I860.] 
AMERICAN ACtPJCU IjTURIST. 
nest quality is grown upon a light alluvial loam, 
rich in vegetable matter. Lands recently cleared 
and brought under the plow, are considered the 
best. The best crops are secured in mild, warm 
seasons, with not too much rain. It never can 
be an object to grow this crop upon wet soils, or 
in mountainous regions. In the valley of the 
Connecticut, rich loams, with an admixture of 
sand, are preferred. If the land is not dry, it 
must be made so, in order to secure a good crop. 
In all cultivated soils, however well adapted 
they may be to the crop, there should be the 
most thorough preparation, both in the plow¬ 
ing, and in the manuring. Tobacco, on poor 
land, will not pay, and all who attempt it will 
soon discover it. The land should be plowed 
ten or twelve inches deep, and manured enough 
to produce a hundred bushels of corn to the 
acre. It should be thoroughly harrowed, and 
made into as fine tilth as possible. 
The season of transplanting is from the mid¬ 
dle of May, to the middle of June, according 
to the latitude. It should not be done until all 
danger from frost is over. The best time for 
the operation is immediately after a shower, or 
in rainy weather. If the rain does not favor, 
the plant bed should be thoroughly drenched 
with water, a few hours before transplanting, 
and water should be applied ■ after the setting, 
at morning or evening, as long as the plants 
droop. The distance between the plants differs 
somewhat in different localities. As a rule they 
give more space to each plant in the southern 
than in the northern States. In Virginia four 
feet each way is a common distance, and a slight 
hill is made upon which the plant is set. In 
Connecticut the rows are about the same as 
for Indian corn ; three to three and a half feet 
apart, and the plants two and a half to three feet 
in the row. It is only where the land is made 
very rich, that it will bear so close planting. 
(To be continued.) 
One ef those “ Small Plots.” 
WHAT A MECHANIC DID WITH 30 RODS OF GROUND 
-TOMATO CULTURE-SUCCESSION OF CROPS, ETC. 
We have taken frequent occasion to show how 
much pleasure, how many real luxuries, and how 
much profit may be derived from a small plot of 
ground, not only by farmers, but by mechanics, 
and indeed by all classes. We are sure that as 
a general thing the highly cultivated garden pays 
better returns for the cost of labor, manure, etc., 
than any other part of the farm. In illustration 
of what may be done, and also for the practical 
hints contained, we condense the following from 
a letter from Franklin Co., Mass., dated Aug. 29, 
but put on file for reference. The letter was not 
designed for publication, but as we omit the name, 
we shall be excused by the writer for the use we 
make of it. “... .1 love cultivating the soil so well 
(though a mechanic) that I can not help loving a 
true friend and genial companion like the Agri¬ 
culturist, which has done so much to make me 
wiser and to instruct and entertain myself and 
family. Yes ! the good it has done me, for though 
I only boast of thirty rods of ground, all told, it 
would do you good to witness the beautiful flow¬ 
ers that cheer with their beauty and fragrance 
my ‘ humble home,’ for the choicest of which I 
am indebted to you ; and to see also my produc¬ 
tive and w'ell ordered kitchen garden (pardon the 
vanity); and to hear the profundity of my dis¬ 
course when enthusiastically arguing with the 
more favored 1 lords of the soil.’ For all these 
we are indebted to the Agriculturist, as well as 
for the gratification its household directions, its 
pictures, and its stories, afford to wife and chil¬ 
dren. You would be cheered by the interest 
manifested by all, the little ones included, as the 
time for receiving a new number approaches.... 
Though living in a farming country, I know but 
few real admirers of ‘ the most healthful, the most 
useful, and the most noble employment of man.’ 
So I content myself with my little garden, and 
play farming, hoping for the time when it shall be 
my sole employment._But I find that (with 
your help) even my play farming is a profitable 
game. Thus: 
I have a small hot-bed 13 ft. by 3£, with which 
I commence the sport in the Spring, get off a 
crop of small salads by the time that the tomato 
plants are ready for their first transplanting, then 
fill the bed with these little plants. I sold fifteen 
dollars’ worth last Summer, besides having plenty 
for myself. After they were off, I sowed cabbage 
seed ; May 23, sold the plants for $1.50, and plant¬ 
ed cucumbers ; had plenty to eat, some to give to 
friends, and some to sell. The net sales from this 
little bed were $19, besides $5 worth given to 
friends and used, estimating them at the same 
price as those sold. By practising 'substantially 
the plan recommended by your Michigan corres¬ 
pondent described in Yol. XVIII (page 142, May 
No.), I raise finer plants, and consequently get 
better prices for my plants than those who nei¬ 
ther read nor think. I obviate the necessity for 
the first transplanting thus : When the tomato 
plants have formed the first rough leaf, I draw a 
knife along the rows about one inch below the 
surface, to cut off the tap roots ; then I put about 
one inch of soil between the rows, to enable the 
plants to form the small fibrous roots. 
I have sold from my garden $12 wortlrof plants 
and vegetables, and have still plenty left to use 
and to sell; thus you see my dear friend, you and 
I together have sold $31 worth from our 15 rods 
of ground devoted to that purpose ; and we have 
yet to gather our Lima beans, (tardy beans here) 
several bushels of tomatoes worth $2 a bushel 
here, 150 lbs. or so, of Hubbard Squash, 30 bunch¬ 
es of celery, 50 heads of cabbage, a sprinkling of 
Kohl Rabi, etc., etc. 5 and we have besides al¬ 
most a load of manure made from the offal of the 
garden, and we have enjoyed Spring salads, feast¬ 
ed on green peas and new potatoes, (celery on the 
ground now), reveled in a profusion of strawber¬ 
ries and raspberries,improved our minds, strength¬ 
ened our bodies,entertained our friends, and pleas¬ 
ed and instructed our children. We have already 
started our cold frame for next Spring, and if there 
is one thing which we are grateful for more than 
another at this time, it is for your directions in 
this department....” 
“ Hungarian Millet” in Iowa. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist : 
I notice the article on Hungarian Grass or 
millet on page 355, Nov. No., and cheerfully give 
my experience with a first crop : 
June 17, sowed three bushels of seed on six 
acres (rain June 19). Seed came up 22d. Cut 
and stacked Sept. 1 to 10, in the same manner as 
Timothy. Weighed one load, estimated at £ tun, 
but Fairbanks’ Scales indicated 1750 ibs , it being 
much heavier than the same bulk of Timothy. 
Estimating the whole crop by this load, the six 
acres yielded thirty three tuns, or 5£ tuns per acre. 
Nov. 10, threshed the hay with a machine, reserv¬ 
ing five tuns to feed out with the seed on ; yield 
140 bushels of clean good seed, being 2S bush¬ 
els per acre. Soil very light, some sandy but 
rich. I am confident a good crop maybe secured 
every year by seeding between June 15, and July 
15, there being plenty of time for it to mature af¬ 
47 
ter the latter date, on rich well pulverized soil— 
for example on ground in potatoes the previous 
year. By delaying to the above dates, all othei 
seeding is done, which is a great consideration. 
But the all important one is, the land is their dry 
and warm, and the sun hot, which causes the seed 
to vegetate at once. Sow without delay as soon 
as the ground is prepared. As far as practicable 
prepare the ground one day, and sow, harrow, and 
roll the next, not waiting to prepare a large field, 
and thereby give the weeds a start of the grass. 
I have in part, wintered horses and colts on it the 
last two Winters, and know no reason why it is 
not as good for stock as Timothy. J. A. Green. 
Muscatine Co., Iowa , Dec. 1859. 
P. S.—It may be of interest to state that in the 
Fall of 185S, the Hungarian Seed was abundant 
here at 50 els per bushel; but in the Spring of 
1859, it was raised to $2 50 per bushel ; while in 
the Fall of 1859 it commanded only 62£ cents 
per bushel. J. A G. 
Remarks. —The high price last Spring was 
doubtless owing to the humbug Honey-blade 
Grass fever, and the large purchases of the Hun¬ 
garian Millet, by those engaged in that swindle, 
which we exposed last May. In the Winter we 
procured some seed for distribution which cost 
us$2 a bushel here (it cost less than $1 where 
procured at the West), but before mid-summer it 
was held at $3@$4 in this city, and was sold in 
some places at $5 to $3 per bushel.—En ] 
Hungarian Millet in Rhode Island.— 
“ Henri,” writing to the Agriculturist from Sher- 
mantown, R. I., states that he sowed ten acres 
on the 1st of June, and cut about thirty tuns ot 
fodder, which after frial he considers fully equal 
to herds-grass. 
--4 Tfffl ->-<t - 
To Prevent Forked Trees from Splitting 1 . 
Every year many valuable trees, fruit and 
ornamental, are destroyed by the splitting of their 
trunks at the branching of the limbs. Surround¬ 
ing the tree with iron hoops has sometimes been 
tried, but seldom with success. Inarching, or 
grafting the limbs on one side of the crotch to 
those on th« other, has proved more efficacious. 
Bolting is another remedy, and, if well done, is a 
good one. 
Several years ago, a fins maple on our premi¬ 
ses began to split, and we treated it as fol¬ 
lows : Taking an auger of suitable size, we bored 
a hole through the center of the trunk where the 
split appeared, and inserted an iron bolt of the 
same size, having a large flat head on one end, 
and a screw on the other. 'The bolt having been 
driven through, a nut was put on the screw-end, 
and turned up snugly against the tree. Since 
then, the tree has flourished as well as before, 
the bark has grown entirely over the bolt-head 
and screw, and no signs of splitting have again 
appeared. A hole is sometimes bored, aud a 
wooden pin driven in for the same purpose. 
Oiier or Basket Willows. 
The Connecticut Courant states that Col. Colt, 
of that place, has raised 35 to 50 tuns of these 
willows upon the dykes along his premises on the 
Connecticut river. So well has the experiment 
succeeded, that he has recently planted 17 acres 
besides those growing upon his dykes, and next 
Spring he contemplates adding 50 acres more. 
He is about erecting a factory which shall give 
employment to 80 or 100 persons in manufacturing 
the osieis into baskets, chairs, cradles, etc. Per¬ 
haps he will make it pay, we believe others have 
not generally succeeded well in this country 
