1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



213 



need is strong machines. The handles to our 

 forks, shovels, &c., -were too brittle ; and he ob- 

 served that a man once said to him that a rake 

 was harder to winter than a cow. Our hoes are 

 graceful, but not strong ; and many of our plows 

 are constructed to sell, not to use ; and so with 

 other things — whiffletrees, for instance. But we 

 have good hay-cutters, and his best root-cutter 

 was procured from Chicopee — which implement 

 he described. We much need a good barn-hoe, 

 one that can be got into corners ; and a good 

 barn broom was certainly worth mentioning. 



Mr. Andrews, of West Roxbury, spoke of the 

 importance of the reaper in the West ; but even 

 here, an attachment being fixed to it, it would be 

 useful in cutting rye, &c. He also spoke of Ga- 

 boon's seed-sower, which sows as fast as a man 

 can Avalk, and scatters evenly. 



Mr. Wetiieeell inquired of Dr. Loring if an 

 acre of grass could be cut by the scythe as cheap 

 as by the mowing machine. 



Dr. LoRiXG replied, yes. He then spoke of the 

 horses needed for a machine, and attendant ex- 

 penses, and said if we could get good mowers as 

 cheap as fifty years ago, it would be less expen- 

 sive, blowing machines were valuable where la- 

 bor was high. 



Hon. JosiAH QuiNCY, Jr., thought mowing ma- 

 chines very important on large farms, but on 

 small ones would hardly pay. The tedder was a 

 useful instrument for spreading hay, as it would 

 do the work of ten or twelve men. On his own 

 farm he was obliged to avail himself of the labor 

 of men. There were, however, few good mowers, 

 especially among the Irish. At the West, mow- 

 ing machines must be important. He alluded, 

 also, to the steam boiler, for steaming food for 

 cattle. Prindle's was economical, and good as a 

 boiler or steamer. 



Dr. Loring said steaming food for cattle was 

 of great benefit, and alluded to a gentleman who 

 procured a large kettle for the purpose, and made 

 it serve very well. 



Mr. Wethereli, objected to steaming food as 

 useless, or worse than useless, and cited cases to 

 prove it — alluding also to the experience of Mr. 

 Peters to the same efiect. Mr. Fay's steamer, 

 too, was spoken of. 



Dr. Loring replied that Mr. Fay's steamer was 

 a little thing for the steaming of roots, and as 

 they are not improved by the process, it was aban- 

 doned. Ho thought Mr. Peters would find good 

 results from steaming food. He himself thought 

 milk was improved by it, and rendered cheaper. 



l\Ir. Wetiierell rejoined, advocating raw cut 

 food with meal as the best, while Dr. LoRiNG en- 

 ergetically contended for the steaming of coarse 

 fodder ; and the debate continued between them 

 till an adjournment was moved. 



For tlie New England Farmer. 

 "HUNNINQ- OUT" OF POTATOES. 



IMessrs. Editors : — You will confer a personal 

 favor by giving a solution to the following in your 

 columns, and in my view furnish an answer to an 

 inquiry often made by farmers. 



Why is it, that Avhen we have secured some of 

 the best kinds of potatoes, their good qualities 

 will not last more tlian two or three years ? 



I once selected two of the best kinds of potatoes 

 with which I was acquainted, and planted them, 

 side by side, in the same field, for three successive 

 years. The first year I noticed no particular 

 change. The second year I did, for the worse. 

 The third, all their good qualities were gone, by 

 amalgamation, and even their identity lost, so that 

 I abandoned them as comparatively worthless. 



Once I planted three kinds, all mixed together, 

 for twenty successive years, without the least de- 

 terioration, or change whatever. 



What is there in nature that brought about 

 these two results, so entii'ely different ? 



Wm. Richards, 



Richmond, Mass., March 15, 1862, 



Rem.\rks. — Some wiser head than ours must 

 fm-nish the solution. Perhaps the potatoes you 

 planted were not adapted to your climate or soil, 

 and soon "run out." Who can tell ? We have 

 cultivated sweet potatoes for many years, but have 

 always harvested a deteriorated crop, with the ex- 

 ception of a single season, when it was excessively 

 hot and dry. Then the potatoes were nearly of 

 the color and flavor of those brought to us from the 

 South. Those potatoes, "all mixed," which you 

 "planted for twenty successive years," may have 

 been adapted to the climate and soil, and conse- 

 quently had nothing to do but to grow abundant- 

 ly, and be good. We shall be glad to receivs 

 some more philosophic reasons, if they exist, for 

 the results wliich friend Richards states. 



For the New En^^land Farmer. 



A PLAN OP A SHEEP BAKN. 



One of your correspondents calls for a plan of a 

 sheep barn. I will give you my experience. I 

 should, in all cases, build a barn Avith a cellar, and 

 locate the barn on level ground, if the land will ad- 

 mit of it, and have the cellar 8 feet deep. Were 

 I to build 60 feet by 36 feet, I would have the 

 posts 20 feet, running from the beams to the bot- 

 tom of the cellar, and well board in the cellar to 

 the sills of the barn. This would give the cellar 

 8 feet, and 18 feet for storage. Set the posts to 

 the barn 15 feet from centre to centre — this will 

 leave ample room for sheep racks, and for the sheep 

 to move around. Locate the barn tlae longest way 

 east and west, doors at each end, grade off 30 feet 

 at an expense of $9 to each end, and you then 

 have a floor the whole length of the barn ; which 

 part may be filled, if necessity requires. On the 

 north side add a shed 14 feet wide, framed to 

 the barn, the posts to the same 15 feet, and extend 

 the roof to the bam, over the shed, and then we 

 have a cellar 60 by 50 feet. If we wish to finish 

 up for sheep, run a board partition from post to 



