NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



367 



NEW SPECIMENS OF GRAIN. 



A gentleman from M;iri;iosa states that on entering 

 the 8an Joaquin Valley, tVoiu Los An<;clos, in Sep- 

 tember last, he passed along the eastern hanks of 

 Tulare Lake, by a route not travelled previous to 

 that time. He found large and flowing streams emp- 

 tying into the lake from the cast, and numerous 

 well-disposed Indians, with their tioeks of cattle and 

 horses. The most singular objects that met his eye 

 were several varieties of grain, wliich he believes to 

 have never been met with before. One of the>c 

 resembled barley, and grew in vast quantities, often 

 covering areas of thousands of acres. Another varie- 

 ty \vas smaller, like millet, but not less beautiful, 

 lint the most singular of them all, and eciually abun- 

 dant, was what our informant termed pop-corn. He 

 stated that the natives cut and threshed out large 

 quantities of this, which he supposed they lay up in 

 store. This grain they ''parch" like pop-corn. — 

 Pacific News. 



RAISING POTATOES FROM THE BALL. 



I took the seed in the fall, put them in paper, and 

 kept them in a dry place. The 1st of April, 1847, I 

 planted the seed in line, rich earth, in a box in the 

 house, kept tlieni there until the 10th of June, occa- 

 sionally in the open air, but not under glass, as I had 

 not prepared the means to force them, which I think 

 would be desirable to gain tLme and size. I then, 

 Juno 10, planted them in the open ground. I pro- 

 tected the vines the first year from frost, to obtain a 

 longer season until the let of November. On dig- 

 ging them, I found some as large as hens' eggs, the 

 largest portion smaller. They produced seven varie- 

 ties such as I now give you — one like the English 

 red ; two like long and round pink eyes ; one like 

 the pink eyes, but no red in the eye ; one like the 

 dark jjurple ; one like the blue ; and one like the 

 lady linger, of large size. The second year, 1848, I 

 planted the seed raised, like other potatoes, but in 

 rich earth, but did not protect them in the fall to in- 

 crease the growth. The vines were killed before 

 they were entirely mature. I dug them the '20th of 

 October, when they were the \isual size of potatoes. 

 This year, the vines were killed by the frost as early 

 as the 2d of October, when they were green and 

 growing vigorously, and I believe they would have 

 been larger. They were dug the 10th of October. 

 One weighed one pound ten ounces ; twelve others, 

 twelve ])ounds ten ounces. The long jiotatoes are 

 more mealy at one end than the other, which shows 

 they have not their full growth. I do not know the 

 kind of potato from which the seed from the ball was 

 obtained. 



The land, half an acre, was a pasture ; ploughed 

 once, 1st of May, 1848 ; carried on eight loads ma- 

 nure from the cow stalls, and eight loads of leached 

 ashes ; sjiread them even, then dragged it well ; 

 planted corn about May 10 ; had a good ero]) on 

 the half acre; ploughed it in the fall; about May 

 12, 1849, ploughed, dragged, and planted the half 

 acre without any manure. The soil is fine sandy 

 loam, land rolling, very mellow. The following is 

 the expense of cultivation : Ploughing and tilling 

 the ground, if! 1 oO ; seed, six bushels, ,f;;i ; jdanting, 

 §1 50; hoeing, ,<;1 50; digging will cost about .f:{ ; 

 also, half a barrel of plaster, when up, $1 ; making 

 the whole expense $10. I am confident that the 

 lialf acre will yield at least 230 bushels, which, at four 

 shillings the bushel, is $ 115 



lixpcnses of cultivation, 10 



Which leaves a balance of ^ 105 



I am confident I could easily sell the potatoes for 

 the above sum, which would be the nice sura of 



$210 per acre, for use of land and small capital in- 

 vested. 



The following particulars I consider to be impor- 

 tant in the cultivation of potatoes : I ploughed the 

 land si.x inches deep ; planted the potatoes three 

 inches deep, leaving the hills level with the earth, and 

 I planted the rows three feet ajjart, and the hills two 

 feet from centre to centre, making forty-four hills to 

 the square rod, which gives seven thousand four hun- 

 dred and eighty hills per acre. Allowing fourteen 

 hills for a bushel, (as some of mine yielded) gives five 

 hundred bushels to the acre. I fully believe that if 

 I had seed from the balls sufficient to have jilauted 

 an acre, and cultivated them, as I did what I planted, 

 they would have produced at least five hundred 

 bushels this season. My land is mellow ; did not 

 plough between the rows, but hoed the weeds up, 

 leaving the hills nearly level with the top of the 

 ground, until the potatoes grew, and then raised the 

 hills above the level. I believe the usual way of 

 ploughing deep between the rows of corn or potatoes 

 is a bad practice, especially in dry seasons; a smiill 

 cultivator is much preferable. 



AMION KILLAM. 

 — A. Y. Staio Tra7isactions. 



PREPARING BONES FOR MANURE- DIS- 

 SOLVING THEM IN SULPHURIC ACID. 



By breaking up the solid and tenacious structure 

 of bones liefore applying them to the soil, their ma- 

 terials are much more readily ajjpropriated by plant.s. 

 If applied in the condition in which they are fouud 

 in the animal, years would elapse before they would 

 thoroughly dissolve and mix their elements with 

 their kindred dust. By the mechanical op'r.^tion-: 

 of breaking, crushing, grinding, or .«awlng, or the 

 chemical change effected by dissolving in sulphuric 

 acid, or by steaming, burning, or fermentation, they 

 are ready, at once, to yield their nutritive properties 

 to the crops. 



In this country, bones are generally ground before 

 using as manure. Immense quantities are furnisb.ed 

 by the manufacturers of buttons, and othi^r products 

 of bone, and this is so finely divided by sa^ving and 

 other manipulations, as to need no further jjrcpara- 

 tion. But in Europe, much of the bone is prejarcd 

 for agricultural purposes by dissolving in suljihuric 

 acid. This is done by mixing two or three paits of 

 water with one of acid. If the bones have been pre- 

 viously crushed, one third their weight of acid will 

 dissolve them ; if they have not been jneviou^ly bro- 

 ken up, then half the quantity may be retjuired. 

 The sulphuric acid is worth, usually, iu this market, 

 about two and a half cents per pound, while the 

 bones, especially the refuse ones, in the interior, may 

 be considered as valueless for any other purjjo.-^e ex- 

 cei)t manure. If there be no means for grinding, 

 tVicn we say decidedly, wherever manure is desirable, 

 (and where is it not r) it will generally pay for dissolv- 

 ing the bones in the acid, if obtainable at the above 

 price. It may, however, be a still more ecor.omical 

 preparation to burn them, by which the earthy mat- 

 ters, the jjhosphatcs, iS;c., are all left in the rcMduum. 



Tlie suliihuric acid is, of itself, a fertilizer of rnuth 

 value, and by its application aloni', will, under favor- 

 able circumstances for its application, produce good 

 returns. We should, however, esteem it, in this 

 country, as too expensive for general use, consider- 

 ing its relative value as comjjared with our products. 



Fermentation of bones is quite as economieal sw 

 burning, and by this process, fertilizing portions, 

 whieh would otherwise l)e expelled and driven off 

 into the atmosphere, will be retained witli the earthy 

 matter, and remain to add to the value of tlie compoat 



