MAY 8 
150 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
disease, a particular object of study and investiga¬ 
tion, and I am fully convinced, that I now under¬ 
stand the true cause of the malady, and the best means 
of 'preventing it, I will now proceed to give a short 
history of the first appearance of the Potato Rot 
and its progress. The first place in which it ap¬ 
peared, was in the Island of St. Helena, and as this 
locality is subject to fogs and dark cloudy weather, 
the reason of its existence in such a place, will be 
explained in a subsequent part of this article. 
I will now extract from a paper which was read 
by I)r. Bellingham, before the Natural History 
Society of Dublin, an account of the first appear¬ 
ance of the potato blight in Ireland. He says:— 
“ During the last fortnight of the month of August, 
the weather became very warm, for several days 
the heat was oppressive, and the sultry days were 
succeeded by cold nights, the air at the time v>as 
apparently in a highly electric state. The country 
people on the sea coast, say that lightning was 
observed over a wide extent of the horizon, which 
appeared to come from the direction of the sea, on 
the East coast, and to cross the country towards 
the West. The blight appeared afterwards, in the 
shape of brownish-black spots, on the uppermost 
leaves of the potato plant. During the month of 
September the weather continued fine, and the 
disease made but little progress; but very wet 
weather set in about the beginning of October, a 
week subsequent to which a material change for 
the worse was observed, and the potatoes began to 
decay rapidly.” 
A disease similar to the potato rot, appeared in 
Canada in 1844. A Montreal farmer thus described 
it:—“In the spring of 1844, I planted a field of 
three acres with potatoes of various kinds. The 
field was situated on the slope of a hill, about three 
guiles from Montreal; one-quarter of an acre con¬ 
sisted of new varieties, recently raised from seed. 
During the months of July and August we had 
repeated and heavy showers, with an oppressive 
heat, and an atmosphere strongly charged with elec¬ 
tricity. Towards the end of the month of August, 
I observed the leaves to be marked with black 
spots, as if ink had been sprinkled on them; they 
soon began to wither, emitting a peculiarly offen¬ 
sive odor, and before a fortnight the whole field 
(seedlings not excepted) was completely withered 
away. I had the potatoes dug out during the 
month of September, when two-thirds were either 
positively rotten, or spotted with brownish patches. 
The disease extended over a large extent of country, 
including Upper and Lower Canada and the North¬ 
ern States.” The writer, in another part of his 
communication, says:—“ The only condition of the 
atmosphere to which it can be referred, is to an 
electric state, but the exact mode in which this acts 
on the leaves, in causing them to wither, and upon 
the tubers, in producing the appearances which 
have been described, is a problem which is not 
easily solved.” Now, I trust I can solve this prob¬ 
lem in a manner that will satisfy every farmer who 
reads this article. 
In 1845 the King of Holland appointed a Com¬ 
mission of Agriculture in the Province of Gron¬ 
ingen, to inquire into the nature of the potato rot, 
and to provide a remedy. The following is a 
quotation from the Report of this Commission:— 
“ The intense heat of the summer of 1845, was suc¬ 
ceeded by cold and rainy weather, which lasted 
from the 15th or July to the end of the month of 
August. On the 21st and 22d of July an extraor¬ 
dinary fog was seen in many places. On the 28th of 
July the first symptoms of the disease were dis¬ 
covered in the Provinces of Groningen and North 
Brabant. The disease commenced in the upper¬ 
most part of the plant, and attacked successively 
the leaf, the stem, and the tuber. This was fully 
established by experiments made at Groningen.”— 
The Commission does not agree with those natu¬ 
ralists who think that the orign of the disease may 
be attributed to the race of potatoes having grad¬ 
ually deteriorated. As in the Commune of Marum 
and Province of Groningen, among other instances, 
is to be seen a field of potatoes, the produce of 
seed raised from the apple, or berry, equally at¬ 
tacked, and suffering in common with the general crop. 
This, and an infinite number of similar cases, 
prove incontestibly that the disease does not com¬ 
mence, or originate in the seed. 
Well, after four years had elapsed, and millions 
of experiments had been tried, we find in 1849, the 
Royal Agricultural Society of England receiving 
the following report from Mr. Bosanquet, of Here¬ 
fordshire, to whom they had given seeds of the 
potato-apple, or berry, which had been imported 
from Chili, in South America. Mr. Bosanquet 
made the following statement:—“ I sowed the seeds 
in pots in my vinery, and afterwards removed them 
to the open air. About the middle of July the 
disease made its appearance in my garden. The 
Chilian potatoes were more affected than the com¬ 
mon varieties; their leaves were soon destroyed. 
I consider this circumstance as presumptive evi¬ 
dence that the disease does not commence in the potato 
itself, but is purely atmospheric, and is tnost prevalent 
when the atmosphere is strongly charged with electricity; 
and when there is a fall in temperature, accompa¬ 
nied with much wet. The disease certainly com¬ 
mences in the leaves, and extends gradually to the 
stems and tubers, in the same manner as mortifica¬ 
tion extends in the human frame, from diseased 
parts to sound ones.” 
In the Patent Office Report for 1851-2, (page 467,) 
is a communication signed “P. Prescott, Super¬ 
intendent of Farming for Sioux.” He gives a de¬ 
scription of the manner in which the rot attacked 
his potatoes, and gives his opinion thus:—“I am 
confident this dreadful disease is caused by the 
state of the atmosphere, and that some powerful 
agent being deposited on the leaves, checks the progress 
of the alkali, and causes the decay. I have positive 
evidence that the disease is not confined to the potato, 
for the same dews produce the same effect on my 
cabbages, tomatoes, and ruta-bagas; the ruta-bagas 
all rotted—I have not harvested one of them. The 
effect of the dew was most apparent on the toma¬ 
toes, those parts where it collected heaviest being 
soonest turned black.” 
Mr. James Clapterton, an eminent agriculturist, 
thus describes the progress of the rot in Ireland in 
1854. In a letter to the Leinster Express, an Irish 
Provincial paper, he states that,—“During the last 
eight days, the atmosphere has been highly charged 
with electricity. Thunder showers are always sudden, 
partial and heavy, and under present circumstances 
we have not seen anything remarkable in this 
particular, but the effect has been of more hurtful 
tendency than we have experienced for many years. 
Within the last six days the potato disease has 
been very decided in its action; it is extending 
from the leaves to the tubers, but withont alarm¬ 
ing rapidity, as the leaves are always smitten, or 
seriously disorganized for several weeks before the 
tubers are affected.” This is the testimony of one 
of the most scientific farmers in Ireland. 
In 1855, the potato crop did not receive much 
damage from the rot, as the season was bright and 
clear, yet it visited some localities, and generally 
made its appearance after thunder storms. In the 
vicinity of Quebec, the potatoes were perfectly safe, 
and free from all symptoms of disease, until after 
a thunder storm; they then became black, and 
rotted away. After all this overwhelming testi¬ 
mony, produced from different parts of the world, 
yet exhibiting a wonderful coincidence, it will be 
useless for any individual to try to prove that the 
potato disease is not atmospheric. 
I will now state the results of my own experience 
and observation. I have been extensively engaged 
in agriculture, and have had the very best oppor¬ 
tunities for becomiug acquainted with the real 
nature of the potato rot, having suffered a consid¬ 
erable loss by its ravages before I understood the 
best means of preven’ing it. I know it is atmos¬ 
pheric, and that it generally appears after thunder 
showers, as the rain is at that particular time mixed 
with a destructive agent, the nature of which I will 
describe in another place. I have noticed that 
this blight is not confined to the potato. I have 
observed marks of it on the tender shoots of the 
Canadian Poplar, and also on several other trees 
and planta Its attacks upon the potato plant are 
first visible on the uppermost leaves, and always 
upon the backs of the leaves, at those places where 
the veins, or lateral branches of the leaf, form an 
angle with the mid-rib, or leaf stem. Now, every 
farmer knows that the leaves of the potato close up 
at night, so that the backs of the leaves are pre¬ 
sented to the action of the dew, moisture, or rain, 
which returns to the earth during the absence of 
the sun. It is therefore on the backs of the upper¬ 
most leaves that the greatest quantity of moisture 
lodges, and this being saturated with a poisonous 
acid, spots are burned in the angles, or hollows, 
and these spots sometimes extend so much that 
the complete destruction of the plant is the conse¬ 
quence. 
The decay and death of the tuber is caused by 
the premature decline of the leaves and stem, for 
when these are destroyed by poison of any kind > 
the roots soon die away. The tubers are some¬ 
times destroyed by rain-water lodging around 
them. I have seen potatoes in well-finished drills 
perfectly sound and free from black spots, whilst 
those in badly finished drills were rotten and 
worthless. Even in drills which had been carefully 
moulded, those tubers which grew so near the sur¬ 
face as to crack or break the soil, were spotted and 
injured in every place where the blight-rain had 
touched them. I have observed that potatoes 
which grew under the drip of trees, suffered more 
than those in open, airy situations, and this differ¬ 
ence was so apparent that it was evident some del¬ 
eterious acid had fallen off the trees on the potato 
leaves. 
[Concluded in our next Number.] 
APPLYING MANURE IN WINTER. 
NEW MODE OF CULTIVATING THE POTATO. 
Eds. Rural:—! want to suggest, through your 
paper, to our farmers a new mode for cultivating 
that most valuable of all vegetables, the Potato. 
Take any sized potato, cut off and give to your 
sheep or cows, (if you please,) what is called the 
seed end, then cut the potato so as to have one eye 
on each piece, and no moee; and relieve that eye 
as much as possible from the old potato. It should 
take root in the earth immediately, and not draw 
from the old potato, which is sour and retards its 
growth. Fit your ground in the usual way, then 
run furrows four inches deep, and three and a half 
feet apart; drop the potato eyes ten inches apart, 
and turn back the furrow, covering them four 
inches deep. They will come up with a single 
stalk, large and thrifty, not being crowded by other 
stalks, or kept back by the sour old potato, from 
which it has been relieved. 
Tf your land is light and mellow, go over with a 
light harrow when the stalks are about two inches 
out of the ground, to kill the weedB, and avoid en¬ 
tirely the use of the hoe. If you break a few stalks 
they will grow up again without much injury, and 
you thereby level the furrows, kill the weeds, and 
mellow the ground with very little labor; but if 
your land is stiff, use the cultivator, and dress out 
with the hoe. When the stalks are about seven 
inches high, turn a furrow up against each side, 
and the work is done. They should not be hoed or 
touched after the potatoes begin to set. Two 
bushels of seed is sufficient generally for an acre, 
but this depends upon the kind and size of the 
potatoes. 
By this method, the potatoes will be very uniform 
in size, and yield at least one-third more than by 
the old process of planting one whole potato in the 
hill. By the old mode the "seed end" of the potato 
throws out from ten to fifteen stalks, all in a buncb ( 
while the other eyes of the potato do not sprout at 
a U —it is by cutting away the seed end and planting 
the eyes, that you get much larger potatoes, more 
uniform in size, and near double the quantity per 
acre. By the old method the bunch of stalks 
crowded together, set their potatoes near the stalks, 
and as the roots get room others set further off, 
but never get large, while this new process gives 
INQUIRIES AND ANSWERS. 
Vanilla Grass.— Will you inform me through 
the Rural, the price of Vanilla Grass Seed, and 
where it can be obtained? —A Subscriber, Albion. 
Remarks. —None for sale in this market It is 
of little value. 
Inquiry. —When a cow is troubled with a spat¬ 
tering teat can you, or any of your subscribers, in¬ 
form me if there is any way of hindering it or any 
article to cover the teat? If you can inform me as 
to the above, you will oblige—G. B. S^ Seneca 
Falls, N. Y., 1858. 
The Dykeman Potato — {Inquirer .)—This variety 
cannot be obtained here, not being grown in this 
neighborhood. They are raised largely on Long 
Island and in New Jersey, for the New York mar¬ 
ket and are a good early potato, but not better 
than our Mountain June. 
Defective Teats. — I lately got possession of a 
heifer with a very curious defect in one of her 
teats. About half way down there is a hole thro’ 
which the milk comes when the animal is milked. 
The teat is, however, perfectly sound otherwise, 
and by closing the hole with my finger and thumb, 
I can bring the milk through the proper channel. 
As the animal is at present dry. can you or any of 
your readers suggest a cure?—C. Cameron, Beloit, 
Ms., 1858. 
Tar and Gravel Walks. —Can the editors of the 
Rural, or readers give the proportions of coal tar 
and gravel for making walks? Should the tar be 
boiled, and how thick should it be spread? Will 
the frost have any effect upon it?—A Subscriber, 
Marshall, Michigan, May, 1858. 
Remarks. —Place the gravel in a pile and pour 
on as much tar as will mix with it. No boiling is 
necessary. Five or six inches of this compositon 
will be needed to make a good walk. We have 
never known it to be injured by frost 
The Season has thus far been remarkably favor¬ 
able for all engaged in rural and kindred pursuits. 
The farmers of Western New York, especially, have 
just cause of encouragement, for the present Spring 
has proved exceedingly pleasant and generally 
favorable for out-door operations, the crops, fruit, 
Ac.,—more so than any preceding one for many 
years. Compared with other seasons, the prospect 
is certainly most encouraging, and seems to im¬ 
part new hope and energy to both agriculturists 
and horticulturists—for all, or many, are cultiva¬ 
ting and planting on an unusually large scale. The 
indications are that, extraordinaries excepted, the 
season of 1858, will prove unusually fruitful, not 
only in this region, but throughout the country.— 
Our advices from other and distant parts of the 
Union are very favorable in regard to the weather 
and season, and also as to improvement of the 
times—the opening of the canals, rivers and lakes, 
having given an impetus to business, and furnished 
a money market in many sections where trade has 
been stagnant during the winter. 
— We trust the hopes of Ruralists will not be 
disappointed — that they may be favored with 
abundant harvests, and obtain such prices as will 
insure a commensurate reward for the labor and 
skill devoted to cultivation. 
Lameness of the Hock. — I have a colt three 
years old, taken with a severe stiffness in the hock 
joint, (or thereabouts,)—so sudden and so severe 
that it seems to baffle all skill of those who had to 
do with the horse kind in this vicinity. The colt 
was put in the stable Sunday evening with its mate, 
well, and on Monday morning she was so stiff in 
the hind leg that it was impossible for her to put 
her foot forward, still she can bear her whole 
weight upon it, without any apparent inconveni- 
When I first discovered it in the morning, 
room, and they all set and grow uniform and of : was no ^ Bwe lled at all. but in the course of the 
good size. j day it began to swell, and also became very much 
I hope the farmers will test this, and tell their \ inflamed. I used cold water upon it for nearly a 
neighbors, and report the result to the Rural next 
fall, that we may profit by it, should they be satis¬ 
fied with its utility. We all love good potatoes. 
Syracuse, N. Y., 1858. Gbovb Lawrence. 
WINTERING BEES. 
Some three years since, we drew out in the spring 
for corn, the manure from a friend’s horse stable, 
but thought at the time that it was of very little 
value. And so it proved, as the effect was little 
better than that of so much chaff or green saw¬ 
dust The manure, mixed with litter, had been 
thrown out at the back door of the stable, and as 
soon as the pile became of sufficient depth, be¬ 
gan to decompose, and that decomposition had 
gone so far that the whole pile became fire-fanged, 
turning white and becoming dry and light—even 
the litter it contained seemed to have been 
burned to ashes. 
These facts led us to think that the manure would 
have been far more valuable had it been drawn to 
the field, from time to time,—as a load accumulated 
during the winter,—and spread upon the surface. 
Subsequent observation has convinced us that this 
idea is a safe one. Rather than allow manure to 
heat and waste as above related, we would spread 
it over our fields, even upon the surface of the 
snow; though bare ground would be more favora¬ 
ble to that operation, and there would be less dan. 
gerof a portion of its strength being washed away 
by the sudden melting of the snow, and mostly de¬ 
posited in the hollows and lower part of the field, 
or adjoining ones. 
An experiment in applying manure in winter to 
clover sod for planting corn, was related recently 
by a member of the Skaneateles Farmers’ Club, and 
goes to show that the results compare favorably 
with parts of the same field plowed in the fall, and 
other parts plowed in the spring, and manured in 
the hill, showing clearly in favor of drawing out 
and spreading in winter, as it starts the grass early 
and gives more of it to be plowed under in the 
spring. The experimenter plows but four or five 
inches deep in turning over sod for corn, but goes 
deeper in the after cultivation, thus giving the corn 
crop the early benefit of the manure. 
The most economical management of horse ma¬ 
nure is, no doubt, that which employs its tendency 
to rapid decomposition, to convert coarser materi¬ 
al, such as muck, litter, and colder manures into 
rotten manure; but as stated above, if not so used, 
it cannot be left in heaps without great waste, un¬ 
less considerable care is taken, or some absorbent 
employed. The loss would be far less were it 
spread at once upon the field, particularly if the 
field be in grass and designed for spring plowing. 
Royalton, N. Y., 1858. J. H. B. 
Profitable bee-keeping is no more dependent 
upon luck than any other kind of business. Care 
and right management are just as necessary and 
just as sure of being crowned with success in the 
bee as in the dairy business. The bee-keeper may 
read all that has been written upon the subject, yet 
personal experience and observation are essential 
to success. Having had some experience myself, 
and having met with fair success in the sweet line 
of honey culture, if it would not be out of place, I 
will try to give a chapter or two through the 
Rural. 
Every live, healthy her, the first day of May is 
worth a mill. At this estimate, how many thousand 
dollars are lost through the winter and early spring 
that might be saved with a very little care and 
labor. The economical farmer stables his cows 
and provides a shelter for his sheep; then, with 
suitable care and food, every animal is almost sure 
to come out plump and bright in the spring. So 
should the honey bee be managed. A warm, suit¬ 
ably lighted and ventilated room, supplied with a 
small stove, is none too good a place for wintering 
bees. A wire screen should be placed over the 
entrance of the hive, in the form of a box, six or 
eight inches square, thereby affording light, air 
and exercise without permitting the bees to fly 
any great distance therefrom. A small fire once 
or twice a day during the coldest winter weather 
will well pay the cost By this method the late 
swarms can be wintered by feeding a little, and 
when once through they are worth double the 
amount of an old swarm of two or three years 
standing. 
The wire screens are well worth their cost to 
place before hives that are wintered out of doors 
to prevent the bees from flying out sunDy days and 
dying on the snow. h. w. h. 
Gainesville, N. Y., 1858. 
Colic in Sheep. —We find in an English paper 
the following remedy for colic in sheep: — “I 
have a number of sheep feeding on Swede turnips 
with cut hay. An unusual number having been 
attacked with colic, and every case proving fatal, I 
determined to try the following remedy:—‘Ten 
drops of laudanum, ten drops of essence of pep 
permint, one teaspoonful of the spirits of turpen¬ 
tine, and one tablespoonful of sweet oiL’ I have in 
no instance found this fail to produce a cure with¬ 
in a couple of hours, although the sheep have been 
perfectly paralyzed, and unable to stand.” 
week, after which I sweat it with smart-weed, but 
all to no purpose. Now, I wish you, or some one 
of your numerous subscribers, would next pre¬ 
scribe.—D. W. Harrison, Tuscola, Mich., 1858. 
Remarks. —Lameness of the hock results from a 
strain, over-work, or a blow, as is evident from the 
heat, pain, and tumefaction of the part. The 
horse will flinch when the part is handled, and 
sometimes catch up the leg —showing that the stifle 
joint is right If you back him out of the stall, and 
make him step forward, it will be observed there is a 
free motion of the fetlock joint —the foot is freely 
planted upon the ground, showing that there is 
nothing the matter with it, and there is also perfect 
freedom of the hip joint When this state of things 
is observable, it is evident that the seat of disease 
is the hock. For a recent lameness of the hock, 
arnica, in the form of a tincture or infusion, is one 
of the best appliances. The parts are to be kept wet, 
so that a cooling process may go on during the in¬ 
flammatory stage. Rest, also, is one of the principle 
means of cure—a horse lame in the hock and 
worked, will ultimately become spavined. If any 
inflammatory habit of body is observable, a dose of 
medicine, and few messes of scalded shorts, will 
prove beneficiaL 
Good Potatoes all Summer. —As warm weather 
comes od, it is always difficult to keep potatoes 
mealy ” and fit for table use. To prevent them 
from sprouting, and becoming waxy and watery, a 
correspondent of the Homestead gives the following 
process, said to be practiced in Scotland, which 
strikes us as valuable—at least worth trying:— 
“ Diluted ammoniacal water in the proportion of 
an ounce of the liquor of ammonia of the druggist, 
to a pint of river or rain water, has of late years 
been successfully employed for checking the vege¬ 
tative power of potatoes, and prolonging their 
suitableness for food. Potatoes immersed four or 
five days in this liqnid, retain all their edible 
properties unimpared for a twelvemonth, improved 
in flavor and mealiness. The effect of the liquid is 
to consolidate their substance and extract their 
moisture. After immersion, the potatoes should 
be spread so as to dry, and will then keep good for 
ten months; contributing in this way not only to 
the comfort of families, but also to the health of 
mariners exposed to long voyages at sea.” 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
“Finney” Grass. —Having noticed in the Rural, 
April 17th, an inquiry about “Finney” grass, I 
would state that I have raised it two seasons. It 
will produce from two to three tons of hay to the 
acre, and it is better than clover, after the seed is 
threshed. It will yield from 16 to 30 bushels of 
seed per acre, which makes good feed for stock 
when ground with oats or corn. Horses, cattle, 
and sheep will keep fat on the fodder when the 
seed is left on. One peck of the seed is sufficient 
for an acre—sow broadcast Time for sowing, the 
last of May or first of June. It comes to maturity 
in ten weeks. It must be sown on some light 
loamy or mucky soil—if sown on clay soil, and the 
ground gets wet and crusts over, the seed will not 
come up.— Hiram J. Seaver, Rose, Oakland Co., 
Mich, 1858. 
Remarks. —The “Finney” grass, as described 
by Mr. Seaver, and the “Chinese” Buckwheat, 
furnished by Mr. F. E. Erwin, of Painted Post N. 
Y., it is evident are one and the same thing. It is 
a species of Millet 
Potato Raising in Kansas. —A correspondent 
of the Rural from Coomer, N. Y., inquires, in a 
February number, I think, how I planted my pota¬ 
toes the product of which I gave in a former issue 
of the New-Yorker. I should have noticed the 
inquiry sooner had I seen it I cut my potatoes in 
as small pieces as I dared to and feel sure of one 
shoot in each hill. They had been so much bruised 
in importing that many eyes failed to start I put 
but one piece in a hill and generally had but one 
sprout and never more than two. My success in rais¬ 
ing a large quantity of large potatoes from a small 
quantity of seed I attribute to the good care of the 
young plants, and the very clean culture through the 
whole season, especially the latter part, while the 
young tuber is making itself. I think many far 
mers fail here, in leaving the potatoes, as the corn 
after the second hoeing which is really the most criti¬ 
cal time in the growth of the potato.—W, Beck¬ 
with, Qicindaro, Kansas, 1858. 
Birds Useful. —One cold winter morning I saw 
from my window a little woodpecker flying along, 
and presently he lit on a currant bush. Here he 
commenced a diligent search, and in a moment be¬ 
gan to ply his bill very dexterously. He afterward 
examined other branches closely, but finding noth 
ing, flew away. My curiosity led me to examine 
into the affair, and I found that he had extracted 
some kind of a worm or insect, which had already 
commenced destroying the currant bush. From 
this fact it is certain that men who are sporting 
with the lives of innocent birds, are acting very 
much against their own interests; and the boys had 
better buy books instead of powder and shot, and 
get wisdom therefrom, as well as spare the lives of 
the birds which do so much to protect plants, 
shrubs, and trees.—J. Sibley, Forestville, Chautau- 
que Co., N. Y, 1858. 
Feeding the Birds Prevents their Depreda¬ 
tions. —I saw in the Rural, a short time since, an 
inquiry as to the best mode of preventing crows 
and birds from pulling corn. Five years ago, after 
planting my corn, I sowed two acres adjoining for 
feed, and after dragging there remained a good 
deal on top of the ground. The birds took the 
privilege of picking it up but did not pull any.— 
Since that time, when I have done planting, I have 
scattered corn on the ground and they never pulled 
any till last season. A bout one week after the corn 
was up I thought the birds did not act right —I 
saw about ten hills pulled up. I found they had 
picked up the corn I had sowed, so I got a few 
quarts more and sowed it, and that was the last of 
their pulling up corn. Brother farmers, I say feed 
the birds. — Wm. Van Dusen, Albion, Orleans Co., 
N. Y., 1858. 
A Pr.0LiFic Cow.—Knowing that you take a live¬ 
ly interest in the welfare of the farmer, and the 
raising of stock, I thought I would give you an ac¬ 
count of a cow that I own. In April, 1855, she 
brought me a pair of twins, (bulls,) in 1856 she 
went farrow; in 1857, in the month of April, bro’t 
a pair of twins, (heifers,) and in April, 1858, she 
brought three calves, (two heifers and a bull,) all 
of which are alive, and doing well.—E. 0. Ellin- 
wood, St. Marie, Marquette Co., Wis., 1858. 
Large yield of Onions.—Daniel Fitch, of Nor¬ 
walk, Conn., raised on one acre of land, six hundred 
and fifty bushels of red onions, many of which 
would measure six inches in diameter, and ten in 
circumference, being of an oblong shape. They 
require a rich soil, rather moist. So says a corres 
pondent The seed was sown with a drilL That 
was an excellent crop. We hope to be able to re 
port many such at the close of the present season. 
The Prairie Farmer is “still harping” — con¬ 
tinuing, in a long and logic-less article, its witless 
tirade against the Rural and its editor, and avoid¬ 
ing the issue relative to the prices of produce—but 
as our reply two weeks ago was intended as a 
finality, and has in nowise been controverted, we 
are content, as then stated, to “submit the origi¬ 
nal statements, pro and con, to the People for 
decision.” Though unable to descend to the stand¬ 
ard of ou» contemporary, it’s more than probable 
that we could “hoe our row” even in a personal 
controversy; but we have too much self-respect, 
and regard for the profession and the interest of 
our tens of thousands of readers, to make further 
reply to one who resorts to vulgarity and black¬ 
guardism, or occupy space with any matter which 
is not of some value or interest to the agricultural 
public. We therefore bid the P. F. adieu, sincerely 
wishing that it may receive all the patronage it 
merits, and merit all it receives. 
Potatoes. — When to Plant .—Among the many 
suggestions we have read as to time of planting, 
&c., to obviate the rot in the potato, the following 
from the last number of The Homestead appears 
most rational and worthy of adoption in practice:— 
“ Whatever kind you plant, plant them now if you 
can, the earlier the better—or the later the better. 
Excellent potatoes, remarkably free from the rot, 
were raised last year, and previously also, planted 
either very early or very late in the season. Those 
early planted should not be planted later than the 
second week in May, and the later planting done 
after the middle of June. We are satisfied that 
under all usual circumstances, planting between 
the middle of May and the middle of June is most 
apt to expose the plants, at a critical period of their 
growth, to some influences which cause the prema¬ 
ture death of tops, and the rot in the tubers.” 
Plant Good Seeds. —Yes, the best seeds of the 
best varieties is what you want, and will always 
prove most profitable to the cultivator. Impure 
or imperfect seed of an uncertain variety won’t 
pay for either field or garden; and if you are not 
certain in regard to both the quality and vitality 
of what you have on hand, reject it and procure 
what you require of a reliable seedsman. And in 
obtaining what is necessary for the field and vege¬ 
table garden, “ don’t forget to remember ” that a 
few flower seeds should be provided for the wife 
and young people who look to the ornamental as 
well as usefuL 
The Growth of the Cattle Trade of Ohio.— 
George Renick, now living in Chillicothe, in 1804-5, 
fed and drove the first lot of cattle that ever crossed 
the mountains to an Eastern market From that 
time to this the business has steadily increased in 
the Yalley. Now Ohio sends across the Allegha- 
nies a yearly average of 70,000 head. 
Kentucky State Ag. Society.— The Louisville 
Journal IB “informed that the Board of Directors 
of the State Ag. Society, have definitely fixed upon 
the first week in September next for the time of 
the next Annual Fair.” It is to be held upon the 
grounds of the South-Western Ag. Association, 
near Louisville. 
Officers of Ag. Societies will oblige us by 
forwarding copies of their Premium’Lists, &c., for 
the fall exhibitions, as soon after publication as 
convenient This will enable us to give, ere long, 
a table showing the times and places of holding 
the principal Fairs—Town, County and State—in 
all sections where the Rural circulates. 
The farmers’ boys of Michigan evidently appre¬ 
ciate their Agricultural College. There were but 
28 vacancies this term, and there were 93 applica¬ 
tions for admission. 
