278 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



DRAINING WITHOUT TILES 



Eds. Genesee Farmer : — Your correspondent, I. 

 Eandall, wrote in the August No. because it rained. 

 So do I. He suggests f'uJl ploughing as a palliative 

 for late and wet springs. A very good j)lan, par- 

 ticularly on strong land, that is likely to be mellowed 

 by thawing and freezing. 



He questions as to the propriety of draining hard 

 pan land, worth only $1.5 to $20 per acre. I think 

 that is just the one expedient by which the value of 

 such land may be increased. 



The want of draining tile is an objection. Has 

 he no substitute ? No stone ? No brush ? No 

 rails ? Where pine lumber is cheap, a very good 

 drain may be formed by 2>loughing out a semi-circu- 

 lar groove on 2 by 4 inch scantling, 1 inch deep, and 

 2 inches wide ; two of these, placed face to face, 

 form a cylinder of 2 inch bore. It is better to let 

 each piece project one above, the other below. By 

 thflt means they keep each other at the same level, 

 and " break joint." These will serve with a narrower 

 ditch than is required for poles or stones, and, being 

 less subject to displacement, they do not require to 

 be buried so deep. By these means the expense of 

 digging is diminished. Whether the drain is 

 increased in value, thereby, is another question. 



Innisfil, C. fV. T. G. S. 



'DIGGING AND PRESERVING POTATOES. 



This is the month to expect frosts sufficient to kill 

 onv potato tops, corn, &c. I think it as well to con- 

 sider the best method of digging and storing them 

 for winter use, as the quality of this bulb is preserved 

 ©r considerably impaired by the manner in which this 

 process is performed; and I may say the time of 

 digging has its bearing on the quality for future use. 

 Potatoes, to retain all their preserving and nourish- 

 ing properties, should, I believe, be harvested soon 

 after the frost has killed down the vines, or, should 

 they die from maturity, the sooner they are dug the 

 better, before the ground becomes wet and muddy. 

 They should be stored in the pit or cellar; if in the 

 latter, put them in a dark bin in a cool part of the 

 cellar — the cooler the better, if above the freezing 

 point. I do not believe the practice a good one of 

 digging potatoes^out of the ground to lie strewed, ex- 

 posed to the sun for several hours before they are 

 stored. "D, 



Gates, JV. Y. 



NOTES FROM MINNESOTA. 



Messrs. Editors : — How I would be pleased to 

 have some of my Monroe county friends look upon 

 this portion of Minnesota now. It is a pleasure to 

 look upon the fields of grain just ready for harvest- 

 ing. The wheat heads are long and well filled — the 

 Btraw perfectly free from rust. There are six or eight 

 reapers within three miles of me, (well done for a 

 three-year old settlement,) and they will find plenty 

 ©f work in a day or two. There will be a fine crop 

 of oats. Potatoes are doing well. Corn has grown 

 rapidly within the last six weeks, and is tassling out 

 as tall as a Vermonter's head. There will be a good 

 crop if the frost does not come too early. Such 

 vines as grow here I never saw. Pumpkins, squashes, 

 and melons are already large. I have had plenty of 



green peas since the fifth of July, although I sowed 

 late. We raise ruta-bagas, carrots, &c., without 

 weeding — the tops already cover the ground. It 

 does the farmer good to observe the growth of hi» 

 crops from day to day. 



But we have drawbacks. It is expensive living, 

 while the pioneer is making a farm from the virgin soil. 

 We hear of the devastations of the grasshoppers 

 northwest of us, and the threatened inroad of the In- 

 dians from the west. The latter I do not fear, but 

 we have no known means of protecting ourselves 

 from the ravages of the grasshoppers, if tbey should 

 make us a visit next season, as is predicted by some. 

 They have entirely destroyed the crops where they 

 have been this season. 



K Hodges. 



Marion, Olmstead Co., Minnesota. 



BUCKWHEAT TO KILL WIRE-WORM& 



Messrs. Editors: — You ask for the experience of 

 your readers about growing two or more successive 

 crops of buckwheat to starve out the wire-worm. 

 Having Jiad some experience in this matter, I will 

 give it. In 1854 I had an old pasture, containing 

 twelve acres, all infested with this pest, eight acres of 

 which were broken and sown to buckwheat. As it 

 was a very dry season, the crop was light. In 1855 

 the remaining four acres were broken, and the whole 

 sown to buckwheat. The season was favorable, and 

 a good crop was the result. In the spring of 1856 

 the whole field was sown to oats. The result was, 

 the four acres which had grown only one crop of 

 buckwheat were considerably injured by the worms, 

 while the eight acres which had grown two succes- 

 sive crops of buckwheat were scarcely touched by 

 them. N. N. 



Darien, JY. Y. 



DRILLING IN WHEAT. 



Messrs. Editors. — Iii your article on the cultiva- 

 tion of the wheat in the August number of the 

 Farmer, you state that, in your opinion, there is 

 not much advantage in sowing wheat with a drill un- 

 less for the purpose of hoeing, and wish the opinion 

 of farmers upon the subject. 



Having had some experience in sowing wheat with 

 a drill, I will give you my opinion founded on that 

 experience. I have used a drill in sowing wheat 

 upon a hard, stony soil, also upon a light sandy and 

 loamy soil, and could see no difference in the yield of 

 that which was drilled in or that sown broadcast 



Four years ago this fall, I sowed one half of a 

 seven acre field broadcast, and the other half was 

 sown with a drill. A portion of that which was 

 drilled in, I harrowed across the ridges, for the pur- 

 pose of levelling them down, as the advocates of the 

 drill system claim, as one of its advantages, that the 

 washing down of the ridges around the roots of the 

 plants answers the purpose of hoeing, and also pre- 

 vents winter killing; but I could see no difference 

 either in Ike looks of the crop ivhile growing, or 

 when harvested. 



Some seasons, upon some soils, wheat sown with a 

 drill would be better than that sown broadcast, and 

 the next year, perhaps, that sown broadcast would 

 be the best, it all appearing to depend on the condi- 

 tion of the soil and season. I have also used the drill 



