240 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



PEAS AMONG POTATOES. 



Most persons are fond of green peas ; but a 

 great many, even among farmers, do not have half 

 as many as their families would use with advan- 

 tage to their health and good-nature. They are 

 often planted in the garden, on a rather light and 

 dry soil, and after one or two sparing messes have 

 been gathered, the unwelcome intelligence comes 

 to the family, that there are no more green peas ! 



In order to have a succession of this delicious 

 vegetable upon the table, different varieties must 

 be used, and planted at different times, and if the 

 soil is not a moist one, they should be planted 

 deep — say three or four inches — and after they are 

 fairly up an inch or two, mulched with some sub- 

 stance that will check evaporation from the soil 

 directly above them. 



For later use there is a better mode than this, 

 viz., — Put a single pea into the potato hill at the 

 time of planting the latter, over a portion of the 

 field. A week later, go over another portion of 

 the field in the same way, and so on for three or 

 four weeks. In this manner the table may be 

 plentifully supplied with delicious peas as long as 

 they are desired, and at a cost too trifling for con- 

 sideration. 



The potato plant is a protector to the young 

 pea, and when the latter has increased in stature, 

 it still lends its friendly aid by allowing the pea 

 vine to cling to it with its little tendi'ils, and thus 

 sustains it against storm and wind by its superior 

 \igor and strength. 



It is much more pleasant to "pick peas" among 

 the potatoes than when they run up among brush. 

 The objection that it is too far to go to the potato 

 field is not an insuperable one. It is not so much 

 of a trial as it is to go without the peas, especially 

 to those who are really fond of them ! 



For the New England Farmer. 



A NOVEL MODE OF PLANTING PO- 

 TATOES. 



Dear Farmer : — In this remarkable time of 

 our country's trouble, when retrenchment is called 

 for in every possible way, and when much of our 

 laboring population is in the army, it behooves 

 farmers to come in for their share of retrenchment 

 and labor-saving, without reducing the quantity 

 of their products. With this in view I propose to 

 give you the method I adopted in planting pota- 

 toes last season, which resulted in complete suc- 

 cess. 



The ground was a piece of unturned green 

 sward, with a soil of clayey loam. I commenced 

 on one side of the piece and turned a furrow in, 

 then dropped a row of potatoes on the grass close 

 to the edge of the furrow (that was turned over) 

 and turned another furrow against it, completely 

 covering the potatoes, which finished the row. I 

 then turned another furrow, the same as the first, 

 allowing the near horse to go in the last furrow, 



dropped potatoes and covered as before, and pro- 

 ceeded in like manner until the piece was done. 

 I planted them in drills, with one piece in a place, 

 and about one foot apart. 



When I dug them in the fall, I found the pota- 

 toes nestled very cosily among the turf, and they 

 turned out very smooth and nice, and produced a 

 bountiful crop. I think this method a great sav- 

 ing of labor, which in these times is a great item, 

 though the saving of labor was not my only object. 

 The uncommon wet weather of last spring pre- 

 vented my planting in any other way in the early 

 season. J. il. M. 



Westford, Vt, 1862. 



For the New England Farmer. 



HIGHWAYS AND THEIR BEPAIRS. 



[While watching the operations of a new cast- 

 iron plow, with Mr. Mears, the conversation be- 

 tween us sometimes fell upon topics not immedi- 

 ately connected with the matter before us, and the 

 engravings and description now presented to the 

 reader are the result of one of those conversations. 

 Mr. Mears' name has long been before the public. 

 He has not only invented and made some of the 

 best plows the world ever saw, but he is a cheer- 

 ful, genial man, full of the spirit of progression, 

 and always earnestly seeking to do something to 

 promote the interest and happiness of his fellow- 

 men. He speaks, below, in his own quaint man- 

 ner, and presents in it to the reader a vivid pic- 

 ture of what he is doing with his "rough ashler," 

 Those using this device may give the stone any 

 angle by shortening one of the chains by which 

 it is drawn.] 



Friend Brown : — While engaged in the trial 

 of the new cast-iron plow, I said that I would re- 

 new the conversation on the subject of road and 

 other repairs, then under consideration. There- 

 fore, I will commence by stating that in the month 

 of November most of our country roads are, or 

 should be, in a good form, well drained, smooth 

 and fair travelhng condition, when the frost sets 

 in. They remain thus until the frost comes out, 

 and they are cut up by hoof and wheel, when too 

 soft to support the weight passing over and 

 through them — hence the rut, the ridge, the mud 

 and the standing water in the rut, softening the 

 road-bed and rendering it nearly impassable. As 

 travel cannot be kept ofi" the roads, it is well to 

 thoroughly underdrain with stone at the side, or 

 through the centre, by which the underwater will 

 be prevented from rising to the surface, and the 

 surface water can more readily evaporate and run 

 ofi", leaving the ruts and the ridges, &c., to harden 

 and dry off. 



It is to this state of partial diyness that I would 

 call attention ; the material is all here that con- 

 stituted the good road of November, but it has 

 been put out of place ! What a change ! How 

 shall it be restored to its former position ? Some 

 fill the ruts with small stones which are constantly 

 working to the surface. Some, with hoes, level 

 the ridges into the ruts, to be cut out again by the 

 next heavy team. Others go over the road with 



