1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



495 



other cases the original fertility of the soil has by 

 the same means been kept unimpaired. 



Perhaps the experiments of Mr. Geddes, of 

 Fairmount, Onondaga county, New York, may 

 be new to some of your readers. Upon his farm, 

 ■which is a large grain farm, clover and plaster are 

 the main reliances for manure, and a large por- 

 tion of it has never received any other manure 

 whatever. For upwards of sixty years, this land 

 has been constantly cropped with grain, hay, corn, 

 &c., and he says that the yield has been steadily 

 increasing — no animal manures being applied to 

 this portion of the farm, in order to see how long 

 the soil will continue to improve under this plan 

 of manuring with clover only, large quantities of 

 which are of course plowed in annually. 



Believing, as I do, that this system of green 

 manuring will yet be found to be an important 

 auxiliary in arresting the deterioration of our 

 soils, I cannot but hope that the day is not far 

 distant, when the farmers of New England will 

 give its merits a fair trial. How few farmers 

 there are, but what feel cramped by want of ma- 

 nures. Let us try and see if we have not here 

 the means of supplying this deficiency. There is 

 much land which is so situated as to render the 

 application of animal manures very expensive and 

 difficult, and from this cause they have been al- 

 lowed to remain in an unproductive state. Much 

 of these lands might, 1 think, be made to pro- 

 duce remunerating crops by this system of plow- 

 ing in green crops. At any rate, the cost of trying 

 it would not be great. x. Y. z. 



Worcester- Co., Sept., 1861. 



Ji'or the New England Parmer. 

 SEED CORN— ONIONS. 



Mr. Editor : — I have seen much about seed 

 corn, and gathering the same. I have planted 

 corn for thirty-two years, and have yet to learn 

 that corn can be too ripe for seed. I have always 

 gathered my seed at harvest, the brightest and 

 best ears, and braid and hang them where they 

 will dry without moulding, and have never failed 

 of having enough come up when I planted my 

 corn seed. I have had my neighbors ask the rea- 

 son why my corn came up so much better than 

 theirs ? I plant good seed, was my answer, and 

 when they would show me theirs, I found it had 

 heated so that the skin was loose or yellow round 

 the chit, or germ of the corn, or mouldy, so it 

 would not grow, nor make good bread. I have 

 exchanged seed sometimes, and found theirs had 

 heated before husking, and planting a little, I 

 found but few spears, and that was sickly. And 

 as often as two years out of three, I have cut the 

 stalks from part of my field to feed out as soon 

 as the corn began to glaze, and always found that 

 the best in the field at harvest. I never have 

 been able to get so good corn by cutting at the 

 ground as by cutting the stalks early. 



How will onions grow on burnt land, sown in 

 September, for the ensuing vear ? J. BoYCE. 



Troy, N. H., Sept. 9, 1861. 



Remarks. — We think the onions will do well 

 sown in September, on burnt land — hope you will 

 try the experiment. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



LEACHED ASHES FOR CROPS— CRANBERRIES. 



How would it work to lay down a piece of land 

 to grass, using leached ashes as manure, and how 

 many ashes should I use per acre ? How would 

 leached ashes answer as a top-dressing for grass, 

 and how many bushels per acre ? How may 

 leached ashes be best applied on the farm ? 



Is it better to sow cranberries, or set out the 

 plants, in order to get a bed ? 



Worcester, Sept., 1861. Old Subscriber. 



Remarks. — Unless on land of a fine loamy 

 character, and that is decidedly rich, there should 

 always be fine compost manure used when grass 

 seed is sown, even if the amount is very small. 

 The seeds need it to catch hold of when the germ 

 is small and tender, and the sprouts will be quite 

 sure to find it, although there is but little of it in 

 the ground. None of the specific fertilizers, as 

 they are called, such as ashes, plaster, guano, su- 

 perphosphate, or any other of them, seem to an- 

 swer the purpose so well as decomposed barn 

 manures. 



Twenty-five bushels of leached ashes, per acre, 

 would have a fine eS'ect — fifty would be better, 

 on an exhausted soil, and one hundred would put 

 it in condition for a great many years. If you 

 have them at low cost, use them more liberally. 

 Perhaps it would be better to use them more 

 sparingly, per acre, and extend them over a broad- 

 er surface, say to the pasture lands, and thea 

 dress with them more frequently. 



You can hardly misapply ashes on the farm, as 

 it loses nothing by exposure to the atmosphere. 

 It is excellent, sown broadcast, mixed with loam, 

 muck, or coarse vegetable matter, but should not 

 be mixed with fresh manure. 



Set cranberry plants by all means instead of 

 sowing the seed. 



INDIAN CETONIAN, Cctonia Iiida. 



Enclosed you will find two bugs which are 

 making sad work in my corn-field. Their plan of 

 operation is to commence on the tip of the ear 

 and work down, eating the kernel clean as they 

 go. If you know what they are, I wish you to in- 

 form me through the Farmer. 



Berlin, Sept., 1861. C. B. Rathbun. 



Remarks. — We have occasionally seen the 

 bug sent by our correspondent, but have never 

 found it doing much mischief. We sent your 

 letter and his bugship to Mr. F. G. Sanborn, one 

 of the entomologists now engaged in preparing a 

 new edition of Harris's work on insects, and he 

 has vei'V promptly and kiudly sent us the follow- 

 ing : 



The enclosed specimens are those of a very 

 common beetle called the Indian Cetonian, Ceto- 

 nia Inda, which is very fully described on page 

 36 of the old edition of Harris's Treatise, and fig- 

 ured on page 40 of the forthcoming. It attacks 

 the locust, oak and willow, wounding the bark. 



