1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



419 



POTATO-STEM BORER. 



Asa G. Sheldon, Esq., of AVilmington, a gentle- 

 man whose observation is as keen as liis judgment 

 is sound, brought us a i^otato-stalk wliich had been 

 entered by a worm an inch long, with a copper-col- 

 ored head and twelve legs. The entrance was made 

 near the root, and he had gone uj) the centre of the 

 stem some six or eight inches, eating clean as he 

 went all the pulpy part of the stem. 



Who is he, and how much mischief does he do ? 



DISEASED pear TREES. 



I am much trouliled with a disease in my pear 

 trees, and do not know what it is. Some call it 

 sunblight, others say it is caused by fi-ost. After 

 losing several trees, I have saved others by shaving 

 off all the affected bark. I hope some of your cor- 

 respondents will tell me Avhat the troul)re is, and 

 how I shall remedy it. Peter Wait. 



Danvers, July, 1855. 



Crops of all kinds look well, 

 better than last year. 

 Middlebury, Vt. 



Hay 



IS commg m 

 A. F. 



Pot the New England Farmer. 



"THE OTHER PLACE." 



"You can't own all the land that joins you," is a 

 saying old and sure, yet how few Yanlvce farmers 

 seem to believe it. If the mania for owing land in 

 large quantities could be exchanged for a mania for 

 owning good land, and good cattle. New England 

 ■would thl^^■e without agricultural papers; but as 

 that good time coming is not lilvcly to be forth- 

 coming soon without assistance, all good iarmcrs 

 will look to the press, that corrector of popular 

 opinion, as their deliverer. 



But to retm-n to my text, wliich I think will need 

 no explanation, for who has not heard of the term ? 

 In some parts of Massachusetts, no farmer is con- 

 sidered Ibrehanded, or, I should say, considers 

 himself so, until he owns an adjoining 'farm, wliich 

 generally tiikes the name of " 



Fur the yew England Farmer. 



SMALL POTATOES. 



Mr. Editor: — In the fewest words I will an- 

 awer and explain to your correspondent, "S. P." (I 

 hope I am addressing my own sex.) 



My communication upon "Small Potatoes," touch- 

 ing his supposed errors, he thinks "a tissue of sev- 

 eral tliUacies, common to reasoning on agricultm'c." 

 This long whip reaches others as well as myself, 

 who have the temerity to express an opinion upon 

 tliis subject. 



I said there was but one right ivay in farming, 

 however much practice might varj*. I still main- 

 tain the correctness of the jmnciple. He says, "to 

 follow this, is a prolific source of trouble." I would 

 ask why ? I will admit there are more waj^s than 

 one, jet one general standard supposed and prac- 

 ticed as right is adopted. 



There are two ways to gather your Avinter apples, 

 delicate peaches, ])ears, &c. ; will you htyid-pick or 

 shake off? Two roads lead to the mill ; is there any 

 choice ? Would you employ a bungler or a good 

 faiiier to shoe your horse ? In surgen,, in fact in 

 all practice, the right ivay has its single uitcrpreta- 

 tion, while the wrong way might be the result of 

 ignorance or stupiiUty. If "all nature is against" 

 the one right way, it is no paradox that square Ls 

 round or perpendicular is horizontal. 



Your correspondent recommended "small pota- 

 toes" as seed, and illustrated by two strong exam- 

 ples. He said the native tuber was "small," but a 

 "large growth was artificial. He again says, "large 

 tubers and cabbage heads are of artificial growth." 

 Nature gives liut one principle, vested in the germi- 

 nating power of ■ the seed, according to its size and 

 functions. Tliis is its law — man applies his skill 

 equally, large and small is the natural or real, not 

 the artificial result. I hope this will not be consid- 

 ered as "one hypothesis to prove another," or a 

 "theoretical speculation. " 



"Grain is not potatoes," says "S. P." Another 

 man says, "a chestnut horse is not a horse-chest- 

 nut." All very true — but M'hich has most affinity ? 

 In their cultivation and uses, there is certainly a 

 ft-iendly alliance between grain and potatoes. Mr. 

 EcUtor, tliis may be a profitless discussion ; it is 



'the other place. 

 That this acquisition is the beginning of trouble I certainly beyond an arms-length battle, the combat- 

 will not say, Imt that in most cases it brings more r^"ts being strangers and far apart. My object has 

 trouble and ])crplexity than profit or comfort, I will '^^'-'^ t° ^t;^te to formers my o\vn positive expexi- 

 unhesititingly avow." That this is necessarily the ence and the practice of others. 



case, I do not say, l)ut generally, when a man adds 

 one hundred acres to the two-hundred acres of 

 land already acquired, he has little idea of employ- 

 ing any more help on the farm, and cci^nnly not 

 in the house, nor does he think of kecj^g better 

 cows and im])roving his stock; his mind is too much 



This morning a large farmer laughed at the idea 

 of planting small potatoes ; he says two to four 

 vines in a hill fi'om large potatoes two feet apart, is 

 full enough. On tliis pouit I am convinced it is the 

 one rigid ivay. 



The fiat farms of Flatland and Flatbush are load- 



occupied with number; he is thinking of the num- ed with potatoes, corn, winter wheat, rye and grass 

 berof acres he will own, the numl)er of acres he —wheat and rye, very full. Many square miles 

 will have to mow over, and the number of cows .checked off with rail fences, indicate that one king 

 he will _keep._ Quahty has so little to do with his farmer directs the whole: not a stone to jar your 

 calculations, it would l)e hard to make liini believe 'wheels, or a fruit tree (save now and then a cherry) 

 that the profit from two acres, well cultivated, I amid all the luxury. Neat white houses, Dutchv 'in 

 would be more than the profit from three acres ! shajjc and trimmings, such as solid shutters, painted 

 with the same_ expense and labor a])i)lied that the black with strap hinges, &c., all presenting a great 

 two iicres received. On this point 1 feel incHiicd contrast to the farm vicinity of Boston. Weather 

 to ditter with him, and if I am in eiTor, I trust has been bad for haymiUicrs— <ilso much wheat is 



some corrcsjiondent of. the Farmer will set me 

 ari,i,'ht. Yeojux. 



Broolifield, July, 1855. 



dowii. 



Pardon the length — will be more brief in future. 

 Brooklyn, L. I., July 14. H. PoQll. 



