AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
405 
The yield of that first cutting was, in bulk more 
than equal to three tons of hay. In weight 
being green, it was, of course, still more in ex¬ 
cess of hay. 
The second cutting, from the 1st to the 12th 
of July, (the weather having been dry,) was not 
equal to half the first. 
Now, August 14th, the weather continuing to 
be dry, it is burnt up. It has made no growth 
since the second cutting. Red clover, in infe¬ 
rior land and cut at the same time, is now far 
ahead of it, thrice as large. I am plowing it 
under, satisfied that, in as good ground as can 
be given it, lucern will not endure dry weather, 
which it must do to live in our climate. 
Horses like it, as well as cows, and seem to 
do quite as well on it as on any grass ; and," with 
its enormous yield, it must be very profitable in a 
moist climate. Its roots are very strong, thick, 
and deep-running, and seemingly capable of 
reaching moisture if to be found any where 
within two feet of the surface.— Evening Post. 
-. •« -_ 
For the American Agriculturist. 
QUERIES ABOUT FRUIT TREES, &c. 
MUCK-FERTILIZERS—DIRECT PROFIT FROM 
READING THE AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST—CUT¬ 
TING TOPS FROM CORN, &C. 
I have just moved into a place which is 
sadly deficient in fruit, and I am very anxious 
to set out an orchard this fall, and have good 
land already under cultivation with corn or root 
crops for the purpose of preparing it by tillage, 
for that purpose. I desire to set out apples, 
cherries, pears, apricots, peaches, (plums if 
there is any chance of success, for the black 
warts came on a few already on the place, faster 
than I can find time to cut them off and burn 
them.) I design to sub-soil and underdrain _ 
but I am short of manure, and cannot wait to’ 
make it through the barn-yard, as it will delay 
my fruit beyond our anxious desires. What 
shall I do? I have hit upon this expedient as 
the only alternative, and would like your opin¬ 
ion of it. In my woods there are low places 
where water stands six to eight months in the 
year, and there is a large accumulation of de¬ 
cayed leaves, (thoroughly decayed) which I 
have been digging and carting upon the ground 
in a heap, preparatory to spreading on the 
land, ( a ) either with or without composting with 
other ingredients, as the information I may ob¬ 
tain, shall lead me to decide. I have thought 
of adding lime, salt, wood ashes, and fine char¬ 
coal, (if I could obtain them,) Plaster of Paris, ( b ) 
mix them all thoroughly together, and spread 
it over the land thick, plow it in, sub-soil, and 
make the ground mellow, and then, either on 
transplanting or after treatment, use “ special 
manures” somewhat in accordance with the 
suggestions of Mr. J. J. Thomas, in his “ Am¬ 
erican Fruit-Culturist.” Would not poudrette 
be good to mix in with the earth at the time of 
transplanting ?(<■) Can I not in this way start an 
orchard this fall, with a fair prospect of success ? 
with a prospect of a small supply of fruit in a 
short time, to be increased, and extended here¬ 
after when time will give me a good compost 
heap to start with ? 
On this farm is a large pasture lot, in which is 
some two or three acres of bog, made so by 
springs and neglect, to drain thoroughly, which 
I intend to do immediately. This will furnish 
me a large quantity of good muck, to increase 
the manure heap ; but I can’t use it to advan¬ 
tage immediately on the fruit orchard, can I? 
The rotten leaves are probably the accumulation 
of ages, (4) and are so free from every other 
substance that a man will strike the whole 
length of a spade into the mass as it lies in 
the woods, without the help of the foot, and 
it crumbles in the hand like Indian meal, when 
caked a little. Is not this about as good as it can 
be ? Your remarks on the subject at an early 
day, will very much oblige a subscriber, and 
probably furnish an acceptable and useful arti¬ 
cle to many of your readers. 
One word as to the “ Agriculturist.” I could 
not think of doing without it. I have been a 
subscriber only this year, and shall never do 
without it as long as I have an acre of ground 
to till, for it is no exaggeration when I say it has 
been worth to me already more than twenty 
times its cost.(e) It has been the means of 
supplying me with two acres of the very best 
fodder (corn) just at the time when the dry 
weather is cutting grass short, to say nothing 
of many other ways in which I have been ben- 
efitted by it. So continue sending it, as hereto¬ 
fore. 
When a boy I served a short apprenticeship 
at farming (four years) in Connecticut, and 
then it was the custom to cut off the stalks and 
corn just above the ear. What do you think of 
the practice! (f) A Subscribf.r. 
Clinton, Essex Co., Mew-Jersey, July, 1854. 
The above letter contains several good sug¬ 
gestions, and we print it entire. It was punc¬ 
tuated, paragraphed, &c., nearly ready for the 
printer. We are glad to have writers do this, 
when they are familiar with doing so. 
( a ) This is a very good plan. 
( b ) Either or all of these substances are ben¬ 
eficial. Lime and ashes are among the best and 
cheapest fertilizers for fruit trees. If the soil 
is clayey or compact, it will be found very ad¬ 
vantageous to mix a large quantity of muck or 
decayed leaves with it, where the trees are to 
be set out, and for a considerable space around. 
It is better to do this before setting the trees. 
Let the ground be dug up and mixed with the 
muck quite deep—the deeper the better. We 
advise to mix the lime, &c., thoroughly with the 
muck as early as possible. It will diminish 
the caustic nature of these substances, so that 
they will not injure the rootlets, and will hasten 
the preparation of the muck for immediate ef¬ 
fect. 
(c) We would advise purchasing guano in¬ 
stead of poudrette, especially if they have to 
be transported far. Use all available home¬ 
made poudrette. 
( d ) This is a mine of wealth. 
( e ) We almost daily receive such cheering re¬ 
reports. Hundreds of acres of corn for soiling 
were sown this season at the suggestion of the 
Agriculturist, and farmers are now deriving 
great advantages from it. Will they not repay 
the benefit and assist others to like advantages, 
by 'persuading many others to become subscri¬ 
bers ? 
( f ) We do not recommend this practice. Ex¬ 
perience and chemistry teach that it is better to 
leave the stalks entire, and then cut up the 
whole stalk as soon as the eorn begins to harden. 
See our remarks upon time of Gathering Crops, 
on page 273 of this volume. They apply to corn 
as well as other crops. 
- • • •-— 
Cost of Importing Stock. —The cost of im¬ 
porting stock from Great Britain to this country 
by steamer, including commission, insurance, 
keep on board and freight, is, for a horse, $205 ; 
for a cow, $250. By a sailing vessel it would 
be from $50 to $75 less. This appears high, 
yet, we believe, all the importing companies 
have made money. The Tuscarawas (Ohio) 
Stock Company have recently sold their im¬ 
ported stock at an advance of 15 per cent, 
while some companies have made enormous 
profits. — Louisville Journal. 
Hog Prospect at the West. — Large num¬ 
bers of hogs are now being brought to this 
market for sale. The number already exceeds 
the demand, and prices have declined to $4, but 
they still come to avoid starving on their own¬ 
er’s hands at home, for there will be no corn in 
many parts to feed them on next winter; all that 
are therefore suitable are being sent to market 
to avoid one of two necessities—either to buy 
corn or sell the hogs.— St. Louis Intelligencer. 
-* <*•- 
HOO SUNG. 
Mr. Darlington :—Under the above name I 
have had in cultivation, for a number of years, 
a vegetable which I consider worthy of being 
generally cultivated. It was introduced origin¬ 
ally from China, and through the kindness of a 
friend in Illinois, (Dr. Kennicott,) I first received 
the seed. It was represented to be a delicious 
substitute for asparagus, but not knowing the 
part used as such I have not until this season 
fully discovered its value. It is a species of 
lettuce, and while young used in the same way, 
but its greatest value consists (at least such 
will be the opinion of all lovers of asparagus) in 
being an admirable substitute for that most ex¬ 
cellent vegetable when the plants are shooting 
up, and before it comes into flower; the stems 
being very tender, and when from a quarter to 
half an inch in diameter, and eighteen inches 
to two feet high, may be cut into lengths and 
cooked in the same manner as asparagus. I 
will not say that it cannot be distinguished from 
that vegetable, but I do consider it quite as de¬ 
licious, and on the same space of ground where 
a dozen dishes of asparagus can be cut after 
three or four years of patient and high cultiva¬ 
tion, one hundred may be cut of the Hoo Sung 
in three or four weelcs! I have a small patch 
going to seed, which I will distribute to any 
who wish to make a trial of it, by letting me 
know their wishes. A pre-paid letter with a 
stamp, or pre-paid envelope enclosed, will in¬ 
sure a return of the seed.—J. B. Garber, in 
Farm Journal. 
TO RAISE GIANT ASPARAGUS. 
A writer in one of the early volumes of the 
Horticulturist, (Mr. Downing, we believe,) tells 
us how to grow common Asparagus so that it 
will always rival any giant production. He 
says: 
Every one who has seen my beds has begged 
me for the seed—thinking it a new sort—but I 
have pointed to the manux-e heap—(the farmer’s 
best bank)—and told them that the secret all 
laid there. The sight was only such as might 
be seen in every garden. 
About the first of November—as soon as the 
frost has well blackened the Asparagus tops— 
I take the scythe and mow all down close to the 
surface of the bed ; let it lie a day or two, then 
set fire to the heap of stalks, burn it to ashes, 
and spread the ashes over the bed. 
I then go to my barn-vard ; I take a load of 
clean, fresh stable manure, and add thereto 
half a bushel of hen dung; turning over and 
mixing the whole together throughout. This 
makes a pretty powerful compost. I apply one 
such load to every twenty feet in length of my 
Asparagus beds which are six feet wide. With 
a strong three-pronged spud or fork, I dig this 
dressing under. The whole is now left for the 
winter. 
In the spring, as early as possible, I turn the 
top of the bed over lightly, once more. Now, 
as the Asparagus grows naturally on the side 
of the ocean, and loves salt water, I give it an 
unusual supply of its favorite condiment. I 
cover the surface of the bed about a quarter of 
an inch thick with fine packing salt; it is not 
too much. As the spring rains come down, it 
gradually dissolves. Not a weed will appear 
during the whole season. Every thing else, 
pigweed, purslin, all refuse to grow on top of 
my Asparagus beds. But it would do your 
eyes good to see the strong, stout, tender stalks 
of the plant itself push up through the surface 
early in the season. I do not at all stretch a 
point when I say that they are as large around 
as my hoe handle, and as tender and succulent 
