/CmniRE.HQ 
EXCELSIOR 
) $3.00 l’F,R YEAR. 
I Single IVo., Eight Cents 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, APRIL 3,188D 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869. by D. D. T. Moore, In the Clerk’s Oitioe of the Bistrict Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. ] 
times, in suitable soils, attains an enormous 
size—from two to three feet in length—with 
a diameter ranging from two inches at the 
top to six inches at the lower end—which 
singular peculiarity renders it impossible to 
he dug out unless the soil is excavated to llie 
bottom, as, being thickest below, it cannot 
he pulled up as are carrots, parsnips, etc. 
. Pig. 6 is the American Sweet. Potato, 
{fpomaeea, batatas,) now grown extensively 
on all sandy soils in the Middle States, and 
is the staple “Potato” of the Southern 
States, in many sections of which it is 
grown in immense quantities and shipped to 
our Northern markets. There are three va 
rieties, namely, Nanmnond , Hal Manual am! 
Y'lloio Skinned. Of those the Nansemond is 
most generally grown. Henderson, in his 
“ Gardening for Profit,” thus briefly alludes 
to the cultivation of the Sweet Potato: 
“We often have difficulty in this district 
(New Jersey,) in saving the tubers sound 
enough until spring to start for sprouting to 
produce young plants. The great essentials 
to their good preservation are a dry and 
rather warm atmosphere, the collar suitable 
to preserve the common potato being usually 
too cold and damp for this. Where there is 
no place of the necessary high temperature, 
it is best to got I hem in spring direct from 
some Southern market, where ihey can 
usually he had ill good condition; or they 
may be kept in barrels of dry sand, in a, 
loom where the temperature will not fall 
below fifty degrees. In this district we 
begin to start the tubers about the middle 
of April, laying them thickly together on a 
two-inch layer of sand and leaf mold, (com¬ 
posted together;) or sand alone will answer 
if leaf mold c&nnol, he had. As soon as the 
buds or eyes show sign of starting, cover 
the tubers over to the thickness of an inch 
with the same material, then treat as for 
plants of tomatoes or egg-plants in hot-bed 
or forcing pit, and the sprouts or slips will 
be ready to plant out by the first of June.” 
Market gardeners often make the sale of 
Sweet Potato plants a very profitable opera¬ 
tion, immense quantities being sold to private 
glowers at the planting season As the 
sprouts from the tubers come up very thickly, 
repeated thinnings arc made, which is not 
only profitable to the grower, but is of great 
advantage to the remaining plants, giving 
them the necessary room to grow. It is not. 
uncommon for the plants to yield a profit of 
$5 per flash. One grower informs us that he 
has sold $1,000 worth from 150 sashes. The 
profit from the cultivation of the crop in the 
field is something less than from tomatoes, 
but more than from the common potato. 
In this latitude the Sweet Potato should 
never be planted out much earlier than the 
first of June, as it is very susceptible of 
being chilled, and the weather is rarely 
warm enough before that time. Prepare the 
hills by mixing in each a good shovelful of 
well-rotted manure, setting three plants in 
each, at right angles, four feet apart, and 
the plants distant one foot from each other 
in the rows — in either case requiring from 
8,000 to 10,000 plants per acre. 
jfUtral Mrrijitccftrrje 
THE FARM BARN, 
BY J. WILKINSON 
opinions and tastes I am to cater. In describ¬ 
ing in detail the requisites of a structure on 
which, in all parts of the civilized world, 
there has ever been, and, no doubt, will con¬ 
tinue to be, a great variety of opinion, even 
among those whose opinions are regarded 
with great respect. This, however, in no 
wise discourages me in embarking in the 
undertaking; on the contrary, I feel that 
many intelligent, writers on this and kindred 
subjects will be induced to discuss, and, no 
doubt, will oppose, positions that 1 may 
take, by which 1 may be enlightened, as 
well as all others interested in the subject, 
and the general weal will be promoted. 
The class of building which I shall at¬ 
tempt to describe in detail, will be adapted 
to use in latitudes in which the severity of 
the winter is such that both animals and 
roots require protection from frost, and will 
be especially adapted to storing the machin¬ 
ery, crops and animals common to such lati¬ 
tudes on this continent. 
The Site, 
to be most economical, and to embrace in 
the fhllest degree capabilities for providing 
and distributing all the essential features of 
such a structure with special reference to 
durability and convenience in its use, and 
the comfort and health of the animals, must 
have a Southern aspoct. Although we have 
in this country a large number of farm barns 
which have cost from $10,000 to $30,000, yet 
there is not one of the number that fully 
combines all the characteristics above enu¬ 
merated ; on the contrary, they are all defec¬ 
tive in some degree in almost every depart¬ 
ment. To those not, familiar with the causes 
of such defectiveness in these structures and 
their appurtenances, it may be a matter of 
astonishment or surprise that great perfec¬ 
tion has not been attained. 
It is simply a want of experience and in¬ 
telligence in those who design and construct 
our barns that, they are still so defective. 
The farmer and the carpenter are the archi¬ 
tects. The former has perhaps never under¬ 
taken a work of the kind before, and the 
builder has, it, may be, built a dozen barns 
in his practice, each being built after the 
same plan, or nearly so. The skill and in¬ 
telligence of the professional architect, is 
rarely sought in this field, hence his experi¬ 
ence is limited in it. 
The Grad* and Aspect ot the Site 
for the farm barn are very important. A 
slope of about eight feet t.o one hundred will 
be found a convenient one on which to con¬ 
struct the character of building that I shall 
describe and recommend. This inclination 
j should be to the south or southeast, and the 
■A yard should be south of the building, tlmt 
( the building may protect it on the north, 
J and that the fullest benefit of the genial in¬ 
ti, fiuence ol the sun may he secured in the 
/ yard and stables, which should be in the 
F basement. The soil of the site, if not nat- 
urally dry, should be made thoroughly so 
5jf by means of artificial drainage, which should 
Wig. 1, 3, West India, Yam: 3, G-uadaloupa Vara: 4, 5, Chinese Yam: 0, American Sweet Potato 
be so constructed as to he rat proof, and 
should extend under all the foundation walls. 
The Dimensions of a Farm Barn 
shonld be what would be considered, at the 
time of its.heing erected, very liberal, that 
provision may he made for the natural in¬ 
crease of the crops, and the consequent 
increase of the number of animals to he 
kept, which is always the result of intelli¬ 
gent, judicious management. It will he 
found most satisfactory, and more economi¬ 
cal, to build with dimensions so liberal that 
an unsightly addition, often destroying the 
symmetry of the original structure, will not 
be required for many years. The position 
of the bam should be as nearly central to 
the farm for which it. is to provide storage 
as is practicable. It is desirable, however, 
not to have the distance, ordinarily, more 
than five hundred feet between the farm¬ 
house and farm bam. 
A Perennial Supply of Flowing Water 
is a matter of so great importance that some 
other less important features of a site may 
with propriety be sacrificed to secure this, 
in ease it cannot be effected without such 
compromise. In the absence of a supply of 
water from natural flow, and an artificial 
source of supply, by means of water power 
and pump, it has been very generally recom¬ 
mended to erect a wind-mill with which to 
pump water from a neighboring spring oj 
stream, or from a well, but. a full experience 
with all these means and sources of supply 
of water has led me to the conclusion that 
they arc not to bo compared in point of 
economy or convenience with a properly 
constructed cistern, to be supplied from the 
roof of the building. By properly con¬ 
structed, I mean to include its location, 
capacity, mode of construction, arrangement 
of the plumbing, pump, Ac. 
I do not generally recommend the em¬ 
ployment of wind and water power, unless 
it is desirable to supply water for ornamen¬ 
tal, as well as useful purposes. For the 
latter a satisfactory supply, both for the 
dwelling and the stock in the stables, is 
ohtained often by securing all the water 
from the roofs. With the average amount 
of rain fall in this latitude, a building fifty 
by one hundred feet will yield per annum 
120,000 gallons. Allowing forty animals to 
lie kept in the stables three hundred days 
out of three hundred and sixty-five, and 
allow them to consume ten gallons of water 
per day each, the amount consumed would 
be just, equal to the capacity of the roof to 
supply, or 120,000 gallons; 1 but they are, 
usually kept in pastures a much larger pro¬ 
portion Of the time than the sixty-five days. 
Hence, with a cistern of sufficient, capacity, 
this large number of animals can lie fully 
supplied from the roof of a building of the 
dimensions 1 have named, and have a large 
surplus for contingencies. 
The Height of the Building 
should be but one story, besides the*, base¬ 
ment. The basement should be nine feet in 
the clear to the principal floor, and the wall 
posts of the superstructure should not, be less 
than twenty fbet. in height. 
The rise of the roof should be equal to 
one-third of t he width of the building. The 
best roofing material is slate of best quality; 
the next best, cypress shingles. 
A good proportion for a farm bam will be 
to make the length a little more than twice 
the width; a plain parallelogram form is 
less expensive than an irregular form, and 
the capacity greater for the amount of ma¬ 
terial required to inclose it. 
The character of the floors of the bam is 
an important feature. That of the basement, 
except a portion of the stall floors, should 
be. of stone pavement, with the, interstices 
filled with gravel, sand, coal tar and pitch, 
which is durable, rat-proof, non-absorbent, 
and withal antiseptic. * 
The mow floors should be matched, and 
be as closely laid as possible; that of the 
drive-way the same, only it slioukl be double 
the thickness of that required under the 
mows.—[To bo continued. 
THE YAM-SWEET POTATO 
The Yam or Sweet Potato—we use the 
term synonymously — is an esculent, tuber 
grown extensively in tropical and semi- 
tropical climates. Our illustration repre¬ 
sents, in reduced form, varieties grown in the 
West Indies, Guadeloupe, China and Ameri¬ 
ca. In answer to an inquiry on the subject 
of Yams, and for the information of all our 
readers interested, we give the accompany¬ 
ing figures in connection with the following 
brief description of the varieties named—the 
data being furnished us by a cultivator who 
has grown several of the varieties, especially 
the Chinese Yam and American Sweet Po¬ 
tato, and hence speaks advisedly as to their 
value and propagation. 
Fig. 1 represents the West India Yam 
{Dmotrea mtim.) Of this species there are 
two varieties, the “ smooth,” as shown in Fig. 
1, and the “scaly” (Fig. 3.) Fig. 3 is the Gua- 
daloupe. Yam, resembling much the Ameri¬ 
can Yam or Sweet Potato. 
Fig. 4 is the Chinese Yarn, (Dmcorea, ba¬ 
tatas,) which a few years ago was introduced 
here, and sold at exceedingly high rates, it, 
having been claimed that it would super¬ 
sede the Sweet Potato greatly in produc¬ 
tiveness, and also that it was more nutri¬ 
tious and palatable. A few experiments, 
however, sufficed to show that In nil these 
qualities it was inferior to our American 
Sweet, Potato, so that its culture, unless as a 
vegetable curiosity, is nearly abandoned, It, 
has been sometimes used for ornamental 
purposes, its beautiful foliage (see. Fig. 5) be¬ 
ing usefld in covering rugged banks with a 
dense creeping foliage. The root some- 
VARIETIES OF POTATOES 
Jonathan Peiu vm, of Illinois Industrial 
University Farm, says:—“ After having tried 
all the new sorts, except such as sell at, $1 
to $3 per pound, I still plant Early York or 
Buckeye — if it is Buckeye — in March for 
early, and in June and July for late crops. 
Last, season l found but little difference in 
productiveness between Early Goodrich, 
Chenrry and Sebec — they ripened together. 
Early York, however, produced the best 
crop* The first, eatable potatoes were pro¬ 
duced from the Chenrry, June 15. Upon 
the 20th, Goodrich, Sebec, ami Early York 
were eatable. Jackson White, Calico, Peach 
Blow and Harison, were affected by the 
drouth to such a degree that they were a 
very light crop. All planted March 21st. 
