4 
AMEBIC AN AGEICULTUBIST. 
daily need to be made deep, from the depth of 
filling they require. They, like all covered 
drains, should be placed entirely below the reach 
of the plough. The common depth of ploughing, 
now practised, should not be taken as any guide 
here; for in many fields, and indeed on most 
farms, the plow has seldom penetrated below 
six inches from the surface. But a better sys¬ 
tem is coming into practice. We are quite sure 
the time is not far distant, when most land will 
be generally broken up with the surface-plough, 
at least twelve inches deep, and then stirred six 
or eight inches deeper, with the subsoil-plough. 
After lands have been freed from water for a 
year or two, by draining, we have every reason 
to believe, that the deeper they can be stirred 
and pulverized, the greater will be the produce. 
The top of the stone filling should then be at 
least 18 or 20 inches below the surface. Seven 
inches more should be allowed for the duct in 
the bottom of the third or fourth methods, (figs. 
12 and 13.) The depth of stone above the duct 
will depend upon the character of the soil, the 
abundance of materials for filling, and the dis¬ 
tance of the drains from each other. The side 
of the drain constitutes a drawing surface. If 
the soil is compact, the wider this surface, the 
more effectual will be the draining. In clay 
land, it is desirable to have a layer of loose 
stones, 12 inches deep. Less than this will 
answer in a soil that presents less resistance to 
the water. These circumstances taken into con¬ 
sideration, the drain should in all cases be sunk 
not less than 34 to 40 inches deep, according to 
the porosity of the soil. In our general remarks, 
we shall present other reasons for constructing 
all kinds of drains even deeper than this, in 
most cases. 
Width of Stone Drains. —This will generally 
depend upon the ease of digging, and the abun¬ 
dance of materials at hand for filling. In a soil 
filled with boulders or large stones, it is necessary 
to dig the drain pretty wide, so as to be able to 
get out such stones easily, or to leave them pro¬ 
jecting from the sides, without closing up the 
drain too much. As the drawing power depends 
more upon the perpendicular surface of the 
stone filling than upon«the width of the drain, 
the narrower it is made, the better, since less 
material will be required for filling. It, how¬ 
ever, must be wide enough for the convenience 
of the workmen while digging. Usually, where 
the soil is moderately free from large stones, 
fifteen inches will be found wide enough for the 
top, and at the bottom five to seven inches for 
the first method, (fig. 11;) ten to twelve inches 
for the second method; six to nine inches for 
the third and fourth methods, (fig. 12 and 13,) 
according to the thickness of the flat stones used 
in forming the duct a. 
The Size of Stones used for Filling. —The 
smaller these can be made, the better will be 
the drain. Larger stones have larger and fewer 
cavities between them, which are more liable to 
be used as burrows for animals, and to be filled 
up by falling or washing, in of earth. Experi¬ 
ence has shown, we believe, that coarse gravel, 
and stones not more than one to three inches 
in diameter, are much better than those larger. 
We have spoken of covering over the surface 
with turf, straw, &c. A much better plan would 
be to pass the stony materials over a fine sieve, 
and separate the fragments not more than half an 
inch in diameter, and use these as a final cover¬ 
ing to the stones, before putting on the earth. 
Vegetable materials soon decay, and often wash 
down and fill up the cavities. In all cases we 
think it better to put the coarser materials at 
the bottom, and the finer at the top. 
Expense of Stone Drains. —We have accurate 
tables of expenses of such drains in England 
and Scotland, but, owing to the difference in price 
of labor, &c., these furnish no guide for this 
country. It will readily be seen that the cha¬ 
racter of the digging, the depth of the drains, 
the facility of getting materials, &c., will vary 
much in each locality. The expense will, in 
general, be found less than could be expected. 
We have seen, in this country, men digging 
drains, to be filled with stonefe, for 12i to 18 
cents per rod, where the drains were from two 
and a half to three feet deep. In some places, 
the filling has been reckoned at nothing, since 
the drains formed convenient receptacles for 
depositing stones that were otherwise in the 
way. We think that where the stones cannot 
be procured and put in for 20 to 30 cents per 
rod, these will not be found as profitable as tile, 
especially for small drains. 
THE BLACK WART vs. THE CURCULIO. 
Last April, we came into the possession of a 
place abounding with fruit trees, which had been 
neglected for years. Among the plum trees, 
several of the rear rows were so completely 
covered with the black wart, that we considered 
them past help, and intended to cut them down 
immediately. We were so much engaged, how¬ 
ever, that they escaped our recollection; and 
soon after blooming, finding them well set in 
fruit, we concluded not to molest them till fall. 
These trees ripened pretty good crops of green 
gages and other varieties of the plum, while all 
the fruit on the healthytrees, without exception, 
was so badly stung by the curculio, that we 
did not get a single ripe plum from them. 
We would not wish to be understood from the 
above, that we are in favor of preserving trees 
diseased with the black wart; quite the con¬ 
trary ; but the fact of their not being attacked 
by the curculio is curious, at least to us, and we 
have thought it worth recording. 
The black wart is very unsightly, and for that 
alone we would cut down any tree badly affected 
with it. But in addition to this, it is catching, 
it is a loathsome disease, and should never be 
tolerated. The moment it appears, in ever so 
minute a form, the branch showing it should be 
cut off and burnt. We intend to cut down all 
these diseased trees this fall, and burn them. 
SAVE YOUR COAL ASHES. 
Many farmers are so situated that they burn 
hard coal during part or the whole of the year; 
and so far as our observation extends, they are 
accustomed to get rid of the ashes and cinders 
in the easiest manner possible, by throwing them 
into the street, or into some out-of-the-way place. 
This we think a wasteful policy. These cinders 
always contain more or less wood ashes, from 
the charcoal used in kindling, and hard coal 
itself yields more or less of valuable fertilizing 
materials. We have used these ashes and cin¬ 
ders on a garden, made by filling up a deep hol¬ 
low with pure quicksand from the bottom of a 
cellar; and by adding leaves and weeds from the 
road-side, the soil was brought to the highest 
state of fertility. The cinders are valuable on a 
clay soil, since they materially assist to diminish 
its compactness. Let all materials removed from 
the stove, grate, or fire-place be carefully saved 
ahd mixed with the soil. While we have the 
smallest plot of soil to cultivate, we should be 
loth to part with these materials for half a dollar 
a cart-load. 
SALT WATER NOT DESTRUCTIVE TO RHUBARB 
OR PIE PLANT. 
Mr. Bergen, of Port Washington, informed 
us recently, that last spring he accidentally lost 
overboard in the Neversink river, a barrel of 
rhubarb roots. Several months subsequently, 
he found some of these growing vigorously on 
the edge of the salt tide, from which he fairly 
enough concludes, that the application of salt 
may be highly useful for this plant. 
-»• *- 
Shortening in Lima Beans and Squashes.— 
The Family Visitor states that clipping the 
shoots of Lima beans, when about six feet high, 
produces an abundant crop, the beans ripening 
in August. Squashes, the vines of which were 
nipped after two or three squashes had formed, 
were larger, and ripened better. By cutting 
out the early-bearing branches, a succession of 
squashes was obtained through the summer. 
Tomatoes which grew on an excessively rich 
piece of ground were not benefited by short¬ 
ening, new and more vigorous shoots succes¬ 
sively pushing out in place of those which were 
clipped. 
Love-sick Potatoes. —Dr. Malfatti, of Austria, 
thinks he has found out, at last, the malady 
which has caused this esculent to be so diseased 
and unprolific. It is nothing but love-sichiess — 
pining after that beautiful intercourse which is 
the source of joy and life to potatoes as well as 
men. Listen: The Doctor has presented this 
fanciful theory, and the remedy, to the savans 
at Vienna. It appears from the proceedings of 
the Koyal Agricultural Society, that this gentle¬ 
man has planted pieces of potato in juxtaposi 1 
tion with roots of other monolied plants, such 
as the Helianthus tuberosus, Cyclamen, and also 
Carduum Esculentum, which is not even tube¬ 
rous. He asserts that the potatoes grew vig¬ 
orously, appearing to derive health from the 
adjoining plant, and absorbing their very flavor, 
while the tubers produced were entirely healthy, 
though the stock planted was defective; in one 
instance, he states that the potato was restored 
at the expense of the nurse plant, which became 
diseased. 
Potato Onions. —The large potato onion is 
beginning to attract notice among farmers as 
well as market gardeners. There are three 
kinds of potato or hill onions : one small; an old 
variety known by various names, as the Bunch 
Onion, Hill, Cluster, and Multipliers; and a later 
kind known as the Egg Onion, from its resem¬ 
blance in form to an egg—all of which are pro¬ 
pagated only from bulbs or setts. The two latter 
sorts are worthless compared with the large 
“English Potato Onion,” when it can be ob¬ 
tained; but the scarcity and high price of the 
seed has prevented its extensive cultivation. 
Being very early, and for this reason command¬ 
ing as good or a better price in June and July 
as they would the following spring for seed, the 
stock is kept down to the wants of the market 
gardeners; hence but few find their way into 
the market for seed, and the demand, as far as 
I have known, has never been supplied. They 
are very easily cultivated, and a sure crop; in¬ 
crease about four or five-fold, that is, five or six 
bushels for one; and the expense of cultivation 
is a mere trifle, as the ground may be occupied 
with various summer crops, with little or no 
detriment to the onions or the other crops. 
My method of cultivation, which has been 
perfectly satisfactory for three years, is to plant 
them in the fall, or as early in spring as practi¬ 
cable, in rows about two and a half feet apart, 
and set them from four to eight inches apart.— 
Rural New- Torlcer. 
