156 
YANKEE FARMING.—-NO. 4. 
flowers is ready to set. Then run a one-horse plow 
down and back each row, turnin’ the dirt to the 
taters.” “ Now ye’ll find the benefit o’ the sub-silin’; 
for the way the rich meller airth will turn up,” 
continued Uncle Sim, looking very consequential 
and wise, at the same time turning his body ab¬ 
ruptly round on his right heel, and flourishing his 
arms, which came within an inch of upsetting both 
the doughty little Major and myself—“will be 
bootiful; and a grandacious fact to all sight see- 
ers. Yes, and to them as don’t see, and is so con¬ 
trary as don’t believe nothin’ ’cept what they think 
they know themself; but self-consate ollous makes 
a man obstinate. Wal, put in the hoes now and 
hill up well, and ye won’t find a weed scacely in 
the field all summer, nor a spear o’ grass, nor any¬ 
thing else, ’cept the thick tater vines, coverin’ the 
ground like a deep green mat. Dig ’em up airly in 
the fall, and not a speck o’ rotten tater will ye find 
in a hundred ; and if the season hasn’t been very dry, 
what big ones they’ll roll out! Heh 'l And how 
smooth, and thin, and kinder shiny in their skins, and 
so mealy to eat,” continued the eloquent Mr. Doo¬ 
little, smacking his lips, “ no wonder I git about two 
times as much a bushel for ’em as anybody else in 
our town ; for they’re worth it.” “Yes, Sargeant, 
they’re worth it,” nodding his head emphatically, 
“ as all the sloop cap tings say, who go tradin’ down 
to York, with talers and inions.” And then he sung : 
“ ‘Little boats should keep near shore, 
Greater one’s may venture more.’ ” 
That’s a fact, Mr. Doolittle, I replied, and nothing 
gives me greater pleasure than to acknowledge your 
skill in cultivating potatoes, the more especially as 
we are so often at loggerheads on many other mat¬ 
ters. You are a scientific man, sir, upon this crop. 
The roots of the grass, forming the turf you plow 
up, abound in potash, and this is one of the most 
essential manures for a potato crop ; next most es¬ 
sential is lime, which acts also as a preventive to 
the rot; salt is an excellent manure, but we are so 
near the sea, that some are of opinion we get enough 
of this from exhalations of the ocean. However, 
this last is a disputed point, and I’ll not dwell upon 
it. The more mealy the potato, the more starch in 
it, and this is its principal nutritious quality. 
Some varieties contain twice as much starch in them 
as others ; and herein the kind you cultivate, my 
good neighbor, cannot be excelled. Thousands of 
bushels were lost in our state last year, in conse¬ 
quence of not selecting the right kind of soil, and 
properly planting and cultivating them; and I dare 
say, notwithstanding your good example, Mr. Doo¬ 
little, and the clear, explicit information you have 
just given us of your practice, thousands of bushels 
will share the same fate this year; and all because 
our brother farmers will not read and follow so ex¬ 
cellent an example as yourself. Uncle Sim hung 
his head, looked down and blushed deeply at my 
commendations, but said not a word ; while the 
Major paused in his drumming, and declared he 
“never knowed afore, that we had so much lamin’. 
He should’nt oppose Mr. Doolittle agin on the tater 
question ; but would start up his oxen now he’d got 
all fixed, and show him sich plowin’ as he’d never 
seen afore.” At this, his splendid red team set off 
with a “ Go it, Buck, now ;” and with no other guide 
for their movements than the Major’s voice, while he 
held the plow himself, he turned his furrows as 
straight as one could draw a line, and so evenly I 
doubt whether they varied over an inch in depth 
or width throughout the whole field. As he came 
round in his third land, I was so delighted with the 
movement of his superb cattle, I could not but say, 
well, Major, you are really a whole team, that’s cer¬ 
tain, and you more than make good the old say¬ 
ing, of 
“ He that by the plow would thrive 
Must either hold himself or drive,” 
for you, my good sir, hold and drive, too. 
“ Oh Sargeant, that’s nothin’, ” he replied, “ my 
oxen, dum beasts as they be, know as much, some¬ 
times I think, as some human critters; and they 
will go right o’ themselves any how. Some folks 
is wise, ye know, and some be otherwise;” and 
away he started again, whistling Yankee Doodle, 
while he kept time to his music by drumming with 
either palm on his plow handles. 
Uncle Sim followed with a pair of his recruited 
steers, close on the Major’s heels, holding the light 
sub-soil plow himself, while his son Bill drove ; the 
Major giving a cheering rub-a-dub every time he 
rounded the end of his furrow,‘with a “ march along, 
neighbor, don’t fall in the rear; this is the way to 
stir tater land.” “Aye, aye,” said Uncle Sim; 
and as he had two yoke of his steers on the ground, 
he changed them every fourth bout ; and by thus 
giving them an alternate breathing spell, with Bill 
to flourish the whip, and stirring his own legs un¬ 
commonly quick, he held a pretty even pace with 
the doughty Major. 
It was a great pleasure to stand by and see the 
glistening plow shares following each other almost 
like things of life, heaving up the land so beauti¬ 
fully ; and as I wheeled round to return home to 
my own work, I involuntarily began humming a 
stanza or two of Mrs. Sigourney’s noble hymn 
of “God Save the Plow.” 
“ See how the shining share 
Maketh earth’s bosom fair— 
Crowning her brow. 
Bread in its furrow springs, 
Health and repose it brings, 
Treasures unknownTo kings— 
God save the plow ! 
“ Who are the truly great 1 
. Minions of pomp and state, 
Where the crowd bow 1 
Give us hard hands and free 
Cuiturers of field and tree 
Best friends of liberty— 
God save the plow!” 
Sergeant Teltrue. 
To Prevent Chickens from Getting the 
Gapes. —Let their first food be coarse Indian meal, 
almost dry; then give crushed corn. As soon as 
they can swallow whole grains, let them have them 
unbroken. All poultry yards, of course, should be 
supplied with lime, and the chickens should have 
free access to pure water. After the gapes appear, 
the cure is always doubtful; but crushed corn 
soaked in very strong alum water, is perhaps the 
best remedy. A soft feather, well greased with lard, 
thrust gently into the windpipe, and twisted round 
a few times, has been found effective in bringing 
up, and destroying the worms, that are the cause 
of the disease; which is nothing more than an in¬ 
tolerable tickling and itching produced by the mo- 
I tion of the worms. E. S. 
