210 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



self. We can save a million, annually, in New 

 England, by raising our own grass seeds. 



With a bit oi' advice to fanners from the old 

 Roman writer, Columella, and a few lines fi'om 

 one of Vir.girs Georgies, we will close this 

 article. The first named says : — "I have this 

 further direction to give you, that, when the 

 corns are cut down, and brought into the 

 threshing floor, we should even then think of 

 making provision of seed for the future seed 

 time, for this is what Celsus says : — 'When 

 the corn and crop are but small, we must pick 

 out the hest ears and of them lay up our seed 

 separately by itself.' " Virgil says : — 



"I've seen the largest seeds, though viewed with care, 

 Degenerate, unless the industrious hand 

 Did yearly cull the Zar(7esi. Thus all things 

 By fatal doom srow worse, and by degrees 

 Decay, forced back iuto their primevous state." 



For the New England Farmer. 

 "DIFFEKENCE IN" SEED POTATOES." 



Mr. Knapp gives his experience, and here 

 is ours : — In the spring of 1S6G I received by 

 ■mail from Thomas Edge, Esq., of London- 

 grove, Pa., among other seeds, one of Good- 

 rich's Cusco potatoes and one Mercer. I also 

 obtained two each of the Goodrich Early, Gar- 

 net, Chili, and Calico. I had previously Jer- 

 sey Peach Blows, Prince Alberts, Mountain 

 Junes, Davis Seedling, Irish Apple, and Cali- 

 fornia or Jenny Lind, and several other varie- 

 ties. 



The Cusco, having clusters of eyes, was di- 

 vided into twenty-eight pieces, some of them 

 not larger than a filbert, each containing one 

 eve which made twent3--eight hills. The 

 other new varieties having less eyes made 

 fourteen hills each, containing one and two 

 ■eyes. The old varieties were with two or 

 more eyes on each piece. By stepping the left 

 foot in each hill and dropping one piece each 

 side of it, tlie distance between the pieces is 

 regulated to six or eight inches. The rows 

 were three feet apart and the hills about thirty 

 inches. The soil was a light sandy loam, on 

 which the clover was winter killed. We made 

 holes two or three inches deep, and covered 

 the potatoes first with manure then with dirt. 

 They received the same culture and treatment, 

 and although the season was unfavorable, we 

 harvested as follows : — 



2 potatoes, Cusco, 28 hills ... 2 bushels, 



" " Early Goodrich . 14 " . . . 1^ " 



" " a.arnet Chill . . . " " . . . IJ " 



" " Mercer k << , , . ^ " 



" " Goodrich's CjHco " " ... J •' 

 U^unl amount of seed, 



Jersey I'each Blows n n , . . j " 



Davis Seedling n n . . . i " 



Prince Albert ic <i , , . | " 



Mountain June n u , . . i " 



Irifh Apple " " . . . | " 



California n •< . . . ij •< 



The last season was still more unfavorable 



in northern Vermont, but notwithstanding the 

 almost unprecedented drought, I raised over 

 eighty bushels of the Cusco, sixty-five of the 

 Early Goodrich, and forty of the Garnet Chili, 

 and planted only about three-fourths of the 

 Garnets. None of them rotted except the 

 Mercers, which I discarded the first season. 



I have formerly been troubled v/ith the rot 

 in my bins, especially near the top of the cen- 

 tre where they were piled high. I therefore 

 raised the floor so that the dirt can be cleaned 

 out easily, and slit the bottom planks to 'about 

 six inches, wide, and left spaces three-fourths 

 of an inch wide between them, and now the 

 potatoes, though deep, keep as sound as when 

 put in. 



We should like to hear from other farmers, 

 that each may profit by the others' experience. 



O. C. Wait. 



West Georgia, Vt., Feb., 1868. 



AN EXCELLENT JFERTILIZEK. 



One of the very best artificial fertilizers used 

 I upon our farm, lor all the cereal grains and 

 root crops, we have prepared in the following 

 manner: Take one barrel of pure, finely- 

 ground bone, and mix with it a barrel of good 

 wood ashes ; during the mixing, add gradu- 

 ally about three pailfuls of water. The heap 

 may be made upon the floor of an outbuilding, 

 or upon the barn floor ; and, by the use of a 

 hoe, the bone and ashes, must be thoroughly 

 blended together. The water added is just 

 sufficient to liberate the caustic alkalies, pot- 

 ash and soda, and these re-act upon the gela- 

 tine of the bone, dissolving the little atoms, 

 forming a kind of soap, and fitting it for plant 

 aliment. In thisnvay, the most valuable con- 

 stituents of bones can be made immediately 

 available, and the addition of potash and soda 

 aids in the formation of a fertilizer of inesti- 

 mable value. Tlie water added is not sufficient 

 to make a mass, difficult to dry, but is enough 

 to liberate the strong alkalies from the ashes. 

 This preparation is so cleanly, convenient, and 

 useful, every farmer should prepare as much 

 as possible for his ero[)s during the coming 

 season. A gill placed in a hill of corn will 

 work wonders. It is excellent for garden veg- 

 etables, and for all kinds of roots. It must 

 be used in .^mall tjuantitles, or in about the 

 same way as the so called superphosphates. A 

 barrel of this mixture is worth two of any of 

 the commercial f'erlilizers, and the cost will be 

 but about half as much. It remains to be 

 added, if the bone meal and ashes are very 

 dry, four pailfuls of water may be required ; 

 but care must be exercised not to have it in- 

 conveniently moist. It will be ready for use 

 in a week after it is made. Pure, raw.finely- 

 fjrnund hone and the best of ashes should be 

 emjjloyed. We think the Journal readers will 

 thank us for calling their attention to this ex- 

 cellent fertilizer. — Journal of Clicmiatnj. 



