^ 



THE ILLmOIS FARMER. 



Jav. 



ia our behalf will ever be gratefully remem. 

 Ured." 



<»- 



From the Northwestern Christian Advocate. 



Shaker Busset Potato. 



Mb. Editor: — The following statement in re- 

 lation to the above named potato, is furnished for 

 your "House and Farm" column. The result of 

 the crop in the case here mentioned leads me to 

 infer that its merits have not been fully appre- 

 ciated. 



Last May I obtained one bushel of the Shaker- 

 Russet potatoes, cut them up so as to leave a 

 single eye on each piece, and planted them in 

 rows three feet and a half apart, leaving about 

 two and a half feet between the hills, and put- 

 ting one piece in each hill. The result of the 

 crop just harvested is fifty five bushels. The 

 amount of land planted was twenty-seven square 

 rods. The soil is a light sandy loam, naturally 

 rather poor. The land was broken from a wild 

 state, three years ago, and has been cropped two 

 successive years wilh corn, without any manure. 

 This year it had a light dressing of coarse, unde- 

 oayed stable manure, and after the first hoeing 

 of the potatoes they were treated to a handful of 

 wood ashes to each hill. The potatoes are of 

 large size, there being not one half bushel too 

 small for the table in the whole lot, and I may 

 add, that they are entirely free from rot. The 

 quality of the potato is unsurpassed. When 

 cooked it is dry, white and mealy, and its flavor 

 is much more agreeable than that of the Neshan- 

 nock raised side by side. 



Immediately adjoining the above crop, I had 

 twenty-five square rods planted with the Neshan- 

 nock potato. The soil and treatment were pre- 

 cisely the same as in the above case, but the 

 yield was only twenty-five bushels, or hardly 

 one-half as great as that of the Shaker-Russet. 



The experiment appears to be a fair teat of the 

 comparative merits of the two varieties. It seem- 

 ed to me important that the farming community 

 should be apprised of anything which ehoulJ be 

 to their advantage in relation to a crop of so 

 much consequence as the potato and hence this 

 simple statement is furnished you with the hope 

 that it may elicit the statement of results from 

 others who may have experimented in the same 

 direction. 



Other varieties of the potato which give an ex- 

 traordinary yield, so far as I am aware, are of 

 an inferior quality, of little value for the table, 

 bat the Shaker-Russet possesses the rare merit 

 of producing most bountifully, and of being at 

 the same time of fine texture, and unexcelled in 

 quality for edible purposes. 



Hbnbt S. Notes. 



Evansion, 111, Oct. 14, 1862. 



— We have since received a half bushel of the 

 above potatoes and given them a trial on the ta- 

 ble. The quality of the gj»tato is good, but sec- 

 ond to the Purple Nesh*inock, Carter, Pinkeye 

 and a few others, but fully equal to the common 

 M«rcer or Neshannock. The serious injury 



to nearly all varieties of the potato gires them 

 an unfavorable comparison with the healthy 

 growth of the Shaker-Russet. 



We think the Russet as fair a table potatoe as 

 the Garnet Chili. 



The soil in which the Russets were grown is 

 the best for the potato in a season like the past, 

 and its preparation all that need be to ensure a 

 good crop. Ed. 



fli^'Queen Victoria intends to carry on the 

 model Farm at Frogmore, which was astablished 

 by Prince Albert. 



CON T_E NTS: 



January 1 



An Old Pioneer .*. 2 



To Make Strawberry Wine 2 



Lawton Blackberry 3 



Purple Cane Raspberry ~ 3 



Very Aid rich in Prairie Farmer, 3 



Don't Sell Corn ~ 4 



Tobacco Growing in McLean County 4 



The Vineyards of Egypt 5 



Training vs. Breaking Colts 6 



Law to Prevent Cattle from Running at Large in 



New York 8 



Packing Butter 9 



Curing Pork 9 



Strawberry Plants — Look out for Humbuggery.... 9 



Black Knot on Plum and Cherry Trees 9 



Meeting of the State Horticultural Society at 



Bloomington 10 



Editors Table : 



Flax Cotton 22 



White AVillow 23 



Sick and Wounded Soldiers 23 



The Gardeners Monthly ,. 23 



Brighton Grape Culture..... 23 



Medical Examiner 24 



Virgilia Lutea 24 



Chinese Cotton Seed 24 



Barnum's Automatic " Self- Sewer" Guide 24 



Seedling Evergreens 24 



Field Culture of the Black Cap Raspberry 24 



To Horticulturists Everywhere 25 



Sorghum 25 



State Fair of Oregon ■ _ 25 



The Rural New Yorker 25 



Agricultural Papers of the West 25 



Farmers Advocate 25 



Iowa Homestead 25 



Wisconsin Farmer 25 



The Country Gentleman 26 



Comnmnication 26 



War Claims 26 



Apple Seed 26 



Health of the West 26 



Oregon Farmer 26 



Valley Farmer 27 



Illinois Farmer 27 



The Rural New Yorker 27 



Farmers au'l Producers Association 27 



The White Willow 27 



Cast Steel Cast Plows Cast in Iron Moulds 27 



American Stock Journal 27 



Shaker Russet Potatoe 28 



