284 



KEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JrxE 



acre of carrots, 720 bushels of parsnips, the latter 

 being sowed the second time, owing to poor seed. 



Here, Mr. Editor, is a method for cultivating 

 these crops, which, I think, should commend it- 

 self to the farmer ; it is simple ; it avoids all that 

 back-breaking and finger-benumbing process 

 which has been the great bugbear in the way of 

 these crops heretofore ; it allows of a large yield 

 with a small amount of manure, as land in a high 

 mechanical condition, with little manure, will pro- 

 duce larger crops than it can with a large quantity 

 of manure in a low mechanical condition ; by it a 

 crop may be cultivated from one-third to one-half 

 the cost ^at it can be by the old method, and it is 

 not open to the very common objection which fol- 

 lows many of our improvements, viz., the great 

 cost of the implements, as the whole set are fur- 

 nished by Nourse, Mason & Co. for something 

 like $25, a sum which may be saved yearly, if 

 used in the cultivation of one-half acre. 



Although I consider the mowing machine very 

 valuable as a labor-saving implement, still it ap- 

 pears to me that this gang cultivator for the get- 

 ting in of manure, the one horse subsoil plow for 

 disintegrating and pulverizing the soil, together 

 with the horse lioe as a weeding machine, consti- 

 tute a set of implements of far greater value and 

 importance ; with them we may make the carrot 

 and parsnip Avhat the turnip and mangold have 

 been to England, "the basis of all good husban- 

 dry ;" and without them, or their equivalent, the 

 root crop can be of little value to us, as the high 

 cost of our hand labor does not admit of their be- 

 ing grown at saving prices. C. H. Waters. 



Oroton, Jjjril 20, 1860. 



For the Neic Ens^lancl Farmer. 

 FERTILIZERS. 



As there seems to be a great rage for concen- 

 trated manures and fertilizers at the present time, 

 I thought I would mention another kind which I 

 think is as good as any, and is also handy and 

 convenient to almost every one. The kind to which 

 I refer is wheat bran. Perhaps it is used more 

 extensively than I am aware of, but I have never 

 road of it in any of the agricultural papers. I 

 think it is well worth a trial, and every one should 

 know of it. I have tried it only for corn, and 

 think it is not well adapted for jjotatoes. But it 

 may be good for some ether crops. It requires 

 only a small handful to each hill. 



My method is to mark out the rows, and then 

 drop the requisite quantity in each hill, and after, 

 as yoii go along to drop the corn, kick a little dirt 

 on, enough to keep the corn from coming in con- 

 tact with the bran, as it is believed that the fer- 

 mentation is injurious to the early stages of veg- 

 etation. 



Those that try it, please note the result, and re- 

 port. J. s. s. 



Vermont, April 12, 1860. 



To Prevent Dogs from going Mad. — Mix a 



small portion of the flour of sulphur with their 

 food or drink, through the spring months. This 

 is practiced in Europe to prevent the disease from 

 breaking out among the packs of hounds which 

 belong to the English noblemen, and is said to 

 be a certain preventive. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 POTATO ROT AND BLIGHT. 

 Mr. Editor : — In yom- paper of March 3d, Mr. 

 Goldsbury, of Warwick, asks "What is the cause 

 of the Potato Rot," saying, "It is believed the real 

 cause of the rot still remains unknown and unde- 

 cided." "That insects are not the caiise, but he re- 

 gards them the consequence of disease." Must we 

 believe these unqualified words without substantial 

 authority attached ? They are vague generalities 

 without evidence. ]Mr. Goldsbury also advances 

 seven reasons against insect dcjiredations and in- 

 jury to the plant and potato. They contain more 

 of theoretical hypothesis than results of actual re- 

 search and examination, microscopically and oth- 

 erwise. He does not know positively, whether 

 there were insects or not on th? roots of the potato 

 plants in Warwick. It is a fact that larca insects 

 do attack the potato plant at the ruots. Their 

 eggs are also found in the undecayed potatoes. 

 These eggs are planted with the seed, and finally, 

 the insects subsist, suctorially, upon the plant. 

 The following certificates establish these facts : 



[* Copy.] 

 Certificate of the Committee an AgricuUitre of the House of liep- 

 resentatiret, tmil other members t/ tke House. 



We have recently witnessed the Jlicroscopic exhibition of the 

 Hon. Lyman Reed, of Baltimore, relative to his discovery of the 

 potato disease, by wliich it would aiii:;<;ar the vital parts of the 

 roots of the vines are attacked by insects. A personal exami- 

 nation of tubers planted this year, and of those unplanted, re- 

 veals visible pvtncturos in the skin where the egj:s appear to be 

 deposited and hibernated. So far as we can judge, we believe 

 from these punctures in the seed come insects to draw their ear- 

 ly sustenance from the lower vital joint of the vine, which thus 

 poisoned and enfeebled, prematurely decays — transmitting to 

 the young tubers disease whic'i finally reaches the heart of the 

 full grown tuber. Wc feel convinced that a new and important 

 discovery has been made, and, if, as Mr. Reed asserts, he has 

 also found an infallible remedy, the discovery is invaluable, 

 and ought in some way to be made availalile to the country. 



Signed, 

 Rich'd Mott, Ohio. 

 J. S. Morrill, Vt. 

 J. L. Gillis, Pa. 

 John Iluyler, N. J. 

 J. B. Foley, Ind. 

 Guy M. Bvran, Texas. 

 W. 11. Kelsey, X. Y. 

 L. W. Hall, Ohio. 

 Of the House Committee on 

 Agricultm-e. 



[Copy.] TO WHOM IT MAT COHCERJT. 



Be it Icnojrn, That I have this day made an esamination of 

 the specimens of potatoes submitted to me by the Hon. Lymaa 

 Reed, with the Spencer microscope belonging to the Smithsoni- 

 an Institute, and that i have plainly seen on the epidermis and 

 on the sprouts, numerous small insects, and have also seen their 

 egg's in cavities of the e^iiderrais. L. F. Fodrtales. 



Washington, D. C, June 19th, 1858. 



Washlsoton, Mat 31, l?a3. 

 I. Washbum, Jr., Maine. 

 C. B. Cochrane, N. Y. 

 F. H. Morse, Maine. ' 



C. B. Hoard, N. Y. 

 E. P. Walton, Vt. ■ 



Schuyler Colfax, lad. , 

 P. Bliss, Ohio. 

 Chas. J. Gilman, Maine. ' 

 N. B. Durfee. K. I. 



I 



[*Copy.] TO WHOM IT MAT C0SCEE5. 



Be it Itioirn, That I, Charles L. Flint, of the city of Boston, 

 county cf Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, hereby certify that a 

 bottle marked "Specimen No. 9, Nov. 7, Lyman Heed," con- 

 taining one potato, forwarded by Lyman Reed from Baltimore, 

 Nov. 7, 1857, was received by me as Secretary of tlie Massachu- 

 setts Board of Agriculture shortly »fter the above date, and 

 since its receipt the bottle and tuber therein Lave been kept in 

 the room of the Board of Agriculture in the State House. I 

 have recently witnessed a microscopic examination of the tuber 

 contained in said bottle and saw minute insects upon the same. 



In witness whereof, I have this 26tli dny of June, eighteen 

 hundred and £fty-(_ight, subscribed my name. 



[Signed,] Cuaries L. Flint, 



See'y Massachusetts Board of Agriculture. 

 f*Orisinal in U. S. Patent Office.] 



]Mr. Goldsbury, though sceptical, cannot by hy- 

 pothetical theories and arguments refute ocular 

 facts. Seventeen members of Congress have care- 

 fully investigated, with microscopes and other- 

 wise, and "believe the lower joint of the vine 

 poisoned by insects, and thus the tubes are dis- 



