MEW ENGIiAND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY J. ij. RUSSELL,, AT NO. 62 NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agricultural Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDE^ EDITOR 



vol... X. 



BOSTON, WKDJVESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 30, 1831. 



NO. 20. 



GREAT CROP OF CORN. 



To Ihe Editor of Ihe N. E. Farinor. , 



WImt is the use of ciiii;^ruting to Oregon wlieiJ' 

 120 husliels of corn ran be raised in Clienangt), 

 when wiUl hind cqiiiilly good wilh the Uind bearing 

 this crop can be had in any quantity from three to 

 five dollars per acre ? 



Having received much nsel'iil instruction in pe- 

 rusing tbe details of good farming, great cro[)S and 

 scientific horticulture recorded in your valuable; 

 paper and having raised a vijry fine crop of corn 

 this season for this disirirt, viz. 211 baskets, aver- 

 aging 19J- quarts to the basket, on one acre, and 

 thirteen rods of land, I take the liberty of sendr 

 ing the account of this crop to yon, and if worthy 

 of record you are at liberty to publish it. 



The entire corn field was surveyed by a sworn 

 surveyor. The lines were ran backwanls as well 

 as fi)rwanls, the surveyor carrying one end of the 

 chain on the back track to correct mistakes if any. 

 The corn was measured in two baskets as picked 

 in the field, one of which was taken from the field 

 by my overseer as picked to his house, dried, shell- 

 ed and found to contain 20 quarts. 



The other basket was filled in the usual way 

 from the cart at the crib, at my house and under 

 my care even full, without packing or shaking to 

 make better stowage. The corn was dfied 

 thoroughly in an oven, shelled, and found to mea- 

 sure 19 quarts, anil weighing 37 lbs. The difler- 

 ence in measure may be accounted for in the belter 

 stowage of the baskets taken from the field the ears 



basket shook by moving 3 or 4 times 



The crop was raised on what was supposed to 

 be a poor [lart of a farm of 200 acres adjoining this 

 village, purchased in 182.5 for §10 per acre, ami 

 condemned by the former occupier, as well as 

 neighbors as a poor farm, calculated to starve the 

 owner. 1 am now happy to say that the fine show 

 of Grass, Wheat, Barley, Corn, Mangel Wnrtzel, 

 Ruta Baga, &,c, has restored its lost credit. Tlie 

 soil of the farm varies from a sandy loam to a stiff" 



The plants standing silli- 

 ly from 12 to 13 inches on th^^iin drill. Thi^ 

 corn was once ploug^hed, afterwards kept cle.in 

 with the hoe, plastered well on the plant, lopped 

 at the usual lime, was ripe on the 1.5tli of Sep- 

 tember and harvested on the hill the IJili and 15ih 

 of October and found to yield at least 130 bushels 

 of shelled corn 60 lbs. to the bushel, or 140 calcu- 

 lating 56 lbs. to the bushel. 



I am, sir, most respectfiilly yours, 



Benjamin lioTLER. 

 Oxford, Chenango co. 

 jY. Y. JVov. S, 1S3 



1} 



PRESERVATION OF SWEET POTATO 

 SLIPS. 



Ma Fessenden — In the 13tli number of the 

 present vol. of the New Euglai'd Farmer is con- 

 tained a communication on the subject of culture 

 of the sweet potato, to which is annexed the edi- 

 torial remark that, ' No economical method of 

 |)reserving the slips for seed through the winter 

 in New England has yet been discovered to our 

 knowledge.' As considerable quantities of this 

 arlicle are kept through that season of the year 

 by many families in this vicinity, with little diffi- 

 culty when the clihiate is not essentially, if any 

 milder than in the southern |)arts of New Eng- 

 land, I have t'lken the liberty of forwarding to 

 you a description of the methods which have 

 been the most successful. 



In attempting their preservation it is necessary 

 to attend to two points. 1st, to secure them from 

 moisture. 2nd, to protect them from frost, 

 thrown in singly as husked in the field, and thei^^Assoon as they are dug they should be exposed 



to the sun for two or three hours till their skins 

 become dry ; they then should be packed in a 

 tight box fh layers alternately, with layers of Ji-y 

 sand two inches thick, so that no two of the slips 

 shall touch each other, in which case a decay 

 would commence that might ultimately aft'ect the 

 whole quantity. The finer ;he sand the better, and 

 il is to be preferred if it contain a small portion 

 of loam, as in coarse washed sand they wither up 

 d soon lose the power of vegetating. Some 



clay. The part occupied by the corn is a stitt' people pack them in dry wheat chalT, which they 

 loam. It was thrown out of a tillage lot into a | perfer to sand, but I have never used it for this 

 pasture 20 years ago, being then considered too purpose, though I have found it to be well cal- 

 poor or too stony to till. The stones were carefully 1 culated for preserving winter apples, having un- 

 dug and pickeil up to the amount of 50 loads to ' packed from it, in the month of May, Rhode 

 the acre this spring. Ploughing only once, an ex- ' Island Greenings, in a sound slate, with their fia- 

 tra hand fidlowing the plough with a bar and mat- vor undiminisluHl. 



lock removing every obstruction to the plough. I Various methods have been tried for protecting 

 This was the most tedious part of the work ein- 1 the slips from frost. One of my chimneys is sup- 

 ploying a span of horses, and two men for two ported in the cellar by a brick arch, which is 

 days. But when done the land was completely 1 raised seven feet above the foundations and the 

 ploughed. We then drew on 25 cart loads, about 1 under surface of which is kept warm by a fire 

 25 bushels to the load, of sheep manure, and ^ in the kitchen. Underneath it is built a plaiform 

 spread it evenly on the furrow. Rolled timl harrow- sufiiciently hish to admit a box containing the 

 led with the furrow, with a light double harrow, con- slips packed as before described, so that the up- 

 Itaining 40 teeth until it was a complete garden : per strata of sand will nearly touch the undersur- 

 imould, and the earth well incorjjorated with the 1 face of the arch. In this situation a few of the 

 manure : again picked off" the stones and again r(dl- most exposed may wither and become useless, 

 ed and planted on ihe '22d and 23d of May on but a large pronortion will come out as fresh in 



the spring, as when placed there in autumn. 



an even surface, with the early small white flint 

 corn, steeped in a solution of copperas and salt 

 petre and then tarred and rolled in plaster, and 

 planted in double drills 3i feet from centre to cen- 



This 

 i have tested by eight years' experience. 



Some people place them in a vacant oven, stock 

 hole or cupboard near the fire, others again in 



merchants' counting-rooms or in mechanics' shops, 

 that are kept sufficiently wann. I believe a tern- 

 perature of "from 38 to 40 of Fahrenheit to he the 

 most congenial 10 them, through tlie aulumn and 

 winter. 



The Dutch,^ whose houses are invarial)Iy fur- 

 nished \v\t\t a ten plate ov box-slovp, place their 

 boxes of Kli|)S, in their stove rooms, and on the ap- 

 proach of sjJring, occasionally sprinkle the sand 

 with water, which, though it would be fatal to the 

 plants during the cold weather, accelerates the 

 growth of their shoots at this time, when there 

 seems to lie;* natural disposition in them to put 

 forth ; and by the time the ground is in a con- 

 dition for planting, these provident [leople are 

 supplied with sprouted shoots without the trouble 

 of a hot bed. 



The large, roots may be preserved equally well 

 through the winter fiir cooking. 



Their cultivniion is the most successful upon a 

 sandy soil well mixed, with manure thoroughly 

 decayed ; but that which is rank and recently from 

 the yards should not be used, as it would jiromote 

 a luxuriant growth of the tops to the injury of the 

 tubers. I have not unfrequenlly raised them as 

 large as those brought from the more southern 

 states though not etpial in flavor. A majority of 

 the families in this vicinity cultivate them in 

 their gardens, and sotne on a scale so extensive 

 that they become an object of profit. In favorable 

 seasons they will yield at least as abundantly as 

 the common, potatoes. 



The red and yellow varieties are the richest 

 flavored and form the best slia|)ed roots, though 

 they do iiot^gtsw as large as the white. 

 Respectfiilly yours, 



J. P. KlRTLAND. 



Poland, Ohio, JVov. 15, 1831. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FAHiMER. 



TREES-. 



He Ihat plants a tree thereby becomes a benefactor to his country. 



If this Statement be true there is a large portion 

 of our community who are so circumstanced that 

 they might without detriment to themselves devote 

 more of their attention to this subject than they 

 have hitherto done. It is one which deeply interests 

 all those who look fiirward to the future well-being 

 of our country. Our forests are rapidly vanishing- 

 before the hand of the husbandman and our land 

 will soon become comparatively bare of them unless 

 there is a counteracting influence exerted by the 

 cultivator 17! /)/a)!(i">!g- afiett) those trees which will 

 be the most serviceable to tnan. There are at this 

 time thousan Is of acres of unproductive grounds, 

 which might in a few years be convened into ex- 

 cellent pasturing liy planting the same at suitable 

 distances, with trees of variou-i sons, that they might 

 serve as a jirotection from the scorching rays of 

 the sun, and preserve a more uniform state of 

 moisture, so that vegetation should not become 

 checked by blight. 



H'hf^s it that our road sides are not lined with 

 trees either for ornament or use, as they are in other 

 countries ? Is it because we as a people are de- 

 void of taste .' Certainly not. Let the utility, and 

 feasibility, of these plans be laid before the public 



