162 
SKETCHES OF THE WEST.—NO. IV.—CULTURE OF THE POTATO. 
that the varieties of Sweet-Corn which produce 
tall slender stalks, and the most leaves, gave the 
best and greatest amount of fodder. They infer 
that there was more saccharine matter in i$he 
stalks from these varieties, and the cattle, conse¬ 
quently, found it more palatable and nutritious. 
Corn for Sugar. —It seems to be a settled 
point, that com can be grown to advantage for the 
purpose of making sugar and molasses, in the in¬ 
terior of the country where the former costs 10 to 
12 cents per pound, and the latter 50 to 55 cents 
per gallon. We presume that the same kinds of 
corn which make the most and best fodder, would 
make the most and best sugar and molasses; with 
this difference, that as the corn-blades must be 
stripped from the stalks previous to cutting them 
for making sugar, the kinds bearing the least leaf 
and best stalk, should be selected for this crop. 
We gave full details in our first volume, of the 
best method of cultivating corn for making sugar 
and molasses, and the whole process of cutting and 
crushing the stalk, and boiling and granulating the 
juice. Little important has since been discover¬ 
ed in the way of improvement. Some, however, 
prefer cultivating it in drills as recommended above 
for fodder, as they say it is not so likely to throw 
out ears; but then the stalks are smaller and the 
blades more abundant, so that the extra labor in 
stripping them would probably be equivalent to 
that of repeatedly taking off the ears. If cultiva¬ 
ted closely in drills, we doubt whether the saccha¬ 
rine matter would be as ahundant in the stalks as 
when grown wider apart; that is, we think the 
juice would contain a greater quantity ol water, 
gallon for gallon. Corn may be planted for mak¬ 
ing sugar, or for fodder, any time till the 20th of 
this month north of 40 degrees; farther south, still 
later. 
SKETCHES OF THE WEST.—NO. IV. 
We spent some little time at Lexington, and 
during our stay there, made various excursions in 
the neighborhood, and the more we saw of this de¬ 
lightful country, the more we were convinced of 
its great superiority as a farming and grazing dis¬ 
trict. 
Stocks of Messrs. Curd and Allen .—About three 
miles from Lexington, on the road to Shakertown, 
on handsome plantations lying near each other, 
resided Mr. Wm. P. Curd, and Mr. Edward Allen; 
both famous for breeding fine stocks of Irish Gra¬ 
ziers, and Berkshire swine. The former is quite 
a genius in his way, and great is his fame in fine 
pigs throughout the west; he having been one of 
the first to embark in this business, and very en¬ 
terprising and persevering in continuing it. He 
had a splendid stock, several of which were im¬ 
ported directly from England. The same may be 
said of Mr. Allen, who is one of the very best 
judges, and has as fine a taste in breeding as any 
man we ever met. And lest we should be accused 
of partialitv in our judgment, we will add of Mr. 
Allen, that although being of the same name, we 
can trace no relationship of blood between us. 
We liked the arrangements of these gentlemen 
for breeding very much, and think it suits better 
the mild climate of Kentucky, than the close pig¬ 
geries we are obliged to build for our protection 
farther north. Below we subjoin a cut explanato¬ 
ry of the same. 
a 
it m Cm 
a | a 
r» C FJ C 
a 
k j 
fe IT 
\ * 
d 
d 
d 
i , 
b 
b 
& 
Kentucky Piggery —Fig. 37. 
The spaces a, a, and b, b, may contain areas of 
grass-land of any dimensions convenient to the 
breeder, enclosed and subdivided by fences, which 
are shown by the lines above, running at right 
angles, c, c, and d, d, are pens of any suitable 
size, made of boards, with shed-roofs and plank- 
floors. These are then divided by partitions into 
four each, with doors at d , d, and c, c, opening in¬ 
to the lots a, a , and b, b; so that each pen makes 
a comfortable apartment for a breeding-sow, where 
it can be kept by itself, and have all the shelter re¬ 
quisite, together with plenty of space for grazing 
and exercise, e, is the feeding-house, which con¬ 
tains all the food necessary for the stock, and 
where kettles are set to cook it. As no stream 
runs through these lots, a well is dug here, and a 
pump placed in it, which furnishes the supply of 
water. These lots open into each other by smail 
gates, and the fences are got over by steps placed 
on each side. 
After viewing these and some other things, Mr. 
Edward Allen took us through handsome ranges 
of plantations, to the residence of his father, some 
4 miles distant. Here I saw his magnificent Dur¬ 
ham cow Princess, purchased of Mr. Henry Clay, 
Jr., who imported her from England. She is one 
of the most imposing animals we ever looked at; 
large and fine, with a spread of loin of at least 30 
inches, which is one of her best points. In addi¬ 
tion to this, she is well let down in the twist, very 
good in the brisket, a fair milker, and keeps fat on 
a small quantity of food. Indeed, Mr. Allen told 
us the greatest difficulty in the matter, was, to get 
her poor enough for good breeding condition. 
Another imported cow we found of smaller size, 
but very fine in all her parts. She handles well, 
and is a superior milker. The stocks of the plant¬ 
ers whom we visited in this excursion were not 
large, they devoting their land more particularly 
to the cultivation of hemp, of whieh they obtain 
superior crops. But on this topic having already 
pretty freely spoken in former volumes, it is un¬ 
necessary for us to dwell at greater length. 
CULTURE OF THE POTATO. 
We have read hundreds of essays on the culture 
of the potato, and yet, among them all, we do not 
find any general fixed rules in regard to the best 
method of producing a crop. When carrying on 
our own farm, we made various experiments dur¬ 
ing a series of years in this matter, and the follow¬ 
ing is the result:— . 
1. If the season proved a dry one, the plantings 
I from whole tubers of the largest sizes, produced 
