13G 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



AN OCTAGON HOUSE. 



Mkssrs. Editors : — I enclose the accompanyincr 

 plan of an octagon house vhicli I think very conve- 

 nient for farmers' iise,thoug-h somewhat unfashionable 

 and uncommon in this part of the country, yet tlie 

 form contains some advantiio;es not perceptible at the 

 first glance, one of which is that of enclosing more 

 space, with less wall, than the square form ; an- 

 other, is the more solidity of such form, and less lia- 

 bility to be racked with high winds ; and last, though 

 not least, is its compactness, and short distance from 

 room to room. Tlic cost would be considerable less 

 than for a right angled house of the same number of 

 rooms of the same size. 



PLAN OF GROUND FLOOR. 



1, Parlor, 18 by 14. 2, Sitting room, 18 by 14. 

 3, Dining room, 20 by 20. 4, Square room or Li- 

 brary, 18 by 14. O, O, O, Rooms with closets 

 attached. P, Triangular porch, passage, &.c. 



PLAN OF A CH3AP AND COMMODIOUS FARM HOUSE. 



Ens. Gkn. Far.mer :— Noticing that you devote a 

 portion of your valuabh? paper to this part of general 

 improvement, in favoring llie wants and lessening 

 the expenses of farmers, especially in that branch of 

 improvement which is so much engaging the minds 

 of a great portion of the public at this time. — 

 We are, at this age of improvement, generally t^el- 

 fish in regard to our pecuniary affairs. In erecting 

 our farm buildings, it is a desire, and an interest, and 



at times necessary that we should use the utmost 

 economy to curtail our e.vpeuses until we all get the 

 upper hand of poverty. 



Influenced by these just considerations, I propo.se 

 to give to your niunerous readers, the following hand- 

 some, convenient and cheap plan for a farm house. 



By the preceding ground plan, you will see it pre- 

 sents the upright part 22 feet front, and 27 feet back, — 

 the end to the front. To the left is a wing 21 feet front, 

 20 feet back, with wood-house 20 feet still back, 

 which gives a front view of 43 feet by 40 feet back. 

 The rooms above are to be one front room, witli clos- 

 ets on each side, two bed rooms back, with closets, 

 which at first glance will be found to be very handy 

 and convenient. Chas. H. Hobart. — YalesvillCf 

 JV. Y., May, 1851. 



SEED POTATOES. 



Messrs. Editors. — Having seen the subject of seed 

 potatoes noticed in your valuable paper, the Farmer, 

 I thought I would give my experience about them. 

 My father taught me by practice that large ones 

 were always to be prefered — a practice I followed till 

 necessity induced me to try small ones : and I can 

 now say with a good deal of confidence, that small 

 potatoes are fully equal to large ones. My experi- 

 ence has been thus : I have planted one part of my 

 patch with large ones whole, and part with large ones 

 cut in pieces, and a part with small refuse ones, and 

 I could discover no difl^erence, except that those from 

 the large whole ones were more nearly of one size, 

 the yield being about equal, where the ground was 

 equally good. So fully satisfied am I, that I usually 

 eat or sell the large potatoes, and plant little ones. 

 In fact the greatest yield I ever had was 65 bushels 

 from a half bushel measure three times even full. 

 But I took a different plan with these, which was to 

 cut them about four weeks before planting, and 

 spread tiiem in a dry airy place and let them dry. 

 This practice I think, will increase the yield, and 

 pretty certainly shorten the time to maturity. How- 

 ever, each one can easily test the matter for him- 

 self. By the by, while I think of it, will you, or 

 some one, through the Farmer tell me when is the 

 best time to cut under-brush to prevent sprouting up' 

 from the root again. A Subscriber. — Allen, Ind., 

 March, 1851. 



SEED POTATOES. 



Messrs. Editors ; — Your correspondent, " A Sub- 

 scriber," in your April number, questions the cor- 

 rectness of my opinion and advice — that small potatoes 

 answer well for seed. It does not accord with his 

 "experience. He does not state any experiment where 

 the comparative results of small and large seed are 

 ascertained. But I presume he has made such ex- 

 perii^ont. He states, however, an experiment made 

 with large seed only, which 1 think interesting and 

 worthy of further and full investigation. The eyes 

 tVom the large end and from the middle, and from the 

 small end of the same potatoe.*, were planted in sep- 

 arate rows, and the product of tiie seed taken from 

 the large end exceeded that from the seed of the 

 small ends, at the rate of one and a half tons (say 36 

 bushels) per acre. Now I confess that I am sur- 

 prised, and wholly unable to account for this result. 

 The fact I admit, because he states it ; out I can see 

 no reason why it should be so. And if this is to be 



