AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
173 
then, but now is the time to dig it out and 
throw it up into heaps to dry for Winter 
tiansportatien. When lying in its native 
bed in the swamp, it is full five-sixths water. 
What a waste of labor, then, to raise and 
hasal it in that state to the barnyard ! Dig it 
cwat now, while the swamps are comparative¬ 
ly dry, throw it into heaps, cover them if 
•possible, and in Winter it will be in fine con¬ 
dition for removal. Have you no swamp to 
■draw upon? Perhaps, then, your neighbor 
tbas an inexhaustible supply, where you 
could easily purchase a right to dig. Save 
the chips and refuse dirt from your wood- 
house and log-heaps, collect turf from your 
low and wet pastures, or from the side of 
fences where the plow and hoe cannot reach 
in the ordinary course of cultivation. 
3d. Another seasonable hint, suggested by 
the last-, relates to the draining of swamps 
and lovv lands. Now is the best time in the 
wholvj year for doing this. In Spring or 
Pall, the labor would be greater, as well as 
a hundred fold more unpleasant. Such lands, 
where there is a great flow of water at cer¬ 
tain seasons, require open drains, at least for 
•the main ditch. Branches running into this 
'central channel may be made with tile, or 
•stones. In digging the main, open ditch, it 
•is important to make the sides of it quite 
sloping prevent their caving in and filling 
•up the \vater-course. We have seen such 
■lands, which previously were almost worth¬ 
less. made the best part of several farms. 
4th. Take good care of the manure heap 
during the Summer. Too often, during the 
busy Summer season, the cleanings of the 
pig-sty and stables, and the various refuse 
matters accumulating in the rear of one’s 
premises, are suffered to be exposed to the 
sun, wind and rain, both wasting their most 
valuable properties, and filling the air with a 
noisome stench. We have often urged the 
gathering up and preservation of all fertili¬ 
zing materials, such as bones, chips, weeds, 
old plaster and lime, kitchen slops, &c., and 
we now repeat the exhortation. Let all 
these things speedily find their way to the 
©impost heap. And that heap itself should 
•be looked after. If on the north side of the 
•barn, it will be better off than on the south. 
•And if covered it will be better off still. 
&uch a covering can be made without much 
trouble or expense. Set in the ground, six, 
eight, or more posts, according to the ex¬ 
pected size of your heap, and throw over 
them a shed roof of boards or slabs, sloping 
to the south. Board up the shanty on three 
sides, leaving the north open. Now, see to 
it that a generous pile of muck, or its equiv¬ 
alent, is deposited just outside of this shed, 
and yen will be ready for operations. Wheel 
in (manure from all quarters as fast as it ac- 
emmulates, and lay it in rows or heaps the 
whole length of the shed, treading it down 
(firmly, and covering it with successive lay¬ 
ers of muck. In this way, the manure will 
be preserved from the action of the elements, 
and the volatile gasses which the Summer 
heat so rapidly evolves, willbe absorbed and 
saved. If any one thinks this won’t pay, 
let him—try it and see. 
SEED WHEAT. 
Before the 10th of September, most of the wheat 
that will yield a good crop next year will be in 
the ground, and the value of the crop will depend 
greatly on the character and condition of the 
seed. The importance of this great staple, and 
the distress resulting from a diminished supply 
of it, entitle all the aids in its production to a 
careful study. 
SELECT GOOD SEED. 
1st. Choose a kind which has succeeded well 
in soil and climate similar to your own. Intelli¬ 
gent neighbors, who have raised good wheat, can 
help much in this matter. It is not well to try 
new experiments on a large scale, unless one is 
prepared to risk a considerable loss. 
2d. Accept only that seed which is perfectly 
ripe and plump. Let no man impose on you by 
saying that smaller kernels will produce a great¬ 
er number of plants from a bushel of seed. What 
is wanted is a strong vigorous growth of wheat 
plants. This you cannot effect from half-grown 
or shriveled seed. 
3d. Never sow any but the cleanest seed. You 
can tell by examining it what its condition is. If 
the seed is good in other respects, but is foul, 
clean it yourself. But be sure to have it clean at 
all events. 
4th. Reject seed that has been kept damp, or 
has been heated. Seed that suffered either or both 
of these injuries may germinate, but it has lost a 
part of its vitality, and should never be used for 
seed if better can possibly be secured. 
5th. Do not sow mixed seed on the same ground. 
Let the seed of one sowing in the same field be 
of one kind alone. You will thus know what kind 
you are growing, and be able to compare results, 
with an approach towards accuracy. 
6th. If possible, never sow seed which is more 
than one year, or at most, two years old. Old 
seed may grow well. But it may not. Prudence 
will suggest that seed should be used before it 
has been exposed to decay, to insects, to damp¬ 
ness, or to other injurious agencies. Experience 
has taught that some of these are likely to injure 
the kernel, if it is kept after the first year. 
One way to get good seed is to select the clean¬ 
est and best spot in your wheat field, where the 
grain grows most perfectly and is most mature. 
Then harvest and thresh these portions separate¬ 
ly, with the greatest care, and save the seed for 
sowing. Pursue this course for a number years, 
and you will produce what will seem to be a new 
variety of wheat. But it will only be the same, 
developed and perfected in a higher degree. This 
operation for securing good seed will pay in eve¬ 
ry department of farming and gardening. 
A good mode of preventing smut is the following : 
Spread seed wheat on the, barn floor. Upon four 
bushels of wheat dash from 12 to 16 quarts of hu¬ 
man urine. Stir the whole well together. Then 
add about six quarts of fresh slacked lime, and 
shovel the wheat over till the lime is evenly 
diffused in the wheat. It should be sown as 
soon after this preparation as practicable ; 
for a long delay would injure its vegetative 
powers. This mode of treating seed wheat is 
deemed, in England, a specific against smut. It 
has been practised in America also by some 
wheat growers, who say it has been uniformly 
successful. Tar water will answer instead of 
urine, and is preferred by many. 
The farmer who will select and prepare his 
seed wheat according to the above suggestions, 
will greatly increase the chances in favor of his 
having a fine crop next year. 
POTATO VINES AS A MANURE. 
A new inducement for the cultivation of 
this crop may be found in the value of the 
tops as a fertilizer. It is well known that 
all vegetable substances become the food of 
other plants when they decompose, and that 
it is good economy to save all vegetable 
wastes upon the farm for manure. In some 
plants large quantities of nitrogen, potash, 
&c., are concentrated, so that they approxi¬ 
mate in value to animal wastes for manure. 
It has been well known for a long time that 
rape cake and cotton seed are good fertili¬ 
zers. From some experiments that have 
lately come under our notice, we are in¬ 
clined to think that the vines of the potato 
may be added to the list of concentrated 
vegetable manures, and that the part of the 
potato crop above ground, so generally con¬ 
sidered worthless, may prove to be no in¬ 
considerable part of its value. It has been 
our practice for years to put the tops 
of this plant, when the tubers were dug, im¬ 
mediately into the compost heap, since 
chemieal analysis shows that they contain a 
large per cent, of potash. We see in the 
last report of Secretary Flint to the Mas¬ 
sachusetts board of Agriculture, that a prac¬ 
tical farmer in Norfolk County has been ap¬ 
plying them as a top dressing to grass land. 
This farmer says “ for several years we 
have been in the habit of raising from one 
to three acres of early potatoes for market. 
We have usually dug them early in August, 
and before the tops were dead. The tops 
are taken directly from the field, and spread 
on the mowing lands to very great advan- 
age. We think the tops from an acre of 
potatoes sufficient to top dress an acre of 
mowing land, and the effect is equal to three 
or four cords of good manure. 
It is a well-ascertained fact that the stalks 
of the potato are rich in the organic ele¬ 
ments of plants. Fromberg’s analysis gives 
in 100 pounds of the leaves, in their natural 
state, 5.12 to 5.76 per cent, of nitrogen, and 
in the same weight of leaves dried, 82 to 92 
per cent, of nitrogen. According to the 
statement of this reliable chemist, every ton 
of potato tops saved would add to the soil 50 
pounds of inorganic salts and twenty pounds 
of nitrogen. This would make a ton of them 
worth more than two tons of Ichaboe guano. 
It is doubtful, however, whether the Nor¬ 
folk farmer has adopted the best method of 
using them. In spreading them upon grass 
land, in their green state, in the dog days, a 
large part of the nitrogen must be lost. A 
much safer mode would be, as soon as t'he 
potatoes are dug, to remove them to a heap 
and compost them with muck or loam. We 
have always noticed that such heaps are 
very soon thrown into violent fermentation. 
This would be a good way of decomposing 
coarse sods from swamps and marshes. All 
the ammonia evolved from the vines would 
be saved in the muck, and a large quantity 
of valuable compost would be prepared at a 
a small cost. 
Tips suggestion of the value of these tops 
for manure is worthy of careful trial by all 
who cultivate this crop. 
