, this is a good
piece of husbandry; for it will des-
troy so many of the seeds of weeds,
as to prevent the ensuing crop
from being so very weedy as it
otherwise would be; at the same
time, it will destroy many insects,
clean the ground, and render it fit-
ter for the operations of tillage; not
to mention how much the ground
will be fertilized by the ashes of
the stubble.
Another thing which is indis
pensably necessary to prevent the
abounding of weeds, is, to suffer no
weeds, neither in gardens nor in
tillage lands, to ripen their seeds
in autumn, and scatter them out
upon the ground. The practice of
sluggards must be laid aside : For But, to prevent the increase of
as a a man soweth, so shall he also weeds, as well as to answer other
reap. If weeds are thus sown on good purposes, it is best that two
every part of a field, it is no won- broad cast, sowed crops, when it
der if the ground be filled with can be, otherwise ordered, should
them in the ensuing year: Nothing not succeed each other. Where
short of a miracle, unless it be want a hoed crop is well tilled every
of strength in the soil to nourish other year, the weeds are not wont
them, can prevent it. The pruto increase, in such a degree as to
dent husbandman, therefore, be- be very troublesome.
fore the seeds of the weeds are ri- Another precaution, and which has
pened, will go over his grounds, and not been sufficiently attended to,
destroy all the weeds that appear. is taking care to avoid sowing the
If there should happen to be a seeds of weeds with grain and
plenty of them, let them be piled other crops. A thorough cleaning
in heaps in the borders of the of the seed is of great importance.
fields, and a little earth thrown on This may be accomplished by win-
them; in which situation they will nowing, sifting, swimming and re-
ferment and putrefy, and become peated washings. But the seeds of
good heaps of manure, in the suc-weeds are often sowed, after they
ceeding year.
If any should object to the la-
bour of doing this, let them consi-
der whether it will not save them
ten times as much labour in future,
in subduing the weeds, after the
ground is filled with them, besides
procuring, them the advantage of
having much better crops.
Another good preventive of the
increase of weeds, is burning the
stubble as it stands after reaping.
have been separated from grain by
winnowing. This will be the case
when the chaff and rubbish at the
tail of the sheet is thrown upon a
dunghill, which is to be removed
and applied to the soil, before the
seeds contained therein have had
opportunity to vegetate and get des-
troyed.
If a farmer begins on a farm that
is not much infested with weeds,
and will carefully observe the di-
492
WEE
WEE
rections given above, I think he | riched: And it will not be liable
will be always favoured with clean to be infested with weeds, to any
crops, and that weeds will never great degree, for several years
prevail much in his tillage land. after.
It is true, that some seeds may
be wafted by the winds from other
fields into his enclosures. The
best preventive of this is having
close fences. But those seeds to
which a light down adheres, are
often mounted high in the air; so
that there is no possibility of fenc-
ing against them. Of this kind are
the seeds of thistles, &c. However,
they seldom tarry in the places
where they first fall, but are driven
to the borders of fields.
But when, by means of a negli-
gent or slovenly culture, lands in
tillage are become weedy, the far-
mer should perfectly know, and
spiritedly practise, the most effec-
tual methods of subduing the
weeds, which are his most formi-
dable enemies. For they diminish
the husbandman's crops, more than
most people are aware of.
Next to fallowing, which may be
thought rather expensive, the best
way to get the better of weeds, is
to employ the land in hoed crops,
for two or three years in succes-
sion, not omitting autumnal hand-
weeding. Or a crop of pease,
sowed thick, or any crop that forms
a close cover to the surface, may
do much towards subduing the
weeds. The few weeds that ve-
getate under such a cover are so
cramped and kept under, as to be
prevented from going to seed; or
at least from bringing their seeds
to maturity.
Extraordinary deep ploughing,
or trench ploughing, has been re-
commended as effectual. But in
this practice, care should be taken
to avoid turning in too many of the
seeds of weeds. The autumn,
therefore, is not the right time for
The most effectual way of de- this, but rather the spring or sum-
stroying them is, by a good summer. For if many seeds are thus
mer fallowing, alternately plough-buried, the next deep ploughing
ing and harrowing the ground in that there may be occasion for,
dry weather, as often as the weeds will bring them again up to the air,
appear in plenty on the surface. and cause not a few of them to
At each of these stirrings a large vegetate, though it should happen
quantity of weeds is destroyed, and to be not till many years after.
converted into manure; and the
seeds of another crop so exposed
to the air, that they will spring up,
and at the next stirring of the soil
be destroyed. And if these opera-
tions are continued until no more
weeds arise, it may be concluded
that the ground is in excellent or-
der for a crop. It is not only clean-
ed from weeds, but greatly en-
As deep ploughing destroys
weeds, or rather puts them out of
the way, so, on the other hand, no-
thing can more encourage their
growth than the shallow ploughing,
which is commonly given for sow-
ed crops in this country.
But if all other methods were to
prove ineffectual for the destruc-
tion of annual weeds, laying tillage
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When it is not found convenient
to take this method, the weeds may
either be dug out or else pulled up
by hand, which, when the ground
is moistened by rain, may be easily
done. It is to be remembered,
that this should be done at or be-
fore midsummer, that none of their
ripened seeds, or any that may pos-
sibly vegetate, may be scattered on
the ground.
land down to grass, and sowing it the land, and employ it in til-
with cleaned grass seeds, will not lage.
fail to subdue these weeds; the
most of which depend upon til-
lage to promote their growth; and
the rest will be overtopped and
stifled by a good crop of grass.
And a strong sward will soon be
formed, through which the tender
kinds of annual weeds will not
penetrate, of which sort the most
are, that are found in land that is
tilled. Even the quitch grass, one
of the most vexatious of all weeds,
is thus either destroyed or render-rushes, and the like, are not easily
ed harmless: For when it flour
ishes in grass ground, it makes an
excellent hay.
The aquatic weeds, such as flags,
subdued by any of the above me-
thods, some of which have often
been tried in vain. Draining the
land, which deprives them of that
degree of wetness which is suita-
ble to their nature, is an infallible
method, and, perhaps, the only
effectual one, of destroying them.
2. The weeds that appear in
grass lands in this country, may be
divided into upland weeds and
aquatics, some few of which are
annuals, but a greater number, es-
pecially of those that are most no-But liming the ground at the same
ticed, are perennials.
time, renders the operation more
sudden and effectual. Or if lime
cannot be had, ashes and soot are
good substitutes.
Of the upland weed those which
have proved to be the most trou
blesome are the upright crow foot,
Ranunculus, commonly known by
the name yellow weed; ragweed,
ragwort, or Roman wormwood,
Senecio; the greater daisy, ox eye,
or piss abed, Chrysanthemum; yar WEEVIL, an insect of the bee-
row, dandelion, dock, thistles, sor-tle kind, resembling the Maybug,
rel and John's wort.
Some of these, particularly the
two last, and the daisy and rag.
weed, are conquered by a plentiful
manuring of the ground; for where
the sand is rich they are not found
to flourish. Pasturing the land
with sheep is said to be fatal to the
daisy, and the crow foot.
But the most effectual way to
destroy these weeds, is to break up
But the most speedy method of
getting rid of these weeds is, dig-
ging out the roots, or using the
land in tillage.
with a long sharp pointed head, to
the hinder part of which are fixed
two antennæ. It is black, and
therefore easily distinguished in
any corn; but its principal and fa-
vourite food is wheat, of which,
either old or new, it devours great
quantities, without however com-
municating any bad smell to it.
Upon thrusting one's hand into
a heap of corn, one may easily
494
WHE
WEI
WHEAT, Triticum, the most
useful of all farinaceous plants, the
seeds of which are the best grain
for bread.
The different species of wheat,
according to Mr. Miller, are, the
perceive by its heat, whether it
contains many of these insects,
which generally lie pretty much
collected; and the particular places
where they are most numerous,
feel much warmer than the rest.
This observation led M. Duha-winter wheat, without awns, or
mel to think, that a considerable beards; the summer, or spring
heat is probably necessary for the wheat; grey pollard, or duck bill
hatching of their eggs; and that in wheat, with long beards; the cone
this case, even if they should live, wheat, so named for the shape of
they will not be able to breed in the ears, which resemble a cone ;
his ventilating granaries.
and the polonian wheat. Other
kinds he supposes to be only varie-
ties occasioned by culture and soil.
The Smyrna wheat is very dif
ferent from all other, producing
one large central ear, and several
smaller lateral ones from the bot-
tom of the large one. This suits
a rich and strong soil, as there is
no danger of its being over fed. It
seeins to be better adapted than
any other species of wheat to the
horse hoeing husbandry.
To prove this he made repeated
experiments, the results of which
made it evident that this insect
cannot multiply in corn that retains
a proper degree of coolness, which
it may be made to do by frequent
ventilating. When corn is sifted
in a sieve fine enough to retain the
grain, the weevils then agitated
shrink up their legs, and are in
that posture so much smaller than
the grain, that most of them drop
through the sieve.
But of all the methods M. Du-
hamel tried, that which he prefer-
red was, to dry the corn on a stove,
or oven, heated to eighty or ninety
degrees of M. de Reaumur's ther-
mometer. See Insect.
WEIGHT OF CATTLE. In
the Picture of London, for the pre-
seat year, it is stated, that about
the year 1700, the average weight
of oxen killed for the London mar-
ket, was 370 pounds; of calves, 50
pounds; of sheep, 28 pounds; and
of lambs, 18 pounds. The average
weight at present is-of oxen, 800
pounds; calves, 140 pounds; sheep,
80 pounds; and lambs, 50 pounds.
The whole value of butcher's
ment, as sold in Smithfield, is about
eight millions sterling.
•
The only species or varieties
that are cultivated in this country
are, the winter and spring wheat,
the bald and bearded, the red and
white, and the Siberian wheat,
which is bald, or without awns.
About a bushel and a half of
seed is a sufficient quantity for an
acre. Oftentimes it produces very
large crops from a less quantity.
The larger and fuller the seed is,
the greater quantity by measure
will be required; the smaller, the
less quantity: For the number of
grains is to be regarded more than
the measure, or weight.
Changing the seed yearly, or at
least every other year, is proper,
or even necessary: For it has al-
ways been experienced, that the
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495
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same seed, sown several years in
succession, degenerates; so that
the crops continually grow worse.
But seed should not only be shifted
from one place to another, but also
sown on a soil that is different from
that on which it grew. It should
be taken from a stiff soil for a light
one, and from a light for a stiff
one.
As seed wheat cannot always be
procured from distant countries in
season, farmers at a few miles dis-
tance should at least change with
each other. But in the northerly
parts of this country, bringing seed
from the southward will not do
well, as it ripens the later.
A soil of good loam, well warm-
ed, and stirred, is proper for wheat.
But other soils, well prepared,
sometimes answer well enough.
Wheat succeeds upon the strongest
lands well tilled, when they have
been drained, and laid dry.
The way of preparing the soil
for a crop of wheat (I mean that
which has been most practised in
the old countries and has succeed
ed well in this) is, by a good sum
mer fallowing. Three or four
ploughings, and as many barrow
ings, at proper intervals, will bring
almost any soil, that is not very
stubborn, into a good tilth. And
if it be thought needful to apply
any manure to the soil before sow-
ing, let it be old dung or compost;
and let it not be laid on till just
before the last ploughing, or seed
furrow, as it is called; so that the
corn may have the greatest possi
ble benefit of the steam produced
by the manure in the soil.
Where summer wheat is intend,
ed to be sown, the ground being
previously clear of weeds, by means
of a hoed crop preceding, one good
ploughing in autumn, and two in
the spring, may be sufficient.
But another good method of
preparing the land for a wheat
crop, is sowing it with clover.
After it has borne two crops of clo-
ver, it will be in excellent order
for wheat. Give only one plough-
ing, sow the seed and harrow it in.
But whether you sow winter or
spring wheat, let the seed be al-
ways well washed before sowing.
I need not here repeat what has
been said on the affair of steeping
the seed. See the article Smut.
The time of sowing winter wheat
admits of some latitude. Some
time about the latter part of Au-
gust, or beginning of September,
is to be chosen. It may be a lit-
tle later or earlier, provided the
ground have the right degree of
moisture for tillage, and for pro-
moting vegetation. The latter
should be carefully attended to,
and the seeds should never be
sowed in ground when it is very
dry. Rather than do this, rain
should be waited for as much as
two or three weeks.
Wheat that is sowed in autumn,
a clover lay excepted, should, in-
stead of harrowing be covered with
a shallow furrow, and the surface
left rough. It will be less in dan-
ger of being killed by the frost in
winter, and less injured by drying
winds in the following spring. The
furrows should be left without har-
rowing; for, the more uneven the
ground is, the more the soil will be
pulverized and mellowed by the
496
WHE
WHE
frost. But it will often be of ad-
vantage to pass a roller over the
ground in the following spring, to
close the earth about the roots, and
prevent the earth from being dried
by the spring winds, to too great a
depth.
Wheat sown in the spring should
be only covered with the harrow,
as it has no time to lose, and ought
to be up early. For the same rea-
son it should be sowed as early as
the ground can be got into the right
order to receive it.
If weeds arise in plenty among
the wheat, they should be destroy-
ed in the spring; otherwise the
crop will be much robbed of its
nourishment. This matter has not
yet been sufficiently attended to in
this country; though in other coun-
tries, particularly in Scotland, the
people make as much account of
weeding their fields of grain, as
their gardens. This should by all
means be performed before the
time when the plants begin to send
out their ears; because, after this,
they will be the more in danger of
being hurt by people's passing
among them. Especially the wheat
ought not to be touched while it is
in blossom. As it is in the critical
season of fœcundation, it may be
very detrimental to the crop. And
if the weeds be not taken out be-
fore the grain is become large and
tall, many of them will be covered
and hidden under the plants; so
that only the largest weeds will be
pulled out, while the rest are suf-
fered to stand and perfect their
seeds. For these reasons, Mr.
Miller recommends to farmers a
practice among kitchen gardeners,
which he says has been found to be
of great benefit to crops, and has
also been a great saving to them in
the operation of destroying weeds,
which is, making use of a small kind
of hoes for cleaning the wheat early
in the spring, before the ground is
covered with the blades of the
corn. By this instrument, all the
weeds, small and great, will be cut
up; and if it be done in dry wea-
ther, will die. He recommends a
second hoeing about three weeks
after the first, which will subdue
those weeds which happen to re-
main alive. And at the time of
hoeing, he recommends thinning
the plants, where they happen to
stand too thick, which he thinks
will do much to prevent the lodg-
ing of the corn, and render it less
liable to be smutty. Whether
these hoeings will greatly increase
the crop I think there can be no
reason to doubt, unless they should
cause it to ripen so much later as
to expose it to blight. But I should
not expect it from such a superfi-
cial hoeing.
Some farmers are apt to think
there is no inconvenience in suf-
fering sheep to feed on the young
plants of winter wheat, in autumn
or winter, or even early in the
spring. But who can rationally
suppose, that the blades with which
nature has furnished these plants,
are not of use, to draw in nourish-
ment from the air and dews, for the
increase of the stalk and the ear?
In order to be satisfied of this, the
above mentioned writer cut off
some plants of wheat alternately,
early in the spring, and always
found the stalks of these plants
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497
WHE
•
much smaller and shorter, and the | nourishment to the grain, or as bad
grain poorer, than those of the in- as none.
termediate plants whose blades
were not cut.
There certainly is but one case
in which it can be right that winter
grain, whether wheat or rye, should
be fed in autumn; and that is,
when, by being sowed very early,
it is in danger of earing before win-
ter; for this should by all means
be prevented. But in no case
should a beast be suffered to feed
on it in the spring.
"Wheat is ripe for cutting when
the straw is turned yellow, its ears
hang, no greenness appears in the
middle of them, and the grain is
hard when bitten."
The farmers in England cut their
wheat greener than they did for-
merly, because they find it makes
a rather whiter flour, which sells at
a higher price. One of their skil-
ful farmers, who cuts his wheat
early, says, that he found upon trial,
his wheat early reaped was heavier
by the bushel, than the same wheat
when it stood till it was thoroughly
ripe. This might be owing to its
greater smoothness, by means of
which it lay closer in the bushel;
for it is hardly credible that the
whole crop will be heavier for cut-
ting it green. But as loss by shat-
tering out the corn is thus prevent-
ed, it may be a balance to it shrink-
ing the more, as I think it certainly
does. The prudent farmer must
use his own judgment in this mat-
ter.
Wheat and other grain that is
lodged, may, and ought to be, cut
the earlier: For after the straw is
broken or corrupted, it conveys no
63
The ancients reaped their corn,
as Pliny says, before it was fully
ripe. And it is certain that great
inconveniences arise from letting
some sorts of grain stand till they
come to their utmost maturity.
The chaff and straw are the worse
fodder. And if such corn chance
to take wet in harvesting, it suffers
the more for being very ripe. But
corn cut in a greener state will
bear a good deal of wet without
damage.
When corn is blighted, it should
be cut the sooner, or even before
it is half ripe. For though it
ceases to
to receive nourishment
through the straw, it is said it will
improve by lying in the ear, and
that it threshes out the more easily.
One acre of grain is a large day's
work for the reaper. The usual
price of reaping an acre in this
country, has been a bushel of the
grain.
From three to four quarters, that
is, from twenty-four to thirty-two
bushels of wheat on an acre, is
reckoned in England to be a good
crop.
Tó prevent loss by shedding, the
corn which is laid in grips, is to be
bound up in sheaves, either in the
cool of the evening, or before the
dew is quite gone off in the morn-
ing. And it should never be re-
moved either into the shock, the
barn, or the stack, in the middle of
a sunny day, but rather at a time
when the slight dew is just sufficient
to prevent its shedding. See the
article Harvest.
As to sowing wheat in drills, see
New Husbandry.
498
WHE
WHE
Another new method of cultiva-
tion is, propagating wheat by di-
viding and transplanting its roots.
"On the second of June 1766, Mr.
But setting of wheat is reckoned | Bevor found the produce to be two
by some of the English as a great bushels per acre more than from
improvement in husbandry. A sown wheat, having much less small
Norfolk farmer one year. set fifty- corn mixed with it; and it fetches
seven acres. The superiority of a higher price three pence per
his crop, both in quantity and qua- bushel. The expense of dibbling
lity, was so great that it induced an acre is 10s.
him the following year to set three
hundred acres, and he has continu-
ed in the practice of setting ever
since. This noble experiment was
the means of introducing the prac-C. Miller sowed some grains of the
tice in the vicinity, and to a con-
siderable extent. Though the set
crops appear very thin during au-
tumn and winter, the plants tiller and
spread prodigiously in the spring.
The ears and the grain are larger,
and specifically heavier per bushel
than other wheat.
The lands on which this method
is most properous are, either after
clover stubble, or on which trefoil
and grass seed were sown the spring
before last. These grounds, after
the usual manuring, are once turn-
ed over by the plough in an ex-
tended flag or turf, ten inches
wide; along which a man, who is
called a dibbler, with two setting
irons, somewhat bigger than ram-
rods, but considerably bigger at
the lower end, and pointed at the
extremity, steps backward along
the turf, and makes the holes, about
four inches asunder each way, and
an inch deep. Into these holes
the droppers drop two grains, which
is quite sufficient. Thus three
pecks of grain is enough for an
acre. The regularity of its rising
gives opportunity for weeding or
hard-hoeing.
This method is advantageous
when seed corn is dear. Sir Thomas
common red wheat; and on the
eighth of August a single plant was
taken up and separated into eigh-
teen parts, and each part planted
separately. These plants having
pushed out several side shoots, by
about the middle of September,
some of them were taken up and
divided, and the rest of them be-
tween that time and the middle of
October. This second division
produced sixty-seven plants. These
plants remained through the win-
ter, and another division of them,
made between the middle of March
and the middle of April, produced
five hundred plants. They were
divided no further, but permitted
to remain. The plants were in
general stronger than any wheat in
the fields. Some of them pro-
duced upwards of one hundred ears
from a single root. Many of the
ears measured seven inches in
length, and contained between sixty
and seventy grains.
The whole number of ears,
which, by this process, were pro-
duced from one grain of wheat,
was 21,109; which yielded three
pecks and three quarters of clear
corn, the weight of which was 47
lb. 7 oz.: And from a calculation
WHE
499
WHE
made by counting the number of
grains in an ounce, the whole num-
ber of grains was about 576,840."
Encyclopedia.
Though this method is curious,
it is attended with so much work,
that few or none will be disposed
to follow Mr. Miller's example..
pounds a bushel. One bushel,
ground and boulted, gave forty-six
pounds and an half of flour. Mr.
Hardy thinks, that spring wheat
should be sowed in the month of
March, if the frost will permit.
Massachusetts Agricultural Reposi-
tory, Vol. III. p. 31.
Mr. J. Lowell gives the follow-
ing account of a trial of the same
kind of wheat.
"I had but one small piece of
ground in a proper state to receive
wheat. It measured one third of
an acre. The soil was very thin
over a bed of gravel, extremely
subject to drought, and incapable,
as I thought, of bearing a large
crop of any sort. Potatoes had
been cultivated on it for two years
preceding. It had been twice
ploughed the fall before, after the
potatoes were dug. In the spring,
four horse cart loads of horse dung
were spread upon it and ploughed
in. On the seventh day of April,
I sowed upon it three quarters of a
bushel of Mr. Hardy's wheat. This
wheat was of small size, and rather
shrivelled. It is said to be the
same known and cultivated as Lon-
donderry wheat.
For about thirty years immedi-
ately preceding the year 1813, few
attempts were made to raise wheat
in parts adjacent to the sea coast
in Massachusetts; and a belief
generally prevailed, that it could
not be made to thrive there, owing
to peculiarity of climate or some
other inexplicable cause. Since
that time, however, it has been
considerably cultivated. We shall
add to this article some abridged
statements of some experiments,
which led to the more general in- |
troduction of that kind of culture.
Mr. Dudley Hardy sowed, on
three quarters and an half quarter
of an acre of land, in Brighton, near
Boston, twenty-eight quarts of
spring wheat originally from Lon-
donderry. The land the preced-
ing year had been planted with In-
dian corn.
It was ploughed in the
fall; and in the month of March,
before the frost was all out of the
ground, was ploughed over again
two or three times, and then har-
rowed with an iron tooth harrow.
The grain was prepared by steep-
ing it in ley made of ashes twenty-
four hours, and on the 7th of April
sowed, and harrowed in with the The same publication, pages
same harrow. "After this," says 217, 218, contains the experiments
Mr. Hardy, "I bruised the ground of Hon. J. Quincy, and Hou. P. C.
smooth with a brush harrow." Brooks, which, though somewhat
The twenty-eight quarts produced less successful than the preceding,
eighteen bushels, weighing sixty | (Mr. Quincy having raised fifteen,
|
"The crop looked extremely
well; none of it was blighted; and
on the second of August it was
reaped. It weighed from fifty-six
to fifty-eight pounds the bushel."-
Massachusetts Agricultural Reposi-
tory, Vol. III. p. 216.
f
500
WHE
WHE
and Mr. Brooks fourteen bushels
to the acre) yet as the grain was
of good quality, and free from blast
or smut, establish the fact that the
climate of Massachusetts is not un-
favourable to the cultivation of
wheat.
Bezaleel Taft, Jun. Esq. of Ux-
bridge, likewise states in substance,
that his father, about fifteen years
since, procured a bushel of spring
wheat from Barry, on the Qnion
river, in the state of Vermont. The
produce of this was fifteen bushels.
He continued to procure his seed
from that quarter for several years,
but at length sowed the seed of his
own growth prepared by washing
it clean, stirring it well in two or
three changes of water. After
washing it was soaked about twelve
hours in a weak ley; and after
turning off the ley, about two quarts
of slacked lime was stirred into a
bushel of wheat.
The ground selected for the cul-
tivation of wheat was such as would
be most sure to produce a good
crop of Indian corn, and the wheat
was sowed as early in the spring as
the soil could be stirred and remain
light.
Five pecks of seed were sowed
to an acre, and the crops have been
from twelve to twenty-two bushels;
and about sixteen upon an average
to an acre.
This communication was dated
the 19th November, 1814, and the
writer says, "For the last three,
years, I believe this town has pro-
duced annually about a thousand
bushels, and the last season we had
at least four times as many bushels
of wheat as of rye from the same!
numbers of acres, in the same
state."
an ac-
The writer considers wheat as
more favourable to a future crop
of grass than rye or oats, as it
shades the grass less; and when
the crop is removed, it is not so
apt to be scorched, having been
more accustomed to the rays of the
sun. In that quarter of the coun-
try, wheat is invariably washed be-
fore it is sent to the mill, not to
free it from smut or mildew, but
from dust which adheres to it in
consequence of the sandy nature
of the soil. He
He says, that "
tive man will wash ten bushels in
two or three hours. Care ought
to be taken not to have it remain
longer than necessary in the water.
We usually dry it on blankets or
sheets in the sun. Care should
likewise be taken not to have it
get too dry, as the flour in that
case is not so nice. One day's sun
is sufficient to dry it in the summer,
and two in the fall. If suffered to
become too dry, the hull or bran
is brittle, and cuts to pieces in
grinding, so as to mix with the
flour. When only dried sufficient
to prevent its clogging in the mill,
the flour separates much better
from the bran, and is far preferable
for use," Massachusetts Agricul-
tural Repository, Vol. III. pp. 218,
219, 220.
Mr. John Jenks gives a state-
ment of his experiment relating to
the same subject. His ground was
two acres, and seed four bushels.
A part of this seed was soaked in
weak ley, and part in sea water,
and the parcels kept separate.
Both were soaked eight hours, the
1
WHE
501
WHE
water drained off, the wheat spread | two bushels to the acre.-Agricul
on a tight floor, lime sprinkled on tural Repository, Vol. III. p. 271.
it and raked over, until it was all In 1816 J. Lowell, Esq. observes,
covered with the lime and dry, and that "I selected a piece of land,
appeared all over as white as measuring nearly three quarters of
rice. There was no discernible an acre; its quality is but indifferent,
difference in
in the
the growth of a light thin soil on a gravelly base.
the grain soaked in sea water, It had been leased to different te-
and that soaked in ley. One nants for six years, and was very
peck of his seed was soaked in much exhausted, having been con-
weak ley only an hour, and then stantly in tillage, and never sur-
limed and sowed by itself upon a charged with manure.
quarter of an acre adjoining the
land already sown, part of the two
acres. This was much blighted,
and produced little in comparison
with the other part of the two acres.
The produce of an acre and three
quarters, which was sowed with the
wheat longest soaked was forty-four
bushels, weighing sixty-two pounds
the bushel when first sowed. The
land on which this grew was a good,
dark rich mould, and herds'-grass
and clover was sowed with the
wheat. The grass was well grown,
and covered the ground when the
wheat was reaped, and the writer
supposes that if no grass had been
sown, the crop of wheat might have
been better.-Agricultural Reposi
tory, Vol. III. p. 221.
"I sowed only one bushel of
wheat, at least one half less than I
should have sown; it was steeped
in brine for three days, limed, and
sown with one bushel of plaster of
Paris. The crop was sixteen bush-
els of very fair, full and heavy
wheat; that is, about twenty-two
bushels to the acre."-Agricultural
Repository, Vol. IV. 272.
Mr. Justin Ely writes to the Presi-
dent of the Massachusetts Agricul-
tural Society as follows:-
"The largest crop of winter
wheat was raised in Springfield last
summer (1816) that is known ever
to have been raised in this vicinity,
and perhaps larger than was ever
before raised in New-England.
"Four acres of land, one of the
house-lots in Springfield-Street, be-
longing to the distillery company,
three years ago last spring were
English mowing. It was manured
and ploughed up and planted with
Indian corn, and dung put in the
In the spring of 1814, Gorham
Parsons, Esq. sowed four acres and
thirty-two rods with four bushels;
ploughed in eight loads of manure
to the acre, and laid it down with
herds'-grass, red-top, and red clo-
ver. It produced eighty-four bush-hills.
els and an half of wheat, besides a
good crop of grass, which was
mowed in September. Mr. Par-
sons thinks, that his crop would
have been better had double the
quantity of wheat been sown, or
The crop was abundant.
The next spring it was covered
with very rich manure from the
distillery, and hemp seed sowed
thereon.
thereon. The crop was large and
heavy. The land was then plough-
ed twice and sowed with the bald
502
WHE
WHE
wheat, one bushel and three quarts
to the acre. The produce was
two hundred bushels of good, clean,
heavy wheat, from the four acres.
"About half an acre of the hemp
was not pulled with the other hemp,
but was suffered to stand till the
hemp seed was ripe, whereby the
sowing of the wheat, on that part,
was delayed too late in the season,
which diminished the crop of the
wheat on that part, six or eight
bushels, as supposed.
time before the setting in of winter.
In the spring of 1819, as soon as
practicable, (after spreading on six
load of fermented manure) it was
again cross-ploughed-26th April
sowed on the furrows two bushels
of what is known by the name of
the Gilman wheat, (which I pro-
cured of the Hon. P. C. Brooks of
Boston) on one acre and twenty
square rods, and cross-harrowed the
same, following the harrow at the
same time with the clover seed,
"It is the opinion of many peo- which in turn was cross-harrowed
ple, that the unprecedented cold in. The wheat before sowing was
and draught of the last summer washed in water until perfectly
checked and retarded vegetation so clean, then immersed in a liquor,
far as to prevent the destruction of or ley, made in the proportion of
the crop by blasts and other causes, four pints of water to every pound
and that if the last summer had of wood ashes, then add one pound
been as warm and wet as usual, of unslacked lime to every bushel
the whole crop would have been of seed, as recommended by M. Du
blasted and lodged, so as to have Hamel. When the wheat plant
been wholly ruined."
was out of ground two inches, I
For further experiments relating sowed on a part of the field plas-
to the culture of wheat, see Massa-ter of Paris, at the rate of ten bush-
chusetts Agricultural Repository,
Vol. IV. p. 195. 267. 278. 345.
Vol. V. p. 65. 192. 265. Vol. VI.
p. 239.
Mr. Payson Williams, of Fitch-
burgh, Massachusetts, gives the fol-
lowing account of his method of
raising a crop of spring wheat, be-
ing twenty-eight bushels and thirty
quarts on one acre and an eighth
part of an acre, for which he re-
ceived the Massachusetts Agricul-
tural Society's premium of forty
dollars, October 1819.
The land on which the wheat
was sown, was in 1818 planted with
potatoes, (for one acre of which I
obtained your premium) which, af-
ter harvesting, was ploughed a short
els to the acre, which I never have
been able to discover, has had the
least effect, (I had the like ill suc-
cess in the use of a ton, on various
parts of the farm.) The amount
of the wheat by actual measure,
was twenty-eight bushels and thirty
quarts. It may not be improper
here to state, that on the most close
examination, I could not discover
one kernel of smutty grain in the
whole crop; and had it not been
for the ravages of the grasshopper
in this field (in many parts of which
they cut off one fourth part of the
heads, which were of course lost,)
there would probably have been
thirty-four bushels. I esteem this
kind of wheat a valuable acquisi-
WHE
503
WHE
The
tion to this part of the country. small to fill the hole, or boxes, in
The grain weighing sixty-two the nave,
sixty-two the nave, This is as really detri-
pounds to the bushel, and yielding mental to the going of wheels as
at the mills in this quarter, forty- their being out of round.
five pounds of flour, in quality spokes, in this case, will not be all
equal, I think, to the best Balti- equally inclined to the nave, and
more."-Massachusetts Agricultu- the wheel will have the less
ral Repository, Vol. VI. pp. 32, 3. strength, and will be more liable to
WHEEL, a simple machine, be broken in moving upon an un-
consisting of a round piece of mat- even place.
ter, revolving on an axis. It is one
of the principal mechanic powers.
As the farmer has much occa- |
sion for using wheel carriages,
something ought to be said of wheels
in a work of this kind. And per-
haps the following observations may
be advantageous to those who have
been most destitute of information.
1. The wheels of carriages must
be exactly round. For if the nave
were out of the centre, the wheel
in turning would be affected in the
same manner upon plain ground,
as other wheels are where the
ground is uneven; and the diffi-
culty of the draught is in the same
manner increased. For this rea-
son, wooden wheels, which are de-
signed to go on the roads, should
always be shod with iron; because
those which are not, by wearing
faster in some parts of the rim than
in others, soon lose their circular
form, and become harder to draw,
jolting up and down on the most
level way.
3. The spokes must be so set in
the nave as to incline outwards.
This would be needless and wrong,
if wheels were always to be moved
on a perfect plane; for they would
bear the load perpendicularly. But
as wheels must often go upon un-
even places, and fall into holes and
ruts, and as the wheel that is low-
est bears a greater part of the load
than the other, and sometimes al-
most the whole of it; it is necessary
that the wheel should become
per-
pendicular at the moment of its
sinking in the part under the nave.
Dishing wheels are also less
liable to be overset than perpen-
dicular ones. But this might be
prevented by using a longer axle.
4. The axletree must be at right
angles with the shaft, or tongue, of
a cart or waggon. Otherwise it
will not move straight forwards in
the track, or directly after the team,
but sideways. But the axle should
be so set in the naves, that the
wheels may be gathering forward,
2. The felloes or the rim, must as it is called, that is, that the fore
be at right angles with the naves, parts of the rims may be a little
or hubs, notwithstanding the incli- nearer together than the hinder
nation of the spokes; for other parts. Otherwise the wheels will
wise the wheels will not move re-not so easily keep in the ruts, as
gularly in the ruts, but form a will appear evidently to any one
crooked track upon the ground, that takes notice of their going.
just as it does when the axis is too' And the axle is usually so inserted
504
WHE
WHE
into the naves, that the wheels
gather at the bottom. This evi-
dently gives an advantage to the
axle ; as the wood, in fitting it to
the holes of the naves, is not cut
across the grain on the under side,
it is not so liable to be broken by
the weight of the load. Whether
there be any other advantage in it,
I do not determine. But it is cer-
tain that, in this case, the spokes
in the lower part of the wheel,
which have the whole pressure of
the load, will be the nearer to a per-
pendicular situation, while on level
ground, which seems to be some
advantage. But the lower spokes
ought in no part of a sidling road,
to lean outwards. For this will
put both the axle and the wheel to
a great strain.
same.
5. High wheels are more easily
drawn than low ones. They have
less resistance from friction, sup-
posing the axle to be of the same
size as in low wheels, which ought
to be supposed, the load being the
For a wheel that has dou-
ble the circumference of another,
will make but one turn while the
other makes two; consequently the
first will have but half so much
friction to overcome as the second.
High wheels have also the advan-
tage of low ones in surmounting
obstacles, as every spoke acts as a
lever, in moving the wheel for-
ward, and as a longer spoke re-
moves the power to a greater dis-
tance from the weight. And high
wheels easily pass over holes into
which small ones would sink; and
the impression they make upon soft
ground is not so deep as that which
is made by small ones, as a greater
portion of their rim is always in
contact with the soil.
It is objected, that a cart with
high wheels is more apt to over-
turn. This inconvenience might
be easily removed, by fastening the
lower timbers of the cart to the
under side of the axle, as in some
parts of this country has been prac-
tised for a long time, particularly
in coal carts.
Another objection to high wheels
is, that they make the cattle draw
too high. This may receive the
same answer as the former. Or
they may be made to draw low, by
fixing the traces to arms made for
the purpose, reaching as far below
the axle as any one pleases.
6. The fore and hinder wheels
of a waggon should be of equal
height, in order to render the
draught as easy as possible, as Dr.
Desaguliers proved by experi-
ments.
7. All persons who use the same
roads should place their wheels at
the same distances from each other.
For he who does not observe this
caution, but makes them go two or
three inches wider or narrower,
will find that he must carry a less
load than others do, in proportion
to the strength of his team.
to
Lastly, broader rims than those
which are in common use, would
be more conducive to the goodness
of the roads, if all who drive teams
in the same roads would
agree
be confined to the same breadth.
For the broader the rim, the less
the wheels will sink into the soil;
but the narrower the rim, the
deeper ruts will be made. See
the article Cart.
WHI
505
WHI
WHEEZING, or PURSIVE-
NESS, a distemper in horses, other-
wise called Broken Wind, in which
the horse makes a hissing or whist-time removed into a dry pasture.
ling sound in his throat in breathing,
and has a greater heaving in the
flanks than in common colds.
"The following medine has
been often given with success, pro-
vided the sheep are at the same
This disorder is commonly caus-
ed by surfeiting, violent exercise
when the belly is full, or by being
ridden or driven into the water when
he is hot and sweaty, or from an ob-
stinate cold not well cured.
For the cure of this disorder, Dr.
Braken advises, that the horse
should have good nourishment,
much corn and little hay, and that
every day the water given him be
impregnated with half an ounce of
salt petre, and two drams of sal
ammoniac.' Some say the hay
made of white weed will cure this
distemper.
WHEY, the serous part of milk,
or that which remains fluid when
the curd is taken for cheese.
Whey is an important liquor for
swine. They are extremely fond
of it, and it conduces much to their
growth and fattening. It is parti-
cularly proper for sows that suckle
pigs, as it greatly increases their
milk. But care should be taken
not to overfeed swine with this li-
quor; for it has often happened,
that after drinking plentifully of it,
especially in very hot weather, they
swell up and die.
For a method of making vinegar
from whey, see vinegar.
•
WHITE SCOUR, a disease with
which sheep are often affected, and
is fatal to them in other countries,
though I have not known it to be so
in this.
Take a pint of old verjuice, half
a pound of common or bay salt,
dried well before the fire, pound-
ed, and sifted through a sieve.
Then mix the verjuice with the
salt by degrees; and add half a
pint of common gin, and bottle
it up for use. When any of
your sheep are seized with this
disorder, separate them from the
flock, and give each of them
three large table spoonfuls of the
mixture for a dose, repeating it
two days after, if they are not
better."-Complete Farmer.
WHITE WEED, has a five cor-
nered stalk. The leaves are jag-
ged and embrace the stalk. The
flowers are discous, large and ra-
diated. The ray is white, and the
disk yellow; the seeds have no
down. It flowers in June, and is
perennial in the roots.
When this weed has got posses-
sion of the ground, no good grasses
grow with it; because, perhaps, the
roots bind the soil in such a man-
ner as to cramp other roots. Or,
being a strong feeder, it deprives
other roots of their food.
When it is in its green state,
neither neat cattle nor horses will
eat it. But if it be cut while in
blossom, and well dried for hay, the
cattle will cat it freely in winter,
and live well on it.
The crop
however is always thin and light.
If it is mowed late, or not well cur-
ed and preserved, the hay will be
of very little value.
Dunging the ground is an enemy
64.
506
WIL
WIL
to this weed; and it is said that pas-ber, so are generally planted from
turing wi sheep kills it. But to
conquer it effectually, there can be
no better way than to use the land
in tillage, for hoed crops, several
years in succession.
WILLOW, Salix, called also
sallow and osier, a well known tree,
of which there are many species.
Some willows may be propagat-
ed to great advantage for fire
wood, as they are very rapid in
their growth.
Other kinds have twigs that are
long and tough, and are useful for
hoops, basket work, &c. These
are commonly kept low by cutting;
when this is neglected they grow
into large trees.
A wild shrubby willow, natural
to this country, is common in our
wet lands. This is called white
willow, Salix alba, and in medicine
is a good substitute for the Cortex
peruvianus.
The salix viminalis, the tough-
est kind of willow, has not, that I
know, been yet propagated in this
country. The weeping willow, so
called, has been imported from Eu-
rope: But whether it prospers I
am unable to say.
No more than two sorts of for-
eign willow have been much pro-
pagated in this country, a yellow
and a green sort. The former grows
well, even in a soil that is pretty
dry. The latter flourishes finely
in a wet situation.
Mr. Miller says, "all sorts of wil-
lows may be easily propagated by
cuttings or sets, either in the spring
or autumn, which readily take root.
Those sorts which grow to be large
trees, are cultivated for their tim-
sets which are about seven or eight
feet long; these are sharpened at
their larger end, and thrust into
the ground by the sides of ditches
and banks, where the ground is
moist; in which places they make
a considerable progress, and are a
great improvement to such estates,
because their tops will be fit to lop
every fifth or sixth year. This is
the usual method now practised in
most parts of England, where the
trees are cultivated, as they are
generally intended for present pro-
fit. But if they are designed for
large trees, or are cultivated for
their wood, they should be planted
in a different manner; for those
which are planted from sets of se-
ven or eight feet long, always send
out a number of branches toward
the top, which spread, and form
large heads fit for lopping: Buť
their principal stem never advan-
ces in height; therefore, where re-
gard is paid to that they should be
propagated by short young branch-
es, which should be put almost their
whole length in the ground, leaving
only two, or at most but three buds
out of the ground. And when
these have made one year's shoot
they should be all cut off, ex-
cept one of the strongest and best
situated, which must be trained up
to a stem, and treated in the same
way as timber trees.
If these are
planted with such a design, the rows
should be six feet asunder, and sets
four feet distance in the rows: By
planting them so close they will na-
turally draw each other upward;
and when they are grown so large
as to cover the ground and meet,
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507
they should be gradually thinned,
so as at the last to leave every
other row, and the plants in the
rows, about eight feet asunder. If
they are so treated, the trees will
grow to a large size, and rise with
upright stems to the height of forty
feet or more.
"When they appear near the
joints and tendons, they are gener-
ally caused by strains, or bruises on
the sinews, or the sheath that co-
vers them; which, by being over-
stretched, have some of their fibres
ruptured; whence probably may
ooze out that fluid which is com-
though where these swellings shew
themselves in the interstices of
large muscles, which appear blown
up like bladders, air alone is the
chief fluid; and these may safely
be opened, and treated as a com-
mon wound.
"When these cuttings are plant-monly found with the included air;
ed, it is usual to sharpen those
ends to a point, which are put into
the ground, for the better thrust-
ing of them in; but the best way is
to cut them horizontally, just be-
low the bud or eye, and to make
holes with an iron in the ground
where each cutting is to be plant-
ed, and when they are put in, the
ground should be pressed close
about the cuttings with the heel,
to settle it, and prevent the air from
penetrating to the cuttings.
"The after care must be to keep
them clear from weeds the two first
seasons, by which time they will
have acquired so much strength, as
to overpower and keep down the
weeds: They will also require some
trimming in winter, to take off any
lateral shoots, which, if suffered to
grow, would retard their upright
progress.'
99
WIND GALL, "a flatulent
swelling, which yields to the pres-
sure of the finger, and recovers its
shape on the removal thereof. The
tumour is visible to the eye, and
often seated on both sides of the
back sinew; above the fetlocks, on
the fore legs; but most frequently
on the hind legs; though they are
met with in various parts of the
body, wherever membranes can be
so separated, that a quantity of air
and serositics may be included
within their duplicatures.
"On the first appearance of wind
galls, their cure should be attempt-
ed. by restringents and bandage,
for which purpose let the swelling
be bathed twice a day with vine-
gar, or verjuice alone, or let the
part be fomented with a decoction
of oak bark, pomegranate, and
alum boiled in verjuice, binding
over it, with a roller, a woollen
cloth soaked in the same. Some
for this purpose use red wine lees,
others curriers' shavings wetted
with the same, bracing the part up
with a firm bandage.
"If this method, after a proper
trial, should not be found to suc-
ceed, authors have advised that the
swelling be pierced with an awl, or
opened with a knife; but mild blis-
tering is in general preferred to
these methods; the included fluids.
being thereby drawn off, the im-
pacted air dispersed, and the tu-
mour gradually diminished. A lit-
tle of the blistering ointment should
be laid on every other day for a
week, which brings on a plentiful
discharge, but generally in a few
508
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days is dried up, when the horse
may be put to his usual work, and
the blistering ointment renewed in
that manner once a month or of
tener, as the horse can be spared
from business, till the cure is com-
pleted. This is the only method
to prevent scars, which firing of
course leaves behind, and unless
skilfully executed, too often like-
wise a fulness of the joint, with stiff
ness. The mild blistering oint-
ment, where the sublimate is left
out, is the properest for this pur-
pose."--Bartlet's Farriery, page
276.
WINE, a general name given to
any brisk and cordial liquor drawn
from vegetable bodies, and fer-
mented; but it is the more appro-
priate name of the juice of the
grape.
My general design, will permit
me only to give an abstract of the
making and management of wines,
as practised in France.
The wine presses that are used
in that country are similar to the
screw presses that we use in mak-
ing cider, but of more nice and ex-
quisite workmanship.
“In order to make good wines,
the grapes of the same vine must be
gathered at different times. The
first gathering should be the ripest
clusters, cut close to the fruit, to
avoid the sharpness and austerity
of the stalk, and all rotten and
green grapes should be taken away
from the branches.
"The second gathering is some
time after the first, when all that
are ripened are taken. The third
and last gathering will consist of
the refuse of the two former; but
no rotten grapes should be admit-
ted in either.
"A method of making wine in
the greatest perfection is, strip the
grapes from the stems, before they
go into the vat. Wine thus made
is the mellowest, best coloured,
soundest, and fittest for keeping.
"The wine of black grapes may
be made of almost any colour; and
the French make all their wines,
both white and red, from black
grapes.
"They who make white wine go
into the vineyard in a damp misty or
dewy morning, with a sufficient
number of hands to gather a whole
pressing of grapes in a few hours,
beginning very early that they may
not be belated. They cut off the
best bunches, lay them gently in
hand baskets, in which they carry
them to the panniers, and in the
panniers on gentle beasts to the
press, taking care not to tumble nor
bruise them. The dew increases
the quantity of the wine, but ren-
ders it weaker. When the heat is
not great, the vintagers continue
their work till eleven o'clock, oth-
erwise they leave off at nine be-
cause of a hot sun.
}
"As soon as the grapes arrive
they are thrown into the press, and
the first pressing is given without
delay. The wine that runs from
this pressing is the most delicate of
any, but not the strongest.
"After this first pressing, which
is gentle for fear of discolouring the
liquor, the press is raised, the scat-
tering grapes are laid upon the
cake, and the second pressing is
given. The press is screwed down
with greater force than before ;
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and this second running is but little
inferior to the first, in flavour or co-
lour. It has the advantage in this,
that it has a stronger body, and will
keep a longer time. Sometimes
they mix the wine of the first and
second pressings.
"After the two first pressings,
the sides of the cake of grapes are
cut down perpendicularly, with a
steel spade, so far as they exceed
the breadth of the upper part of
the
press, which is let down upon
the cake. The grapes that are cut
off are laid on the top of the cake,
and the third pressing, commonly
called the first cutting, is given.
The juices of this first cutting are
excellent.
"A fourth pressing, a fifth, &c.
which are called a second and third
cutting, &c. are afterwards given,
the sides of the cake being cut
down and laid up each time, till
the grapes cease to yield any more
juice.
"The liquor of the cuttings be-
comes gradually more red, because
the press becomes more forcible
on the skin of the grapes, particles
from which render the wine red.
"The wines of these different
cuttings (as the latter pressings are
called,) are collected separately,
and afterwards mixed according as
they contain more or less of the
quality that is wanted.
"The pressings for white wine
should be performed as quick as
possible one after another, that the
grapes may not have time to heat,
nor the liquor remain long upon the
murk. Particular attention is paid
to this for the two first runnings,
because they are the finest wine.
"Of the same black grapes, the
black morillons, the pineaus, and
the auvernats, of which white wine
is made in Champaign, red wine is
made in Burgundy.
"As much as the heat of the sun
is avoided by the vintagers who
make white wine, so much it is
sought after and chosen by those
who make red wine. These gather
their grapes when the sun shines
hottest; because its action on the
outside of the berries has more ef-
fect than several days steeping in
the vat, as the grapes then ferment
very speedily. The other cau-
tions in gathering grapes for white
wine are observed here.
"Some express the juice of these
grapes in the open air, in the vine-
yard, or near it, by throwing the
bunches into large tubs, and there
mashing and bruising them to pie-
ces with sticks, or putting children
into the tubs, to tread out the juice.
Others carry them home, observ-
ing not to bruise them by the way,
and put them in a vat, in which
they are trodden and mashed. This
is repeated, in either case, till the
vessel is full; after which the bro-
ken grapes lie in the liquor more or
less time, according to the heat of
the weather, the flavour of the
must, and the degree of colour in-
tended to be given to the wine.
During this time, the whole is
frequently stirred together, the
better to raise a fermentation, and
tinge the liquor with a due degree
of red.
"Some say the grapes should lie
in the liquor forty-eight hours,
while others talk of letting them in-
fuse seven or eight days, or longer.
·
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But the authors of the Maison Rus- | high and delicate flavour. Some,
tique say that the duration of the however, mix a little of it with
infusion of the husks should be pro- their other wines, to strengthen
portioned to the heat of the wea- them, and make them keep the
ther, the quality of the grapes, and better.
the intended colour of the wine.
For the Coulange wine four hours
only are allowed. The wine is apt
to contract a roughness from the
stalks, if it remains too long on
them; and too much fermenting of
the must renders the wine harsh
and coarse, depriving it of its most
volatile parts. Others make it a
rule not to draw off their must till
its head begins to fall; but this is
evidently wrong, because a great
part of the most active spirits of the
liquor is thus evaporated.
66 Indeed, for thicker, heavier
and coarser wines than those of
Burgundy and Orleans, which are
chiefly intended above; such, for
example, as the Bourdeaux claret,
a whole day is frequently allowed
for steeping of the husks, and some-
times more, before the press is re-
curred to.
"When the must has fermented
upon the husks in the tubs or vats,
as long as is thought proper, it is
poured or drawn off, strained, and
put into casks. Afterwards the
murk, that is, the remainder of the
grapes at the bottom of the tub or
vat, is collected together, and put
into the press, and pressed three or
four times, till it is perfectly dry,
the sides being cut down each time,
as in making white wine. The li-
quor thus obtained, especially if
the press be screwed so tight as to
crack the seeds of the grapes, has
a stronger body than the former
running, but not any part of its fine,
"Others, from a spirit of econo-
my, pour as much water as they
think proper upon the murk in the
vat, immediately after the must
has been drawn off. They do it
without delay, lest the murk should
turn sour, as it is apt to do. Then
they stir it about, and leave it upon
the murk, a longer or shorter time,
according to the heat of the wea-
ther, till they find it pretty high-
coloured, and judge that it has in-
corporated all the remaining parti-
cles and spirit of the wine. They
then draw this water off into ano-
ther vessel, and carry the remain-
ing murk to the press, where they
squeeze it till no moisture remains
in it. The liquor thus expressed is
mixed with that which was drawn
off before, and is then barrelled.
This is chiefly intended for com-
mon use, or rather for servants ;
but it will keep no longer than
during the following winter, though
it is brisk and pleasant enough
while it keeps good.
"Another use the French make
of the murk, is, to mend such of
their wines, whether old or new, as
are deficient in colour or strength.
They turn them out of the casks into
the vat immediately after the must
has been drawn off, stir the murk
up so as to mix it thoroughly with
the wine, and let it stand twenty-
four hours if it be new wine, and
twelve hours if it be old. When
they find it has taken a sufficient.
degree of colour, and that it is not
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sweet to the taste, but agreeable to
drink; they draw it off; barrel it
up separately, that they may know
it again, and put the remaining
murk to the press.
"The white unripened grapes,
that were rejected at the former
gatherings, are to hang on the vines
till the latter end of October, or
beginning of November, that they
may be a little bitten by the frost.
They are then gathered, and a wine
is made of them, which is sold quite
warm from the vat, and does well
enough to mix with a coarse red
wine.
"When the murk has undergone
the utmost dint of pressing, it will
be as hard as a stone; but even
then it will yield, when diluted with
water, fermented and distilled, a
spirit for medical and domestic
uses.
"In several parts of Germany,
where the grapes seldom come to
full maturity, the makers of wine
have iron stoves in their wine cel-
lars, and keep a constant fire in
them during the time of their fer-
mentation. This, by heightening
the fermentation, ripens and melio-
rates the wines, and renders them
more palatable. Exposing the
casks to the sun will have the same
effect on wines that are too acid to
ferment sufficiently.
•
"As the wines of the last gather-
ing are backward in fermenting,
the people of Champaign and Bur-
gundy, after their wines have been
drawn off from their first lees, three
weeks after being first put up,
practise rolling them backwards
and forwards. They do this five
or six times a day, for four or five
[ days successively; then two_or
three times a day for three or four
days; afterwards twice a day for four
days; then once a day for about a
week; and afterwards once in four
or five days. If the grapes were
pressed very green, rolling in this
manner is continued, in all, for
about six weeks. But if they were
tolerably ripe, rolling once in four
or five days, for about a month or
six weeks, is found to be sufficient.
This rolling supplies the defect of
the first fermentation.
"New wines will generally fer-
ment of themselves, in a few days
after they have been put into casks.
Those that do not may be helped,
by putting into them a little of the
froth, or yeast, which works from
the others. The finest wines will
work the soonest, and the fermen-
tation will continue for about ten
or twelve days, according to the
sort of wine, and the season of the
year.
"While the wine ferments the
bung hole of the casks must be left
open, or only covered with a thin
linen cloth, to prevent any dirt
from falling in; and this cloth
should be laid hollow, so that the
froth arising from the fermentation
may work off.
"When the fermentation is
abated, which is known by the
froth's ceasing to arise so fast as
before, the bung may be closed
down, after filling up the cask with
liquor to within two inches of the
top, and a vent hole should be
opened and left, to carry off what-
ever may be thrown up by any sub-
sequent fermentation. This filling
up of the cask should be regularly
512
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"The lees of several casks that
have been racked off may be col-
lected together, and when the
thicker part has subsided, a spirit
may be drawn from the thinner.
performed, every two days, for ken to keep the casks full, wines of
about twelve days; for the fer- dissimilar qualities should not be
mentation will continue a conside-mixed.
rable time in some degree: And if
the casks be not kept so full as that
the foulness thrown up by the fer-
mentation may be carried off at the
vent hole, it will fall back again
into the wine and prevent its be-
coming clear. Afterwards it must
be filled to within an inch of the
bung, every fifth or sixth day for a
month: After this, once a fortnight |
for three months.
"Though the fermentation will
be over in a shorter time, yet the
casks must be filled up once a
month, so long as they remain in
the cellar. For as the wine will
insensibly waste in them, it will
grow flat and heavy, if it be not
constantly kept filled up. They
should be filled up with a wine of
the same kind, kept in some small
vessel, or in bottles, for this pur-
pose; and the vent holes must be
stopped when the fermentation is
over.
"The first drawing off from the
lees is done about the middle of
December. The casks should
stand without the least shaking or
other disturbance, till the middle
of February, when it will be right
to draw the liquor off again into
other casks. If the quantity of lees
is then found to be so considerable
as to endanger their contracting a
putrid taint, by remaining too long
mixed with the wine, it may be ad-
visable to draw it off again, after a
proper interval of time: Or some-
times it may be necessary to repeat
the racking many times. But in
racking, though care should be ta-
When wine is to be transport-
ed, and thereby necessarily expos-
ed to a warmer air, brandy is often
added, to check the propensity to a
new fermentation. It is also some-
times done to give strength to the
wine; but the practice is not to be
recommended, unless applied be-
fore the fermentation is completed.
"It is necessary for the preser-
vation of some wines, which are
apt to be on the fret, to fumigate
the casks with burning brimstone.
This resists fermentation. But the
colour of red wines is said to be
destroyed by it. The colour of
wine is frequently artificial. A
deep yellow is made by burnt su-
gar: A deep red, which is not na-
tural to any wine, is almost always
made by red woods, elderberries,
bilberries, &c.
"Turbid wines are fined by a
mixture of the whites and shells of
eggs, powdered alabaster, and isin-
glass. The shells and alabaster
may correct a small degree of aci-
dity. Isinglass alone will fine it in
'a few days.
"If wine is grown very sour, the
best way of correcting it, so as to
preserve the spirit and flavour, is,
adding a quantity of salt of tartar,
sufficient to neutralize the acid;
just before the wine is used.
|
"If it be intended that wine
should not froth, the best time for
WIN
513
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drawing it off, whether into bottles
or casks, is when the weather is
extremely fair and clear, the ba-
rometer high, and the wind nor-
therly; because the air is then
coolest, and the wine least apt to
be upon the fret.
Raisin Wine is a wine made from
raisins steeped in water.
well dried and warmed, together
with eight pounds of Lisbon sugar,
and a little yeast. But some part
of the liquor must be kept out, to
be added from time to time, as the
abatement of the fermentation, that
will come on again, may admit,
without the wine rising out of the
cask. In this state it must con-
tinue for a month, with the bung-
hole open: And then, the whole of
the liquor kept out having been
now put into the vessel, it must be
closely stopped up, so that no air
may enter: And in this state it
must be kept a year, or longer;
then bottled off.
"The wine may be drunk, and
will be very good, at the end of a
"Take thirty gallons of soft wa-
ter, either rain or river water, in
as clear a state as possible. Put
it into a vessel at least one third
bigger than will contain that quan-
tity; and then add to it one hun-
dred weight of Malaga raisins pick-
ed from the stalks. Mix the whole
well together, that the raisins may
not remain in clotted lumps: And
then cover it partly, but not entire-year and a half: But it will be
ly, with a linen cloth; and let it much better, if kept longer, and
stand in a warm place, if the sea- will improve for four or five years.
son be not hot. It will soon fer- When it has a proper age, it will
ment, and must be well stirred equal any of the strong cordial fo-
about, twice in four and twenty reign wines; and may, by the ad-
hours, for twelve or fourteen days.dition of proper substances to fla-
It must then be examined by the vour and colour it, be made to re-
taste, to try if the sweetness be semble them.'
nearly gone off; and if that be "This is the most perfect kind
found so, and the fermentation be of what may be called artificial
greatly abated, which will be per- wine; but others may be made
ceived by the raisins lying quietly cheaper. Expense may be saved
at the bottom, the fluid must be two ways: One is, substituting su-
strained off, and pressed out of the gar for raisins, leaving out four
raisins, first by hand, and after-pounds of raisins for one pound of
wards by a press, if it can be easily
procured. But, instead of a press,
two boards may be used, with the
assistance of a large weight, or
other strong force, which must be
continued as long as any fluid can
be made to drop from the mass.
The fluid being thus separated from
the skins of the raisins, must be
put into a good sound wine cask,
65
29
sugar added. Or the proportion
of sugar and raisins, and a propor-
tion of clean malt spirit added,
when the bung of the cask is clos-
ed up.
•
"Any other kind of large raisins
may be used, instead of the Mala-
ga. The thinner the skins are,
and the sweeter the pulp, the
stronger the wine will be."
514
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until the fermentation has nearly
subsided; then put in the bung;
but not tightly, in order that the
liquor may have some further vent,
and, as soon as the fermentation
ceases, close up the vessel. The
next spring rack off the liquor into
a new clean cask; and in order to
clarify it, Mr. Cooper directs a
mixture of sweet milk, the whites
of eggs and clean sand to be beat
up, and well stirred into the cask."
"To make Birch Wine. After
collecting the sap of the birch, it
is to be made into wine before any
fermentation takes place; a pint
of honey, or a pound of sugar, is
to be added to every gallon of the
sap, the whole to be well stirred
up, and then boiled for about an
hour, with a few cloves and a lit-
tle lemon peel; during which the
scum is to be carefully taken off.
When cool, a few spoonfuls of new
ale or yeast is to be added, to in-
duce a due degree of fermenta
tion; and after this has ceased, or
nearly so, the liquor is to be bot-
tled and put away in a cool place
in the cellar, for use; though no
doubt it becomes improved by age.
"When properly made, the li-
quor becomes so strong that it fre-
quently bursts the bottles unless
they are placed in spring-water.
Stone bottles are said to be the best
for containing the liquor, as they
are stronger than glass."-Far-tles, or into fresh clean casks, and
mer's Assistant.
Mr. Cooper gives the following
directions for making wine of cider,
and other ingredients.
"Take cider of the best running
of the cheese, and of the best qua-
lity, and add to it as much honey
as will make the liquor bear an
egg; strain the liquor through a
cloth as you pour it into the cask;
fill the cask full, with the addition
of two gallons of French brandy to
a barrel; set it away in a cool
place, with the bung-hole open to
ferment; as the fermentation pro-
ceeds, it will throw out considera-
ble froth and filth; keep filling it
frequently with more of the same
kind of liquor, kept for the purpose,
The Farmer's Assistant observes,
that "it is believed that about a
quart of sweet milk to a barrel
well stirred and mixed with the li-
quor as it is poured in, will answer
equally well, and perhaps better.
This operation alone will not only
clarify liquors, but, by repeating it
several times, the highest coloured
wines may be nearly or quite di-
vested of all their colour. After
the liquor has been thus clarified,
let it be drawn off again into bot-
kept in a cool cellar for use. Mr.
Cooper says that his liquor, thus
prepared, has often been taken, by
good judges of wine, for the real
juice of the grape; and has been
pronounced by them superior to
most of the wines in use. Age,
however, is essential in perfecting
this kind of wine, as well as all
others."
WINNOWING, clearing corn
from its chaff by wind.
WINNOWING MACHINES.
The invention of winnowing ma-
chines was first brought from China
to Holland, and was introduced in-
to Scotland more than a century
since, by Andrew Fletcher, of Sal-
ton. Threshing mills have, gene-
'
WIN
515,
WOA
rally, a set of fanners attached to
them. From the inequality of mo-
tion, however, attendant on those
machines, it is thought best in
general to have them separate. A
simple winnowing machine, in-
vented by John James, 3d. is men-
tioned as belonging to the Massa-
chusetts Agricultural Society, and
deposited in their hall at Brighton.
WINTER, one of the four quar-
ters of the year.
According to some, winter be-
gins at the time when the sun's dis-
tance from the zenith of the place
is greatest, and ends at the vernal
equinox. But it is more usually
considered as including December,
January, and February. Notwith-
standing the cold of winter, it is
proved by astronomers, that the
sun is nearer to the earth in win-
ter than in summer. The reason
of the cold is the increased obli-
quity of the rays of the sun, toge-
ther with the increased length of
the nights.
uses. Such of the produce of his
farm as he can spare may be car-
ried to market; which may be more
easily done than at any other sea-
son. See the article Employment.
WINTER GRAIN, see the arti-
cles Wheat and Rye.
WITHE, a twig or shoot of tough
wood, used instead of a rope, to
tie things together, &c.
Young shoots of walnut wood
are proper for withes; those of
birch, and of some kinds of willow,
answer well enough. Withes in
fences will last only two years at
the longest; and some of them are
apt to fail sooner. Those which
are cut in autumn, after the leaves
are fallen, will last considerably
longer than those which are cut in
the spring or summer. If they lie
for a day or two exposed to the
sun, after they are cut, they grow
tougher, and are more easily twist-
ed. Steeping them in salt water
will render them more durable.
WOAD, called by botanists Isa-
Winter is the season when the tis sativa, vel latifolia. The leaves
days are shortest: But the short- of this plant are cut off in their full
ness of the days is little regretted sap, sweated in heaps, and ground
by our farmers, as they have then to a paste, made up into balls and
the most leisure, or are least hur-dried, to be used in dying blue.
ried in their business. For, in this
country, the ground is so continu-
ally frozen in winter, that none of
the operations of tillage can be
performed. The good husband-
man, however, is not idle; his
year's stock of wood is to be
procured, and his stock must
be daily and carefully tended:
Stones which have been piled may
in the easiest manner be removed
on sleds to the places where they
are wanted, for fencing or other
The following description of´
woad, and the manner of cultivat-
ing it, are from Miller's Gardener's
Dictionary.
The common woad, (Isatis Tinc-
toria,) is a biennial plant, with a
fusiform, fibrous root. Stem up-
right, round, smooth, woody at
bottom, branched at top. Root-
leaves ovate lanceolate, on long
foot-stalks, down which they run a
little. Stem-leaves alternatè, quite
entire, embracing, smooth, from
516
WOA
two to three inches long, and
scarcely half an inch in breadth.
These are sometimes very slightly
tooth letted; and a few hairs are
sometimes found both on the stem
and leaves. Flowers small, ter-
minating the stem and branches in
a close raceme. Both corolla and
calyx yellow; petals notched at
the end. Seed vessels on slender
peduncles, hanging down. Chest-
nut-coloured or dark brown and
shining when ripe, of an oblong
elliptic form, near half an inch
long and two lines wide, compress-
ed at top and on the sides into a
sharp edge, swelling like a convex
lens in the middle, with a straight
longitudinal suture on each side,
one celled, two valved, but hardly
opening spontaneously; valves of
spongy substance like cork, and
boat-shaped.
Seed smooth, striated a little,
two lines long, and three quarters
of a line wide, yellow, or brownish
yellow when ripe; it has only a
single membranaceous coat. Em-
bryo curved, yellowish. Cotyle-
dons ovate, fleshy, plano-convex.
Mr. Miller thus describes the
cultivated plant, which however
differs little from the wild one ex-
cept in luxuriance. The lower
leaves are of an oblong oval figure,
and pretty thick consistence, when
growing in a proper soil; they are
narrow at their base, but broad
above, and end in obtuse roundish
points; are entire on their edges,
and of a lucid green. The stalks
rise near four feet high, dividing
into several branches, with arrow-
shaped leaves sitting close; the
ends of the branches are terminated
WOA
by small yellow flowers, in very
close clusters. The pods are shap-
ed like a bird's tongue, half an inch
long, and one eighth of an inch
wide, turning back when ripe. It
flowers in July, and the seeds ripen
the beginning of September.
A fine blue colour is obtained
from woad. It is also the basis of
black and many other colours.
As the goodness of woad consists
in the size and fulness of the leaves,
the only method to obtain this is to
sow the seed upon ground at a
proper season and allow the plants
proper room to grow, as also to
keep them clear from weeds. The
method practised by some of the
most skilful gardeners in the cul-
ture of spinach, would be a great
improvement to this plant, for some
of them have improved the round-
leaved spinach so much by culture,
as to have the leaves more than
six times the size they were for-
merly; and their fatness has been
in the same proportion, upon the
same land, which has been effected
by thinning the plants when young,
and keeping the ground constantly
free from weeds.
A hazel loam, whose parts will
easily separate, is the best soil for
woad. The ground should be
ploughed and laid in narrow high
ridges just before winter ;-it
should be ploughed again in the
spring; a third time in June; and
lastly towards the end of July or
early in August. In the intervals
between each ploughing, it will be
necessary to harrow the soil, so
that all weeds may be destroyed.
Woad is sown in England early
in August, and generally broadcast,
WOA
517
WOL
though the drill-husbandry is the equal lustre to that obtained from
most advantageous. At the end of such an expensive drug. Dam-
two or three weeks, the plants must bourney directs to boil the fresh
be hoed at the distance of at least leaves of woad with diluted bul-
six inches; after which they will lock's blood, or more effectually
require no further attention, ex- with caustic soap-boiler's ley; in
cept a careful weeding in October, this simple manner, a dark green
and particularly in the month of decoction of a bluish shade will
March.
be obtained; and after clarifying
[This useful article abounds in
the Western States, and also in
Pennsylvania, according to the re-
port of an experienced native of
Great Britain, who is settled near
the head of Ohio, in Washington
county, Pennsylvania. It appears
that the farina is much richer than
that in England; and that instead
The proper time for gathering the liquor, it will form a blue pre-
the leaves is determined by their cipitate; which dissolved in oil of
full growth, and the first change of vitriol, and properly diluted, im-
colour at their points; they are cut parts a beautiful colour to woollen
with an edged tool, and collected cloth. Farther, even the leaves,
into baskets by women and chil-in a state of fermentation, with
dren. If the land be good three or pure water on adding a small por-
four successive crops may be taken; tion of caustic alkaline ley, afford
but the two first are the finest. a fine blue sediment, resembling
After the leaves are gathered they the true indigo.
are submitted to the action of mills,
similar to those employed in grind
ing oak bark; and in which they
are reduced to a kind of pulp.
The woad is then laid in small
heaps, which are closely and
smoothly pressed down. As often
as the crust formed on the outside
cracks or breaks it is again closed,
in order to preserve the colouring of two crops, which are obtained
matter. In this state it remains in England, five are yielded in the
for a fortnight; at the expiration United States.]-Massachusetts
of which the heaps are broken up; Agricultural Repository, Vol. III.
the external part is worked into a p. 136-139. See likewise the
mass, and the whole is formed into same work, Vol. IV. p. 289–298.
oval balls, either by the hand or WOLF, a wild beast of the dog
by the means of moulds. The kind.
balls are now exposed to the sun
under shelter; when perfectly dry
they are ready for sale. Such is
the process which woad undergoes Wolves are gregarious, go in
before it becomes fit for dying blue droves, and surprize the nightly
colours. But Mr. Astrue is of traveller with their hideous yelling.
opinion, that if this vegetable were No beast of prey in this country is
cured in the same manner as indi- more formidable; they sometimes
go, it would produce a colour of jattack men.
This animal is very fierce, equal
in size to a large mastiff, and has
much the same appearance.
518
WOO
WOO
New-England, even from its first
settlement, has been much infested
with wolves. And, notwithstand-
ing the bounties that have been
given by government for destroy-
ing them, the settlements bordering
on the wilderness are still subject
to their mischievous incursions; so
that there is little safety for sheep
in these situations. Almost whole
flocks in a night are sometimes de-
stroyed by them. This exposure
to wolves is equal to a heavy tax
upon our frontier plantations.
To secure the sheep from this
enémy, it is necessary that they be
pastured in the open fields by day,
and housed in strong places every
night: And even these precautions
do not always prove effectual.
Some say, that smearing the
heads of sheep with a composition
of tar and gunpowder will prevent
their being attacked by the wolves;
but I cannot certify this from my
own experience.
WOOD, a solid substance, of
which the trunks and limbs of trees,
as well as their roots, consist.
“The wood is all that part of a
tree included between the bark and
the pith."
Dr. Grew has discovered, by the
assistance of the microscope, that
what we call wood, notwithstand-
ing its hardness and solidity, is only
an assemblage of minute pipes, or
hollow fibres, some of which rise
from the root upwards, and are dis-
posed in form of a circle; and the
others, which he calls insertions,
tend horizontally from the surface
to the centre; so that they cross
each other, and are interwoven like
the threads of a weaver's web.
Each year's growth in wood is
marked by circles visible to the
naked eye, by counting of which
circles the age of a tree is known.
WOOD LAND, ground covered
with wood, or trees. They are
mostly designed for fuel and tim-
ber. In felling them, care should
be taken to injure the young growth
as little as possible. Fire wood,
as well as timber, should be felled,
when the sap is down. Otherwise
it will hiss and fry upon the fire,
and not burn freely, although it
should be ever so long dried. To
thicken a forest, or to increase the
number of trees in a wood lot, it
should be well fenced, and no cat-
tle be permitted to be in it. And
something may be done, if needful,
by layers and cuttings.
The practice of the popu-
lous nations of Europe, whose
forests have been cut off centu-
ries ago, and who are compelled
to resort to measures of the strict-
est economy, to supply them-
selves with fuel, ought to have
great weight with us: France, in
an especial manner, ought to be
looked up to for wise lessons on
this subject. Her vast and thickly
settled population, her numerous
manufactures, her poverty in mi-
neral coal, the eminence, which
she has attained in all economical
arts, entitle her to great respect.
It is the practice of the French
people not to cut off their woods
oftener than once in twenty or
twenty-five years, and by law, when
they are cut over, the owner is
obliged to cut the whole smooth,
with the exception of a very few
trees, which the officers of the go-
WOO
519
WOO
vernment had marked to be spared | taken to prevent their being over-
heated, either by obliging them to
feed in the hottest part of hot days
in summer, or by housing them in
too hot, small, and close places, at
any season. They should also be
kept, as much as possible, from
fouling their fleeces, by lying on
their excrements, without litter.
for larger growth-without giving
any opinion, as to the propriety of
the direct interference of the go-
vernment on such a topic, we should
say that the example proves that
in the opinion of the French scien-
tific and practical men, it is expe-
dient, when wood lands are cut,
that they should be cut smooth, in
order that the new growth might
start together, not overshaded by
other trees of larger growth. We
have no favourable opinion of the
utility of cutting down trees in a
scattered manner, as they appear
to fail, and still less of planting
acorns in thinner spots of the forest.
The growth thus produced must
remain forever feeble.
WOOL, the covering of sheep.
Each fleece consists of wool of
several different qualities. The
English and French usually divide
wool into three principal sorts; 1.
that of the neck and back, which
they call mother wool; 2. that of
the tails and legs; 3. that of the
breast and belly. These different
kinds should not be mixed in spin-
ning.
The two best qualities in wool
are length and fineness.
To improve the wool of our
flocks, no lambs should be kept for
breeders, but such as bear the best
wool; and fine woolled rams should
be procured from distant places,
or from foreign countries.
It will also conduce to the im-
provement of the wool, if the sheep
are kept in dry pastures, upon short
and sweet grass in the summer,
and upon the best hay in the win-
ter. Great care should also be
The Spanish wool is preferred
to any other that is produced in
Europe. A writer in that country
says, "There are two kinds of
sheep in Spain, namely, the coarse
woolled sheep, which remain all
their lives in their native country,
and which are housed every night
in winter; and the fine woolled
sheep, which are all their lives in
the open air, which travel at the
end of every summer from the cool
mountains of the northern parts of
Spain, to feed all the winter on
the southern warm plains of Anda-
lusia, Manca, and Estremadura. It
has appeared from very accurate
calculations, that there are not
fewer than five millions of the fine
woolled sheep in Spain. Special
ordinances, privileges, and immu-
nities, are issued for the better pre-
servation and government of the
sheep, which are under the care of
twenty-five thousand men. These
sheep pass the summer in the cool
mountains of Leo, Old Castile, Cu-
ença, and Arragon. The first thing
the shepherd does when the flock
returns from the south to its sum-
mer downs, is, to give the sheep as
much salt as they will eat. Every
owner allows his flock of a thou-
sand sheep twenty-five quintals of
salt, which the flock eat in about
five months. They eat none in
520
WOO
WOO
ca.
The covering with which Provi-
dence, always attentive to the
wants of his creatures, has furnish-
ed most quadrupeds is adapted to
the climate which they inhabit.
In those where a heavy coat would
be an incumbrance we find even
the sheep destitute of its usual
fleece. On the other hand, from
latitudes where the rigours of win-
ter are very severe we import
those furs, which contribute to the
comfort and elegance of our own
attire.
their journey, nor in winter. From and the vicuna of South Ameri-
the territory called the Montana,
at the extremity of Old Castile,
from whence they set out, to Estre-
madura, is one hundred fifty leagues,
which they march in less than forty
days. As soon as April comes, the
sheep express, by various uneasy
motions, a strong desire to return
to their summer habitations. The
sheep of Estremadura, which never
travel, have coarse, long, hairy
wool. The itinerant sheep have
short, silky, white wool; the fine-
ness of which is owing to the ani-
mal's passing its life in the open
air, of equal temperature; for it is The amelioration of flocks of
not colder in Andalusia or Estre-sheep has always been closely con-
madura in winter, than it is in nected with the progress of the arts,
Montana or Molina in summer." and of civilization, for we uniform-
The sheep, by these judicious re-ly find in countries where these
movals, are grazing both in sum- have flourished, a race of sheep,
mer and winter, and are never ex- which yield wool much superior to
posed to extreme heats or colds.that we find all around them.
Next to this management insular
situations in temperate climates
are the best places for the constant
feeding of sheep, where the ex-
tremes of heat and cold are not so
great as on a continent in the same
latitude.
Although we are accustomed to
consider wool as the exclusive pro-
duction of the sheep, and as cha-
racteristic of that species of ani-
mal, yet there are sheep, which are
as destitute of wool as a deer, or a
grey hound.
Sheep of this kind
are found in Tartary Africa, the
East Indies, and the Chinese Em-
pire. There are likewise animals,
which yield a fur in many respects
resembling wool, and which is used
for the same purposes, such as the
goat, the camel, the dromedary,
The particular shape of the fila-
ment is most probably determined
by that of the pore in the skin,
through which it is protruded. In
some families of sheep we observe
the pile perfectly round and even,
like a very nicely drawn wire, and
in others it is uniformly flat and
smooth, like a small bar of finely
polished steel. This difference is
frequently discovered by inspec-
tion alone, but becomes more ob-
vious if one end of the filament be
held fast while the other is rolled
round its own axis between the
fingers. It then reflects the rays of
light, if it be flat in the same way
that the metallic shreds, which we
obtain from gold and silver lace,
do when they are treated in a si
milar manner, and concerning
WOO
521
WOO
whose shape we can have no rea- | quence of the intermixture of blood
sonable doubt.
with sheep of an inferior quality.
Another topic which deserves at- Mr. Lackner says, "the sheep of
tention is a substance intimately England, when transported to Ja-
blended with the pile of the fleece, maica, yield the same kind of 'bur-
which on account of its yellowness ly fleece,' as they did at home,
and consistency is denominated the and if prevented from mingling
yolk. The best breeds of sheep their breed with the native stock
produce this in the greatest abun- their offspring afford a wool exact-
dance. Those parts of the sheeply similar to what they would have
which produce yolk most copiously done in this climate."
furnish the best wool. M. Vau
quelin, who has submitted this yolk
to chemical analysis, declares that
the greater part of it is a soap with
a base of potash, and that the re-
maining portion consists of salt in a
state of combination with other
substances.
The manner in which this yolk
acts upon wool is unknown. The
most plausible conjecture appears
to be that it is a secretion, exuding
from the skin, which by mingling
with the pile renders it soft, plia-
ble and healthy, in the same way
as oil does a thong of leather.
It would be vain to undertake to
point out any particular kind of
wool, which, in all circumstances
might be considered as best, as this
would depend on the kind of manu-
facture contemplated, but whether
the wool be long or short of a coar-
ser or finer pile, it will be good or
bad in proportion to the quantity
of sound and healthy yolk in which
it is produced.
The mode of washing sheep
sometimes practiced where water
is scarce and the shepherd careless
instead of separating from the fleece
all the sand, clay and other dirt with
which it is incumbered, supplies it
with a still larger proportion. They
are too often washed in muddy
pools, or small rivulets of water,
which are rendered turbid by the
process, or driven along dusty roads,
or lodged in sandy or dusty places.
Sheep too are often allowed to car-
ry about them loads of their own
excrement, and thus impeaching
the humanity as well as the clean-
liness of their owners. What are
called the tag locks should be care-
fully cut away, and the sheep should
be kept in clean dry pastures after
having been washed before shear-
ing.
Graziers may increase the length
of their staple by various means.
The management of the breed is
not only the most natural and easy
method, but that also which is most
The breed of the sheep is the usually adopted. Its effects are
basis upon which all improvements more permanent than others which
of the flock must be founded. are sometimes resorted to, but less
Though English and Spanish sheep pure from deleterious influences;
have degenerated, when exported for it is not unfrequently observed,
to other climates it is said that the that the ram communicating to his
deterioration has been the conse-offspring an increased length of
66
522
WOO
WOO
staple, gives to it also a coarser
pile. Feeding the sheep upon the
richer grasses, upon turnips and
oil cake, thus forcing both the car-
case and the fleece, seems to be a
method of increasing the wool free
from contaminating influence, but
requires the animal to be constant-
ly supported, even to the point of
luxurious feeding; and the effects
of the system remain no longer
than it is continued. Another me-
thod is to keep the wool upon the
back of the sheep two whole years;
which requires care, that the ani-
mal be not injured by cold, or by
hunger, while the sheep is growing.
The softness of the pile is an
essential quality of the fleece;
and this depends very much on the
breed of sheep, and the quantity
of yolk, which they constantly af-
ford. Mr. Luccock says, that "The
Spaniard is so thoroughly aware of
the value of this property and the
means to promote it, that he not
only attends with peculiar care to
the breed which travels to the
mountains, but before shearing en-
closes the sheep in sudatories, in
order to saturate and soften the
pile with the yolk." The softest
pile is collected, if the breed be
similar from flocks, which have
been kept in good condition, upon
loamy soils, and into whose fleeces
no particles of absorbent earth
have been admitted. Lime or
chalk, it is said, will injure fleeces
by absorbing or altering the quality
of the yolk.
than prove the softness of the pile.
For this purpose he used to scrape
off the pile from a small part of the
cloth to display the smallness and
regularity of the spinning: since
he has been enabled by machinery
to spin a small even thread with
great facility, the practice is dis-
continued. Cloth is now finished
without that hard, shining surface,
which was given to it a few years
since by hot-pressing, which pre-
vented the softness of the pile from
being felt. By the present mode
of cold pressing, the softness of the
pile becomes immediately percep-
tible to the touch, and is consider-
ed as one of the most distinguish-
ing and essential qualities of a good
cloth. It may be affirmed, that
taking two packs of sorted wool of
the same apparent fineness, one
possessing in an eminent degree
the soft quality, the other of the
hard kind, the former will, with the
same expense to the manufacturer,
make a cloth, the value of which
shall exceed the latter full twenty-
five per cent."
Housing the sheep at night, and
providing for them a shelter during
the day from the rain and sun pre-
serves and improves the wool, and
conduces to the health of the ani-
mal; and in proportion to the re-
gularity of the temperature in which
sheep are kept, and to the regular
supply of nourishment which they
receive, will the hair or fibre of
the wool preserve a regular degree
of fineness.
"Formerly," says an English M. Monge gives the following
writer, "the manufacturer in show-account of that extraordinary pro-
ing his cloth was more anxious to perty in wool, called the felting
exhibit the fineness of the thread quality.
WOO
523
WOR
from each end, I made a tight liga-
the middle of the staple between
each end, and then proceeded to
mill it, by compressing it in my
hand in a solution of soap and warm
water. I continued the operation
until each end of the staple beyond
the thread was felted into a hard
knob, or button, which could not
be separated by the fingers. The
middle of the staple remained un-
felted, the hairs quite distinct from
each other; and it was not in the
least shortened in the process, ei-
"The felting of wool or hair, is
an effect resulting from the exter-ture with a thread. I measured
nal conformation of their fibres,
which appear to be formed either
of small lamina placed over each
other, in a slanting direction from
the root towards the end or point
of each fibre, like the scales of fish
lying one over the other in succes-
sion from the head to the tail; or
of zones placed one upon another,
as in the horns of animals; from
which structure each fibre, if drawn
from its root towards its point, will
pass smoothly through the fingers,
but if it be drawn in a contrary dither in the wet state or when dried.
rection from the point towards the
root, a sensible resistance and tre-
mulous motion will be felt by the
fingers. This peculiar conforma-
tion disposes the fibres to catch hold
of each other; and as they cannot
recede when acted upon by other
bodies, they naturally advance by
a progressive motion from the root
towards the end."-See Ann. de
Chymie, tom. VI. p. 300, &c.
In the middle part of the staple,
between the two threads, the hairs
were kept in the same direction
by being tied, and could not acquire
the retrograde motion, or adhere
by the surfaces catching hold of
each other. The hairs at the end
of the staple being at liberty to
double and move in different di-
rections, were soon felted together
into a smooth and round knob, ‘in
which the ends or points of the
wool were entirely buried.
The hairs of wool, when card-
ed and spun, are laid in every di-
rection, and when they are com- See Hints to Wool Growers,
pressed and agitated, this disposi- Agricultural Repository, Vol. IV.
tion to catch each other, and move page 57. Likewise a paper on
from the point to the root, must in-"British Wool," &c. in the same
evitably bring the whole mass clo- work, vòl. IV. page 145, and Luc-
ser together. This is the case when cock's Essay on Wool.
cloth is fulled or milled, by which!
it is shortened both in length and
breadth. Not being perfectly sa-
tisfied with the account given by
M. Monge, I adopted a very sim-
1
ple experiment to ascertain its
truth. I took a staple of coarse
wool, of considerable length, with
the hairs lying regularly in one di-
rection. At the distance of an inch
WORMS, a well known species
of insects.
Fields and gardens are often in-
fested by worms. The best anti-
dotes are, dressings of sea-manures,
wetting the ground with sea-water.
Soot, lime, and ashes sprinkled on
the ground, oppose their ravages.
The refuse brine of salted meat,
or water in which walnut leaves
524
WOU
WOU
have beeen steeped for two or three
weeks, sprinkled on gardens, will
subdue the worms. The water of
salt springs may be used with great
advantage by those who are near
them. Those who are remote
from them, and from the sea, may
use salt and water, and such other
antidotes as they can most easily
procure.
When worms breed in horses, it
arises from weak digestion, or a
vitiated appetite. To cure a horse
of bots :
of the hips, or other prominent
parts, and across some of the large
muscles, the stitches are apt to
burst on the horse's lying down and
rising up in the stall. In such
cases, the lips should not be brought
close together. One stitch is suffi-
cient for a wound two inches
long; but in large wounds may be
at an inch or more distance; and
if the wound is deep in the mus-
cles, care should be taken to pass
the needles proportionably deep,
otherwise the wound will not unite
properly at the bottom.
"Should the wound bleed much
from an artery divided, the first
step should be to secure it, by pass-
"Take quicksilver two drams; Ve-
nice turpentine half an ounce ;
rub the quicksilver till no glisten-
ing appears; then take an ounce
of aloes, a dram of grated gin-ing a crooked needle underneath,
ger, thirty drops of oil of savin, and tying it up with a waxed thread.
and syrup of buckthorn enough If the artery cannot be got at this
to make the whole into a ball. way, apply a button of lint or tow
"One of these balls may be given to the mouth of the bleeding ves-
every six days, with the usual pre-sel, dipped in a strong solution of
cautions with regard to mercurial
physic: And the following powders
intermediately.
}
"Take powdered tin and Æthiops
mineral, of each an ounce; and
give it every night in a mash, or
in his corn.
"These medicines, or any of the
various preparations of antimony
and mercury, should be continued
several weeks together, in order to
free the animal entirely from these
vermin.”—Bartlet's Farriery.
WOUND, a hurt given by vio-
lence.
"In all fresh wounds made by
cutting instruments, there is no
thing more required than bringing
the lips of the wound into contact
by suture or bandage, provided the
part will allow of it; for on wounds
blue vitriol, styptic water, oil of
vitriol, or hot oil of turpentine,
powdered vitriol, or colcothar, &c.
and remember always to apply it
close to the mouth of the bleeding
vessels, and take care that it is
kept there by proper compress and
bandage, till an eschar is formed
otherwise it will elude your expec-
tations, and frequently alarm you
with fresh bleedings.
་
;
"In a healthy and sound consti-
tution, nature furnishes the best
balsam, and performs herself the
cure, which is so often attributed
to medicine. When it is other-
wise, and the blood is deprived of
its balsamic state, as will appear
from the aspect of the wound, and
its manner of healing, it must be
rectified by proper internal medi-
YEA
525
YEL
cines, before a good foundation for
healing can be laid by any exter-
nal applications.
"The lips of the wound being
brought together by the needle or
bandage, it needs only to be cover-
ed with rags dipped in brandy, or a
pledget of tow spread with the
wound ointment, and the wounded
part kept as much as possible from
motion.
•
dle sized potatoes; and at the same
time, boil, in another vessel, a
handful of hops in a quart of wa-
ter; peel and mash the potatoes
in a marble mortar, pour part of
the hop water while hot upon the
potatoes, mix them well, and pass
them through a sieve; then add the
remainder of the hop-water, and
half a tea cup full of honey, beat all
well, and add a small portion of
leaven to bring on the fermenta-
tion. Put the whole in a stone
jug, and set it by the fire, (in the
winter.) All the utensils must be
scalded every time they are used,
and washed perfectly clean. One
tea cup full of the above potatoe
yeast will answer for two quarts of
flour. In summer the yeast ought
to be made every second day.-
Domestic Encyclopedia.
"Remember to dress all the
wounds of the joints, tendons, and
membranous parts, with terebin
thinate medicines: To which may
be added honey and tincture of
myrrh; and avoid all greasy ap-
plications whatever. Fomentations
and poultices are also generally
here of great use; the former thin
and attenuate the impacted fluids.
greatly promote a free perspiration
of the limb, and facilitate the un- YELLOW WEED, meadow
loading the surcharge of the ves-crow foot, Ranunculus.
sels, by quickening the motion of This weed is known in England
the fluids; while the latter, by re- by the names, king cob, king cup,
laxing the vessels, abate their ten-gold cups, gold knobs, butter cups,
sion, and relieve the obstruction
by promoting digestion."--Bart-
let's Farriery.
Y.
YARD, a measure of three feet.
YARD, a small enclosure for
cattle. See the article Barn Yard.
YEAR, the time the sun takes
to go through the twelve signs of
the zodiac.
YEAST. Dr. Mease recom-
mends yeast made after the follow-
ing recipe, as preferable to any
other kind.
Boil twelve clean washed, mid-
and butter flowers. The flowers,
which appear in June, and are of a
bright yellow colour, give our mow-
ing lands and pastures a very gay
appearance. It is of a very hot
and acrid nature, and is eaten in its
green state by neither neat cattle
nor horses. Therefore, the opinion
of its increasing the yellowness of
butter in summer is groundless.
See the article Weeds. This weed,
when dried, is so good fodder, that
hungry cattle seldom leave any
part of it.
YELLOWS, a disease incident
to horses and neat cattle, more
properly called the jaundice. The
vulgar name of this disease in neat
$26
YEL
YEL
cattle is, the Overflowing of the
Gall. See that article.
with four drams more of aloes,
This may be repeated two or three
times, giving intermediately the
following balls and drink :
Take of Ethiops mineral half an
ounce; millepedes the same
quantity, Castile soap one ounce;
make into a ball, and give one
every day, and wash it down
with a pint of this decoction :
Horses are frequently subject to
this distemper, which is known by
a dusky yellowness of the eyes:
The inside of the mouth and lips,
the tongue and bars of the roof of
the mouth looking also yellow.
The creature is dull, and refuses
all manner of food; the fever is
slow, yet both that and the yellow-Take madder root and turmeric,
of each four ounces; burdock
root sliced, half a pound; Monk's
rhubarb four ounces; liquorice
sliced two ounces: Boil in a
gallon of forge water to three
quarts; strain off and sweeten
with honey.
"Balls of Castile soap and tur-
meric may be given also for this
purpose, to the quantity of three
or four ounces a day, and will in
most recent cases succeed.
ness increase together. The dung
is often hard and dry, of a pale
yellow, or light pale green. His
urine is commonly of a dark dirty
brown colour; and when it has
settled some time on the pave-
ment, it looks red like blood. He
stales with some pain and difficulty,
and if the distemper is not checked,
soon grows delirious and frantic.
The off side of the belly is some-
times hard and distended; and in
old horses, when the liver has been
long diseased, the cure is scarce
practicable, and ends fatally with
a wasting diarrhoea: But when the
distemper is recent, and in young
horses, there is no fear of a reco-till the yellowness is entirely re-
very, if the following directions moved. Should the distemper
are observed.
prove obstinate, and not submit to
this treatment, you must try more
potent remedies, viz. mercurial
physic, repeated two or three times
at proper intervals; and then the
following balls:
First of all bleed plentifully, and
give the laxative clyster, as hor-
ses are apt to be very costive in
this distemper; and the next day
give him this purge:
Take of indian rhubarb powdered,
one ounce and a half; saffron
two drams, succotrine aloes six
drams, syrup of buckthorn a
sufficient quantity.
"If the rhubarb should be found
too expensive, emit it, and add the
same quantity of cream of tartar,
and half an ounce of Castile soap,
"By these means the distemper
generally abates in a week, which
may be discovered by an alteration
in the horse's eyes and mouth; but
the medicines must be continued
Take salt of tartar two ounces, cin-
nabar of antimony four ounces,
live millepedes and filings of
steel, of each four ounces, Cas-
tile or Venice soap half a pound:
Make into balls of the size of
pullets' eggs, and give one night
and morning, with a pint of the
above drink.
YOA
527
YOA
"It will be proper, on his reco-instrument, with which oxen are
very, to give him two or three coupled together by their necks,
mild purges, and, if a full fat horse, and by which they draw.
to put in a rowel."—Bartlet's Far-
riery.
YEOMAN, the addition of the
first or highest degree among the
plebeians of England. The yeo-
men are properly freeholders, who
cultivate their own lands.
YEST, or YEAST, or BARM,
a head or scum rising upon beer,
or ale, while it is working or fer-
menting in the vat.
It is used as a leaven or ferment
by the bakers, serving to swell or
puff up their dough, which renders
the bread lighter, softer, and more
wholesome, as well as more pala-
table. But when there is too much
yest in bread, it gives it a bad
taste.
YEW TREE, the name of a
tree, well known and common in
England. Mr. Miller says, it grows
naturally also in North America.
Yew trees may be easily propa-
gated by sowing the seeds in beds,
and removing the young plants into
nurseries, as many other trees are
managed. It is an evergreen,
and a tonsile tree, that may be ea-
sily cut and pruned into any form
that is desired. The trees grow
slowly, but sometimes come to be
large trees; and their timber is
highly valued for various uses.
YOAK, or YOKE, a wooden
The parts of a yoke are the cross
tree, which should be made of
white maple, the bows, and the
staple and ring.
The cross tree should be of a
crooked form, that the oxen may
draw partly by the bows; for if it
were straight the bows would not
press their shoulders at all.
If one of the oxen be stronger
than the other, as it commonly
happens, the staple should not be
inserted in the centre, but a little
nearer to the bow of the stronger
OX.
Short yokes are best for the ease
of drawing: But if the oxen learn
to crowd, or to draw from each
other, they should be put to work
in a long yoke till they are cured
of such ill habits.
#
The bows should be made of the
toughest of wood, and that which
is very strong and stiff when sea-
soned, such as hickory or white.
oak, and be well fitted to their
necks. And a bow should be large,
about an inch and a half in diame-
ter for large oxen, not only for
strength, but because it will be ea-
sier to the ox.
The principal use of the ring is,
to receive the end of the tongue of
a cart or sled. This gives the oxen
command of the carriage.
THE END.
INDEX.
A.
Page
Page
Page
Cattle
67 Drought
115
AGRICULTURE
Chaff
73 Dung
117
1
Change of Crops
73 Dunghills
122
Agricultural Societies
2
Change of Seeds
75
Dutch Hoe
123
Air
3
Charcoal
78
Dyke
123
Anticor
4
Charlock
78
Ants
6 Cheese
79
E.
Apples
7
Chick Weed
83
Apple Tree
3
Churn
83 Earth
124
Ashes
9 Cider
84 Effluvia
125
Asparagus
10
Clay
86 Elder
125
Ахе
12
Clay-Soil
86 Elfshot
125
Clearing of Land
88 Elm
125
B.
Climate
90 Employment
125
Clog
90
Enclosure
126
Barley
Barn
13
Clover
90 Ewes
126
16 Cole Seed
94 Experience
126
Barn Yard
17 Composition for Trees 95 Experiments
127
Beans
19 Composts
97
Beer
20 Corn-Sheller
99
F.
Bees
Beet
25 Cotton
39 Cow
99
100 Faggot
128
Bird Grass
44 Cow House
101 Fall
128
Blasting of Stones
44
Cradle
102 Fallowing
129
Blood
44 Cream
102 False Quarter
131
Bog
44 Cucumber
་
103 Farcy
132
Botts
45 Currant
104 Farm
133
Browse
45 Custom
105 Farmer
133
Buck Wheat
46 Cuttings
105 Fence
134
Bull
46 Cyon
105 Fermentation
135
Burning the Soil
47
Fern
136
Burnet
48
D.
Fish
187
Burnt Clay
48
Flail
138
Bushes
48 Dairy
106 Flax
138
Butter
49 Dairy-Room
Darnel
106 Flaxbrake
146
108 Flooding
146
C.
Dibble
108 Flour
147
Ditch
108 Foal
148
Cabbage
52
Ditching
108
Fodder
149
Calf
54 Divisions of a Farm 109
Foddering
150
Canker
56 Door Dung
109
Fog
153
Canker-Worm
58 Drain
110 Folding of Land
153
Carrot
Cart
Caterpillar
62 Dray
65 Dressing
66 Drill Husbandry
113 Forest
114 Foundering
113
Food of Plants
154
154
160
6.7
530
INDEX.
Freezing
Fruit Trees
Furrow
161 Inoculating
Page
161 Indian Corn
Page
Page
215 Mould
275
Furrowing
164 budding
164 Insect
Interval
or}
Mould Board
275
227
Mow
275
228
Mowing
£76
236
Mowing Ground
277
G.
Mud
280
K.
Mulberry
282
Garden
164
Mulch
282
Gardening
165 Kale
236
Murrain
282
Garget
166 Kalendar
236
Gigs
166
Kali
238
N.
Glanders
166
Kalmia
238
Goose
167
Kid
238 Nave
283
Grafting
168
Kiln
238 Navel Gall
283
Grain
169
Kitchen Garden
238
Nettle
283
Granary
169
New Husbandry
284
Grass
169
L.
Nursery
290
Gravel
176
Nut Tree
291
Grease
176 Lambs
239 Nympha
292
Green-Dressing
177 Lampas
240
Greens
178 Land
240
0.
Green Scouring
178 Larch
240
Gripes
178 Layers
241 Oak
293
Grove
178
Leaves
241 Oats
296
Guinea Corn
180 Lees
242 Onion
298
Lime
243
Orchard
301
H.
Limestone
245 Ore Weed
304
Loam
246 Overflowing of the
Harrow
180
Locust Tree
247
Gall
}
307
Harrowing
182
Out-Houses
307
Harvest
184
M.
Ox
307
Hatchel
186
Oyster Shells
309
Hay
187 Madder
248
Hay-Hook
187
Malanders
249
P.
Hay-making
187
Malt
249
Hedges
191
Malt Dust
250 Pale
309
Hemp
193
Mangel Wurtzel
250 Pan
309
Herds'-Grass
196 Manure
250
Panax
311
Hide Bound
196
Maple
262 Paring
312
Hoe
Hoeing
}
197 Mare
263 Parsnip
312
198 Marking of Cattle
263 Pasture
314
Hogsty
200 Marle
264 Peach Tree
316
Hop
201
Marsh
266
Pear Tree
318.
Horn Distemper
204
Mattock
267 Pease
320
Horse
204 Meadow
267 Peat
323
Horse-boe
208
Measles
268 Perry
325
Horse-shoeing
209 - Meat
268 Perspiration of
Hurdle
209
Melon
269
Plants
}
325
Hurts
I.
210 Metheglin
Mice
Mildew
269 Plants
326
269 Plaster of Paris
327
270 Plough
330
Milk
272 Ploughing
332
Improvement
Inarching
Increase
210 Millet
273 Ploughing Hori-
213 Moles
274
zontally
}
340
213 Moss
274
Plum Tree
341
INDEX.
531
Poll Evil
Pond
Potatoe
Page
341 Slough
343 Sluice
344 Smut
Page
Page
391 Tiller
455
1
391. Tilth
455
392
Timber
455
Poultry
352 Snead
399 Timothy Grass
456
Prong Hoe
352 Snow
399
Tobacco
456
Pumpkins
353 Soil
400 Top Dressing
458
Soiling
403 Transplanting
4.59
Q.
Soot
409 Tree
461
Sowing
410
Trowel
461
Quaking Meadow
353
Spade
414
Tumour
461
Quince Tree
353
Spavin
414 Turf
462
Quincunx Order
354
Spaying
415 Turkey
463
Quitch Grass
354
Spelt
415 Turnip
463
Spiky roller
415 Turnip Cabbage
472
R.
Spring
416
Spring Grain
417
V.
Rack
354
Springe
417
Radish
354 Spur
417
Vetch
474
Rain
355
Stable
418 Vine
474
Rats
356 Stack
419 Vinegar
479
Rice
356 Staggers
419 Vives
480
Reed
357 Stallion
421
Ridgling
357
Steamboiler
422
U.
Roller
357 Stercorary
422
Rolling
358 Stock
426 Ulcer
480
Root
360 Stones
430
Urine
482
Rot
362 Stooking or Shocking 431
Rotation of Crops
362 - Stover
432
W.
Rowel
364 Strain
432
Runnet
365 Strangles
i
433 Waggon
482
Rush
366 Strawberry
434
Wall
483
Rust
366 Straw Cutter
435
Warbles
483
Ruta Baga
468
String Halt
435 Water
483
Rye
366
Stubble
436
Water Furrowing
485
Rye Grass
368
Stump
437
Watering
486
Sty
438
Weather
486
S.
Sucker
Sunflower
438 Wedge
438 Weeding
488
488
Sainfoin
368
Surfeit
439 Weeds
489
Salt
369 Swamp
440
Weevil
493
Salting of Meat
371 Sward
440 Weight of Cattle
494
Sand
372 Swarth
442
Wheat
494
Sandy Soil
374 Swine
442
Wheel
503
Scratches
375
Wheezing in Horses 505
Sea-Water
376
T.
Whey
505
Seeds
377
White Scour
505
Seeding
379 Tail Sickness
449
White Weed
505
Seedling
379 Team
450 Willow
506
Semination
379 Teasel
451 Windgall
507
Shade
379 Tether
451 Wine
508
Shed
380
Thatch
451
Winnowing
514
Sheep
380
Thill Horse
451
Winnowing Machines 514
Shells
389
Thistle
451
Winter
515
Sithe
390 Thrashing
452 Winter Grain
515
Sled
390 Tike
454
Withe
515
Slips
390 Tillage
454 Woad
515
532
INDEX.
Page
Fage
l'age
Wolf
517
Y.
Yellow Weed
525
Wood
518
Yellows
525
Wood Land
518 Yard
525
Yeoman
527
Wool
518 Year
525 Yew Tree
527
Worms
523 Yeast
525 Yoak
527
Wound
7
524
་
- ERRATA.
Page 47, 1st column, 24 from the top, for "farms," read forms.
Page 53, 2d column, line 6 from the bottom, for "latter," read former.
Page 62, 1st column, top line for "these," read there.
Page 171, 1st column, line 15 from the bottom for " but," read best.
Page 214, 2d column, line 14 from the bottom, for "saving," read sowing.
Page 222, 2d column, line 12 from the top, for "changeable," read chargeable.
Page 301, 2d column, line 15 from the top, for " stopping," read sloping.
Page 304, 1st column, line 4 from the bottom, for "tar," read tan.
Page 327, 1st column, line 22 from the top, after "gradually," add increases.
Page 332, 1st column, line 5 from the bottom, for "care," read ease.
Page 388, 2d column, line 12 from the bottom for "ege," read eye.
Page 439, 1st column, line 10 from the bottom, for "thresher," read threshed.
Page 462, 2d column, line 15 from the top, for "sublime," read sublimate.
Page 470, 2d column, line 17 from the top, for "proved," read moved.
Page 471, 1st column, line 28 from the top for "cherished," read checked.

B 459185
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 00699 6378
1