the vine, it rolls and eats the leaves, the stems of when the stem has become brown, and the berries the leaves, and of the grapes. This caterpillar, fall at the least touch; the juice is then sweet, says Bosc, is green, with a yellow spot on each sticky, and sugary: the fruit is gathered in fine side of the first ring, and a black head; it causes sunshiny weather, and the bad berries should be much damage in the environs of Paris and else- taken away. where. Robergeot directs for its destruction, in About twelve days before they are ripe, a greatthe butterfly state, to make fires as the night er or less number of bunches are enclosed in bags comes on; the butterfly is attracted to them imme-of hair-cloth; in this way they are kept till hard diately and burned. The fires are repeated fre- frosts, and are protected from the birds. quently, and destroy at the same time the bombyces, the noctuelles, the phalena, and other insects which fly in great numbers into the flames.

The erineum de la vigne. Every body knows this (parasitic) plant, which appears on the inferior surface of the leaves in the form of spots, at first white and afterwards red and irregular; it destroys the leaves; the remedy is to pull off those that are attacked and burn them.

Preservation. Grapes gathered a little while before they are ripe, are kept in square oaken chests lined with lead, and of any required size; they are lifted by iron rings. In the bottom of these is first placed a layer of moss, and afterwards a layer of grapes, without wiping them, at four millimetres (two lines) apart; this is continued till the chest is full. The chests are closed hermetically, to prevent the air and light from peneThe teigne de la vigne. The larva, called vine-trating: when this is finished they are let down worm, lives in the berry, and proceeds, says Bosc, into a well, each attached to a chain, and they are from one to the other by spinning itself a gallery suspended near the water. When grapes are of silk. The damaged berries and galleries must wanted, the chain is drawn up, they are taken out, be taken off and the whole burned. the chest closed again, and again let down near the water. These grapes keep till February if no water enters the chest.

The eumolpe de la vigne, gribouri, or coupebourgeon. This eats the shoots, rolls the leaves, and deposites its eggs which are hatched into worms. The parts attacked must be taken off and burned.

The Sphinx de la vigne. The larva eats the leaves; but it is rare. The remedy is to remove the leaves and burn them.

The attelabes vert et cramoisi. These two insects in the state of larvæ eat the leaves, the leaf stalks, and the stems of the fruit. The injured parts must be gathered and burned. These insects are called also urbère, diableau, bêche, lisette, velours vert, and destraux.

The hanneton. The larva, under the name of white worm, gnaws the roots of the vine and kills it. The earth should be dug to find the worm. It is said that if lettuce is sowed near, the worm will quit the vine to seek the lettuce.

Grapes are kept also by putting the bunches on hurdles spread with wheat straw: they are laid side by side without touching or having been wiped. The hurdles are afterwards set in the sun, if it shines; the bunches are turned, and when the moisture has evaporated, the hurdles are placed in the fruit loft.

H. TOLLARD.

[Since receiving the foregoing translation, we have noticed the following passage in the Horticultural Register of Boston, which refers to some of the practices described at large in this article.]

"The mode of training the vine at Thomery, appears to have originated from the well-known The wasps and drones are also very troublesome; not fruit except at its extremities. That a vine carand singular fact, that an extended vine produces they should be killed by smoking them with a ried beyond the bounds of a limited extent, ever bundle of straw. Bottles of water sweetened with becomes barren at its base. The system of trainhoney are also hung up in which they drowning and pruning, which is there practised, and sidered as the perfection of every mode which has with such signal success, may therefore be conever been devised.

themselves.

Snails and slugs eat the leaves; they should be collected in the morning and after rains, and removed from the vineyard.

Many birds feed on grapes, the thrush, the starling, the loriot, the linnet, &c.; these must be frightened by scare-crows or killed.

Forward grapes, (primeurs.) To obtain these at Paris, from the grapes on trellises, fifteen days before the period of ripening, an annular wound is made on the vine when it is on the point of maturing its bunches.

Thomery is a village near Fontainebleau, and but a few leagues from Paris. Its grapes, with which the markets of the capital are supplied, are proverbial for their superior excellence. It will is not due either to the superior quality of the soil, appear evident, that this justly merited celebrity, or to its favorable exposure; but the management of their grapes alone. For Thomery has not a hap

Grapes are also obtained twenty days earlier Py exposition; the quality of the soil is inferior, in than those on trellises, by placing the vine in any parts steril. It is on the side of a hill, green-house, or other place where it never freezes: facing north and east, and sloping to the river the vine stock is brought out through the wall. Seine, which washes its base; the soil is clayey, When the vine is in bloom, the young bunches cold, and almost incredibly hard to cultivate," are inserted into transparent glass bottles; the grapes, heated by the sun, ripen early, and when they are ripe the bottles are broken. But the most expeditious method is to place a portable green-house before the trellis, that the sun may shine upon the glasses and warm the vine; a fire also is kindled.

The vintage. The grapes are known to be ripe

From the Genesee Farmer. CURING CORN FOdder.

It has been a generally received opinion among farmers that corn fodder should be perfectly cured before it is placed in the stack, or mow, to prevent the accumulation of mould on the stalks. In this, I had always acquiesced, but an experiment invol

untarily made, has gone far to convince me that my former views were erroneous. Being compelled to put up my corn fodder in a damp state, I had but small hope of its proving of any utility in wintering my stock, but was happily disappointed by the trial.

benefits need not be pointed out. I am not supposing the plan above named, is itself to make the land rich. But what farmer does not see at once, what a vast deal of labor he would thereby be enabled to direct to other purposes than making corn. Every observing man knows that from the first of May to the fifteenth of July, the farmer is perpetually on the stretch to keep in good order his field of corn. He has no time to save hay-is hurried in his harvest-collects no materials for manures-and indeed neither does, nor can do any thing but work his corn.

When I commenced feeding it out, much of it was entirely covered with white mould, and some quite rotten, yet to my surprise it seemed to have acquired additional attractions thereby, as my cattle devoured it with greater avidity than they did that which acquired no mould. I have often remarked, that cattle would show a marked prefer- There can be no reasonable doubt, if we are to ence for hay near the bottom of a mow, which believe the experience of others elsewhere, that had undergone a greater degree of fermentation any farmer now making 300 barrels of corn on 100 than that nearer the top, and generally denomi- or 130 acres, has the means of making the like nated "mow burnt." Without philosophyzing on quantity on 30 acres. Nay more, every observant this point, I would barely suggest the inquiry, man knows, that he has acres every year (not whether by thus carrying on the fermentation of many to be sure) that actually do produce at that food previous to its being fed to cattle, an advan-rate, or nearly at that rate-and yet so universally tage is not gained in the increased facility it imparts to the process of digestion?

I. D.

ASHES AND GYPSUM AS MANURE FOR CORN.
To the Editor of the Farmers' Register.

Amelia, February 27, 1835.

are old habits, that we find it impossible to resist the absurd one of planting our usual crop, although we know that one-third, if not one-half of the field, will not repay the expense of our ploughing.

I would now suggest, through your Register, to my brother farmers in middle Virginia, (especially) to make this year a small experiment-to take one-tenth of their usual field, and manure and cultivate it after the manner so successfully pursued in Maryland, and observe the result. If land which usually produces three barrels of corn, shall by this method be made to produce ten, (of which I have no doubt) I am sure a new impetus, under favorable auspices, will be given to our agricultural improvement. Even if so favorable a result should not follow, the labor will not be lost. I am now collecting ashes, for at least 30 acres-if we should live until the autumn, I will give you the results.

H. M.

From the Louisiana Journal. DIFFERENCE OF PRODUCTIONS ON THE HIGH AND ALLUVIAL LANDS OF LOUISIANA.

A gentleman living in Maryland, on the Patuxent River, made last year twenty-five barrels and some pecks of Indian corn to the acre, on many acres. This remarkable crop seems almost wholly attributable to his manner of manuring, as his planting, culture, &c., do not seem to be different from many others. He prepared his land well; (it was a clover lay,) laid it off both ways, five feet by two and a half; dropped three grains of corn in each check, and with the corn, put a handful of leeched ashes mixed with plaster of Paris, (in the proportion of one of plaster to two of ashes) in each hill or check; cultivated it both ways well with the plough, and hoed well. The amazing product seems to me to be principally attributable to his peculiar application of manure, and why cannot we farmers of Virginia pursue It must be apparent to every reflecting mind, the same plan? No plantation on which ten regu- who is acquainted with the localities of the state, lar fires are kept, could fail (with care) to produce and is the least conversant with agriculture, that 300 bushels of ashes after the lie is taken from it: the culture which will suit the alluvial parishes, this, with 90 bushels of plaster added to it, would will not answer in the eighth judicial district. We manure after the above manner, at least 30 acres. speak on this subject knowingly, for we have obSuppose these 30 acres should produce ten barrels served the staples grown in the alluvial parishes, to the acre, (of which I see no reasonable doubt,) and in the highlands. It is even now questionacan we desire a better application of labor and ble whether cotton can be grown on the Mississip money? But if 25 barrels be made in Maryland, pi lower than the parish of St. James. In that why not in Virginia? I feel entirely convinced, parish we have seen cotton growing that looked that no effectual scheme of general improvement well. can be suggested, which does not contain some fea- Helena, the rye is raised to an advantage; yet in In Washington, St. Tammany and St. sible plan for lessening the culture of Indian corn West Feliciana and East Baton Rouge, reduce the surface necessary to produce the quan- the alluvial parishes it would be utterly profitless. -I do not mean to lessen its consumption, but to prehend it would make but a sorry crop, while in If we are correctly informed, many efforts have

we ap

tity required for consumption. He who owns a farm of 300 arable acres, and ten effective hands, of catwith six work horses, will find 300 barrels of corn the on the coast, below Baton Rouge, all of which necessary for his annual consumption. To make have proved abortive, because the stock imported this quantity he will, on the average of farms, had died the first summer after their introduction, (between tide-water and the mountains,) put in Yet we are warranted in saying that the she corn, from 100 to 130 acres of land and with this breed of cattle have lived and prospered on the large field, would as often fail to make the requi- highlands, not exceeding twelve miles from int site quantity, as succeed. Suppose, by any plan, Mississippi. Swine, it is well known, will answer

the

Mississippi, below the Manchac. An effort is now the nature of the case, to casualty and loss, which making to introduce the thin rind hog into the timely shelter might prevent. The sheep well fed, parish of St. Helena, and we do not entertain a from its fleecy covering and gregarious habits, doubt of its entire success. Many are the abor- whence results an atmosphere of considerable tive attempts made in the culture of the grape, on warmth, remains very little affected by intense the banks of the Mississippi. Yet a grape, deli- cold, if unaccompanied by moisture; he is perhaps cious to the palate, and capable of producing ex-more unfavorably affected by great heat, but contincellent wine, is indigenous to the parishes of ues safe under either extreme, with the advantage Natchitoches, Claiborne and Ouachitta. So it is of sufficient shelter, obviously one of the most infound that the rich lands around New Orleans is portant points in sheep husbandry. The various not favorable to the culture of the sweet potato- diseases incident to sheep have their origin almost whereas the pine woods is the soil in which that exclusively in neglect, improper situations and vegetable most delights. treatments, or errors in feeding. Reverse these, and diseases among sheep would be as few and rare, as they are now numerous and rife throughout our sheep districts; another grand point in their

As with the vegetable, so with the animal kingdom. No domestic animal, calculated for service, or the table, is reared with the same facility on the low, as on the highlands. The feathered tribe | husbandry.-Ib. we believe is an exception to the rule.

HINTS ON SHEEP HUSBANDRY.

mode of culture.

INDIAN CORN.

From the Cultivator.

Selected and collated for the Cultivator. There is no crop which habit has rendered In an agricultural view, simply, the importance and our farms than this. The late John Taylor, more indispensable to the wants of our families of sheep is extreme; since, by their assistance of Virginia, termed it our "meat, meal and maalone, thin, barren, upland soil, so often the far greater part of a country, can be cultivated to ad-nure." Holding this high rank in our farm ecovantage, which otherwise could not generally benomy, it is a subject of moment to adopt the best cultivated at all. The sheep will subsist and multiply on those barren soils, where no other animal would be maintained with equal profit: he is equally calculated for the most deep and fertile, challenging competition, and dividing the palm of profit with an ox, and is excluded from such only as abound in stagnant water, the moist exhalations of which are naturally destructive to his constitution.-Lawrence on cattle.

The bodily constitution of the sheep, as of the goat, the deer, the camel, the hare and the rabbit, is usually called hot and dry; we however know, from unquestionable experience, that dry soils, a dry air, dry provender, and green food, which does not abound in cold and watery juices, are most appropriate and salutary to them. Indeed the contraries are replete with danger to the sheep, most particularly, which is naturally and constitutionally subject to serious effusion, producing a dropsy of peculiar kind, either universal or circumscribed, but more usually the latter, extending indifferently to all parts of the body. This efflux of water, or rather watery tendency, in all the fluids of the body, gradually produces in the solids disorganization, mortification or rot. Catarrhal affections are the most usual primary causes of rot. These ideas very plainly indicate the proper situations, food and treatment of sheep.

As many districts are shy in producing wheat, and as this crop is seriously comes more a matter of solicitude to render our threatened by the new (to us) wheat insect, it bemore labor in its culture than other grain crops, corn crops productive. But as this grain demands so it is more important, on the score of profit, that it should be well managed: for if thirty bushels an acre, be considered only a remuneration for the labor bestowed on the crop-all that the product falls short of this must be a loss-and all that it exceeds, a net gain to the cultivator. The first consideration in regard to the corn crop, is to give it a dry mellow soil; the second, that this soil be rich, fat or fertile; and the third, that the seed be timely put in and the crop well taken care of. Neither wet grounds, nor stiff clays, nor poor grounds, will repay, by their product, the labor required on a crop of corn. He who has no other lands but these, should not attempt to raise it as a field crop. He had better bestow his labor upon other objects, and buy his corn. We think the best preparation for corn is a cloverlay, well covered with long manure from the barn-yard, well ploughed and well harrowed. It is better to give sixty loads of dung to three acres than to ten, upon the ordinary lands of our neighborhood. The difference in product will not make up for the difference in labor. Corn can hardly be dunged too high. What we have to recommend, that is Sheep have often been described as, of "a weak- not common in the culture of this crop, is—that ly constitution, liable to be exhausted by fatigue, double the usual quantity of seed be applied-the and ill able to bear the extremes of heat and cold, number of plants to be reduced at the weedingsubject to many diseases, most of which are con- in order to ensure three or four stalks in each hill; tagious." Such notions are to be received with that the roots be not broken, nor the manure much allowance, for in truth, this useful race seems thrown to the surface, by the plough, but that the ennobled by nature to accommodate itself to all harrow and cultivator be substituted for it, which the vicissitudes of climate, and to nearly the ex- will sufficiently mellow the surface and destroy tremes of heat and cold, of which the husbandry, weeds; and that the hills be but slightly earthed. ancient and modern, of both northern and southern By ploughing and hilling we conceive the manure countries, forms the best proof. We see them ac- is wasted, the roots broken and bruised, and limitcustomed to brave the most rigorous of these ex-ed in their range for food, the crop more exposed tremes unhurt, liable, as might be expected from to injury from drought, and the labor increased.

If the fodder which the stalks and shucks afford | diciously have been willing to relinquish it; while is an object to the farmer, as they certainly will be when their advantages are appreciated, the securing these in good condition is a matter of importance. To effect this, as well as to secure the crop from the effects of early autumnal frosts, we recommend the practice we have long and satisfactorily followed, of cutting the crop at the ground as soon as the corn is glazed, or the sur-that the root crop may be cultivated, and secured face of the kernels has become hard, and of immediately setting it up in shocks to ripen and cure. This we have always been enabled to do early in September, and once in the last week in August. The quality of the grain is not impaired, nor the quantity, in our opinion, diminished, by this mode of management, while the fodder is greatly increased, and its quality much improved.

NEW MOVING POWER.

others are annually commencing it. The great obstacles to the more rapid extension of the culture among us, is the want of experience, the want of proper implements, as drill barrows, cultivators, &c., and the labor of securing the crop in winter. The apparent magnitude of these obstacles is daily diminishing, and we shall ere long discover, for winter use, as easily as other farm crops. We have had very little experience in cultivating carrots, parsnips or mangel wurtzel as field crops; but the Swedish turnip has been a favorite crop for some years; and we can truly say, it has been one of the most sure and profitable that we have taken from our grounds.

From the Cultivator.

PRUNING FRUIT TREES.

At a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences, on the 16th of June, a very interesting We deprecate the old practice of trimming fruit communication was read from M. Thilorier, a trees in autumn, winter or spring. Vegetation beskilful chemist, who exhibited to the Academy ing dormant, the tree can make no speedy effort the apparatus by which he procured a litre (a quart) of liquid carbonic acid in a few seconds. The properties of this substance, he observed, have been but little examined, chiefly because it requires to be confined in close vessels, hermetically sealed, and capable of resisting a great pressure. It surpasses all known bodies in the expansion and contraction which it undergoes from given variations of temperature; from 32 to 86° Fahrenheit, a column of the liquified gas is elongated onehalf. With the same change of temperature, a similar column of air is only elongated one-eighth. This enormous dilation, M. Thilorier thinks, will, in future, afford the elements of a moving power infinitely more effective, as well as economical, than that which is derived from the expansion of

vapor.

From the Cultivator.

ROOT CULTURE,

Presents many advantages to the stock farmer. Roots are less exhausting to the soil than grain; they are admirably fitted to form a part of a course of crops; are very beneficial in pulverizing the soil; afford abundance of food for farm stock; may be substituted for grain; and serve to augment and improve the valuable product of the cattle yard. An acre of ground, under good culture, will produce, on a fair average, twenty tons of Swedish turnips, mangel wurtzel, carrots, parsnips or potatoes. Supposing a lean animal to consume one bushel a day, and a fattening animal two bushels, the produce of an acre will then subsist three lean bullocks 110 days, nearly the period of our winter, and three fattening ones 55 days. We merely assume these as reasonable data, and ask, if the result does not prove the profitableness of their culture. But we are not permitted to doubt upon: this subject, if we credit the testimony of those who have tried them, and whose continuance in the culture is the best proof of their value. Roots enter largely into the system of Flemish husbandry, which has been extolled as inferior to none other, and in many parts of Great Britain, turnips are considered the basis of profitable farming. In our country, root culture is winning its way to notice and to favor. Few who have managed it ju

to cover the wounds inflicted by the knife and saw. These wounds, exposed to searching winds, and a scorching sun, become diseases, and often bring on premature decay. Besides, an attentive observer must have noticed, that whenever pruning is performed in the spring, three shoots are often thrown out where one has been cut away, so that the very evil which it is intended to remedy, a redundancy of useless spray, is increased rather than diminished. If pruning is performed in summer, after the first growth, say in the first fifteen days in July, or the last seven in June, the tree then abounds in elaborated sap, the wounds are speedily healed, and amply protected, by the foliage, from the malign influence of the sun and winds. We have remarked in successive years, and the fact is noticed by others, that when a tree is pruned in summer, there are very seldom any sprouts seen to shoot from the parts where the knife and saw have been employed. If the reader will try the experiment of summer pruning upon a few trees, we have little doubt he will agree with us, that it has a decided preference over that performed in any other season. The grand error of our farmers consists in not pruning at all, or only at long intervals, when it becomes necessary to take often employed, which mangles the trees so badly out large limbs, and in doing this, the axe is too that they seldom fully recover from it. Pruning be taken off, and the spray, are small. The opshould be performed annually, while the limbs to eration is then trifling and safe, and the wounds speedily heal. We want no better evidence of a slovenly farmer, than to see his fruit trees so enveloped with suckers as to render it doubtful which is the parent-a case which, bating a little fiction, is often witnessed by the traveller.

From the New York Star.

A NEWLY DISCOVERED CEMENT.

Mr. Obadiah Parker, a native of New Hampshire, and for many years past a respectable resident in Onondaga county, in our state, and now in this city, has, after numerous experiments, discovered a composition stucco or cement-which, from a state of liquid mortar, hardens in a few

AND

THE IMPORTANCE OF LEGISLATIVE AID TO THAT OBJECT. DESCRIPTION OF THE SOUTH WEST MOUNTAIN LANDS.

Charlottesville, March 7, 1835.

Sir-The Agricultural Society of Albemarle, has adopted a resolution requiring one or more of its members, at each annual fair, to present an essay on some agricultural subject. I now send you a copy of the first essay, in pursuance thereof, read to the society on the 31st October last; together with Gov. Barbour's introductory remarks. I am directed by the society, to request their publication in the Farmers' Register.

days-say eight or ten-into a solid substance or ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF AGRICULTURE, stone, as impenetrable almost as granite, and susceptible of a beautiful polish. It is, apparently, chiefly of a calcareous nature, or like the hardest kind of marble. Any color may be given to it; To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. and it not only defies, but actually acquires greater density and solidity, and less brittleness, under the changes of the atmosphere. He has obtained a series of patents-and at Catskill, recently was built, as a specimen, the wall of a small edifice eight feet high, which in eight days-recalling to mind the fable of Medusa-was perfectly petrified with its door, windows, &c., all of which is testified to by the owner to us personally, and by the certificate of the judges of the county and the principal citizens of the place. It is impossible to foresee the consequences of such a discovery. It surpasses, without doubt, all other cements; and the material is so cheap, that entire houses, of any shape or dimensions, fortifications, canals, aqueducts, &c. may be thus built up in a few days, which would utterly supersede brick and stone, and effect a complete revolution in architecture. What will not art yet imitate and accomplish?

For the Farmers' Register.

HINTS IN RELATION TO THE DWELLINGS AND
CLOTHING OF SLAVES.

In the construction of negro houses it is desirable to combine thorough ventilation with the requisite warmth. The following suggestion may contribute somewhat to that object. Let the under plank of the boxing at the ends of the joists be furnished with hinges, so as to hang loosely off from the house in summer, and occasionally, in mild weather in winter; and at other times to be hoisted and fastened by bolts placed at suitable distances along the inner edge. This pendent lid will not admit rain, and yet afford a circulation of air between the joists, the spaces between which should be left open-thus relieving the room from foul air, which being specifically lighter than that of the atmosphere, ascends. Candor, however, requires it to be stated that in too many of our negro-quarters it is wholly unnecessary to resort to this extraordinary method of admitting fresh air. On southern estates of much magnitude it is impossible to employ, advantageously, all the females within doors; and besides, with care, women are well adapted to much of the labor of the farm. It behooves us, however, to make them as comfortable as possible; and a large cape of knapped cotton, or some stouter material, descending half way between the elbow and the wrist, will be found extremely conducive to that end. It should be buttoned closely under the chin, but be loose in front. It protects the neck and shoulders, otherwise exposed; is easily put on and off, and but little encumbers the arms when at work.

WASTE LANDS.

A SOUTHRON.

It seems there are upwards of eight millions of acres of waste lands in the Scotch and English counties; or more probably, according to the writer, ten millions of acres, and four millions in Ireland.

I am, with great respect,

A. BROADHEAD,
Secretary A. S. A.

Gentlemen.-I avail myself of the occasion, to offer you my very sincere congratulation on the past usefulness, and the present prosperity of our society. While we have to regret the failure in Virginia, of so many attempts kindred to our own, it is a subject of just pride to us, and particularly to those who have persevered from the beginning of our institution, that ours has lived so long; and instead of declining, furnishes at this time, in its increase, a sure guarantee of its successful duration.

Of its past nsefulness, we of the society (whose misfortune it is to be advanced in years) are swift witnesses. Such of us can well remember the barbarous system of cultivation that prevailed in our youth, and the consequent desolation of our lands which met us wherever we turned our eyes. Behold now the vivid contrast-striking as between the living and the dead. When I say this, it is not idle vaunting, but founded in sober truth. I am quite sure you will all respond to it affirmatively. The proof of its justness is furnished, not only in the increase of our products, the gratifying spectacle of verdant fields in lieu of frightful wastes, but in the testimony of our brother farmers, who come from afar to profit of your agricultural knowledge, whose boundaries you have so much enlarged. And although I am aware that other causes may have contributed their influence in producing the improvement which has ensued in the country round about, and therefore it is impossible to assign with precision the exact quantum to this society, yet none will hesitate to yield it a large share. In exploring the causes whose result has been so propitious, we are forcibly struck with a fact worthy of particular consideration-and that is, the elevation of our calling in public opinion, and the consequent influence upon the direction of the intelligence of our people. Heretofore, the learned professions, as they have been by courtesy termed, absorbed almost the whole of that intelligence; drawing after them the flower of the land, as being the only road to distinction, and the least laborious method of acquiring wealth. The effect was to crowd to overflowing these vocations. Hundreds, in consequence, who might, by a proper direction of their time and talents, have contributed to the advancement of their country, became a useless incumbrance. This evil begins to diminish, and in a good degree, from the elevation