166 



NEW ENGLAND FAHMER. 



giving a view of the present state of the market, he 

 observe-, " We cannot see any reason to believe that 

 the early prices this season will materially exceed 

 those of last spring. There are several reasons why 

 the fanners will not get any advance. One is the 

 short crop of wheat at the west. The farmers in 

 that region will sell their wool early — it must be 

 sold at any prices they can obtain, beca\ise that is 

 the only product which will command cash. Specu- 

 lators and manufacturers will avail themselves of this 

 opportunity to supply their early stock. The result 

 will bo, that if the farmers in this state and Ohio 

 sell their wool early, it must be sold at prices which 

 will be established by the necessities of their western 

 brethren. But it is equally certain that wool held 

 till late will bring prices equal to those which were 

 obtained at the auction sales, for the manufacturer 

 ■svill be compelled to pay those figures. Sorted wool 

 will bring good prices during the season, as the sys- 

 tem is becoming more and more popular with the 

 man u f act ur e rs . " 



Well, what was the price at the auction sales ? 

 This was the auction in New York, on the 13th of 

 February. We have given the general results of 

 this auction in a former number. The following table 

 will give a more minute detail of prices. 



The amount offered was three hundred thousand 

 pounds, and was sold in lots, as follows : — 



13,000 lbs. common and quarter blood, .... 33 



20,000 " ^ blood Merino 34 ® 3-5 



44,000 " :{ and full blood Merino, 37 



35,000 " Saxony and Merino, (Pa.) 38.^ 



35,000 " " " (N. Y.)... 40 



2.5,000 " extra fine do 43 



30,000 " ex. fine Saxony (AVash. Co., Pa.) 46 



15,000 " 5 full blood Merino (Pa. and O.) 38 



15,000 " i blood Merino, 35^ 



30,000 " I Merino, 36^ 



19,000 " I to full blood Merino 38i 



20,000 " full blood Merino and Saxony, 45 



1,500 " black ficece, ".. 34 



8,000 " unwashed rteece, 24^ i® 27 



It was all American fleece wool. 



The above is the best information we can give of 

 the tcooUrn prospect. The prospect of prices seems to 

 be based upon the necessities of the western wool- 

 growers rather than upon a fair valuation of the 

 article, as regulated by cost of production, supply, 

 and demand. — Maine Farmer. 



POROUS SOIL FOR POTATOES. 



It has been remarked by moralists that " blessings 

 brighten as they take their Hight." The good, old- 

 fashioned potato used to be raised so easily, and wore 

 so abundant that wc never realized their worth until 

 the potato rot came ; and then the blessings began to 

 brighten, after they had taken their flight beyond our 

 reach. Some remarks in regard to the culture of 

 them we think would not be amiss, even if not quite 

 in season to ayiply them in the act of planting. 



"SVe have always noticed that the best crops of 

 potatoes are raiserl in what may be called porous soil ; 

 for instance, new grounds that have been burnt over, 

 and are full of half-burnt loaves and sticks, and ashes 

 and coal, — and greenswards that have been turned 

 over by the plough, and are not compact. 



From tliese facts we have supposed that althoiigh 

 the vine of the potato requires some source to obtain 

 potash, which enters into its substance largely, yet it 

 requires a chance where the atmosphere can have 

 a'-x'css to its tubers, and that while it is necessary 

 tliat they should not be exposed to the scorching sun 

 or drowning water, yet air is a very important ele- 



ment in its successful cultivation, and this it obtains 

 in such situations as we have described above. 



In looking over some of the writers who have 

 ventured to suggest any thing on this subject, we find 

 one quoted in the New York Farmer and Mechanic, 

 who seems to think that the atmosphere affords the 

 principal part of the nourishment to this crop. It is 

 true that we do not yet, after the researches in the 

 chemical action of the elements, know how they are 

 always assimilated, nor Avhat peculiar changes and 

 aifinities are effected during the growth of plants. It 

 is not impossible that decomposition and recomposi- 

 tions, which are silently going on in the plant, may 

 be such as to form substances from the ingredients 

 of the atmosphere, and the aeriform substances and 

 vapors with which it is filled, that we supposed must 

 have come fi'om the soil alone. That the potato, for 

 instance, can derive, in some mysterious or hitherto 

 unknown process, potash, and lime, and soda, and 

 the other mineral matters it contains, from the at- 

 mosphere ; and hence the reason why it thrives best 

 in such a porous soil as we have mentioned. 



Among the many plans devised to cultivate the 

 potato, if you have not a piece of burnt ground, or 

 turf, the breaking up of sward-land, and manuring 

 with coarse, straw}' manure, if you are sure of suffi- 

 cient moisture, is the best. 



The writer, to whom we alluded above, says that 

 the following is the most successful plan that he has 

 found in the cultivation of this vegetable, and that 

 he speaks from experience. 



Select a piece of hard trampled ground, the harder 

 the better. A lot on which stock of any kind, but 

 particularly hogs, have been kept and fed, Avill be 

 found to be the best. Break it up well, thoroughly 

 and deeply one way, no matter how cloddy ; and do 

 not harrow it any, but let the clods remain unbroken. 

 The ground being thus broken one wa)', lay it off' 

 into rows the other way, or across the ploughing, 

 two and a half or three feet apart. Open these with 

 a plough, running it back in the same furrow, so as 

 to open the trench as widely and deeply as possible ; 

 cut all the large seed potatoes so as to have a suffi- 

 ciency of eyes on each piece. Then drop them in 

 about six inches apart. Now fill the trench with 

 straw or, chaff", or, if neither of these can be obtained, 

 with leaves from the woods, or trash of some sort. 

 This is very important to a successful cultivation of 

 the potato, not, as is generally supposed, because it 

 gives the potato room to grow and expand in, 

 (though this is of some importance,) but because, as 

 we have shown, it furnishes it with a kind of bed or 

 nursery to grow in. We do not deny that it may 

 receive some nutriment from the decomposing straw ; 

 but then it must be entirely diifercnt from that af- 

 forded by soil, as the straw must be entirely decom- 

 posed before it can enter into the composition of soil. 

 The trenches thus filled may be covered with the 

 plough, and the "middles" entirely broken by the 

 plough to the ridges, so as to leave a furrow only 

 between each. Two workings, a weeding, and then 

 afterwards, at the proper time, a hilling up, each aided 

 by the plough, about twice between each row, will 

 generally complete the cultivation. — Maine Farmer. 



EFFORTS TO EXTEND FLAX CULTURE IN 

 IRELAND. 



As we have repeatedly stated, the Irish linen 

 manufacturers are making every exertion to extend 

 and encourage the business. They find the United 

 States a capital market for them. Hadn't we bet- 

 ter raise our own flax, and make our own linens ? 

 The following scrap will show a little of their exer- 

 tions in this business : — 



