146 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



SPIBIT OF THE AGRICULTUEAL PRESS. 



Chili Potato. — Mr. J. D. Ladd, in the OJdo 

 Cultivator^ gives an account of an experiment in 

 growing these potatoes. He raised 78 bnshels from 

 2i bushels of seed, on about one-fifth of an acre. 

 They were cut into sets containing one or two eyes 

 each, and planted in the same way as ordinary po- 

 tatoes, and very few small ones were found at har- 

 vesting. He says "he is satisfied they possess a 

 reproductive vigor which most of our common 

 varieties have lost. They are not only prolific, but 

 very hardy. When dug, but two were found that 

 had any signs of decay about them, and they had 

 been bruised and torn by a horse running across 

 the patch. They are not an attractive looking po- 

 tato, but the inside is white, dry, and of a pleasant 

 flavor" 



Thick vs. Thin Seeding. — John Johnston, in the 

 Rural American^ says a man in his employ once 

 sowed a part of a field with clover seed at the rate 

 of 24 quarts per acre. The result was that the 

 clover on that portion never got taller than the 

 natural white clover, and was too short to cut. He 

 finds 12 lbs. of clover seed per acre quite enough. 

 Half a bushel of timothy seed to the acre will give 

 abetter quality of hay, but six quarts will give a 

 larger quantity. He vibrated for several years be- 

 tween sowing one and three bushels of wheat to 

 the acre, but settled down at 1|- bushels, and be- 

 lieves this quantity will give the greatest yield, 

 although when sown at the rate of 2 to 2^ bushels 

 per acre the wheat ripens a few days earlier. 



Time of Planting Corn. — The Homestead^ (Ct.,) 

 says: "From the observation and experience of 

 the past six years, we think that the majority of 

 our farmers plant corn quite too early, A warm 

 week in May tempts them to early sowing, and the 

 seed comes up, but it is liable to be surfeited with 

 water or cut off by late frosts. Almost every 

 farmer has the experience of planting his corn over 

 again, and thus tens of thousands of dollars are 

 uselessly thrown away. A much better plan is not 

 to plant till the last of May or the first week of 

 June. One of the best farmers of that State plants 

 on the 6th of June, and gets his crop well matured, 

 and to yield near seventy bushels per acre." 



Corn in Stumpy Fields. — A correspondent of 

 the Ohio Valley Farmer advises farmers to leave a 

 sufficient space between a stump and a hill of corn or 

 potatoes to enable a horse to steer clear round the 

 stump without treading on the plants. He takes 

 care to keep the ground clean and free from weeds 

 round the stump, by means of a two-pronged hoe. 



Alsike Clover. — A correspondent of the Cana- 

 dian Agriculturist who has grown this clover in 

 Canada, gives it a decided preference over the com- 

 mon red clover, for the following reasons : It will 

 make better and finer hay, and yield a larger weight 

 per acre. It is not so liable to be winter killed 

 or thrown out by spring frosts. Much was said in 

 England, some years ago, in regard to this clover, 

 which originated in the district of Alsike, in Swe- 

 den, but latterly we have heard little in regard to 

 it. It is said to be used with most advantage on 

 cold, heavy soils. Have any of our readers had 

 any experience with it ? 



Cows CAN not Hold back their Milk. — Dr. 

 Dadd, in the Steele Journal, says a cow cannot ex- 

 ercise any control over her lacteal organs, and gives 

 this as the reason: The muscular tissues which 

 compose the parts directly in the region of the lac- 

 teal duct, or milk channel, are involuntary muscles. 

 Were it not so, any cow might, by voluntary relax- 

 ation of the muscles which guard the outlet of the 

 mammary gland, evacuate at any time her own 

 milk, and thus defraud her owner. 



The Onion Maggot. — The Boston Cultivator 

 says Mr. D. Fisher, of N". H., succeeded last year 

 in raising a good crop, having had his onions de- 

 stroyed by maggots for a number of years previ- 

 ously. His plan was to place on each onion bed 

 three bowls about half filled with sweetened water, 

 as soon as the onions were an inch or two high. 

 This attracted the flies, and each morning the water 

 was cleared of the insects caught in it, and a little 

 fresh water added. 



Timothy on the Prairies. — A writer in the 

 Rockford Register asserts that prairie soils are not 

 adapted to the growth of timothy ; that he has had 

 less success with it than with any other grass he 

 has tried. He thinks the severe drouths of summer 

 on these dry, porous soils, and the prevalence of 

 the grub- worm, prove too much for the timothy, 

 and he recommends the growing of clover instead. 



Wheat at the South. — The Valley Farmer 

 states that all the late sown wheat in Alabama, 

 East Tennessee and Southern Kentucky, has suf- 

 fered severely from the frosts of last December. 

 The early sown wheat, however, is looking well, 

 and gives promise of a fair crop. 



Oats sown with Carrots. — The Working Far- 

 mer says oats may be sown thinly on carrot ground 

 before drilling in the carrot seed, and will thus 

 keep down the weeds, and can be cut for fodder aa 

 soon as the carrots require thinning out. 



