'^ O vT' *•* - 



374 



MOOHE'S KUHAL IHBW-Y0RK3ER. 



to profit by the 



kindly suggestions 



Bggn-gl 



self. Trie chief value of a popi 

 that we get through Us colu 

 r experience 



It i 



.i»h 



mdit 



t«-en'y 



, was large, bushy and full Em feet loi 

 5 four pounds ; in its vigorous state w 

 [(landed, the weight could Dot ba»e bs 

 a half as much more, Bay six pouo 

 ro ten pounds of vegetable product fr 

 ight groins— a pound avoirdupois c< 

 tea thousand grams— exactly two th 

 l hundred for one. A Dover potato s 



THE LATE DAVID THOMAS. 



Ige i 



ll«c 



rather than any ambition to display my 

 capacity, which prompts this article. If aDy who 

 contemplate building shall in the least be beueEited 

 by my experience, 1 shall feci that 1 am fully com- 

 pensa'ed. To young men just commencing life, 

 I would say, build for yourselves. Take time. 

 Rome was not built in a day— neither should a 



Cambridge Valley, N. T,, 1S5°. 



POTATOES: SHALLOW OH DEEP PLANTING T 



Eds. Rural New-Yorker:- Some *ru bare 

 fallen into a habit of planting potatoes very Dear 

 the topof the ground. The recent freezing weather 

 coming, when perhaps the bulk of the potato crop 

 was yet UDgatliered, and taking hold with dam- 

 aging effect of such exposed specimens as it could 

 reach, presents, in itself, a very plain and convin- 



nd cultivated in pre 



uced six potatoes 



table, weighing two 



Perhaps we here b 





jllieiently Urge for the 

 couple of bints tbatmaj 



that potatoes, if we would have the full value ol 

 iey when we buy tlieoi, should be sold by 

 not measure. There is another inference 



which I think can be drawn from this experiment 



that forms aud perfects tbo plants, is drawn— not 

 s soil, but the atmosphere. 

 bavo sometimes combated the notion 

 which persons entertain, that potatoes may mix 

 lill— a doctrine taught by Cobbett io his 

 i Gardening. Cobuett was undoubtedly an 

 ery unreliable pi 



tagai 



follow 



either 





: physi 





ol those we have experii 



ouile the exception at this 



or the press of other busin 





i Oct 



ion of t 



from bad weather 

 - both, the potato 



1 hard frosts have 

 actually come; and so, a portion, a*, least, of the 

 crop be secured in an injured condition. Many 

 persons believe that if left in the ground and un- 

 touched by frost, pi>t tit lies continue growing till 

 late in the fall, long after the tops are dead ; and 

 with such, of course, considerations of profit will 

 uui'e with other reasons to put off the gather- 

 ing of this root till the latest practicable season, 

 or until the occurrence of a sharp freeze gives 

 warning that the case admits of no further delays, 

 When a toss, plainly traceable to any particular 

 mode of culture occurs, it is natural for the losers, 

 contemplating the calamity, to think of other ob- 

 jections to which that method or sjitem id open, 

 besides the odc arising out of the cause of their 

 present ill luck, nod also to consider the advan- 

 tages belonging to a different plan of cultivation. 

 Without knowing what superiority the advocates 

 of shallow planting claim for that practice, let us 

 slate what appear to us some of the objections 

 that may 



rinciple went, he was very shallow in all 

 of them. Some time since I saw in some paper, a 

 aeot that the Northern Peach Blov was 

 by binding tightly together the halvt 

 separate and very different varielie 

 potatoes. In this I had no faith. Last Spri 

 bound together Dover and Davis* Secdl 

 and Frioce Alberts— and in both < 

 first grew distinct as if planted sepa 

 ly, rods apart. It 



I Tin 



irts,I i 



uj, how 





appointed. The former were 



very badly diseased ; of the latter thei 

 i single tuber, which* though sound 

 eled to one-third or one-fourth the ■ 

 arent, and was covered with small seal 



rolled up i 



,TeI 



of the Mercer upon the Prince Albert 

 deleterious, and prevented its properdevolopn 

 Whenever I have cultivated these two van 

 properly, I have never failed of a satisfactory 



> Princ. 



,.!..!„ 



Potal 



5 growing 



l.ijt 1 



though they have the bene6t of a g 

 of showers, during an ordinary i 

 deeper-planted ones, are yet sure I 



under ground, 



crop, though I c 

 desirable potato for the table. Tcrhaps a 

 inquiry may be suggested by the above fact- 

 wbelber the reason for deterioration of crop 

 both as regards quality and quantity, may Dot I 

 Found in the fact that the soil ia impure? 

 Norwich, Conn., ISM. 0. W. 



expect at intervals through the 

 n, The question is, whe 

 1 depth below the surface j 





ipta 



aufficie 



iake them so independent of rains as to overbal- 

 ance tbe advantage of more frequent wettings 

 from moderate showers, with the attendant draw- 

 back of exposure to intenser beat. 



An effect of shallow planting is plainly visible 

 in the inferior quality of potatoes. When th 

 seed has but a thin covering of earth, it is vet 

 common for the growing tubers to push aboi 

 ground ; and, on cooking these specimens, the ej 

 posed part shows a greenish look accompanied by 



pOsed to be caused by sun-burn. The inclination 

 to bitterness of llavor is seen also in the bi 

 covered roots; they lack the sweetness of tasti 

 longing to those growing deep in the ground. 



Judging from not very extensive observation, 1 

 should say that shallow pluuting is not favorable 

 to a large yield of potatoes. Certainly, there is a 

 great difference in the habits of the growth of po- 

 tatoes planted near tbe surface, from those buried 

 deeper. The latter will be found lying close 

 getherinabeup, like eggs in a nest; the former 

 are scattered about, many of them further from 

 the center of the lull than one unacquainted 

 their power of roving would tbiuk of looking for 

 tbem. Whether this rambling habit of growth 



APPLYING MANTJRE TO GRASS LANDS. 



Eds. Rural Nhw-Tobkbb:— 1 was much inte 



estcd by the evening discussions at the State Fai 

 as reported in tbe Rural, and for one, wish tbej 

 might be continued through your poges. Ian 

 farmer, aDd I hope not too old to learn, uud km 

 of no more reliable source of information than t 

 opinions of practical farmers, based on thi 



I would like to know how to apply manure so 

 to get the most lasting benefit on grass lauds, 

 Will some of my brother fanners please give 

 their opinion through the Rural? My method 

 has been to manure sward in the spring with fresh 

 stable manure, aud plow under to the depth 



plowing, plow eight or ten inches deep, thus 



ing the rotted sod and manure a little below the 



surface. Sow gram of some kind and stock 



with a mixture of clover and timothy, nbou 



a bushel to the acre. Soil is sandy loam, with 



very retentive subsoil. By this method I get good 



grass for four or five years, after which I repeat. 



This certoinly increases tbe fertility of thi 



but perhaps not as rapidly as a better way. The 



better way is what I am looking for.— 0. D. U 



•'■..'/-« 



,n. r.iv 



SMUT IN WHEAT -EXPERIMENT, 







gathering, or whether t 

 tatoes with very little dirt over them is u 

 able to their attaining their greatest siz 

 which suppositions I suspect are true, I an 

 to believe that more and better potatoes 

 tained from the same varieties by deep 1 

 shallow plat " 



, L.w 



, N. 



if they 



Rkua&h —Some varieties of potatoes 

 most impossible to keep below the surface 

 ore planted ever so deep, while others 

 ehow themselves above ground if they ar 

 covered with eailh. Some varieties, too, ramble 

 over a large territory, making digging slow a 

 tedious, while in others tbe tubers lay close 

 gether, "like eegi in a nest." Tins depends m< 

 upon i lie li^i.it ol the pot a to than upon the mam 

 of planting. All extensive potato growers km 

 •<h.«, and a rambliog habit is always considered 







POTATO EXPERIMENTS. 



Ens. Rural NBw-Yonmm.:— I am a farmer, and 

 reside in a neighborhood where large quantiti 

 of spring wheat are raided, which is lrei|iieiillv 

 affected with smut, as to deteriorate its value ; OC 



equently the question frequently arises, what 



he cause, and the preventive ol smut wheat? 

 order to answer that question, I tried the folio 



3g experiment, which is only one of many that I 



m or have been engaged in : 

 I prepared the plots of ground exaclly alike, 

 and sowed them the same lime. No. 1 was so*ed 

 smut wheat, entirely. No. 2, with wheat 

 that had been bruised ; (having read that that wo; 

 the cause of smut wheat ) It included all condi 

 tions of bruised wheat, ftotn a ground kernel to t 

 perfect one. No. 3 was sowed with wheat that had 

 been rolled in smut until the keroels we 

 black with it. The kind of wheat user 

 Canada Club. The result was, that the 

 wheat (No. 1,) did not grow. No. 2 produced few 

 stalks; but no smut. No. 3 produced on 



. M. Wiin 



erf. 



trrerc 



-—When gathering 



nd Dovers— in 

 mg the forme 







that I wni 





zie a sKilltui artist to tun, out a took" symmetrical 



form. Early in the spring f ln ., 



April, it W83 weighed and pletitci 



wm twenty-eight grains. The n 



was a * mall quantity of guano nnd 



a bucket of suds from the wectly 



thrown over tbe vines three time* i 

 ason. Tbe bnulm did not show sign 

 I the first of October, when they wen 



• twelve potatoes, suitable for the 



r of the Few England Farmti 

 writing from South Denver*, says:— " Mr. U. i\ 

 one of the most successful cultivators in this town 

 informed me that he had gathered six tuna of a 



sof land. This 

 are rods, or 27 I 



uld I 





Thep 



ushed bones, 





The result i 



rrots at this time is *S per tuD, consequently 

 e produce of an acre would amouDt to 8 times 

 , or |216 per acre. Considering that carrots are 

 tan exhausting crop, I look upon this as good 

 doings. Fair crops yield so well this seosou— cold 

 biii been." 



CajugaCo., N. V., and being a Civil engineer, he 

 was employed more as a surveyor than iu trie la- 

 bors of bis farni ; yet such wan his passion for 

 Horticulture, Pomology aud Floriculture — being an 

 accomplished botanist— that his domain at Great- 

 field, two miles easlof Aurora, wan soon celebra'ed 

 for its Hue fruits and beautiful (lowers. He was 

 one of toe first contributors to tbe Agricultural 

 Press of the State, and the young Genesee Farmer 

 was often graced and enlivened by articles, on the 

 the proper culture of fruits and lluwers, from hts 

 practical pen. 



Da Witt Clixtox, who, in pursuing his canal 

 policy, was always suro to find out the best men 

 in every county, to aid htm in Ins great work, soon 

 made tho acquaintance of David Thomas, when be 

 immediately appointed bim Chief Engineer of the 

 Western Division of the Erie, aud the Cayuga and 

 Seneca Canals. The writer of this notice after- 

 wards heard Gov. Clinton say that Thomas only 

 lacked impudence to pass for a much greater man 

 than a certain Professor he then named. Dut with 

 his habitual modesty, and polite deference to the 

 opinions of others, no man was more firm and de- 

 cided when he knew he was right; and to this 

 trait in his character the great city of Buffalo is 



sition. When Thomas was surveiing the Canal 

 and harbor location at U'ack Rock, and Buffalo 

 creek. Gen. Pbtsr B Porter beset him with all 

 bis great luct aud iulluence to muke the baibor at 

 Black Rock instead of at Buffalo creek. But, not 

 being able to convince Tooiias, be commenced a 

 newspaper war against htm, criticising his e 

 gineering severely. Thomas, in his final reply 

 these attacks, says :— " I now submit tbe questi 

 to tbe elements, and if Buffalo harbor become: 

 failure, I shall then, but not till then, confess my 

 error." But he lived to see the fruition of bis In 

 bors. Buffalo Creek is now a great Luke Barboi 

 crowded with steam am! sail vessels of the largest 



, while Black Rock 1 



i iii no i 



o Mm 





Cunal Engineer, built a 

 house on his farm with an observatory o 

 overlooking the broadest expanse of the Cayuga; 

 hereon shelves were numerous Geological speci- 

 mens he bad himself collected. Ilia ornamental 

 and fruit trees were now increased, his flower gar 

 den extended, and its beautiful specimens greatly 

 augmented. But as age and infirmity crept on, 

 became more and noire dependent on cosily mi 

 cenary help, and rather than seo his beautil 

 flowers run wild, and his fruit trees a prey to i 

 sects, he sold the beautiful domain and retired 

 a comfortable cottage near the sparkling la 

 waters at Union Springs. Here, as his physical 

 infirmities increased, his mind and memory par- 

 tially gave way; yet Providence dealt kindly with 

 him, for he might often be seen on a genial sum- 

 border, or the evergreens in his door-yard, enjoy- 

 ing their fragrance and beauty; a comfort kindly 

 vouchsafed to compensate us for tho privi 

 and infirmities of age. s. 



Inquiries nub SUswcrs. 



Wb are not aware of any single work that 

 would cover the field spread out by •' Subscriber, 

 Writers have generally made a specially of son: 

 one department— each, if we may so speak, having 

 his peculiar hobby. Tbe "Modern Horse Doctor,' 

 by Dr. Dado; " Youatt on the ffme," by Wk, 

 Yooatt, and " Hint* I" Il-rsi:-Knj>- ■>-.-.," by Ui:viii 

 William IIsiiUEUT, are all worthy of a promineni 

 position in the farmer's library. The price of tin 

 first named is $1,00; of tbe others $ 1,25. "Youatt 

 on Cattle," ($1,25,) and " The Am.rican Cattl, 

 Doctor," ($1,00,) by Dr. Dadd, treat more par 

 ticularly of horned stock. The " America* 

 Sh.j.h.ni;- ($1,00,) by L. A. Morrell, and " Th, 

 Shepherd's Own Book,- ($1,25,) by Yoi-att 

 Skinner, and Randall, treat of the history 

 management, and diseases of Sheep. "Sub 

 scriber," can procure aDy of these volumes bj 

 application to C. M. SaxtoX, Barker & Co., New 

 York, or at the office of the Rural New-Yo 



I Becs.-Will an] 

 9 and tbe public 



r. -II. B- II . 



Bees are most disposed to rob early in the 

 spring, before tbe flowers are open, and the weak 

 swarms are the sufferers, though where the bee 

 keeper attempts to feed bis bees by placing sweet! 

 outside of t belli vent inn reason, it invites the notice 

 of the bees of neighboring colonies, and au attack 

 ou the hive is apt to follow. Tbe effect of this is 

 not only disastrous to those that are robbed, but de- 

 moralizing to the robbers, as after having once bad 

 a taste of stolen sweets, they do not cheerfully 

 return to tbe habits of honest industry. The only 

 preventives against robbing is to keep the colonies 

 strong, able to defend themselves, and not to 

 lempl the robbers by exposing the honey or sweets 

 of any kind around the hive. Very late swarms 

 arc never profitable, seldom worth wintering over. 

 In some cases two or more late swarms may be 

 united, ond muke a good colony. From your 

 description we should judge that the colon, |«f| 

 the old hive disheartened, from the ravages of the 

 bee-moth, or some other eause. 



Rural Spirit of tlje press. 



Tnu Country Qenileman calls attention to an 

 rof not unfreq uen t occurrence among farmer* 

 he early stages of fait-ning, which should be 

 avoided by all who care for the reputation of judi- 

 - : ius farmers or the proiitsof economical ones. It 

 the practice of allowing creatures to depend 

 noly on pasturing after the last of September or 

 tbe first of October, and to sleep out in tbe fields 

 Icr that time of tbe year. Both of these prac- 

 ;es, except in years uncommonly warm in au- 

 rnn, tnod to rob cattle of fat aDd to lower their 

 condition. The nutritive qualities of grass are 

 ua'erially lesaentd afier frosts, and when an ani- 

 nal suffers from cold, as must usually be theca>e 

 n Bleeping in the open Oe'd in October, Nature 

 jas provided a partial relief by consuming por- 

 .ionsnf the fat, which the animal may have already 

 itored, in the creation of additional supplies of 

 ieat. In a word, it seems forgotten by some, that, 

 without something additional to gross after frosts, 

 ind without shelter in chilly nights, cattle will 

 oso in condition and quautiiy of fat; and that this 

 s the opposite of economy, as it is much easier to 

 ■ieep on tut than to put it on. True economy and 

 udicious management require early stabling dur- 

 ing nights, and something in addition to gross 



Aunt Hi i, in tbe New England Farmer, 



says:— "Skim tbe milk as Boon as it sours, and 

 before it thickens, if possible; stir the cream faith- 

 fully, especially when new is added. Set the jar 

 in a cool place; if the cellar is not cold aud sweet, 



way to keep it cool. After the last cream is added 

 before churning, then 'go a visiting' if youpli 

 as cream should not be churned the day it is taken 

 off. At night fall, fill the churn with cold water, 



word for it, you will soon find a solid mass of 

 golden-colored butter, free from white specks, aDd 

 ben properly salted aud packed, fit for anybody's 



* liutlonii: 



and carefully back and forth; this prevent 

 butter from closing too rapidly, does not break 

 the grains, and gives every particle of the c 

 a chance to form into butter. 



Tsb Few Jirseij Farmer illustrates the e 

 my of cutting feed for cattle in a few words :— If 

 a farmer has no fodder to be disposed of, except 

 fiue, "merchantable hay," there will belittle need 

 of cutting it. But most persons have corn-stalks, 

 hay and straw a little damaged, which, if fed oui 

 unprepared, would be much wasted. Now a care- 



ful Mr 



nil be a vastly more palatable dish, little ot 



fill be wasted, and what is eaten will be well 



iigestcd. Our good housewives hash up odc 



Agricultural iiliscellonn. 



a Connecticut. Wee 



Idler just recul 

 fS:-"Ycrlly, < 

 ■ Is certainly ei 



n iiuuitiugllianevi 



i Chtesgo Fair. The n 



n of forty thousand dolli 

 SMOrtblp of Aerlcultura 



" a »<««lptad II to par A* % 

 '•so. »*l»tifurt»olniie.lio n « * 



three [insertion.] in in* r O ' 

 ■" — Yes, Sir. •« 



RW-Yo«KS«i./ U U rtr! r ,/I"". » 



!</ (As O. O. [Still, too O. Q. bni 



I wllhuut tbo ! 

 rould, jud«ln|{ 



[Mil- same publisher 



1st, I860, after ■ 

 iailnfaotory. W 



ore often obliged to del 

 -Though tbe heac 



- " ime f'Ulo ti-u -lays, l>-pt. 13, i! |uinl, orvi.ni 



jltlon, attendance and receipts. It gave evioence t 



rell claim this tliow as a triumph, fur it n> 

 u vegetables of every kind bo enormously li 



Italics, &a.,— show 



Toe (ouleuces we segrogai 

 is of the stile in which our resp 



dUte contemporaries. Bo thin 



swe 



ought to tell our 



Hon, Without any design of infringing too pat*nt. 



readers of this superiority — es 



icclal 







cultural journals (Including m 











m\ 



rsis 





;«oe?r^Tu^ofval«,- 



Encocbaging Domestic hincsTKT.— A Western paper 



















nnd have no doubt that all disc 

 come to a proper conclusion, 



mil!' 



sss 



llTXXTl IS in ££. £ £5 









premium of $5, for best nunliry ; Mita Newbre, a pair 









of uae Congress gaiters, us second premium; and 





i m 





each of the others a pnlr of kid slips. Io presenting 









the premiums he made a brief anil gooU-tenslcal speech, 



Ing In no very complimentary 



rms 



of the operations 



concluding a, foll.»*:--' And now ladies, moondu- 



been eigot to i 



l„. iiiatiuoii'l"' 1 "' annually from 

 i K ,„i wen now manufacturing 



