176 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
When I bought this farm I found a lot of 
straggling currant bushes growing all round the 
garden by the side of the fence. The grass had 
been suffered to grow round them. The bushes 
had run wild, and were as high as the fence. 
There was little except long, straggling branch¬ 
es, with a mass of suckers at the bottom and a 
dense growth on top. Of course, they produced 
little fruit, and what there was, though they 
were good varieties, was very small and sour. 
I had the ground dug around them. I cut out 
more than half the branches and headed in the 
rest. The suckers sprang up by the score from 
the roots, and these I stripped off, and kept the 
ground free from weeds. I pinched in the 
young shoots during the summer, and it was 
surprising how much it increased the size and 
quality of. the fruit. Of course, if I was going 
to set out new bushes, I should train them on a 
single stem, but these old, neglected hedge-row 
currant-bushes need not be given up. A little 
care and thorough pruning will renovate them 
much quicker than you can raise new bushes. 
On strong, loamy soil the best mulch for 
strawberries is the hoe, till the fruit is set; then 
place a little new mown grass, such as the clip¬ 
pings of the lawn, around the plants to prevent 
the escape of moisture, and to keep the fruit 
from getting soiled. On light, sandy ground the 
mulch should be put on earlier, and thick 
enough to keep down the weeds. 
The Deacon says he is in the habit of giving 
his cows a mess of sliced, raw potatoes every 
day, for two weeks, before calving. He thinks 
nothing is so good for milch cows. I have a 
quantity of small potatoes that I propose to 
give to the cows, but I think I shall grind them 
up with the cider mill and mix the pulp with 
meal. I have never tried it, but of late years 
the English farmers have adopted the system of 
pulping their roots for pigs, etc, instead of 
cooking them. I see no reason why a cider 
mill is not just the thing for the purpose. 
Manuring Corn in the Hill. 
When manure is scarce and the greatest 
effect is demanded the first season, or when 
corn is on a good sod, and a little start is wanted 
at first, or when the land is rather cold and 
the season uncertain, it is best to manure in the 
hill for corn. If one has a fine compost, say 
of swamp muck and manure, containing ^[4 of 
the latter, after marking out, a good shovelful 
may be distributed to three or four hills, and 
the corn dropped directly upon it. If, however, 
the compost is'made up of ashes, superphos¬ 
phate, guano, poudrette, etc., singly or mingled, 
it must be mixed with soil and covered with 
a little earth besides, or the seed may be killed 
by coming in contact with it. Such active fer¬ 
tilizers, and the list is large, must always be 
used with care, not to have the seed injured. 
Yet they are needed close at hand, for the en¬ 
couragement of the jmung plant as soon as it 
starts. Superphosphate, ashes, gypsum, soda- 
saltpeter, etc., may be applied upon the hill 
after the corn is up, or, at least, after planting, 
with quite as good effect as if put in the hill. 
The list of concentrated manures which may 
be made on the farm, or bought, is quite large, 
and if any person visits the manufactories of 
various kinds in his vicinity he will often be 
able to secure much that is of value to himself, 
and do the shoemaker, soap boiler, brewer, 
tanner, butcher, or glue boiler, a favor also. 
rrench Varieties of Fowls. 
On page 216, of the last volume of Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist, we published an engraving of 
three varieties of French fowls. The favor 
with which these new breeds have been re¬ 
ceived in England is not greater than their 
promise in this. The little work of Mr. Saun¬ 
ders, (see our Book List,) which contained the 
above-mentioned engraving, has been revised. 
Fig. 2. Fig. 3. 
and the new edition contains a number of in¬ 
teresting engravings, and a good deal of new 
matter of value. Among other subjects the 
French fowls are enlarged upon. As it will 
interest our readers, and in order to call atten¬ 
tion to the work, we present some of the illus¬ 
trations herewith. We now know of at least 
two poultry fanciers who have obtained birds of 
the Crevecceur breed—one at the East and one 
at the West—and find them all that has been 
claimed for them. They are excellent table 
fowls, being plumper, fattening easier, and hav¬ 
ing better flesh than the Black Spanish. The 
hens are constant layers, like the last named, but 
do not produce so large eggs. They are hard}'. 
The French lay great stress upon the pe¬ 
culiarities of the 
combs of these 
breeds, the Creve¬ 
cceur being ahvays 
horned, as in the 
figure of the cock; 
but the horns be¬ 
ing of many dif- 
erent shapes, as in 
Figs. 2 and 3, 
resembling stags’ 
horns or goats’ 
horns. Fig. 4 ex¬ 
hibits the head 
of a Houdan cock, with its branching half 
double comb, while Fig. 5 shows the comb 
of the La Fieche, marked by the little spur, like 
a rhinoceros’ horn. These breeds have all a 
great reputation as layers, and this is not sur¬ 
prising. Considering the immense production 
of eggs in France, it is natural that she should 
give rise to prolific breeds. 
All will notice a similarity 
to half bred Polands, or 
Polands crossed with Black 
Spanish. It is not impos¬ 
sible that these breeds may 
remotely have had some 
such origin, but their great 
hardiness and vigor of con¬ 
stitution certainly does not 
favor the idea. In the British poultry shows 
French fowls are assigned to distinct classes, 
and prizes awarded as to the most favored. 
Field Corn. 
Every man has a definite notion of what 
field corn is—yet how different are these ideas. 
To the Canadian or Maine reader it means a 
little 5-foot variety, with 8 -inch ears, and 8 - 
rowed; the kernels usually yellow as gold, and 
hard as flint. He plants it in rows, 3 feet 
apart, and in hills 20 to 24 inches apart in the 
rows. It may be planted in June, and cut up 
in 90 days. To the Connecticut Valley and New 
York farmers, field corn is larger, coarser, taller, 
of larger ears, of more various colors and quali¬ 
ties—planted in hills 3 to 3'|s feet apart, usually 
in May and harvested in September, allowing 
110 to 120 or more days for it to mature enough 
to be cut up. As we go West and South, the 
size of the plant and the length of season re¬ 
quired for its development and perfection in¬ 
crease ; 4 and 5 feet apart is no unusual dis¬ 
tances to find the hills, and the ears, instead of 
being 8 -rowed and 12 to 14 inches long, as 
in the Middle and Eastern States, are short, 
thick, and 12 to 20 rowed, while the kernels 
lose the flinty character, in a measure, and gain 
a certain mealiness, and in shape resemble a 
gourd seed or horse’s tooth. The varieties of 
corn are almost infinite, (if we may use the ex¬ 
pression), and yet it is remarkable that the jilant 
is everywhere governed by the same rules of 
culture, and instructions good for Maine will 
apply in Louisiana. 
Corn needs a deep and rich soil, or especial 
manuring, and the ground must be dry and 
Avarm. The culture should be thorough pre¬ 
vious pulverization, with the dissemination of 
manure throughout the soil, by plowing and 
harrowing, unless, indeed, the corn be planted 
on a good sward, turned under, in which case 
manuring with a good compost, stable manure, 
or some coneentrated fertilizer in the hill is de¬ 
sirable on soils which need manuring to ensure 
a good crop. After planting, the culture should 
consist in keeping the weeds down, and the 
surface free and open, for the action of the air 
and the absorption of dew and other moisture. 
The stalks should not be so crowded that 
they cannot mature well; and, if the culture be 
thorough, farmers generally err in putting the 
drills too far apart and letting too many stalks 
stand in each hill. It is much more economi¬ 
cal of space to plant in drills; the stalks a foot 
apart, and the drills 30 inches to 4 'l 3 feet, ac¬ 
cording to the variety—this distance being a 
little less than half the hight of the stalks, on an 
average. Never allow more than 4 stalks to a 
hill. If all the culture is to be done by horse¬ 
power, it pays to sacrifice a little of the land to 
convenience, and put the corn in hills equally 
distant, and in true rows, running both ways. 
Fig. 4.— HOUDAN COCK. 
Fig. 5. 
