AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
13 
until it nearly destroyed my whole crop excepting 
the earlier ones which had previously been mark¬ 
eted. I only saved about the seed that was plant¬ 
ed of the South American variety, and they were 
no better than the original, being watery and 
tasteless. So much for one experiment. 
I also noticed your remarks on the Dover and 
Danvera varieties, and agree with you—they near¬ 
ly resemble each other excepting the eye in the 
Dover is shaped like the letter V. 1 have raised 
very many kinds of Potatoes, and give the Dover 
die next place to the Carter for eating—and they 
save yielded more than any other of the better 
varieties of the potato family. 
There was cne curious circumstance attending 
the rot on my vines, which it is impossible for me 
to explain. On the 2d of April we cut some Car¬ 
ter and Dover potatoes for seed, and on the 6th 
planted £ aGre of Carters, and on the 9th £ acre to 
Dover seed, leaving a space between the two ot^ 
11 feet for some rows of cauliflowers. Not hav¬ 
ing Dover seed enough to finish the last row near¬ 
est the Carters, we put in 30 hills Carter seed—to 
my surprise these last showed very little of the 
rot, (whilst the other two lots were so nearly de¬ 
stroyed that we plowed them in) and the 30 hills 
yielded nearly 7 one bushel of sound Carter pota¬ 
toes with very few rotten ones among them. The 
soil, cultivation and manures were the same as 
the others. The rot has usually made its appear¬ 
ance, when a few hot days have been followed by 
a cold rain. Such has been the case with us the 
past year. We have often saved our crops by 
planting the earliest varieties and getting them to 
narket by the middle or last of July, which will 
lot allow a full crop, but we obtain much better 
prices than later in the season, and often when a 
part of the crop has been planted very late they 
have escaped. Potatoes seldom rot on land that 
has been newly cleared and the wood burnt on the 
ground. Pasture land, broken up and planted 
without manure has often saved us our Winter 
potatoes. A brother farmer planted his potatoes 
in tan, and for two years they were sound, butthe 
third year tan proved of no avail. I have mowed 
the tops, and have tried plaster and lime, but never 
saw much benefit. I procured some seedlings of 
two years from the balls, thinking new seeds 
would prove a protection, but the rot came never¬ 
theless. I have never seen any experiment that 
stood the trial of four years and proved a protec¬ 
tion, and have come to the conclusion that except 
on newly burned lands, the season being alternate¬ 
ly hot and wet, potatoes will rot, in a greater or 
less degree. Salem. 
•-< l - 
Galls on Horses. 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure. It is bad economy to use a poor harness. 
The collar, especially, should always be in good 
condition. It should be frequently washed and 
oiled ; an occasional pounding will keep it soft and 
in good shape. Whenever it becomes thin or 
broken, pads should be worn underneath it. 
Galls are occasioned, often, by putting horses 
to hard work all at once, after a period of rest, 
as in the Spring, after the rest of Winter. As a 
means of preparing the horse for such work, it is 
well to baths his breast and back with a solution 
of alum and whisky for several days before the 
labor begins. It is well to use this preparation 
also at any other time when the skin seems ten¬ 
der. We have known small sores to heal up en¬ 
tirely under the use of this remedy, even though 
the horse was kept at work. 
it is another excellent preventive of galls to 
bathe the shoulders and breast of a working 
horse once or twice a week, at night, with salt 
and water, washing off the same with pure wa¬ 
ter in the morning. 
When the skin becomes badly broken, a horse 
should be allowed a few days rest, or if work is 
very pressing, the harness should be so padded as 
not to irritate the sore ; otherwise, it will be vain 
to expect a cure. Some of our neighbors use 
white lead, mixed with linseed oil, (common 
paint,) to cure galls. And they often succeed 
with it: at least they get a hard incrustation over 
the broken skin. But we hardly fancy this tan¬ 
ning a horse’s hide while he is yet wearing it. 
- m » i Tg fti——- 
Bush and Root Pullers. 
J. M. Clark writes that he lives in Wisconsin, 
on the dividing line between the prairies and 
wood lands, where the ground is covered with a 
great amount of small bushes of various kinds, 
and inquires for the best implement for taking 
them out. If not too large, we know of no better 
implement than the one figured above. These are 
made entirely of wrought iron, and are construct¬ 
ed with two, three, or four fingers, or hooks. A 
chain is attached to a hole in the forward end. 
The hooks and shafts should be made strong. 
The weight usually ranges at about 25 pounds for 
two hooks, 37 pounds for three hooks, and 50 
pounds for four hooks. They are sold ready made 
at most agricultural stores for about 12£ cents per 
pound, or $3 to $6, according to size and weight. 
They are especially adapted to alder and willow 
bottom lands. Turned upon the back they can be 
drawn around by the team from point to point, 
and turned over to catch a root or clump of bush- 
whenever required. 
-•-«— - *-♦ -- 
Setting Pence Posts. 
We hear frequent complaints of the perishable¬ 
ness of fence posts set in the ordinary way. And 
to the suggestion that the lower end of the posts 
should be charred, it is replied that while charring 
benefits the outside of the timber, it cracks it 
open so that water penetrates the wood still fur¬ 
ther, and causes a rapid decay in the interior. 
Let us, then, make another suggestion. Char 
the lower end of the post for eighteen inches or 
two feet, so that about six inches of the charred 
part will be above the surface of the ground. 
Have- in readiness a kettle of hot coal tar, (a 
cheap article,) and plunge into it the lower end of 
each post; or apply the tar with a brush, taking 
pains to get it into the crevices. A second ap¬ 
plication is desirable, as soon as the first becomes 
dry, and will make the timber water-proof for 
many years. 
To Prevent Snow Drifts by Fences, 
Such drifts are generally caused by an eddy or 
lull of the wind, occasioned by meeting with high 
or tight fences. To obviate this, one can either 
take down his fence at the approach of Winter, 
or, what is better, build a very open fence which 
will not obstruct the wind. A wire fence will 
answer a very good purpose, but as this does not 
always work well in other respects, the same end 
may be gained by building a fence with quite nar 
row boards. Have them sawed one inch thick 
and four inches wide. Set the posts firmly, three 
feet ir. the ground. Leave a space of three inch¬ 
es between the bottom board and the ground; 
four inches between that and the second board ; 
five inches between the second and third ; seven 
inches between the third and fourth, and nine 
inches between the fourth and fifth. This makes 
a fence four feet and a few inches high, which 
answers every purpose of protection, and does 
not occasion the formation of snow-banks. Con¬ 
sidering the great inconvenience, and even dan 
ger, caused by drifts, which are often piled up 
along the highway, in some localities, above the 
neighboring fences, we think this suggestion an 
important one. 
-■ » * -ims.-- 
Luck in Farming, 
There are few words oftener upon the lips of 
a certain class of farmers than luck. Smith is a 
“ lucky dog,” because his corn never rots, his 
wheat never Winter-kills, his sheep never get in¬ 
to his rye, and his cows never invade his mead¬ 
ows and orchards. His crops are better than his 
neighbor’s, his butter brings more in the market, 
and even his wife and children have a more con¬ 
tented look than other people. Every thing he 
touches thrives. What a lucky man Smith is ! 
Now, the fact is, luck has nothing to do with 
Smith’s success in life. If you watch the man, 
you will find that every result he reaches is an 
ticipated and planned for, and comes of his own 
wit and work. It is the legitimate reward of his 
labors, and it would have been bad luck, if it had 
turned out otherwise. His corn always comes up, 
because he always selects the seed himself, and 
hangs it up by the husks in the garret where it is 
thoroughly dried. He does not plant until the 
sun has warmed the soil enough to give the germ 
an immediate start. He drains his wheat 
fields with tile, and the water that used to freeze 
and thaw upon the surface, and throw the roots 
of the wheat out, and kill them, now passes down 
into the drains, and runs off. His fields are green 
and beautiful in the Spring, when his neighbors 
are russet, brown and desolate. His fences are 
in good repair, and his animals are not made 
breacliy by the continual temptation of dilapidated 
walls. His wife and children are comfortably 
clothed and fed, and are not kept in a continual 
fret and worry by a husband and father, who has 
no system or energy in his business. “ A time and 
place for every thing,” is his motto carefully car¬ 
ried out. The Shoemaker is always called in 
when his services are needed, and none of his 
household get wet feet, catch cold, have the lung 
fever, and run up a doctor’s bill of twenty dollars, 
for want of a cent’s worth of leather at the right 
time in the right place. 
Smith does not believe in luck. He knows that 
health in the family, and thrift upon the farm de¬ 
pend upon a thousand little things, that many oi 
his neighbors are too lazy or careless to look after. 
So while they are at the tavern, or loafing in the 
village, or running a muck in politics, he is look¬ 
ing after these little things, and laying his plans 
for next year. He has good corn, even in the 
poorest year, because the soil has the extra manure 
it needed to bring out good, long, plump, well 
capped ears. He meant to have 80 bushels to the 
acre, and he has it, good measure, and running 
over. Talk with him about luck, and he will say 
to you: 
“ It’s all nonsense. Bad luck is S’otiD'v a man 
with his hands in his breeches poexets, and a pij, 
