354 



NEW ENGLAND F^UIMER 



Aug. 



2. 



suds 



It saves the washer from sweltering over hot 



3. It wears the clothes very little. 



4. It is easier, every way, to do the same work 



is not potatoes, and their botanical character and 

 physiological structure and functions are so dif- 

 ferent, that no conclusion of this sort drawn from 

 one will apply to the other. I cannot here enter 

 on the discussion of this subject. The other il- 

 with this machine than to rub them with the' lustrations, so far as applicable to potatoes, are 

 hands. just as much in need of a decision as the pota- 



We recommend it, heartily, to every family to^s. It isbut borrowing one hypothesis to prove 



who has washing to be done, 

 lieve is $10. 



The price we be- 



For the New England Farmer. 



SMALL POTATOES AGAIN. 



Mr. Editor : — 1 liave just been hoeing some 

 small potatoes, that have come up well and look 

 just as large as large potatoes do when they 

 sprout ; and, having got enough of that exercise, 

 I will attend to the next field 1 meet — last week's 

 Farmer — not all small potatoes, by the way. 



Your correspondent, ]\Ir. Poor, has differed 

 widely, both from my opinion and yours. As 

 his article contains, as I think, several fallacies, 

 common to reasoning on agriculture, I will notice 

 it at length. And the first is, "that there is but 

 one right way" to do a thing in forming. This 

 is a prolific source of trouble, but has no founda- 

 tion in fact. Nature is by no means as niggardly 

 of her means as men would make her. The pro- 

 vision for reproduction in the potato shows she 

 can do the thing in two ways at least — by the 

 balls and by the tubers. We should like to see 

 the proof of that statement of "but one right 

 way." All nature is against it. 



In the second place, I cannot answer for the 

 season when my father raised his small potatoes ; 

 (I did not come up that year ;) but it was such 

 that his neighbors raised good crops, and his 

 land was the same kind usually planted. The 

 "large seed" was not given as the cause of the 

 small result, but to show that large potatoes did 

 not of necessity secure large potatoes, nor small 

 ones small. Why they grew small, I am as ig- 

 norant as need be, and, if your correspondent 

 can show a reason, I will give him all the data in 

 my power. Theoretical speculations will not in- 

 validate a fact ; and this involves another prin- 

 ciple of great importance to the farmer, — that he 

 depends on facts ivholly, and on speculation 7ione 

 at all. The diversity of opinion arises from im 

 perfect generalizations and crude speculations not 

 a little. 



In the third place, one large potato did not 

 furnish my neiglibor with half the vines my small 

 ones did me. If 20 or 30 stalks overstock a hill, 

 40 or 50 would still more, and I had the most 

 vines and potatoes also. I cannot say how many 

 shoots either of us had, but too many, I presume. 



In the fourth place, tlie potato is indigenous to 

 the mountainous regions about the head of the 

 Amazon, as well as elsewhere. There the native 

 growth exists wild, to which I refer, and there 

 no large tulicrs are found. Hence, large tubers 

 are of artificial growth, as well as large cabbage 

 heads. But I named this not as a reason, but an 

 illustration. 



I have not attempted to prove small potatoes 

 better than large ones, Init to ascertain, by facts, 

 if they are as good. And this is a question of 

 fact. Our planting plump grain has no bearing 

 on this question, for the good reason that grain 



another. My allusion to the natural growth, 

 &c., was simply to show that the diseases of the 

 potato were not attributable to planting small 

 potatoes. Every botanist is aware of the ten- 

 dency of all our cultivated plants to resort to 

 their original type, and the fact of their doing 

 so, shows the artificial character of large growths, 

 for the most part. These that have thus re- 

 verted, are no less perfect in respect to vitality 

 and the specific character of the plant. I am not 

 aware that the chemical composition of the small 

 potato is different from the large one. Nor is 

 there any evidence that its vitality is proved. It 

 is certainly a tendency to revert to its original 

 type, and does not imply any deficiency in the 

 power of the tuber to reproduce. The question 

 will it as toell reproduce large potatoes ? — a 

 question of fact. 



The only fiict to which your correspondent 

 refers — the practice of Long Island farmers and 

 Mercers — is indefinite, and only proves that large 

 potatoes will produce large ones, under favorable 

 circumstances, a fact whicli is not new ; but the 

 question is, will not small ones also? I last year 

 planted some potatoes, called here the New York 

 potatoes, of large size. I finished in a hollow by 

 a piece of corn, and had not enough to finish. 

 I therefore planted about a square rod with small 

 peach-blows. The hollow, in all, covered about 

 three square rods. I dug from it, by measure- 

 ment, between nine and ten bushels, the two 

 kinds yielding about equally. From the whole I 

 sorted out les3 than a half bushel of small ones, 

 and these were as plenty from the large seed as 

 from the small. This plat was excellent land for 

 potatoes, and ray conclusion coincides very much 

 with that of a thrifty farmer, whose opinion I 

 asked on this point. "Large potatoes," said he, 

 "are very good, and I don't know but small ones 

 are just as good ; but the best thing is to have the 

 ground in good condition." s. p. 



For the New England Farmer. 



YOUNG APPLE TREES DYING. 



Mr. Editor : — I am this spring suffering the 

 loss of some 15 to 25 fine young apple trees, from 

 2 to 5 inches in diameter. 



I have recently learned that like losses have 

 been extensive, embracing ornamental, as well as 

 different kinds of fruit trees. I wish, with the 

 aid of yourself and your numerous readers to, 

 account for this loss. I have made no observa- 

 tions beyond my own farm. Those trees which 

 first attracted my attention were situated near a 

 wall, and were for a long time during the win- 

 ter imbedded in a snow-l)ank some 4 or 5 feet 

 deep, which lay upon unfrozen ground. I no- 

 ticed no indications of decline until the leaves 

 were partially expanded and presented an un- 

 healthy look. On examination, the trunk was 

 found to be destitute of any lively bark from the 

 limbs to within 3 to six inches of the ground. 



