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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



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and sometimes for the worse. Corn, which is indi- 

 genous, has been krown to improve for fifty years, 

 or at least not to degenerate. But potatoes are not 

 indigenous, and therefore, perhaps, they degenerate. 

 More roots should be cultivated. The people live 

 better, perhaps, than they did twenty-five years ago, 

 and we feed our cattle better. Many years ago, it 

 was not uncommon, even among good farmers, to 

 have instances of cows so poor in the spring that 

 they could not get up, when they had lain down, 

 without help. Both ourselves and our animals need 

 a variety of food, and therefore many kinds of roots 

 should be cultivated. Carrots are easily raised and 

 will keep well. They were sold last year, in Wor- 

 cester county, in the field, at eight dollars a ton. 

 They are a good substitute for the potato, — good 

 for horses, cows, and hogs ; and poultry like to peck 

 them raw. The white flat turnip was spoken of as 

 one of the most profitable roots. The sugar beet, 

 also, is a valuable root for cattle. The parsnip has 

 one advantage over some roots, that it may stand 

 in the ground through the winter, and be even bet- 

 ter than those that are gathered in the fall. He 

 thought about as many could be raised on an acre 

 as of carrots. He had seen some, raised in Med- 

 ford, which were more than three feet long. In 

 this connection, for the purpose of raising large 

 crops of such roots, the importance of deep culture 

 was referred to. It was a good plan to sow the 

 white flat turnip in corn fields; and in a nursery, if 

 one has a nursery, they may be raised to good ad- 

 vantage ; and if sown in July in a nursery the young 

 trees will then be checked in their growth, which is 

 well for them, as the wood produced late is apt to 

 be winter-killed. The Chinese potato — disocorea 

 batatas, yvas spoken of, and some experiments made 

 with it referred to, and the conclusion arrived at in 

 regard to it was that it was not likely to be a valu- 

 able root. 



The President, Mr. Brooks, thought, as others 

 who had spoken did, that the culture of roots was 

 of great importance. He considered the blue top, 

 sharp leaf turnip the best. He got twenty tons to 

 the acre, and he considered five tons of turnips 

 equal to one ton of good English hay. He did 

 not think there was any bad result by the taste of 

 the turnip being communicated to the milk, if fed 

 to the cow soon after milking. He generally got 

 about fifteen tons of carrots to the acre, and three 

 tons were equal to a ton of English hay. The po- 

 tato crop now is about five or six tons, or 180 to 

 200 bushels to the acre. It takes about a ton 

 and a half to equal a ton of hay. He spoke of a 

 potato called the Nicaragua potato as being very 

 good. They are a long red potato, and mealy at 

 one end, but are apt to be watery at the other. 

 Turnips will help add much to the manure heap. 

 The consumption of a variety of vegetables is de- 

 sirable, both for animals and men, for the promo- 



tion and preservation of health. Mr. Brooks con- 

 firmed the view of the chairman, that it is impor- 

 tant to raise root crops in Massachusetts rather 

 than grain, to such *an extent at least, as to furnish 

 such a supply as to reduce the price, so that more 

 may be consumed, and therefore be a less demand 

 for the grain products of the West. 



The Chairman inquired of Mr. Wetherell 

 whether he had ever known pototoes to rot that 

 were raised from the balls, and were kept continu- 

 ally in the ground. Mr. W. could not say that he 

 had. The same question was put to Mr. Buck- 

 minster, and he had no knowledge of any experi- 

 ment where the potatoes had been kept in any oth- 

 er than the common manner. Mr. Sheldon 

 thought that was the great secret of the remedy. 

 If the potatoes were exposed to air and light, they 

 would be injured by it, and so deteriorate that 

 when they are exposed to influences calculated to 

 make them rot they would do so ; but if kept from 

 the air and light, they would remain free from that 

 liability. Mr. S. said he had five difierent kinds of 

 potatoes, not raised from the balls, which he had 

 kept buried in the ground, and if they did not 

 freeze he would be able to test the virtue of that 

 practice upon them. The sprouts of potatoes 

 should not be broken off before planting. 



The discussion of the evening having closed, Mr. 

 Sheldon took occasion to exhibit an apple — a 

 Roxbury Russet — which was still nearly wholly 

 sound, and had preserved its flavor very well, and 

 which was raised in 1855, being picked in the first 

 week of October of that year. It was raised by 

 Mr. Samuel Flint, of North Reading, and was not 

 exposed to the sun after gathering, but was packed 

 in dry maple turning chips, and kept in a shop 

 with an open front until the middle of November, 

 and then put in the cellar of a wheelwright's shop. 

 In 1856, the box in which the apples were kept 

 was wanted, and the apples were put in the cellar 

 of the dwel ling-house, and covered with gunny- 

 bags, but not again packed in chips. 



The subject for the next meeting is to be, "Stock, 

 including all kinds of domestic animals." At that 

 meeting Mr. Sheldon said he would have a bas- 

 ket of his potatoes that had been raised from the 

 balls, if they had not been frozen by the extreme 

 cold of last winter, — enough to give every person 

 present one at least to plant. 



Trap for Catching Grubs. — We have lately 

 seen an ingenious contrivance for preventing grubs 

 from ascending fruit trees, which we think is quite 

 competent to perform the work it is designed to 

 accomplish. This trap was contrived by Mr. James 

 Clark, of Salem, — who is a grower of fruit to a 

 considerable extent, — and consists of a circular pan 

 made of rubber, covered by a stiff rubber roof, the 

 whole being constructed in one piece. It is placed 



