96 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



FACTS IN POTATO RAISING. 



Tliis being the season for planting potatoes through- 

 out the Northern States, and the agricultural com- 

 niaiiity, no doubt, thinking much of the rot, and 

 the probabilities of its affecting the crop about being 

 planted, I have thought best to record an inter- 

 esting fact in regard to that apparently incurable 

 disease. 



In the spring of 1847, I turned under a sod on 

 clay ground, and planted it with merino potatoes 

 early in May. They grew well and yielded a heavy 

 crop for the season. About the first of October I 

 commenced digging, intending to bury them mostly 

 in pits, on the held where they grew. I dug about 

 fifty bushels, and buried them lightly in a round, 

 shallow hole, when we were hindered from digging 

 more at tliat time by a very heavy rain stonn, and 

 the ground was completely saturated by water. 

 Those dug at this time presented no appearance of 

 rot in any way, and I congratulated myself on 

 having a sound croi^ of potatoes once more. After 

 about two weeks had elapsed, and the ground be- 

 came fit to work, I began digging again ; but lo, the 

 rot had appeared ! Small white specks covered the 

 skin of very many of the potatoes, and some few 

 were already rotten. I knew they were not to be 

 saved, and put them in small pits of twenty or thirty 

 bushels each, intending to handle them over, sort 

 them, and feed them up to the hogs and cattle as 

 fast as possible. They rotted so fast that I lost over 

 one fourth of the crop in two or three weeks, before I 

 could feed them to my animals ; and had they been 

 left in the pit, I believe they would have all rotted 

 before winter came ; yet they had only a covering of 

 rye straw, and about two inches of dirt. After I had 

 disposed of these last small pits, I turned to examine 

 the larger one dug and buried before the rain. I 

 opened it about the middle of November, six weeks 

 after it had been made, and to my surprise found 

 but very few rotten. I handled them over, and buried 

 them again, depending on them for seed the follow- 

 ing year. They came out in the spring fine, and 

 were very good for eating, being all that were left of 

 about eight hundred bushels that grew on the same 

 field of four acres. 



Last fall, I dug early, and secured my crop before 

 they were exposed to the heavy fall rains, and have 

 lost very few by rot, scarcely any ; and I conclude that 

 early planting and early gathering are the best guards 

 against the potato disease. 



I have been confirmed in this opinion of late, by 

 seeing a paragraph going the rounds in the newspa- 

 pers, relating the success of the same management in 

 some particular case ; and I thought it worth while 

 to give the above to the readers of the Dollar News- 

 paper. I have been sorely perplexed by this potato 

 rot, and have never been able to find any other pre- 

 ventive than the simple one above mentioned. I 

 shall try it again. li. L. 



— Dollar Niwspaiter. 



UNDERDRAINING MEADOWS WITH THE 



SUBSOIL PLOUGH. 



Some of our best farmers have lately adopted, with 

 entire success, the system of underdraining their 

 heavy clay and wet meadows. This is done in the 

 most summary manner, by attacliing two yoke of 

 good oxen, or two pair of horses, to a strong subsoil 

 plough, which penetrates to the depth of fifteen to 

 twenty inches below the surface. The sod is divided 

 and separated by the plough to a distance scarcely 

 exceeding one and a half inches, which immediately 

 closes after the furrow ; and if moist, when the 



operation is performed, th& tarf speedily tmites, and 

 not even a line is visible beyond a few days. 



By this operation, a large underdrain is left at the 

 bottom of the furrow, where the point, or nose, and 

 wing of the subsoil plough has passed, and nearly of 

 their size, which, in stiff soils, will remain open for 

 years. On moadoAvs where there are puddles of 

 stanchng water, as is always the case on stiff soils 

 after rains, the effect is instantaneous. If the plough 

 has been started in a ravine, or low part of the 

 meadow, (as it should be, so as to form a descent for 

 the surface watei',) when it passes through the little 

 basins, the water vanishes as if by magic, and it is 

 heard g-urgling rapicUy along its new-found aqueduct 

 till it reaches the outlet. In addition to this more 

 immediately perceptible effect, if the meadow thus 

 drained be closely watched for a few weeks, and 

 especially during wet weather, a marked improve- 

 ment will be noticed over similar undrained meadows. 

 The grass wiU be thicker, ranker, and more forward ; 

 it win matiu-e quicker, and yield a heavier growth of 

 sounder and sweeter forage. 



The distance of these firrrows, or drains, should 

 vary according to the compactness or tenacity of the 

 soil, and the frequency of the basins to be drained. 

 In the heaviest soils, the drains may be advanta- 

 geously run within ten feet of each other. If less 

 adhesive, and few pond holes exist, the furrows raay 

 be a distance of twenty or thirty feet. No meadows, 

 unless of the lightest kinds, will be injured by this 

 operation, while all others will be decidedly bene- 

 fited. This results from the imperceptible yet rapid 

 drainage of the water which is held in excess by the 

 soil, and the escape of which is so beneficial to the 

 vegetation. 



This operation has been adopted in England many 

 years since, but with an implement considerably 

 differing from the subsoil plough. It consisted simply 

 of a pointed iron, some three inches in cUameter at 

 its largest end, which was connected with the beam 

 by two strong, thin colters. The iron point was 

 often sent three to four feet below the surface, and 

 required a strong force to move it. This implement 

 has been principally superseded, where first adopted, 

 by the substitution of thorough and more permanent 

 tile underdraining. — Am. Agriculturist, 



WHAT IS A FAIR RENT FOR DAIRY COWS » 



What is a fair average number of pounds of butter 

 per annum to be expected from a common lot of 

 dairy cows in this country ? 



A proi^rietor of land, in Orange county, proposes 

 to rent me his farm next spring, with fifty cows, for 

 which I should engage to give him a certain nvimber 

 of pounds of butter per head. Can you inform me 

 what is a fair rent ? I am satisfied with the terms of 

 giving one third of the crop for rent, but fear to 

 accept his terms for the cows. 



A STRANGER IN AMERICA. 



The average annual yield of pounds of butter per 

 cow is a very uncertain matter. We doubt whether 

 it exceeds one hundred pounds per cow in Orange 

 county ; though we believe that two firkins (one 

 hundred and sixty pounds) arc considered a fair aver- 

 age. We know one lot of ten cows that average 

 three firkins each, equal to foiu- hundred and eighty 

 pounds per annum. We believe the most usual rent 

 is one firkin for each cow. We saw fifty excellent 

 cows the other day, for which the farmer gives the 

 proprietor a rent of sixty-seven pounds each per 

 annum. In this uistance the farm is very productive 

 for grass, and the daii-y conveniences of the best kind* 

 When this is not the case, the lessee cannot afford to 

 pay so hi.gh a rent. — Am. Agriculturist.. 



