282 



NEW ENGLAND FARilER. 



Junk 



wet after it is down, tliorough drying is absolutely 

 necessary. 



And while wc have the lime question in mind. 

 Some one said — and I have seen the item in sev- 

 eral agricultural papers — scatter slaked lime ovtr 

 your potatoes when }'ou put them in the cellar 

 and they will not rot. I do not know but that is 

 60. But if the putatoes are not perfectly dry it 

 adheres to them, looks bad when you take them 

 to market, and makes it very disagreeable for the 

 ladies when they come to prepare them for the 

 table. L. E. Bicknell. 



Windsor, Mass., April 11, 1868. 



EXPEKIMENTS. 



I consider that there is scarcely any other de- 

 partment of scien.e or art in which conclus-ions 

 supposed to be drawn from experiments, need to 

 be so careiully scrutinized as in agriculture. So 

 many unknown elements enter into the great nat- 

 ural proccs>es of vegetation, — so many disturb- 

 ing inllnentes which we can neither understand 

 nor control, affect them — that all our attempts to 

 ascertain the laws and rules Ijy which they act, 

 by what are termed experiments, should be 

 watched with the greatest care, and the supposed 

 results taken with very many grains of allowance. 

 The seeker after knowledge ought constantly to 

 ask himself whether such and such a result may 

 not be attributable to some other cause than the 

 apparent one, or than the one he hopes to fasten it 

 upon. No conclusion ous^ht to be considered as 

 reached till after the mo.st thorough examination 

 of all the facts and conditions in the case. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I do not say this to throw dis- 

 credit upon the many very A^aluable reports made 

 in your columns by your numerous intelligent, 

 practical correspondents, but to induce them to 

 use greater care in their studies of nature ; and 

 also to afford a hint to men, who, attempting to 

 accomplish like I'csults wiih those thus detailed, 

 by using the same method, yet failing of success, 

 attribute their failure to the fault of ihe process, 

 when in reality the error should be looked for in a 

 totally diflferent direction. 



POTATO RAISING. 



Having read and heard much about the effects 

 of the various methods of using potatoes, as seed, 

 I resolvefl last spring to try them in several differ- 

 ent ways, and see what would come of it. I had a 

 piece of ground which was of a uniform quality 

 in every respect. I prepared it all alike, then 

 planted as follows: — 



Four rows of butts, two pieces in each hill, hills 

 ordinary distance apart. • 



Then four rows, seed ends exclusively, same as 

 above. 



Then four rows, whole potatoes, fair size, one in 

 a hill, somewhat nearer together than before. 



Then four rows, small potatoes near together, 

 one in a hill. 



Then four rows, two small potatoes in a hill, or- 

 dinary distance. 



Then three pieces of potato mixed, just as they 

 would cut up, seed and butts together. 



When dug, I let them lie on the ground so as to 

 get a view of all at once, in order to ascertain if 

 any perceptible difference could l)e seen in the held. 

 The conclusions I reached were these. The tops 

 were somewhat more healthy and vigorous where 

 the butts were planted alone. In digging and hoe- 

 ing 1 fouml greater convenience in the rows where 

 the single wliole potatoes were put; not nearly so 

 much labor being involved in either operation, as 

 where there were two or three bunches of tops and 

 clusters of tul)ers in the same hill. But, upon the 

 whole, I am forced to confess, that the quantity of 

 potatoes gathered did not materially vary through 

 the whole piece of giouud ; though there probably 



were more small ones where small potatoes were 

 put in for seed. The only result I can reach from 

 the whole experiment is, that for economy of work 

 and material, f'roili first to last, I should recom- 

 mend the use of whole potatoes, fair size, one in a 

 hill, and the hills near together. Good barnyard 

 manure was spread and ploughed in, then a half 

 pint of ashes and hen manure, equal parts, was 

 put into each hill. 



If this result coincides with any other man's ex- 

 perience, I should like to know it. It would be 

 interesting to inquire whether eitlier of the meth- 

 ods I have ab'jvc specified, would, by being fol- 

 lowed up, year after year, improve or injure the 

 crops ; ancl perhaps herein lies the most important, 

 point of all. Men will take a good bull and cow 

 and make from them by patience and skill a breed 

 of cattle better than either of the progenitors ; but 

 in matters of seeds we rarely have the requisite 

 patience, and hence may fail of reaping the best 

 results from our labor. 



FARM MECHANICS. 



Will you allow me, though not exactly a farmer, 

 to say, that in my opiuion, the New England 

 Faumer, as now conducted, is the most valuable 

 periodical for the use of the agriculturists of New 

 Eugland, that is published. If I were to venture 

 a suggestion, it would be to give us somewhat 

 more on the mechanic arts and processes, as ap- 

 plied to agriculture. The farmer must be almost 

 a "Jack at all trades" now ; and as time goes on, 

 and one machine after another is added to the list 

 of farm implements, knowledge of mechanics will 

 be 'ome almost as necessary to the successful far- 

 mer as of agriculture. Some form of the steam 

 engine promises, at no distant day, to be as com- 

 mon among our hills and valleys as arc now horse 

 and ox teams, and perhaps will soon take the place 

 of them for many purposes not now dreamed of. 



DICTIONARIES. 



I noticed a short time since an editorial recom- 

 mendation of Webster's Dictionary. This is a 

 great and valuable work, and almost good enough 

 for anybody ; but could you not lind room to men- 

 tion Worcester's Dictionary, as at least of equal 

 value. In spelling and pronunciation very many 

 wise men prefer the latter, in so far as it difiers from 

 the former. c. 



Claremont, X. H., 1868. 



Remarks. — We use and highly prize Worces- 

 ter's dictionary, and accept it as authority on sev- 

 eral controverted lexicographical points ; still, by 

 way of reference and illustration, Webster's is 

 much the most frequently used, partly perhaps 

 the result of associaiion, as our first lessons in 

 reading, spelling and picture study were in his 

 primary school books. 



BVYING TURRETS. * 



Noticing, sometime since, in your paper an arti- 

 cle, written by 11. A, Sumner, Brandon, Vt., on 

 rearing turkeys, I wrote to him last fall to know 

 what weight he could promise, and at what price 

 he would sell a pair of turkeys His reply was 

 that he hoped by Christmas to be able to fill 

 orders for spring turkeys, weighing thirty pounds 

 per pair, for #8 ; yearlings, weiching forty pounds 

 per pair, at $10. I enclosed -f 10 for a pair of year- 

 lings. In return I received a pair weighing 42^ 

 pounds, — gobler 25^, hen 17 pounds. Mr. S. says 

 that seventeen pounds is the largest hen lie has as 

 yet been able to raise. lie had a tom at home of 

 same age, weighing 28^ jTounds,— three pounds 

 more than the one. he sent me. I received as a 

 favor one spring hen weighing 13.\ potmds. The 

 box was well supplied with corn ; and although 



