1S69. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



505 



Chesters, or Chester-whites, have upright and 

 somewhat tliin ears, less bristle, thinner skin, and 

 less coarf^enes^s of bone than the old stock, plainly 

 indicating a cross with some finer breed. 



EAISING POTATOES FROM SEED BALLS. 



I wish to inquie thronch the Farmer the proper 

 way and lime to jiiant potato balls, in order to start 

 potiit.) s from till m. Jvo. L. Fkye. 



HoiUh Danville, Vt., Aug. 16. 1869. 



Remarks.— After gathering the balls in the fall, 

 they may be kept in a dry place in paper bags, or 

 in a box of sand packed as hens' eggs are in oats 

 or chiiflF If you wish to have them grow as large 

 as possible the first year, it will be well to plant 

 the seed in a box of fine earth the las^t of March, 

 or first of April, and keep them in the house, as 

 you do tomato plants, till all danger of frost is 

 passed, ssy till into June, when the plants may be 

 put out in the open ground. In order to lengthen 

 out the season, it may be well to protect vines 

 from early lall frosts. In this way some of them 

 may attain to nearly the size of hens' eggs the 

 first season, but most of them will be much 

 smaller. The next year they may be planted in 

 fine, rich soil, the same as other potatoes. They 

 will not be uniform in appearance or character, 

 and Mr. E. C. Goodrich, of Uiica, N. Y., who 

 raised varieties by the thousands, said that not until 

 a sort is f.)ur or five years old can its character be 

 settled so as to entitle it to confidence. In raising 

 new varieties of potatoes from seed, you will most 

 probably be disappointed if you anticipate great 

 success. It is much like raising new varieties of 

 apples from seed. In either case, the probabilities 

 of producing a variety equal to the best of those 

 now cultivated are very small. Mr. Cole, a 

 former editor of the Farmer, commenced some 

 experiments with potato ball seeds in 1848. But 

 as he died in 1851, and was quite unwell for some 

 time previous to his death, he probably did not 

 complete his experiments with them. He collected 

 the balls from difierent sections and from differ- 

 ent varieties of potatoes. The product the first 

 year from a tingle seed was in some cases equal to 

 about a quart. Of some two hundred plants, he 

 found the product of nearly every one the first 

 year was disrtinct in appearance. Cultivators gen- 

 erally select a few of the most promising of the 

 firtt year's crop for subsequent trial, rejecting the 

 great majority as worthless. 



"western oats." 

 In the Farmer of August 21, you speak of three 

 heaeis of Norway oats ttken from the fitld of Mr. 

 Samuel Hoi-mer, of Acton, Muss., one of which 

 contained ninety grains, while the largest number 

 of f-'raiiis in tliree heads of the common variety 

 was t)ut twtniysix. This prompts me to write 

 aniJ iiiform you of my oat raising the present year 

 in oid stei lie New Hampshire. Enclosed is a hf ad 

 of Tiineiy-two grams, if I count correctly, of black 

 o.its, taken fruiij a piece of about two acre.s, on 

 winch corn was raised last year. Before planting 

 the corn twenty ox-cart loads of yard manure 



were applied to the acre, and none since. On these 

 two acres I sowed last, spring one bushel of oats, 

 kindly furnished to me hv William R Bunker, 

 Esq., proprietor of the, Pawtuckaway Hou-e, in 

 Epping, N. H. ; iieing part (jf one hundred husluls 

 bought by hini at, Poristni uth, for useinhis stab'e, 

 and which he called "Western r)at.«." My t)wn 

 oats had become run d )wn, and I wi-hcd to < hange 

 my seed. None of my ntight)ors had courage to 

 try this unknown variety. Al'hough I think I 

 seeded too scantily in this case, I believe that gen- 

 erally oats are sown twice or ihrce times too 

 thickly — the common rule being two or three 

 bu.sheis per acre. I have not yet harvested the 

 oats, but some of my neighbors set them as high 

 as forty bushels to the bustiel of sowing. It such 

 should prove the case, I think they are fully equal 

 to the far-famed Norway oats. As many as nine 

 stalks have branched irum one kernel in some 

 cases. 



Can you inform me, from an examination of the 

 enclosed head, the true name of the variety ? Its 

 appearance in the fit Id is somewhat like that of 

 the Horse-mane, the grains of which are white, 

 while of mine ihev are hack. M. J. HARVtY. 



Epping, N. H., Aug. 24, 1869. 



Remarks. — Our head is not level on oats. There 

 is a black oat called the Pennsylvania Oat. State- 

 ments have been made that both black and white 

 oats have been sold for "Norway" and for "New 

 Brunswick," by different dealers. 



raising calves. 

 An item on this subject, by one of the Farmer 

 correspondents, called attention some time since to 

 what seems a small matter, but yet one which is 

 quite important, viz , having the milk warm when 

 fed to tlie calves. At the hr^t thought it miiiht ap- 

 pear that there was but little difference between 

 warm and cold milk. Such, hoivever, is not the 

 case when fed to young calve s. And I am con- 

 vinced that: not a few of us are unsuccessful in 

 raising good calves from lack of attention to this 

 small matter. Next to good, warm, sweet milk, a 

 calf will take fine, early cut hay the best. Many 

 farmers who have raised stock for years suppose 

 grass the best thing for them, afcer they are a few 

 weeks old. A little oliscrvation will convince any 

 one that this is a mistake. Good sweet fine-feed, 

 or middlings — mind that they are sweet, ttiouijh — 

 make as good griiin teed as can be got, perhaps; 

 barley and rye meal, tine ground, are both excel- 

 lent, and much better than coin meal. Always 

 give it dry. All the porrielge, pudding, and gruel 

 preparations I ha\e abandoned after trying them. 

 First, warm sweet milk the calf easily leams to 

 take; next sweet early cut hiy ; then the rve or 

 barley meal or middlings, either of which the 

 calves learn of themselves to take, without any 

 handling whatever. On this feed, with care and a 

 nice warm stasde and a clean n;sr, they can be got 

 into milk in Ironi eighteen to twenty -two months. 

 A dry, clean bed is a very important thing if you 

 want a calf to eio well ; and a pretty large amount 

 of bedding is required for lialf a dozen calves. 



the jersey stock. 

 With me, the Jerseys are generally, or always, 

 very small anel wilel at birch ; in these respects i)e- 

 ing quite different from the natives which I own. 

 Though they sometimes come forward and make 

 a rapid growth afterward, they are always more 

 crazy and frisky while calves, and difB^juU for 

 b03 s to lead with tlic rope. The bulls of this 

 stock are almost always vuiou<, at lea^t, so far as 

 my observation goes, and should always be 

 handled with c.iution. Anieng the half bloods and 

 other grades of this stock aie found many excel- 



