1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



237 



For the New Eiif^land Farmer. 

 POTATOES— SEEDING-.-'WHEAT, &c. 



Mr. Editor: — Is it not a fatal error, that the 

 farmer is a little too economical in seeding with 

 small potatoes, instead of large ones, when he is 

 so unsparing in his cash outlays for all other 

 good seed, and especially, of some new and un- 

 known variety ? Here, on Long Lsland, potato- 

 growing is reduced to a science. We have many 

 farmers who sell from two to seven thousand 

 dollars value a season. This constitutes the prin- 

 cipal crop of the farm, with the exception of the 

 Swedish turnips, which are transplanted after the 

 early potato crop is taken otf. They plow in 

 horse manure, and plow deep ; select their larg- 

 est potatoes for planting, cut off, and give to the 

 pigs, the cluster of eyes, called the seed end,* 

 (on the long varieties,) such as Jenny Liud, Che- 

 nango, Long Reds, &c. ; by doing this, they get 

 no small potatoes, and as many pounds as if the 

 whole were planted. They say, the body of the 

 potato contains the large, healthy germs, (which 

 must be self-evident to all farmers,) and ridicule 

 the idea of planting "pig potatoes'' to realize 

 from. This would seem to be a common sense 

 view of the matter. They plant a quarter of a 

 large potato two feet apart, and want only three 

 to four stocks in a hill. This practice of planting 

 and cultivation was satisfactorily proved to me, 

 by going into a field of fifteen acres, where sev- 

 eral men were digging, and scarcely a pig potato 

 could be seen — but on the contrary, large, mar- 

 ketable potatoes, which required no sorting. 



Now, that nothing may be lost, and a fair ex- 

 periment may be tried, I would suggest that these 

 small eyes be planted in separate rows. The trial 

 will cost nothing, and may turn out to be a val- 

 uable discovery. Last year, the potato discussion 

 terminated (as I thought,) in favor of large seed 

 for planting. Yet, several of your correspondents 

 made a fair showing for the pigmy family. The 

 last few years of my own farming convinced me, 

 that planting small potatoes from year to year, 

 was the sure dwarfing principle. The bins in 

 my cellar bore evidence of the fact. I am de- 

 lighted to learn, that your farmers in various sec- 

 tions of New England are trying the wheat crop. 

 Take your warm uplands for spring sowing, and 

 your strong grass sward for August sowing, and 

 there will be a sure necessity of increasing your 

 grist mills at home. Four bushels of wheat is 

 •worth, in every family, a barrel of floui- — worth 

 remembering. Our spring opens in earnest, the 

 green grass and swelling lilac buds even to leaf, 

 would seem to have bidden the winter good-by. 

 Time will develop, whether "Winter's back is 

 broken", or to return again with its frosty night- 

 cap—we hope not ! H. Poor. 



Brooklyn, L. I., 1859. 



* Many farmers think the potato will not produce, without 

 the "seed end." 



Hungarian Grass.— We continue to have in- 

 quiries in relation to this grass. All we can say 

 of it is, that we receive contradictory statements 

 as to its productiveness, that it is somewhat 

 doubtful whether it will ripen its seed in all parts 

 of New England, that it is an annual, requiring 



to be sown every year, and that our friends had 

 better purchase the seed sparingly, and only sow 

 small patches of land for experiment. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CARKOTS-.MANGOI.DS— ASHES. 



Mr. Editor : — Though our farms are now cov- 

 ered with snow from two to four feet, according 

 to location, yet we expect in due time to have an 

 opportunity to plow our land and put in the dif- 

 ferent kinds of seed, and I thought if I had a lit- 

 tle more information, (which 1 have no doubt 

 you cua give,) I shall know belter what propor- 

 lion of diiierent crops to try to raise. In the 

 Farmer of January 8tli, you give a very interest- 

 ing tabli" of the comparative value of the differ- 

 ent kind.s of fodder, but you said not a word 

 about -'carrots," a crop that I have entertained a 

 higher esteem for, than for any other root crop 

 for stock that I have ever raised, not excepting 

 the potato. Please inform your readers of the 

 relative value of this crop, according to the basis 

 in the table already given. 



I noticed in a late number of the Farmer an 

 inquiry if ashes exhausted the soil ? Although I 

 thought your reply hit v/ell "the merits of the 

 case," 1 will just relate an incident in regard to 

 that subject that came under my personal obser- 

 vation. 



In the summer of 1849, on a farm in Avon, 

 Ct., the proprietor showed me a place in his field 

 where he said twenty years before, he hauled out 

 leached ashes after making soap, and spread them 

 on, like manure. At the time I speak of, there 

 was a well defined edge to the part where the 

 ashes were applied, the land producing perhaps 

 double the grass that grew all around it. The 

 soil was a dryish, sandy loam, and had long been 

 under cultivation. A. M. Brainerd. 



Alexandria, N. H., March 10, 1859. 



Remarics. — You are not mistaken, we think, 

 in your estimate of the value of the carrot, but 

 we have no table at hand to show you its relative 

 value with other fodder. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 TOP-STALKING OP CORIST. 



Having noticed some discussion lately in the 

 N. E. Farmer respecting the utility of cutting 

 corn stalks, I thought that the following state- 

 ment of Mr. Solon Carter, of Leominster, to 

 the Worcester North Agricultural Society, pub- 

 lished in the Abstract of Returns of the Agricul- 

 tural Society of Massachusetts, 1856, (pp. 246, 

 247, note,) might perhaps be both new and use- 

 ful to the readers of the Farmer. I am inclined 

 to think, that in many cases, old practices, upon 

 sufficient examination, will be found to have 

 much of reason in them. Even pruning fruit 

 trees in spring ; for why should a wound made 

 by removing a limb and covering the same with 

 grafting-wax or other protection, not heal well 

 and soundly, at the same season that a graft 

 most readily unites with the stock? But for Mr. 

 Carter's statement. 



"Each of the three lots contained four rows, 



