1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



127 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



SOOT AS A TOP-DUESSIKG FOR GKASS LAND. 



You will oblige me by infuriDation through the 

 Farmf-r as to the value of fcoot as a top-dressing 

 for grass land, and as to the amount required for 

 an acre. D. M. Hodge. 



East Canaan, N. H., Dec. 29, 1868. 



Remarks. — In reply to a similar inquiry, last 

 year, we remarked that in England soot is re- 

 garded of much value as a fertilizer, and it is also 

 used to protect plants from insects. It is said that 

 as high as $'4o per loud has been paid in England 

 for soot for the purpose of killing insects. Three 

 or four quarts of soot dissolved in a barrel of wa- 

 ter is said to be about equal to guano as a liquid 

 manure, especially for flowers. About eighteen 

 bushels is said to make a valuable dressing fur an 

 acre. We have generally thrown what little soot 

 we have been able to procure into the compost 

 heap, and have never experimented with it by itself. 



FARMING IN ILLINOIS. 



Enclosed please find payment for the New Eng- 

 land Farmer. When I wrote you one year ago 

 I had not money enough to pay one year's sub- 

 scription. Now, although I have none to give 

 away, j'ct I have sold oats, corn and rye enough 

 to pay expenses so far, and have aijout 2500 

 bushels of corn left. The oats, after drawing nine 

 miles, sold for 37 cents per bushel, and the corn at 

 the same place bringing on an average 35 cents 

 per bushel. 



I would like to state a few facts, especially to 

 the young men in New England, who have never 

 been "out West." In order to raise good oats we 

 do not plough, unless it be in the fall, except with 

 a double shovel, which is like a cultivator with 

 two large teeth. On old corn land, hundreds of 

 acres of small grain are put in with no otl)er work 

 except to sow and harrow in. One man with a 

 pair of horses can plant and cultivate from <{0 to 

 40 acres, l>esides raising some small grain. 



My corn, of which I planted lOO acres, will aver- 

 age a little more than 40 liushels to the acre. I 

 think, without doubt, I could have measured off 

 an acre near the stable that would have yielded 

 not less than lo bushels. The help that I have 

 had was one man and a boy of 15 years; teams, 

 one pair of mares, both of which had colts, and 

 two pair of mules. For common farm v/ork I 

 preier mules to any team that I ever used. Ths 

 teams here, when worked, are usually fed all the 

 corn they will eat. Horses will commonly eat 

 from twelve to fourteen good ears of corn three 

 times a day. Mules will not eat as much. I have 

 one pair that will not eat more than half that 

 quantity. 



On one thiiig my mind is made up, and that is, 

 if a man wants to get rich on a farm without 

 working, he might as well stay in New England 

 as to come to Illinois. Although the land is much 

 better, and it is not necessary to use any manure 

 here to insure even larger crops of most all kinds 

 than are raised in New England, and gix)d stock 

 hay may be had in any quantity for the cutting, and 

 thou^ands of acres of corn fodder are burned 

 every year, yet I think it is just as essential that a 

 man have somfe capital here as anywhere else. If 

 any man wants to come West, let him cjine and 

 work out one year for some enlerprinng farmer. 

 If he is satisfied and likes here, then, if he be 

 possessed of an ordinary business capacity, let him 

 go at it in earnest on his own hook, and if he has 

 his health and is industrious and patient, he will 



do well, and if he should think, as I do, after hav- 

 ing been here two years, he could hardly be hired 

 to go back East to farm. 



Last spiing I sent to Hartford, Vt., and got and 

 sowed fourteen quarts Norway oats ; but it seemed 

 that my neighbor's predictions were about right 

 in regard to their productiveness. They did not 

 yield more than the common oat, but 1 am going 

 to sive them one more trial. a. r, p. 



Middlttown, III., Dec. 29, 18G8. 



FROM THE FACTORY TO THE FARM. 



I see by the date on my paper that it is time 

 for me to renew luy subscription for 1869. Though 

 a ILttle short for money just now, I cannot get 

 along without the Farmer. I should scarcely 

 know how to run my farm without it. 



I conmienced here ten years ago, a green hand 

 from the factory, with only eight hundred dollars 

 in money. I purchased a farm lor $1750, and 

 went to work under the directions of the New 

 England Farmer. 



My first operations for the improvement of the 

 farm were on wet land that was almost worthless 

 and unproductive. It is now the Ijest and most 

 profitable part of my farm, producing a ton of 

 good hay per acre. At first my neighbors laughed 

 to see me drawing stone for underdraining. Some 

 predicted that I should spoil my land with so 

 many stones ; others said that if I kept at work 

 iu that way I should soon be obliged to sell my 

 farm. But instead of being obliged to sell any 

 part of my fa>m, I have added over fifty acres to 

 it. I am always glad to have you write anything 

 about reclaiming or improving wet land. 



I have twenty acres of meadow land that are an- 

 nually flowed. I can mow about one-half of it 

 with a machine. But there are bogs that bother 

 me in raking. I have always used a revolver, but 

 cannot rake much of my meadow with it. Is 

 there any horse rake that will operate better than 

 the revolver on such land ? On this point I should 

 like your advice, as it may save mc some hard 

 work. 



PJease excuse the foregoing as it is the first time 

 I ever tried to write a:]ythiijg more to an editor 

 than a mere note enclosing my yearly subscription. 



J. W. Dana. 



South Amherst, Mass., Dec. 28, 1868. 



Remarks. — We have seen the Bai/ State Horse 

 Rake do the work quite well on land so rough 

 that wc thought it impossible to rake it with any 

 thing but a hand rake. The surface had not only 

 hassocks, but numerous ragged rocks, around 

 which clung the creeping blackberry vine. It was 

 too rough to put any machine into, and was used 

 for the purpose of testing the rake. It also had 

 lov/, wet places, but was not a bog. 



CULTIVATION OF CORN AND POTATOES. 



Several years ago I concluded to take the New 

 England Farmer for the purpose of learning 

 bow the Down East Yankee fanners contrived to 

 make farming pay on land not generally very fer- 

 tile. Of the many articles from ingenious and 

 skilful cultivators, one on the cultivation of corn 

 and potatoes was worth to many of its readers the 

 cost of the paper for many years. As it is some 

 years since that article was published, its leading 

 directions will bear repetition. I do nor, recollect the 

 precise language given in the case, but it was sub- 

 stantially as follows :— 



In "marking out" land for com or potatoes, 

 make the marks as straight as possible one way. 

 "Then, in the case of potatoes, plant earl}', and as 



