1865.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
375 
hope to possess tUnt fortune which an ample 
and well kept domain implies. Fortunately for 
those whose purses are not in proportion to 
their tastes, Mr. L. S. HasUell, has contrived a 
plan by which one may enjoy all of rural beauty 
that the wealthiest can encompass, without be- 
ing a millionaire, and as the plan upon which 
he has done this is one which is capable of im- 
itation elsewhere, and is practicable upon a 
much smaller scale than that attempted by him, 
a description will interest our readers. 
Some ten years ago Mr. Haskell, being im- 
pressed with the great natural beauty of the 
slope of Orange mountain near the town of 
Orange, N. J., purchased a tract of 500 acres, 
which has since been extended to 750 acres, and 
is now called Llewellyn Park. The land is ju- 
diciously divided up into building sites of from 
5 to 10 acres each, while a park of 50 acres is 
kept for the use of the owners of these sites. 
This common park is an irregular strip running 
lengthw^ise of the tract, easily accessible from 
all the residences, and includes ravine, for- 
est, and lawn in pleasing variety. -Aside from 
the grand old native trees, the original occu- 
pants of the soil, many new and valuable ones 
have been introduced. Great numbers of Rho- 
dodendrons have been planted, the rare and 
slow growing kinds flourishing with a vigor 
and health of foliage that we have never seen 
equalled in cultivation. Fine roads are laid 
out through the whole tract, and each resident 
has a stately approach to his grounds, the une- 
ven character of the surface allowing one in a 
short drive to enjoy a great variety of scenery. 
The beauties of the park culminate at Eagle 
Rock, an abrupt bluff upon the highest point of 
the grounds. The view from this point is finer 
than one would think it possible to find within 
less than an hour's ride of New- York City. In- 
deed there are few more enjoyable views to be 
found anywhere. Of the thirty proprietors who 
have dwellings in the park, not one has had the 
bad taste to put up a fence, and after the visi- 
tor passes the tasteful gateway there is nothing 
to remind him that he is not driving about the 
extensive grounds of some princely manor. 
The roads and other common portions of the 
park are kept up by an annual assessment, the 
amount of which is determined by the proprie- 
tors themselves, but which is limited to $10 an 
acre. There is also a fund provided by setting 
apart a portion of the proceeds of the sales of 
sites, the income of which is for general im- 
provements. The advantage of an associated 
proprietor.ship of this kind is, that it enables one 
of moderate means to enjoysurroundings which 
are usually at the command of only the very 
wealthy. The owner of five acres, more or less, • 
has as much as he can well improve by himself, 
he has an undivided share in 50 acres of play 
ground, seven miles of drive, and views which 
can never be obstructed. Those who wish to 
enjoy a few hours most delightfully should visit 
thisoharming spot. The only formality required 
is to enter name and residence in a book at the 
gate keeper's lodge. Every place has not its ro- 
mantic mountain slope, and not many can hope 
to be so fortunate in the selection of a site for 
such an enterprise as has Mr. Haskell, but we 
can not see why every large town or village 
might not have a park upon a similar plan. 
Were it not that the word is sometimes used in 
an unpleasant sense, we should call It a " com- 
munity park." It is in fact, a rural town where 
each one can have all desirable seclusion on his 
own grounds, and contribute his share to a fund 
for the tasteful adornment ot the common domain, 
with its drives and walks, to be enjoyed by all. 
Some Experiments in Potato Culture. 
— • 
la the brief account of the exhibition of tho 
Penn. Horticultural Society, in the Nov. Ag- 
ricultunst we mentioned a fine display of pota- 
toes by A. W. Harrison, of Philadelphia. The 
samples were so excellent and the yield (stated 
plainly upon the label of each variety) so gen- 
erally large, that we applied to Mr. Harrison for 
an account of his method of cultivation, which 
he not only cheerfully furnished, but also gave 
us a fine set of specimens, which have for some 
time been on exhibition at our office. Mr. H. 
commenced his operations upon a farm so much 
impoverished by nine years of cultivation with- 
out manure, that two years ago his first crop 
of Peach Blows was only 50 Bushels to the acre. 
The following are the chief points in which Mr. 
Harrison's cultivation differs from the ordinary : 
The land is plowed, subsoiled and supplied 
with ordinary manure in the fall ; in the spriug 
it is plowed crosswise, harrowed and rolled and 
then marked out 3 feet each way with a corn 
marker. At the intersections of the markings 
one wJwle potato is planted 6 inches deep, and 
with it is put a handful of the following com- 
post: Wood ashes, 4; salt,!; lime, 3 ; plaster, 
1 ; and superphosphate, 1 part. A good hand- 
ful of this to the hill takes about 50 bushels to 
the acre. The superphosphate may be of do- 
mestic production, or that of some reliable 
manufacturer, but it is considered essential as a 
preventive against the attacks of the grub. 
After planting, 1000 pounds to the acre of the 
above composition is sown broadcast. The first 
cultivation is up and down each side of the 
rows with Knox's cultivator; afterward the 
ground is worked twice with a horse-hoe run in 
the opposite direction. Three dressings are after- 
ward given with the hand-hoe, in all cases 
avoiding hilling. The harvesting is done with 
a fork. Over twenty varieties of potatoes were 
tested, some of them of well known prolific 
character, and others poor croppers. The to- 
tal yield of all sorts upon 141 acres was 2,811 
bushels. Some English kinds gave only 40 
bushels to the acre, while the Harrison yielded 
305 bushels; Early Goodrich, 333 ; Cuzco, 363 ; 
Monitor, 335 ; Jackson White, 196^ Calico, 171 ; 
Garnet Chili, 130; Buckeye, 170; Dalmahoj', 
193; Goodrich's No. 380, 181; No. 34, 179; 
Seedling Mercer, 171 ; Snowball, 161 ; Gleason, 
157; Early Wendell, 95; Blue Coat, 86; Red 
Bird, 47; Early Handswortb, 41; Race Horse, 
41. At the head of all varieties for every good 
quality, Mr. H. places the Early Goodrich and 
the Harrison. These are both seedlings raised 
by the late Mr. Goodrich, and the last named 
was so called by him as an acknowledgement 
of the interest manifested by Mr. H. in the ex- 
periments of Mr. Goodrich. The Monitor is an 
enormous potato, 50 of which have weighed 60 
pounds and filled a bushel; it is represented 
as being solid and excellent. 
There is nothing in the residts above given 
which, on good soil, would be a great yield, 
and it is only in consideration of the impover- 
ished character of the land that they become 
remarkable as showing what may be done on 
exhausted soils by judicious manuring, and also 
how much the yield is affected by the choice of 
a prolific variety. Several samples of the entire 
yield of a hill were exhibited, showing a large 
proportion of marketable potatoes. Mr. Har- 
rison is decidedly in favor of planting whole 
and good sized potatoes, and claims that not 
only is a larger yield of larger potatoes obtained 
than when cut seed is used, but there is no ten- 
dency to degenerate, and the variety is, on tho 
contrary, improved. Whole potatoes may be 
planted very early ; the most vigorous eyes will 
start, and if the shoots from these should be 
cut down by a late frost, others will sprout 
from the dormant eyes, and a crop will bo rea- 
lized without replanting. We understand that 
Mr. Harrison intends to prepare a detailed ac- 
count of his experiments with the potato. This 
outline is from notes taken of a conversation 
with him while he was actively engaged in the 
discharge of his duties at the Exhibition as Sec- 
retary, and if any essential point is omitted we 
have no doubt he will willingly supply it. 
m I m»m I » — 
Unseasonable Growth in Trees, etc. 
. m 
Quite a number of correspondents have sent 
us accounts of apple, pear, cherry and other 
fruit trees, which have come into bloom in the 
months of September and October, and we have 
ourselves seen a number of instances of this 
kind in which the trees had flowers and young 
fruit. Several who had plants of the "Agricul- 
turist" strawberry have sent us by mail speci- 
mens of poorly developed ripe fruit, some of 
them finding fault with the variety on account 
of its being a " late kind." It is not rare to find 
strawberry flowers late in the season, and this 
year they have appeared more or less abundant- 
ly on plants of different varieties, and the thing 
is not peculiar to the " Agriculturist." In the 
middle of October we went over a large bed of 
Boston Pine and found quite a picking of fruit. 
Nor are our ornamental trees exempt from this 
unseasonable development. In the streets of 
New York City we have noticed several Horse- 
chestnut trees, the terminal buds of which had 
pushed, and though the growth from them was 
not as vigorous as it is in spring, it was sufficient 
to cloth the tree in green long after the regular 
crop of leaves had fallen. These phenomena 
are caused by the unusual character of the past 
season ; late summer and early autumn being 
so dry as to cause early maturity of wood and 
foliage, as well as of fruit, and vegetation came 
to a rest at a much earlier period than usual. 
This cessation of growth is usually followed by 
cool weathei', which keeps the plants in a 
dormant state, but this year it was succeeded by 
continued warm weather with occasional rains. 
The effect of this was to start into life the buds 
which had been prepared for another year, and as 
it were to use in the payment of a present neces- 
sitj', funds which had been reserved to meet an 
obligation not yet matured. As we cannot spend 
our money and keep it too, the trees that have 
pushed flowers and leaves are in the condition 
of one who has exhausted his resources, and 
the only remedy for the tree, as for the indivi- 
dual, is at once to retrench. To drop illustra- 
tion, trees which have pushed either flowers or 
leaves, must be severely cut back, as whatever 
of late growth they may have made, cannot be 
sufficiently ripened to endure the winter. Those 
trees which have flowered cannot be expected 
to repeat the operation next spring, unless there 
should be some buds that have remained dor- 
mant; so much of the accumulated energy, so 
to speak, of the tree has been exhausted, and in 
order to repair the damage we should shorten 
in the branches, and secure a vigorous growth 
next spring from buds which have not been 
swollen in the autumu. This is especially 
necessary on young trees, which will have their 
future vigor much impaired if it be neglected, 
but if they are severely cut back now, having 
regnrd as much as may be to the future shape 
of the tree, they will in all probability do well 
