•1860. 



^SE^V ENGLAND FAHMER. 



305 



THE COMMON" MILKWEED.— [Asclepias Corncti.] 



TO KEEP POTATOS IN THE CELLAR, 



Put them in a pile as deep as yon can conveniently. 

 I have for three or four years noticed that where the.v 

 were deepest they kept "the best. Last autumn I put 

 out about one hundred and twenty-five bushels in one 

 bin, and filled them two feet and a half or three feet 

 deep. They have decayed but little, and I found more 

 rotten ones near the top than anywhere else. My po- 

 tatoes are pi-incipally the "Lj^man Seedlings," a pota- 

 to originated and cultivated extensively in this region. 

 They are very good for tal)!e use, but little inclined to 

 decay, and yield much better than the average of vari- 

 eties. They are also good size, larger than the most, 

 and will keep good late in the spring, or I might say 

 until August. P. W. Lyman. 



Eusthampton, Mass., 18G0, 



Remarks. — Mr. L. will please accept thanks for the 

 samples of potatoes sent. 



SOUTH DOWN AND LEICESTER SHEEP. 



Mr. B. F. Knight, of Dcrl)y Line, Vt., we learn has 

 full-bred South Down and Leicester sheep for sale at 

 fair prices. One of his South Down bucks weighs 22-5 

 lbs. when in good condition, 



PEACHES. 



A correspondent of the Ohio Cultivator asserts that 

 the onh- way to make sure of a crop of peaches every 

 year is by grafting upon the wild plum stock. 



at the 

 at tho 



The generic name of this plant is 

 derived from the Greek name of 

 jEsculapius, to whom the genus is 

 dedicated. This species is called 

 Cornutus's Asclepias, or ^1. Cornuti. 

 It bears an other name given it by 

 the great botanist, Linnaeus, Asclepi- 

 as Syriaca, who, perhaps, thought it 

 was a Syrian plant ; but Dr. Dar- 

 lington says it is exclusively an 

 American species. It is also called 

 SiLKWEED, on account of the beau- 

 tiful silky hairs of the seeds, which 

 bear the latter to a long distance, 

 and thus sometimes scatter it over 

 extensive districts. When this plant 

 is wounded, it emits an abundance 

 of thick, milky juice, resembling in 

 both taste and color the juice of the 

 common garden lettuce. Indeed, 

 the milkweed is by some called Wild 

 Lettuce, we suppose on account of 

 the resemblance of these juices in 

 the two plants. 



The milkweed is not specially ob- 

 noxious to the farmer, and is not 

 very difficult to exterminate, unless 

 it has for a long time been allowed 

 to occupy the ground, and get per- 

 manently established. It does not 

 take root like the chicory, where it 

 requires two men to pull up a single 

 jjlant. 



In the engraving, the small figure 

 right represents a single flower, and that 

 left, the seed-bearing pods reduced in size. 



For tho New England Farmer. 



THE SEASON IN" IO"WA. 



It is now a year since we had a drenching rain 

 in Iowa. The springs and streams are very low, 

 and a pinching drought at the opening of the sea- 

 son threatens another year of disappointment and 

 trial to the depressed farmers, and to everybody 

 else. In the spring of 1857 and 18.58, we were 

 obliged to pump the superfluous water out of our 

 cellars ; now we have little or none in our Avells. 

 INIany are resorting to the giant ditcher, which has 

 been used successfully in Illinois for seven years. 

 This is a kind of huge plow with a coulter running 

 down five feet into the hard clay, having an en- 

 largement somewhat like a flat-iron at the bottom, 

 which makes a drain five or six inches in diame- 

 ter, and secures a living stream of water, in low 

 ground, where none had been seen for months 

 before. 



Our prospect for a large crop is very good, if 

 we may have but a seasonable rain. A large 

 amount of corn has been put in, and the wheat is 



