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MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
and this can be done in no way so well, as by 
visiting the locality where the soil lies which 
is the subject of the proposed analysis. 
Locality, mineral and physical character 
bear a most important relation to the value of 
soils. Thus,a field may decline from the base 
of a granite mountain containing a vast 
amount of disintegrating and decomposing 
feldspar, mica and other minerals which con¬ 
tain potash. The field itself may contain but 
a small quantity of these minerals, the earth 
having been carried from some distant lo¬ 
cality during its period of submergence and 
formation. Now, the action of frost, air and 
water having decomposed a portion of the sur¬ 
face of the rock of which the mountain is com¬ 
posed, this is dissolved by water containing 
carbonic acid, and is carried in solution down 
the sloping ground through the soil, thus sup¬ 
plying the field with those inorganic elements 
so necessary to the growing crop. The sup¬ 
ply furnished in this way, might be found 
upon analysis, very small, but being generally 
constant, would in many cases, be sufficient. 
Again—a farm may be lying in a region 
where there are considerable deposits of pkos- 
phatic earth, and yet contain but a very 
small per centage of them—but if, upon a visit 
to the place, it were observed that those 
plants which require, more than others, a soil 
containing phosphates, grew luxuriantly, it 
would be reasonable to infer that enough of 
these compounds were in some way supplied. 
Physical constitution exerts a controlling 
influence upon the chemical or vital actions 
that take place in soils. A loose and porous 
soil, for instance, requires a smaller amount 
of soluble mineral, as well as less animal and 
vegetable matter, because the roots of plants 
have a greater chance to extend themselves 
and obtain the nourishment they require.— 
The air, which contains gase3 having an im¬ 
portant influence on vegetation, as carbonic 
acid and ammonia, also has free access in a 
porous soil. 
I think I would sooner act upon the advice 
of a farmer who had a knowledge of geology 
and mineralogy, in selecting or cultivating a 
piece of ground, than upon that of a mere 
analytical chemist; but in a case of difficulty 
I would much rather possess the results of 
the observations and examinations of both. 
All these branches of natural science should 
be, as far as opportunity will allow, under¬ 
stood by the cultivator of the soil. By con¬ 
stant observation upon his own farm he pos¬ 
sesses greater advantages of judging correctly 
as to the requirements of his soil than the 
transient visitor possibly can havs. Science 
without common sense is worth but little to 
the farmer; but common sense with science 
is worth more than without. c. n. h. 
Kinderhook, April 10th, 1S55. 
PLASTER ON WHEAT. 
Messrs. Editors From the teachings of 
your valuable journal, 1 became nearly con¬ 
firmed in the faith that the application of plas¬ 
ter to the wheat crop, was without any bene¬ 
ficial results—a mere waste, in so far as the 
wheat was concerned, of so much of a fertilizer, 
valuable in its application to other crops. 
A little experiment which was tried this 
spring under my observation, has, from its 
signal results, contributed most effectually to 
fix me in the opposite belief. I will give the 
particulars with as much brevity as possible. 
Fully apprehensive of the qualifying cir¬ 
cumstances of the kind and texture of soil, 
manner of culture, &c., I will introduce the 
experiment with a brief statement of such par¬ 
ticulars. The field was cleared five years ago, 
and contains about fifteen acres. It has laid 
in the sward since the first crop was taken 
from it. The soil, to the depth of nine inches, 
is an equal mixture of low land mould, and a 
yellow loam. It was summer-fallowed in 
June. Extra pains were taken in its cultiva¬ 
tion, was plowed deep, and thoroughly broken 
up. The crop was sown the 1st of September, 
and came up finely. The winter, which as all 
will vividly remember, was an unusually se¬ 
vere one, passed, and spring opened, and this 
field of wheat came out the greenest, rankest, 
and decidedly the most promising in the whole 
neighborhood. 
In the latter part of April, a cold, dry wind 
commenced blowing from the northwest, and 
continued steadily for more than a week,—at 
the end of which our crop was withered up like 
the leaves in an autumn frost. The whole 
field was as yellow and lifeless to all appear- 
anoe, as the ripened harvest. So complete, 
indeed, was the change, that we looked upon 
the crop as a certain failure. But my father, 
who still clung to the old fashioned faith in 
the efficacy of plaster applied to the wheat 
crop, tried some on a corner of the field. The 
effect was absolutely magical. In three days 
so much of the wheat as the plaster had reach¬ 
ed, was changed again to its original, thrifty 
verdure. After witnessing such effects we im¬ 
mediately went over the whole field with about 
two bushels of plaster to the acre ; and now it 
is again giving forth in its green luxuriance, 
its early promise of a bountiful harvest. 
These are the simple facts in the case, and 
from them there Is no mistaking the agency of 
the plaster. As an additional evidence of the 
effect of the plaster, I will state, that the wind 
was blowing quite too hard at the time it was 
sown to make it possible to distribute the 
plaster with any precision ; the consequence is, 
there are streaks extending in some instances 
the whole width of the field the direction it 
was sown, still as yellow nearly, as before the 
application of the plaster. 
Yours truly, j. a. i.. 
Chemung, June 9, 1855. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
IMPROVEMENT BY DRAINING. 
Eds. Kural. —You are discussing the sub' 
ject of underdraining—go ahead with it! 
nothing is of more interest. A few years 
since I purchased a farm considered wet; the 
dry land had been worked to death, the ma¬ 
nure around the barn had accumulated for 
years, and the wet land both on pasture and 
meadow had nearly run out. I plowed the 
land all up, laid out square handsome fields 
and fenced them well. It would not produce 
evenly—the manure worked well on the dry 
land, but did very little good on the wet. The 
wet land was not spungy, only surface wet, 
spriogand fall. I was in debt for the whole 
farm, could scarcely meet interest. I commen¬ 
ced ditching, dug by hand entirely, filled with 
stone lying on the surface. I kept on until I 
laid down about one thousand rods. It cost 
money and hard labor but to the ditch I attribute 
most of my success in paying for my farm, and 
making the improvement I have. It grow 6 
better every year and the land is drying con¬ 
tinually. Drains should be deep and have a 
good mouth that will discharge freely and al¬ 
ways keep open. The work must be thor¬ 
oughly done, and I think, can best be perform¬ 
ed by hand, even to filling with dirt after the 
stone or tile are laid. If I have stone I use 
them in preference to tile, as they cost noth¬ 
ing, and we get them out of the way, which 
answers two good purposes.— Benoni Smith, 
Cayuga Co., N. Y. 
SEEDS FROM THE PATENT OFFICE. 
TnE practice of distributing from the Patent 
Office various seeds for trial is good, perhaps, 
but we who receive and test them, sometimes 
get nicely bitten. In a package which came 
to hand this spring was a paper marked 
“ Spurry,” that so nearly resembles while 
growing a poor miserable weed thriving in 
these parts, commonly called devil's gut, that 
I shall engage in a war of extermination 
straghtway. The Office Agent need not have 
gone to England for the seed, for he could 
have obtained bushels in this quarter on ap¬ 
plication. If others choose to see the thing 
perfected on their lands it is their privilege 
—for myself I do not care to risk it. For 
the credit of the Patent Office, I hope it is 
something else, but it has a “ mighty uncer¬ 
tain ” look just now. w. b. p. 
Bemarks.—Allen’s “ American Agricul¬ 
ture ” describes this plant as follows : 
Spurry (Spergula arvensis.) —It is a hardy 
plant which grows spontaneously in the Mid¬ 
dle States. Its chief merit consists in its 
growing on soils too thin to bear clover. On 
such it can be judiciously used to bring them 
up to the clover bearing point, from which 
they can be taken and carried forward much 
more rapidly by the clovers. Van Yoght 
says, “ it is better than red or white clover ; 
the cows give more and better milk when fed 
on it, and it improves the land in an extraor¬ 
dinary degree. If the land is to lie several 
years in pasture white clover must be sown 
with it. When sown in the middle of April 
it is ripe for pasture by the end of May. If 
eaten off in June, the land is turned fiat and 
another crop is sown which affords fine pasture 
in August and September. This operation 
is equivalent to a dressing of ten loads ot mar 
nure per acre. The blessing of spurry the clo¬ 
ver of sandy lands, is incredible when rightly 
employed.” Three crops can be grown upon 
land in one season which if turned in or fed 
on the ground, can be made a means of im¬ 
proving it. 
WOODEN GOTHIC HOUSES. 
Eds. Rural :—I was pleased to see yonr 
dash at the Gothic style of architecture. A 
wooden Gothic house is very like, in idea at 
least, a finely painted wagon, made of chest¬ 
nut timber, which has no beauty wheu its de 
merits are discovered. If I wished to disfig¬ 
ure the face of a very beautiful landscape 
I would expect to succeed as well by building 
a wooden Gothic thereon, as by any other 
building at least—especially if painted black 
or nearly so, and fashion which is blemishing 
the land with these piles of pikes and corners 
and notched pine boaads, will at no distant 
day lay violent hands upon these inconvenient 
and expensive follies and substitute a style 
that cheers by the greater beauty of utility.— 
Profit of Underdraining. —Mr. William 
Chamberlain, of Lower Red Hook, N. Y., 
drained twenty-five acres of land, at an ex¬ 
pense of $60 per acre, and the first three 
crops paid the whole expense, including cost 
of cultivation. He may, then, hereafter look 
for a profit of $20 per acre on each crop.— 
Last season part of this ground yielded 75 
bushels of corn, aDd a part 300 bushels of po¬ 
tatoes, while on adjacent undrained fields the 
1 crops were nearly ruined by the drouth. 
Agricultural 
COL. SHERWOOD’S SALE OF STOCK. 
As previously announced, a sale of Short¬ 
horn Cattle, South Down Sheep, and Suffolk 
Swine, was held at the farm of Col. Sher¬ 
wood, near Auburn, on the 20th instant.— 
The occasion was apparently one of considera¬ 
ble interest to breeders, farmers and others, as 
there was a large attendance,—various sec¬ 
tions of our own State, New England, Ohio 
and Canada, being represented. In addition 
to the purchasers mentioned in the sale, we 
observed many prominent friends of improve¬ 
ment — including the Messrs. Cowles, of 
Conn.; Col. Johnson, of Albany; S. P. 
Chapman, of Madison; J. Talcott, of Onei¬ 
da ; Sam’i. Thorne, of Dutchess ; E. Marks 
and Wm. Fuller, of Onondaga ; Judge Shel¬ 
don, Trios. Gould, J. R. Page, and others, 
of Cayuga ; Messrs. Swan, Swaby and Col¬ 
lins, of Seneca; Chas. Morrell, of Tomp¬ 
kins ; Wm. Johnson, N. Oaks, and others, of 
Ontario; and several gentlemen from other 
counties, whose names are not remembered. 
Most of the animals were in good condition, 
and made a fine appearance. Of the cattle, 
ihe cows and heifers sold the most readily,and 
at very remunerative prices. The bulls were 
not in so great demand, though several 
brought good prices. Three or four which 
were withdrawn for want of bids at up set 
prices, were subsequently offered and sold to 
the highest bidders—there being no up-set fig¬ 
ures. The Cattle were sold as follows : 
COWS, HEIFERS AND HEIFER CAL VIS. 
Name. Age. Purchaser. Price. 
Reel Rose 2d, 9 years, Ambrose Stevens, Batavia.. .$300 
Red Rose 4th, 5 years, Wm. Ashton, Galt, G. W. 925 
Rod Rose 6th,- Mr. Haines, New Jersoy. 600 
Red Rose 7th, 3 years, Wm. Ashton, Galt, C. W. 620 
Red Rose 8th, 11 mos., B. F. Osborn, Sand’ky City,0. 250 
Red Roso 9th. 6 months, Thos. Gould, Aurora, N. Y. 350 
Lady Sale 2d,-Wm. Ashton, Galt, C. W. 610 
lady Sale 4th, 7 months, J. W. Wilkins, Montgomery, 
Orango Co., N. Y. 400 
La Polky 2d, 14 months, J. W. Wilkins, do. 410 
Phantom 3d, 14 months, J. W. Wilkins, do. 460 
Lady Brown, 3 years, B. F. Osborn, Ohio. 200 
Style,- do 220 
Lady, 4 years, do 310 
Flower, 22 months, do 260 
Red Rose 10th, 3 weeks, Wm. Ashton, Galt, C. W... 350 
BCLIS AND BUXT. C.U.VE3. 
Red Jacket 19 months, J. W. Wilkins.$500 
*Pope, 2 years, S. B. Payne, Geddes, N. Y. 415 
La Fayette, 3 years, B. F. Osborn, Ohio. 350 
Powhatan, 3 years, J. W. Taylor, East Bloomfield .. 120 
Waterloo, 4 y’rs M. E. Burtless, Seneca Falls, N. Y. 135 
ChautauqueChief, 10mos.,V. J.Birdseye, Pompoy... 55 
Novelty, 2 years, L. F. Allen. Black Rock, N. Y. 75 
Prince Albert, 2 months, Wm. Ashton, Galt, C. W.. 75 
* During the day Mr. Payne sold this bull to George 
Clark, of Springfield, Otsego Co., for $450. 
The South-Down Sheep were next offered. 
Eight rams were sold at prices ranging from 
$11 to $17 per head. Two ewes sold at $15 
each, two at $12 each, and nine at $10 each. 
E. M. Bradley of East Bloomfield, N. Y., 
and B. F. Osborn of Ohio, were the principal 
purchasers. 
The Suffolk Pigs sold at fair prices. One 
boar, 9 months old, brought $25. Three 
sows, 8 months old, sold at $30 each,—and a 
like number, only 10 weeks old, brought $10 
each. They were purchased by Tnos. Gould 
of Aurora, J. W. Wilkins of Orange, and 
Mr. Haines of New Jersey. 
DOES THE BUG “STILL LIVE?” 
In common with a great many well-informed 
people, we had innocently supposed that “ Ter¬ 
ra-culture” was among the things that were— 
had “gone up” or evaporated. No such 
thmg. Its learned “ Professor ” evidently 
possesses more lives than the most tenacious 
specimen of the feline species, for it appears 
from the following that he “still lives” and 
continues to “disclose the disclosures” to the 
poor and ignorant denizens of the dark and 
benighted corners of this mundane sphere : 
Mr. Moore :—There is a Prof. Comstock 
lecturing in this State on “ lerra culture to 
the tune of $50 per lecture. You editors are 
supposed to know more than lecturers ; is it 
“ humbug” or is it not ?—D. W. P., Lenawee 
Co., Mich., 1855. 
Now, we should be very happy to oblige our 
esteemed friend, but really it does not become 
us to detract from the merits of the pretended 
“new principle in Vegetable Life,” or to dis¬ 
turb the learned “ Professor” in his laborious 
efforts to benefit “ all the world and the rest of 
mankind,” (himself in particular,) by impart¬ 
ing, for a valuable consideration, his wonderful 
and never-to-be-understood or appreciated dis¬ 
covery. It is true that “ Terra-culture” has 
heretofore been pretty thoroughly examined, 
tested and exploded by both scientific and prac¬ 
tical men in this State aDd elsewhere—and 
moreover the “ great secret” has been “ dis. 
closed” and exposed in the Rural and other 
agricultural journal?. It is also on record 
that the theory was pronounced no new dis¬ 
covery by the N. Y. State Ag. Society, in 
1851,_an able Committee (consistirg of J. B. 
Nott, the late A. J. Downing,* Judge Van 
Bergen, L. F. Allen and E. P. Prentice ) 
reporting that “after a conference with Mr. 
Comstock, the Committee came to the unani¬ 
mous opinion that no new discovery had been 
* Mr. Downing's report on tlio “groat Focret” will be 
found in the HorlicvXtwriit for 1851, page 153, and in tlio 
fourth volume of the Rubai., page 70. It is a rich expose. 
made by Mr. Comstock, nor was his practice 
different from that of experienced nurserymen 
heretofore, and which may be found discussed 
in public works,” &c. We could easily give 
an abundance of reliable testimony of similar 
purport. And yet, inasmuch as the “ Profes¬ 
sor” was “ once on a time” so extremely com- 
plimerttary as to p’ace our name at the head 
of a list of some sixty editors, attached to a 
statement strongly recommending “ Terra cul¬ 
ture”—which statement was published and ex¬ 
tensively circulated before we were aware of 
its existence, and of course without our knowl¬ 
edge or consent,—we do not think it proper 
to farther expose what the “discoverer” so 
modestly, honorably and honestly caused us to 
endorse! True, we never, in fact, recommend¬ 
ed either him or his theory,—still we dislike to 
call names, and would not be accessory to the 
“ taking off” of one whose premature exodus 
might deprive the world of all valuable knowl¬ 
edge ! Witness the following “ beautiful ex¬ 
tract ” from a recommendation of “Terra-cul¬ 
ture” that recently appeared in a Western pa¬ 
per,—and which was evidently written by the 
self-styled “ Professor,” who is celebrated for 
his cruelty to the English language : 
“ If the Discoverer die under existing cir¬ 
cumstances we have not any reasou to believe 
that the world will ever know what his dis¬ 
covered principle is, and his subsequent dis¬ 
coveries are !” 
Awful, isn’t it ? If his life were insured at 
his own estimate of its value,— the proceeds 
to be equally distributed,—it would be safe to 
announce the arrival, ere long, of a pretty 
large chunk of the “ good time ” which lias 
been so long “ coming 1” 
— But, seriously,— though we can hardly 
speak or write gravely relative to such an 
egregious “sell”—we do think this “ Terra- 
culture” a little in advance of the China Tree- 
corn, Morus Multicaulis, Rohan Potato, or 
any similar contagious affliction of by-gone 
years ; and admirably adapted to the wants of 
those who require bleeding and blistering oc¬ 
casionally. In the opinion of the best farmers 
and horticulturists who have heard and experi¬ 
mented upon the “ disclosures,” and therefore 
know whereof they assert, it is, of all others 
which have prevailed on the edge or in the 
middle of this nineteenth century, the most 
unapproachable and unmitigated 
I f 
Mowing Machines —The Judges at the re¬ 
cent trial of Mowing Machines in Westchester 
county, report that “ they were very greatly 
pleased with the performance of every machine 
exhibited, and can confidently say that they 
believe any one of them would give satisfac¬ 
tion to the farmers of the country, and when 
all are so excellent it becomes a matter of con¬ 
siderable difficulty ami embarassment to the 
Committee to decide which one of them em¬ 
bodies the greatest number of desirable quali¬ 
ties.” After further remarking that all the 
machines exhibited possess peculiar excellen¬ 
cies, they express the opinion that in respect 
to operation the machines of Ketohum, Hal- 
lenbeck, Manny, and Allen, are of equal 
excellence, and that there is no material differ¬ 
ence as to the smoothness and lowness of their 
cut. The machines of Ketcuum, Manny, 
Hallenbeck, and Russell, were considered 
least likely to clog, on account of the finger- 
caps not reaching back to the finger-board.— 
The Judges pronounce Ketchum’s and Al¬ 
len’s machines the most durable, and Hal- 
lenbeck’s the most simple. Forbush s ma¬ 
chine was not included in the report, it not 
being in proper order at the time of the trial. 
The Crops. —The heavy rains of the past 
week have completely drenched the earth in 
many sections, and perhaps injured the crops 
in some localities—especially on low, undrain¬ 
ed lands. As to the prospects of the crops, 
accounts are somewhat contradictory,—yet, 
on the whole, the reports continue favorable. 
In regard to the wheat crop, our report must 
he the same as last week. There will be a 
partial failure in Western New York and 
Michigan, but a full yield is anticipated in 
most other wheat growing districts. We hear 
very favorable reports as to the wheat and 
other crops in Canada West. 
It is paid a fraudlent article is manufactured 
and sold in this country as Chilian Guano. It 
has the appearance and smell of Guano, but is 
comparatively worthless. Beware 1 
PROPER TIME FOR CUTTING GRASS. 
For more than thirty years, says a corres¬ 
pondent of the Country Gentleman, it has 
been a common saying among farmers, that 
timothy hay should not be cut until ripe— 
that is, until the heads were plump and full of 
seed. I was raised in a country where grass 
was thought ready to cut as soon as it was 
large enough : and after I came here, I fol¬ 
lowed through the same practice, although in 
opposition to the opinion and practice of ma¬ 
ny of my good neighbors. I followed the 
practice so long, and had so many opportuni¬ 
ties to prove it, that I know to a certainty 
that my practice is right. For some 8 or 10 
years past I have used mostly timothy hay.— 
Previous to that, I used more clover. V ery 
often I have not been able to get it all cut be¬ 
fore harvest; and having several cattle and 
sheep yards, some one lot of cattle had to eat 
the ripe hay, and I am perfectly sure that it is 
a great loss to let the timothy hay get any¬ 
thing like ripe ; in fact, whenever it begins to 
blossom, it is time to begin cutting. If there 
is much to cut, and not plenty of hands, some 
will then get too ripe. I would prefer good 
wheat straw, cut before it is too ripe, to ripe 
timothy for either sheep or cattle. 
A nnmbc-r of years ago I built a cow house, 
and that season I cut my timothy hay earlier 
than usual. I stabled my cows for the first 
time that year; fed them the early cut 
timothy hay, and took every possible care of 
the cattle, but they became poor, would eat 
but little green hay, and by spring the cows 
and young cattle were overrun with lice, and 
poorer by far than I ever had cattle. I con¬ 
cluded I had cut my timothy hay too green, 
and that my neighbors were partially right. 
Next season I let it grow nearly ripe, but my 
cows did no better. I then concluded it must 
be stabling, and took out my stalls, and turn¬ 
ed my stables into seeds. After that my cat¬ 
tle got fat on green hay. After I began to 
fatten cattle extensively, I found out that my 
cow stables were not thoroughly ventilated, 
and this was the only reason why they did not 
do well in their stables. 
The loss farmers sustain by letting their 
hay get too ripe, is immense. 1 would rather 
have four quarts of meal per day, with green 
timothy hay, than to have a peck with ripe 
hay, to fat a steer with. Cut grass or clover 
green, cure in swath or cock, and it will make 
either sheep or steers fat in five months with¬ 
out grain, if they are properly attended to, 
but still it is more profitable to feed part with 
grain. 
I have wintered this season about 200 sheep 
on wheat straw, with one bushel of oil cake 
meal to the 100 sheep per day, and now they 
are fat, although but thin when I bought 
them. 
LAND ANI) CROPS CULTIVATED IN ENGLAND. 
A blue book of the British Parliament con¬ 
tains the report of the Poor Law inspectors on 
agricultural statistics in England in 1854.— 
From a general summary it appears that the 
gross estimated totals in the counties of Eng¬ 
land and Wales were as follows, viz : 
Number of statute acres, 37,324,915, of 
which the following number were under tillage 
lor various grains, viz: 3,807,846 acres of 
wheat;; 2,667,776 acres of barley ; 1,302,782 
acres of oats ; 72,721 acres of rye, 673,188 of 
beaus and peas; 218,551 of vetches; 2,267,- 
200 acres of turnips; 177,153 of mangolds; 
12,638 of carrots; 192,287 of potatoes; 10,- 
156 of flax ; 18,976 of hops ; 1,079 of oisers ; 
97,334 of other crops; and 895,969 bare fal- 
law land—making a grand total under the ag¬ 
ricultural division of 12,441,776 acres. 
The grand total number of acres under 
grass amounted to 15,212,203, includicg 8,- 
874,946 of permanent acres of pasture land, 
2,224,861 of sh ep walks and downs. 
The number of acres in houses, gardens, 
roads, &c., was 976,107 ; the number of acres 
in waste attached to farms 786,658 ; the num¬ 
ber of acres in wood and plantations 1,697,- 
362 ; the number of acres in commons belong¬ 
ing to parishes 1,937,164 ; the number of acres 
iu holdings of less than two acres 459,447; 
and the number of acres not accounted for 
3,814,108. 
The stock of all the counties of England 
and Wales in 1854, included 1,050,931 horses, 
358,079 colts ; 1,376,703 milch cows ; 707,192 
calves; 1,339,279 other cattle, including work¬ 
ing oxen; 244,105 tups; 7,299,915 ewes; 6,- 
987,982 lambs, 4,159,085 other sheep, and 2,- 
363,724 swine. 
It should be explained that returns have 
been received from eleven counties only, thoso 
for the remaining counties being simply esti¬ 
mated. 
Sowing Turnips. —From the 20th of this 
month to the first of July, will be in season 
for sowing the ruta baga or Swedish turnip. 
This is the best of the turnip family. Its 
value for winter feeding stock is not generally 
appreciated in this country. It will keep 
about as well as the potato. It is sometimes 
charged that it gives milk a turnip taste ; but 
we have never known it to produce this effect 
when it was fed to the cows immediately af¬ 
ter they had been milked. This root will also 
do well on sward ground, well plowed and 
dressed with some quick-acting manure. The 
young plants need something to produce a 
rapid growth at once, to get them as soon as 
possible into rough leaf, in which state they 
are pretty much out of the way of tty. The 
phosphates have usually done well for turnips. 
— Boston Cultivator. 
Buckwheat. — A correspondent inquires 
how much buckwheat he shall sow to an acre, 
when it should be sown, and on what kind of 
land. The quantity of seed varies from half a 
bushel to a bushel. Three pecks is better 
than more, in most cases. It may be sown in 
June iu this latitude. It is sometimes sown 
after a crop of winter rye or wheat has been 
i taken off. It will grow well on quite light 
soil.— Boston Cultivator. 
