AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. A. B. ALLEN, Editor. NO. VIII. SAXTON & MILES, Publishers, 205 Broadway. Jinestimable vegetable to cultivate each variety on a MANY of the Postmasters throughout the Union separate piece of ground, or to sort them at the do not seem to know that letters on Post-office time of digging, which will be attended with a very business go free. It is only necessary to mail the little additional expense, but will well compensate letter unsealed, and write outside upon it "P. O. them for their trouble. Business," with the name of the Postmaster, and where mailed. For example, if a paper has a wrong direction, or it be refused, or anything of the kind takes place, by following the above directions, we can be informed of the facts without taxing us with postage. Postmasters ought, in all cases, to make themselves acquainted with their privileges. We trust that those unacquainted with the law will excuse this paragraph, as we have frequently had to pay postage on their letters, when they could have gone free. FRENCH MODES OF DRYING PEARS. IN France, pears are dried two ways-one, for family use, by putting them into an oven, without being pared, after the bread is withdrawn, either on bricks, or on raised frames of tin or boards. They are put in two, three, and even four times, according to their size, and to the degree of heat contained in the oven. The only things necessary to be observed, are, to see that the oven is not so hot as to burn the pears, and that they are not left in so long as to become hard. Melting sugary pears, of a medium size, are the best for this purpose; and, DO NOT MIX YOUR POTATOES. when properly prepared, they may be kept in bags, PERHAPS it may not be known to every person in a dry place, for several years. The second mode who raises potatoes to sell, that, in the New York is that used for preparing the fruit sold in boxes, at markets, there is one half difference in the price. the shops; and for this purpose, rather small pears This is not always owing to the superiority of one are considered the best. They must be gathered variety over another, but the fancy or preference before they are quite ripe, and care taken to preof the buyer for his favorite kind. Some are serve their stems. They are then parboiled in a partial to the pink eyes-some to the kidneys, very little water, peeled, and placed on dishes, with while others prefer the carter, the black, Dikeman's the stems upwards. In this state, a kind of syrup seedlings, blue noses, lady's fingers, &c., all of runs from them, which must be carefully poured which have their excellences, and when brought off, and set aside. They are next placed on raised to market by themselves, will always be sure to frames, and put into an oven, after the bread has find a ready sale; but when mixed, one with the been withdrawn, or heated to a similar degree, and other, many housekeepers will not buy them at all. left there twelve hours; after which they are taken We had many orders last spring for particular kinds out and steeped in syrup, sweetened with sugar, to of seed-potatoes; and, in many instances, had much which there have been added a little cinnamon, trouble in selecting the varieties required; and in mace, and a small quantity of the best brandy. The one or two cases, we were obliged to sort out pears, when taken out of the syrup, are again the kinds wanted, in the hold of a vessel. We placed in the oven, which should not be made quite cannot too earnestly enjoin upon all growers of this so hot as it was the first time. The operations of alternately steeping and drying are repeated three times, and are finished by putting the pears, for the fourth time, into the oven, and leaving them there till they are quite dry; when, if they have been properly treated, they will be of a clear, palebrown, with fine translucent flesh. They are then arranged in boxes, garnished with white paper, and kept in dry places, or offered for sale. They will remain good, in this state, for three years, but are considered best the first year. NEW YORK FARMERS' CLUB. Ar a late meeting of the Farmers' Club of the American Institute, Mr. Meigs read from the Annals of the Royal Horticultural Society of Paris, an extract from the Report of a Committee, relative to the progress of their gardener in Drying Cabbage Leaves, with the view of preserving them, on long voyages, not only as an article of nourishment, but on account of their highly medicinal properties, in the prevention or cure of the scurvy. The leaves were cut into strips about four fingers wide, and placed on hurdles in a stove raised to a temperature of eighty-two degrees to one hundred and five degrees F., where they were kept for four days and as many nights, being turned during the time, only once or twice. They lost in the process of drying about two-thirds of their bulk, and seven-eighths of their weight. When prepared in this way, they harden if put into cold water; but if soaked in warm water in a covered vessel for about one hour, they will resume nearly the same condition as fresh leaves. They are then taken out of the warm water and boiled nearly one hour, when they will be completely cooked. If taken out and seasoned in various ways, there will be no appreciable difference between their odor or taste and those of cabbages freshly gathered. The leaves, when carried to sea, may be packed up in tight boxes, and kept in a dry place for many months. Mammoth Oats and Gooseberries.-Mr. William J. Townsend presented stalks of Scotch Imperial Oats from his father's farm, at Astoria, which measured six feet, two inches and a half in length. The grain he represented to be good, weighing 43 Ibs. to a bushel. Mr. Steele, of Jersey city, presented a branch of the English gooseberry, a foot long, containing 28 perfect berries, some of which measured three and a half inches in circumference. Protection of Crows and other Insectivorous Birds.-Mr. Turrel presented a report of some humorous remarks lately made by the Hon. Mr. Preston, in the Legislature of New Hampshire, on the subject of the useful habits of the common crow (Corvus corone) in destroying insects. Mr. Skinner stated, that, in Alabama, a planter had a pair of crows, with their wings clipped, which very dexterously cleared his garden of a troublesome vermin called craw-fish (land crabs), in seizing them in the act of entering their burrows, and immediately destroying them. Mr. Samuel Allen said that he was much pleased with the crow case in New Hampshire, and that these birds, as well as all others, that devour insects, are most important aids to us in the preservation of our crops, and should be protected rather than destroyed. Insects injurious to Vegetation. Mr. Van Wyck said that we ought to make ourselves thoroughly acquainted with the habits of insects, in order to carry on our agricultural operations with success ; that their numbers are annually increasing, and many new species have appeared hitherto unknown to naturalists; and that accurate descriptions of them should be obtained and published. Mr. J. C. Parsons presented specimens of the ordinary squash-bug (Coreus ordinatus, of Say), which he collected in Mr. Wakeman's garden. These well-known enemies to the squash-vine, issue from their winter retreats soon after the plant has put forth a few rough leaves, under which they take shelter, pair, and shortly afterwards begin to lay their eggs. During the day time, at this period, by carefully examining the vines, close to the ground, we find these insects, apparently lying there to escape observation; but at night, they crawl on the under sides of the leaves, where they deposit their eggs in little patches, securely fastening them with a species of gum or glue. The eggs, which are round and flattened on two sides, are soon hatched, and the young bugs are somewhat shorter and more rounded in proportion, than the adult insects, and are of a pale-ash color. As they increase in age and size, after casting their skins several times, they assume a more oval form, and their under sides gradually become of a dull ochreous yellow. At first they subsist together in small families, by puncturing the under sides of the leaves upon which they were hatched, and which, in consequence of the quantity of sap imbibed by them, soon begin to wither, and finally become wrinkled, dry, and brown. As the eggs are laid at successive periods, the young broods will consequently be found in various stages of growth throughout the summer. They do not attain their full size, however, and appear perfectly furnished with wings and wingcovers, before the months of September and October, soon after which they desert the vines and conceal themselves in the crevices of walls, the bark of trees, or other places of security, where they pass the winter in a torpid state, and on the return of warm weather, at the putting forth of the squash leaves, they issue from their retreats, pair, lay their eggs, and continue their work of destruction. Gas The best preventive of the ravages of these insects, is to visit the vines daily at every period of their growth, and kill them before they begin to lay their eggs; but should any escape observation at this time, their eggs may easily be found and destroyed. A solution of green cow-dung and water, or similar preparations from the barn-yard, have been applied to the vines with success. water, obtained at the gas-works for lighting cities, diluted in six times the quantity of pure water, will also drive them away almost instantaneously. Ants, snails, slugs, &c., will not remain where it has been used. It may be objected that the smell is disagreeabie, but this passes off quickly, while the effect in the ground remains, which may be proved by turning up the soil several days afterwards, when the smell will be nearly as strong as at first. Experiments with gas-water, as well as with coal-tar, should be made with precaution. SELF-ACTING MACHINE FOR RAISING WATER. 235 The experimental machine we examined, was made as the piece A, of cast-iron pipe, 2 inches in the bore, and about 2 feet long, having two flanch nozzles cast on it, B and C. One end of the pipe was closed, and the other open, with a flanch to connect it to about 35 feet of 2inch cast or wrought iron pipe, E. The other end of the pipe, E, led to an open water cask, F, placed 7 feet above the water-ram, and this 236 FARM AND VILLA OF MR. KING. THE ALPACA.NO. 3.-FLAX MACHINE. The pipe, E, it is found, must be 30 or 40 feet long, or the valve, G, will not work; almost all the water ran out of it, when the water cask was put directly over the ram. The valve made 50 strokes in a minute. It is not necessary to have the pipe E a perfectly straight one, but it may be bent to suit the inequalities of the ground, and may even be bent at right angles, as shown in the sketch at K. FARM AND VILLA OF MR. KING. The buildings at High-Wood are ample and conThe house is of stone, and of chaste venient architecture. Mr. King has one of the best private libraries in our country. It contains nearly 4,000 volumes, and was principally a gift of a relativethe late Gov. Gore, of Massachusetts-to whom it formerly belonged-and whose name Mr. K, bears. THE ALPACA.-No. 3. when fully grown, is about 37 inches high to the Description, Habits, Food, &c.-The Alpaca, shoulders, and 59 inches to the top of the head. It Possesses many properties in common with the natural family, to the same country, possessing a Ilama-belongs, as we have shown, to the same similar disposition and manners, and bears much resemblance in figure, but is smaller in stature. Its legs are shorter, with larger muscles, and its wool finer, and more abundant; but it is less robust in its habit, being able to carry a continuous burden of only 50 to 70 pounds. HIGH-WOOD, the residence of James Gore King, Esq., is situated on the west bank of the Hudson, about two miles above Hoboken. The estate contains 100 acres, nearly half of which is under In a wild state, it is never known to associate tillage. The residue is in ornamental grounds, with any other animal, but keeps together in herds more wild and beautiful than one can imagine, who of 100 or more in number, feeding, through choice, has not visited them. The cliffs of dark trap-rock on a sort of rushy grass or reed, called ycho, which crowned with a great variety of forest shrubs, and grows in abundance on its native hills, where, it is trees, laved by the waters of the river, rise per- said, these animals are never known to drink, so pendicularly 180 feet above the Hudson. The house stands still 20 feet higher, and commands the finest possible views of the city of New York, the bay, and the adjacent country. long as a sufficiency of green, succulent herbage, can be obtained. They resort to a particular spot to drop their dung, which greatly resembles that of the goat, the sheep, or of the giraffe, and which Notwithstanding the coldness of the soil, and its often proves fatal to them, from betraying their thick studding of rocks, High-Wood was originally haunts. When domesticated, they possess the covered with a great variety of trees. Whatever same gregarious habits, and are strongly attached of these were necessary to give beauty to the place, to their birth-place, to which they return at night, Mr. King has retained, and with much good taste evincing little or no inclination to stray away, or to planted out others indigenous and exotic, thus form- mix with other flocks. They are gentle, docile, ing one of the best arboretums we know in the and contented in their dispositions, and are as reaUnited States. In addition to these, on many of dily restrained as the common sheep, with which, it the cleared spots, he is cultivating fruit trees exten-is said, they perfectly agree. They adapt themsively. Among these we found at least fifty selves to almost any soil or situation, as we have choice varieties of pears, and other fruits in propor- already shown, provided the heat is not oppressive, tion; besides several hundred peach trees, all of and the air is pure. They will live and thrive on which seemed to be doing well. He is now trying the same sorts of food as eaten by cattle and sheep; the experiment of cultivating the Black Hamburg but the inferior kinds of browse, grass, or hay, and other European grapes in the open air, by plac- with a due proportion of potatoes, or other succuing the glass frames of his hot beds over them, as lent roots, are preferred to rich pasture and farinasoon as they can be dispensed with in the spring, as ceous grains. Too liberal an allowance of rich and coverings for the vegetables. The range of green-stimulating food to an animal extremely abstehouses is extensive, and well filled with fruits and mious, and habituated to live on coarse and light plants. Insects have seldom proved injurious to the herbage, and that in small quantities, cannot be retrees here, in consequence of the birds being strictly garded otherwise than injurious. guarded from destruction and annoyance of every kind. The crows, even, are so tame that they build their nests and rear their young, near the house. They destroy immense numbers of insects. FLAX MACHINE. We can give no additional information to the numerous inquiries addressed us in regard to this machine, other than is to be found on Few would have the hardihood to undertake the page 331 of our last volume. We understood the culture of the table land of High-Wood; but as owner of it to say, when here last fall, that he Mr. King does not spare his means, and is would furnish us with a cut and complete descripgifted with no small share of perseverance, he has tion of it; but as he has not yet done so, we must at length succeeded in subduing his stubborn soil, refer our readers to Mr. George W. Billings, of St. after thorough under-draining, and now makes it Louis, Missouri, who can doubtless inform them all produce large crops of grain, roots, and grass. about it. If the inventors of agricultural impleWe thought the wheat particularly good. The pro-ments cannot see it for their interest to furnish cess of improving his land, and gathering together drawings and descriptions of them for a journal the means of fertilizing it, are well worthy of which has many thousand subscribers, and exerrecord, and when the experiments are complete, we cises no inconsiderable influence in the community, shall endeavor to get the particulars of them for the why then it is their affair, not ours, and we shall benefit of our readers. not hereafter trouble ourselves about their matters. DO THE RACES OF FRUIT TREES WEAR OUT? DO THE RACES OF FRUIT TREES WEAR OUT? 237 we make the following extract, premising that this alone would be conclusive, had we no other data upon which to found our argument. In the May No. of the American Agriculturist, I find the following statement:-" If fruit trees are On the subject of grafting the apple, he says: properly taken care of, they will never run out, "A theory was advanced many years ago in Engany more than animals or man himself." Either I land, and has lately been revived in that country, misunderstand you, or you misunderstand me. You and is gaining ground in America, that the chance certainly do not mean to be understood that a tree of life in a scion is affected by the chance of life in the will live for ever if it be properly taken care of. original seedling, which began the species, that is, My idea is that a tree has a limit as to age, and that when the natural period for the decline of the parent in propagating any particular kind of fruit by in-tree has arrived, the scions taken from it will also grafting or inoculating, you do not renew, you stocks in other respects vigorous. The advocates be found in a declining state, though growing upon merely continue. Am I to understand you as con- of this theory contend, that each particular variety troverting this position? Do you mean to be un derstood as asserting that any particular kind of of apple has its period of vigor and decline, and its fruit, the Newtown pippin, for instance, may be duration cannot be protracted by grafting beyond a kept in existence for ever? My idea is, that certain limit; and what they conceive to be very nature has, in the vegetable as well as the animal remarkable is, that within that natural limit, the kingdom, provided one, and only one way for the grafts partake both of the vigor and decrepitude of renewal of life, and that is by the seed. That by the parent tree or variety. Although the period of ingrafting you merely continue what is already in duration is not known with any precision, it is existence that the tree which you obtain by in-thought to be longer in some varieties than in grafting, is no younger than the tree from which others. It is generally supposed, however, that it that particular variety was originally obtained. never much exceeds two hundred years. It seems This is the idea I intended to convey, and this I that this opinion has chiefly arisen from the fact, understand you to controvert and pronounce "false that many kinds of the most celebrated European doctrine." Your reasons for this conclusion I varieties have long since disappeared from their should be particularly pleased to see. catalogues, and can now no longer be found; while many others, which were much esteemed in their HENRY W. EDWARDS. New Haven, June 4th, 1846. In reply to the above, we would first inquire, Whether it is true that, when a tree or other perennial plant becomes unhealthy from old age, all the offspring previously obtained from it by grafts or cuttings, in all parts of the world, becomes unhealthy too? Or whether such a doctrine is a reasonable inference from known facts? Or is it forced upon us by evidence, although not deducible from mere reason? This appears to have been an important question to a labored advocacy for the last half century, who contend that multiplication by seeds is the only mode of propagation known among plants, and that all other kinds of increase are artificial, and lead to degeneracy. To us, we think it would be difficult to find an hypothesis more at variance with facts, and which cannot otherwise be regarded as entirely destitute of foundation. palmy days of bearing, are fast approaching to extinction, and will soon no longer exist. Although the above hypothesis may seem plausible enough in itself, yet, we cannot but remark, that the want of durability of the varieties in question does not apply to every set of scions; for many sorts of apple, as well as several other kinds of fruit, appear to have been readily propagated by means of successive scions, from the times of our forefathers. For instance, the Newtown pippin, the parent stock of which has been dead for forty years, has been suc cessfully cultivated for at least one hundred years from before that period, and is still to be met with in the highest perfection in the markets, both at home and abroad. Furthermore, experience has shown, that many of the scions of deteriorated varieties have flourished for a time after grafting, and afterwards have appeared to die, not from old age, but from disease. Thus Sharrock, who wrote in 1672, inquired whether the canker in pippins arose not from incongruous grafting; and Miller The first person who advocated this theory was and Knight, of more recent times, each complained Mr. T. A. Knight, late President of the London that pippins became cankered from a similar cause. Horticultural Society. In the latter part of the last Nevertheless, we do not wish to be understood, that century, he found that the orchards of Hereford- the age of a tree is of little moment in the selection shire no longer contained healthy trees, of certain of scions; for, when a tree is evidently on the decline,' varieties of apple, which were said to have flou- an experienced nurseryman would not cull scions rished 50 years before; and, failing in his attempt from it by choice, lest they should prove sickly and to restore health to such varieties, by grafting, as- diseased; neither would he take them from a young sumed that old age had overtaken them, and that tree, before it had arrived at its proper period of they were past renovation. Thence he extended bearing. For every cutting taken from the apple, the theory to all other plants; and since, various and probably from many other trees, will be affected writers, not excepting Sir Humphrey Davy, perhaps by the state of the parent stock. If too young to out of respect to Mr Knight's great name, rather than from any correct examination of the facts for themselves, have blindly adopted his views. Through the kindness of Mr. Browne, we have received in advance of publication, the sheets of his new work on the "Trees of America," from which produce fruit, it will grow with vigor, but will not blossom before it has passed through its successive periods of ripening wood; and, if too old, it will immediately bring forth fruit, but will never make a healthy tree. It may further be stated, that stocks often so much influence the scions engrafted |