AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 385 



" I take less pains in preparing land for oats than any other grain ; it 

 does well as a first crop on newly broken land, and succeeds best on a soil 

 not much pulverized, sown after a single plowing as earh' in April as 

 possible ; from three to six bushels to the acre, according to the size and 

 weight of the grain. If potato oats are sown, two bushels will always be 

 ample, because it has no awns, consequently there is a greater number of 

 grains in a bushel, and it litters better than any other oat. On medium 

 soils, three bushels will be requisite, and on upland soils six will not be found 

 too much. If an acre produce 2,260 pounds of oats, there will be 8,200 

 pounds of straw. 



" This cannot be calculated upon always, because there is no grain grown 

 that yields so variable a quantity of seed as the oat. I esteem it very 

 highly as fodder; as it furnishes a large proportion of my winter food for 

 stock. Its chief enemy is the wire-worm; and if you find the ground im- 

 pregnated with the larvse, defer plowing until May, when you will bury 

 them so deep that the oats will grow beyond their reach before they can 

 come to the surface of the ground. 



" I usually sow four bushels of beans to the acre; and the yield is from 

 30 to 40 bushels, of 65 lbs. to the bushel. Four and a half bushels of peas 

 to the acre yield from 30 to 80 bushels, of 64 lbs. to the bushel. The 

 usual return from beans, as generally sown on poor land, is about 1,700 

 lbs., a little over 25 bushels; and of peas, about 1,000 lbs., a little over 15 

 bushels. 



" One pound of turnip seed, mixed with two pounds of sand, will yield, 

 on good ground, twelve hundred bushels of turnips, sown broadcast, pro- 

 vided they are judiciously thinned, and kept free from weeds. 



"The carrot is much liked by cattle, but in my opinion does not possess 

 the high value ascribed to it as food for stock by the generality of agricul- 

 turists. It requires a loose, homogeneous, deep, highly manured soil, and 

 with care and attention will then produce 14 tons of roots to the acre, con- 

 taining about 88 per cent of water. 



"The parsnip in composition assimilates with the carrot, and will stand 

 the winter in the open field. It is useful in fattening stock. I sow the 

 seed of both these crops in drills without stint, and thin them when they 

 come up, but have not kept an account of the quantity, as I raise my own 

 seed, and always destroy those not made use of, unless a neighbor may re- 

 quire them, that I may never fail to have fresh seed. 



" Of all the plants grown, the Jerusalem artichoke produces the largest 

 crop at the smallest expense of labor and manure. A patch without care 

 with throw out stems 11 feet high annually for thirty or forty years. It is 

 propagated by tubers, and rarely, if ever, ripens its seed. 



The potato thrives in many varieties of soil, provided they are rich and 

 the climate is suitable. It should, like the beet, be planted in newly man- 

 ured grounds, and be succeeded in the fall by a cereal crop. It must not 

 be planted until all fears of frost have subsided. They may then be cut 

 into sets and dropped into furrows 14 inches from each other, and two feet 

 [Am. Inst.J 25 



