134 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
The Rev/ Onions. 
Of the new onions, the seed of which we im¬ 
ported and introduced among our subscribers late 
Inst season, Mr. A. Newberry, of Southeastern 
Tennessee, tints writes in a recent letter : “ I can 
not speak in too high terms of the new onions, the 
seed of which you sent me as a premium last 
season—I mean the Improved yellow flat onion 
(No. 53), the Improved Brown Globe Onion (No. 54), 
and the Improved White Globe Onion (No. 55). I 
have never seen or tasted anything equal or near 
equal to them, excepting the “ Portugal Onion,” 
the flavor of which they greatly resemble. I can 
scarcely decide which of the three is the best— 
if I have any preference it is for the White 
Globe (No. 55).” 
[Many similar reports at an earlier date led us 
to import a large amount of seed of the last named 
(No. 55) much of which has been distributed, and 
we have a little still left which is now offered in 
our premium seed list.—E d.] 
The Culture of Field Squashes and Pump¬ 
kins—The Hubbard Squash. 
The yield of squashes, as well as pumpkins, is 
bo large, the culture so easy, and the feeding and 
market value so high, especially for good squash¬ 
es, that it is almost surprising to find so little at¬ 
tention given to this subject. The New-York 
City market is generally pretty well supplied, but 
this is seldom the case in most other cities and 
country villages, so far as we have observed. In 
this city we have seldom seen a large surplus, 
especially of squashes, or, unremunerating prices. 
They almost always bring near $20 a ton, we be¬ 
lieve. We have known them raised very profita¬ 
bly, in the vicinity of New-Haven, Conn., when 
the market price was but $10 per ton. 
All plants having so much vine, as squashes and 
pumpkins, require for their full development a 
good supply of organic matter in the soil. New 
land, abounding in leaf mold (rotten leaves.) is well 
adapted to them. Sod land is also good. They 
will, however, do well on any good soil, especial¬ 
ly if a free supply of manure he added. They may 
be planted in this latitude at any time during May. 
The largest yield of pumpkins we ever saw, was 
in a corn-field, on new land, where the seeds were 
merely stuck down by the side of every third hill 
in every third row, after the second hoeing in the 
fore part of June. This is too late for squashes, 
and usually for pumpkins. 
We have a lengthy communication from James 
J. H. Gregory, Essex Co., Mass., on the culture 
of the squash—particularly the “Hubbard” va¬ 
riety, from which we condense the following . 
« The suggestions I send you are from an ex¬ 
perience of some fifteen years with the Hubbard. 
Any person who has been successful with the Au¬ 
tumnal Marrow Squash, will find no difficulty 
,vith the Hubbard. The latter is a more vigorous 
grower than the Marrow, and the hills should be 
about two feet further apart each way. Those 
experienced in squash cultivation know that a 
liberal application of manure is essential to suc¬ 
cess—six to ten cords to the acre of rich compost 
are often needed. The Hubbard requires quite as 
much as the Marrow, and cannot be cheated in 
nil is respect, or an insignificant yield may be look¬ 
ed for. With high culture its yield sometimes 
surpasses anything I have seen recorded of the 
Marrow. For example, one of my neighbors once 
raised 700 pounds from five hills. Last season, 
Hiram Plummer, of South Danvers, gathered 
over 1,400 pounds from eleven hills, on land that 
had been well manured and trenched for pear 
trees. But let no one look for any such yield with 
ordinary culture, or he will be disappointed. 
In preparing the ground for squashes, let a good 
share of the manure applied, be distributed broad¬ 
cast over the surface, and plowed in to furnish 
food for the main roots of the vines which branch 
out in all directions, as well as for the rootlets 
which strike into the soil from the main runners 
below the footstalks of the leaves. Those who 
have cultivated the best varieties of the pumpkin, 
must expect to find the squash a more tender 
plant, beset with more enemies and less able to 
withstand their ravages. The common striped bug 
must be anticipated by sprinkling the leaves of the 
young vines, as soon as they have fairly broken 
ground, with lime that has been thoroughly air 
slaked, plaster, or some such preparation, that 
will cover the leaves, for I believe that the alka¬ 
line properties have but little if anything to do 
with the protection afforded, the mere covering 
of the leaves being the end to be sought. While 
liming the plants (and they should be kept con¬ 
stantly covered until the eighth or tenth leaf is 
developed,) look occasionally for the large black 
bug, for if destroyed at this period, when copu¬ 
lating, you may anticipate myriads that would 
otherwise appear later in the season.. Wljen the 
vines have obtained the eighth or tenth leaf, look 
carefully beneath the leaves and destroy every 
egg you may then find deposited, which otherwise 
would hatch about the time of the setting of the 
fruit—to the injury of both vine and fruit. 
If the season should prove a wet one, do not 
be surprised if the vines should shed a portion of 
their young squashes somewhere from the 1st to 
the 20th of August; after which, they will rally 
and keep vigorously growing, later than the Mar 
row, or until frost. Though the crop will gene¬ 
rally be protected by hard shells, yet handle them 
with care, and store in a dry, warm place as 
soon as possible after they are picked from the 
vines. If you desire a very dry squash, begin to 
cook as soon as they are gathered, but if you 
would prefer one less dry, but sweeter and rich¬ 
er flavored, do not commence using them much 
before the close of November.” 
Raising Potatoes. 
Shall we plant small potatoes or large, whole 
potatoes or sets'! Vegetable physiology says: 
plant large or at least well-matured potatoes, and 
nothing else. And this for the very good reason 
that the fleshy part of the tuber is designed to 
feed the young plants and to give them a vigor¬ 
ous start before they are compelled to get their 
food from the earth. Small potatoes, or an eye 
with only a small piece of tuber attached, can 
not afford the young plants nourishment enough. 
Now, so far as the vigorous growth of the plant 
is concerned, and its flowering and fruiting above 
ground, this is undoubtedly true. But it is con¬ 
tended by many skillful experimenters that for 
the formation of tubers , the opposite is true. Dr. 
Bindley, a high authority, is quoted as saying : 
“ I have proved by a series of numerous experi¬ 
ments, that the weight of potatoes per acre is 
greater, under equal circumstances, from sets 
than from whole tubers, by upwards of from 
seven hundred weight to three tuns per acre.” 
Yet, it is not true that small potatoes are better 
than large ones, for they often throw up numer¬ 
ous small succulent shoots which produce only 
small tubers. The practice now widely prevalent 
of using good, medium-sized potatoes, and cut¬ 
ting them into two or more pieces, is probably the 
best of all methods. 
It is stated as a fact—and if so it is instructive— 
that the eyes on the remote end of the tuber pro¬ 
duce earlier potatoes than those from the middle, 
or the root end ; and that the difference in the 
time of their maturing a crop is equal to ten days 
or a fortnight. Market gardeners in England and 
some in this country turn this to account. They 
cut their potatoes into pieces, using the huds at 
the extremity for the earliest crop, and the others 
for a succession. 
Deep Planting 1 and a Second Crop of Peas- 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
Last Spring I planted some peas in the usual 
manner with a hoe. Near by, on the same plot, I 
plowed a pretty deep furrow and after strewing 
in the peas covered them with the next furrow, 
plowed one without peas and strewed them in the 
third furrow, and so continued. Upon compari¬ 
son of the two plots I found that those covered 
with the plow yielded the most, continued the 
longest in bearing, and did not require staking. I 
also found that where I had harvested a crop of 
early peas and sowed the ground over with Rus¬ 
sia turnips, a second crop of peas came up and 
matured among the turnips, thus suggesting that 
after any early crop is secured a late sowing of 
peas may be put in, to good advantage. 
Portage Co., O. . L. Humphrey. 
Remark.— Peas very often do best when deep¬ 
ly covered, and generally admit of deeper cover¬ 
ing than most other seeds. We are unprepared, 
however, to say that as a general thing very deep 
covering of this crop is best. —Ed. 
Hew Mode of Preparing Ground for 
Carrots. 
J. A. Haywood, Middlesex Co., Mass., sends to 
the Agriculturist a description of his manner of 
preparing the ground for the cultivation of carrots, 
which he has tried, and prefers to the usual 
mode. The ground for the seed-bed is usually 
plowed several times. At the last plowing a 
“side-hill plow ” is used, which, of course, turns 
all the furrows over in the same direction. After 
every four or five furrows are plowed, it is thor¬ 
oughly raked, the raker standing in the last fur¬ 
row, and drawing all the loose stones, lumps and 
rubbish into it; when another strip is plowed and 
raked as before. By this method the necessity of 
trampling the ground is avoided, and the surface 
is left clean, level, and light. 
■- **>-* -—-»-o- 
Don’t Buy Guano at all. 
Unless you are sure of getting the pure, genuine 
Peruvian , and that only. This is a broad, but 
needed caution now. There are, perhaps, one or 
two other brands that, in rare instances, it might 
pay to buy, but there are so many worthless 
humbugs, called “guanos,” that the safest way 
for the mass of farmers is, to avoid danger even. 
Some of the poorest “guanos” in market are 
backed up by the strongest possible certificates, 
recommendations, analyses, etc. The Peruvian 
has been tried, and its worth established, and it 
may be used profitably, though we wish even 
that could be dispensed with, until the owners 
were compelled to sell it on more accommoda¬ 
ting terms. We owe them no favors. 
Basket Willow for Fences.— To the inquiries 
of A. A. French, La Salle Co., III., we answer, 
that we have little faith in the utility of any spe¬ 
cies of willow as a hedge plant. Being naturally 
a swamp plant, it would die of thirst in main- 
situations, and the labor required to “ whip-in’ 
the sprouts would suffice to make a much more 
durable structure. 
