1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



255 



from 50 lbs. A cord contains 128 cubic feet ; a 

 cord and a quarter would give about a cubic foot 

 to the square rod. If liquid manure be used, it 

 would take 170 bbls. to give one gill to a square 

 foot upon an acre, which would be equal to 

 about 50 pipe8 or large hogsheads. It would be 

 quite useful if farmers would be a little more 

 specific as to the amount of manure applied. — 

 Rural New- Yorker. 



For the New England Farmer. 



GUANO AND OTHER THINGS. 



Mr. Brown : — I wish to make a few inquiries 

 through the Farmer. 



1. if the same worth of ashes is applied to the 

 ground as that of guano, will it have as good an 

 eflFect ? 



2. If the same worth of plaster is applied, will 

 it do as much good as guano 1 



3. If the same worth of slaked lime is applied 

 as of guano, will it have the same effect? 



4. Which are the three best kinds of potatoes 

 planted in New England ? 



5. Which is the earliest kind of corn? Let 

 me know where the potatoes and corn can be got, 

 and prices? 



6. What breed of hogs and hens is most pro- 

 ductive and profitable ? 



7. If the ashes, plaster and lime are mixed in 

 equal parts, will they have as good an efiect as 

 guano or superphosphate of lime? 



8. Is there any improved plow for use on 

 rough, stony and steep land, for stile in Boston? 

 1 have seen and bought some fourteen plows of 

 different patterns, but as yet have got none equal 

 to the old style. Why do not some of our scien- 

 tific farmers and mechanics make improved tools 

 for rough, stony land, as well as for the smooth 

 flats? 



By answering the above inquiries you will 

 oblige many New Yorkers. S. W. Renalds. 

 Petersburg, Reus. Co., N. Y., 1855. 



Remarks. — 1. We believe the same money val- 

 ue of ashes on an acre of land, would be of more 

 service than an equal cost of guano. 300 pounds 

 of guano would cost $0 ; at a shilling a bushel, 

 nine dollars would bring fifty-four bushels of 

 ashes. 



2. It depends so much on the condition of the 

 land, that any reply we could make would shed 

 no light upon the subject. 



3. On some soils, as a rich loam where a crop 

 of wheat was to be taken, we should greatly pre- 

 fer the lime. On a dryish, sandy loam, we should 

 prefer the guano. 



4. 'The white Chenango has been the favorite in 

 Boston market for several years — but the disease 

 has affected it so seriously for several seasons, 

 that our people introduced various other kinds. 

 Among the other sorts, the Peach-blow, Carter, 

 Davis Seedling and State of Maine stand high. 



5. The earliest corn is the Jefferson, and is sold 

 on the ear at $2 a hundred ; the potatoes at 

 from $2 to $3 a bushel, and sold at the seed 

 etores in Boston. 



6. Hogs, half Suffolk ; hens, a mixture of the 

 best you can find. 



7. Do not mix these substances. 



8. There are plows in Boston suitable for all 

 sorts of land. 



For the New England Farmer. 



PLUM TREES— TAP ROOT-POTATOES. 



Mr. Brown : — I have now been in this coun- 

 try, (from England,) two years. I have pur- 

 chased your paper every week, and do still, and 

 if every farmer in the United States does not get 

 it, they ought to, as it is full of information. I 

 have travelled through Europe and part of Asia, 

 and am always glad if I can do good to any coun- 

 try I pass through. I see in your Saturday's pa- 

 per, headed "Sucker Plnm Trees," Mr. Smith has 

 answered that fully and satisfactorily as regards 

 suckers, for you must never expect fruit, at least 

 good fruit, from below the graft, but there are 

 cases where even grafted trees blossom and not 

 bear fruit, and in this case, ninety times out of 

 a hundred, the tree has a tap-root, and if so, do 

 not expect much fruit, but dig down and see if 

 there is a tap root ; if so saw it off, and saw it 

 close to the ball of the tree ; but no tree if prop- 

 erly planted can have a tap root. In France, Bel- 

 gium and England they place a slate or flat stone, 

 and plant the tree upon it; by this means, the 

 roots branch out, and you can have no tap root. 

 You must never expect to raise fruit from suck- 

 ers. When Mr. Cobbett left Long Island, (he 

 was a great agriculturist) he did all he could in 

 England to raise or produce that beautiful apple, 

 (I think you call it the Newtown Pippin ;) he 

 took grafts with him and grafted them on Para- 

 dise stocks, viz., stocks raised in England from 

 the pippins of apples. Some of them he let grow 

 three years, and wrote back to Long Island for 

 more grafts. When he got them, he cut off those 

 which had grown three years, and grafted again 

 with his newly imported ones from Long Island. 

 They grew and fruited, and were good apples, 

 but not to be compared to what he had in Long 

 Island, and he very truly said it was American 

 air and land. We cannot produce apples or pears 

 in England, equal either to you, France or Bel- 

 gium. 



I will now say something about potatoes, 

 which Cobbett railed so much against ; for the 

 last eight years, the farmers have adopted a sys- 

 tem, (and I am proud to say that I was the orig- 

 inator of it) which is within every poor man's 

 grasp; viz., when the potato is kept for seed, 

 throw it into ground plaster ; in England we 

 use fallen lime, or hydrated lime in powder : the 

 cut side takes up the lime, and prevents its ex- 

 hausting itself in the earth ; it prevents wire- 

 worms, snails, or other vermin attacking it. I 

 see that small potatoes arc sold for seed ; they 

 may do well, but I prefer a good sized potato set, 

 that is a potato of good size, cut in two or three, 

 pieces, and leave two eyes or sprouts ; buteven in 

 the small potato set, I should recommend a small 

 portion chipped off and thrown into plaster or 

 lime. If you wish to prevent disease, always 

 plant your potato with the cut side up ; try it on 

 a small scale, if you like, but you will plant the 

 whole field next season cut side up. 



An English Farmer. 



Fall River, April 2^. 1855. 



