AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUHLISHED BY JOSliPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NOLITH MARKET STliliET, (Agricultural Warehoube.)— ALLEN PUTNAM, EDITOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNKSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER HI, 1842. 



[NO. ao. 



N . E . FARMER 



PLANTING POiMACE. 

 It w.nild be easy for mo^t farmers to supply 

 jnH Ives alnmdamly with young trees, if they 

 luli' iiiily ;)lnnl a little ponneo nnw «nd then, in 

 ir ^'ard'-na or some other pUce, where the cattle 



not allowed to run ; and would learn, also, to 

 ift .uul bud, both of which can be very easily 

 irned by any one who has tho ordinary Yankee 

 II at vvhittlinsr. The plantiiiij may be done at 

 3 S' .: . r ".lie year, or the pomace may be put 

 lert tc , :l 1 .'oze in the winter, and bo planted 

 the spring. We like best the latter course, as 

 jnablos ua to plow the ground in the spring, and 

 IS p;it it in better condition for the trees the first 

 ir, and by thus proceeding we get a larger 

 iwlh tho first season. 



Trees of good size now command fair prices ; 

 ; so much is doing in this branch of !)usiness, 

 t by the ti;:ip trees from seed now planted shall 

 e saleible trees, prices may coaie down. 

 Fruit has sold as well for the last few years as it 

 ir )ias. The demand has grown with the in- 

 cased supply. And as fruit, particularly apples, 

 ■locoming more and more a part of the daily lux- 

 es, if not of tiie daily food in most families, tlie 

 (land will ;i-;;bably continue good. And should 



shipmeii' oi'ice to warmer countries be extend- 



the apple trade will increase with it, for in 

 'se ships freighted with ice, apples can be car- 

 1 to all parts of the globe. And should the 



es of fruit fall, tlie farmers of this vicinity will 

 i but little by growing the apple tree, for that 

 'orth for fuel, nearly if not quite all that it will 

 t them. It is good economy to have some young 

 t trees growing on your place. — Ed. N. E. F. 



CULTURE OF POTATOES. 

 \ correspondent ("J. M. G.," of Weston,) in one 

 he early volumes of this paper, says : 

 'However excellent I hold a well drained mca- 

 r soil for th culture of potatoes, yet there is no 

 ;bt that in very wot seasons, when heavy rains 

 le on in succession, the spongy soil of a 

 idow, if it is ever so well drained, may eventu- 



get drenched, in which case the crop is likely 

 )e injured; in such seasons, thin uplands with 

 velly bottom may do well, which at other times 

 jld give but scanty crops of an inferior quality. 

 ;oil just reclaimed Irom nature will give pota- 

 3 of the best quality. Grass land just broke up, 

 I prove, in general, very favorable, both for 

 nlity and quality ; tho furrows should be well 

 ned, and then harrowed the same way, lightly, 



g care not to disturb the swarth, which will 

 nent, and be the best dressing for that crop, 

 lunds which are situated near large cities, and 

 e been long and heavily enriched with dung, 

 1 yield great crops, but seldom of a good ([uality. 



'The clinice of iht hist seed I consider to be in- 

 Densiibie for u good crop. Small potatoes are 

 illy unlit fur the purpose ; the eyes or germs, 

 ch are lo be the principle of life in Ike new Crop, 



being, as it were, but half born, dwarfish, weakly 

 and unripe. By a careful nlleiition to select the 

 handsomest and best potatoes for seed, I have 

 found my sorts to improve, and to run, ho; onl, but 

 gradually into greater perfection. 



" Next to the clmice of seed, we are to ccmsider 

 ivhiih kind of manvre is the most favorable for this 

 crop ; and I believe that on that que-'^tion all prac- 

 tical farmers will agree, thiit fresh dung, wherewith 

 some kind of litter i.n mixed, is the most favorable; 

 uniting strength and richness with somewhat to 

 lighten the soil round the plant, to make a sort of 

 a nost for the bulks to form, to grow, and to pros- 

 per. Cattle dung is generally used, and the diffi- 

 culty often is, that the quantity of litter among it is 

 but small, and that it is not sufficiently turned over, 

 mixed, and made fine before it is used, by which 

 fault many hills are manured with clear dung, in 

 large pieces, which, if tho season turns out dry, 

 will harden in the hills and do but little good. 

 Such hard pieces are often found in the f.^.ll when 

 digging for the crop, and hive evidently been of 

 little benefit. Fine compost manure, which is pro- 

 per for corn, is not fit to use for a crop of potatoes, 

 and will make but a poor return. For many years 

 I have been in the habit, in the fall, to collect 

 leaves in my wood lot, and to use them as a litter 

 for my cattle throughout the winter: when the 

 floor is cleared in the morning, the loaves and the 

 dung are turned over and chopped together, before 

 they are thrown out. This kind of manure for 

 planting potatoes, I find superior to any other that 

 I ever used : it connects tho richness of animal 

 manure with the sweetness of a woodland soil, and 

 I feel confident that it not only contributes to the 

 abundance of the crop, but that it makes sure of 

 a superior quality. On meadow land it certainly 

 is unrivalled. From the repeated benefits I have 

 received from the practice, my estimation of fallen 

 leaves has gradually increased, and they have be- 

 come such an essential article in the cultivation of 

 my small farm, that I should be now at a loss how 

 to do without them. I have a shed in my yard, 24 

 feet long and 9 feet wide, which I got nearly filled 

 this season, with well trodden leaves. We brought 

 in sixteen cartloads, with Iho ladders fore and aft, 

 and slals on the sides. At loading, a lad stands 

 on and treads the leaves. They may be collected 

 at all times when the ground, is dry and free from 

 snow. They pack better if tfiey are somewhat 

 damp, and when mixed and chopped with the dung, 

 will more readily ferment. 



" 1 have always planted my potatoes in hills at 

 about three feet three inches apart, and I believe 

 that there would be a risk to place them nearer. 

 I hoe them twice, and at each hoeing 1 plow both 

 ways, and each way two furrows, which leave the 

 ground well stirred and prepared for low square 

 hills, which it requires but little time and labor to 

 finish, and which are well formed to secure the 

 benefits of showers. The second hoeing should 

 take place before tho vines have come to their full 

 growth, and before the blossoms are near to open, 

 otherwise the roots having come to their full length, 

 the plowing and hoeing will disturb them, and 



greatly injure the crop. When the planting is per- 

 formed, or at the first hoeing, one small handful of 

 calcined plaster of Paris to each hill, in addition 

 to till! usual largo shovelful (if manuri', will be of 

 greit service on nphind, especially if the season 

 should turn out dry. 'Mils article (plaster) suits 

 potatoes admirably : the darker and richer green 

 of the (ilastered hills, will readily point out those 

 which were omitted. 



'' Although there is little or no difTurtmce in the 

 relative weight of the various sorts of potatoes, yet 

 the quantity of nutritive matter which they contain 

 difi"ers essentially. I tried lately of Long Red, of 

 Ulut, and of YcUoto potatoes, one bushel of each, 

 uniformly filled, and I found that they weighed 

 alike sixtyfive pounds. I tried next fur the starch 

 and fiir the fibrous matter, or grounds, after tho 

 starch was obtained, and here I found the result 

 difierent. 1 weighed four pounds of each of those 

 three sorts, and I obtained from the four pounds of 

 Lone:; Reds nine ounces and one half of dried 

 starch; from the four p(Uinds.of £^ufs, eight oun- 

 ces, and the same from the four pounds of Yellows. 

 The grounds or fibrous matter, after being tho- 

 roughly dried, weighed four ounces, alike from the 

 three sorts. 



" This result has realized the opinion which I 

 entertained of the superiori/y of the Long Reds, as 

 containing a grearer proportion of nutritive sub- 

 stance, and being on that account more profitable 

 to raise, whether tor the food of man or of beast. 

 Being more substantial, they keep better than any 

 <itlicr sort: I have had thsm firm and hard eleven 

 months after they were dug. It has another quali- 

 ty to recommend it, which is, that it will bear bad 

 cooking better than any other sort. It will boar 

 soaking in the water alter it is siifficcntly boiled, 

 and yet be tolerable ealing, whilst the Blues or 

 ff kites would have been spoiled. 



" Potatoes of a good quality will work very 

 well, whilst hot, into dough with wheaten flour, 

 and make very pood bread. Some thirty years 

 ago, the crops of grain failed in England and on the 

 continent of Europe to such an alarming extent, 

 that serious apprehensions were entertained ; the 

 government otfered great premiums for the impor- 

 tation of foreign grains; public meetings were 

 called, and among other recommendations, potatoes 

 were pointed out as a fit article to make into bread 

 with flour or meal, and they were generally used 

 in the proportion of one third, and by many of one 

 half. The bread is white, good tasted and light, 

 but will soon dry. 



After all the farmer can do to raise potatoes of 

 a fine quality, it is of little avail, unless the cook- 

 ing of them is attended with care : it is done best 

 by steam ; and the moment they are done they 

 should be served, or placed after peeling into an 

 iron pot, without water, near the fire.'' 



To i-eni:ive grease spots from Silk. — Take a little 

 of the yolk of an egg, and put upon lliospot; place 

 over it a piece of white linen, and wet it with boil- 

 ing water ; rub the linen with the hand, and repeat 

 the process three or four times, applying hot water. 



