310 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APRIl, 8, J835. 



S?SW 2SS?<glS.^Si'2l> S-^JEffiSigma 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APKIL S, 1835. 



PARMER'S WORK. 



Jin easy and cheap viclhod ofrais'mg Polutoes. — " On 

 an even and smooth piece of mowing or pasture land, 

 make deep single furrows, with a plough, at three feet 

 distance. Fill these furrows with rye (or any other) 

 straw, and drop your potatoes, six or eight inches apart, 

 on the straw. Then with a hoe cover tlie potatoes, by 

 turning down the ploughed furrows upon them. They 

 will require no more attention till they are grown ; no 

 hoeing will be necessary. The same land may he used 

 as a pasture for sheep, as those animals will not eat, nor 

 materially injure the tops of the potatoes." 



This article was published in the N. E. Farmer, vol. 

 ii . p. 350, and it is there added, " the writer is informed 

 that this method is practised with success, in the towns 

 of Winchester and Swanzey, in New Hampshire."— 

 Since the above was published [in May, 1834], we 

 have no recollection of seeing or hearing anything fur- 

 ther relative to the mode of planting potatoes therein 

 described. We think it probable that there may be ad- 

 vantaiTcs in growing potatoes and pasturing sheep on 

 the same land. If so, we will be nuich obliged to Messrs 

 A,, B., C, &c. to the end of the alphabet, if they, or 

 any of them, will try the experiment, and communicate 

 its results for publication in the N. E. Farmer. We 

 would, moreover, beg leave to suggest one or tw^o alter- 

 ations, perhaps improvements, in the process. In tlie 

 first place, supposing, goodmah cultivator, you should 

 try fiiUm leaves, or the mould produced by the decom- 

 position of fallen leaves from an adjacent wood lot, as 

 substitutes for straw, to place in the furrow in which 

 your potatoes are to he planted. Fallen leaves, taken 

 from the woods, are recommended by a correspondent 

 of the Bath Society, in England. Leaves for manuring 

 potatoes, according to that writer, cause them to be 

 much more mealy, and of a finer flavor than when they 

 are produced by the application of manure from stables 

 or barn yards. But we should be apprehensive that the 

 seed potatoes, if bedded or surrounded by leaves, would 

 not vegetate freely, and that they might be injured by 

 .drought. We would, therefore, advise not to apply 

 leaves to potatoes in hills or drills till after about an 

 inch of soil has been laid over the planted roots. If 

 unrotted manure be laid immediately over or under the 

 seed, either of potatoes or corn, the plants are liable to 

 be injured by drought. 



These directions may seem needlessly minute, but 

 in agriculture as well as in other arts, great eft'ects 

 often depend on small causes. Even the position of a 

 seed potato in its hill is an object of importance. 

 That eminent cultivator, T. A. Knight says " when 

 the planter is anxious to obtain a crop within the least 

 possible time, he will find the position in which the tubers 

 are placed to vegetate, by no means a matter of indif- 

 ference ; for these being shoots or brunches, which have 

 grown thick instead of elongating, retain the disposition 

 of branches to propel tlie sap to their loading buds, or 

 points most distant from the stems of the plants 

 of which they once formed parts. If the tubers be 

 placed with their leading buds upwards, a few very 

 strong and very early shoots will spring from thent ; 

 but if their position be reversed, many later and weak- 

 er shoots will be produced ; and not only the earliness 

 but the quality of the produce in size will be much 

 affected."— Wort. Trans, iv. p. 44!^. 



Elder boughs for Sheep, S^-c. — A correspondent with 

 the signature 15. from Bridgeport observed, " Instead of 

 tar, turpentine, resin, and spirits of turpentine, in mid 



winter, and towards spring, when sheep are looking fur 

 some green thing, and finding none, I give them elder 

 boughs, which they feed on with sufficient avidity for 

 medicinal purposes, and thus, I think, very much pro- 

 mote their health and .nppetite. If any of the above 

 things are absolutely necessary, though I do not know 

 for what particular complaints they are recommended, 

 I should prefer the resin in powder, as that may correct 

 the cough, wliich often prevails among old and poor 

 sheep ; and I know it to be a remedy for the heaves, by 

 giving to the horse a table spoonful, with the same 

 quantity of nitre finely powdered, and given once a 

 day in his m^'ss. I have several times stopped the dis- 

 ease, when coming on in three successive days." 



Preservation of Lamhs froin Vermin. — An ointment 

 made of gun powder, brimstone, and common grease, 

 applied behind the necks of the lambs, will infallibly 

 preserve them from all kinds of vermin. The quantity 

 requisite is so small, that sixpenny worth is sufficient to 

 dress two hundred lambs. — French paper. 



Early Potatoes. — A writer for the Ellsworth Courier 

 recommends the following method of raising early po- 

 tatoes, " Take as many potatoes a« you wish to plant 

 for early ones, put them in a box or barrel, well mixed 

 in with dry loam and horse manure mixed together, 

 then put them in an ash hole, or some warm place in 

 the sun, covered from the rain, there let them remain un- 

 til the sprouts are from one to two inches long, by which 

 time the ground will become warm as well as the season 

 ■ — have your ground prepared, made good and well ma- 

 nured ; then take your potatoes, very carefully cut, or 

 plant whole as you please, but do not injure the sprouts, 

 and be careful to cover with light earth, and as soon 

 as they are up an inch pr two hoe them carefully, and 

 in this waj- you may have potatoes by the 15th or 2Uth 

 of J-uly, and you get an early kind by the 4th." 



This plan we believe, would answer well as a substi- 

 tute for a hot bed, to force the early growth of potatoes, 

 when cultivators are not accommodated with this use 

 ful appendage to a farm as well as a garden. 



his escape from the battle at Lexington, she entreated 

 him, with tears in her eyes, not again to risk a life so 

 dear to her and so necessary to his country. ' Where- 

 ever danger is, dear mother,' waa his reply, ' there 

 must your son be, now is no time for one of America's 

 children to shrink from the most hazardous duty. 1 

 will cither see my country /j-cc, or shed my last drop oT 

 blood to make lier so.' " 



This work contains the only copy we have seen of an 



" 0r.4TI0N DELIVF.nED, IN BoSTON, MaKCH G, 1775, 



BY Dk Joseph Wakren, in commemoration of the 

 Evening of the fifth of March, 1770. This alone 

 is worth ten times the price of the book, which may be 

 obtained at the bookstore of James Loring, 139, Wash- 

 ington Street. 



Stories about Geucral "VVarreu &c.— By a Lady of 

 Boston. 



Situated as we are in this emporium of literature, 

 where authors and reviewers are almost as abundant as 

 rain drops in an equinoctial storm, and our paper devo- 

 ted to specific objects, we have neither room, leisure, 

 nor occasion to (rive critiques or notices of works is- 

 suing from the American press, unless they relate to 

 Agriculture or Rural Economy. Still tlie little book 

 with the above title has claims to attention, which no 

 patriot can overlook without forfeiting every pretpnsion 

 to be considered a friend to liberty and his country. 



We cannot too frequently recur to the noble senti- 

 ments, moral and physical courage, unexampled priva- 

 tions, as well as heroic deeds of the revolutionary wor- 

 thies to whom under divine Providence we are indebted 

 for our Independence and existence as a nation. And 

 among the most high minded and intrepid, and able, 

 and disinterested champions of American freedom, the 

 Immortal Warren stands pre-eminent. From infan- 

 cy his name has, with us, been associated with all that 

 is magnanimous in patriotism and praiseworthy in he- 

 roism; and in consequence of its melancholy associa- 

 tions, it has inspired an interesst, scarcely less thrilling 

 than that of Washington. Never was a nobler sacri- 

 fice, self immolated, on the altar of liberty than that of 

 General Wauren ; and never was a nobler sentiment 

 expressed than fell from his lips according to the motto 

 of tliese " STORIES," wliich is as follows : 



" When Gen. Warren's mother first saw him after 



Wool Growers' Fair. — The Franklin Mercury 

 recommends the establishment in some convenient town 

 in the interior, of a general wool market. The plan 

 proposed is in accordance with the Fairs in Europe, 

 where, on an appointed day, all interested either as sell- 

 ers or buyers come together, and the business of the 

 year is done up at once. The wool trade of ourcountry 

 is becoming of great importance, and the mode of car- 

 rying it on, must of course soon assume more system 

 and order. 



Wool. — This article has been so low during the win- 

 ter, that most of our farmers have kept it on hand, with 

 the expectation it would ere long bring a higher price. 

 The demand for domestic wool has however been greater 

 within a tew weeks, and several lots have been disposed 

 of in this vicinity at a higher price than heretofore. 

 We have heard of seventyfive cents being offered for 

 Saxony wool during the last week. We annex the 

 latest sales. Prime or SaxoHy fleece lb. G5a75; Amer- 

 ican full blood, washed 55 a CO; do. three quarters do- 

 50 a 55 ; do. one half do. 49 or 48 ; one quarter and 

 common 30 a 49 ; superfine northern pulled lambs' 55 a 

 60 ; No 1 do. 45 a 50 ; 9 do. 30 a 33 ; 3 do. 95 a 30e.— 

 Clarcmont, JV. H. Eagle. 



Appointments bv the Lt. Governor and Council. 

 — The following re-appointments have been made, lim- 

 ited to the term of five years, under the provisions of 

 the Act of March 27, 183.5, entitled " an Act limiting 

 the tenure of the office of Inspector"; — 



John B. Wells of Boston, Inspector General of Beef 

 and Pork. 



Solomon D. Townsend of Boston, Inspector General 

 of Pot and Pearl Ashes. 



Edmund Wright of Boston, Inspector General of 

 Butler and Lard. 



John Dodd of Boston, Inspector of Tobacco for Bos- 

 ton and Charlestown. 



Joseph Meigs of Rochester, Inspector Genera! of 

 Salt, for all the counties excepting Bristol, Barnstable 

 and Dukes. 



Samuel Leonard, of New Bedford, Inspector Genera! 

 of Salt, for the county of Bristol. 



Elij.-ili Cobb of Brewster, Inspector General of Salt, 

 for the counties of Barnstable and Dukes. 



Warning to Newspaper Thieves. — A man named 

 Cyrene Payne was taken before the Police Court last | 

 Saturday afternoon, under a charge of stealing a copy j 

 of the Evening Gazette, and of the Evening Mercantile j 

 Journal, from the door of Benjamin Bradley, Temple 

 street. He produced testimonials of good characteo 

 heretofore, but was sentenced to pay a fine of $5 and 

 costs. If not paid within ten days, to three months in 

 the House of Correction — from which sentence he ap,^ 

 pealed. — Mercantile Journal. 



