1872 The Western Pomologist and Gardener. 71 



It has been demonstrated that every square inch of leaf lifts 3-500 of an ounce every 

 tV7enty-four hours. Now, a large foi-est tree has about five acres of foliage, or 6,273,040 

 square inches. This, being multiplied by 3 500 (the amount pumped by every inch), 

 gives us the result, 2,3.)3 ounces, or 1,19G quarts, or 349 gallons, or 8 barrels in twenty- 

 four hours. An acre of grass, or clover, or grain, would yield about the same result. 



The leaf is a worker, too, in another field of labor, where we seldom look, where it 

 works for the good man in a most wonderful manner. It carries immense quantities of 

 electricity from the earth to the clouds, and from the clouds to the earth. Rather dan- 

 gerous way of transporting lightning ; but it is particularly fitted for this work. Did you 

 ever see a leaf entire as to its edges? It is always pointed, and these points, whether they 

 be large or small, are just fitted to handle this dangerous iigent. These tiny fingers seize 

 upon and carry it away with ease and wonderful dispatch. There must be no delay; it is 

 " time freight." True, sometimes it gathers up more than the trunk can carry, and in the 

 attempt to crowd and pack the baggage the trunk gets terribly shattered, and we say that 

 lightning struck the tree. But it had been struck a thousand times before. This time it 

 ■was over worked. — American Entomologist. 



Potatoes Least Affected by Bugs. — A writer in the Michigan Farmer thinks some 

 varieties are much more liable to destruction than others, owing to their tender foliage ; 

 still no kind is exempt. Among one hundred and fifty varieties raised the past season, the 

 following, though not bug proof, are to some extent able to withstand their ravages : 

 White Rose, Peerless, White Peachblow and Buckeye ; at least the bugs appeared to pre- 

 fer other varieties. I found the past season that early planted potatoes escaped better 

 than the same variety planted two or three weeks later, and believe that the Early Rose, 

 planted early, will in most sections make a fair crop by spending about one day per acre 

 bug killing. 



Profits of Onion and Cabbage GroTVlng.— Immense Crops. 



The New Albany (Indiana) Ledger gives an account of the great crops of onions and 

 cabbages grown in that region on the rich bottom land along the Ohio river, from which 

 we quote the following : " In order to inform ourselves as to the product of these rich 

 lands, we made inquiry of one among the most enterprising farmers on the 'river bottom,' 

 Mr. Owen Taggart. He gave us what he called ' a fair sample crop on one acre,' the past 

 year. He planted one acre to onions in the spring, and the crop yielded one hundred and 

 forty-eight barrels, -which he sold at three dollars per barrel in the field ; total, four hun- 

 dred and forty-four dollars. He planted the same ground in cabbages after the onions 

 were taken off, and the yield gathered was eighty-one boxes, which he sold at three dol- 

 lars a box ; total, |3o9.20 ; the grand total for one acre, $703.30. * * * 



About 10,000 cabbage plants are set on an acre. They are cultivated with the plough 

 and hoe, and after a couple of times, are left to mature. The cutting is about the first of 

 October, and continues until Christmas. The average size of the cabbage field of each 

 farmer is four acres, few cultivating less, and many cultivating as high as five acres. At 

 10,000 cabbages per acre, each man would cultivate 40,000 heads. On the bottom between 

 this city and Bridgeport there are about fifty-five cabbage fields of the size named, employ- 

 ing, as cultivators, in one capacity or another, not less than four hundred persons. Upon 

 each of these fifty-five farms an average crop of 40,000 cabbages is produced, making the 

 total crop upon the entire bottom between New Albany and Bridgeport, 2,200,000 heads, 

 an immense product for 230 acres of land, about the amount cultivated in this vegetable. 

 This immense crop of cabbages is nearly all shipped South. Most of it goes direct to the 

 city of New Orleans. Shippers purchase cabbage of the farmers by the barrel. Each 

 barrel contains from twelve to twenty-five heads, as to size. The average price during the 

 season has been one dollar per barrel. The shippers here have realized about three cents 

 a head net upon their shipments this season, showing the cabbage trade to be a very prof- 

 itable one. 



