I 860 .] 
A ERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Ill 
We have about 50 cows, and from 5 to 7 persons 
who do the milking, and one who attends to 
straining the milk as fast as brought to the milk- 
bench adjoining the yard. Usually about 9 quarts 
are strained in each pail. If, however, the weath¬ 
er is cool, more is added, if warm, less. Our 
cellar is kept quite dark, and free from any cur¬ 
rent of air. We think too much light bleaches 
the cream, and too much air dries its surface. 
When the weather becomes warm, ice is used to 
cool the butter fit for working, which is quite 
necessary, as it is hardly possible to work soft 
butter to any advantage. We are quite careful 
when using the ladle, not to draw it over the sur¬ 
face of the butter, but to extract the buttermilk 
by gashing and pressing. We think the drawing 
of the ladle on the butter, creates an oily surface, 
and changes its solidity, which causes it to be¬ 
come rancid. Ashton salt is used, about one 
ounce to the pound of butter, yet we have dis¬ 
covered a remarkable difference in what is called 
Ashton salt, some dissolving easily, some other¬ 
wise—I have sometimes thought that Ashton 
sacks were filled with Salina salt. Our firkins 
are filled with water, and soaked about 24 hours 
before packing in them. When filled within an 
inch of the top, we spread a clean cloth on it and 
put on half an inch or more of salt, then make a 
brine so strong that no more salt will dissolve in 
it, and pour the firkin full. We think brine can 
not be made strong enough to prevent the top of 
the butter from changing its color and becoming 
rather light upon the surface, but salt and brine 
united, will keep the butter without change. 
Chemung 'County. 
Cultivation of the Sweet Potato. 
In a fine engraving, in our sanctum, we have 
at least a half bushel of this esculent spread upon 
a rustic table, and General Marion is inviting a 
British officer to dine with him. Sambo has just 
taken them from the glowing coals, and from ap¬ 
pearances, sweet potatoes roasted, will constitute 
all the courses of the sumptuous repast. It is 
Cl universal crop of the South, growing as lux¬ 
uriantly in the tobacco fields of Virginia, and in 
the cotton fields of the Carolinas, as upon the fat 
sugar lands of Louisiana and Texas. It is found 
in almost every mansion and cabin south of the 
Potomac, and in later years it is invading the 
North, and can be cultivated economically in the 
latitude of this city, and as a garden product in 
every State of the Union. It is a highly nutri¬ 
tious and palatable vegetable, and though less in 
•aggregate value than several other crops, it would 
be missed as greatly as any crop in the country. 
The sweet potato is said to be a native of the 
South, and the facility with which it is grown in 
almost all soils, and under all circumstances, fa¬ 
vors this supposition. All around the Mexican 
Gulf it lives in the ground without protection 
through the winter, and the article is to be seen 
in the New-Orleans market in the greatest abun¬ 
dance throughout the year. The cultivation in 
the Southern States is generally of the most care¬ 
less kind, without manure, and with much less 
tillage than is bestowed upon cotton, corn, or to¬ 
bacco. It is not a crop relied upon for sale, and 
is therefore apt to be neglected. Yet under this 
chance cultivation the yield is generous, and a 
large supply of food for man and beast, is pro¬ 
duce: with very little labor. In the cotton and 
sugar regions, the aim of the planter is to pro¬ 
duce just enough for home consumption. It is 
omy in the vicinity of cities and seaports, that 
they are grown for the northern market to any 
considerable extent. The last census shows a 
total product of thirty-eight millions of bushels of 
sweet potatoes for the whole country. With a 
larger market, the crop might be easily increased 
to any desirable extent. 
The Preservation op Seed —During the win¬ 
ter this is one of the greatest difficulties north¬ 
ern cultivators have to contend with. In the 
South it is easily managed. A clump or stack 
is made of them out of doors, very much as an 
English farmer would stack up his turnips. Any 
convenient place is selected in the garden, or in 
some enclosure to keep off cattle, and hogs. If 
the spot is sandy or otherwise well drained, it is 
all the better. A platform is raised about a foot 
high, of earth, or boards, as may be convenient. 
Upon this the pile of tubers is heaped in the shape 
of a cone, or pyramid, as suits the fancy of the 
overseer. When this is raised four or five feet 
high, it is covered with boards, or thatched with 
straw, or pine leaves, or any convenient litter, 
and then covered with dirt a few inches in thick¬ 
ness. A small hole in the top gives ventilation. 
The more careful planters construct a rude shed 
or hovel over the heaps to keep off the rain. 
But in our cold climate, where the frosts of 
November spoil every unprotected tuber, it re¬ 
quires considerable skill to carry them through 
the winter. The seed usually selected, is the 
small refuse tubers that are not fit for market, a 
half inch in diameter and less. The desideratum 
is a uniform low temperature, say between forty 
and fifty degrees, and perfect dryness. A com¬ 
mon method is to pack them in chaff or very dry 
saw dust, and keep them in the kitchen, or where 
a fire is kept up all the while.—We once packed 
them in a mixture of dry plaster and wheat chaff, 
and put them in a chamber warmed by the kitchen 
stove. The plaster absorbed any decaying spots, 
and about three-fourths of the quantity put in, 
came out sound. We have also packed them in 
dry coal ashes, and kept them in the furnace 
room in the cellar. These kept very well. It is 
a matter of a good deal of importance, that the 
tubers should be fresh dug and unbruised, when 
they are packed away for the winter. 
To get Sets for Planting.— In the South the 
potatoes may be planted in the hill; like our Irish 
potatoes. But with us they would either rot un¬ 
der this treatment, or come forward quite too 
late to make a crop. If only a few hills are 
wanted, the seed may be put in a small box in the 
kitchen window, or any other convenient warm 
place. A box two feet square will start a large 
number of sets. [Last year we raised a fine lot 
of sweet potatoes from plants obtained at a small 
cost from a green-house; and when such plants 
are easily obtained, it is cheaper to buy than to 
raise them, if only a hundred or so are wanted.] 
But if they are to be grown on a larger scale, 
a hot-bed should be prepared for them, from the 
middle to the last of April, according to latitude. 
The edges of the bed may be made with any 
convenient rough boards, say four feet in width, 
fifteen inches in depth, and long enough to hold 
the desired quantity of potatoes. Fill up the in¬ 
closed space with horse-manure in a fermenting 
state, and tread down to about ten inches in 
thickness, and cover with three inches of sandy 
loam. If sand is not in the garden loam in good 
quantity, it should be added, as it is a great pro¬ 
tection against the rotting of the potatoes. After 
this is raked over, and all the fine lumps broken, 
put on the tubers in rows about an inch apart, 
and cover with two inches of sandy loam. The 
hot-bed may be covered with glass, or with fine 
straw, as suits the circumstances of the farmer. 
If the latter, the litter should be very fine, and 
about six inches in thickness, and if ruinr come 
on, boards should be laid over to keep the litter 
dry. 
The bed should be examined daily by uncover¬ 
ing a small place and thrusting in the hand to see 
if the temperature is too high. The object is to 
keep up a gentle heat that will promote vegeta¬ 
tion. If too warm, uncover during the day, and 
cover up again at night. In about two weeks the 
bed, if properly managed, will begin to give signs 
of the shooting plants. But this kind of protec¬ 
tion is much more difficult to manage than glass, 
and every cultivator who lives within reach of a 
carpenter, should have sashes for his hot-bed. 
There is much less danger of overheating, and 
the .direct rays of the sun hasten the sprouting ot 
the plants. When the shoots are up three or four 
inches high, they are ready to transplant. 
The Preparation of the Soil.— However 
this crop may flourish upon its native soil with 
little attention, it will not pay at the North, unless 
it have extra manure and cultivation. The most 
favorable soil is a sandy loam, the sand largely 
predominating, with a good southern exposure. 
After thorough plowing and manuring broadcast 
with an abundant supply of yard compost, the 
rows should be marked off four feet apart, and 
the hills be formed three to four feet asunder. 
The hills should be raised about a foot high, with 
a shovelful of cow manure in the middle. The 
most of this work of hilling can be done with the 
plow, by ridging the land, and then cutting the 
ridges at right angles. Old cultivators recom¬ 
mend the manure of neat stock as a specific fer¬ 
tilizer for this crop. 
Transplanting. —The young plants may be re¬ 
moved from the tuber by the thumb nail, without 
disturbing it in the bed. A succession of young 
plants may be taken at intervals of about a week, 
so long as they are wanted for planting. The 
plants are hardy, and about as likely to live as 
cabbage plants after the third week in May. As 
a rule, they will grow when corn will. 
After Treatment.— In hoeing, draw the dirt 
up toward the plant until the hill is eighteen 
inches to two feet high. This gives them the full 
benefit of the air and sun during the Summer 
As the vines commence running, they should he 
examined once in two weeks, to see that they do 
not strike roots at the joints. If left undisturbed, 
they begin to form tubers, and draw away nour¬ 
ishment from those in the hill. The vines are 
rampant growers, and, in congenial soil and cli¬ 
mate, will cover the whole ground. 
Gathering the Crop. —This will depend 
somewhat upon location. As a rule they will 
grow until the frost kills the vines, and they 
should be gathered immediately after the first 
frost. If suffered to remain after this, the deli¬ 
cate flavor of the potato is injured. They should 
be housed immediately, and kept in a cool dry 
place until they are consumed. 
As a garden vegetable, in places remote from 
seaports, we think it will pay to raise the sweet 
potato. The flavor is not, perhaps, quite equal to 
that of the Southern grown article, though, as this 
is a matter of taste, there would be a difference ot 
opinion. If well cooked, we will warran t that no 
housekeeper will find them a drug upon the ta¬ 
ble. The vine is one of the most beautilul ot 
all trailing plants, and might worthily have a 
place in the flower border. 
To Repel Insects.— An English journal says 
that leaves of the common Elder bush scattered 
among cucumber and melon vines, will keep off 
the bugs which infest them. Has any one in this 
country tried it 1 And if so, with what success 1 
