THE GENESEE FARMER. 



43 



POTATOES PLANTED WITH OOEN. 



Seveeal of our correspondents, in the last and 

 receding volumes of tlie Farmer^ have recom- 

 lended the practice of planting potatoes between 

 le rows of Indian corn. The potatoes might be 

 lanted between each hill of corn in one direction 

 the rows, and still allow the use of the horse- 

 oe alongside ; but of course it could not be used 

 oth ways, which is often very desirable, as it saves 

 luch hand-hoeing. 



It would seem to us, too, that with a good crop 

 f corn, the land would be so shaded that potatoes 



ould not thrive veiy well ; or that, if they did, 

 ley would rob the corn of its needed food and 

 loisture, the same as grass or weeds. 



If, however, good crops of corn and potatoes 

 m be obtained, as is asserted — and which, if the 

 round is rich enough and properly cultivated, is 

 Dt improbable — the practice is one which should 

 B generally known. We need more light on the 

 ibject; and the object of' these remarks is to 

 icifc the opinion of our readers. In the Albany 

 'uUivator for 1839, S. W. Newton, of Brooklyn, 

 a., gave the results of an experiment the preced- 



g year. His practice was different from the one 

 e have alluded to above. He says : 



" I planted fifty -four perches of ground, after be- 

 g once plowed perfectly and well dragged, in the 

 Uowing manner, viz : three rows of potatoes and 

 iree rows of corn, and thus alternately; The corn 

 planted in rows, three feet and a half by two feet, 

 iree stalks to the hill ; the potatoes, in drills from 

 urteen to fifteen inches asunder — planting both 

 1 the flat surface. I planted on the last day of 

 ay, and harvested on the 15th of September, and 

 )tained twenty-four bushels of ears of corn, three 

 ads of pumpkins, and fifty-five bushels of pota- 

 )es. The season was not altogether congenial to 

 le potato with us last summer, being too dry ; of 

 )urse the seed was, by hoeing, raised too high to 

 isure a full crop ; and had the ground been lightly 

 irrowed for the potatoes, and ridged for the corn, 

 think the produce of each would have been con- 

 derably increased — that of the potato in particu- 

 ,r. The produce of an acre would have been sev- 

 ity-oae bushels of corn, and 163 of potatoes. 

 his is at the rate of thirty-five and a half bushels 

 F shelled corn to the acre, according to the usual 

 lode of planting ; and since forty bushels in this 

 auntry is counted a tolerable crop, the potatoes 

 light be counted almost a clear gain to reward for 

 le experiment." 



CALIFORNIA POTATOES. 



Gttano was first introduced into England in 

 841, — twenty casks being brought to Liverpool by 

 Ir. Myers, Subsequently its use became so gene- 

 al that, for the ten years ending 1857, the English 

 larmers expended more than one hundred millions 

 f dollarji in its purchase. 



The Rev'd H. H. TnoMrsoN, of Coehranton, Pa., 

 sends us an account of a very productive variety 

 of potato, grown last year in that neighborhood 

 He says : 



"I obtained last spring, from a friend, three po- 

 tatoes cf the California variety. Having cut them 

 in pieces containing one eye each (seventy in num- 

 ber), I planted them on the 23d of May, iti a light 

 sandy soil, which had previously been in a high 

 state of cultivation, but liad lain out for two years.- 

 I used no manure; I planted one eye in each hill, 

 three feet apart; horse-hoed three times; Iiand- 

 hoed twice. The result was eight bushels of large- 

 sized potatoes — many of them weighing over three 

 lbs., and some of them over four lbs. I do not 

 regard them a good variety for table uss, being 

 about equal to the "Pale Reds;" but for stock, I 

 think them unsurpassed by any. They are a yel- 

 low, rich, succulent potato, and their great produc- 

 tiveness makes it an object for larmers to cultivate 

 them for their stock. Several of my neighbors 

 have cultivated them the last season, and in every 

 instance they proved very productive." 



Wheat from the South. — In answer to the 

 question, "How can we best increase the early 

 flowering and ripening of winter wheat ; and should 

 the seed come from a more soutliern or a more 

 northern latitude?" a correspondent says: "I 

 think the seed should come from a more northern 

 latitude; for, as we go south, gradually, seed-time 

 becomes later, and as we go north, seed-time 

 becomes earlier. Therefore, if we should bring 

 wheat from a more northern to a southern latitude, 

 we should be likely to get wheat that would be 

 more thrifty and ripen earlier." 



We can not see the force of this argument. It 



is true that " seed-time" is later as we go south, 



but the harvest is earlier; and, as our object is not 



to get wheat that we can wio earlier, but rather 



that which ripens earlier, it would seem that we 



should get our seed- wheat from the south. But we 



do not want speculations on this subject. Let us 



have facts. 



^ I ^ 



Cut and Crushed Food for Horses. — The 

 horses in Flanders are kept in the stable winter 

 and summer. Their straw and hay is always cut, 

 and their grain always given to them in the form 

 of meal, and generally mixed- with their drinis. 

 Their daily food in winter is 15 lbs. hay ; 10 lbs. 

 straw, and 8 lbs. oats. In summer, clover is sub- 

 stituted for hay. The horses are in the finest con- 

 dition. 



Thousands of lambs are lost for the want of one 

 night's shelter. Thousands of sheep are destroyed 

 by constant shelter. 



