THE GENESEE FARMEIL 



47 



respect. Tuition cau not do it, without practical 

 experience; the study of nature has furnished these 

 rules for guidance, and as the laws of nature are 

 general, these rules must be of universal application. 

 The acquirement is generally sought of judging accu- 

 rately of the quuhty and weight of live stock; every 

 farmer is desirous to possess it, and eveiy pupil in 

 agriculture mostly appreciates it iu the most enticing 

 form. No breeder of animals can possess a higher 

 accomplishment, and the highest perfection of breed- 

 ing is maintained by it. An extensive experience is 

 essential to its acquirement ; and even with that 

 enjoyment, some persons never become good judges. 

 An acute observation must cull from the lessons of 

 experience, and with much judgment and discrimina- 

 tion. These natural faculties are not gifted away with 

 profusion, nor aro the requisite trouble and perse- 

 verance bestowed to supply the M'auta Most persons 

 must be judges intuitively or not at all; hence the 

 many exj)edients that have been adopted to acquire 

 the knowledge and experience, the many tables from 

 measurement, and rules from Hve weight Good 

 judges veiy rightly contemn these rules and tables, 

 as they cau ascertain the real weight of marketable 

 flesh on any animal much more nearly by the eye 

 than by any superficial rule, and the true quality of 

 it by the touch — a property which these tables can 

 in no way convey. No surprise need be raised by 

 the comparative superiority of the senses for this 

 purpose, the depreciating and enhancing points of the 

 carcass can not be determined by artificial rules, and 

 the tape and the steel-yard can not be substituted for 

 the eye and the hand. If the bodies were true cylin- 

 ders, and if the offiils always bore a definite and inva^ 

 riable ratio to the four quarters of flesh, then the 

 measurement might tell accurately; but the various 

 proportioas that exist require the judgment to com- 

 pare the value of the several disprojaortionate parts. 

 It is nevertheless true, that the priraest condition of 

 animals, which approach the nearest to the mathe- 

 matical, are approximated by rules, which are still 

 inferior to a practically matured judgment. The 

 rules, however excellent, require a correct application; 

 the girth and length are to be nicely taken, as one 

 inch will blunder more than the eye of the judge. 

 The live weight depends on the fulness or emptiness 

 of the carcass with food; and neither weighing nor 

 measurement give any idea of the quality of the flesh, 

 which rests on the eye and the hand to judge in this 

 most essential particular." 



DRYING POTATOES FOR SEED. 



A. N. C. BoLLMAN, Counsellor of State and Pro- 

 fessor in the Russian Agricultural Institution at 

 Gorigoretsky, says that " thoroughly dried potatoes 

 will always produce a crop free from disease." In 

 an interesting pamphlet, it is asserted as an unques- 

 tionable fact, that mere drying, if conducted at a 

 sufficiently high temperature, and continued long 

 enough, is a complete antidote to the malady. 



The account given by Professor Bollmax of the 

 accident which led to this discovery is as follows : 

 He had contrived a potato-setter, which had the bad 

 quality of destroying any sprouts that might be on 



the sets, and even of tearing away the rind. To 

 harden the potatoes, so as to protect them against 

 this accident, he resolved to dry them. In the spring 

 of 18.50, he placed a lot in a very hot room, and at 

 the end of three weeks they were dry enough to plant. 

 The potatoes came up well, and produced as good a 

 crop as that of the neighboring farmers, with this 

 difl'orence only, that they had no disease, and the crop 

 was therefore, upon the whole, more abundant. Pro- 

 fessor BoLLMAN tells us that he regarded this as a 

 mere accident; he, however, again dried his seed po- 

 tatoes iu 1851, and again his crop was abundant and 

 free from disease, while everywhere on the surround- 

 ing land they were much afi'ected. This was too re- 

 markable a circumstance not to excite attention, and 

 iu 1852 a third trial took place. All Mr. Bollman's 

 own stock of potatoes being exhausted, he was obliged 

 to purchase his seed, which bore unmistakeable marks 

 of having formed part of a crop that had been se- 

 verely diseased ; some, in fact, were quite rotten. 

 After keeping them for about a mouth in a hot room, 

 as before, he cut the largest potatoes into quarters, 

 and the smaller into halves, and left them to dry for 

 another week. Accidentally the diying was carried 

 so far that apprehensions were entertained of a very 

 bad crop, if any. Contrary to expectation, however, 

 the sets pushed promptly, and grew so fast that excel- 

 lent young potatoes were dug three weeks earher than 

 usual. Eventually nine times the quantity planted 

 was produced, and, although the neighboring fields 

 were attacked, no trace of disease could be found on 

 either the herbage or the potatoes themselves. 



This singular result, obtained in three successive 

 years, led to inquiry as to whether any similar cases 

 were on record. In the course of the investigation 

 two other facts were elicited. It was discovered that 

 Mr. LosovsKY (Uving in the government of Witebsk, 

 in the district of Sebege), had for four years adopted 

 the plan of drying his seed potatoes, and that during 

 that time there had been no disease on his estate. It 

 was again an accident which led to the practice of 

 this gentlemen. Five years ago, while his potatoes 

 were digging, he put one in his pocket, and on return- 

 ing home threw it on his stove (poele), where it re- 

 mained forgotten till the spring. Having then chanced 

 to observe it, he had the curiosity to plant it, all 

 dried up as it was, and obtained an abundant healthy 

 crop; since that time the practice of drjdng has been 

 continued, and always with great success. Professor 

 Bollman remarks that it is usual in Russia, in many 

 places, to smoke-dry flax, wheat and rye; and in the 

 west of Russia, experienced proprietors prefer for seed 

 onions that have been kept over the winter in cottages 

 without a chunney; such onions are called dymka, 

 which may be interpreted smoke-dried. 



The second fact is this: Mr. Wasileffskt, a gen- 

 tleman residing in the government of MohileflJ is in 

 the habit of keeping potatoes aU the year round by 

 storing them in the place where his hams are smoked. 

 It happened that in the spring of 1852 his seed pota*-- 

 toes, kept in the usual manner, were insufficient, aadi 

 he made up the requisite quantity with some of these? 

 which had been for a month in the smoking place.\ 

 These potatoes produced a capital crop, very littla 

 diseased, while at the same time the crop from; the 

 sets which were not smoke-dried was extensiyeij 



