1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEK. 



499 



For the Neia Ungland Farmer. 

 POTATO CULTURE. 



Messrs. Editors : — In my rambles about the 

 country in past years, I have made some observa- 

 tion upon the variety of ways, among farmers, of 

 planting potatoes. Some of them plant in hills, 

 some in drills, some plow deep furrows, others 

 dig deep holes, while other labor-saving people 

 plant nigh the surface. If "the soil breathes" as 

 stated in the Farmer of the 7th Aug., potatoes in 

 a growing state breathe also. Favorable weath- 

 er is absolutely necessary for the production of 

 any kind of crops, and we cannot reasonably ex- 

 pect a good crop of potatoes under any system of 

 cultivation in seasons of drought and blight; these 

 considerations being premised, I will give my 

 idea of the necessity of air to the growing tuber. 



From many years' experience, I am convinced 

 that deep planted potatoes do not yield so well as 

 those planted more superficially ; those planted 

 in deep holes or furrows produce small, sickly tu- 

 bers, of poor quality, and in growing have not en- 

 ergy enough to burst the ground sufficiently to 

 admit air for respiration, and they are partially 

 suffocated by being below the breathing soil. In 

 a dry season, potatoes planted superficially receive 

 the benefit of small showers which would not reach 

 the deeper planted ones, which might continue 

 in the dry dirt unrefreshed. Most kind of trees 

 and vegetables are nourished and supported by 

 spreading roots, which, by instinct, are conducted 

 nigh the surface in a "breathing soil." Tap roots 

 that penetrate below the porous soil, probably af- 

 ford but little or no nourishment to the vegetable, 

 but by a wise provision of nature are destined for 

 a strong support against contending upper ele- 

 ments. 



The present season we planted our early pota- 

 toes upon a dry soil, the manure spread and 

 plowed in, the potatoes covered nigh the surface, 

 and notwithstanding the severe drought,we have a 

 fine crop of excellent potatoes. As the tubers in- 

 creased the hills were rent in cracks, which gave 

 them a fine chance for "breathing" and receiving 

 the scanty rains, until they arrived to full growth, 

 without shewing the signs of the least injury by 

 drought. I believe a certain degree of air is as 

 necessary to come in contact with all kinds of 

 vegetable roots to assist in their progress of 

 growth, as it is to sustain animal life by being 

 inhaled to the lungs. Deep planted potatoes, 

 poorly supplied with air, I have found uniformly 

 to produce "small potatoes," having no respect 

 for manure or careful cultivation. 



Silas Brown. 



North Wilmington, Sept., 1861. 



ABUSE OF OLD HOESES. 



A writer in the Ohio Farmer very justly com- 

 plains of the too common abuse and neglect of 

 old horses — of those which are past their prime. 

 They are made to break the colts, and often work 

 ■with them, thus requiring quicker movements 

 than are natural, or than the old horse is able to 

 give without straining and injury. "The old 

 horse," he says, "should not haul his load to 

 town, and then be forced to trot back. It does 

 not injure him as much to do the heavy work with 

 Blow motion, as to do the light jobs at a quick 



gait," He should also have, as he requires, more 

 time to eat and rest, and his place in the stable 

 should not be taken by the colts so that he is 

 turned into the yard. The writer further remarks, 

 (and we cannot but condemn the abuse, and hope 

 it may become less common,) that "the last part 

 of a horse's life may be more profitable, if right- 

 ly used, than the first part. There is more com- 

 fort and less danger in working old horses. We 

 understand them, and they understand us ; and 

 we should be as willing to conform to their na- 

 ture, as they are to conform to our wishes. It 

 would be more humane, as well as more profitable, 

 to use them as they should be, as long as it would 

 ])ay, and then take them out and shoot them down. 

 But the practice of many is to knock them about 

 as much as they will bear, and pay well, and then 

 trade them off to some mqre inhuman icretch than 

 themselves." 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CHAPTER ON PICKLES AND PICKLING. 



BY MRS. N. DARLING. 



Honeysuckle Apples, — Gather them when 

 ripe and perfect as they can be ; pick them over 

 clean ; take good strong cider vinegar, season 

 with half or three-quarters of a pound of brown 

 sugar to the quart, according to the taste, and 

 one tablespoonful each of ground cinnamon and 

 cloves ; let the vinegar and seasoning boil two 

 minutes, then put in the fruit, set them where 

 they will keep hot for an hour or two, not above 

 two hundred degrees, and then put them away to 

 cool, and in a day they are fit for use. I do not 

 think that the above pickles are calculated to keep 

 very long — the fruit is too juicy, and in another 

 sense, mine would never keep, for they are so 

 delicious that a family of half a dozen persons 

 will consume a peck in a week. 



Cucumbers. — Gather the cucumbers, any kind 

 or size you wish ; (to me, the Short Cluster, an 

 inch and a half to three inches in circumference, 

 are the best ;) to a peck of cucumbers add half 

 a pint of coarse salt, and cover them with boil- 

 ing water as soon as possible ; let them stand 

 two or three days, then wash them thoroughly 

 and carefully, dry them off with a cloth, put them 

 in a clean brass kettle, cover them with cider 

 vinegar, put them over the fire, and let them just 

 boil, then put them into your pickle cask. As 

 your cucumbers increase, and you wish to make 

 additions from time to time, let each parcel be 

 done in the same way, using a small jar or tub, 

 and not pour into the principal cask until they 

 are cold in the vinegar ; season with green pep- 

 pers, either with or without seeds ; better with- 

 out. When the vines have done bearing, and no 

 more cucumbers to add, wash them free from the 

 scum in the old vinegar, pour the vinegar into a 

 brass kettle, rinse the cask with fresh vinegar, 

 pour it into the kettle, and put it over the fire to 

 boil ; return the cucumbers and peppers to the 

 cask, add half a pint of crushed mustard seed to 

 the bushel, boil and skim the vinegar well, or bet- 

 ter, strain through a hair seive or coarse cloth, boil- 

 ing hot on to the pickles. When they are cold, 

 spread an old white flannel cloth on the top of 

 the cucumbers, to absorb any scum that may arise, 

 and your work is done for the year. The pickles 

 will keep hard, green and sour. The idea of put- 



