SOME HINTS ABOUT AGRICULTURE, GARDENING, DOMESTIC ANIMALS, ETC.
Of Soil, Hay and the Grains—Of Vegetables—Destroying Ferrets, Reptiles, Rats and other Vermin—Flowers, Fruits, Trees—Timber—Buildings.
1004. Advantage of Knowing something about Agriculture.—In a work designed, chiefly, for women, it may seem odd to find farming treated of, as though they needed such information. But while far the greater portion of American men[B] are tillers of the soil, it would be questioning the good sense as well as affection of their wives and daughters to suppose them indifferent to such pursuits.
The husband will work with more pleasure, when feeling his wife takes an interest in his employments. The daughter of a farmer should be ready to read her father's books and papers on agriculture, whenever he desires it, and assist in the garden, orchard, and among domestic animals, when such cases are suitable for her.
So, trusting you have a garden-hoe and pruning-knife for your own use, and can assist in transplanting flowers and shrubs, I shall give rules for these, and also a few hints on other matters connected with country life and the economy of farming. These rules are selected, chiefly, from British authorities. England is famous for its agricultural science and modes of gardening, and planting trees. Such knowledge and taste are much needed in our land. But be careful, fair girl and comely matron, and do not expose your health or injure your personal appearance while helping in out-door work. A sun-bonnet or broad-brimmed straw hat and thick gloves should always be worn, when engaged in such employments.
1005. Important Fact in Agriculture.—Whatever may be the nature of the soil, or of the crop cultivated, it should always be the aim of the farmer to grow full crops. Partial and sometimes extensive failures will even then but too often occur; but to neglect making the best known preparations, or only to prepare for half a crop, has a direct tendency to unprofitable farming.
1006. Manure for Clover.—Some farmers make it a rule to spread about fifty bushels per acre of ashes over their clover in March, which they find, from long experience, to be a good manure for this grass. Wood-ashes will be useful on any soil; coal-ashes chiefly on stiff clays. On the stiff soils of some parts of Buckinghamshire, ashes of all kinds are much esteemed, and have risen to a high price.
1007. How to preserve Manure.—Put it in heaps, and cover it with earth two feet deep. Never leave manure in the barn yard; put it all, year by year, on your land.
1008. Dr. Taylor's Easy Method of ascertaining the Qualities of Marl, Lime Stones, or Quick Lime, for the purposes of Agriculture.—This was a communication by Dr. Taylor to the Manchester Agricultural Society; the general use of marl and lime as manures, having prompted him to point out the importance of an easy and certain method of determining the qualities of different earths and stones, and ascertaining the quantity of calcareous earth in their composition; their value, in agriculture, commonly increasing in proportion to the greater quantity of it which they contain. The process recommended is thus described:—The marl or stone being dried, and reduced to powder, put half an ounce of it into a half pint glass, pouring in clear water till the glass is half full; then gradually add a small quantity of strong marine acid, commonly called spirit of salt, and stir the mixture well together. As soon as the effervescence thus excited subsides, add a little more marine acid; thus continuing the operation while any of the earthy matter appears to dissolve; and till the liquor, after being well stirred and allowed to stand for half an hour, appears sensibly acid to the taste. When the mixture has subsided, if the liquor above it be colorless, that marl or lime-stone is the best which leaves the least in quantity of sediment or deposit in the bottom of the glass. This experiment is sufficient to determine which of the samples tried is the most proper for the uses of agriculture: as pure calcareous earth or lime, which is the earth useful in agriculture, will be entirely dissolved; but clay or sand will not be sensibly acted on by the acid. Where great accuracy is required in determining the experiment, lay a soft spongy paper, of which the weight is exactly taken, in an earthen colander—for no metallic vessel, or implement for stirring, &c., must be used in any part of the process—and, pouring the saturated mixture of earth and acid on it, let all the liquor filter through, then pour a little clear water over the earthy matter remaining on the filter; and, when that water has also filtered through, dry the paper with the earthy matter on it which remains undissolved, when the deficiency found, on weighing them, from their original weight, will discover what portion of the marle or lime has been dissolved in the acid. What quantity of earthy matter has been dissolved may be made evident to the sight, by gradually adding, to the liquor which has been filtered through the paper, a clear solution of pearl-ashes, or ashes of burnt wood; this will occasion a precipitation of the contained lime or calcareous earth to the bottom of the vessel, which precipitate must be dried and weighed.
1009. To preserve Seeds, when sown, from Vermin.—Steep the grain or seed three or four hours, or a sufficient time for it to penetrate the skin, or husk, in a strong solution of liver of sulphur.
1010. Striped Grass recommended for Hay.—The Indian striped or riband grass, which is cultivated in gardens, would answer admirably for hay. In rich grounds plants are frequently four feet high; what a burden of hay would a field so cropped produce! Cattle are exceedingly fond of it; the seeds are easily saved, so that a person might soon have enough for a rood, and from that save again and again, for as many acres as he might choose. It is probable that the crop might be much too large to be made on the field where it grew; but if so, it would be worth while to carry part into another field.
1011. When to cut Rye-grass for Hay.—Rye-grass, if mown for hay, should be cut when in blossom, and not green. The hay made from it does not heat or sweat so much, and is very good for horses, but not for sheep and cattle. If it is suffered to stand too long before it is cut, the seeds rob the plants of their juices, and leave it no better than wheat or rye-straw.
1012. To prevent the Smut in Wheat.—The means (to prevent smut) are simple; and no other than immersing the seed in pure water, and repeatedly scouring it therein, just before it is sown or dibbled in. Whether well, spring, or river water be used, is indifferent; but repeated stirring and change of water is essential to remove the possible particles of infection that may have imperceptibly adhered to the seed; thus purified, the subsequent crop will be perfect in itself, and seed successively so likewise, if there be no adjacent fields from whence this contamination may be wafted.
The addition of any alkaline or earthy salt, by increasing the specific gravity of the water, is of advantage in floating off the unsound grains, and after the seed is washed, it should be dried immediately by rubbing it with newly slaked lime.
1013. Fertilizing Steeps for Turnips, Wheat, or Barley.—Steep turnip-seed twelve hours in train oil, which strain through a fine sieve, and immediately thoroughly mix the quantity of seed you would wish to sow on an acre, with three bushels of dry loamy earth, finely sifted, which drill (or sow) as soon as possible; and when the plants begin to appear, throw a small quantity of soot over them.
1014. Steep for Wheat, Barley, or other Grain.—Put a peck and a half of wood-ashes, and a peck of unslaked lime, into a tub that will hold forty gallons; then add as much water as will slake the lime, and render the mixture into the consistence of stiff mortar. In this state it should remain ten or twelve hours; then add as much water as will reduce the mortar to a pulp, by thorough stirring. In this state fill the tub with water, and occasionally keep stirring for two or three days. After which, draw off the clear lye into an open vessel, and gradually put the grain into it: skim off the light grains; and, after the corn has been steeped three hours, spread it on a clean floor to dry, when it will be sufficiently prepared for drilling or sowing. The lye will retain its full virtue, and may be repeatedly used.
Remark.—It has been doubted whether steeps are of any use, except so far as they facilitate the separation of the light grains, and wash off the seeds of the parasite plants, which are thought to occasion smut, &c. In the best-cultivated parts of Scotland, seed-wheat is steeped in stale urine, or in a brine made with common salt, which, by increasing the specific gravity of the water, floats the unsound grains. The seed is well washed, and then dried, by mixing it with fresh slaked lime, and rubbing it briskly with a wooden shovel. The quick-lime and rubbing is thought to assist in cleansing the seed; but, independent of that, the mere drying the seed quickly is convenient.
1015. To sow Wheat to advantage, without laying on Manure.—It has been found expedient sometimes to sow wheat without laying on any manure; and, in the beginning of February, to collect twenty bushels of lime, unslaked, for every acre, and forty bushels of sand, or the rubbish of a brick-kiln; then, about the end of the month, to slake the lime, which doubles the measure, and mix it well with the sand, and, immediately afterwards, to scatter it by way of top-dressing over the green wheat. As rain generally succeeds, it is soon washed down to the roots of the plants, and gives them a vigor and strength, which, to those who never made the experiment, is astonishing. The lime, sand, and rubbish, are particularly useful in breaking the tenacity of stiff clays. In a clay soil, where coal was very cheap, the clay was slightly burned in the field, and spread over the surface, as the cheapest way of subduing the coarseness and stiffness of the soil. The refuse or rubbish from mines in the neighborhood has been burned, and applied with advantage on the same principle.
1016. Approved method of sowing Wheat on narrow ridges.—The seedsman should walk up one side of the bed and down the other side, always keeping his face, and the hand with which he sows, towards the bed he is sowing; his eye must be continually on the edge of the opposite interfurrow, and deliver his seed principally on the side of the bed next to it: as he returns, the sides will of course be reversed, and the beds become evenly seeded.
1017. Great utility of sowing Buckwheat.—In light lands, buckwheat may be raised to great advantage, as a lucrative crop. When green, it is a fine feed for milch-kine; and when ploughed, is a fine preparation for the land. It fattens pigs with great economy, and, passed through the mill, is, with carrot, a capital feed for work-horses. The seed is excellent food for poultry, and, when ground, makes good bread.
1018. To keep Crows from Corn.—Take a quart of train oil, and as much turpentine and bruised gunpowder; boil them together, and, when hot, dip pieces of rags in the mixture, and fix them on sticks in the field. About four are sufficient for an acre of corn.
1019. Proper Soil for the Culture of Turnips.—Sandy loams, in good heart, are most favorable to their growth, though they will thrive well on strong loams, if they are not wet; but, on clayey, thin, or wet soils, they are not worth cultivating; for, though a good crop may be raised on such ground, when well prepared and dunged, more damage is done by taking off the turnips in winter, in poaching the soil, than the value of the crop will repay.
1020. Instructions for raising Potatoes to advantage.—The earth should be dug twelve inches deep, if the soil will allow it; after this, a hole should be opened about six inches deep, and horse-dung, or long-litter, should be put therein, about three inches thick; this hole should not be more than twelve inches diameter. Upon this dung or litter, a potato should be planted whole, upon which a little more dung should be shaken, and then the earth must be put thereon. In like manner, the whole plot of ground must be planted, taking care that the potatoes be at least sixteen inches apart. When the young shoots make their appearance, they should have fresh mould drawn round them with a hoe; and if the tender shoots are covered, it will prevent the frost from injuring them: they should again be earthed when the shoots make a second appearance, but not covered, as, in all probability, the season will be less severe.
A plentiful supply of mould should be given them; and the person who performs this business should never tread upon the plant, or the hillock that is raised round it, as the lighter the earth is, the more room the potato will have to expand.
A gentleman obtained from a single root, thus planted, very near forty pounds' weight of large potatoes; and, from almost every other root upon the same plot of ground, from fifteen to twenty pounds' weight; and, except the soil be stony or gravelly, ten pounds, or half a peck, of potatoes, may almost be obtained from each root, by pursuing the foregoing method.
1021. Use of the Dandelion.—This is an excellent salad, and a good green. Where it grows as a weed, cover it early in the spring, with rotten tan, or decayed leaves; it will soon come up.
1022. Preparations for Carrots and other winged Seeds.—Take two bushels of dry loamy earth, finely sifted; to which add one bushel of bran, and a sufficient quantity of carrot seed, cleaned from stalks, and well rubbed between the hands; all which thoroughly mix together, and drill (or sow). The carrot seed will stick to the bran, which, with the earth, will be regularly discharged.
1023. To raise a Salad quickly.—Steep lettuce-seed, mustard, cresses, &c., in aqua vitæ. Mix a little pigeon's dung with some mould, and powdered slaked lime. In forty-eight hours the salad will be produced.
1024. Important Discovery relative to the Preservation of Grain.—To preserve rye and secure it from insects and rats, nothing more is necessary than not to winnow it after it is thrashed, but merely separate it from the straw, and to stow it in the granaries, mixed with the chaff. In this state it has been kept for more than three years without experiencing the smallest alteration, and even without the necessity of being turned to preserve it from humidity and fermentation. Rats and mice may be prevented from entering the barn, by putting some wild vine or hedge plants upon the heaps; the smell of the wood is so offensive to these animals, that they will not approach it. The experiment has not yet been made with wheat and other kinds of grain, but they may probably be preserved in the chaff with equal advantage. It must however be observed, that the husks and corns of rye are different from most other grain. It has been sown near houses where many poultry were kept, for the purpose of bringing up a crop of grass, because the poultry do not destroy it, as they would have done wheat, oats, or even barley in the same situation.
1025. To preserve Grain in Sacks.—Provide a reed cane, or other hollow stick, made so by gluing together two grooved sticks; let it be about three feet nine inches long; and that it may be easier thrust down to the bottom of the corn in the sack, its end to be made to taper to a point, by a wooden plug that is fixed in, and stops the orifice. About one hundred and fifty small holes, of one-eighth of an inch in diameter, are to be bored on all sides of the stick, from its bottom for about two feet ten inches of its length; but no nearer to the surface of the corn, lest too great a proportion of the air should escape there. By winding a packthread in a spiral form round the stick, the boring of the holes may be the better regulated, so as to have them about half an inch distant towards the bottom, but gradually at wider distances, so as to be an inch asunder at the upper part; by which means the lower part of the corn will have its due proportion of fresh air. To the top of the stick let there be fixed a leathern pipe ten inches long; which pipe is to be distended by two yards of spiral wire, coiled up within it. At the upper part of the pipe is fixed a taper wooden faucet, into which the nose of a common household bellows is to be put, in order to ventilate the corn.
If wheat, when first put into sacks, be thus aired, every other or third day, for ten or fifteen minutes, its damp sweats which would hurt it, will, in a few weeks, be carried off to such a degree, that it will afterwards keep sweet with very little airing, as has been found by experience.
By the same means other kinds of seeds, as well as wheat, may be kept sweet either in sacks or small bins.
1026. To preserve Oats from being musty.—Richard Fermor, Esq. of Tusmore, in Oxfordshire, has in his stable a contrivance to let oats down from a loft out of a vessel, like the hopper of a mill, whence they fall into a square pipe, let into a wall, about four inches diagonal, which comes into a cupboard set into a wall, but with its end so near the bottom, that there shall never be above a desirable quantity in the cupboard at a time, which being taken away, another parcel succeeds; by this motion the oats are kept constantly sweet (the taking away one gallon moving the whole above), which, when laid up otherwise in great quantities, frequently grow musty.
1027. Easy Method of destroying Mites or Weevils in Granaries.—A very sagacious farmer has succeeded in destroying weevils, by a very easy process. In the month of June, when his granaries were all empty, he collected great quantities of the largest sized ants, and scattered them about the places infested with the weevils. The ants immediately fell upon and devoured every one of them; nor have any weevils since that time been seen on his premises.
Remark.—The large, or wood-ant, feeds entirely on animal substances; of course it would not destroy the corn.
1028. To preserve Carrots, Parsnips, and Beets, all the Winter.—A little before the frost sets in, draw your beets or parsnips out of the ground, and lay them in the house, burying their roots in sand to the neck of the plant, and ranging them one by another in a shelving position; then another bed of sand, and another of beets, and continue this order to the last. By pursuing this method, they will keep very fresh. When they are wanted for use, draw them, as they stand, not out of the middle or sides.
1029. To preserve Turnips from Frost.—The best way is to stack them up in straw in the following manner:—One load of any sort of dry straw is sufficient for an acre of fifty tons' weight. Pull up the turnips, top and tail them, then throw them in a sort of windrow, and let them lie a few days to dry.
First, lay a layer of straw next the ground, and upon it a layer of turnips about half a yard thick; then another layer of straw; so go on alternately with a layer of straw and a layer of turnips; every layer grows narrower, till it comes to a point at the top, like a sugar-loaf. The last layer must be straw, which serves to keep all dry. You must observe always when you have laid a layer of turnips, to stroke or lap over the ends of the under layer of straw, in order to keep them close or from tumbling out. The heap should be as large as a hay-cock; the tops may be given to sheep or cattle as they are cut off.
1030. Another.—Turnips placed in layers, though not thick, have been found, after a few weeks, to rot. In some places the following method is adopted. Lay the turnips close together in a single layer, on a grass field, near the farmyard, and scatter some straw and branches of trees over them; this will preserve them from sudden alternations of frost and thaw. They keep as well as stored turnips can do. The bare grass is of no value in winter, and may rather perhaps receive some benefit from the shelter of the turnip. An immense quantity may thus be stored on a small extent of grass ground. It is chiefly useful for small farmers, in soils unfit for the turnip, but who are forced to raise it for milk-cows, or to support, in the winter, the sheep they feed in the summer on the commons, and which they keep, perhaps, principally in the night, on the fields they have no other means of manuring. But it may be useful, even on proper turnip soils, to save the latter part of the crop from the sudden frosts and sunshine in the spring, or in an open winter, which rot so great a portion of it; perhaps a fourth or third part of what is then on the ground.
1031. The good effects of Elder in preserving Plants from Insects and Flies.—1. For preventing cabbage and cauliflower plants from being devoured and damaged by caterpillars. 2. For preventing blights, and their effects on fruit-trees. 3. For preserving corn from yellow flies and other insects. 4. For securing turnips from the ravages of flies. The dwarf elder appears to exhale a much more fetid smell than the common elder, and therefore should be preferred.
1032. The use of Sulphur in destroying Insects on Plants, and its Benefit for Vegetation.—Tie up some flower of sulphur in a piece of muslin or fine linen, and with this the leaves of young shoots of plants should be dusted; or it may be thrown on them by means of a common swans'-down puff, or even by a dredging-box.
Fresh assurances have repeatedly been received of the powerful influence of sulphur against the whole tribe of insects and worms which infest and prey on vegetables. Sulphur has also been found to promote the health of plants, on which it was sprinkled; and that peach-trees, in particular, were remarkably improved by it, and seemed to absorb it. It has likewise been observed, that the verdure, and other healthful appearances, were perceptibly increased; for the quantity of new shoots and leaves formed subsequently to the operation, and having no sulphur on their surfaces, served as a kind of comparative index, and pointed out distinctly the accumulation of health.
1033. Method of stopping the Ravages of the Caterpillars from Shrubs, Plants, and Vegetables.—Take a chafing-dish, with lighted charcoal, and place it under the branches of the tree, or bush, whereon are the caterpillars; then throw a little brimstone on the coals. The vapor of the sulphur, which is mortal to these insects, and the suffocating fixed air arising from the charcoal, will not only destroy all that are on the tree, but will effectually prevent the shrubs from being, that season, infested with them. A pound of sulphur will clear as many trees as grow on several acres.
Another method of driving these insects off fruit-trees, is to boil together a quantity of rue, wormwood, and common tobacco (of each equal parts), in common water. The liquor should be very strong. Sprinkle this on the leaves and young branches every morning and evening during the time the fruit is ripening.
In the Economical Journal of France, the following method of guarding cabbages from the depredations of caterpillars is stated to be infallible, and may, perhaps, be equally serviceable against those which infest other vegetables. Sow with hemp all the borders of the ground wherein the cabbage is planted; and, although the neighborhood be infested with caterpillars, the space inclosed by the hemp will be perfectly free, and not one of these vermin will approach it.
1034. To prevent the Increase of Pismires in Grass Lands newly laid down.—Make a strong decoction of walnut-tree leaves, and after opening several of the pismires' sandy habitations, pour upon them a quantity of the liquor, just sufficient to fill the hollow of each heap: after the middle of it has been scooped, throw in the contents from the sides, and press down the whole mass with the foot, till it becomes level with the rest of the field. This, if not found effectual at first, must be repeated a second or a third time, when they infallibly will be destroyed.
1035. To prevent the Fly in Turnips.—From experiments lately made, it has been ascertained that lime sown by hand, or distributed by a machine, is an infallible protection to turnips against the ravages of this destructive insect. It should be applied as soon as the turnips come up, and in the same daily rotation in which they were sown. The lime should be slaked immediately before it is used, if the air be not sufficiently moist to render that operation unnecessary.
1036. To prevent Mice from destroying early sown Peas.—The tops of furze, or whins, chopped and thrown into the drills, and thus covered up, (by goading them in their attempt to scratch,) is an effectual preventive. Sea-sand, strewn pretty thick upon the surface, has the same effect. It gets into their ears, and is troublesome.
1037. Another.—In the gardens in Devonshire, a simple trap is used to destroy mice. A common brick, or flat stone, is set on one end, inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees. Two strings, tied to a cracked stick, stuck in the ground, with loops at the ends of the strings, are brought round to the middle of the under part of the brick, and one loop being put into the other, a pea or bean, or any other bait, makes the string fast, so as to support the brick. When the animal removes the bait, the loops separate, and the brick, by falling, smothers the animal.
1038. To Destroy Beetles.—Take some small lumps of unslaked lime, and put into the chinks or holes from which they issue, it will effectually destroy them; or it may be scattered on the ground, if they are more numerous than in their holes.
1039. Another Method.—The simplest and most effectual way of destroying beetles is by means of red wafers. As it has become usual to substitute vermilion for red lead in the composition of wafers, it will be necessary to ask particularly for such as have been made with red lead. Strew these in the neighborhood of the crevices from which these insects issue, and their future incursions will be speedily prevented. Cockroaches may be destroyed by the same means.
1040. For Destroying Bugs and Worms in Wood.—An eminent physician has discovered that by rubbing wood with a solution of vitriol, insects and bugs are prevented from harboring therein. When the strength of this remedy is required to be increased, there need only be boiled some coloquintida apples in water, in which, afterwards, vitriol is dissolved, and the bedstead, with the wood about them, and the wainscoting, being anointed with the liquor, will be ever after clear of worms or bugs. The wall may be likewise rubbed with the composition, and some of it may be dropped into the holes where these insects are suspected to be harbored. As to the walls, they require only to be washed over with the vitriol water.
1041. To Destroy Insects on Wall Fruit Trees.—Take an old tin watering-pan, or any similar vessel, and make a charcoal fire in it; add a tube or pipe, made of either tin, leather, or stiff paper, to the spout, which may be of any sufficient length; then strew some brimstone, tobacco-dust, fine shreds of leather, &c., upon the fire, in the pan, and cover the top; having a pair of bellows ready, hold the wind-flap over the tube or pipe to receive the smoke, which it will do very effectually when you use the bellows. By this means the suffocating vapor may be directed through the bellows to any part of the tree with the greatest ease and facility, and the tree soon cleared of all vermin.
1042. To Destroy the Insect which attacks the Apple Tree, commonly called the White Blight, or American Blight.—To a strong decoction of the digitalis or foxglove, add a sufficient quantity of fresh cow-dung, to give it such a consistence as may enable you to apply it with a painters' brush to those parts of the bark of the tree, which afford a harbor for this destructive insect. The insect is generally destroyed by the first application, though in some instances it may be necessary to repeat it. It has been remarked that the insect never returns in future years to those parts of the tree which have been thus treated.
1043. For Destroying Caterpillars on Gooseberry Bushes.—Take one Scots pint (two English quarts) of tobacco liquor (which may be made, where it cannot be purchased, by infusing any kind of tobacco in water till all the strength be extracted) which the manufacturers of tobacco generally sell for destroying bugs, and mix them with about one ounce of alum; and when the alum is sufficiently dissolved, put this mixture into a plate, or other vessel, wide and long enough to admit of a brush, like a weaver's brush, being dipped into it; and as early in the season as you can perceive the leaves of the bushes to be in the least eaten, or the eggs upon the leaves (which generally happens about the end of May), and which will be found in great numbers on the veins of the leaves on their under side; you are then to take the preparation, or liquor, and after dipping the brush into it, and holding the brush towards the under side of the bush, which is to be raised and supported by the hands of another person; and by drawing your hand gently over the hairs of the brush, the above liquid is sprinkled, and falls in small drops on the leaves; the consequence of which is, if the eggs are there, they never come forward; and if they have already generated worms, in a minute or two after the liquor touches them, they either die or sicken, so as to fall off the bush; at least they do so upon giving it a little shake. If, upon their thus falling off, they shall not appear completely dead, the bush should be held up, and either a little boiling water from a watering-pot thrown over them, or a bruise given them by a spade or shovel; or the earth, where they lie, turned over with a hoe. This preparation does not in the least injure the bushes.
1044. To Preserve Flowers, Leaves, and Fruit, from Caterpillars.—These depredators are destroyed by oils, which close the lateral pores by which they breathe. For this purpose it is advised, that on the approach of spring, a cloth, dipped in train oil, be laid on such parts of the tree in which there is the least appearance of them.
1045. Method to destroy or drive away Earth Worms, and other Insects, hurtful to Fields and Gardens.—Three parts of quick-lime, newly made, and two parts of soap-boilers' ley or potash dissolved in water, will produce a somewhat milky liquor sufficiently caustic, and highly hostile and poisonous to earth-worms and other small animals; for as soon as it touches any part of their bodies, it occasions in them violent symptoms of great uneasiness. If this liquor be poured into those holes, in which the earth-worms reside under ground, they immediately throw themselves out as if driven by some force, and, after various contortions, languish and die. If the leaves of plants or fruit-trees, frequented by the voracious caterpillars, which are so destructive to them, be sprinkled over with this liquor, these insects suddenly contract their bodies and drop to the ground. For, though nature has defended them tolerably well by their hairy skins, from any thing that might injure their delicate bodies; yet, as soon as they touch with their feet or mouths the leaves which have been moistened by this liquor, they become, as it were, stupefied, instantly contract themselves, and fall down.
1046. To destroy Earwigs and Wood Lice.—A very simple way of ensnaring them, and by which they may be taken alive in great quantities, is to place four inch-cuts of reeds, bean-haulm, or strong wheat-straw among the branches, and also lay a number on the ground, at the bottom of the wall. In these the insects take refuge at day-break, as they depredate chiefly in the night; and any time through the day they may be blown into a bottle with a little water in it, and so be drowned. Or, a cheaper way is to burn the straw, and scatter fresh on the ground.
1047. To destroy Fleas on Dogs.—Rub the animal, when out of the house, with the common Scotch snuff, except the nose and eyes. Rub the powder well into the roots of the hair. Clear lime-water destroys the whitish flea-worm without injuring the skin or hair. Oil of turpentine will likewise do so; but if there be any manginess, or the skin be broken, it will give the animal much pain.
1048. To clear Gardens of Vermin, by Ducks.—Ducks are excellent vermin-pickers, whether of caterpillars (such as are within their reach), slugs, snails, and others, and ought to be turned into the garden one or two days every week throughout the season. Never keep them longer in than two or three hours at a time, else they become indolent. While here, they should have a little water set down to them, if there be no pond or stream in the garden.
Never turn them into the garden in the time of heavy rains, or in continued wet weather, as in that case, and particularly if the soil be stiff, they patter and harden the surface, to the great injury of small crops and rising seeds.
1049. The use of Garlic against Moles, Grubs, and Snails.—Moles are such enemies to the smell of garlic, that, in order to get rid of these troublesome and destructive guests, it is sufficient to introduce a few heads of garlic into their subterraneous walks. It is likewise employed with success against grubs and snails.
1050. To prevent the destruction of Field Turnips by Slugs.—A few years since, a considerable farmer, near Bath, observing the turnips in one of his fields strongly attacked by something, discovered, by accident, that the enemy was really a slug; and immediately prevented farther damage by well rolling the whole field, by night, which killed all the slugs.
N. B. This was the grand secret which was advertised for two thousand subscribers, at one guinea each, by W. Vagg, for destroying the fly in turnips—which it will not do!
1051. Method of destroying Insects on Fruit Trees.—Make a strong decoction of tobacco, and the tender shoots of elder, by pouring boiling water on them; then sprinkle your trees with the same (cold) twice a week, for two or three weeks, with a small hearth-brush, which will effectually destroy the insects, and the leaves will retain their verdure until the fall of the year.
If used early, as soon as the bud unfolds itself, it will probably prevent the fly. The effect of tobacco has been long known, and elder-water frequently sprinkled on honeysuckles and roses, has been found to prevent insects from lodging on them.
The quantity to be made use of, is one ounce of tobacco to one gallon of water, with about two handfuls of elder. You may, however, make it as strong as you please, it being perfectly innocent to the plants.
1052. To destroy Insects prejudicial to Apple-Trees.—To one hundred gallons of human urine, and one bushel of lime, add cow-dung to bring it to the consistence of paint. With this composition anoint the trees. The month of March is the proper season for applying it. If the white efflorescence-like substance in which the insects are lodged, has made its appearance, it should previously be brushed off.
1053. To destroy wasps on Fruit-Trees.—Wasps, about the month of July, will begin to swarm about the early fruits; and for their destruction, phials should be hung about the branches, half-filled with honey and water, or with sugar and small-beer. These should be emptied and replaced once in two or three days, otherwise they do not take so well—these little animals being extremely sagacious, and disliking the appearance of their own species, when dead.
1054. Another.—Winter is the proper season to apply the following solution. The juices are then determined to the root.
Soft soap, two pounds; leaf or roll tobacco, one pound; nux-vomica, two ounces; and turpentine, half an English gill: boil them in eight English gallons of soft or river water, to six; and use it milk-warm.
Unnail or untie all the branches from the wall or trellis; brush every part of the tree clean with a soft brush, such as is used for painting; then, with a sponge, carefully anoint every branch, root, and bud; and be sure to rub it well into every joint, hole, and angle, as it is there the eggs or larvæ of the insects are chiefly lodged. The rails, spars, &c., of the espalier or trellis, should also be anointed as above.
This operation should be repeated every winter, some time between the fall of the leaf and the first of February, as may be most convenient. The solution is effectually destructive to all kinds of insects, their eggs or larvæ.
1055. To kill Reptiles.—Twelve ounces of quick-lime in powder, two ounces of Scotch snuff, two ounces of basket salt, two ounces of sulphur vivum, dissolved in ten gallons of water, and thrown on the insects, either in the liquid or powder, will destroy them.
1056. To prevent Slugs from getting into Fruit-Trees.—If the trees are standards, tie a coarse horse-hair rope about them, two or three feet from the ground. If they are against the wall, nail a narrow slip of coarse horse-hair cloth against the wall, about half a foot from the ground, and they will never get over it; for if they attempt it, it will kill them, as their bellies are soft, and the horse-hair will wound them.
1057. To destroy Snails.—Snails are great enemies to wall-fruit; and any dewy morning you may easily find where they most delight to breed; but the best way is to find out their haunts in a hard winter, and then destroy them: they lie much in holes of walls, under thorns, behind old trees or old and close hedges. If you pluck not the fruit they have begun to devour, but let it alone, they will finish their repast on this, before they begin another.
1058. To destroy the Red Spider, so troublesome in dry seasons.—The red spider makes its appearance in hot, dry weather, and is always found on the under sides of the leaves, generally on roughish leaves, but not always so. It preys on the apple, cherry, fig, peach, pear, and plum—seldom on the apricot. It is among the smallest of the acari, and is sometimes not distinguishable without a microscope. If the back of the leaf be viewed through one, it appears full of its webs; and if many abound on it, the leaf appears full of punctures, becomes discolored, and brown on the upper surface, fades, and falls off.
This insect is more troublesome in dry seasons than in moist ones, and is wonderfully encouraged by heat—insomuch, that hot-houses of every description are sadly infested with it. Water, and water only, is its bane; and the syringe, or the force-pump, the engine of its destruction. It is not a mere sprinkling that will do; it requires a forcible dashing to and fro, and that often repeated, to be effectual.
1059. To destroy Vermin in Granaries and other Outbuildings.—Cover completely the walls and rafters, above and below, of the granaries, &c., which are infested with weevils and other vermin, with quick-lime slaked in water, in which trefoil, wormwood, and hyssop have been boiled. This composition ought to be applied as hot as possible.
1060. To destroy Worms in Gardens.—Water your beds with a strong decoction of walnut-tree leaves where there are worm casts; the worms will immediately rise up out of the earth, and you may easily take and cut them to pieces, and fatten your poultry therewith, or feed fish in ponds with them.
By laying ashes or lime about any plant, neither snails nor worms will come near it. As the moisture weakens it, you must, more or less, continue to renew the lime or ashes.
1061. To destroy Worms in Gravel Walks, &c.—Pour into the holes a ley, made of wood ashes and lime; this will also destroy insects, if trees are sprinkled with it. Salt and water will do as well.
1062. Usefulness of the Wren in destroying Insects.—As a devourer of pernicious insects, one of the most useful birds is the house wren. This little bird seems to be particularly fond of the society of man, and it must be confessed that it is often protected by his interested care. It has long been a custom, in many parts of the country, to fix a small box at the end of a long pole, in gardens, about houses, &c., as a place for it to build in. In these boxes they build and hatch their young. When the young are hatched, the parent bird feeds them with a variety of different insects, particularly such as are injurious in gardens. An intelligent gentleman was at the trouble to observe the number of times a pair of these birds came from their box, and returned with insects for their young. He found that they did this from 40 to 60 times in an hour, and in one particular hour, the birds carried food to their young 71 times. In this business they were engaged the greater part of the day; say 12 hours. Taking the medium therefore of 50 times in an hour, it appeared that a single pair of these birds took from the cabbage, salad, beans, peas, and other vegetables in the garden, at least 600 insects in the course of one day. This calculation proceeds upon the supposition that the two birds took only a single insect each time. But it is highly probable they often took several at a time.
1063. To destroy Rats and other Vermin.—Sponge, if cut in small pieces, fried or dipped in honey, and given to vermin, distends their intestines, and effectually destroys them. The addition of a little oil of Rhodium will tempt them to eat.
A better method would be to feed them regularly two or three weeks in any apartment which they infest. The hole, by which they enter, being first fitted with a sliding door, to which a long string may be added; any apartment might thus be turned into a gigantic rat-trap.
1064. Another Method of Destroying Rats.—Lay bird-lime in their haunts, for though they are nasty enough in other respects, yet being very curious of their fur, if it is but daubed with this stuff, it is so troublesome to them that they will even scratch their skins from off their own backs to get it off, and will never abide in a place where they have suffered in this manner.
1065. To destroy Rats or Mice.—Mix flour of malt with some butter; add thereto a drop or two of oil of anise-seeds; make it up into balls, and bait your traps therewith. If you have thousands, by this means you may take them all.
1066. A Mouse Trap, by which forty or fifty Mice may be caught in a Night.—Take a plain four-square trencher, and put into the two contrary ends of it a large pin, or piece of thick knitting-needle; then take two sticks about a yard long, and lay them on your dresser, with a notch cut at each end of your sticks, placing the two pins, stuck on the corner of the trencher, on the notches of the two sticks, so that one corner of your trencher may lie about an inch upon your dresser or place that the mice may come to; then let the corner that lies opposite to this be baited with some butter and oatmeal, plastered fast on, and when the mice run off the dresser to the butter, it will tip them into a vessel full of water, which you must place under the trencher, in which they will be drowned.
That your trencher may not tip over, with a little sealing-wax and a thread seal the string to the dresser and trencher, and it will remain in good order for weeks or months.
1067. New, simple, and effectual Method of destroying Rats.—A few years ago, the corn-mill at Glossop was very much infested with rats. A quantity of barley, which lay on the chamber floor was hourly visited by some of them. The miller one day going to drive them away as usual, happened to catch one of them under his hat, which he killed; he then singed all the hair off its body, &c., until its skin, tail, and legs, became stiff by the operation. In this condition he set it upon its feet by the side of a heap of barley, where it stood, with pricked-up ears and tail, for some time; after this, no rat dared to come near it; and in a short space of time the mill was cleared of those depredators, and has continued so ever since.
1068. To prevent the Burrowing of Rats in Houses.—Rats may be effectually prevented from burrowing under the foundation of houses, by making an offset of stone or brick, about two feet in breadth, and eighteen inches below the surface; and by carrying up a perpendicular wall from the edge of this offset, to within a few inches of the ground. The adoption of the same plan inside will prevent the burrowing of these animals in cellars; for rats always burrow close to a wall; and finding their perpendicular course impeded, they take a horizontal direction, as far as the offset continues, when they are again stopped by the outside wall. Thus baffled, they ascend, and go off.
Those persons who have suffered in their granaries, ice-houses, and in the cellars of their dwelling-houses, by the depredations of rats, will probably deem this one of the most valuable articles of the present work.
1069. To keep Ponds and Artificial Pieces of Water free from Weeds.—At the Marquis of Exeter's seat, near Burghley, there is an artificial piece of water, about a mile in length, which used to be so over-run with weeds, that three men were employed constantly, for six months in every year, to keep them under; in which they never perfectly succeeded. About seven years ago, two pair of swans were put on the water: they completely cleared away all the weeds the first year, and none have appeared since, as the swans constantly eat them before they rise to the surface.
1070. Usefulness of Mowing Weeds.—In the month of June weeds are in their most succulent state; and in this state, especially after they have lain a few hours to wither, hungry cattle will eat greedily almost every species. There is scarcely a hedge, border, or nook, but at this season is valuable, and it must certainly be good management to embrace the transient opportunity; for in a few weeks they will become nuisances.
1071. On the great Increase of Milk from feeding Milch Cows with Sainfoin.—The quantity of milk produced by cows fed by sainfoin is nearly double to that of any other food. The milk is also much richer, and will yield a larger quantity of cream. The butter will also be better colored and flavored than any other.
1072. Parsnips productive of Milk in Cows.—Parsnips cause cows to produce abundance of milk, and they eat them as free as they do oil-cake. Land, 7l. an acre in Guernsey, is sown with parsnips to feed cattle, and the milk is like cream.—Sheep, when lambing, fed with them, produce much milk. They are improper food for horses, subjecting them to blindness.
1073. Most proper Food for Milch Cows.—Milch cows are infinitely more profitable kept in the house than out of doors, but they must be trained to it, otherwise they do not thrive.
The best food for them are clover, lucern, potatoes, yams, turnips, carrots, cabbages, peas, and beans.
Such cows as those in the neighborhood of London, kept in the house, and properly fed, ought to yield nine gallons per day, for the first four months after calving.
1074. Additional Quantity of Milk to be gained by keeping Milch Cows in the House.—In the management of cows a warm stable is highly necessary; and currying them like horses not only affords them pleasure, but makes them give their milk more freely. They ought always to be kept clean, laid dry, and have plenty of good sweet water to drink. Cows treated in this manner have given two gallons of milk at a time, when within ten days of calving.
1075. Utility of Carrots as Food for Horses and other stall Beasts.—Carrots are excellent food for horses, either given alone, or along with hay, likewise for fattening stall beasts. They make them eat straw, and very indifferent hay, greedily. If the same be given to cows, the milk will have a much less offensive taste and smell than when they are fed on turnips.
Remark.—It must be noted, however, that carrots, though very excellent, are a very expensive food. They would not enable a farmer to pay his rent.
1076. Excellent Method of rearing Calves, and of preserving the Cream, and a great Part of the Milk during that Time.—Put some water on the fire, nearly the quantity that the calf can drink. When it boils, throw into it one or two handfuls of oatmeal, and suffer the whole to boil for a minute. Then leave it to cool until new-milk-warm. Then mix with it one or two quarts of milk, that has stood twelve hours, and has been skimmed: stir the whole, and give it the calf to drink. At first it is necessary to make the calf drink by presenting the fingers to it, but it soon learns to do without this help, and will grow incomparably faster than by the old method. This new method is not only a theoretical truth, but its success is confirmed by experience.
The economical advantages resulting from it are as follows. According to the old method, a calf intended for slaughter is made to suck for three weeks, and those intended for agriculture, from six to eight weeks. Supposing the cow gives only a moderate quantity of milk, the value of it will amount, in three weeks, to nearly the value of the calf. If, on the contrary, we rear a calf according to this method, we consume during the three weeks only three quarts of oatmeal, at most, and the skimmed milk.
Calves that have been brought up by this method have been always healthy and strong, and not subject to disease. They are not suffered to suck at all, but to have the pure milk of the mother to drink for the first four days, because it has been observed, that the separation, after four days, is more painful to the mother than when the calf is taken from her soon after its birth.
1077. Rules for Milking Cows.—Cows should be milked three times a day, if fully fed throughout the summer, and great caution should be exercised by the persons employed, to draw the milk from them completely, not only to increase the quantity of produce, but to preserve its quality. Any portion which may be left in the udder seems gradually absorbed in the system, and no more is formed than enough to supply the loss of what is taken away, and by the continuance of the same mode, a yet farther diminution of the secretion takes place, till at length scarcely any is produced. This last method of milking is always practised, when it is intended that a cow should be rendered dry.
1078. Proper Temperature for a Dairy.—The apartments appropriated for dairy purposes should, if possible, possess a moderate temperature throughout the year, and should be kept perfectly clean and dry. The temperature of about fifty-five degrees is most favorable for the separation of the cream from the milk. The utensils of the dairy are best made of wood; lead and copper are soluble in acid, and highly pernicious; and though iron is not injurious, the taste of it might render the produce of the dairy unpalatable.
1079. Method of making excellent Butter from the Milk of Cows fed upon Turnips.—Let the bowls, either lead or wood, be kept constantly clean, and well scalded with boiling water, before using. When the milk is brought into the dairy, to every eight quarts mix one quart of boiling water; then put up the milk into the bowls to stand for cream. By keeping strictly to this method, you will have, during the winter, constantly sweet and well-tasted butter from the milk of cows fed upon turnips.
1080. Improved Method of making Butter.—If the dairy consists of three or four cows, they should be milked in the summer thrice a day; in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. Each milking must be kept by itself, in flat wooden vessels, to cool in like manner; and thus in succession for two or three days, according to the temperature of the air, the milk thickens, and thence is fit for churning, soonest in the warmest weather. The quantity of butter will be generally in the proportion of a pound (twenty-two ounces) for each ten pints, or five English gallons of milk. In winter, the cows are to be milked only twice a day, and the milk is to be put into the churn warm from the cow, where it must stand a day or two longer than in summer before it becomes sufficiently thick; although to promote the coagulation, it is sometimes brought near the kitchen fire, particularly on the preceding night before it is churned; and, in intense cold, it will be necessary to add a small quantity of boiling water. The operation of churning is performed with the plunge-churn, from two to three hours, for thirty or forty pints of milk; and at the last stage of the process, a little cold water thrown in has the effect of promoting the separation of the butter from the milk. This method of making butter has long been practiced in England; it may be worth trial in America.
N.B.—The dairy-maid must not be disheartened if she does not succeed perfectly in her first attempt.
1081. To prevent Cows from contracting bad Habits while Milking.—Cows should always be treated with great gentleness, and soothed by mild usage, especially when young and ticklish, or when the paps are tender, in which case the udder ought to be fomented with warm water, before milking, and touched with the greatest gentleness, otherwise the cow will be in danger of contracting bad habits, becoming stubborn and unruly, and retaining her milk ever after. A cow never lets down her milk pleasantly to the person she dreads or dislikes. The udder and paps should always be washed with clean water before milking; but care should be taken that none of that water be admitted into the milking pail.
1082. To mark Sheep, without injury to the Wool.—To thirty spoonfuls of linseed oil, add two ounces of litharge and one ounce of lamp-black: unite them together by boiling, and mark the sheep therewith.
1083. To improve the Wool of Sheep, by Smearing.—Immediately after the sheep are shorn, soak the roots of the wool that remain all over with oil or butter and brimstone; and three or four days afterwards, wash them with salt and water. The wool of next season will not only be much finer, but the quantity will be in greater abundance. It may be depended upon, that the sheep will not be troubled with the scab or vermin that year. Salt water is a safe and effectual remedy against maggots.
1084. To preserve Cattle from Disease in the Winter.—When cattle are kept out in the winter, it is recommended as an useful practice to rub some tar at the root of the horn, which prevents the wet from getting between the root and the skin, and, it is said, contributes to preserve the health of the animal, and to keep it free from various diseases to which it may otherwise be liable.
1085. How to Promote the Health of Farm Animals.—All domestic animals should be abundantly furnished with salt. A supply kept within their reach, whenever it can be done, is recommended. Horses and pigs should occasionally have ashes given them in their food; and pigs ought at all times, when confined in pens, to be supplied with charcoal, as, besides being a medicine, it is a cheap and valuable food.
1086. Parsley recommended to Farmers to be sown with Rape-seed, as a preservative against the Resp in Sheep.—A correspondent of the "Chester Chronicle" recommends to all farmers who sow rape-seed, to sow with it a small portion of parsley at the same time; this he pronounces an infallible preservative against the malady well-known by the name of resp, in sheep: he also advises to sow parsley on turnip land at the time of hoeing turnips. The above correspondent asserts, that he has pursued this plan upwards of twenty-five years, and during that time he has never lost one sheep, either in rape or turnip land.
Remark.—In some counties, parsley is sown with clover, on the supposition that it prevents cattle from being bursten, or hoven.
1087. How to catch Sheep.—Never seize them by the wool on the back; it hurts them exceedingly, and, in some cases, has been known to kill them, particularly in hot weather, when they are large and fat. The best way is to avoid the wool altogether; accustom yourself to take them by the hind leg, or what is still better, by the neck, placing one hand under the jaws, and the other at the back of the ears. By lifting up the head, in this manner, a child may hold almost any sheep, without danger to the animal or himself.
1088. Mr. Bakewell's Liquid for the cure of the Foot-rot in Sheep.—Dissolve four ounces, each, of vitriol and common alum, three ounces of verdigris, an ounce and a half of white mercury, and an ounce of white copperas, all finely pulverized, in a quart of white-wine vinegar.
1089. Mr. Culley's Red Salve, to cure the Rot in Sheep.—Mix four ounces of the best honey, two ounces of burnt alum, reduced to powder, and half a pound of Armenian bole, with as much train or fish oil as will convert these ingredients into the consistence of a salve. The honey must first be gradually dissolved, when the Armenian bole must be stirred in; afterwards the alum and train oil are to be added.
1090. A profitable way of fattening Pigs.—Put four pigs in a sty, for they feed best in company; but if there are too many, they are apt to quarrel: feed them moderately the first week; and thrice during the second week, mix with their barley-meal as much antimony as will lie on a shilling; and the third week, twice give them the same quantity. I need scarcely observe, it is in powder.
This purifies the blood, gives them an appetite, and makes them thrive apace.
1091. New mode of fattening Pigs.—A pig lately gained, by feeding on Indian corn, in the course of six weeks and three days, the enormous weight of fifteen stone. This mode of feeding has long been known to the Neapolitans, whose pigs are so fat, as hardly to be able to move.
GARDENING.
1092. Proper situation for a Green-House.—The aspect of a green-house may be at any point from east to west, following the course of the sun; or, it may even be a little to the north of east or west; but only a little, and the less the better, otherwise the plants will not generally thrive in it, nor will the flowers acquire their natural colors. A south aspect is to be preferred.
1093. On preserving Seeds of Plants in a state fit for Vegetation.—Seeds of plants may be preserved, for many months at least, by causing them to be packed, either in husks, pods, &c., in absorbent paper, with raisins or brown moist sugar; or, a good way, practised by gardeners, is to wrap the seed in brown paper or cartridge paper, pasted down, and then varnished over.
1094. To facilitate the Growth of Foreign Seeds.—Mr. Humboldt has found, that seeds which do not commonly germinate in our climate, or in our hot-houses, and which, of course, we cannot raise for our gardens, or hope to naturalize in our fields, become capable of germinating, when immersed for some days in a weak, oxygenized muriatic acid. This interesting discovery has already turned to advantage in several botanic gardens.
1095. To plant and make Edgings.—Edgings of daisies, thrift, violets, gentianella, &c., should be planted in February; but those of box succeed better, if planted in April or August.
1096. To train Evergreen and other Hedges.—Evergreen hedges may be clipt about the beginning, but not later than the middle of April, as by that time they will begin to grow—and it is proper that this work should be previously performed. Some content themselves with clipping but once a year, in which case the end of July, or first of August, is a better time.
In trimming these, or indeed any hedge intended as a close fence, they should be dressed up to a thin edge at top, as otherwise they are apt to get full of gaps below; and the cause is obvious, that the under part, in square or cut hedges, is too much shaded by the upper part. Now, by sloping the sides, every part of the hedge is freely exposed to the air; nor is any part over-dropped by another. A hedge, intended merely as a fence, need seldom be more than five feet high, or at most six. Screen hedges may be allowed to run to any height thought necessary for the purpose; neither is it requisite to trim them so often as fence-hedges; once a year, or in two years, may be sufficient.
In the training of any hedge, it should not be topped or shortened, till it has arrived at a full yard in height; but it may then have a little taken off the points, in order to make it bush the better, and shoot afterwards of a more regular height; the sides, however, should be trimmed from the second or third year of planting, that it may grow the more complete and close below, for therein consists the excellence of any fence. It should not in topping, at any time while in training, be much cut in, as that would make it push the stronger to the top, to the detriment of the sides. When fence-hedges outgrow their limits, they must, of course, be cut either wholly or partly down; but if they be tolerably well kept, it is seldom necessary to cut them down more than half to the ground.
1097. How to cut Box Edgings.—Box edgings should be cut about the beginning of April, or in the end of July. They should, however, be cut once a year, and should be kept two inches in breadth at bottom; being tapered up to a thin edge at top; for nothing looks so ill as a large, bushy edging, especially to a narrow walk. The use of edging is to separate the earth from the gravel; and the larger they are allowed to grow, the less effectual they become; getting the more open below, as they advance in height. Such also harbor snails, and other troublesome vermin.
1098. A sure method of curing Gravel-Walks.—Three parts pond-water to one of brine, from the salting-tub in a family, poured with a watering-pot upon gravel-walks, will not only kill the moss upon them, but drive away the worms which make so many holes in them, and also prevent weeds springing up. This a gentleman lately tried, who has several gravel-walks in a grove near his house. Since he moistened his walks with brine—which is now four years ago—they are incommoded neither by moss, weeds, nor worms. Every autumn he causes them to be well watered with the brine and pond-water, during a whole week, to prevent moss; and a week in the spring, to guard against weeds and worms; besides giving them a sprinkling every now and then, in the summer-season, when they seem to want it.
1099. Proper method of laying Carnations.—In summer, towards the latter-end of June, or any time in July or beginning of August, when the shoots of the year are advanced to a proper growth, being from four, five, or six, to seven or eight inches long, which are to be laid as they grow on the plants, and to remain affixed thereto till rooted on the ground.
Thus far observed, begin the work by first clearing away all weeds about the plants, and loosen the earth a little around them, and if the surface is low, add some mould thereto sufficient to raise it high enough to receive the layers easily; then begin laying the shoots one by one; strip off the lower leaves so as to have some inches of a clear shoot below; and trim the top leaves shorter and even, and then slit or gash the shoot on the under side; in doing which, fix on a joint about the middle of the shoot underneath, and with your sharp knife cut half through the joint, and slanting upwards; so as to slit the shoot up the middle half an inch, or but little more; which done, directly lay it, by bending it down to the earth with the gash or slit part open, making an opening in the earth, and peg it down with one or two of the small-hooked sticks, and earth over the body of the layer an inch or two deep, still keeping the slit open and the top raised gently upright, pressing the earth moderately upon them; and in this manner proceed with laying all the shoots on each plant; and when all are laid, give a gentle watering to settle the earth close about the layers, and repeat it frequently in dry weather.
They will soon emit roots at the gash or slit part, generally at the bottom of the tongue, and in five or six weeks will often be rooted fit for separating and planting off from the parent, so that when they have been about five, six, or seven weeks laid, you will examine the progress they have made in rooting, by opening the earth gently about some of the layers; and as soon as they appear to be tolerably rooted, let them be cut off from the old plant with a sharp knife, in order to be timely planted out in nursery beds, that they may root more abundantly, and get due strength before winter; observing, in cutting them off from the mother plant, to open the ground so as to take them up with all the roots they have made, and cut them clean off beyond the gash; afterwards trim off any naked woody part or bottom, but preserve all the roots, and trim the long tops a little, then plant them in nursery rows, six inches asunder, or you may prick some in small pots, one layer in each, giving water directly at planting, and repeat it often in dry weather till they take good root, and grow freely, keeping them clean from weeds.
Those in the nursery beds will, by October, be good strong plants. The choicest sorts may then be planted in pots, to move under occasional shelter in time of severe frost, and for which purpose, either use small pots (32) to contain them all winter, or plant them in large pots (24 or 16) to remain to flower, observing to take them up out of the nursery beds for potting, &c., with a garden trowel, each layer with a good ball of earth about the roots; and having the pots ready, place a shell over the holes at bottom, and put some good light rich earth therein; plant one layer with its ball about the roots entire in each pot, fill up with more earth, and give some water; you may also at the same time plant some of the more ordinary or common sorts into flower-borders or beds, to stand the full weather all the year; but the choicer sorts in the pots may, in November, be placed close together, either in a garden-frame, to have occasional protection of the glasses, or mats, in severe frost, and have the full air in all open weather and mild days, or may be plunged in a raised bed of any dry compost, raised some inches above the common level, and arched over with hoop arches, in order to be protected with occasional covering of garden mats when hard frosts prevail; but in either method, be sure to expose them fully in all open weather, as aforesaid.
In the spring, such as have remained all winter in small pots should, in February or early in March, be turned out with the ball of earth about the root, and planted into larger pots, to remain for flowering, giving proper waterings; and those which were potted at once into larger pots in autumn should now have the earth stirred at top, taking out some, and fill up with fresh good earth, and give a little water.
The layers planted in the common borders of the pleasure and flower garden require no other care than keeping them clean from weeds, and tying up the flower stalks to sticks when they are advanced long enough to require support.
1100. To remove Herbs and Flowers in the Summer.—If you have occasion to transplant in the summer season, let it be in the evening after the heat is past; plant and water the same immediately, and there will be no danger from the heat next day; but be careful, in digging up the earth, you do not break any of the young shoots, as the sap will exude out of the same to the great danger of the plants.
1101. New Method of raising Cucumbers.—From the best seed that can be got of the common prickly cucumber, raise plants on a moderate hot-bed, not hurrying them too much in their growth. In May, when the danger of the frost is nearly over, familiarize the plants, by degrees, to the air, and towards the latter end of the month plant them in the open ground against a south wall. Take care not to give them too much water, as that will injure the fruit. When they have run up about five feet, they will send forth blossoms, and the fruit will begin to show itself soon after. The flesh of cucumbers raised in this manner will be thicker and firmer, and the flavor vastly more delicious, than those raised from the same seed, but planted in the ordinary way, and the runners suffered to trail on the ground. Though a south wall in most gardens, is too much appropriated to other things, to give room for cucumbers in general, yet in every garden a few plants may be so trained by way of rarity, and to save seed, which is found to be greatly improved by this method, so as to produce much better cucumbers in the common way of raising them. One or two plants, so raised, will supply a sufficient quantity of seed for a large garden.
Laying a cucumber or melon-bed with tiles, is also of particular service in improving the fruit, and giving it a proper flavor.
1102. To prevent the irregular Growth of Melons.—It is well known that melons frequently, in certain situations, lose their circular form, and grow larger on one side than the other, and that those misshapen fruits are always bad. To remedy this, take a small forked stick, in proportion to the size of the melon, and thrust it in the ground as nearly as possible to the tail of the fruit, taking the precaution to lay a little moss between the two prongs, and suspend the melon to this fork. In a few days the melon will resume its form, when the fork may be removed, and the operation is finished. The quality of the fruit remains unchanged.
1103. Easy Method of producing Mushrooms.—If the water wherein mushrooms have been steeped or washed be poured upon an old bed, or if the broken parts of mushrooms be strewed thereon, there will speedily arise great numbers.
1104. To obtain a good Crop of Onions.—In order to obtain a good crop of onions, it is proper to sow at different seasons, viz., in light soils, in August, January, or early in February; and in heavy wet soils, in March, or early in April. Onions, however, should not be sown in January, unless the ground be in a dry state, which is not often the case at so early a period of the season; but if so, advantage should be taken of it.
1105. The Advantage of sowing Peas in Circles instead of straight Rows.—It is a great error in those persons who sow the rows of tall-growing peas close together. It is much better in all those sorts, which grow six or eight feet high, to have only one row, and then to 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 peas will not be drawn up so much, be stronger, will flower much nearer to the ground, and in wet weather can be more easily gathered without wetting you.
But instead of sowing peas in straight rows, if you will form the ground into circles of three feet diameter, with a space of two feet between each circle, in a row thirty feet long, you will have six circles of peas, each nine feet, in all fifty-four feet of peas, instead of thirty, on the same extent of ground.
If you want more than one row of circles, leave a bed of ten or twelve feet before you begin another.
For the very tall sorts, four feet circles will afford more room for the roots to grow in, and care must be taken, by applying some tender twigs, or strings, to prevent the circles from joining each other.
This method is equally applicable for scarlet-beans.
1106. To raise Peas in Autumn, and to prevent Mice from eating them when sown.—The purple-flowered peas are found to answer best for a late crop in autumn, as they are not so liable to be mildewed as many of the other sorts, and will continue flowering till the frost stops them.
Those peas may be sown in July, August, or so late as the first week in September, if sown in a warm, sheltered situation, and in a soil inclining to sand.
Soak the peas in warm milk, and after you have drawn the drills, water them before you sow the peas; it is best to sow them towards the evening. If the autumn should prove very dry, they will require frequent watering.
When peas are sown before winter, or early in spring, they are very apt to be eaten by mice.
To prevent this, soak the peas for a day or two in train oil before you sow them, which will encourage their vegetation, and render them so obnoxious to the mice, that they will not eat them.
1107. Method of cultivating Radishes for Salad, so as to have them ready at all seasons of the year.—Take seeds of the common radish, and lay them in rain-water to steep for twenty-four hours; then put them quite wet into a small linen bag, well tied at the mouth with packthread. If you have steeped a large quantity of seeds, you may divide them into several bags. Then expose the bags in a place where they will receive the greatest heat of the sun, for about twenty-four hours, at the end of which time the seed will begin to grow, and you may then sow it in the usual manner, in earth well exposed to the heat of the sun. Prepare two small tubs to cover each other exactly. These may be easily provided, by sawing a small cask through the middle, and they will serve in winter; in summer one will be sufficient for each kind of earth that has been sown. As soon as you have sown your seeds you must cover them with your tub, and at the end of three days you will find radishes of the size and thickness of young lettuces, having at their extremities two small round leaves, rising from the earth, of a reddish color. These radishes, cut or pulled up, will be excellent, if mixed with salad, and they have a much more delicate taste than the common radishes which are eaten with salt.
By taking the following precautions, you may have them in the winter, and even during the hardest frosts: After having steeped the seeds in warm water, and exposed them to the sun, as already directed, or in a place sufficiently hot to make them shoot forth, warm the two tubs; fill one of them with earth well dunged; sow your seeds, thus prepared, in one of them, and cover it with the other tub; you must then be careful to sprinkle it with warm water as often as may be necessary. Then carry the two tubs closely joined, taking care they cover each other, into a warm vault, or cellar, and at the end of fifteen days you may gather a fine salad.
1108. To preserve Strawberry Plants from the Heat of the Sun, &c.—Sir Joseph Banks, from a variety of experiments, and the experience of many years, recommends a general revival of the now almost obsolete practice of laying straw under strawberry-plants, when the fruit begins to swell; by which means the roots are shaded from the sun, the waste of moisture by evaporation prevented, the leaning fruit kept from damage by resting on the ground, particularly in wet weather, and much labor in watering saved. Twenty trusses of long straw are sufficient for 1800 feet of plants.
1109. Directions for managing Strawberries in Summer.—On the management of strawberries in June and July, the future prosperity of them greatly depends; and if each plant has not been kept separate, by cutting off the runners, they will be in a state of confusion, and you will find three different sorts of plants.
1. Old plants, whose roots are turned black, hard, and woody.
2. Young plants, not strong enough to flower.
3. Flowering plants, which ought only to be there, and perhaps not many of them.
Before the time of flowering is quite over, examine them, and pull up every old plant which has not flowered; for, if once they have omitted to flower, you may depend upon it they never will produce any after, being too old, and past bearing; but to be fully convinced, leave two or three, set a stick to them, and observe them the next year.
If the young plants, runners of last year, be too thick, take some of them away, and do not leave them nearer than a foot of the scarlet, alpines, and wood, and fifteen or sixteen inches of all the larger sorts; and in the first rainy weather in July or August, take them all up, and make a fresh plantation with them, and they will be very strong plants for flowering next year.
Old beds, even if the plants be kept single at their proper distance, examine, and pull all the old plants which have not flowered.
When the fruit is nearly all gathered, examine them again, and cut off the runners; but if you want to make a fresh plantation, leave some of the two first, and cut off all the rest. Then stir up the ground with a trowel, or three-pronged fork, and in August they will be fit to transplant.
If you have omitted in July, do not fail in August, that the runners may make good roots, to be transplanted in September; for, if later, the worms will draw them out of the ground, and the frost afterwards will prevent them from striking root; the consequence of which is, their not flowering the next spring; and you will lose a year.
1110. To cultivate the common Garden Rhubarb.—It is not enough to give it depth of good soil, but it must be watered in drought; and in winter must be well covered with straw or dung. If this is attended to, your rhubarb will be solid when taken out of the ground; and your kitchen, if a warm one, will soon fit it for use.
1111. Method of cultivating and curing Turkey Rhubarb from Seed.—The seed should be sown about the beginning of February, on a bed of good soil, (if rather sandy, the better) exposed to an east or west aspect in preference to the south; a full sun being prejudicial to the vegetation of the seeds, and to the plants whilst young.
The seeds are best sown moderately thick, (broad cast) treading them regularly in, as is usual with parsnips and other light seeds, and then raking the ground smooth. When the season is wet, make a bed for sowing the rhubarb seeds upon, about two feet thick, with new dung from the stable, covering it near one foot thick with good soil. The intent of this bed is not for the sake of warmth, but solely to prevent the rising of earth-worms, which in a moist season will frequently destroy the young crop.
If the seed is good, the plants often rise too thick; if so, when they have attained six leaves, they should be taken up carefully, (where too close), leaving the standing crop eight or ten inches apart: those taken up may be planted at the same distance in a fresh spot of ground, in order to furnish other plantations. When the plants in general are grown to the size that cabbage-plants are usually set out for a standing crop, they are best planted where they are to remain, in beds four feet wide, one row along the middle of the bed, leaving two yards' distance between the plants, allowing an alley between the beds about a foot wide, for conveniency of weeding the plants.
In the autumn, when the decayed leaves are removed, if the shoveling of the alleys is thrown over the crowns of the plants, it will be found of service.
1112. Cultivation of Turkey Rhubarb, by offsets.—Slip off several offsets from the heads of large plants; set them with a dibble about a foot apart, in order to remove them into other beds; and, in the autumn, they will be in a thriving state.
1113. Method of curing Rhubarb.—The plants may be taken up, either early in the spring or in autumn, when the leaves are decayed, in dry weather, if possible: when the roots are to be cleared from dirt, (without washing,) let them be cut into pieces, and, with a sharp knife, freed from the outer coat, and exposed to the sun and air for a few days, to render the outside a little dry.
In order to accelerate the curing of the largest pieces, a hole may be scooped out with a pen-knife; these and the smaller parts are then to be strung on packthread, and hung up in a warm room, where it is to remain till perfectly dry. Each piece may be rendered more sightly by a common file, fixing it in a small vice during that operation; afterwards rub over it a very fine powder, which the small roots furnish in beautiful perfection, for this and every other purpose where rhubarb is required.
An easier and simpler method of drying rhubarb is, after cutting the root into handsome pieces, to wrap up each separately, in one or more pieces of whitish-brown paper, and then to place them on the hob of a common Bath stove. Lemon and orange-peel dry beautifully in this way.
1114. Proper Soil for the culture of Turnips.—Sandy loams, in good heart, are most favorable to their growth, though they will thrive well on strong loams, if they are not wet; but on clayey, thin, or wet soils, they are not worth cultivating; for though a good crop may be raised on such ground, when well prepared and dunged, more damage is done by taking off the turnips in winter, in poaching the soil, than the value of the crop will repay.
1115. Preservation of Succulent Plants.—Green succulent plants are better preserved after a momentary immersion in boiling water, than otherwise. This practice has been successfully used in the preservation of cabbage and other plants, dried for keeping; it destroys the vegetable life at once, and, in a great degree, prevents that decay which otherwise attends them.
1116. Various useful properties of Tobacco to Gardeners.—Tobacco is employed for so many different uses, that there is no person possessed of a garden but will find both pleasure and profit in the cultivation of it, especially as it is now at such a high price. The seed is very cheap, and may be procured of most nurserymen, and will answer the same end as the foreign for most purposes, and considerably cheaper.
Uses to which it may be applied.—1. To florists, for two elegant annual plants to decorate the borders of the flower-garden; or, on account of their height, to fill up vacant places in the shrubberies; or, when put into pots, they will be very ornamental in the green-house during the winter.
2. Kitchen-gardeners would in a few days lose their crops of melons, if not immediately fumigated with tobacco-smoke, when attacked by the red spider; and it is useful to destroy the black flies on cucumbers in frames.
3. Fruit-gardeners. When peach and nectarine-trees have their leaves curled up, and the shoots covered with smother-flies; or, the cherry-trees have the ends of the shoots infested with the black dolphin-fly; canvas, pack-sheets, or doubled mats, nailed before them, and frequently fumigated under them, will destroy those insects.
4. Forcing-gardeners, who raise roses and kidney-beans in stoves, can soon destroy the green flies which cover the stalks and buds of roses, and the insects which appear like a mildew on kidney-beans, by the assistance of the fumigating bellows.
5. Nurserymen. When the young shoots of standard cherry-trees, or any other trees, are covered with the black dolphin-flies, an infusion is made with the leaves and stalks of tobacco; a quantity is put into an earthen pan, or small, oblong wooden trough; one person holds this up, whilst another gently bends the top of each tree, and lets the branches remain about a minute in the liquor, which destroys them.
6. Graziers, when their sheep are infected with the scab, find relief from making a sheep-water with an infusion of the leaves and stalks. Moles, when only a few hills are at first observed, may probably be soon driven out of the ground, by fumigating their holes.
7. Herb tobacco is also greatly improved by having some of the leaves, when dried, cut with a pair of scissors, and mixed with the herbs in any quantity you may think proper, according to the strength you require, and save you the expense of buying tobacco.
The herbs generally used for this purpose are colt's-foot and wood betony-leaves; the leaves and flowers of lavender, rosemary, thyme, and some others of the like nature.
THE ORCHARD.
1117. To prevent Blossom and Fruit-trees from being damaged by early Spring Frost.—If a rope (a hempen one, it is presumed) be introduced among the branches of a fruit-tree in blossom, and the end of it brought down, so as to terminate in a bucket of water; and, should a slight frost take place in the night-time, in that case the tree will not be affected by the frost; but a film of ice, of considerable thickness, will be formed on the surface of the bucket in which the rope's-end is immersed, although it has often happened that another bucket of water, placed beside it for the sake of experiment, has had no ice at all upon it.
1118. Chinese mode of propagating Fruit-trees.—The ingenious people of China have a common method of propagating several kinds of fruit-trees, which of late years has been practised with success in Bengal. The method is simply this:—They strip a ring of bark, about an inch in width, from a bearing branch, surround the place with a ball of fat earth, or loam, bound fast to the branch with a piece of matting: over this they suspend a pot or horn, with water, having a small hole in the bottom just sufficient to let the water drop, in order to keep the earth constantly moist. The branch throws new roots into the earth just above the place where the ring of bark was stripped off. The operation is performed in the spring, and the branch is sawed off and put into the ground at the fall of the leaf. The following year it will bear fruit.
1119. To improve Fruit-trees by attention to the Color of the Soil.—The color and also the quality of soils have an effect on the color and flavor of fruits—even on the color of many flowers. The effects of the color of soils on that of fruits, are most perceptible on the delicate kinds, such as grapes, peaches, &c.; but to a nice observer, it extends in a greater or less degree to all fruits. For instance, if two black Hamburgh grapes, made from the cuttings of the same plant, shall be planted, the one in a dry, hazelly loam, and the other in a moist, black earth, the fruit of the one will be brown, or of a grizzly color, and the other very dark red or black; and the grape will be more juicy, though better in flavor, than the other grown in a dryer soil.
1120. To increase the Growth in Trees.—It may be depended upon as a fact, that by occasionally washing the stems of trees, their growth will be greatly increased; for several recent experiments have proved, that all the ingredients of vegetation united, which are received from the roots, stem, branches, and leaves of a mossy and dirty tree, do not produce half the increase either in wood or fruit, that another gains whose stem is clean. It is clearly obvious, that proper nourishment cannot be received from rain, for the dirty stem will retain the moisture longer than when clean; and the moss and dirt will absorb the finest parts of the dew, and likewise act as a screen, by depriving the tree of that share of sun and air which it requires.
A common scrubbing-brush and clean water is all that is necessary, only care must be observed not to injure the bark.
1121. To prevent Hares and Rabbits from Barking young Plantations.—Hares, rabbits, and rats, have a natural antipathy to tar; but tar, though fluid, contracts, when exposed to the sun and air for a time, a great dryness and a very binding quality; and if applied to trees in its natural state, will occasion them to be bark-bound. To remove this difficulty, tar is of so strong a savor, that a small quantity mixed with other things, in their nature open and loose, will give the whole mixture such a degree of its own taste and smell, as will prevent hares, &c., touching what it is applied to.
Take any quantity of tar, and six or seven times as much grease, stirring and mixing them well together; with this composition brush the stems of young trees, as high as hares, &c., can reach; and it will effectually prevent their being barked.
1122. Bad effects of Iron Nails, &c., on Fruit-trees, or mischievous effects of Iron Nails, in conjunction with Branches of Fruit-trees.—It often happens that some of the limbs of fruit-trees, trained against a wall, are blighted and die, while others remain in a healthy and flourishing state. This has been hitherto erroneously attributed to the effects of lightning; but, from closer observation, and from several experiments, it has been found to arise from the corroding effects of the rust of the nails and cramps with which trees in this situation are fastened. To avoid this inconvenience, therefore, it requires only to be careful in preventing the iron from coming in contact with the bark of the trees.
1123. To destroy Moss on Trees.—Remove it with a hard scrubbing-brush, in February and March, and wash the trees with cow-dung, urine, and soap-suds.
1124. Necessity of taking off superfluous Suckers from Shrubs.—Many flowering shrubs put out strong suckers from the root, such as lilacs, syringa, and some of the kinds of roses, which take greatly from the strength of the mother-plant; and which, if not wanted for the purpose of planting next season, should be twisted off, or otherwise destroyed.
1125. To cure the Disease in Apple-trees.—Brush off the white down, clear off the red stain underneath it, and anoint the places infected with a liquid mixture of train-oil and Scotch-snuff.
1126. To cure the Canker in Trees.—Cut them off to the quick, and apply a piece of sound bark from any other tree, and bind it on with a flannel roller. Cut off the canker, and a new shoot will grow strong, but in a year or two you will find it cankered.
1127. A method of curing Fruit-trees infected with an Easterly Blight.—Where valuable fruit-trees are infected with this blight, they may, with little trouble and expense be in a short time cured, by fumigating them with brimstone strewed on lighted charcoal; this effectually kills it; but the workman must observe to get to windward of the trees, as the fumes, both of brimstone and charcoal, are very offensive and pernicious.
Mr. Miller recommends washing and sprinkling the blighted trees from time to time, with common water, (that is, such as hath not had anything steeped in it,) and the sooner that is performed, (whenever we apprehend danger,) the better; and if the young and tender shoots seem to be much infected, wash them with a woollen cloth, so as to clear them, if possible, from all glutinous matter, that their respiration and perspiration may not be obstructed; and if some broad, flat pans, or tubs, are placed near the trees, it will keep their tender parts in a ductile state, and greatly help them; but whenever this operation of washing the trees is performed, it should be early in the day, that the moisture may be exhaled before the cold of the night comes on, especially if the nights are frosty; nor should it be done when the sun shines very hot upon the wall, which would be subject to scorch up the tender blossom.
1128. Experienced method of healing Wounds in Trees.—This method consists in making a varnish of common linseed oil, rendered very drying, by boiling it, for the space of an hour, with an ounce of litharge to each pound of oil, mixed with calcined bones, pulverized and sifted, to the consistence of an almost liquid paste. With this paste the wounds of trees are to be covered, by means of a brush, after the bark and other substance have been pared, so as to render the whole as smooth and even as possible. The varnish must be applied in dry weather, in order that it may attach itself properly.
1129. Composition for healing Wounds in Trees.—Take of dry, pounded chalk, three measures; add of common vegetable tar, one measure; mix them thoroughly, and boil them, with a low heat, till the composition becomes of the consistency of bees'-wax: it may be preserved for use, in this state, for any length of time. If chalk cannot conveniently be got, dry brick-dust may be substituted.
Application.—After the broken or decayed limb has been sawed off, the whole of the saw-cut must be very carefully pared away, and the rough edges of the bark, in particular must be made quite smooth; the doing of this properly is of great consequence; then lay on the above composition, hot, about the thickness of half-a-dollar, over the wounded place, and over the edges of the surrounding bark; it should be spread with a hot trowel.
1130. To prune Wall Fruit.—Cut off all fresh shoots, however fair they may appear to the eye, that will not, without much bending, be well placed to the wall; for if any branch happen to be twisted or bruised in the bending or turning (which you may not easily perceive), although it may grow and prosper for the present, yet it will decay in time, and the sap or gum will issue from that place.
1131. To prune Vines to Advantage.—In pruning vines, leave some new branches every year, and take away (if too many) some of the old, which will be of great advantage to the tree, and much increase the quantity of fruit.
When you trim your vine, leave two knots, and cut them off the next time; for, usually, the two buds yield a bunch of grapes. Vines, thus pruned, have been known to bear abundantly, whereas others that have been cut close to please the eye, have been almost barren of fruit.
1132. The most proper Times when Leaves of Trees ought to be collected for pharmaceutical and economical Purposes.—It is at that period when the plant is in full flower, that the leaves possess their full virtue. They drop off when their particular life has terminated.
TIMBER.
1133. To promote the Growth of Forest-trees.—It is highly to be censured, the neglect of permitting ivy-twines, which grow to forest-trees, to remain attached to them. Their roots entering into the bark, rob the trees of much of their nourishment; they in a manner strangle their supporters, by impeding the circulation of their juices, and in time destroy the trees. They should be torn up by the roots, for, if any part of them adhere to the tree, they will spread, as they obtain nourishment by their adhering roots.
1134. White-washing the Trunks of Trees, recommended.—Being one day upon a visit (observes Mr. Northmore, who recommends this experiment) at my friend's near Yarmouth, in the Isle of Wight, I remarked that several of the trunks of trees in his orchard had been covered with whitewash; upon inquiring the reason, he replied, that he had done it with a view to keep off the hares, and other animals, and that it was attended not only with that good effect, but several others, for it made the rind smooth and compact, by closing up the cracks; it entirely destroyed the moss; and as the rains washed off the lime, it manured the roots. These several advantages, derived from so simple a practice, deserve to be more generally known. The white-wash is made in the usual manner with lime, and may be applied twice, or oftener, if necessary.
1135. To cure Wounds in Trees.—Wounds in trees are best cured by covering them with a coat of common lead paint without turpentine (for turpentine is poison to vegetation) in the sun, on a fine dry day.
1136. Trees for Shade, Nursery Trees, &c.—Forest Trees selected for shade should be of kinds not liable to be attacked by worms and insects. The rock or sugar maple is always remarkably free from worms, and it makes the most dense and beautiful shade of all our deciduous trees. This is becoming a very popular tree, and we hope to see it extensively propagated. There is no more risk in transplanting this than the elm, and the limbs are not liable to be broken by the winds and snow.
We believe it is generally admitted that transplanted trees succeed best when their early growth has been in soil similar to that for which they are destined to be placed permanently. If raised in such a soil, and transplanted to that which is thin and poor, they seem to receive a shock from which with difficulty they recover. As a gentleman once remarked, it is like feeding a calf with all the milk he will take till he is six months old, and then suddenly turning him off to live on a short pasture.
Large trees may be as successfully planted as small ones. The mode and result of an experiment made by Messrs. Pomeroy and Dutton, of Utica, are thus given: Those gentlemen transplanted trees, comprising maples, elm, beech, &c., some thirty feet in height, which were transplanted without being shorn of any of their branches. The process of removal was as follows:—In the fall, before the frost, a trench was dug around the trees selected, from ten to fifteen feet in diameter, and the roots severed. In the winter when the ground had become solid from freezing, the trees were pulled out by the aid of oxen and levers, with the mass of earth firmly attached to the roots. They were then transported erect on a strong sled, built for the purpose, and set out.
These trees grew in open land, a mile and a half from the city. They put on their foliage last spring, as if wholly unconscious that they were not still in their native soil, and the enterprising gentlemen who undertook this unusual course, are rewarded with shade trees which by the old practice it would have required twenty years to produce.
Summer pruning is sometimes necessary in order to give form and proper direction to nursery trees, and standard trees may need thinning, in order to expose the fruit to light and air; but in pruning trees thoroughly, particularly if large limbs are to be cut off, it is best to defer the business till the last of July, August, or the former part of September.
Late in summer and early in autumn, the bark does not peel as it does early in the summer, when it often starts from the tree which is injured by going into trees and stepping on limbs with hard shoes. The sap will ooze out of some trees early in summer, which not only injures them generally, but it often causes the wounded part to decay.
But in late pruning, the wood, when the branch is cut off, becomes sound and well seasoned; and though it may not heal over so readily as when cut early in summer or spring, it remains in a healthy state.
1137. To preserve Wood in Damp Situations.—Two coats of the following preparation are to be applied, after which the wood is subject to no deterioration whatever from humidity. Twelve pounds of resin are to be beaten in a mortar, to which three pounds of sulphur and twelve pints of whale oil are to be added. This mixture is to be melted over the fire, and stirred during the operation. Ochre, reduced to an impalpable powder, by triturating it with oil, may then be combined in the proportion necessary to give either a lighter or a darker color to the material. The first coat should be put on lightly, having been previously heated; the second may be applied in two or three days, and a third after an equal interval, if from the peculiar dampness of the situation it should be judged expedient.
Remark.—It is highly probable (though the experiment has not been tried) that this composition would be improved by adding a small portion of the liquid leather, which is now commonly sold in London, being the refuse of the purification of fish oil by tar.
Where the work will bear the expense, and is not exposed to a heat of more than 130 degrees of Fahrenheit, the best composition is the following: Equal parts of turpentine (the fluid resin, not the essential oil), bees'-wax, black resin and maltha, or coal tar, boiled together till they cease to rise—that is, till the white cream or scum proceeding from the separation of the essential oil disappears. Apply it warm with a turpentine brush—two or three coats, to cover the cracks or pores left by the brush. This lute was first proposed by Chaptal, without the addition of the coal tar, which is a great improvement. A piece of wood covered with three coats of it, and immersed for two years in water, was found to be quite dry on cutting off the lute.
Take care not to allow water to fall into the pan, as it would make the hot materials explode. If the composition catch fire, put on the cover directly, and remove the pan for an instant from the fire.
1138. Cause and Prevention of the Dry Rot.—The cause of the dry rot in wood is moisture; and to prevent well-dried timber from decaying above or under ground, is done by charring it well.
1139. Cure for the Dry Rot in Timber, so as to make it indestructible by Water.—Melt twelve ounces of resin in an iron pot; add three gallons of train oil, and three or four rolls of brimstone; and when the brimstone and resin are melted and become thin, add as much Spanish brown, or red and yellow ochre, or any other color required, first ground fine with the same oil, as will give the whole a shade of the depth preferred; then lay it on with a brush as hot and thin as possible; some time after the first coat is dried, give it a second. This preparation will preserve planks for ages, and keep the weather from driving through brick work.
1140. Method of trying the Goodness of Timber for Ship-building, used in the Arsenal at Vienna.—One person applies his ear to the centre of one end of the trunk, while another, with a key, hits the other end with a gentle stroke. If the tree be sound and good, the stroke will be distinctly heard at the other end, though the tree should be a hundred feet or more in length.
1141. To season and render Green Timber immediately fit for use.—After the timber has been cut down from the stock, take off, immediately, both the outer bark and also the inner rind, clean to the wood; cut it up to the different purposes for which it may be wanted, whether scantlings for roofings, joists, planks, deals, or the like. After preparing them for their proper use, steep them in lime-water a few days, or pay them over with a little of the lime, along with the water. The hotter it is used after the lime is slaked, so much the better. Lime-water is made by slaking the lime-shells in water. This will answer equally well for round trees. The author of this method says, he has been, for a great number of years past, used to take down and repair both ancient and modern buildings, in which a good deal of Scots fir had been used, but he never found one inch either rotten or worm-eaten, where it was in the least connected with lime, and kept dry; on the contrary, he found it more hard and firm than when first used.
BUILDING.
1142. Artificial Stone Floors and Coverings for Houses, as made in some parts of Russia.—The floors and coverings of houses, in some parts of South Russia, are made in the following manner:—For a floor, let the ground be made even, and some stones of any shape be put on, and, with a heavy wooden rammer, force or beat the stones into the ground, continuing to beat the floor till it become quite even, and incapable of receiving any farther impression. Then run lime, immediately after it has been slaked, through a fine sieve, as expeditiously as possible, because exposure to the air weakens the lime. Mix two parts of coarse sand, or washed gravel, (for there must be no earth in it,) with one part of lime-powder, and wet them with bullocks' blood; so little moist, however, as merely to prevent the lime from blowing away in powder; in short, the less moist, the better. Spread it on the floor, and, without a moment's loss of time, let several men be ready, with large beetles, to beat the mixture, which will become more and more moist by the excessive beating requisite. Then put on it some of the dry sand and lime, mixed, and beat it till like a stone. If required to be very fine, take for the next layer finely-sifted lime, with about a tenth part of rye-flour, and a little ox-blood; beat it till it becomes a very stiff mortar, and then smooth it with a trowel. The next day, again smooth it with a trowel; and so continue to do, daily, till it be entirely dry. When it is quite dry and hard, rub it over with fresh ox-blood, taking off all which it will not imbibe. No wet will penetrate this composition, which, however, after some time, is often painted with oil-colors. The whole floor appears as a single stone, and nothing will affect it. The drier it is used, the better, provided that, with much beating, it becomes like a very stiff mortar, and evidently forms a compact body. On flat tops of houses, the beetle, or rammers' ends, must be smaller, to prevent the rebounding of the boards and timber, which would crack the cement; but, when the thickness of a foot is laid on, it will beat more firmly. A thin coating of ox-blood, flour, and lime, being beat in large, strong, wooden troughs, or mortar, till it can be spread with a trowel, may be used without beating it again on the floor or house-top; but it must be very stiff, and used most expeditiously. Even frost will not affect it. With this composition, artificial stone may be made, rammed very hard into strong wooden frames of the required shape; particularly to turn arches for buildings of rammed earth. It is well known, that earth which is not too argillaceous, with only the moisture it has when fresh dug, on being rammed between frames of wood, till the rammer will no longer impress it, makes external walls; but a mass as hard as stone may be made with a little lime added to sand, horse-dung, and ox-blood. The more the lime is beaten, the moister it becomes; and it must contain so much moisture as to become, by beating, a solid mass, adhering in all its parts, and not remain crumbling, that will properly set as mortar. If there be too little moisture at first, it will remain a powder; if there be too much, it will become a soft mortar. Lime is of no use, mixed with clay or vegetable earths; which, if well beaten, are stronger without it.
1143. To cure Damp Walls.—Boil two quarts of tar, with two ounces of kitchen-grease, for a quarter of an hour, in an iron pot. Add some of this tar to a mixture of slaked lime and powdered glass, which have passed through a flour-sieve, and been completely dried over the fire in an iron pot, in the proportion of two parts of lime and one of glass, till the mixture becomes of the consistence of thin plaster. The cement must be used immediately after being mixed, and therefore it is proper not to mix more of it than will coat one square foot of wall, since it quickly becomes too hard for use; and care must be taken to prevent any moisture from mixing with the cement. For a wall merely damp, a coating one-eighth of an inch thick is sufficient; but if the wall is wet, there must be a second coat. Plaster made of lime, hair, and plaster of Paris, may afterwards be laid on as a cement. The cement above described will unite the parts of Portland stone or marble, so as to make them as durable as they were prior to the fracture.
1144. To increase the Durability of Tiles for covering Buildings.—The following composition has been found to be of extraordinary durability, as a glazing or varnish for tiles. No sort of weather, even for a considerable length of time, has had any effect upon it. It prevents that absorption of water, by which common tiles are rendered liable to crumble into dust, hinders the shivering of tiles, and gives to red bricks a soft lustre, by which their appearance is much improved.
Over a weak fire heat a bottle of linseed oil, with an ounce of litharge, and a small portion of minium, till such time as a feather, used in stirring it, shall be burnt to the degree of being easily rubbed to powder between the fingers. Then take off the varnish, let it cool, clarify it from any impurities which may have fallen to the bottom, and heat it again. Having, in the mean time, melted from three to four ounces of pitch, mix this with the warm varnish. The specific gravity of the pitch hinders it from mingling thoroughly with the varnish, though it even remain so long upon the fire as to be evaporated to considerable thickness. It is not till the varnish be cooled, nearly to the consistency of common syrup, that this effect takes place in the requisite degree. If it be too thick, let hot varnish be added, to bring it to the proper consistency; if it be too thin, add melted pitch. Next, put in as much brick-dust as the mixture can receive, without being made too thick for convenient use. The finer the brick-dust, and the easier it is to be moved with the point of a pencil, so much the fitter will it be to fill up the chinks and unevenness of the bricks, and, as it were, to incorporate itself with their substance. Prepare the brick-dust in the following manner:—Take a certain number of pieces of good brick, beat them into dust, and sift the dust in a hair-sieve. Then, to improve its fineness, rub it on a stone with water, dry it, and mix it with the varnish in the necessary proportion. If the brick-dust be naturally of too dark a color, a portion of some that is brighter may be added, to make the color clear.
It is to be laid on the tiles in the same manner in which oil-colors in general are put upon the substances on which they are applied. The composition must be heated from time to time, when it is to be used.
1145. Economical Method of employing Tiles for the Roofs of Houses.—A French architect (M. Castala) has invented a new method of employing tiles for the roofs of houses, so as to save one half of the quantity usually employed for that purpose. The tiles are made of a square instead of an oblong form; and the hook that fastens them is at one of the angles, so that, when fastened to the laths, they hang down diagonally, and every tile is covered one-fifth part on two sides by the superior row.
1146. To improve Chimney Fire-places, and increase the Heat, by a proper attention to the Setting of Stoves, Grates, &c.—The best materials for setting stoves or grates are fire-stone and common bricks and mortar. Both materials are fortunately very cheap. When bricks are used, they should be covered with a thin coating of plaster, which, when it is dry, should be white-washed. The fire-stone should likewise be white-washed when that is used; and every part of the fire-place, which is not exposed to being soiled and made black by the smoke, should be kept as white and clear as possible. As white reflects more heat, as well as more light, than any other color, it ought always to be preferred for the inside of a chimney fire-place; and black, which reflects neither light nor heat, should be more avoided.
1147. To cure Smoky Chimneys.—Put on the top of the chimney a box, in each of whose sides is a door hanging on hinges, and kept open by a thin iron rod running from one to the other, and fastened by a ring in each end to a staple. When there is no wind, these doors are at rest, and each forms an angle of 45 degrees, which is decreased on the windward side in proportion to the force of the wind, and increased in the same ratio on the leeward side. If the wind be very strong, the door opposed to the wind becomes close, while the opposite one is opened as wide as it can be. If the wind strikes the corner of the box, it shuts two doors and opens their opposites. This scheme has been tried with success in a chimney which always filled the room with smoke, but which, since adopted, has never smoked the room at all. The expense is trifling, and the apparatus simple.
1148. A Preparation to preserve Wood from catching Fire, and to preserve it from Decay.—A member of the Royal Academy at Stockholm says, in the memoirs of that academy, "Having been within these few years to visit the alum mines of Loswers, in the province of Calmar, I took notice of some attempts made to burn the old staves of tubs and pails that had been used for the alum works. For this purpose they were thrown into the furnace, but those pieces of wood which had been penetrated by the alum did not burn, though they remained for a long time in the fire, where they only became red; however, at last they were consumed by the intenseness of the heat, but they emitted no flame."
He concludes, from this experiment, that wood, or timber, for the purpose of building, may be secured against the action of fire, by letting it remain for some time in water, wherein vitriol, alum, or any other salt has been dissolved, which contains no inflammable parts.
To this experiment it may be added, that wood, which has been impregnated with water, wherein vitriol has been dissolved, is very fit for resisting putrefaction, especially if afterwards it is brushed over with tar, or some kind of paint; in order to this, the wood must be rubbed with very warm vitriol water, and afterwards left to dry, before it is painted or tarred. Wood prepared in this manner will for a long time resist the injuries of the air, and be preserved in cellars and other low moist places. It is to be observed, that if a solution of vitriol is poured on such parts of timber where a sort of champignons are formed by moisture, and rubbed off, none will ever grow there again.
By boiling, for some hours, the spokes of wheels in vitriol water, they are not subject to rottenness in the parts where they enter the stocks. After boiling them in this manner, they are dried as perfectly as possible, and then, in the accustomed way, painted with oil color.
1149. Cheap and excellent Composition for preserving Weather Boarding, Paling, and all other Works liable to be injured by the Weather.—Well burnt lime will soon become slaked by exposure in the open air, or even if confined in a situation not remarkably dry, so as to crumble of itself into powder. This is called air-slaked lime, in contradistinction to that which is slaked in the usual way, by being mixed with water. For the purpose of making the present composition to preserve all sorts of wood-work exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather, take three parts of this air-slaked lime, two of wood-ashes, and one of fine sand; pass them through a fine sieve, and add as much linseed-oil to the composition as will bring it to a proper consistence for working with a painter's brush. As particular care must be taken to mix it perfectly, it should be ground on a stone slab with a proper muller, in the same manner as painters grind their white-lead, &c.; but where these conveniences are not at hand, the ingredients may be mixed in a large pan, and well beat up with a wooden spatula. Two coats of this composition being necessary, the first may be rather thin; but the second should be as thick as it can conveniently be worked. This most excellent composition for preserving wood, when exposed to the injuries of the weather, is highly preferable to the customary method of laying on tar and ochre.
1150. To make durable Barn-floors.—A durable barn-floor may be made of well-burnt polished brick on edge, placed in the herring-bone form, on a pavement of stone three inches and a half in thickness; or oaken plank two inches and a half in thickness; or even of well-tempered indurated loam, of a proper substance, not less than eight inches, and laid upon dry materials or bottom. Any of them will make a durable barn-floor, provided it is kept free from wet, wagon-wheels, and horses' feet. The best threshing-floor for small farms of 150 acres is made of sound plank. In large farms (say 300 acres and upwards) the threshing machine should supersede the flail.
1151. The Virtues of Poplar Wood for the Flooring of Granaries.—The Lombard poplar is recommended as a timber adapted for flooring granaries, which is said to prevent the destruction of corn by weevils and insects. Poplar wood will not easily take fire.
1152. Improved Ventilators for Rooms.—Different methods are adopted for ventilating, or changing the air of rooms.—Thus:
Mr. Tid admitted fresh air into a room by taking out the middle upper sash pane of glass, and fixing in its place a frame box, with a round hole in its middle, about six or seven inches diameter, in which hole is fixed, behind each other, a set of sails, of very thin, broad copper plates, which spread over and cover the circular hole, so as to make the air, which enters the room, and turning round these sails, to spread round in thin sheets sideway, and so not to incommode persons by blowing directly upon them, as it would do if it were not hindered by the sails. This well-known contrivance has generally been employed in public buildings, but is very disagreeable in good rooms; instead, of it, therefore, the late Mr. Whitehurst substituted another, which was, to open a small square or rectangular hole, in the party wall of the room, in the upper part, near the ceiling, at a corner or part distant from the fire; before it he placed a thin piece of metal, or pasteboard, &c., attached to the wall in its lower part, just before the hole, but declining from it upwards, so as to give the air that enters by the hole a direction upwards against the ceiling, along which it sweeps, and disperses itself through the room, without blowing in a current against any person. This method is very useful to cure smoky chimneys, by thus admitting, conveniently, fresh air. A picture, placed before the hole, prevents the sight of it from disfiguring the room.
1153. Approved Method of removing Bees.—Set the hive where there is only a glimmering light; turn it up; the queen first makes her appearance; once in possession of her, you are master of all the rest; put her into an empty hive, whither she will be followed by the other bees.
1154. Useful Method of preserving Bees.—Instead of destroying whole swarms in their hives, to get the honey when the hives are full, they clear them out into a fresh hive, while they take the combs out of the old one; and they prevent their perishing in winter by putting a great quantity of honey into a very wide earthen vessel, covering its surface with paper, exactly fitted on, and pricked full of holes with a large pin; this being pressed by the weight of the bees, keeps a fresh supply continually arising. Their most fatal destruction by severe cold they prevent, by taking as many large tubs as they have hives, and knocking out the heads, they set the other end in the ground, laying a bed of dry earth or chopped hay in it, of six inches deep; over this they place the head knocked out, and then make a small wooden trough for the passage of the bees; this is transfixed through a hole cut through each side of the tub, at such a height as to lay on the false bottom, on which is placed the covered dish of honey for the food of the bees, leaving a proper space over this, covered with strong matting; they then fill up the tub with more dry earth, or chopped hay, heaping it up in the form of a cone, to keep out the rain, and wreathing it over with straw on account of the warmth.
1155. Sir Ashton Lever's method of preserving Birds, Beasts, Fishes, &c.—Beasts. Large beasts should be carefully skinned, with the horns, skull, jaws, tail, and feet, left entire; the skins may then either be put into a vessel of spirit, or else rubbed well in the inside with the mixture of salt, alum, and pepper, hereafter mentioned, and hung to dry. Small beasts may be put into a cask of rum, or any other spirit.
Birds. Large birds may be treated as large beasts, but must not be put in spirits. Small birds may be preserved in the following manner:—Take out the entrails, open a passage to the brain, which should be scooped out through the mouth; introduce into the cavities of the skull, and the whole body, some of the mixture of salt, alum, and pepper, putting some through the gullet and whole length of the neck; then hang the bird in a cool, airy place—first by the feet, that the body may be impregnated by the salts, and afterwards by a thread through the under mandible of the bill, till it appears to be sweet; then hang it in the sun, or near a fire: after it is well dried, clean out what remains loose of the mixture, and fill the cavity of the body with wool, oakum, or any soft substance, and pack it smooth in paper.
Fishes, &c. Large fishes should be opened in the belly, the entrails taken out, and the inside well rubbed with pepper, and stuffed with oakum. Small fishes put in spirit, as well as reptiles and insects, except butterflies and moths; and any insects of fine colors, should be pinned down in a box prepared for that purpose, with their wings expanded.
1156. Birds that have been Shot.—When fresh-killed, observe to put tow into the mouth, and upon any wound they may have received, to prevent the feathers being soiled; and then wrap it smooth, at full-length, in paper, and pack it close in a box. If it be sent from a great distance, the entrails should be extracted, and the cavity filled with tow dipped in rum or other spirit. The following mixture is proper for the preservation of animals:—One pound of salt, four ounces of alum, and two ounces of pepper, powdered together.
1157. To preserve Game in Hot Weather.—Game or poultry may be preserved for a long time, by tying a string tight round the neck, so as to exclude the air, and by putting a piece of charcoal into the vent.
1158. Russian method of preserving Fish.—When the Russians desire to keep fish perfectly fresh, to be carried a long journey in a hot climate, they dip them into hot bees'-wax, which acts like an air-tight covering. In this way they are taken to Malta, even sweet in summer.