1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



289 



For the New England Farmer 



POTATOES. 



Mr. Editor : — It being about planting time 

 "down east," I beg to make a few suggestions 

 that will cost neither time or money to aJ^pt. 



1. Plant all small potatoes by themselves. 



2. Plant large potatoes by themselves. 



3. Cut the "seed end" from all varieties of 

 large long potatoes, and plant separately. 



4. Cut the remaining part of the large potato 

 into quarters, and plant separately in drills twen- 

 ty-two inches apart. Three to four stocks to a 

 hill is sufficient. This latter mode in throwing 

 away the "seed end," is Long Island fashion. 

 The farmers say it gives them all large potatoes, 

 without small ones, and as many pounds to the 

 acre. Quite an object in digging time. 



Mr. Editor, it was about a settled fact in my 

 mind last year, in reading your excellent Farmer, 

 that large potatoes for seed had the best of the 

 argument. It is to be hoped that the matter will 

 be fairly tested by many of your farmer readers, 

 which may take two or three years to prove. The 

 animal creation is made dwarf, or gigantic, by 

 close breeding. Will not the same law apply to 

 the vegetable kingdom, in selecting your largest, 

 best seed to produce from ? Try it. 



New York, May 1st. H. Poor. 



A NEW HOE. 



The neat little engraving above illustrates a 

 new Hoe which has been recently invented and 

 introduced to the hoeing world, by Mr. H. A. 

 LOTHROP, of the firm of H. A. Lothrop & Co., 

 Sharon, Mass. We have used it enough to find 

 it a pleasant implement in many places ; but not 

 enough to speak of the comparative merits be- 

 tween this and the common hoe. 



It is claimed by the inventor to work with 

 much greater ease, and to be equally as efficient 

 as the old hoe, in every place excepting where it 

 is desired to remove a considerable body of earth 

 from one point to another. 



All we can say further of it now is, that it will 

 not cost much to try it, and it may be found to 

 possess some advantages over the old implement 

 which has become so familiar to our hands. It 

 is made with two and three prongs or points. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



ICACGOT IX CABBAGE PLANTS — BUGS ON VINE?. 



Is there anything that will prevent or destroy 

 the maggot in cabbages ? Last spring I trans- 

 planted several hundred cabbages from my hot 

 bed, and in a short time they would turn yellow 

 and die. I found at the roots a lot of little mag- 

 gots. 



I have heard much complaint about bugs 

 among vines, especially the striped bug. Pre- 

 vention is better than cure. I will tell you how 

 I stop their ravages. In the fall of 1855 I raked 

 up all the rubbish of my garden, including 

 squash and cucumber vines, and burnt them; 

 the next spring I found no bugs on my vines, 

 while my neighbors' were destroyed. I have 

 practiced it since, and have not been troubled 

 except now and then by a stray one from my 

 neighbors' gardens. s. d. 



South Hanson, May, 1858. 



ARBOR VIT.5: FROM SEED. 



I wish to inquire if the Arbor Vit(B can be 

 propagated from seed ; when it should be plant- 

 ed ; and where it can be obtained ? 



Holliston, 1858. C. J. Heath. 



Remarks. — The arbor vita? flowers in May 

 and ripens its cones in the following 

 autumn. The seed should then be 

 gathered, sowed in a very fine soil, mo- 

 derately rich, covered quite lightly with 

 fine loam, and then a few leaves or 

 straw scattered over them. We sup- 

 pose the seed may be obtained at the 

 seed stores in Boston. 



PUMPS and PIPES. 



I wish to inquire which is the best 

 kind of pumps and pipe for wells ? Are 

 copper pumps objectionable, and what 

 is the best substitute for lead pipes ? 

 What do you think of zinc pipe, or 

 block tin, or gutta percha ? There is also a kind 

 of stone pipe made which is glazed with salt. I 

 would also like to get Dr. Alcott's opinion upon 

 these points. A New Subscriber. 



Fitcliburg, May, 1858. 



Remarks. — In the situation of your well, a 

 good wooden pump and pipe, or bored log, is 

 better than any thing else. 



TIMBER — potatoes — MANURE — ROSE BUDS. 



Is it as good time as any to cut timber as soon 

 as the leaves get their growth ? (a.) 



Will potatoes keep as well on a cement, as a 

 sand cellar bottom ? (h.) 



I have read that the potato rot is almost, or 

 entirely unknown in countries where there is no 

 mildew. If such is the case, is there not some- 

 thing in the shape of powder, or solution, that 

 can be applied to the tops to prevent the rot ? (c.) 



AVhat potato sells the best in the Boston mar 

 ket? (d.) 



