102 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



manure should be used in no other,) there is no li- 

 mit to the amount of water in which manures may 

 be dissolved, except that of economy. Use there- 

 fore as much water as you can afford to carry into 

 the field. More on this subject in our next; some- 

 thing also, on the subject of irrigation, which is 

 closely connected with it — almost the same thing ; 

 and on the composition and uses of soot. 



RAISING WHEAT. 



Friend Brown : — "Some things can be done as 

 well as others," were the words of Sam Patch as 

 he leaped the falls for the last time. That wheat 

 can be raised in New England is an incontroverti- 

 ble fact. The high prices of flour the past season, 

 induced many farmers that never sowed wheat be- 

 fore, to try it last spring, and the result in this vi- 

 cinity, or as far as my ol)servation extends, is that 

 it is the most profitable crojj raised. 



Last spring I obtained 1^ bushels of coffee or 

 Java wheat, (which bears its name from the seed 

 being taken out of some Java coffee,) which I sowed 

 on one acre of ground, and harvested from it 29 

 bushels, which weighed Gl ll)s. to the bushel. This 

 wheat is bearded and covered with white husks, 

 which drop off" very easy and the grain shells out 

 easy. The flour from it is large in quantity, it be- 

 ing thin-skined wheat, and not only equal, but bet- 

 ter than the best Genesee flour. J. D. W.ARD. 



JVorlh Jlshburnham, Dec. 17, 1855. 



PLANS FOR BARNS. 



Mr. Editor : — Presuming you would be willing 

 to enhghten a subscriber on any subject connected 

 with agriculture, I take the liberty of asking you 

 to send me, or publish, the best ground plot for a 

 barn about forty-five by fifty feet ; the best mode 

 of weather-boarding, &c. R. Haines Passmore. 



rrest Chester, Pa., 1855. 



Remarks. — We contemplate presenting some 

 outlines of barns by-and-by. In the mean time per- 

 haps some of our correspondents may suggest some 

 plan theat will be favorably received. 



GRAPE seeds. 

 Mr. Editor : — Please inform me through your 

 paper what is the best time to plant graj^e seed ? 

 Yankee Settlement, loiva. L. H. 



Remarks. — Grape seeds may be sown either in 

 the fall or the spring, but as in keeping them 

 through the winter they may become too damp or 

 too dry, as the place may be where they are kept, 

 perhaps it is better to sow them in the autumn, and 

 in such a manner as to resemble the condition they 

 would be in if faUing from a spur in a vineyard ; 

 that is, among decaying leaves and tfligs, and in a 

 light, rich mould. Small seeds are apt to be cov- 

 ered too deeply. So deep as to be m a suitable 

 condition to keep for ages, or too deep to germin- 

 ate, and not deep enough to preserve them, and 

 thus they become moist, are slightly quickened by 

 the solar rays, but cannot push out a germ suffi- 

 ciently vigorous to reach the surface, and conse- 

 quently perish. 



SPROUTED WHEAT. 



I Avish you, or some of your correspondents ac- 

 quainted with experimental or practical farming, 

 would inform me through the JV*. E, Farmer, wheth- 

 er it would be safe to depend upon grown wheat 

 for seed, as I am calculating to sow some next 

 spring, and have a few bushels not quite as good 

 for bread as that not grown. An answer to the 

 above, from a source to be depended on, would be 

 gladly received by me, and perhaps be a benefit to 

 others. W. Bugbee. 



Orfordville, JV. H., 1855. 



Remarks. — If we had a field to sow, we would 

 not run the risk of sowing seed that had sprouted, 

 or "grown," as it is called. A gentleman at our el- 

 bow says he has tried it, but that it has always failed 

 to grow. Our correspondent Avill accept thanks for 

 his hearty words of commendation of the Fanner. 



AN apple tree. 



I have an apple tree that was nine years old last 

 spring, that has borne for five years. On the 8th 

 day of Oct. I gathered three bushels of apples from 

 the same tree, and since have measured it ; the 

 height is nineteen feet and eight inches ; four inches 

 above the ground, it is two feet in circumference, 

 and five feet from the ground it is one foot and five 

 inches. It is natural fruit, and similar to the Bald- 

 win apple. It has grown without any extra care or 

 trouble. Samuel W. Blodgett. 



Acworth, JV. H., 1855. 



powder mill WASTE. 



Mr. Editor : — We have a powder-mill in our 

 place, where a number of barrels of stuff from the 

 saltpetre refinery is taken off. AVhat I wish to 

 know is, what it is worth, if anything, for manure, 

 and how applied ? If you, or some of your corres- 

 pondents, will inform me through your valuable 

 paper, you will oblige a subscriber. J. H. A. 



Fair Haven, 1855. 



For the New England Farmer. 



DO POTATOES MIX? 



Mr. Editor : — As much has been said in your 

 interesting and very valuable paper, during the last 

 few months, about potatoes — concerning the relative 

 value of large potatoes, small potatoes and cut po- 

 tatoes for seed, &c., — I feel a desire to extend the 

 potato inquiry a Httle fm-lher. I find the opinion 

 quite prevalent among farmers — or at least among 

 men laboring on farms — that different kinds of po- 

 tatoes planted together will intermix ; one kind be- 

 come changed, or at least, partially changed to an- 

 other. I have ever supposed the opinion was erro- 

 neous, and if I am in mistake, I wish to be con-ect- 

 ed. If such a thing takes place, how is it effected ? 

 Is it done by seeding, that is, growing balls, or by 

 some other way ? In this region, we have but few 

 varieties of potatoes that ever produce balls. 



Enosburg Falls, Ft., 1855. A PrsxEY. 



The Carolina Cultivator. — ^The services of 

 Prof. B. S. Hedrick Professor of AgriculturalChem- 

 istry in the University of North Carolina, have been 

 secured as Editor of tliis paper. 



