1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



221 



the northern portion of New England for our 

 seed. With such phints as Indian corn, which 

 require a climate comparatively warm, we 

 sometimes secure the earlier ripening of the 

 crop by going to colder climates for seed ; but 

 unless it has been carefully selected and brought 

 to a point as near perfection as the climate will 

 admit, we are very likely to reduce the amount 

 of the crop by such change. With the potato, 

 however, I think the case is somewhat dilfer- 

 ent, from the fact that it is not usually propa- 

 gated from seed, but from the tubers, corres- 

 ponding very nearly to roots, and consequent- 

 ly merely increasing the individual plant with 

 the same character and peculiarities as the ori- 

 ginal. 



To my mind the whole advantage of change 

 of seed may be summed up as follows: — 1. 

 Seeds of some plants obtained from localities 

 better adapted to their growth, sometimes do 

 better for a few years, 'i. Seeds from a colder 

 climate frequently retain their earlier ripening 

 for a few seasons. 3. Seeds obtained from 

 careful cultivators who guard against mixture 

 and save the best seeds for planting ai-e inva- 

 riably better than those grown by the careless. 

 4. Llost seeds may be placed in the third class. 



There is one other point in planting potatoes, 

 which does not appear to be well understood ; 

 that is, cutting for seed ; which, according to 

 my experience, depends much upon varieties 

 and circumstances. For instance, a variety 

 like the long red, or black Carter, with abun- 

 dant eyes, will bear cutting much better than 

 one with very few eyes. But here comes in 

 another consideration, — the vigor of growth in 

 the early part of the season. This is, to a 

 great extent, dependent upon the amount ol 

 support the sprout can obtain from the tuber, 

 and if the pieces are small the soil must be 

 rich and the growth will be later in the season. 

 But when these conditions are favorabla, 1 

 have obtained much better crops from cut 

 than from whole potatoes of such varieties. 

 Wm. F. Bassett. 



Eammonton, N. J., March 5, 18G7. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 FLOUE. OF BOJNTE, 



Mr. Editor : — In answer to the inquiry of 

 your correspondent, E. B., Derry, N. H., Jan. 

 4, 18G7, I would say I have used the Flour, 

 of Bone made by the Boston Milling and Man- 

 ufacturing Co., the past season, on my farm at 

 Bedford, Alass. On a held of two acres of 

 corn, I put a half a shovelful of barn yard 

 manure in each hill and a gill of the Flour of 

 Bone with the seed. It came up early, grew 

 rapidly, and ripened early, and the crop was 

 more than a third larger and better than that 

 grown on two fields of the same size nearly ad- 

 joining that were manured with a large shovel- 

 ful of manure in the hill. 



On a field of potatoes containing about three 

 acres and a half, I put a large shovelful of 



barn yard manure in the hill, and on about 

 one-tenth of the field, I used a small (juantity 

 ol the Flour of Bone with the seed at planting. 

 The part where the bone was used came up 

 earlier, progressed more rapidly, and was ripe 

 a fortnight earlier, with a much larger yield 

 than the other part of the field. 



John Clifton. 

 Med/ord, March 16th, 1867. 



The Robin. — In reply to some doubts of 

 the , generally supposed utility of the Robin 

 which have been recently expressed by certain 

 learned writers, Mr. E. Chase of Blackstone, 

 Mass., writes as follows to the Farm and Fire- 

 side : — 



"The robins have been, for years, my alarm 

 clock in the morning ; and how pleasant it is 

 to hear their matin songs, on the elms beside 

 the house, as I walk with pail in hand to the 

 barn. At this time of day their notes are 

 sweet to me ; yes, sweeter than the tones of 

 any musical instrument I ever heard played by 

 human hands. If I had a thousand cherry 

 trees, I should be Avilling the robins should 

 have half of them, as they are a, poor, un- 

 healthy fruit, and fit for nothing but birds to 

 eat ? I have often been hoeing in the corn- 

 field, Avhen one or more robins would follow 

 me all day and pick up worms from almost 

 every hill of corn. Who could kill a bird that 

 does this.'"' 



How TO Subdue a Vicious Horse. — A 

 correspondent of the N. Y. Commercial gives 

 the following account of the method adopted 

 by an officer of the United States service, lately 

 returned from Mexico, to subdue a horse who 

 would not allow his feet to be handled for the 

 purpose of shoeing : — 



lie took a cord about the size of a common 

 bed cord, put it in the mouth of the horse, like 

 a bit, and tied it tightly on the top of the ani- 

 mal's head, passing his left ear under the string, 

 not painfully tight, but tight enough to keep 

 the ear down, and the cord in its place. This 

 done, he patted the horse gently on the side 

 of the head, and commanded him to follow, 

 and instantly the horse obeyed, perfectly sub- 

 dued and as gentle as a well-trained dog ; suf- 

 fering his feet to be lifted with entire impunity, 

 and acting in all respects like an old stager. 

 The simple, string thus tied made him at once 

 as docile and obedient as anv one could desire. 



How TO Boil Meat. — In Brcioer's Guide to 

 Things Familiar, we find the following in re- 

 gard to boiling meat : — 



"Why is meat always tough, if it be put in 

 the boiler before the water boils ? 



"Because the water is not hot enough to co- 



