242 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



about two inches long, and fasten down the corners 

 with small sticks, about twenty inches longjr run 

 upward into the hay. Put up the hay in cocks, as 

 usual, when a storm is expected, having it pretty 

 well elevated in the centre, that the cap may throw 

 off the water, which it will shed like an umbrella. 



Farmers who hiive never used hay caps, and have 

 doubts as to their utility and economy, would better 

 have them made the size of sheets ; and a little care- 

 ful usage will not injure them, and the storms will 

 whiten them, and when haying is over, the good 

 housewife will find a use for them. 



NEWLAND'S STRAWBERRY. 



Many strawberry plants were sold in this section 

 last year, and early in this season, \inder the assum- 

 ing and imposing name of " George Newland's Cele- 

 brated Mammoth Alpine Strawberry," purporting to 

 be a new and superior variety from Palmyra, N. Y. 



Many persons, who have tried these strawberries, 

 pronounce the transaction an imposition, as the 

 strawberries are small, and unworthy of cultivation, 

 bearing a strong resemblance to the Wood straw- 

 berry. One person remarks that he lost ten dollars 

 by setting this varictj'. Whether thorough experi- 

 ments have been made or not, we cannot tell. We 

 set a very few plants rather late, and have not had 

 an opportunity to judge of their merits, excepting 

 we can confirm the general statement that they re- 

 semble the Wood. 



We give this notice as a caution to those who are 

 too ready to believe great stories and become the 

 dupes of imposition. The exaggerated accounts of 

 this strawberry ought to have convinced every one 

 of common experience that they were misstatements, 

 for there is no strawberry in the world that is equal 

 to what is claimed for this. 



The great evil of such deceptions is, that they 

 retard improvement. If the agricultural community 

 are occasionally gulled in this way, they grow cau- 

 tious about receiving articles of superior merit, even 

 on good authority. They are led to think that the 

 extra price is a sign of imposition. 



POTATOES. 



Though this is not the time of year to put it in 

 practice, yet it is the time to see the evil effects of 

 other plans, and therefore I mention it now. I be- 

 lieve I got the idea from some one of your corre- 

 Bi^ondents, some years since. When you get up the 

 potatoes in autumn, instead of putting them in hogs, 

 or pies, as they are called, mark out in a level place 

 ground three feet wide, level it about two or three 

 inches above the surface, spread your potatoes upon 

 it one layer thick, then put two inches of soil, then 

 a layer of potatoes, then soil, and so on, gradually 

 coming up to a ridge. At first a very sUght quan- 

 tity of soil will do ; but before winter sets in, they 

 require a covering of six inches, and some fern or 

 litter over all in frost. This plan seems tedious, but 

 is in reality done as quickly as hogging, or very 

 nearly so. It keeps the potatoes excellent to eat, pre- 

 serves them from rot better than any plan, and for 

 seed nothing can beat it. I have been planting the 

 last fortnight, and the seed taken out of these earth 



hogs is just as it was when taken out of the ground 

 in autumn, the eyes just showing, and the skin 

 fresh, healthy, and bright. My gardener had a great 

 prejudice against this plan at first, but now, after 

 three years' practice, says there is nothing like it. 

 I believe it does much to invigorate the potato plant, 

 as there is no vital force lost in pushing sprouts. I 

 am aware that gardeners often keep their early kid- 

 ney seed in outhouses, &c., upon this plan, but this 

 cannot be done with a large quantity for field cul- 

 ture, added to which, I find the j)otatocs keep much 

 better, both for eating and seed, than when spread in 

 a cellar, on a granary floor, or packed in barrels. — 

 English Paper. 



Remarks by Editor N. E. Farmer. — The fore- 

 going method, or some similar plan, is followed for 

 the preservation of potatoes in some sections of Penn- 

 sylvania, and in other mild regions, without any 

 regard to the rot, as it has long been in practice. In 

 this section, the cold is too severe for this mode, un- 

 less imusual pains are taken to heap up the earth or 

 litter over the potatoes. 



HINTS ON HARVESTING WHEAT. , 



As the time for harvesting wheat is fast approach- 

 ing, I submit the following suggestions, through your 

 paper, to the wheat-growers of this country. I am 

 one of those who believe it best to cut wheat just so 

 soon as it will do — that is, when it is " in the dough," 

 as we term it. Having two neighbors, some five 

 years ago, both thriving farmers, one contended for 

 cutting wheat when in the dough state, while the 

 other as firmly contended that it should stand at 

 least a week longer, until it was thoroughly ripe. 

 At that time, I thought them both on extremes ; but 

 in the harvest of 1845, I determined to test the mat- 

 ter by a fair trial. Accordingly, in a field contain- 

 ing ten acres, I cut and shocked up six acres in one 

 day Avhen in the dough, letting the other four acres 

 stand one week longer before I cut it. The result 

 was, the first cut stood up well in the shock, the 

 straw being stiff and the heads straight. In the 

 second case, nearly all the shocks fell down, (there 

 happened a storm of wind and rain before it would 

 do to thresh,) in consequence of the straw being 

 broken and limber, and the heads being curled. ITie 

 last cut was more damaged by the rain than the first.' 

 I then threshed it out of the shock, keeping it sep- 

 arate ; and on comparing the two, the first cut 

 showed a plump, clear-looking grain — the last, a 

 grain somewhat shrunk, and of a darker brown color. 

 When made into flour, the latter showed a yellow- 

 ish cast, while the former was almost as white as 

 snow. The first cut did not shatter out and waste 

 in handling, like the latter. The straw of the first 

 was bright, and equal to hay to feed cattle on in 

 winter, while the latter was comparatively worthless. 

 By what natural process the sap ascends the stalk 

 after it is cut, so as to prevent the grain from shrink- 

 ing, I leave for the scientific to determine. It is a 

 well-known fact among farmers, that Indian corn cut 

 and shocked up after the blades are entirely dry, 

 will turn bright and be good feed for cattle — from 

 the substance remaining in the staDc, I suppose. 



Hartsville, 1849. 

 — Philadelphia Dollar Neicspaper, 



If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are 

 dead, either write things worth reading or do some- 

 thing worth writing. 



