280 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JUXE 



were, that the Association they were then in- 

 augurating should investigate these questions 

 and disseminate their knowledge, and it must 

 secure the means of indemnifjing able com- 

 mittees who make the investigations. "We 

 have," he said, "no great institutions as they 

 have in France and Germany, where they can 

 be tested at public expense. * * * What- 

 ever its intent, the Agricultural College grant 

 has done little or no good to agriculture, and 

 he questioned if it ever will till it passes from 

 the control of literature into the hands of far- 

 mers." 



An address was made by the Hon. Thomas 

 G. Alfred, of Syracuse, N. Y., upon "Salt 

 and its uses in the Dairy,'''' and an interesting 

 discussion was held upon "Breeding of Dairy 

 Stock:' 



The whole proceedings of the Convention 

 should be published in pamphlet form, and 

 made available to all. 



Dissolving Bones without Vitriol. — The 

 value of bones for manurial purposes is well un- 

 derstood by farmers ; but mills for grinding them 

 are expensive, and vitriol for dissolving them is 

 dangerous stuff to handle, as well as expensive 

 also. C. T. Alvord, Esq., of "Wilmington, Vt., 

 announces, in the Rural American a. discovery that 

 may be valuable to many farmers. He has found 

 that a hen's gizzard is a good bone-mill, and their 

 gastric juice a practical substitute for the burning 

 acid. Then with a little of that patented material 

 known as "Dry Earth," placed under the roosts, a 

 domestic guano is produced which proves to be one 

 of the most valuable manures that are made on 

 the farm or that can be bought in the market. 

 As the bones are collected they are carried to a 

 flat stone under his shed and pounded with an old 

 axe or hammer just fine enough for the hopper of 

 his hen-power mill ; and this is all the time or la- 

 bor required to secure most a valuable super- 

 phosphate. As hens in winter are unable to ob- 

 tain insects, worms, bugs, &c., on which they feed 

 in summer, they eat the pounded bone greedily, 

 and pay for it not only by the manure produced, 

 but by an increased quantity of fresh eggs, always 

 acceptable and always valuable during the winter 

 months. 



— A correspondent of the Rural New Yorker 

 says, a mare should not be used for breeding until 

 five years old. Old age does not make any diflFer- 

 ence, if the animal is sound, and of a good con- 

 stitution. By all means use your best mares. I 

 have a colt foaled June 2d, 1868, that was awarded 

 three first premiums last fall. The dam is twenty- 

 two years old, and now, at the age of twenty-four, 

 is with foal." 



For the New England Farmer, 

 POTATOES. 

 Manure and Cost of Cultivation— Different Varieties- 

 Facts and Theories in relation to the Kot^Pieven- 

 tives, &o. 



As seed time is upon us again, I propose to 

 give you a few notes upon the potato, taken 

 from my farm journal. 



I take issue with those gentlemen who be- 

 lieve that the Orono, as a variety, is running 

 out. I have raised them the past ten years, 

 and I never had better or handsomer potatoes 

 than I harvested last fall. Their quality is 

 not excelled by the Excelsior or Early Rose, 

 grown on the same piece. The ground is a 

 ridge of dry land ; no manure was used except 

 a compost prepared as follows : — four bushels 

 leached ashes ; one peck lime, slacked with 

 brine as salt as salt would make it, and one 

 peck gypsum. A handful of this mixture was 

 put in each hill. The account stands as fol- 

 lows, which 1 take from my farm accounts : — 



1869. Potato Crop Account, 1}^ Acres, Dr, 



To breaking up last fall, $7 £0 



May 12, to harrowing, 2 f 5 



" 20, " planting, 7 75 



" " " compost, estimated, .... 2 25 



" " " 8 >i bushels seed, 4 25 



June 14, " cultivating, 1 60 



" 24, " hoeing, 3 hands 9 hours, . . 4 05 



" 25, " ii 4 X 6 " . . 3 60 



Oct. 6 to 18, " digging potatoes, ... 14 CO 



" interest on land, 8 00 



Total $55 45 



Profit on crop, to balance, .... 34 55 



$90 00 

 Cp. 

 By 200 bushels potatoes, at 45c, $90 00 



It will be seen that the whole cost of culti- 

 vation was $55.45, making the cost of the 

 potatoes twenty-six and one-half cents per 

 bushel. The 200 bushels include 15 bushels 

 Early Rose, 12 of Early Goodrich, and 4 of 

 Excelsior, which, if sold at market prices for 

 fehese varieties, will increase the item "Profit 

 on Crop." 



In keeping this account I have charged fif- 

 teen cents per hour for labor, the same as we 

 pay for good hands who board themselves. 



I doubt the practicability of the theory of 

 bringing potatoes from the mountains of Peru, 

 in order to obtain varieties that will be free 

 from disease after they have been cultivated 

 and improved so that they will be fit for 

 human food. In my opinion it is forcing, 

 feed, and manipulating which renders the plant 

 so much more susceptible to disease than in 

 the wild state. I believe the disease is caused 

 by a species of fungus, similar to the rust 

 plant that attacks wheat and other grains. 

 Microscopists tell us that this fungus, when 

 put under a powerful microscope is found to 

 be a perfect plant, to grow and ripen seeds. 

 These minute seeds or spores are lioating 

 through the air, and at certain seasons and 

 under certain circumstances attach themselves 

 to the leaves and stalks of the plant, and use 

 the sap that was to go to the development of 



