142 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



mon fowl. The full plumage is attained at 

 the 3d year ; the females usually weigh about 

 9 pounds. 



They fly in flocks of many hundreds, fre- 

 quenting woods by day, feeding on acorns, all 

 kinds of grain, buds, berries, fruits, nuts, 

 grass, insects, and even young frogs ; they 

 make considerable journeys in search of food, 

 flying and swimming across rivers of a mile in 

 width ; though able to reach with ease the tops 

 of the highest trees, their flight is heavy, and 

 would prevent their passage across any con- 

 siderable expanse of ocean ; they are so strong 

 as not to be easily held when slightly wounded ; 

 they perch at night on trees. Quitting the 

 woods in September, they come into the more 

 open and cultivated districts, when they are 

 killed in great numbers ; they were formerly 

 abundant in the middle, southern and western 

 States, but are now rare except in thinly set- 

 tled regions, and have never been found west 

 of the Kocky mountains. 



The flesh of the wild turkey is more pheas- 

 ant-like than that of the domesticated varie- 

 ties. The old males keep by themselves, as 

 do the females and young, the former being 

 apt to destroy the eggs in order to prolong the 

 hone\moon. The nest is a slight hollow in 

 the groimd filled with withered leaves, in a dry 

 and sheltered situation, and usually contains, 

 when full 10 to 15 eggs ; after this time the 

 males conceal themselves in order to recover 

 their condition ; the females alone incubate, 

 carefully concealing the nest, approaching it 

 with great caution and always in a different 

 way, covering the eggs with dry leaves when 

 going in search of food, and bravely defend- 

 ing them against crows and other depredators ; 

 sometimes 3 or -t females lay in one nest, one 

 remaining to guard it while the others seek for 

 food ; after the young are batched the males 

 are attentive to them. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 EXPERIMENTS -WITH CORN AND 

 POTATOES. 



I send you an account of several experi- 

 ments whicli I tried the past season with corn 

 and polatoi's ; not because I think that experi- 

 menis on so >maU a scale po.-itively decide 

 anything; but because they may set people to 

 thinking, and imluce others to try similar e.\- 

 periments. I believe that .something may be 

 thus learned in regard to raising corn and po- 

 tatoes, which can be learned in no other way 



than by experiments. If one way of raising 

 these crops is better than another, it is certain 

 that some are pursuing a wrong course, as 

 there is no uniformity of practice. But how 

 shall we ascertain the best way of doing a 

 thing, unless we compare one way with an- 

 other by experiments. With whatever con- 

 tempt some may look upon experiments, almost 

 every person tries them, whether he designs to 

 or not. The man who killed his seed corn by 

 putting it in the hill in contact witii ashes, tried 

 an experiment, although he did not mean to, 

 and in consequence became a wiser man. 



My experiments embraced nine rows of corn 

 and five rows of potatoes ; each row twenty 

 hills long, and the drills were of the same 

 length as the rows. The rows not otherwise 

 designated were managed in the common way. 

 That is to say, hills three feet apart each way ; 

 hoed twice ; potatoes hilled up in the usual 

 way ; corn not hilled. Planted the same 

 quantity of seed in the drills as in a row of 

 hills of the same length ; thus leaving the seed 

 nine inches apart. At the first hoeing wed 

 out the corn, leaving but four stalks in a hill. 



I had previously become satisfied by nu- 

 merous experiments, some of which have been 

 published in the Farmer, that four butts in a 

 hill will give the greatest product by weight ; 

 although such a large quantity of seed will 

 give more small potatoes. 



I am convinced also by repeated experi- 

 ments, of which I cannot now give any par- 

 ticular account, that four stalks of corn to a 

 hill will yield a better product of corn than a 

 larger or smaller number. A larger number 

 will produce more fodder, and a smaller num- 

 ber will produce larger ears. My experiments 

 were as follows : — 



Rows. Potatoes. Tield. 

 No. lbs. oz. 



1. C">mmon way . . 68 2 



2. Drilled 68 10 



Comm )n way - 

 Flat hills . . 

 Common way 



.59 6 

 ,59 8 

 ,53 10 



Rows. Corn. Yield 

 No. lbs. oz 

 1. Common way . . 18 2 

 2 Drilled 25 2 



3. Common way . . 21 2 



4. Planted June 10th 



12 dys later thaa 



the rest . . . . 15 14 



5. Common way . . 21 6 



6. Hoed 7 times . . 22 2 



7. (Jommon way . . 2:{ 2 



8. Hilled up .... 23 1u 



9. Common way . . 2J 2 



It will be seen that rows No. 1 and No. 3 

 of the corn vary three poumls in the product, 

 although treated in the samf way. A similar 

 discrepancy may be noticed in other cases. 

 This is owing, I suppose, to that ineciuality of 

 soil which makes the repetition of an experi- 

 ment necessary in order to olitain a satisfac- 

 tory result. I was surprised that tlie product 

 of the drills was so niii h greater than that of 

 the row of hill> of the same length. 



In the Weekly K-UOIkr, May 11, and in 

 Monthly for 1H()7, page 3()o, Mr. II. Poor says 

 that .Judge Baxter, of Vermont, once raised 

 twenty-six bushels of potatoes from one [leck 

 of Lady Fingers, by planting each eye sepa- 

 rately. This he seems to think proves that 

 cutting potatoes does not injure them for 



