302 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Germany, eight, and even ten years ago, as may 

 be seen by referring to a valuable paper upon this 

 subject in the Patent Office Report of 1848, pp. 

 563—574. On looking over that paper and notic- 

 ing carefully the theories given and authors cited, 

 we were agreeably surprised that but some three 

 or four out of several scores attribute the cause of 

 the disease to insects. There is room for that 

 party to grow. 



The present type of rot made its appearance in 

 Germany in 1841 or '42. And nowhere could it 

 have appeared under circumstances so favorable to 

 its speedy arrest. There, if any where, we should 

 expect the cause to be ascertained and the remedy 

 applied. Her men of science attempted to do this, 

 but failed. Liebig, the most distinguished analyst 

 and vegetable physiologist, tried the crucible and 

 microscope with but partial success. 



The cure for the rot, if ever found, will most 

 likely be the result of scientific investigation and 

 experiment. Harvey discovered the circulation of 

 the blood, and Sir Humphery Davy invented the 

 safety lamp; and if the cause and cure of the po- 

 tato rot are ever ascertained by the living men of 

 New England, we venture to predict it will be by 

 such men as Dr. C. T. Jackson, Dr. Harris and 

 Mr. Teschmaker. * 



For the New Ensland Farmer. 



A LITTLE MORE EXPERIENCE IN 

 FARMING. 



Mr. Editor: — It is strange what a controling 

 influence established habits have over mankind; 

 they obstruct the free exercise of the minds of most 

 people; as others do, so do we, often without think- 

 ing, right or wrong. When I commenced farming 

 I was influenced by the examples of others around 

 me. When I purchased the farm I now live on, 

 there were about 25 acres of land enclosed to go 

 over with scythe and rake to gather 5 or 6 tons of 

 second quality English hay. I made every effort 

 in my power to sustain my number of acres and 

 increase my crops by collecting street dirt, com- 

 posting and purchasing what manure I convenient- 

 ly could, but the time was so long, and my ma- 

 nure so scanty, that in making a rotation over so 

 large a surface, the larger portion of my fields 

 would continue hide-bound in defiance of all my 

 labor, and I found my manure entiiely dispropor- 

 tionate to the requirements of my number of acres. 

 This practice I continued a number of years, pay- 

 ing double for labor which would have l)een re- 

 quirted to harvest the same quantity of hay on a 

 quarter the number of acres supplied with the ma- 

 nure wasted on the 25 acres. 



After I abandoned the old custom of seeding 

 down my land in the spring with grain as well as 

 gras.^ seed, and substituted August and September 

 tor that purpose, I have found the advantage de- 

 cidedly in favor of the latter practice. When I 

 seeded in the spiing with grass and oats, if the 

 grass seed took it was almost certain to die soon 

 after harvesting the oats, and if it did not it would 

 be so feeble as to require two or three seasons to 

 gain firmness of root enough to produce an indif- 

 ferent crop; here was a loss that I thought una- 

 voidable, until I tried the late seeding, which I 

 have practiced for several years with unexpected 

 success. In August, 1850, we ploughed one-half 

 an acre of moist black soil which had been mowed 

 tor half a century every year; we gave it a top 



dressing of compost, harrowed it well, sowed 

 herds-grass and red-top seed the last day of August; 

 the grass immediately came up thick enough. In 

 July, 1851, we took from the lot two loads, for one 

 yoke of oxen, of excellent herds-grass hay, 10 1-2 

 months after seeding. 



Another piece of land about the same size which 

 was planted with corn in 1849, and potatoes in 

 1850, was seeded in the same manner, without top 

 dressing, about the 21st of September; 10 months 

 after, we took off as good a load of hay as ever 

 grew anywhere. Here we see one acre of land 

 less than a year from seeding down, produce two 

 tons or more of hay, as much as G acres formerly pro- 

 duced under the old spring seeding, scanty manur- 

 ing and oat-raising system. I have no doubt but 

 spring seeding will succeed much better on some 

 kinds of soil than it will on out porous land, where 

 evaporation is more speedy; the roots of incipient 

 grass are very superficially inserted in the soil, 

 which soon feel the deadly effects of a scorching 

 sun. I make no pretension to any new discovery; 

 my design is only to add another fragment of testi- 

 mony to the statements of your experienced corres- 

 pondents, who have written on these subjects al- 

 ready. I am fully convinced that we had better 

 abandon all our indifferent and worn-out lots of 

 land and select such pieces as are best fitted for 

 our several crops intended to be raised, and manure 

 thoroughly, and we shall find that our produce 

 will cost us less, and we shall have it more abun- 

 dantly. Labor is too high and manure too scarce 

 to have them wasted on land that will yield us 

 but sorry returns. 



I believe we can select small lots of land in 

 Wilmington, or any other town in tlie State, by 

 making a proper application of manure, that will 

 produce large crops and of good quality. I have 

 found low moist land, or reclaimed swamps, the 

 best to raise hay upon with manure applied near 

 the surface; but at any rate I would advise every 

 farmer, in our old towns where land is cheap, to 

 treat his hungry quicksands and gravelly knolls 

 civilly, but let them rest in a state of quietude until 

 they will produce him or his successors a crop of 

 wood. Silas Brown. 



Wilmington, Mass., Aug. 18, 1851. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PROFITABLE COWS. 



Mr. Cole: — I saw a piece in your paper, the 

 other day, by a man in Marlboro', telling a great 

 story about making butter from his cow, and her 

 heifer three years old. Now 1 wish to tell a story 

 about my cow and heifer; whether it will beat his 

 or not, I do not say. I have a iniddling sized cow, 

 twelve years old, a full blood Yankee, no John Bull 

 nor Durham. She has had ten calves ; the one 

 I now milk is three years old, and has had two 

 calves. They go in a pasture of swamps, raspber- 

 ry bushes and brakes, and have no extra feed what- 

 ever, and I milk only twice a day. I weighed the 

 butter made from the two cows for eleven days in 

 June, which was almost thirty-one pounds. 



Daniel Ritter. 



Weston, Vt., Aug., 1851. 



(j^'Our doctrines are — feed the earth and it 

 will feed you — feed the apple tree, and it vs'ill 

 yield fair fruit. 



