AND II O R T I ( U L T U R A L R E (i I S T E R . 



PUULIbHF.U BV JOSKPH BREOK <c CO., NO. 62 NOttTH MARKET STIIEKT, (Aaiiioui.Tu«AL WabiiioubO-ALLEN PUTNAM, EDITOR. 



BOSTON, WRDNKSnAY EVENING, rEBRTT.\RY 2, 1845. 



CWO. 31. 



N. E. FARMER 



POTATOES, 

 itir Form indicniinz their Vnfitntss for Particu- 

 lar Stils. — Clover. 

 In our paper of Jan. 1!), we ■roticed a question 



by a corn'sponili'iit in Providence, wliicli was 

 these worild : "Wlial is llie best variety of po. 

 o for liglit I inds ?" We ihi-n recommended tli ' 

 cnanjo, because wc Ijad found this doing n-- 

 rkalily well on liglit peat lands. Xnt in tlils 

 6 the soil at the depth of two or three inches 

 ow the surface, was quite mcist. And in such 



tuation the variety rrcommendcd will undoubt- 

 y do well. But if the lif^ht soil of our corres- 



denl is also a dry soil, then in the opinion of 



Plunkctt, of Pitt.-jfielij, (whose valuable remaiks 

 the ajricnitural meeting in the Stale House, "o 

 orted last week,) a round, or oblong round, vari- 



would do best. Wo would ask particular nt- 

 tion to the whole statement of !\lr Plunkett, for 

 ugh brief, it contains more valuable facts and 

 -^cslions relating to the potato crop, than are 



n furnished even in elaborate articles upon the 

 ject 



Repetition of the Clover Crop. — Our corrcspon- 

 t nsked "how many years should elapse between 

 plowing up uf a clover sud and seeding again 

 1 clover ?" The common statement among 

 jlish writers is six. But the time varies appa- 

 ;ly according to the amount of gypsum in the 

 : where that is abundant, this crop will bear 

 ating every lliree or four years — as often, in- 



d, as one may wish to apply it. But where one 

 I of clover exhausts nearly all the gypsum 

 ch the soil contains, it is useless to repeat the 

 I until tiie soil can obtain from the atinos|)here 

 :w supply of this food of clover, unless you 

 s the land with plaster or with ashes contain- 

 the principal ingredients of plaster. Iftiii< be 



e, clover may do well, immediately after clover, 

 doubt, however, whether it will answer to re- 



. this crop lor any considerable number of tirne«, 

 iciliatcly after itself, unless one should apply 

 ctable matter freely lo the soil as well as gyp- 

 in some one of its forms. — Eo. N. E. F. 



For the N. E. Farmer. 



Do you know wlmt will be best lo do? 



What will prevent the grubs at llic roots of cab- 

 bages ? 



I have some flourishing plum trees. Three in- 

 ches above the ground, they arc all three times as 

 large as they are at the surface. Would it be well 

 to raise tho earth a few inches, so that roots inny 

 protrude from iho large part of the trees? I have 

 placed slakes around tli'-iM and lied them, to pre- 

 vent them from breaking down in gales of wind. 



I have generally been annoyed by the potato 

 worm. Laatspring, before pl;i«ing, spread lime 

 about half an inch thick, on half the piece I intend- 

 ed to plant; on the other I ."pread as much unleach- 

 ed ashes. After plowing 1 did the same. Where 

 I put the ashes I had scarcely any worms. Where 

 I put the lime I had not one. 



When I set out my cabbages, I tried several 

 kinds of manures, but I found none so good as 

 that which I took from a place where I had cut 

 and sawed my wood for twenty years. The chips 

 had decomposed, and there was about a foot deep 

 of black mould. The largest I had weighed twen- 

 tyoight pounds. Where I put old barn manure, 

 the largest was about 17 or 18 pounds. 



I take your e.vcol lent paper, the .Veu? England 

 Farmer, in which if you will answer the above ques- 

 tions, (if you think them worth answering,) you 

 will confer a favor on several of your eubscribers. 

 Yours, respectfully, 



ALLEN COFFIN. 

 ■■Edgartown, Dec. 16, 1841. 



(E^We saw this worm that destroys vines, last 

 year, for the first time. Complaints of its ravages 

 were very common in this vicinity. We seardied 

 for it at various times, but genera. ly it had left the 

 vine before our ciamination. In ii few instances 

 we found it however; and we found also that it 

 had passed through the centre of the main root ; 

 and we inferred that it commenced its work an 

 inch or two below the surface of the ground and 

 worked its way upward. If such were the course 

 of its movement, the soot, lime and ashes of course 

 would alToid no protection. We cannot name any 

 preventive that has been proved valuable liy expe- 

 riment, but will name the application wo oesign to 

 make next season, which is salt in the manure. This; 

 may be used at the rate of or 8 bushels in the 

 manure for an acre ; at this rate it iias been found 

 highly destructive to vermin in England, and has 

 also been favorable to tho growth of plants. 



To cabbages, or rather the soil on which they 

 grow, we will suggest the same application after 

 the plants are up. 



" There is, perhaps, no agricultural «se of com- 

 mon salt more undoubted than in the dcptruclion of 

 vermin. The elTect, loo, is direct, and the result 

 immediately apparent. For this purpose, from five 

 to ten bushels per acre are abundantly sutiicieiit. 

 The agriculturist need be undtr no apprehen.iion 

 that the salt will destroy his crop, for 20 bushels 

 of salt per acre may be applied to young wheal 

 with perfect safely : I have seen even ii bushels 

 used with advantage. Ad opportunity should be 



selected when the weather is mild and moist, but 

 not rainy — when iho land is damp but not wet 

 And salt should never be sown when (he aun ia 

 shining ; but either early in the morning or laic is 

 the evening; alter suiMOt. We sow at ihe rnto of 

 4 or 5 bushels per acre. In the morning each 

 throw may be digtingiiished by the quantity of 

 slime and number of dead slugs lying on th« 

 ground." — Johnson on Monuiei. 



The whale oil soap which has been found ao d*- 

 structive to slugs, is worthy of triftl. Makn'rironr 

 suds, and water the ground with them in the eve- 

 ning. 



The swellings on the plum stocks, if they are not 

 grafted is caused by the worm that infests that tree, 

 and the earthing up ulone will be of no service. 

 The worm must be cut out ; the diseased bark taken 

 off; the earth scraped away around the roots and 

 new earth applied. But we should not expect 

 benefit (roin attempting to get a new set of roota. 

 If the bunches are merely the expansion irf the 

 scion, in consequence of its being of a more thrifty 

 kind than the stock, it may look a little better !• 

 draw the earlh up around It ; but this, if it caused 

 new roots, would give the Iree a tendency to form 

 tt'ood rather than fruit, and is not a desirable course. 

 The trees are very well as they are. — Ed. 



NEW METHOD OF WORKING FOUR HOR- 

 SES. 



At a lato plowing match for experimenting oft 

 the qualities of varioLS plows, held at Rozcllc, by 

 the Ayrshire Agricultural A^ociati;n, it becamt 

 necessary to use lour horses, iJnd to test the force 

 exerted, two dynamometers were required. The 

 report thus describes the manner in Mrhich this was 

 accomplished : 



" In treating of the draft of the horses, it may be 

 useful to notice an expedient lliat was adopted to 

 measure heavy implements requiring a draft of 

 eighty stones, while the scale of the dyiiamometcra 

 individiiiilly, extended only to seventy stones. The 

 horses were yoked two and two to the ends of • 

 runner chain, which was p.nssed round an iron 

 sheave [pulley wheel] attached to the plow's bridle. 

 The hind pair of horses were yoked to the short, 

 end of the chain, while the foremost pair were 

 yoked to the other end, lengthened out EUfficicnOjr 

 to give freedom of action, and each pair drew by a 

 set of common swingtrccs, with a dynamometer air 

 tachedtoeach set of trees. In this manner the 

 two dynamoinotere were found to indicate, with all 

 the precision that could be desired, that equal f«rc« 

 was exerted by each pair of horses, the sum of (he 

 forces being the real draft of Ihe implement. Thm 

 method of yoking four horses, be it observcil, is one ■ 

 of the best now employed. It is simple and cfTec-' 

 live, equaliring the draft to the whole four, in ar 

 manner aa perfect bb it is possible to approach," 



The reasonableness of ibis statement will b<- 

 once apparent lo every practical man, cortair' ' 

 every teamster. Such know that «hi'n foi- ■'." ; 

 are worked in the usual way, a much I '■■ '' »''** 



.r.rer otO' 



