238 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



dollars per day for weeding carrots, and there 

 lias not been and jirobably will not be very 

 soon the Yankee ])orii who ean invent a ma- 

 chine that will discriminate between a weed 

 and a caiTOt, so that for the present we sliall 

 have to content ourselves with the slow and 

 tedious ])rocess of hand weeding. 



In raising carrots (the best of all roots for 

 stock ])urposes) this is indispensable, but in 

 some of the other larger roots, as beets or tur- 

 nips^tlie hoe can be used to a great extent, 

 though the thinning will have to be almost 

 wholly performed by the hand. 



I think this may be to a great degree reme- 

 died by cultivating in their place some of the 

 coarse, large yielding varieties of potatoes for 

 stock feeding, as the California or Cuzco, where 

 the culture can be performed in a great degree 

 by horse labor, as we now have hoeing and 

 hilling machines which perform tlieir work 

 quite satisfactorily. AVhere the soil is of suffi- 

 cient strength they should be put in drills 3i- 

 or 4 feet apart using plenty of good compost 

 in the drills and pieces of three eyes put in 15 

 inches apart from each other. If pains are 

 taken at the planting to get the drills even and 

 regidar, the cultivator and hoe can be run very 

 close to the plants, and little or often no hand 

 hoeing will be required. In this way if a good 

 crop is secured, potatoes can be raised and 

 put up for from 10 to 20 cts. per busliel, and 

 are, for feeding purposes, in my opinion worth 

 more than any other roots, unless it be carrots, 

 as they possess a larger amount of starch than 

 any other. Of the varieties named, with fair 

 soil and good cultivation, from two to oOO bush- 

 els j)er acre can be expected, which is at least 

 about one-half what may be realized from a 

 crop of carrots, and with probably one-half the 

 cost per bushel. The conclusion arrived at 

 therefore is, that it may be policy where labor 

 is high to raise the 250 bushels of potatoes 

 ratlier than double that (juantity of other roots. 

 Tills, liowever, is a matter for each one to 

 judge ff.tr himself. Wliat may prove best for 

 one, may not for another who is dillerently sit- 

 uated as to help. W. J. Pettee. 



Salisbin-y, Conn., Feb. 4, JSil. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SEED CORN FOR PLANTING. 



As the season is now rapidlv approaching in 

 •whicli the 'farmer will be engaged in planting 

 this valuable product, it is of the utmost im- 

 portance that proper seed should be used, as 

 no doubt successful culture largely depends 

 thereon . 



Several conditions are very desirable in the 

 raising of corn, besides thorough pulverization 

 and manuring of the soil. It is desiral)le, in 

 the first ])lace, that the variety used be so early 

 as to be fully ripened before tiie approach of 

 early frosts. It is also desirable that it be of 

 the most prolific kind, that the greatest possi- 

 ble (juantity may be obtained from a given 



surface cultivated. To secure this a judicious 

 selection of seed is important. 



It is often noticed that a single stalk of corn 

 contains two and sometimes three good sized 

 ears, and even more are found occasionally. 

 If, then, as is generally believed, the corn 

 takes the nature of the parent stalk, it is very 

 clear that the chance for a superior crop, otlier 

 things being e({ual, M'ill be much greater if the 

 seed is taki-n from ears that were (hii)licated 

 upon a stalk, than if taken from an ear which 

 was the only'one upon a stalk. The same rule 

 also applies to the earliness of the crop ; this 

 can to a certain degree be regulated in the se- 

 lection of the seed. 



There is also a lielief prevalent to some ex- 

 tent that the quantity of corn raised depends 

 to some degree upon the portion of the ear 

 from which the corn is taken. Cojisiderable 

 experimenting may be necessary to settle this 

 question satisfactorily. The following is given 

 as so much testimony on the question, in the 

 hope that experiments will be instituted and 

 the different experiences be related through 

 the public press. 



Nine hills were planted, three from the large 

 end of the ear, three from the middle, and 

 three from the small end, — the manuring and 

 cultivation being the same in each case, — and 

 the result was as follows : — 



3 hills, seed from large end of ear . . . . . 2 lbs. 



3 " " " middle of ear 1ft. 12 ozs. 



3 " " " small end of ear 2 lbs. 4 ozs. 



Again, carrying the experiment still further 

 with thirty hills, the result obtained was as 

 follows — : 



Stalks. Corn. Total. 



tts. oz. fts.oz. tts.oz 

 10 hills, seed from large end of ear, 14 4 12 8 26 12 

 10 " " " middle of ear, .14 14 12 26 14 



10 " " " small end of ear, 18 13 8 31 8 



From which it would appear that the superi- 

 ority in each case is from the seed from the 

 small end of the ear. Now, allowing 4000 

 hills to the acre, the difference in favor of the 

 small end over the middle would be ten bush- 

 els, and over the large end seven bushels. 

 The seed from the small end of the ear, on an 

 acre would produce 1250 pounds more of 

 stalks than the middle, and 1500 pounds more 

 than from the large end. If this fact can be 

 established to the satisfaction of farmers, it of 

 course would be a matter of profit, for taking 

 an average of the two excesses and we have a 

 gain of Sh bushels of corn and 1375 pounds of 

 fodder on an acre, which, upon four or five 

 acres, would give a handsome profit without 

 any additional outla}-, and no extra labor ex- 

 cept in the handhng of an extra number of 

 ears of corn in shelling for seed, in conse- 

 quence of the rejection of a large portion of 

 the ear. Are tliese things so ? ' w. h. y. 

 Connecticut, 187 1. 



Remarks. — An experiment was made in 

 1858 on the farm of the Reform School at 



