106 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
Experience with Potatoes— Best Sorts- 
Large and Small Seed. 
E. Williams, Essex Co., N. J., communicates 
to the American Agriculturist the following ob- 
servations and experiments upon potatoes: 
" For years past the Mercer potato has been the 
standard variety used in this and the adjoining 
counties. When the Peach Blow came out, it 
was tried to considerable extent, but soon dis- 
carded on account of its late maturity, not ripe- 
ning soon enough to allow seeding the ground 
to grain. The Prince Albert and Fluke have 
also been tried, and are now grown to consid- 
erable extent, yielding better crops than the 
Mercer and usually of very fair quality, some- 
times first rate. I grew " Prince Albert " for 
three or four years, but abandoned it in 1860, on 
on account of deterioration. The identity of 
these two varieties is a mooted question with 
some. If they are really distinct, I think the 
Fluke the best quality,having tested some grown 
by my neighbors ; Prince Albert, as I grew it, 
was a little strong. Believing ' like will produce 
like,' I have long been convinced of the propri- 
ety of using large seed. But the diversity of 
opinion, and some published views in favor of 
small seed, induced me in 1860 to experiment 
with different sized seed, to get at the facts. 
The following is the result with Mercers : 
YIELD PER ROW. 
NO. OF DESCRIPTION OF SEED. QTS. QTS. 
ROW. PRIME. CULLS. TOTAL. 
1st— Small— cut in 2 to 4 pieces 16 19 35 
2d— Small— whole 16 23 39 
3d— Large— cut to 2 or 3 eyes 19 13 32 
4lh— Large — cut in two— small ends ...13 17 30 
5th — Large — cut in lwo— large ends 16 18 34 
" It will be noticed that the best yield was from 
No. 3, the largest from No.' 2, which had an ex- 
cess of small potatoes. The small seed was 
about the size of pullet's eggs. For the last three 
years I have cut my seed to one or two eyes. 
"In 1862 1 obtained of Kev. 0. E. Goodrich, of 
Utica, N. Y., four of his seedlings, and annex 
the yield, compared with other sorts, two rows 
of each being planted in the same field : 
VARIETY. Qls. Qts. Total 
Primes. Culls. Yield. 
Prince Albert 50 9 59 
Jersey Mercers 54 7 61 
Nova'Scotia Mercers 87 22 109 
PeachBlnw 54 22 76 
Garnet Chili (Goodrich Seedling) 74 6 SO 
Coppermine " " ....120 13 133 
Pink-eyed Rusty Coat " " ...112 32 144 
Cuzco " " ...144 16 160 
" The ground on which these grew I measur- 
ed accurately, to ascertain the rate per acre 
they yielded. The result is as follows : Prince 
Albert, 88 bu. 6 qts.; Jersey Mercers, 91 bu. 18 
qts.; Nova Scotia Mercers, 163 bu. 20 qts.; 
Peach Blow, 144 bu. 3 qts.; Garnet Chili, 120 
bu. 3 qts.; Coppermine, 199 bu. 21 qts.; Pink- 
eyed Busty Coat, 216 bu. 6 qts.; Cuzco, 240 bu. 
7 qts. So well pleased was I with the Goodrich 
potatoes that I planted but little else last season, 
aud from basket measurement of a few rows 
while digging, to compare with the yield of 
1862, 1 think they exceeded it, although planted 
on the same ground and in an unfavorable sea- 
son. The soil was only medium. One of my 
neighbors thinks that the Cnzco will give 400 
to 500 bushels per acre, on good soil, with 
good culture. They are really quite hardy, 
though not entirely exempt from rot, as claim- 
ed by some. The Busty Coat is probably the 
least liable of any, and Coppermine the most. 
As to the quality, people's tastes differ as wide, 
ly as on fruits, some preferring one, some an- 
other. They are all of fair quality, to say the 
least. Busty Coat is a little rank in the fall, but 
good in mid-winter and spring. Cuzco will suit 
people who are willing to take a second rate 
potato with bountiful yield in preference to a 
first rate one and little yield. I consider them a 
valuable acquisition, and Mr. Goodrich is, I 
think, entitled to something more than the 
thanks of the agricultural community for his 
efforts in this direction." 
Diphtheria in Hens at the South. 
F. H. Squire, M. D., Surgeon of 89th N. Y. 
Volunteers, writes to the Agriculturist, from Fol- 
ly Island, S. C, describing a disease of poultry 
resembling diphtheria, which attacked several of 
his hens, some of them fatally. The affected 
fowl showed great languor, frequently stretched 
her head upward and forward, at the same 
time opening her mouth widely. After these 
movements the head would settle back again 
towards the body, and she would apparently 
fall asleep for a little while. She died in two 
clays. He says: "I examined the mouth and 
throat very carefully. On the inside of the 
right cheek, especially at the corner of the 
mouth, was quite a patch of the genuine, false 
membrane of diphtheria, which I cleaved off 
with a probe. On opening the mouth widety 
and looking into the throat, I saw that the 
opening of the windpipe was filled up with 
the same kind of yellowish substance. I then 
removed the skin from the neck, and with a pair 
of scissors, divided the windpipe about two 
inches below the throat, where it appeared to 
be perfectly healthy. I now worked toward the 
throat, cutting off piece after piece of the wind- 
pipe, until I obtained from this direction a view 
of the false membrane which was blocking up 
the air passage at the chink of the glottis. After 
I had in this manner thoroughly exposed the 
situation of the disease, I took a probe and 
gently separated the false from the true mem- 
brane, and then removed it, as one would re- 
move a cork from the mouth of a small vial. 
The specimen thus removed, looks like a sec- 
tion, half an inch long, of a tube of whit-leath- 
er. It is about a third of an inch in its external 
diameter, and the opening through it is veiy 
small, only large enough to admit a little fila- 
ment of broom corn, by means of one of which 
it is now suspended in a small vial of diluted 
alcohol. — If the disease is seen early, as soon as 
the hen begins to gape and cough, I imagine 
the throat would only have a kind of pearly or 
milky appearance ; and at this stage I would 
simply apply in the throat a solution of nitrate 
of silver, two grains to the ounce of water. 
When the disease is far advanced, and the false 
membrane is thick, I would try to remove it 
with a probe or a pair of small forceps." 
Abortion in Cows. 
The frequent occurrence of abortion in cows, 
amounting in some localities almost to an epi- 
demic, calls for investigation to discover if pos- 
sible the causes which now appear to be very 
little understood. In Herkimer Co., N. Y, 
great complaint has. been made of the preva- 
lence Of this disorder, hundreds of calves hav- 
ing been lost in this manner last year. A com- 
mittee was appointed by the Little Falls Club, 
to visit the farms where many cases had occur- 
red, and to collect all the facts apparently bear- 
ing on the disease. No theory previously en- 
tertained respecting the difficulty, seems to have 
been sustained by their observations. They re- 
port cases occurring under under many differ- 
ent circumstances, some where the cause might 
be attributed to foul stables, others to ergot upon 
their feed, but others were found where these 
supposed predisposing circumstances were ab- 
sent. It appears probable that there is danger 
in allowing an affected cow to remain with the 
herd, as other cases are pretty sure to follow ap- 
parently from sympathy. Whatever interferes 
with the general good health of the animal 
would seem to expose her to the disease. Be- 
yond these general facts, little appears to be 
known, and the subject is worthy of extended 
observation and careful study. 
To Keep Flies from Working; Cattle. 
D. H. Sherwood, Fairfield Co., Conn., com- 
municates to the American Agriculturist his plan 
for repelling flies from cattle when at work. 
Take a piece of scantling 3x4 inches and a few 
inches longer than the yoke. Through this 
bore four holes to correspond with the bow holes 
in the yoke. Have bows long enough to ex- 
tend five inches above the yoke. After the ox- 
en are yoked, put this piece on the top of the 
yoke, letting the bows come through the holes. 
Bore several small holes in the sides of the 
above piece, and fasten in brush long enough to 
reach the oxen's hips. The brush should be of 
some tough wood with the leaves on. When it 
is worn out put in more. Some use blankets 
for their cattle while working, but it makes 
them unnecessarily warm, and costs something 
at present prices. The motion of the oxen while 
walking will keep the brush waving about 
enough to keep the flies away. 
Treatment of Bloated Sheep. 
L. Davis, Lynn Co., Iowa, writes: "In nearly 
all cases where I have seen an opening made in 
the side of the sheep, as recommended by a 
writer in the January Agriculturist, page 7, it 
has proved fatal to the sheep. The best remedy 
I know of, and which has often proved success- 
ful, is to have a hose-pipe of leather or India 
rubber, of small diameter, at one end of which 
is placed a metal ring, to keep it open. This is 
let down to the stomach through the mouth. 
To prevent the sheep biting it, and so clos- 
ing it, let the hose run through a piece of wood, 
and insert this in the sheep's mouth." 
Hew Food for Sheep. 
At a recent meeting of the Maine Board of 
Agriculture, Dr. Weston called attention to the 
subject of feeding sheep on fish. He stated that 
sheep, swine, and fowls, greedily eat fish pomace 
or the residuum of herrings after the oil is 
pressed out, and that smoked alewives and frost- 
ffish are relished by cattle. On the seaboard 
where large quantities of fish pomace are used 
for manure, flocks of turkeys feed upon it and 
get fat, but a fishy taste is imparted to their 
flesh. Undoubtedly this food will abundantly 
furnish the elements for meat ; careful and ob- 
serving farmers who have fed it, assert that it is 
' of equal value with good hay, ton for ton. The 
objection to this treatment will probably be 
found in the impaired flavor of the meat so 
made. It is well known that this varies even 
with the character of the pasture in which ani- 
mals are fattened, and so great a change as that 
here proposed may have a marked and not 
very improving effect. Perhaps, however, a 
finishing off feeding of two or three weeks be- 
