308 



KEW ENGLAND FAR^FER. 



July 



ton sheep, as well as for wool, so as to supply the 

 deficiency in beef; and with the united advanta- 

 ges derived fi'om the sale of wool and mutton, 

 and the reclamation of thousands of acres of ex- 

 hausted pastures through the agency of sheep, the 

 cattle disease may prove in the sequel to bring 

 some important compensations with it, after all. 



At any rate, let us keep up good courage, and 

 exercise daily a bright and earnest faith that all 

 will be well in the end. 



For the New England Farmer. 



NEW PLANTS. 



The following article was read by Minot Pratt, be- 

 fore the Concord Farmers' Club, January 5th, 1860. 



In attempting to say a few words on the new 

 plants that have been introduced to our notice for 

 cultivation within a few years past, I shall, for the 

 moment, consider all as belonging to that class 

 that were new to me ; though very likely some 

 that I shall name may be familiar to those who 

 have had a longer and a wider experience. And 

 in speaking of them, I shall give, in a brief way, 

 my own experience in their culture, leaving oth- 

 ers to form their opinion as to whether my con- 

 clusions are just or not. 



Without further preface, I will begin with the 

 Chinese Sugar Cane, a plant that was heralded in 

 with a great flourish of trumpets, as something 

 that was'to make every farmer a rich man, and 

 sweeten his toil and his tea with an abundance of 

 cheap sugar, with molasses or syrup enough to do 

 up any other sweetening he might need, besides 

 furnishing for our cattle a cheap, palatable and 

 nutritious fodder. As a class, we farmers are said 

 to be slow to adopt great improvements. Some, 

 perhaps most of us, tried this sugar cane on a 

 small scale. It was introduced some five or six 

 years ago — can any one now give us the statistics 

 of its culture in Concord for the past year ? San- 

 guine, honest men advised its culture on trial ; 

 shrewd, speculating men urged us to go into it 

 with a rush — some of these may have had seeds 

 to sell, Avhich they sold at a small advance on 

 cost. Would it be going too far, to suggest that 

 those who bought the seed were also sold'? 1 be- 

 lieve the plain, common sense farmers of New 

 England are now nearly, if not quite, unanimous 

 in the opinion that the Chinese Sugar cane is not 

 a valuable addition to the plants now cultivated 

 here. It requires a longer season than can be 

 certainly depended on ; and, as a forage plant, it 

 has not been found superior, if even equal, to the 

 varieties of corn usually cultivated for that pur- 

 pose. It is of slower growth, less luxuriant in 

 leaf, and of harder texture in the stem. Not hav- 

 ing made any attempt to manufacture sugar or 

 syrup from it, I am not qualified to speak of it in 

 that connection. 



The Dioscorea Batatas, or Chinese Yam, is 

 another of the new plants that were to work won- 

 ders among us. I bought some of the cuttings, 

 paying for them about three or four times their 

 v/eight in silver. After some pains to start them 

 in pots ill, the house, the plants were set a good 

 ■iistance apart, in a rich spot, previously trenched 



and manured in humble imitation of Capt. Moore's 

 method, piling it on till I thought there was 

 enough, so as to give our new friends enough to 

 eat, and a fair chance to spread. In due time, 

 though not till the weather became decidedly 

 warm, the vines started and grew ; not at a speed 

 that made it necessary to step quick to get out of 

 their way ; but they grew some three or four feet 

 in the course of the season. Of course, as autumn 

 approached, with this promising crop in prospect, 

 one's slumbers could no longer be troubled with 

 dreams of poverty and hard work ; except the 

 hard work of carrying to the cellar the magni- 

 ficent crop that was soon to be harvested. Vi- 

 sions of the new store room to be built, of the 

 wealth that was sui-e to come, of the ease that was 

 to be enjoyed, were quite natural, and excusable, 

 even in one whose day-dreams of great success 

 had been usually disappointed. The harvest day 

 so long and impatiently anticipated, at length ar- 

 rived. With spade in hand I Avcnt to work to dig 

 up the yams, beginning at a distance from the 

 plants so as not to injure the roots, and slowly 

 and carefully, partly with hands, and partly with 

 spade, the earth was removed, till at length the 

 long white tuber began to be visible. Then with 

 increased care the soil was scratched away to tht 

 depth of nearly tv,-o feet, and the whole prize was 

 brought up and laid on the ground to be admired. 

 The yams were all dug in about half an hour, 

 though they did not all come out whole — amount- 

 ing, as I now remember, to about two pounds in 

 weight. With the assistance of iMr. Pinkham, I 

 have made a nearly accurate calculation of the 

 cost and profit of this crop. Cost of cuttings, $3, 

 manure 10c, trenching 8c, planting 2c, hoeing 

 8c, harvesting 5c. Total expense, $3 33. Value 

 of the crop, estimated at $20 a ton, 2c, which, 

 deducted from the cost, leaves a loss of $3 31. 

 Mr. Pinkham decidedly agrees Avith me, that no 

 farmer can get a living and pay for a farm out of 

 such profits. This little bit of experience almost 

 convinced me that it would be unwise to depend 

 on the profits of unhatched chickens to pay a note 

 at the Concord Bank. 



In regard to the possible profitableness of the 

 Dioscorea, it is safe to say that the crop must be 

 large in order to make it pay. The labor of har- 

 vesting must necessarily be great. The form of 

 the tuber is much like that of a carrot growing 

 upside down. At the same time, its texture is 

 very tender, and a slight pull breaks it, and leaves 

 the big end in the ground. Consequently, you 

 must dig a trench to the depth of 18 to 20 inches, 

 and withal be very careful, or many of the tubers 

 will be broken. With me, each plant produced 

 but a single tuber, running straight down, and as 

 this was the case in every instMice during several 

 years' trial, it is probably the habit of the plant. 



The Chvfa, or Earth Almond, is another of the 

 new plants I have tried. It was distributed by 

 the Patent Office, and recommended as bidding 

 fair "to become a valuable crop for cattle and 

 swine," and a good substitute for coffee. The 

 plants grew well enough, and produced a large 

 number of small tubers, averaging about the size 

 of a cranberry bean, and of a pleasant flavor ; but 

 as they Avere closely covered with fine fibrous 

 roots, to which the fine dirt adheres, it was dif- 

 ficult to clear them for use, and their culture was 

 discontinued. The quantity grown, about three 



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