AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[.UECEMBEK, 
380 
Foi the American Agriculturist. 
Selecting and Preserving Seed. 
Much more attention is paid than formerly, to 
the selection of seeds for the next crops. No 
item of farm labor pays more abundantly tL/.n 
this. It makes a very great difference even t i 
good land, whether we have the best seed 01 
an inferior article, plump wheat or that which 
is blasted, sound corn, with its full proportion 
of oil and starch, or that in which the starch 
has begun to mold, and the germ is but just alive. 
The latter seed may come up and grow, but it 
grows tardily, and shows the weak vitality of 
the seed all through the season. The oil and 
starch are designed to furnish nourishment to 
the germ when it first starts, before it has time 
to draw upon the aliment in the soil. The stint¬ 
ing of the plant at this critical time, affects all 
its after growth. 
Some fanners have a “ riddle ” in the winnow¬ 
ing mill for the purpose of separating the small 
grain from the large. Thus, only the largest 
kernels of rye and wheat are saved for sowing. 
This is but little trouble, and if it adds but a sin¬ 
gle bushel of grain to the acre, it pays well. 
Indian corn is best selected from the stalk, the 
best ear on stalks that bear two or more ears. 
This has been so often tried, that there is no 
doubt of an increase of crop from such seed. 
Some care should be taken of the corn after it 
is selected, as it often molds or rots upon the 
cob. If it has become glazed early, it is gen¬ 
erally enough to hang it up in bunches by the 
husks, in the loft of the corn crib, or in any other 
dry place. If this is not the case, it should have 
the benefit of artificial heat in the kitchen or 
some other place, where a fire is frequently 
kindled. All seed corn should be examined 
frequently until it is perfectly cured, which it 
should be by Christmas. 
Less care is generally taken of roots, than of 
the cereals, in selecting tubers for planting, or to 
mature seeds for another year. But they follow 
the same law of improvement, and well selected 
roots pay quite as well. From an experience 
of several years, we have come to the conclu¬ 
sion that the best seed potatoes are the size next 
above the smallest, from an inch to an inch and 
a half in diameter. There is a double gain in 
selecting this size. They are not only the best 
for planting, but there is an increase in the 
measurement of the potatoes, if the larger ones 
are sent to market. We condemn the practice 
of cutting large potatoes,because it does not leave 
starch enough in the piece to nourish the eye 
before the roots take hold of the soil. The vi¬ 
tality of the stock is diminished by this practice, 
and the tendency of the tuber to disease is great¬ 
ly increased. We have had much less rot since 
wc began to plant whole potatoes. The objec¬ 
tions to planting very large potatoes are, the 
cost of seed, and the tendency of the tuber to 
throw up more shoots than the soil about one 
hill can nourish. The small potatoes of the 
size we have indicated, are just right. We se¬ 
lect them as we sort over the potatoes for mar¬ 
ket, and put them in barrels ready for use. 
Other roots, such as turnips, beets, and car¬ 
rots, are much better selected now, than in the 
Spring. Every one has noticed the large per 
cent, of failures among roots that have been kept 
in the root bins through the Winter. A beet 
perfectly sound, and with all the appearance of 
life, often fails to grow. Smooth roots, of 
the most desirable shape, and of the largest size, 
should be selected to bear seed. They should 
be put by themselves, either buried in a pit or 
out-door cellar, or packed in sand, and kept in 
the root room or house cellar, where they will 
not freeze. The crowns will then come out in 
good condition in the Spring, and send up strong 
stalks, and mature plump seed. It is by careful 
attention to such little things as these, in their 
season, that the farmer improves his crops from 
year to year, and increases his fortune. * 
Drills better than Hills. 
This subject is worthy of more attention than 
it has yet received. We can not account for the 
persistence with which cultivators adhere to the 
old practice of always planting corn, potatoes, 
etc., in hills, when both reason and experience 
are decidedly in favor of planting in drills. The 
slight advantage gained by being able to plow 
out rows both ways is more than counterbal¬ 
anced by other considerations. We have be¬ 
come so thoroughly convinced of the advan¬ 
tages of planting in drills, both by our own ex¬ 
perience, and by observation, that we plant noth¬ 
ing in hills, with the single exception of sweet 
potatoes, which in this latitude we plant on the 
tops of small circular mounds of earth, raised up 
so as to let in sun and warm air upon all sides. 
We believe that any field which will produce 40 
bushels of corn in hills 3J feet apart each way, 
four stalks to the hill, will yield 48 to 50 bush¬ 
els if planted in drills 3j feet apart, the stalks 
10 inches apart in the drill. When four stalks 
grow together, both their leaves and roots are 
crowded, and they do not develop fully. When 
set in drills 10 inches apart, each stalk has room 
not only for its roots, but for its branches also, 
and the yield of each stalk will be fully as large 
as when crowded in hills. We have tried both 
methods thoroughly. This holds as true of po¬ 
tatoes and all other planted crops, as for com. 
Among other experiments we could name, 
here is one recently communicated to the 
Country Gentleman, by S. W. Hall: With a 
tape line, thirty three feet of a row were meas¬ 
ured off in several places in the best corn, and 
also in the average growth of fields cultivated 
under the two systems. Within this distance 
in each case the bearing ears were counted, and 
also the silks or failures. In the drilled field 
there were 50 stalks, and in that planted in hills, 
37 stalks in 33 feet. The average in both cases 
was about one ear to a stalk; the drilled corn 
yielded 13 ears above the hilled. It was also 
found that in the hills, the whole number of ears 
and silks together did not equal the ears alone 
of the drills; so that were the plants in the hills 
fed ever so well, and each silk filled, they could 
not even then have equaled the drills in yield. 
-——-- 
Blanketing the Meadows. 
“ I keep my meadows well blanketed,” said 
a subscriber to the American Agriculturist , 
who was noted for having the best hay 
crops. There was much philosophy in the re¬ 
mark. The dead leaves and stalks of grass ly¬ 
ing loosely upon the surface of a meadow at 
the beginning of Winter, form an admirable 
covering, a real “ blanket ” for the roots. In 
too many instances close mowing, and closer 
feeding of the after-growth, have completely 
stripped off this natural covering, and unless 
there happen to be abundance of snow during 
the Winter, to partly protect the roots, the grass 
is badly winter-killed. It is not too late to 
partly remedy the difficulty, if such a mistake 
has been made this year. A liberal top-dres- I 
sing of well rotted manure, or fine compost, or 
even of muck, either decomposed, or pulver¬ 
ized, will aid in protecting the roots. The 
rains and melting snows of Winter and Spring 
will also wash much of the manure down among 
the roots, and next season’s grouch will be great¬ 
ly improved, and thus repair much of the injury 
caused by too close feeding. This work should 
be done as soon as may be. If the ground be 
frozen, less damage will be done by cutting up 
the surface in driving over it. 
--- —•»»— --- 
Oyster Shell Lime—A job for Winter. 
Every oyster shell is worth several kernels of 
grain, and if properly managed it can be made 
to yield its value. There is scarcely a village 
within two hundred miles of the seaboard with¬ 
out its regular supply of these favorite bivalves, 
and in the course of a year there is a large ac¬ 
cumulation of shells. These may in most in¬ 
stances be had for the asking; the keeper of the 
saloon is glad to be rid of them. Farmers liv¬ 
ing near villages should secure the privilege of 
carting them away during the Winter, to be re¬ 
duced to lime for home use. A kiln is not ne¬ 
cessary to burn them. Make a pile of any rough 
fuel, as stumps, old roots, brush, peat, turf, etc., 
eight or ten feet square, and three feet high. 
On this spread say about fifty barrels of oyster 
shells, and cover with a layer of combustibles 
a foot thick. Bank up the sides and cover 
the top with sods. Fire the heap on the wind¬ 
ward side, and when the whole is burned, there 
will be left a large amount of valuable material 
to be used for top-dressing, or better, to mix 
with the muck heap. In some places the oyster 
shells are crushed or ground, like bones, in a 
mill. There is a mill specially devoted to grind¬ 
ing or crushing oyster shells in Suffolk County, 
Long Island. Some farmers claim that the 
ground shells last longer, and act better than 
the burned shell lime. For peaty, or cold, damp 
soils, we should prefer the caustic alkali pro¬ 
duced by burning, which is similar to common 
lime from limestone. 
Burning the Soil. 
Every one has noticed the excellent crops that 
follow the burning of brush and stumps upon a 
new clearing in the forest. This is partly ow¬ 
ing to the large supplies of vegetable matter in 
the soil, and partly to the ashes that result from 
the burning. Potash, lime, and saline matters 
are thus furnished in large quantities to the 
growing crops. Beyond the burning to get rid 
of brush and other refuse matter, very little is 
done by this method to improve the soil. In 
England it is a prominent feature of husbandry 
upon peaty soils, and upon the stiff clays. A 
piece of land that does not produce well, is 
pared and burned, if there is sufficient vegetable 
matter in the soil, and if not, the lumps of clay 
are thrown into a kiln made for the purpose 
upon the field, and burned with coal or wood. 
With some farmers the practice is, to dig the clay 
out from shallow pits, that it may be the more 
readily dried. In burning they use hedge clip¬ 
pings, furze, roots, stumps, etc., covering them 
with the clay so as to make a slow mouldering 
fire. About a hundred and fifty bushels of ashes 
are applied to the acre with the most beneficial 
results for either grain or green crops. 
The only instance of clay burning that has 
come under our own observation, was in the 
case of a large garden with a very stiff clay soil. 
