318 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[April 29, 



two potatoes in a hill as large as hen's eggs or 

 one as large as a goose's egg ; at other times in 

 continued rows, dropping potatoes as large as 

 hen's eggs al>out a foot apart. I do not think it 

 best to plant the very largest potatoes, because 

 a large one is more than is needed for a hill, 

 and 1 do not think it so good a plan to cnt them 

 as it is to plant smaller ones, and moreover they 

 will produce more when planted whole than 

 what they will when cut. 



It is well to put a little Gypsum, or Plaster of 

 Paris, on potatoes at the time of planting, or af- 

 ter the shoots have got out of ground, or hoth. 

 About the first of May I consider as the best 

 time to plant ; but a month earlier or later will 

 answer. 



Potatoes are not only an excellenf,hut an indis- 

 pensable article in the eye of a good house-wife ; 

 and they are also good for fattening cattle. To 

 fat cattle with potatoes, they should be given to 

 them at least twice in 24 hours, without water, 

 as they will fat faster without than with it. 1 

 use a machine to cut potatoes for cattle and 

 sheep ; but if, in giving them whole, an ox or a 

 cow should get choked, it is easy to [lush it down 

 into the stomach, or take it out if within your 

 reach. To push it down, take a flexible rod, 4 

 or 5 feet long, and then n rind of pork with a 

 little fat on it, letting it project over the end 

 about half an inch ; by so doing it will no; ba apt 

 to pass by the potaloe, and it can easily lie push- 

 ed into the stomach. if it should go hard, it 

 will be necessary to use more force; for if (lie 

 stick goes into the stomach there will he no dan- 

 ger. The same stick can also be used when a 

 creature is hoven. A FAUMER. 



please to recollect that three barrels of this seed have 

 been left at this office for gratuitous distribution by the 

 kindness of Richard CnowNiNsniEr.D, Esq. of Dan 

 vers. 



Indian Corn.—^\l is now nearly or quite time 

 to plant your Indian corn ; and though much 

 has been said, we shall venture to add a little 

 more on the topic of its cultivation. 



The soils best adapted to the culture of this 

 plant are those which are light and rich in an- 

 imal or vegetable manure. You may as well 

 undertake to " extract sun-beams from cucum- 

 bers," according to Swift's hints to schemers, as 

 to attempt to raise this grain on poor land. 

 No more land should be planted than what is 

 well manured ; either by your own hand or by 

 the hand of nature. A soil which has the act- 

 vantage of the wash of a river, like the Nile of 

 Egypt, or one lately cleared from llie forest will 



er for the Mass. Agr. Repository for June 1823, 

 an article republished in the New England Far- 

 mer vol. I. page 380, states his opinion and cnn^ 

 firm" it by apparei.tly correct reasoning, that no 

 kind of steeps for seeds of Indian corn or other 

 grain possess any fructifying quality, or power 

 to increase the crop. But as a remedy for dis- 

 eases such as smut in wheat, and a preservative 

 against birds and insects, steeping in proper li- 

 quids is doubtless a specific. 



!\Ir .Tames Graham of New York, in llie Trans- 

 actions of the Agr. Soc. of N. York, stales that 

 there is no plan so successful for preserving 

 corn from birds and squirrels as tarring the seeds 

 in the following manner. " Put as much corn 

 as you expect to plant the next day into warm 

 water in the evening ; the ensuing morning 

 drain oli the water; then pour on as much hot 

 water as will cover it, and immediately throw 

 in tar at the rale ot about one pint to a bushel; 

 stir the tar through the corn until the grains ap- 

 [)ear to be uniformly coated with the tar, then 



NEW ENGLAND FAti.^JEii. 



FRIDAY MORNING, APRIL 29, I!J25. 



The testiruony in favour of our efforts in attempting to 

 make the New England Farmer -worthy of the appro- 

 bation of practical and scientific Ajricultuiists, con- 

 tained in the following extract of a letter from John 

 Prescott, Esq. of Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, is receiv- 

 ed with gratitude ; and will stimulate us to future 

 exertions to merit and retain the good opinion so 

 kindly expressed by honourable and adequate judges. 



Cornwallis, (A'. S.) April 8, 1825. 

 " At a Quarterly Meeting of the King^s County 

 Union Agricultvral Society, holden in this place, 

 on Wednesday the Clh insl. it was resolved — 

 ' That the Society, enlertaining a high opinion 

 of the New Enul.vnd Farmef., as an agricultural 

 paper, do subscribe for it,— and that Mr John 

 Frescott be requested to write on lor the same 

 from the commencement of the first volume.' " 



produce Indian corn without manure. But the ! P"t 't into a basket te drain; altar the water 

 " " has run off, throw it into a large tub or trough, 



and stir among it as much lime (slacked) or gyp- 

 sum as will adhere lo the grain; by which 

 means they will easily separate from each other 

 and may be as conveniently planted as if they had 

 never been tarred." Mr G prefers gypsum to ei- 

 ther lime or ashes, as it will not be so likely to in- 

 jure llie fingers in planting, and in equal quan- 



man who is poor, and always means to he poor, 

 will of course, plant this grain on poor land. — 

 This will give him the advantage of cultivating 

 five acres lo obtain the same quantity of produce 

 which he might raise on one acre ; and as he is 

 lord of ibe soil, the farther he extends his do- 

 minion the better. 



Your seed corn was, or ought to have been, 

 gathered last fall, from such stalk' as produced { lil'<'S ''"' more power to promote vegetation, 

 two or more ripe cnrs. And these, if you did I 'i'''e precaution of soaking the corn before 

 what you should have done, you hung up by Ihe 'he application of the tar is highly necessary, 

 husks, in a dry [dace, secure from irost. I5ut i <'3 "i^ coat of tar and gypsum would otherwise, 

 perhaps, you are a vo'insj (firmer, and did not | especially in a dry season, prevent it from absorb 



think of this precaution, in dug season. You 

 mu'it, Iben, make the best of your negligence; 

 and eilher obtain seed, saved in this wav, from 



ing moisture to produce vegetation. It is im- 

 porlant also, in all cases, where corn has been 

 soaked, to plant it as soon as possible alter the 



a more careful neighbour, or pick the hesi shap- i soaking is completed, 

 ed and brightest ears from your own corn bin. | Fayson Williams l^sq. an intelligent, practical 

 In eilher case you will please to shell off the | ='S'"icullurist of Fitcht^uigh, Mas«. in a cnmmunl- 

 grains carefully,so to be sure not to bruise them, Cation for this paper, published vol II. page 28 

 and It is generally said lo be best to reject those iS'13's "Ihe present season, before planting my 

 kernels which grow near the ends of the ears, j corn, the seed was soaked in a strong salt petre 

 and plant only \hf perfect and central kernels, pickle, (the same my hams were cured in) for 

 A writer, however, in a late No. of the Ameri- "'"O"' """ce days. 1 have madethis my prac- 

 can Fanner states in substance, that ihose ker-l''ce for several years past as a sale-guard against 

 nel- which grow on the lip, or top end of the , "k^ attacks of ibe wire leorm which, as everj 

 ear will, oilier thmsrs equal, produce more than farmer knows, are more deadly than any other 

 either of tho-e which are taken from the butt of Ihe worm Iribe, on corn, as the> sap at the 



or central parl«. 



If your soil is moist, and you plant early, it 



very I'oundalion, by directly eating into the germ 

 or chit of the seed. It so happened that imine- 



will not be adviseable lo steep your seed- 1 '.''"''''y '>*'er planting, a heavy rain ol twenty 

 icorn, unless you apprehend danger from the ' '""•" hours, laid many parts of the field under 

 I depredations of birds or insects. Steeping is apt I »valer for several ilays. When the ground be- 

 ito weaken Ihe principle of vegetation, but ii|canie sulficienlly dry to pulverize, I prepared 



is sometimes ex|>edient, in order to render Ihe to leplanl, when to my a*lonishment I discoier 



AGRICULTURAL EXFIIBITIONS. 



The Cattle Show, Ploughing Match, and Exhibition 

 of Manufactures will take place at Worcester, the I'ith 

 day of October next. 



The Cattle Show, Fxhibilion of .Manufactures, and 

 Public Sale, Sic. of llie [lamp^liiie, Franklin, k Hamp- 

 den Society oo Wednesday October 26, at -Northarap- 

 fcai. 



The Cattle Show, Ploughing Match, and Exhibition 

 of Manufactures, alTopsfield, the 5th of October next. 



Remarks on the cullivation of Pastel or Woad by Gen. 

 DifrAHBORN, intended for this wei k's paper, are una- 

 voiilat'ly deferred to. our next. C'v"'^'ur fri, nds will 



grain unpalatable to crows, blackl>irds, 'quirrels, 

 cut worms, &c. In lale planting, esp.>cially on 

 dry ground, it may be of use to hasten the erowlli 

 ol the plant. Dr Peane says " some steep their 

 seed. But in general it had better lie omilled; 

 for it ivill occasion it to perish in the groii;ul, if 

 the weather should nol prove warm enough to 

 bring ii up speeddy. If planting a second lime 

 should become necessary by means oi the des- 

 truction of the first seed ; or if pi »nlin£: be delay- 

 ed on any account till Ibe begining of .luui; then 

 it will be [iroper that the seed should have boil- 

 ing water poured on it. Let it not steep more 

 (ban half a minute and be cooled speedily and 

 planted before it dries. The corn will be for 



ed the sprouts forcing their way through the 

 crust now formed over Ibem. Had not the seed 

 been soaked in brine, putrefaclion would have 

 commenced before vegetation could have ensu- 

 ed. The last mentioned circunir'tance, 1 consid- 

 er of sufficient importance to urge the use of 

 brine, both with corn and wheat before sowing. 

 Although the field was full of Ihe wire worm, yet 

 in no instance did I detect their ravages on the 

 seed." 



We have known Ihe germ of seed corn des- 

 troyed, so that it would not vegetate, by being 

 steeped in a strong solution of saltpetre. But 

 we cannot say what was Ihe strength of Ihe so- 

 ution, nor Ihe length of lime during which the 



warder in its growlli by several days." A writ- ^ced was immersed in the liquor. Common salt, 



