110 



NEW EN G LAIS D FARMER, 



Oct. 19, 1831. 



BOSTON, WEDXESDAY EVENING, OCT. 19, 1831. 



be iliawn out, the balance of wliicli will exactly 

 show the present worth of the estate. 



The form of the amount may be as follows. 



— I Stock Dr. Contra Cr. 



EMPLOYMENT FOR FARMERS' EVENINGS. | On the Dr. side should be entered all the farmer 

 There is no part of our time, which can bo ! owes, and on the Cr. side all he possesses and 

 more profitably employed than the evenings of au- ■ all that is owing to him. He must rate every- 

 tumn and winter. In the evening every work for [thing at what he judges the fair present worth, 

 the next day whether for fine or rainy weather, 



was it then sold ; manure and tillage performed 

 must be valued at the common rate of the country. 

 If a fanner wishes to be very correct in his cal- 

 culations of the profit and loss of a lot of stalled 

 oxen for instance, or the crop of any particular 

 field, his readiest method is to make an account 

 for either one or the other in his ledger of Dr. and 

 Cr. On the Dr. side let him place the cost, in 



cludin 



minute particula 



the profit and loss. 



should be arranged, as well as the proper minutes, 

 accounts &,c, of the preceding day duly recorded. 

 Besides these, the fanner would do well to have 

 a book for miscellaneous observations, queries, and 

 calculations for comparing difierent ways of etfcct- 

 ing the same objects — estimates of the different 

 kinds of food, which he may be able to give to 

 his cattle, with such inquiries, doubts, or proposi- 

 tions, worth attention, as he may have heard in 

 conversation. 



Loose pieces of paper are apt to be mislaid or 

 lost, and when a man wishes to avail himself ot 

 them, for examining a subject pre\iously dis- 

 cussed he loses more time in searching lor the 

 memorandums than would be sutiicient for ma- 

 king half a dozen new ones, liut by entering 

 such matters into a book you preserve them for lu- 

 ture consultation and use, and will be able to de- 

 rive advantage from former ideas, which would 

 othe/ wise escape from the most tenacious memory. 



termers' accounts. Mr Mackai/s Breed of Swine. -ll will be notic 



A celebrated agricultural writer says, 'There ed in this day's paper, that Capt. Mackay has agam 

 is not a single step in the life of a farmer tiiat taken a premium on his swme at Concord. We 

 does not prove the advantage of his keeping regu- have had the curiosity to look over the files of the 

 lur accounts;' and yet there are very few who New England Farmer, and find that he has taken 

 attend to this important branch of rural economy. .?168 within the last six years, at the Shows in 

 A few rougli memoranda, often scrawled with Urighion and Concor.l, in premiums on his inval- 

 chalk over the fire-place, or behind the door, are iinble breed of Swine. He has been indefatigable 

 too often the only records which a farmer makes in procuring the finest nmmals from Europe, and 

 of his de^aliugs cither by way of barter or ready I by judicious crossing has produced a breed thai 

 money • and he knows as liltle about his ciicnm- I we think are unrivalled for smallness of hone, fine 

 stances, and the amount of what he would be flesh, lively condition, and kindly disposition to 

 worth 'provided his debts were paid as ho does fatfn easily and early 



rather incline towards the south side, invited, n» 

 doubt, by the greater warmth of that section of 

 the hill. 



From the result of this year's experiment, I am 

 apt to think the hills need not be elevated so much 

 as mine were, as it increases their liabilily to be 

 atfected with the drought ; but as the past season 

 has been unusually wet, I had tut few hills that 

 seemeil to sutfer fiom this source. 



The growth of these potatoes I find are at first 

 exceeding slow. It was as late as June before 

 they all showed themselves above ground ; but 

 when they once ' get under way' they come for- 

 ward very fast. Great care shonlil be taken to 

 keep the hills clear of weeds, for if permitted lo 

 lake deep root, they not only impoverish the hill, 



on the Cr. ' '^"' '" pulling them up, we are apt to disturb the 

 side't'he retVirns. " oil' tl'ie'sale "of the articles the i g'owth of the Potatoes. If from heavy rains, the 

 account is closed, and the balai-.ce demonstrates | earth should get washed away so much as to leave 



Mr Cheney^s Address. — A gentleman who was 

 present at the delivery of this Address, at the Con- 

 cord Cattle Show, and who is well qualified to 

 form a correct opinion of such performances, has 

 assured us that it was of a high character, and was 

 received with much approbation. We hope its 

 publicity may be extended, and should be happy 

 to give it a place in our columns. 



provi 

 about the Chinese language, or the most approveu 

 method of calculating eclipses. 



The advantagis resulting from clear and accu- 

 rate accounts are properly appreciated in other 

 pursuits in life, but it is doubtful whether they 

 are greater in any occupation than in that of farm- 

 ing. Sir John Sinclair has given some maxims 

 on this subject, which are in substance as follows. 

 General Account of Stock.— Every fanner, 

 who desires to know correctly to what profit he 

 does business, should provide himself with a book, 

 which he may call his General Stock Book, and in 

 this, some time in December, he should register 

 the result of a general survey of the condition and 

 worth of his whole property including all his debts I 

 and credits. Having such a book to refer to at 

 all times, and on all occasions will afford much 

 satisfaction to bis mind. In the first place he 

 should order in all his tradesmen's bills, and in the 

 meantime he may take an examination and account 

 of all his household goods, horses, cattle, poultry, 

 corn, grain, in straw or threshed, bay or other 

 fodder, wood, manure, wagons, carts, ploughs, 

 and implements of all kinds — the state of his 

 fences, gates, drains, &c, and make an estimate 

 of the iiecessary repairs. Minutes being made on 

 waste paper, the particulars may be afterwards 

 entered into the Slock Buok, with such a degree 

 of minuteness as may be judged necessary. After 

 this general register, a Dr. and Cr. account may 



the Tauntoii iteporter. 



SWEET POTATOES. 



Letter from Doct. Deans of Easlon, describing his 

 manner of cultivating Carolina Potatoes, addressed to the 

 Coimnitlee on Agriculture .it the Cattle Show In this 

 town last week. 



Gentlemen — The slips, from which the Pola- 

 toei; were grown, of which those herewith present- 

 ed are a specimen, I obtained at Mr Russell's 

 New England Farmer Seed-store in Boston, about 

 the middle of April last, and directly placed iheni 

 in a hot-bed for the purpose of sprouting; in the 

 course of 12 or 14 days a part of them were sufli- 

 ciently forward to be placed in the hill, the re- 

 mainder were permitted to remain a week or ten 

 days longer, before tlie sprouts were sufficiently 

 grown to be removed. The place I selected for 

 I planting them, was a light sandy loam, too dry and 

 barren for the ordinary purposes of cultivation. 

 After ploughing, I proceeded to constnict the 

 hills, mixing in each about one half a common- 

 sized wheel-barrow load of compost manure. The 

 hills were made with an elevation of from 12 lo 

 IS inches, with an average of something like three 

 feet across the base, and flattened at the top suffi- 

 ciently to admit the insertion of two slips from 8 to 

 10 inches apart. I prefer thi.^ method to the more 

 common one of inserting them into the south si<le 

 of the hill, as the tubers will more readily pene- 

 trate the body of the hill. I find, however they 



uncovered any part of the tubers, or the fibrous 

 expansion of the roots, they should be carefully 

 earthed, if the vines should not be so much extend- 

 ed as to render the thing impracticable. 



In planting these potatoes, they should be but 

 slightly covered, say from one to two inches, ac- 

 cording lo circumstances. If the weather should 

 be dry, they should be imbedded so deep as to be 

 surrounded by moist earth ; and shouUI the weath- 

 er continue dry for some days after removing the 

 slips from the hot-bed to the hills, care should be 

 taken to see that they do not become so dry as to 

 suspend vegetation ; as in that case an additional 

 covering of earth will become necessary. 



Observing that the vine was apt to take root 

 where the joint came into contiguity with the moist 

 earth, from whence small tubers were grown, I 

 thought to take advantage of this circumstance, by 

 forming other hills from the vine. I accordingly 

 put a handful of earth upon a few vines as soon 

 as they became of sufficient length ; and after the 

 roots had entered the hill a few inches. I made 

 two small hills and |)ut a couple of these in eacbj 

 and the vines directly shot forth in tolerable lux- 

 uriance. On opening the hills with a view of as- 

 certaining the result of my experiment, I found 

 tubers equal in size and goodness with those grown 

 directly from the slips, as the Committee will per- 

 ceive from the sample herewith presented. I in- 

 tend another season to ascertain if possible, what 

 advantage may be taken from this process under 

 more favorable circumstances, and my researches 

 I shall most likely make known to the Society at 

 their ne.xt annual meeting. My researches the 

 past seaosn have been somewhat limited from want 

 of experience ; but it has in my own estimation, 

 been sufficiently flattering to warrant another trial. 

 I obtained from 5 hills, selected as being the best 

 among 50, two bushels and a peck, of a size and 

 quality such as are herewith exhibited, which I 

 think but little if any inferior to those imported 

 from the south. 



For the information of those who may hereafter 

 attempt raising this kind of Potatoes, without 

 previous experience, I would suggest the proprie- 

 ty of dividing the slips on removing them from 

 the hot bed, so that there shall not be more than 

 two sprouts attached and then place two of these 

 in a hill elevated about one foot from its base and 

 if the soil be sterile, let it be richly supplied with 

 well digested manure. 



All which is respectfully submitted by, gentle- 

 men, yout most obedient servant, 



SAMUEL DEANS. 



