210 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Jan. 21, 1831. 



of making the lieilge thicker at the bottom, and 

 more perfect throughout, but it had a contrary ef- 

 fect, by throwing out a great number of small 

 shoots at the place cut ; instead of increasing the 

 main stem and lower branches, and thicksning the 

 bottom as was expected. The oftener I cropp:;d, 

 the more weak shoots came out wliere cut. aiid 

 those below dwindled and perished, and tlid main 

 stem ceased to increase. The top of tlje heJge 

 became wide, bushy and top heavy, and the bot- 

 tom open, weak, and destitute of branches. Those 

 I did not crop had large firm stems, o^d threw 

 out large strong suckers from their roots, and 

 have made a hedge impenetrJhle to an enraged 

 horned bull. I ought not w have trimmed the 

 main stems after the first ot second trimming, till 

 it was six feet high. 



IS Recapitulation.— ?rejAfe your land in the 

 best manner ; use suitable/ants of thrifty growth, 

 the older the better ; ass/t and accommodate to 

 tlie diflerent kinds of /" ; preserve all the roots, 

 but crop the tops, Ic^'^'ng only four buds ; keep 

 a few in your nuM<ery ; set them sloping to the 

 north and leave /^^ ground a little concave about 

 the roots ; kee/^hem clear of grass and weeds, 

 and add a lii^ ^^'tli ^o the roots at each hoeing ; 

 clear away/<^e leaves at autumn; trim the side 

 branches-carefuUy, and leave the main stems to 

 iiature^l they are sis feet high, then crop oft" 

 the^s to the height you mean to have your 

 he/ge. It will look like a wedge with the sharp 

 ebi\ upwards, and will e.xhibit a most beautiful 

 /'appearance. 



'^ In eight years my second hedge was a suflicient 

 fence for, or against sheep and cows. By fol- 

 lowing the above directions, a better hedge can be 

 raised in half the time, au4 at an expense of less 

 than fifty cents a rod. 



SEEDLING POTATOES AND GRAPES. 



IMr Fesse.vden — I presume by this time 

 some of our horticultural friends are expecting to 

 bear the result of my third year's .crop of seedling 

 potatoes, considering the importance of the article 

 to the farmer, and in fact to all classes of our fellow 

 citizens. It is a grand desideratum to obtain not 

 only a good potato for the table, but one that shall 

 give a good yield of a fair equal size. To the 

 farmer the crop is perhaps second only to bread. 

 It is with him a staple article, and a standing dish 

 It forms a part of his morning, noon, and evening 

 repast the year round, and is no mean item to the 

 table of the most oi)ulent. 



This is a very extensive experiment ; by far the 

 largest of any on record, at least so far as my 

 reading extends, and has been a source of much 

 trouble, time and expense. It is no small thing to 

 crop and keep separate, 1500 varieties for three 

 years. I have been almost on the point of abandon- 

 ing them more than once. The extent of the 

 experiment had well nigh defeated its end. The 

 potatoes were planted this year about the middle of 

 April in rows ; the most of the land was very poor, 

 the year before it was overrun with white birch ; 

 it was pretty well manured, the manure spread 

 equal to a good shovel full to a hill ; a considerable 

 proportion of the manure, iiowever, was compos- 

 ed of meadow mud. The land was overseeded, 

 owing to tny anxiety to give every variety a trial ; 

 and a considerable proportion of the i)Otatoes 

 was under size, which probably gave me a larger 

 crop and a greater proportion of small potatoes 

 than I should otherwise have had. They were 

 planted on about 4 acres of land and yielded me 



by estimation 1000 bushels, 900 of which were 

 conc'emned to the hogs. There were long reeds 

 planted in three difterent places for a guide in de- 

 cermining their relative yield. For I was deter- 

 mined, having 'screwed my courage to the sticking ' 

 place,' that I would reject all those that would not 

 bear a good comparison in point of yield: and in 1 

 reference to my memorandum, I find that I have i 

 not saved more than three or four kinds, that yield- 

 ed less. The way in which we determined the 

 relative yield, was by measuring the ground with 

 the hoe handle, which was quickly and easily done, | 

 and was sufficiently accurate for our purpose, and 

 the potatoes in a measure. The hoe handle was 

 about four feet in length. We carried into the 

 field with us boxes, bags, kegs, &c, sufficient to 

 liolil all that we could dig in half a day. At noon ' 

 and at night they were put m piles on the cellar 

 floor, the vessel in w hich they were put was marked 

 with the number of hoe handles to the bushel, and 

 the pile in the cellar with a corresponding number. 

 We provided a circular board, a little smaller than 

 the bottom of a boiler we have set in brick work, 

 and in this board we inserted 30 or 40 wires about 

 12 inches long. The wires were placed circular 

 in the board, gradually progressing towards the cen- 

 tre, so as to form a spiral line from the outside to 

 the centre. Now if each pile of potatoes in the 

 cellar was numbered and we commenced on the 

 outside wire of our board and proceded tegiiarly, 

 we could easily tell from which pile each cf the 

 )Otatoes on the board came, and in this wa^ we 

 could try at night all the varieties we could iig in 

 the day time. After the potatoes were boiled di this 

 board in the boiler aforesaid, we carried the ioard 

 with the potatoes on it down cellar and compared 

 them to prevent mistakes. In making up ourjudg- 

 ment, regard was had to the appearance of the 

 potatoes as well as their yield and flavor — their 

 form, mealiness,&c, were all taken into the account. 

 I have given them my personal attention both in 

 planting, digging, and proving, except wten called 

 away by urgent business. 



In this way I have preserved 186 sorts of my 

 1500 varieties and about 72 bushels in qtantity. — 

 The long reds yielded about 12 -hoe handles to 

 the bushel. The greatest yield of my seedlings 

 was 4 hoe handles to the bushel, three times as 

 much on the same land. — The kind that yielded 

 the most last year did not do so well this year ; they 

 were a late kind, and required along season and 

 a favorable situation to come to maturity. Per- 

 haps an abstract from my memorandum might be 

 interesting, as showing the relative yield, for we 

 found it utterly impossible to decide with any jus- 

 tice upon the flavor, for after we had tasted of a 

 kw, esiiecially if we hai)pened to try a strong 

 one, we could no longer decide upon the merits ; 

 we therefore contented ourselves with tasting only 

 those which by their mealiness, appearance, &:c, 

 gave the most promise, saving all the good yieldcrs 

 that cracked open in boiling. I have a cSnsiderahle 

 number, however, marked on my memorandum as 

 of superior good flavor. 1 have one kind which gave 

 a bushel in 4 hoc handles ; 2 kinds, 4J do ; 4 kinds, 

 5 do ; 2 kinds, 5.1 do ; 9 kinds, 6 do'; 3 kind.s, 6 J 

 do ; 16 kinds, 7"do; 41 kinds, 8 do; 29 kinds, 9 

 do ; 23 kinds, 10 do; &c. 



Tliere are two kinds which particularly at- 

 tracted my attention while digging, and were 

 named on the spot. One was round, red, rather 

 above the middling size, and very equal in size, .so 

 much so that they would not require any picking 



for the market ; the other was yellow and like tb 

 first in every other resjiect. The first was nainei 

 the Roihury Reds, the other the Roxbury Oranges 

 their yield was about 5 hoe handles to the bushe] 

 They were not so mealy nor of so good flavor a 

 many others of less yield, but their yield and siz 

 must, I think, make them a valuable potato to thi 

 farmer. The vines of my largest kinds diec 

 down to the ground in the fore part of July, bu 

 were left in the ground until the rest were dug, whei 

 to my astonishment, I found that they had not onl 

 sprouted, but the vines had grown nearly a foot i; 

 height, and on digging them I found new potatoei 

 set for the second crop. 



I have now given you as concise an account ax 

 1 could conveniently and make it intelligible; ano 

 hope it will answer the expectations of our friends' 

 and that the experiment will prove, in proportion 

 to its extent, and the time and labor spent on ii 

 beneficial to our community. So far as regardi 

 nyself, 1 have no expectation of being remuneralec 

 for I am essentialy deficient in an important re 

 juisite to an enterprising and flourishing farme 

 viz. that of making the most of it in the mai 

 ket. 



I have also under way and under glass, aboui 

 200 seedling grape vines of two years' growth 

 raised from the seed of the large oval Malag: 

 grape, which appear very promising, but I shai 

 not probably, if 1 should live, taste the fruit unt 

 year after ne.xt, when I hope to be able to preseu 

 a sample which shall be thought worthy of rei 

 ceiving a name from our Horticultural Society. 

 Roxbury, Jan. 10, 1831. JACOB TIDD, 



SALT HAY. 

 Mr Editor — I wish to inquire through ttt 

 medium of the New England Farmer, the efficaw 

 and benefit of using salt hay, as it is called. — Then 

 are many farmers on our sea coast that spend hai 

 the summer with a strong gang of workmen, il 

 mowing the salt mashe^and in curing and makiw 

 the hay — exposed to the wet and cold, and boH 

 night and day watching the tides in order to bo; 

 and secure what appears to my inexperienceo 

 mind a useless commodity. — It also appears II 

 me that half their labor, if exercised upon the U|* 

 land or on their farms, in raising good English ha 

 would bring them a handsome recompense, nt 

 only in the possession of good food for their stoc! 

 but also serve to better their land, and induo) *i 

 them to brini^ more waste and low ground into 

 state of cultivation. — I should he happy to receit 

 through your paper, some information on th 

 subject, which perhaps may serve to correct tli> 

 error of the farmers who thus waste their tiBl 

 and labor ; or serve to correct me in thus wastiBl||4E 

 my time and sense on a subject of which 1 avo 

 myself ignorant, or which may have been settle 

 long ago by wiser heads than mine. 



Duxburi/, Jan. Hit. | 



FLOWING FRESH MEADOWS. 



Mr Editcr — I believe there never has bee 

 any communication in the New England Farme 

 in regard to flooding fresh meadow lands — if yot 

 or some of your correspondents will give soSI 

 information respecting flooding fresh meado' 

 where Fowl Meadow, Blue Joint, and the commil 

 Flat Grass, and other kinds of uncultivated graaj* 

 incline to grow — and such other information t 

 you may think necessary, it would confer a faTCi 

 upon one of your subscribers. 



I am ifcc, J. B. 



Winthrop, {Me.) January lith, 1831. 



