56 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[pEBEtTAKY 
Some of the Newer Potatoes. 
It may shock our pomologlcal amateurs if 
\ve declare that we consider the advent of a 
new and superior variety of potato, cabbage, or 
other culinary vegetable, of as much importance 
as the acquisition of a new pear or 
grape. Fine fruit is unfortunately on¬ 
ly of interest to the few, but a fine 
potato appeals to every one. We figure 
some of the newer potatoes, which, if 
they confirm half of what is claimed 
for them,, will prove valuable indeed. 
Early Goodrich .—The late Rev. C. 
E. Goodrich, of Utica, N. T., is grate¬ 
fully remembered for his labors to¬ 
wards the improvement of the potato. 
He raised 10,000 different seedlings, 
and this, in the opinion of competent 
judges, is best of all. It was raised from 
the seed of the Cuzco, which is itself a seedling 
from the wild Peruvian potato. The engrav¬ 
ing is half the size of an average specimen. The 
eyes are large and full, skin white and smooth, 
flesh white. As a table potato, and we have 
tried it in various ways, it is unexceptionable in 
Fig. 1. —EAELT GOODRICH. 
quality. This variety was, we think, first sent 
out in 1864, it has been tested in various parts of 
the country, and all the reports we have seen 
respecting it are unanimously in its favor. We 
have not yet grown it, but several of our friends 
assure us that it will yield from 300 to 400 
bushels to the acre, that it is as early as any, 
and that it is perfectly hardy and free from dis¬ 
ease. We are glad that the name of Mr. G. is 
to be commemorated by so excellent a variety. 
Harrison .—This is also one of Mr. Goodrich’s 
seedlings, and it came from the same seed ball 
as the early Goodrich. It is a handsome 
white potato, with very small depressed eyes. 
It was named by Mr. Goodrich in compliment 
to Mr. A. W. Harrison, of Philadelphia, an ac¬ 
count of whose experiments was given in De¬ 
cember last. It matured in September and was 
the most productive of all the varieties tried 
by him. We have only been able to make a 
single trial of their quality, and found them to 
cook mealy and to be of very good flavor. 
^'■Monitor ."—This is said to be a seedling raised 
by Mr. D. A. Bulkley, of Mass., but it appears 
so much like the Prairie Seedling, that, judging 
from the tubers alone, we should say they were 
identical. A comparison of the two in growth 
will be necessary to settle the question. It is very 
Fig. - 2. —HARRISON. 
large, somewhat flattened, and rather square in 
outline. It has a pinkish rusty coat and very 
deeply sunken eyes. It has the reputation of 
being a great bearer and of good quality for the 
table. The figure of this, as well as of the 
others, is of half the actual size of good spe¬ 
cimens. In order to save our readers trouble, 
we will state that we have heard of none of the 
Harrison being for sale this year, and that the 
others are each advertised, by several dealers. 
A Good Back for Horse Stables. 
The illustration shows a rack and manger 
superior to many in common use. The horses 
may be fed without entering the stable. Boys 
can clean out the mangers and feed horses that 
they dare not approach, nor handle. The rack 
and manger constitute the partition between 
the stalls and the feeding room. B is the side 
of the stall, G is the flap for holding hay 
against the slats of the rack. This flap is hung 
with hinges to the casing below it, with the front 
edge supported by a small chain, rope or strap 
{F\ fastened to a joist above. The upper side 
should be planed, so that the hay will slide 
downward readily. After the hay has been laid 
RACK AND MANGER. 
on the flap, it is raised up until the catch, 
D, attached to the joist, receives the edge. The 
proper position for the flap is at an angle of 
about forty-five degrees. Hay will then slide 
down so as to be reached by the horse. E rep¬ 
resents the shutter to the manger, which should 
be so narrow that a horse cannot possibly thrust 
his head through. The flap on which the hay 
rests may be buttoned close up against the slats. 
This feature will, be found convenient when 
thrashing, to exclude dust from the stable. The 
slats should not be more than three inches apart 
in the clear. If the spaces are wider than this, 
horses will pull out hay faster than it is eaten. 
By having the slats of the rack placed perpen¬ 
dicularly, hay seed and chaff can never fall on 
the necks and heads of animals, as they other¬ 
wise will. This is a good style of rack for neat 
cattle, when made at the proper hight. The 
correct hight of a manger for horses is, a little 
lower than they ordinarily carry their heads. 
When a manger is built too high, any animal 
will waste more feed than if it is made low. 
Hollow Logs for Water-trougbs, etc. 
Hollow logs are often considered worthless 
except for fire wood, and neglected for this pur¬ 
pose because they are so hard to split. This 
very quality makes them the more valuable for 
the purpose we suggest. Select a straight log 
8 to 16 feet long, of suitable diameter; cut it 
squarely at each end. Then cut a notch with 
an axe or saw about ten inches from each end, 
and one quarter way through the log, making 
the notches of exactly the same depth if the 
log is cylindrical, and accurately corresponding 
in position. Then take out the wood between, 
the notches, clean out the inside and trim the 
edges with an adze. How saw out two pieces 
of inch or inch-and-a-half board for the ends, 
which shall be large enough to lap a full inch 
HOLLOW LOG FOR WATER-TROUGH. 
beyond the hole upon the solid wood; mark 
out the size of each board upon the ends of the 
log, and, with a chisel, cut out a rabbet so as to 
let the board in snug, its full thickness. Now 
lay in a piece of rope yarn, or a string of oak¬ 
um in the bottom of the rabbet, drive in the 
end piece, and nail it in strongly. The seams 
may be"calked with oakum and “paid” with 
pitch outside and in. It is well also to go over 
the entire inside with hot pitch. Such a trough 
will last much longer, bear more wetting and 
drying, and other wear, than if made of a solid 
log, and it is besides very much easier to make. 
Dike for Beclaiming Salt Marshes. 
Correspondouts are calling for information upon 
this subject. We are glad to know that the 
good seed w«> have sown in years past has not 
all perished- We still believe that the most 
valuable grass lands in our country are the salt 
marshes that line our shores, and stretch far in¬ 
land along our tide-water streams and coves. 
The dike or embankment is the main difficul¬ 
ty, and here the courage of most rural im¬ 
provers fails them. Where a railroad runs along 
the front of the premises to break off the sea, 
the work is easy, and fortunately there are thou¬ 
sands of acres all along our shores that have 
this most expensive part of the work done for 
them. They wait only the enterprising man or 
company who will yet surely take hold of them 
and make fortunes by reclaiming them. 
But what can be done for the snug little patch¬ 
es, of a dozen acres or less, that lie in countless 
numbers upon our shore farms ? They can be 
redeemed economically by the style of dike rep¬ 
resented in our illustrations. It is well known 
that the soil of all salt marshes is made up very 
largely of vegetable matter, and is exceedingly 
light and spongy when dry. Such a material 
is entirely imsuitcd fof a dike without additional 
