372 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[Dec. 23, 



ORZaXNAI. COMiyETrNXCATIONS. 



THE SLv-\SON. 

 Exlract c,t" a Letter Irom a res|iecte(I corrcPiion- 

 (lent in Woodstock, Vermont, dated Nov. 

 15th, 1225, to the Editor. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THF, NEW ENGLAND KAUMICR. 



WHITE CLOVER SEED. 



BluchUl, {Me.) Dec. 3, 1825. 

 Sir, — Havins; piircii:ised 23 pounds of uhite 

 clover seed, llmt were imported to Boston from 

 Hollund, and having a considerable tract of land i bolter, 

 burnt over the fall previous (o sowin-, and not j ^'nd sheds all filled. There was no drn„.?ht to 

 beino- able to purchase anv more .seed, 1 was re- I'urt the crops ol hay. Some tew crops ol hng- 

 solved to make what 1 had 50 as far as 1 could. I'sh Rrain were injured, but 1 ihink there was 

 1 sowed one half pound to the acre in l!ie mid- i' middlinj; crop. Indian corn is very pood 

 die of May 1821, on a rough piece of land with I Some few lields were cut a lilile short 



imaginary new disease of potatoes, are very 

 just.* By a lon<j continued, or severe d;ouo-ht, 

 the \ ines, and filirous parts of the root are 

 klllcnl, and detached from llie tuberous porliOD. 

 Tills latter, thus situated, is completely jirepar- 



The season has been he:e what would be g,] |\,r germinating. To produce this cll'ecf 



termed tolerably good. The fore part was 

 very productive. Grass of all kinds never was 

 The farmers here have ihoir barns 



Pola 



however, a great degree of moisture, (one 

 dreiK hing shower at least,) combined with con- 

 siderable warmth is requisile. Cold wet weath- 

 er, or moderately moist and warm, is ineffect- 

 ual. Tills accounts for the inwgined plienomeno7t 

 not having been more trequenlly observed. 



Small potatoes very fiequenliy continue (o 

 grow, after the vines are dead : Tliis dealli 



cut harrowino-. It came up well but the fust ' toes were much injured both in quantity and j i,;i3 then occurred from a severe frost, and not 



of the season being dry. it did not grow very 1 quality. 1 think there is not more than hall 

 fast. After the rains came, it grew rapidly, and a crop. Cider is very |denly and not worth 

 blossomed in August and September. It looked m-'k'"g- They will cart 11 hve miles, and sel 

 very luxuriant, and was 8 and 9 inches high.— [il Tor filly cents a barrel. July, August and 

 After the frosts came, 1 turned in my cattle and I llie fore pari of Seplemfcr, were very dry; 

 sheep, and fed it down. In the sjuing of 1825 i pastures were dried up. But since that time 



1 suffered no cattle to go on it, purposing to save 

 it for seed. It began to blossom in the middle 

 of May, and in June was in full blossom ; cover- 

 ing the ground with a rich luxuriant verdure, 

 and was from 12 to 18 inches high, i judged 

 that 1 might have cut two tons of hay on the 

 acre, if the land had been smoolh, so that I 

 could have mowed it. In the middle of August 

 1 began to galher the seed ; as the land was so 

 rough I could not mnw il, I began to sirip the 

 seed by hand, but I ibund I made very slow pro- 

 gress in gathering the seed this way. 1 order- 

 ed some iron toothed rakes to be made, the 

 heads of the rakes I" inches long, the ti^elh 4 

 inches and the handle 4 feet long. 1 then be- 

 gan to rake it together, but I soon found that il 

 would not answer to rake it in the middle of 

 the day, as the seed shelled out considerably. — 

 i then tried it when the dew was on, and founil 

 it did not shell out and it was easier raking it 

 fogelhcr. I left it to dry, and then hauled il to 

 a smooth ledge of rocks and thrcshwd it out, anil 

 when cleaned up 1 had 1500 pounds of good 

 seed, as good as any imported from Holland, an 



wc have had lain sufiicient to v\et the 



ury weather. We may ascertain this, iiy pul 

 ling up ibe vines ; if they bring up potatoes 

 Willi thein, the roots are nnaffected, and you 

 may gain groivlh by delay ; otherwise the time 

 has arrived for digging. 



Permit nie to conclude, Sir, with a query. 

 The poiatoe {ioluiwni tulicrosuiu). »\e are in- 



top of the giound, and have had hut lilile 1 juimed, was first found, on the declivity of the 

 frosi ; consequently the grass has stalled in the , Andis, somewhere in the equatorial regions of 

 pastures. October and November to the 17th, 1 Souih-Ainerica. in its wild slate, il is a viru- 

 were remarkably warm, and as suitable for all | Irui, no,\ious plant. When domestic, iled in an 

 kinds of business as August. Since the ]7lh iljexlicmely northern clime, i:s qunlilits are en- 

 has become very cold, the ground is Irozen, , tirely changed. It becomes a mild, farina- 



and we have an inch or two of snovv.'' 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE KT.K i;X<iI,A-\'D FARMER. 



THE POTATOE. 



Framingluim, 21i/ Dec. 1825. 



Sir, — You probably remember seeing, about 

 a year since, in the Cn.'.lon Centinel, the de- 

 scriplion of a polaloe raised in tliis jilace. 

 weighing more than three pounds. 



'I'hat was conimitled to my care fi>r oxperi | 

 ment. — A'lout the middle of May, it was plant- j 

 ed in a soil, cons s'ing mostly of vegetable mould | 

 or loam ; appan-nlly no lirne, and s.-^arcely any 

 silex. A small portion of lime and sand, min- 

 gled wiih horse dung, were thrown over it. 



At the same liirie, to iry the principle oi cul- 



ceous, nutritious, and exceedingly palatable 

 viand. Aller, however, being brought to per- 

 feclion, veiled and protected by the mists of 

 Ireland, or the clouds and J'ogs of Newtbund- 

 laiul ; if transported lor cultivaiion lo the south, 

 il degenerates in projiortion, as it approaches 

 the equator; and cultivated in the torrid zone 

 for a long series of years, would probably re- 

 sume its originally poisonous nature. — My querij. 

 Why ibis iniprovenicnl by travelling north^vard- 

 ly and degeneracy by returning lo the .'ouiii? 



Veiy respectfully, W. BALLARD. 



some, of my neighbors collected lOU pounds, the , ijpg (nr the puipose of exten-ive piojiagalion, 

 land being rough and diflicult to work upon, so j ,jo°,^ \ ueigbed the amount of the large [lola- 

 fhat it was supposed that not more than half ol ; (Qp^ jn common sized ones; and cnllin? ibem 

 the seed was gathered. If you think this ac- 1 \n\o as many parls as were eyes, planted ihem, 

 count will be any encouragement to farmers in i jmnieiliatelv beside the undissecicd [.olatoe, in 

 raising their own seeds, together with the ad- ' („„ hHis, and gave Ihem the same irealmenl. 

 vantage of a good pasture, il is at your service, ! 'i^|,e season being very unfavorable to the 



I remain, yours, &ic 

 JOHN P. CARTER. 



TO TUi; EDITOR OF THE XLW E.NCLA.ND r.ARMER. 



r.\UPERiSM. 



Bristol Couniij, Dec. 3, 1 825. 

 Sir, I was much [deased with the iii>l;ce \ on 

 gave ill your valuable paper of the ICth ult". of 

 a proposition made in I'ranklin County, for call- 

 ing a convention of delcg.iles from llie several 

 towns, for devising a plan tor suppurling and 

 employing their poor. 



Allhough ihe pages of 3 our paper are almost 



production of the polaloe, owing to the .severe j exclusively devoted lo agricullural improve 



and pro'racled droughl, ihey were watered 

 We the subscribers hereby certify, that Ihe 'daily. This [irobably retarded and stinted their 

 land on which John Pierce Carter collected the growth. 



white clover seed, he purchased of us. and that The experiment is not perfectly salisfactory. 

 part of the twenty-three ponnds of seed sown The result, however, 1 will communicate, 

 was purchased of one of us, and the remainder; The l.irge undivided potatoe produced in 

 of Mr Jarvis. And we have the present year j number 76, in weight 12 3 4 lbs. The cut po- 



purcha'ed of hira the said Carter about fourteen 

 hundred and forly pounds of the said white clo- 

 ver seed, and paid him tw(-nty-five cents a pound 

 for the same ; all of which was galliered on the 

 name piece, and which we now off'jr for sale at 

 twenty-fue cents, the same as we gave. We are 

 sure il is of as good and fair a quality as any we 

 ever siivv, and as well clcan^tid. \V'e also be- 

 lieve the statement above, made by Ihc said 

 Caiier, is substantially true; and as he is a 

 young man, beginning on a new piece of rough 

 land, we are of ojjinion that he is entitled lo 

 much credit for his way ol' managing the same. 

 SluchiU, Dec. 8. GEO. STEVENS, 



NATHAN ELLIS. 



latoes produced in number 151, in weight 12 1-2 

 lbs. These were dug soon as the vines were 

 perfectly dead. 



In Ibe eastern part of Maine I made a similar 

 e.xperimcnl. 1 planted the same weight of 

 whole and cut pol.iloes, in rows alternately; 

 and lound no perce|itible difference in the pro- 

 duce. 1 have found sea-weed, covered with 

 sea-sand (daced over the potatoes, the cheapest 

 and most productive manure, on Ihe sea-board. 

 Oak-leaves would probable be a good substitute 

 for sea-weed in the interior, especially in moist 

 cold land. 



ment; yet il is conceived that wli I'.ev cr mani 

 feslly tends to ^tjiCAi/ improvemiiil, may wilii 

 propriety urcnpy a corner in your paper. The 

 attention of the thinking pari of ihe corumunily 

 by the foregoing notice is called lo 11 subject, 

 the imporl.ince of which, it is iboughl, no one 

 will be di<pt>sed lo dispute. That there are 

 poor and unlortunate persons in every section 

 of Ihe commonweallh is a facl too notorious lo 

 be denied ; and that their iiiinibcr is gradually 

 and constantly increasing, is Ihougf.t to be equal- 

 ly true ; consequently there must bean inciease 

 of expense lor their support, in most instances 

 corresjionding with the increase of their num- 

 ber. Hilhcrlo the atiention ot the community 

 has been princijially directed to the evil, as it 

 is seen lu e.cisl. without much i^acral inquiry in- 

 to the causes that are continually operating in 

 society and constantly [irodncing sncli disaslious 



* .?. . |ingL- 1,'4 of tilt current volume of the New- 

 The observations of" Horticulturist," on the Enjlaud farmtr. 



