316 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



afforded by the farm itself. My object, in all these 

 experiments with swine, has been to show to my- 

 self and to others, one of the ways in which the 

 products of the farm may be disposed of so as to 



or iron ; and have given orders for more to take 

 the place of iron." 



I regret that there is not some one m this re- 

 gion that would commence the manufacture on a 

 large scale, as I am continually having applications 



give them back to it in compost with materials for it. It is out of my line, aiid I have as" much to 

 otherwise lying waste or idle, and get as good a do at drain tile as I can attend to. 

 price for the crop as though it had been directly „. _ _ , James M. Crafts. 



exchanged for money. Here is the policv for him ^^ '^°'*'3/. •^^«**-> -^^«2/ 15, 1856. 

 who desires to live by farming : so direct the busi- 

 ness as to obtain a reasonable return for capital and 

 labor invested, without robbing the soil. He who, 

 eager for a present income, regardless of the future 



" ,.^. /i • n .1 11 f..„_ u !,„ „^„ „„t Mp.. Broavx: — I have seen much m vour excel- 



condition of his farm, takes all irom it he can get, , .u i r e -i a .^oii „„ 



' ri 1 I lent paper on the planting of large and small po- 



retuming httle or nothing back, is not unlike the, ^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ j.^^. ^^,^^^^_ j ^^^^ neither side in the 



man in the fable, who fortunately possessing a | controversy. If I took either, I should incline to 

 goose that laid a golden egg every day, was not j the small ])Otato ]iarty, and my reasons for so do- 

 content with so sure but slow, an income,"and think- ! i"J? you ^'fi ^ee in what follows. 



, , ^ 1 1 ,il 1 hat wliicli vegetates m the potato is the eve. 

 in<j to seize a large treasure at once, mangled ancr - -- >-■ - ' - - -.. 



For the New England Farmer. 



WHY SMALL POTATOES ARE BEST. 



tortured the faithful goose, and in the end lost all. 



F. HOLBROOK. 



Braitleboro\ May 27, 1856. 



For the I\eic England Farmer. 



STONE WATER PIPES. 



Mr. Editor : — In the monthly Farmer for ^lay 



It would seem, at first sight, likely to make little 

 difference, whether the eye of the larger or small- 

 er potato were used for seed. Indeed, it would 

 seem, that as more of the nutritive matter of the 

 potato surrounds the eye in a large than in a small 

 ])Otato, it would l)e better to use the large potato 

 than the small one for seed. But herein is the evil 

 winch follows the use of the larger potato for this 

 ])iirpose — to wit, the quantity of arimentar}' matter, 

 in a large potato, is disadvantageous, by ])romoting 

 too great a develo])ment of stems and leaves ; 

 while on the other hand, the less alimentary mat- 

 ter in a small potato makes it better for seed to 



I noticed an inquiry made by H. Morse, of John 

 son, Vt., as to the "best material to use for convey- 

 ing water to buildings. Some two years ago, I 



commenced the manufacture of drain tile in Whate- J produce good crops than a large one, because it 

 ly, and the thought occurred to me that a pipe for 'Jess promotes rankness of stems and leaves, 

 aqueduct purposes might be made of stone ware, I But still a question remains behind, u'% use ihe 

 which would be the desideratum, both asi regaY{\^,potaU), large or small, whole, for seed'? \Vliy raise 

 cost and durability, and not only that, but freedom '^ question between large and small potatoes, breth- 

 from deleterious matter, as there is no poisonous L-pi^ of the same family, and each entitled to pro- 

 substance used in the mianufacture of stone ware, ^luce after its kind ? When I was a boy, it was the 

 The only articles used in its com])osition are clay, emjilovment of "us boys" to cut the potatoes in the 

 (commonly known as pipe clay,) and salt, which j evenings, during plannng-time, into sets for plant- 

 forms the outside glazing, applied when the ware is i^g, j suppose this is done now, not to save seed, 

 at a white heat. The inside glazing is composed of but because potatoes, when planted as sets, run less 

 common clay. So you see that there can be no |(o tops and stems than whole tubers, and produce 

 objection to the material, so far as that is con- ^ more than whole tubers. I last year planted a 

 cerned. I therefore made a quantity of the ]>ipt',j small piece of land with potatoes of fair size, and 

 in sections of two feet, one end of each having a^ another piece of land with potatoes cut in sets, 

 socket or enlargement to receive the other end ofKly man testified, with Irish vehemence, that the 

 its fellow into it, some two inches or more; thi«' whole potatoes gave stalks and to spare; but that 

 joint is made tight by means of melted brimstone! the sets yielded abundantly of praters. 

 being poured into the space remaining in the sock-i But as I am accused of borrowing my wit, with- 

 et, thus making a ])erfectly tight joint. They out giving the lender credit, (and I confess I do 

 should be laid below the effects of the frost, or the borrow it all, for I came into the world with none, 

 liabiUty of cattle ste])i)ing on them. In that case and could never originate any,) IavIU quoteLindley, 

 I do not know of any thing that will compare Avith no mean authoritv. After saying that in laying 

 it for durability or cheajmess. The pipe, I have i down cuttings of the grape vine, each eye must have 

 ^ince learned, is manufactured extensively in Ohio, la large piece of alburnum attached to it to nourish 

 and to some extent in Somerset, in this State. It it, Lindley adds, "The provision of alimentary mat- 

 has been submitted to a test, to ascertain its ter may,"however, be, in some case, disadvanta- 

 strength, by A. Stanwood, formerly superintendent geous, by ])romoting too great a development of 

 of pi])es, Cochituate Water -works, and found to stems and leaves, of which the potato itself is an 



sustain a pressure of 300 pounds to the square in^h, 

 or greater than a column of water 6o0 feet luiih. 

 without injury to the pipe. Messrs. Bemis & Mc- 

 Clellan, of C'hicopee, have a large quantity laid, 

 and speak of it thus : — "It has been in constant 

 use since it was laid, conveying the water to our 



instance. Theoretically, the more nutritive matter 

 there is for the eyes, the greater crop there will be ; 

 and so, probably," there is of leaves and stems ; and 

 it would seem that whole potatoes should be more 

 advantageous to plant than sets. But 1 have proved, 

 by a series of numerous experiments, that the 



entire satisfaction. We have great confidence in: weight of potatoes, per acre, is greater, under equal 

 Its durability, and believe it to be superior to lead j circumstances, from sets than from whole tubers, 



