AMEEiCAK ACrEiClTLTttEiSi’ 
291 
lots could not be renovated, to which he replied, 
“ ashes, either leached or unleached will do it.” 
He had applied them to land which would not 
produce half a ton of hay per acre, and the next 
year he took a large crop from the same land. 
Other intelligent farmers told me the same thing; 
but added they, “ where can we get the ashes ? 
we want all we can make for our corn.” 
Berkshire has one of the oldest, if not the old¬ 
est Agricultural Society in the State, and I ex¬ 
tremely regretted that my time was so limited 
that I could not glean facts from the officers 
and members to enrich the columns of your pa¬ 
per. It is also classic ground. I visited the 
house where President Edwards wrote some of 
the greatest works ever penned since the days 
of the apostles—was in the room where he 
wrote—saw the cupboard where he kept his li¬ 
brary, and the little breakfast room where he 
parted with his family, after which, going out to 
the gate opening into the street, he returned, 
and again commended them to God. He then 
went to Princeton, to enter upon the duties of 
President of the College, took the small-pox, 
and in a few days ceased from all earthly labors. 
I also visited the old Indian mission-house, which 
has been removed from the green near the 
church, and which is now occupied as a barn. 
I also stepped down into the cellar of the Indian 
King’s palace. I also visited the old burying- 
ground, and there found the grave of the Hon. 
Timothy Edwards, eldest son of President Ed¬ 
wards, which brought fresh to my recollection 
the circumstance of his having spent a night at 
my house in 1804. After seating himself in his 
carriage, as he took my hand to give'it a parting 
squeeze, he congratulated me on a fair prospect 
of a family, having four boys with but a little 
more than a year between their ages. He said, 
“there is but one mode of family government, 
and that is the same which the Emperor of 
China exercises over his subjects.” “ I have,” 
continued he, “brought up and educated 14 
boys, two of whom I brought, or rather grew up 
without the birch. One of these was Pierpont 
Edwards, my youngest brother, the other Aaron 
Burr, my sister’s son. I tell you, sir, maple su¬ 
gar government will never answer; and beware 
how you let the first act of disobedience in these 
little boys go unnoticed, and unless evidence 
of repentance be manifested, unpunished.” Of 
all the sermons I have ever heard, long or 
short, this has been among the most useful, so 
far as this world is concerned. 
Berkshire has been celebrated for good 
schools. The old Academy at Lenox is in suc¬ 
cessful opperation in both male and female de¬ 
partments ; there is also a private school for boys, 
for a very limited number, kept by Mr. Hotch- 
kin, for many years the preceptor of the Acad¬ 
emy. He takes the boys and fits them for col¬ 
lege rather for amusement than for profit. There 
is also a female boarding-school. Also at Pitts¬ 
field there are schools of a high order. The Fe¬ 
male Academy is highly spoken of. The private 
boarding-school for boys, of Mr. Charles Diling- 
ham, has a high reputation. Miss Hinsdale has 
also a private select boarding-school for young 
ladies, in fair repute. Here is a Medical institu¬ 
tion, and a Gymnaseum, all of which may be 
traced back to the early provision made by the 
first settlers of this town for primary sehools, 
by raising a permanent fund and setting it apart 
for this purpose. Let those who despise popu¬ 
lar education think of this. 
The cars pass through a rough, mountainous 
country, from Pittsfield to Westfield, and noth¬ 
ing can be said of agriculture on this route. 
There are many shreds and patches of rye, corn, 
and potatoes, from two to four yards square, 
and houses 12 by 10, and 16 by 20 feet, with 
plenty of intelligent children, many of whom 
will be yet reaping and harvesting their thou¬ 
sand acre fields of wheat and corn in the far 
west at no distant period, in consequence of their 
early training in a 7 by 9 school-house. 
Westfield is a beautiful old town, lying in the 
form of a basin, and surrounded by hills. The 
old academy stands as it did when I listened to 
its dedication, by Dr. Lathrop, with a crowded 
assembly, in the year 1798. Ever since it has 
been in successful operation as a literary insti¬ 
tution. I was happy to find in Mr. W. G. Goldth- 
wait, the present preceptor, a warm and devoted 
advocate for scientific as well as practical agri¬ 
culture ; and although this subject forms no part 
of the acadamic course, it is to be hoped he will 
diffuse the same spirit into some of his pupils. 
There is in this town an agricultural club, which 
is exerting considerable influence. There is 
much good land, and quite as much very poor, 
but capable of being made very productive. A 
Mr. Miles has several acres of as poor sandy 
land as lies out doors, on which he has raised 
potatoes for several years in succession. His 
process is to plow and harrow, then sow it with 
leached or unleached ashes, strike out the fur¬ 
rows with a piece of joist, in which pins are put 
three feet apart. If the potatoes are large, cut 
in four pieces, and plant two pieces in a hill; if 
middle size, one potato without cutting; if small, 
two potatoes in a hill without cutting. He then 
covers, and when up, turns two furrows over 
them, and when up again, turns two furrows 
to the hill the other way. In this manner the 
ashes are thrown upon the potatoes, and they 
are dug, and keep through the winter free from 
rot. As I took this account from a third per¬ 
son, Mr. S. will correct all errors in my relating 
it. A Traveler. 
■—-«•-*- 
STORING POTATOES. 
The following results obtained by my plan of 
storing may prove useful. 1. Twelve sacksful 
of potatoes, lifted October 25th, 1853, stored 
wdth lime, the lime being placed in small bun¬ 
dles in the middle of each sack. Tubers all 
preserved; whereas some of the same potatoes, 
stored without lime, were much affected. 2. 
Fifty bushels of potatoes, dug up towards the 
end of October, were pitted with three bushels 
of quicklime, the latter being placed at the bot¬ 
tom of the pit, and covered over with a thick 
layer of Gorse. On opening the pit it was 
found that the diseased tubers did not amount 
to more than two dozen. Tubers stored in the 
ordinary way, in pits without lime, were almost 
entirely destroyed by disease. 3, 4, 5. Potatoes 
stored with and without lime quite untouched 
by the disease. 0. Roots stored in a large chest 
or box with lime, and the latter being placed in 
a small clothes-basket, and covered over with 
faggots. On opening the box the tubers were 
found quite healthy, whilst some that had been 
kept in a cellar without lime, were much dis¬ 
eased. 7. Twenty bushels of the tubers were 
placed in a large bin with three bushels of lime, 
the latter forming a stratum at the bottom, and 
covered over with a thick layer of coarse cin¬ 
ders. At the end of three months the roots 
were found to be quite sound, whilst another 
lot which had been put into another bin without 
lime were very much diseased. 8. Potatoes 
housed in sacks, one or two large lumps of lime 
being put into each sack, tubers quite dry, and 
all preserved. 9. Potatoes first dried by expo¬ 
sure on a gravel walk to the heat of the sun, 
and then stored away in lai’ge boxes with lime, 
all healthy. Tubers housed in their natural 
condition become diseased. 10. Potatoes housed 
with lime, all healthy. 11. Same result. 12. 
Several bushels of potatoes were pitted with 
lime, and when examined, at the expiration of 
several months, were found to remain untouched 
by the disease. Roots pitted without lime be¬ 
came quite rotton, 13. Two or three hundred 
bushels of potatoes w r ere divided into four equal 
lots. Three of these were pitted with lime, the 
other in the ordinary way. In the first of the 
three lots stored with lime, the lime was placed 
at the bottom of the pit, with the proper pre¬ 
cautions ; in the second it was thrown into a 
conical heap in the center of the tubers; and in 
the third and last, it was placed on top of the 
potatoes, being separated from the latter by a 
layer of brushwood, &c. On examining the 
tubers at the end of some months those in the 
first pit were found to be much diseased, whilst 
those contained in the other three were nearly 
healthy. “ The best result,” says this corres¬ 
pondent, “ I am disposed to think was obtained 
by placing the lime on the top of the tubers, 
and this is the plan I intend to follow.”— Thorn¬ 
ton J. Eerapath, Mansion House, Old Park, 
Bristol, in Gardeners' Chronicle. 
TOP-DRESSING FOR GRASS LAND. 
We find, in the last received Marie Lane Ex¬ 
press, the following “ Observations Addressed to 
the Tenantry of his Grace the Duke of Devon¬ 
shire, within the Buxton Agency.” We copy 
the article because it contains some suggestions 
equally useful to the farmers of this country. 
That there is a great extent of grass land, 
both in meadow and in pasture, in the district 
of the High Peak, capable of being made much 
more productive, I think no one will venture to 
deny ; and it is with this conviction that the 
following observations and suggestions arc made. 
In doing so I am not desirous to urge any one 
to enter upon what may appear to them to be 
doubtful experiments, or to induce an outlay 
which will not prove speedily remunerative; 
but all will be ready to admit that it is 
to their interest to increase the quantity and 
to improve the quality of their hay crops, 
and to render their pastures capable of car¬ 
rying a greater quantity of stock, if these re¬ 
sults can be obtained by an expenditure in ar¬ 
tificial manures, or by any other means which 
shall be reproductive, and shall commence to 
be so immediately after being applied or adop¬ 
ted. 
The advantage of top-dressing grass lands, 
whether in meadow or pasture, as well as corn 
crops, has now become generally appreciated 
by all good farmers, as is practically proved by 
the increasing consumption of guano, bones, ni¬ 
trate of soda, and other artificial manures, the 
demand for which at the present time is unpre¬ 
cedented. This is in some measure to be attri¬ 
buted to the great breadth of land under tillage, 
induced by the high price of corn, but in no 
small degree to the general effort making at im¬ 
proved cultivation throughout the kingdom. 
The part they have acted in the rapid advance 
of agriculture is universally admitted. 
By the use of them the produce of this coun¬ 
try in grain and in roots has been within the 
last few years enormously increased. Meadow, 
and second-rate pasture land, has not made the 
same advance in improvement, while of their 
capability there can be no doubt. Great atten¬ 
tion is however now being given to this subject. 
While such marked success has rewarded the 
efforts which have been directed to the im¬ 
provement of arable land, surely the high price 
of cattle, sheep, and wool, present at this time 
powerful inducements to endeavor to extract 
the same profitable results from grass land; and 
there is no other district of such description of 
land in England so capable of improvement by 
the use of light manures, as the extensive up¬ 
land pastures and meadows of the Peak of Der¬ 
byshire. Their height above the sea renders 
the time at which vegetation begins to move in 
spring generally rather late, and forms an addi¬ 
tional reason for supplying to the roots of the 
grasses at that period the stimulus and new 
food which these manures afford, operating to 
bring the hay crops in the meadows to earlier 
maturity, increasing their bulk, and improving 
their quality, and giving to their pastures an 
exuberance and vigor which will show itself in 
the color and thickening of the herbage, and in 
the growth of stock. They offer the best means 
of bringing an upland grass farm out of condi¬ 
tion up to a state of average productiveness, or 
of raising it to a higher level. 
meadows. 
There are few farms, and especially grass 
farms, on which yard manure is produced an¬ 
nually in sufficient quantities to bring the mea- 
