U. XXII. .V . 15. 



AND HORTICULTUPxAL REGISTER 



335 



GUANO AND TURNIPS, 

 few subjects rI the present day are more in- 

 ing to our aijriculiural leaders than llie coni- 

 ve irierits of manures on the various soils, 

 )tice tlie followiiiir statonient made by Mr 

 n, M. P., as Chairman of tlie Swansea Far- 

 Club. At the recent meeting of that Club, 

 ivian said he " would at present only allude 

 rial which he had recently made of three ina- 

 willi Swedish turnip.«. He had divided the 

 into three nearly iqual portions, and had 

 red one part wiili farm-yard manure, another 

 Ibone-duit, and the third with i.Mian-. The 

 i from the two first were good, that from the 

 ihaving rather more leaf than the other, but 

 |;iano crop, which was in the centre of the 

 I hid failed entirely — from what cause he 

 j not. His farm man stated thiit he had iiii.\ed 

 ibusliels of ashes with throe hundred weight 

 lano, and that the manure was drilled in and 

 i;d with an inch and a half of soil under the 

 However, the seed did not vegetate. At 

 Ime time he should met tion that some Nor- 

 iirnip seed thrown broadcast over the ground, 

 ine very well, showing that the guano was 

 hie to vegetation, but that it was ticklish 

 or the farmer to rr.eddle with in turnip crops, 

 ass land he had found it answer well : but 

 this and other artificial manures could be 

 d with the greatest advantage, appeared to 

 ) be on farms that were not easy of access, 

 here the land had been completely run out, 

 for instance, as the farm he had lately taken, 

 crop after grain crop had been grown there, 

 I most instances the crop had been carried off 

 nd. His difficulty was to make a start and 

 le keep for stock, so as to get yard manure, 

 he was endeavoring to do by growing turnips 

 thor green crops, by means of artificial ma- 

 , and in such cases they might be valuable, 

 fter all, the farmer's chief dependence for ma- 

 must be on his own farm-yard." — fi'elsh pap. 

 ■lere is danger attending the immediate appli- 

 1 of guano as a manure. It should be tlior- 

 y mi.\ed with the soil before tlie seed is jiut 

 ive it. — Card. Chron.] 



cause they say they have not manure enough to 

 spread over she whole field; some to bring the 

 corn forward earlier ; while others follow this 

 course because their ancestors practiced it. The 

 arguments against this practice are, that it re- 

 quires more labor ; it exposes the seed to more 

 worms, it gives more stalk than corn in proportion, 

 and the land is not left in so good condition for 

 the ne.\t season as when the manure is spread over 

 the ground. 



The labor of tilling an acre of corn or of pota- 

 toes is so great that no fanner can afford to plant 

 poor ground. If he has but little manure, he 

 should plant but little. He will earn more by la- 

 iioring for his neighbors than by planting ground 

 that is not rich enough for a good harvest. If any 

 one doubts whether he could make his cro(is and 

 his land better by spreading the whole manure 

 over his ground, he can easily try one field or a 

 part of one. It is certain that many farmers raise 

 fine crops of corn, without being at the trouble of 

 doling out messes to each hill. 



When the manure is spread and partially buried 

 with a plow or a harrow, it is not a good practice 

 to make deep furrows for the seed corn, and a 

 plow is a poor tool for furrowing out the ground. 

 Some farmers drag a draft chain along to make 

 marks for the seed, but this is hard labor. A post 

 four feet in length, with two teeth in it and a pair 

 of shafts for a horse is a better instrument; the 

 teeth should be broad like cultivator teeth, as was 

 stated in our last paper Mass. Ploughman. 



ripening for some months in the cellar than when 

 it IS first di'j;. — Ibid. 



[ [Where potatoes are cut for seed, the eyes 

 should be planted as soon after as possible, and not 

 suffered to wilt. Rolling in plaster and lime, after 

 cutting, has been highly recommended, both for 

 promoting growth and keeping off worms.] 



PLANTING CORN. 



e season was so forward in the latter part of 

 that soioe farmers planted corn in their fields, 

 ouht whether they ivill gain much in the 

 h by planting thus early ; we shall in all 

 bilily have fro.'^ts that will cut it down and 



back as far as the corn planted later, and 

 ps kill nuch of it. 



ople in this latitude seldom commence plunt- 

 irn before May ; what is planted from the. 

 to the aoth, when the season is forward 

 ;h, succeeds as well as any, and we often ste 

 corn that was planted as la'e as llie 'Jjth. 



the seed for an acre costs but a trifle it is 

 ible to drop more than you expect to have 

 through the season ; for the birds must have 

 and the worms will eat some, so we must 

 late accordingly. 'I'he labor of thinning out 

 nd is not great ; we are paid for it by having 

 ction of the best stalks. Weeds in the hill 

 often be pulled out by the hand, and it ia as 

 lo pull up stalks as weeds. 

 muring in Hills. — A majority of our fanners 

 ollow the old practice of putting a shovelful 

 nure in each hill of corn. Some do it be- 



POTATO PLANTING. 



The same objection lies to putting manure into 

 potato hills as into those of corn, though we often 

 plant cold and low grounds with potatoes, where a 

 little manure in the hills is thought to operate to 

 good advantage. But in such ground it will prove 

 better, and more easy, to spread on the manure 

 and trust to the man who buries the potatoes to 

 haul in some of it to each hill ; in this way you 

 avail yourself of the advantage of both methods — 

 of spreading and of manuring in hills. 



It seems not yet fuliy settled whether it is proper 

 to cut potatoes for planting. We sometimes have 

 a good harvest when, nothing but the eyes are 

 planted, but we think we are not so sure of it. It 

 is reasonable to suppose that by a continued course 

 of planting, the si/able and best shaped potatoes, 

 we may keep up the species better than by cutting 

 the seed or by planting the small and refuse pota- 

 toes. 



It is very certain that potatoes will not thrive so 

 well when planted for a number of years on the 

 same ground, as by shifting, or rotation. There 

 seems to be something poisonous about the vines 

 and the rootlets of potatoes that not only unfits the 

 ground for a succession of potato crops, but other 

 crops following are also affected. It is advisable 

 in all cases to avoid plantitig the same ground 

 twice with this root, for two years in succes.^ioii. 



If you wish your potatoes to ripen in the ground 

 you should plant early. When planted late, they 

 will sometimes yield a larger quantity than when 

 planted early, because early ones are sometimes 

 cut short by a dry turn of weather at a critical 

 time in their growth. But as such dry times are 

 more likely to happen late than early in the season, 

 you run more riek by late planting. The Long 

 Red, or Long John, seldom has time to ripen in 

 the field ; it is therefore better for the table alter 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 ExumiTioN or fruits. 



SalurJay, jjpril 20, I8<14. 

 Apples, from Mr C. Tinkham, of Qimkerville, 

 Vt., presented by Samuel Downer, Esq., of Dor- 

 chester. The appearance of the apple was fine : 

 flavor seoond rate. 



Pears, hy Mr Henry Vandine, of Cambridgeporl. 

 The tree was obtained from Flushing, L J., as the 

 Beurre Spencc. It is probably a good baking 

 pear, of second size — flavor as an eating fruit, very 

 poor. Who has the Beurre Spence? we should 

 like to see a specimen when in eatin". 



For the Committee, S. Walker, Ch'mn. 



EXHIBITION OK FRUITS. 



Saturday, .^pril 27, 1844. 



J. F. Allen, Esq., of Salem, presented a very 

 fine bunch of Black Hamburg Grapes — the berries 

 were large and the bloom rich and fine. 



For the Committee, S. Walker, Chm'n. 



EXHIBITION OF VFGETABLES. 



Saturday, Jlpril 27, 1844. 

 From John Bumstead, Roxbury, a brace of very 

 fine Cucumbers. The specimens did his gardener 

 great credit. For the Committee, 



S. Walker. 



Cabbage Plants and Caterpillars. — Win. Lever, 

 near this city, having on hand some hundred thou- 

 sand of spring cabbage plants, of a rare growth, 

 and beautiful flavor, was some two or three weeks 

 ago sore dismayed on beholding the frightful 

 havoc made on them by caterpillars, which threat- 

 ened immediate ruin to his crop. Mr Lever pro- 

 vided himself with a large quantity of very finely 

 sifted sand, and by the simple plan of dusting the 

 plants regularly before the dew had vanished, has 

 most signally succeeded, for they are now in a 

 most healthy condition, and the proprietor is realiz- 

 ing a good harvest from the proceeds — Conncc/icii( 

 paper. 



Green Cornstalks make Rich Milk. — At a late 

 meeting of the Farmers' Club in New York, Mr 

 Morris, of Morrisania, stated that he kept a dairy 

 of 12(5 cows, to supply the New York market with 

 milk. That he feeds them on green corn — he 

 sows his corn broadcast — and eays it makes better 

 and richer milk than any other feed he has used, 

 and there can be no doubt but that it produces 

 more provender than any other vegetable. Mr 

 Morris' statement exactly coincides with our no- 

 tion. So much saccharine matter as cornstalki 

 yield, must make rich milk.— .Conn. Far. Gaz. 



Mutilating shade trees and shrubbery is a penal 

 offence in Maryland, as it should be everywhere. 

 The person who has the disposition to commit such 

 an act, wo should suppose capable of stealing a 

 sheep or robbing a hen-roost. 



