RAISING- GEESE. 
15 
both ways, and had a man to follow with a hoe 
to set up the hills that were partially covered 
up. I went through it twice afterwards with 
the cultivator, but made no hills, leaving the 
surface as level as possible. I cut it up the 17th 
of September, and from the five acres, husked 
seven hundred and six bushels of ears. 
Now, I don’t call this a brag crop, for I am 
well aware that it can be beat; but it shows the 
difference between half doing work and doing 
it well. The corn was hauled off and the 
ground sowed to wheat, being plowed as deep 
as a pair of horses could plow it; and from the 
same ground, I have this year harvested and 
threshed one hundred and ninety bushels—thir¬ 
ty-eight bushels to the acre. I have managed 
my corn ground in the same manner this sea¬ 
son, and from present appearances shall have 
as good a crop as I had last .—Dollar Newspaper. 
RAISING GEESE. 
A goose is more easily raised than any other 
domestic bird of our experience. Here is the 
simple course we pursue: Feed the geese kept 
for breeders, moderately well all winter with a 
mixture of grain and boiled roots. Provide a 
warm, dry, well-sheltered place for sitting; and 
when the goose is on the nest, give her regular 
daily food, principally of cooked vegetables, 
lest she should get costive, and plenty of fresh, 
clean water. When sitting, a goose does not eat 
nor drink so much as ordinarily. If she inclines 
to come off the nest, let her do so; and even let 
her go to the water and swim and dive to her 
heart’s content. She is only taking a necessary 
ablution; and as to the idea that she will get 
wet and chill the eggs on her return, it is all 
nonsense. Who ever saw moisture adhere to 
the feathers of a well-fed, healthy goose ? 
After the goslings are hatched, let them run 
with the goose on grass, but be careful that 
they are not exposed to wet, the first week of 
their existence; after that, there is little danger, 
unless the rain be particularly cold and endur¬ 
ing. With a small allowance of boiled vegeta¬ 
bles, mush, or oats, the flock will do well the 
first fortnight; after that, they will subsist almost 
entirely on grass and in the water. In the fall, 
feed well with boiled vegetables and grain, and 
they will soon be sufficiently fattened for the 
market. 
In order to guard against rats, minks, weasels, 
and other vermin, the goslings should be penned 
every night, till nearly half grown, within a 
tight board or iron-wire fence, (the latter is 
much the best,) about three feet high. Be par¬ 
ticularly careful there is no hole in nor under the 
fence, that a rat or weasel can crawl through; 
and the fence must be so constructed that they 
cannot climb over it. 
POTATO ROT. 
The potato crop has suffered much this 
year from the above-named malady. 1 have 
visited many fields, before and during the sea¬ 
son of harvesting, in different sections of New 
Jersey and also in Orange, Dutchess and West¬ 
chester counties in New York, and as far as my 
observations go, I do not think there will be 
over half a crop. The Mercers have suffered 
more than any other variety, being an entire 
failure in the same field with others which have 
turned out sound. 
I planted this kind and gathered about one 
half of a reasonable crop more or less affected. 
These I spread in sheds and stables exposed to 
the air, and commenced boiling such as showed 
signs of decay. I mashed them by pounding 
down in a hogshead, sprinkled with salt, and 
commenced feeding them to hogs and cows; 
and they ate greedily of them when mixed with 
ground feed. In this way, I saved them all and 
there are still some on hand as sweet and fresh 
as the day they were packed. About two thirds 
of the whole gathered, showed signs of decay 
and were thus cooked; the remainder are sound 
and fit for use. 
I mixed charcoal with the compost of a small 
portion of the ground planted; where this was 
done, there was no rot. Samuel Allen. 
HARVESTING TURNIPS. 
Pulling turnips and cutting off the tops by 
hand and knife, which is almost the universal 
practice among American farmers, is about as 
far behind the age of improved husbandry as 
digging up the land with a hoe, instead of plow¬ 
ing. In England,turnips are almost invariably 
planted in drills; at pulling time, the laborer 
passes along the row with a sharp, light hoe, 
with which he dexterously cuts off the tops, 
throwing them by the same motion, into the 
hollow between two rows. Another person fol¬ 
lows with another hoe, which he strikes below 
the bulb, so as to cut off the tap root, throwing 
the turnips of two rows together, ready for the 
gatherer to basket and carry to the pile or cart 
for storage. Sometimes one hand performs 
both operations of topping and digging, but two 
work to the best advantage. 
Great skill is acquired by practice in cutting 
the tops, as well as dexterously raising the roots. 
