256 



NEW ENGLAND FARJNIER. 



June 



and Brilliant by 6th Duke of Thorndale, dam 

 Bright Eyes 5th. 



Mr. IL G. White has also sold to E. Shaw, 

 Koekingham County, N. 11. , the Jersey l)ull 

 Lexington, a grandson of the eow May-day, 

 winner of sweepstakes (silver medal) at the 

 New England Show at rrovidenee, K. I., in 

 18G7. 



BEAN CULTUEE. 



The New York Rural is writing up bean 

 culture, and we think with verj' good reason. 

 At the priees of the past few years they must 

 be a paying crop. They require less labor 

 than corn, and will yield a good crop with less 

 manure. V^e know no good reason why their 

 culture should not be largely increased in New 

 England. They requu-e clean culture, and on 

 land that will give but a moderate crop of corn, 

 will yield from twenty to thirty bushels to the 

 acre. We think the quantity raised in this 

 State is much less than formerly. The early 

 and late pea beans and the marrows are the 

 kinds most in use. The pea beans require 

 from twelve to sixteen quarts of seed to the 

 acre, and the marrows one bushel. The early 

 pea beans will ripen in sixty or seventy days. 

 Beans require frequent cultivating and hoeing 

 until they cover the ground. This should al- 

 ways be done in dry weather, after the dew is 

 off. Handling when the leaves are damp will 

 cause rust. 



They feed largely on the atmosphere, hence 

 as we have said, they do better on a light soil 

 than corn and some other crops. Bufthe bet- 

 ter the soil, the better the crop. The first 

 week in June is about the right time for plant- 



Age 01^ Treks for Planting. — Six years 

 ago I concluded to plant me an apple orchard. 

 I went to the nursery, intending to get three 

 or four years old trees, but was too late. 

 They were most all sold. So I bought 450 

 two years old, and a few three years. I plant- 

 ed tiiem with the help of the nurseryman, and 

 only lost one tree. Pleased with my success, 

 the ne.xt spring I planted 275 more ; this time 

 I got those three years old, that looked more 

 like trees, from the same lot as the first. Of 

 these I lost about 20 — gave them the same 

 care and cultivation — and to-day any one see- 

 ing them would suppose the fust i)lanting one 

 or two year's the oldest; and the three years 

 old planted the first year are not equal to the 

 others. Not being quite satisfied, the next 

 season I planted lOUO, four years old. I 

 saved the most of them ; that is, they just lived 

 and that's all, and are now large awkward 



looking, stunted trees with no shape or symme- 

 try. I shall have to wait till they make a growth 

 and then cut it half away, and then they wont 

 suit me. My first planting are fine in form, 

 and thrifty, and this year I expect a good lot 

 of apples, while the others have no appear- 

 ance of fruit. — Western Rural. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 WHAT MAKE3 MY POTATOES HOT? 



I will tell you, sir, witliout stamps, patent- 

 rights, or tin-box humbugs for green heads. 

 And I will tell you how to prevent the rot, 

 for I have tried it for sixteen years with com- 

 plete success, and 1 know of many others who 

 have tried it with like success. 



The first cause of rotting is planting them 

 in ground that has been stripped of the ma- 

 terial that is needful for their proper composi- 

 tion. The second cause is wrong management 

 in cultivation. 



The remedy is to apply the right material 

 and the right cultivation. 



I will mention two instances among many, 

 •for example. Two farmers, whose lands joined, 

 planted the Mercer potato for New York mar- 

 ket. Both ploughed in yard manures. One 

 ploughed deep, planted on mellow bottom 

 and covered a good depth, keeping the roots 

 moist and at an even temperature. When the 

 rain came, it carried the fertility of the earth 

 with it to the roots, and even down below, at- 

 tracting the roots downward. This man al- 

 ways had sound seed to plant, sound seed to 

 dig, and large crops, year after year. 



The other ploughed" very shallow, dug holes 

 to hard ground, covered very shallow, — one 

 of the greatest errors in planting potatoes. 

 When the rain came it fiooded the potatoes, 

 but did not readily pass of.' His seed was al- 

 ways distempered, and he lost large quantities 

 every year. 



One thing is certain, potatoes cannot grow 

 in mud. Forty years ago, I planted a plat by 

 a river side. They came up finely, but when 

 the potatoes were the size of a hen's egg, 

 there came an extraordinary Hood, and over- 

 fiowed them for two hourrf. The next day 

 there was not a sound tuber in the plot. 

 Once a neighbor came to me to see if my po- 

 tatoes were rotting. I told him they were not. 

 He said his were half rotten. I said to him, 

 I can tell you which hills are rotten, and which 

 sound, before you open them. I went and 

 was able to do as 1 said. Where the water 

 could drain from the hills the tubers were 

 sound ; where it could not, they were rotten. 

 News came to me from a plain a mile or two 

 distant, that the air was poisoned with rotten 



fotatoes. I went to see, and found all true. 

 passed by one field, rather low ground, with 

 the subsoil near the surface. It was tlirown 

 into ridges and had been well planted. A 

 bc-autiful crop of large ^Mercer potatoes were 

 lying on the ground, with not a rotten one to 



