243 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
APRIL 4 
days the disease disappeared, and I stopped 
feeding the mixture. In a few weeks it again 
appeared, and renewing tin; medicine, I only 
lost three or four, and it again disappeared. 
About this time we hud the first snow of 
the season—about five inches; being mild 
weather, it melted in a day or two, and I 
have had nothing of the same disease since. 
Now there is another disease which ap¬ 
peared amongst my flock, and proves fatal 
in a few days. The first symptom is as 
though they were choking. Upon examin¬ 
ing I find the tongue and inside of the mouth 
swollen and coated with a yoliow mucus, 
and the fowls drooping with diarrhea. Will 
some of the readers give a remedy for this 
disease? • E. L. 
Chester Co., Pa. 
(JJield (Ctiop. 
WHEAT IN OHIO. 
Editors Rural New-Yorker:—S eeing 
the reports of different crops in your valua¬ 
ble paper, i send a pretty correct statement 
of a crop of wheat raised last year, being 
the fifteenth crop in succession on the same 
piece of land. The soil is ratherof a bastard 
limestone quality, having a northeast ex¬ 
posure, though sheltered by some timber on 
the same side, and on the southwest by some 
timber and my building*, &c. Kaid piece of 
land contains just tea acres, on which was 
an old ashery. Now for the statement: 
May say 20t.li. Db. 
T<i •'> day*’ plowing, at S2.n0. . f,12 BO 
Five iliiv* liaulins aahea. onci horse and 
scra per, 1 .Ml . 7 50 
Four (lays 1 plowlrur with double shovel, $2; 
rind one cloy’* sowing, *1..M). .. 0 Ml 
Fifteen bushel*) seed, at *1.50; hauling and 
stacking, $10. 32 BO 
Cut lira: and shocking, *32; threshing, *39.,. 71 Ml 
interest on lurid or ruoncy invested. W) fKi 
Hauling four loads stable manure. 1 00 
Total.fl84 oo 
CB. 
By 260 bushels wheat, at *1.40.*364 00 
Straw stack. 30 00 
Three months past summer grass, equally 
as good as anv on the farm, saving pasture 
at $:i per acre by the year. 10 00 
Total. 
Deduct expenses. 
.*104 00 
. 184 00 
Net profit...f220 00 
Or *25 per acre. 
The wheat is here called the Indiana red 
chaff bearded. On two and one-lialf acres 1 
had ninety-two bushels wheat. 
Delaware Co., O. J. M. Leak. 
-- 
SHRINKAGE OF POTATOES. 
We planted the first of April, 1873, fifteen 
acres in potatoes on river bottom land, 
fourth crop after corn. Furrowed both 
ways two and one half to three feet apart; 
covered with a “gopher” from six to eight 
bushels to the acre. As soon as they came 
through the ground we. run through with a 
shovel plow, then went, the other way with 
a brush, leveling the ground, and as soon as 
we eoukl see the rows, plowed with small 
plow two or three times, and once with a 
“ bull tongue,” a small, na rrow shovel plow. 
Our season was very dry. About a half 
crop was the result—say 100 bushels to the 
acre of marketable potatoes. We sold some 
few bushels for 70 cents; 400 buRhels for 75 
cents; the largest, amount for 00 cents, per 
bushed. We weighed in the cellar 1,177 
bushels in the fall; we. took them out. of the 
cellar Feb. 15th. Our loss was fifty bushels 
shrinkage. There are various opinions as to 
loss *of potatoes from fall to spring. This is 
my experience with Russets. I would like j 
to hear from others. F. Harris. 
—-♦ ♦ »■ — 
FIELD NOTES. 
Starting Sweet Potatoes. —“A South Jer- 
seyman ” is credited with the following in a 
Western paper For starting sweet potato 
sprouts I have used the following plan, 
which has the advantage of not needing a 
sash; 1 dig out a trench two feet deep, into 
this I put a foot of fresh, loose manure in the 
mouth of April. Upon the manure I spread 
six inches of sand or light sandy loam, and 
plant the potatoes in this sand. If the 
weather is cold I cover with marsh hay or 
straw during the day, but always at night; 
and if there is att extra cold snap with frost, 
I spread a barn sheet or blanket over the 
straw. As soon as I am ready to plant, I 
furrow out the ground three feet apart each 
way, drop a shovelful of manure at each 
check, draw four hoefuls of earth over the 
manure, making a broad hill, and plant the 
sprout. 
Economizing Potato Seed. — A corre¬ 
spondent of the Prairie Farmer says:—“In 
view of the scarcity of potatoes, I would sug¬ 
gest that by cutting off the seed end, and 
then cutting that in two pieces, and putting 
one of those in for a hill, the balance of the 
potatoes can be used for food. Or by a little 
labor, for those having a few potatoes, they 
can sprout them like sweet potatoes, and 
then pull off the sprouts, and set. them out, 
and by continuing to do so, much more can 
he produced from the few used up in pro¬ 
ducing the sprouts. Oue man in our vil¬ 
lage says he in this way gets earlier potatoes 
than he can by planting the whole potato.” 
Orchard Grass and Kentucky lilue < 1 runs. 
—A. W. 11. writes:—“ 1 have a piece of 
ground that I broke up laBt spring on which 
1 raised a croji of potatoes. As it is smooth, 
I did not want to plow it again, so spread on 
a heavy coat of manure last fall. 1 want to 
know if I sow it with Orchard grass or Ken¬ 
tucky Blue grass if 1 shall get a crop of hay 
this summer if i sow it without grain. 
Which kind of gross shall I sow ?” No ; prob¬ 
ably neither the orchard nor Blue grass 
would give you a crop of hay the present 
season ; but you would get a better crop 
nyxt season by sowing it down. Sow Or¬ 
chard grass for hay ; Blue grass on limestone 
lands makes excellent pasture, but is not a 
good grass for hay. 
Transplanting Cotton. — A correspondent 
of the Southern Farmer who had some rare 
cotton seed, part, of which failed to come up, 
says :—Although I had often heard that cot¬ 
ton could not be transplanted, I determined 
to try and get a perfect stand, and while 
transplanting one day, a couple of my neigh¬ 
bors called and I was laughed at a great 
deal by them for trying to transplant cotton. 
1 transplanted the fifty-two stalks and not 
one died, although 1 took no particular pains 
to preserve the earth around the roots; and 
to-day there is hardly any perceptible differ¬ 
ence in the stalks transplanted and those not. 
Italian Rye Grass.—A California writer 
says he thinks on laud where the moisture 
rises to the surface, without cultivation, all 
through the year, will give more satisfaction 
than Alfalfa, lie says it is less vulnerable to 
the attacks of the gophers than Alfalfa, not 
being tap rooted, and that it produces finer 
fodder or hay. If sown somewhat thinly 
one year and allowed to seed, it produces 
the next season a fine, close sod like velvet. 
On moist land it will furnish aboub the same 
number of cuttings that Alfalfa will under 
similar conditions; but on dry soil Alfalfa is 
far ahead. 
Diseased Potatoes —J AMES urokmond ot 
Edinburgh, Scotland, according to one of 
our Edinburgh correspondents, “ believes 
that the seed of the wild potato should he 
gathered in the Andes Mountains of Chib 
and Peru, and then replanted in this country 
(Great Britain), and that afterwards the 
tubers should be planted whole, as he be¬ 
lieves the cutting plan exposes the potato to 
inherit disease.” There are many vegetable 
physiologists who will not agree with him. 
Alsilce Clover.— An Indiana former thinks 
it makes better hay than red clover; has 
five times as many blossoms as red clover. 
The seed should be taken from the first crop. 
He thinks it a good fertilizer, whilean Ohioan 
says he knows it is a poor fertiliser and a 
poor pasture plant, and all it is good for is 
seed. Bee keepers, however, think it valu¬ 
able for bee forage, end its blooming quali¬ 
ties named above seem to confirm the claim. 
Southern Queen Sweet Potato. —This potato 
is highly spoken of ; is said to be not quite as 
early as the Red Bermuda, but far more pro¬ 
ductive as an early potato ; it is only second 
to the Nanseinond in quality, is first, as to 
hardiness, and an excellent keeper; sprout 
with less heat in the hot-bed and make stocky 
plants ; the vines bear large leaves of a pale 
green color. 
Millet for Hay—( S. P. Or.)— Get your land 
in good tilth by the 15th of May to 1st of 
June, sow branching white millet seed at 
the rate of 25 to 30 pounds per acre, and cut 
it as soon as the seed is in the milky state. 
It. will make excellent hay for any kind of 
stock, and is a good preparation for land for 
any kind of fall grain. 
White Seed Corn. — An Indiana farmer 
says that when he selects white seed corn he 
is particular to take cars that have white 
cobs only, asserting that if one wants nice 
and perfectly white corn meal he should 
never shell an car that, has a red cob. But 
the cob of pure yellow corn, he thinks, 
should be red. 
Orchard Grass Seed, per Acrc—(W. F.)— 
You will require from ten to fourteen pounds 
of orchard grass seed per acre. It is adver¬ 
tised by seedsmen in their catalogue at 50 to 
00 cents per pound. Good, rich loam, in 
good tilth, is the best soil for it to thrive 
upon. It is an excellent grass for shaded 
pastures. 
THE ART OF SUCCESSFUL FARMING. 
There are more farmers doing well than is 
allowed to be the case. It is true there are 
many grumblers, but discontent is natural to 
a farmer, and when the many disappoint¬ 
ments attending agricultural pursuits are 
fairly considered, it is not to be wondered at. 
American farmers are more industrious, are 
much more economical in their manage¬ 
ment, and although most of them have 
arisen from laboring men without capital at 
starting, or their fathers have done so, they 
are more intelligent on general subjects and 
are quicker wilted in overcoming difficulties 
than the old country average tenants of the 
past; but the temptation to take from the 
soil without sufficient recompense is the 
great bane to success. Practically witnessing 
the effect of plowing and cropping on the 
land, those who are not so prosperous as 
others should calmly study out the cause. 
There is no doubt but many farms would 
not grow enough corn, grain or hay, to pay 
for cultivation and support the farmer if he 
went to the expense of purchasing, or even 
of making at home, manure to apply in suffi¬ 
cient quantity to thoroughly reimburse the 
soil; consequently, art is needed to devise 
some other crops which need not be sold or 
taken off so us to necessitate indemnity from 
abroad. There are mnry ways of attaining 
an object, therefore, thought should he di¬ 
rected to them and then those should be 
chosen winch can be the most certainly 
aooom plished. 
When a large landowner has taken the 
“cream” off his estate and afterward rented 
it in farms as is the custom in the middle and 
some of the other States, some on a money 
rental, others on shares, they find a falling 
away of ability to pay rent and changing of 
tenants so troublesome that it would be well 
for them to investigate in their own minds 
the system on which they rgtit, compared 
with the customs in vogue in older countries, 
and also to ponder on the effect the differ¬ 
ence of climate has on certain management 
and how near such difference will allow of 
imitation. Then again, when an^ man oc¬ 
cupies and farms his own land, how very 
particular he should be to keep it from 
deteriorating, and if a purchaser would sat¬ 
isfy himself of the amount of fertility the 
former owners have left him, he could easily 
calculate the value after knowing the prices 
of everything and particulars of location. 
The art of successful farming goes on also 
to the conducting of operations so as to have 
the expenditure far below the income ; for 
what is the use of a great sounding total 
from produce when the labor, &e., swallows 
it t A good tract of land in grass, grazed and 
mowed in the same way the great graziers in 
England graze and mow tlieir farms, could 
not fail to pay great returns here, because 
the manual labor which is saved on a grass 
farm over that of an arable one, would tell 
up more on account of the higher wages paid 
here. Then, if farmers would let all the land 
suitable for permanent, grass lie without, any 
molestation by the plow and graze with 
sheep as well as cattle, t hey could farm so as 
to entail little cost for cultivation, and this 
grazing and selling of live stock would ob¬ 
viate the reduction of fertility by selling corn 
grain and hay. Moreover, as markets are 
universally so much higher for well fattened 
meat in the spring, what a fine opportunity 
for helping the land by feeding to the sheep 
and cattle oilcake and other rich food which 
not only gives much extra weight, hut adds 
cents per pound to the original frame which 
existed at the time of commencing with the 
artificial stimulation ; and this Is not all, for 
the manure from these highly fed animals is 
of very great value, and in the ease of sheep, 
it is increased in good effect if the climate is 
such as to permit them to lie on the land 
instead of being housed. In ages past, tlio 
flocks were always deemed of as muoh im¬ 
portance as the herds, and modern agriculture 
in England especially makes successful farm¬ 
ing dependent on good sheep husbandry. 
A. w. F. 
--♦♦♦- 
ECONOMICAL NOTES. 
A Cheap and. Good Fertiliser.—A corre¬ 
spondent of the Maine Farmer saj’s:—I now 
use a cheap fertilizer which shows as good 
effects on most all kinds of crops as any 
commercial fertilizer. It is composed in 
the following manner:—Take dry old muck 
and put in as much chamber lye as it will 
absorb, then mix with it half the quantity 
of ashes, then add half as much plaster as i 
ashes, and mix again; it will then be dry 
and ready to use. I put one handful in the 
hill for corn, potatoes, cucumbers and tur¬ 
nips. Last year I used it as a top dressing 
on onions when about six inches high, which 
added greatly to the crop, as was proved by 
skipping some rows. I think if our farmers 
would take greater pains to save more of 
the fertilizing materials about their prem¬ 
ises they would not be complaining so much 
about abort crops and run-out fields. 
Gypsum in the. Stable.—A correspondent 
in the Maine Farmer Bays:— A neighbor who 
for several years past hits practiced scatter¬ 
ing a small quantity of ground plaster (gyp¬ 
sum) behind his cattle, alter bowing them 
up at night, for the purpose of absorbing 
their urine, informs me thut he has found 
the manure much more fertilizing than it 
was previously to his adopting this plan for 
saving the liquid voidings of his stock. The 
plaster not only saves the liquids, but re¬ 
tains the ammonia in the manure heap. 
Keep Cattle off the meadows this spring. 
It is not good farm economy to feed them. 
FROM CUMBERLAND CO., TENN. 
After a residence of five years in East 
Tennessee, the writer can speak from experi¬ 
ence as to the many natural advantages of 
this part of the South. Tennessee possesses 
many distinct features which commend it 
above other States. Neither subject t,o the 
freezing storm* of the North nor to the ex¬ 
tremes of heat to which more Southern 
States are liable, its mild and healthful cli¬ 
mate induces many from other States to seek 
those parts and establish permanent homes, 
while its vast, mineral resources will bring 
capital and enterprise into the State, and 
eventually secure a dense and wealthy popu¬ 
lation. 
The State contains all kinds of land suited 
to the growth of a great, variety of crops— 
indeed variety is a leading characteristic. It 
is seen in the marked divisions into which 
the. State is separated — the great mountain 
ranges and elevated table lands of the east 
and the low, level plains and rich bottoms 
of the western parts of the State. The 
mount ains are traversed by dashing streams, 
affording abundant water power, and in the 
valleys are many quiet creeks and beautiful 
rivers ; while along our western boundary 
flows the great Mississippi. The locality to 
which the writer would most especially in¬ 
vite the attention of persons looking for 
pleasant homes in a mild vlimate is that part 
near the line between East and Middle 
Tennessee, including the Cumberland table 
lauds and the small valleys situated iu and 
around there. These lands differ both as re¬ 
gards quality and the nature of their produc¬ 
tions. The first, or table lands, consist of 
elevated plateaus, tolerably level, with the 
exception of an occasional ravine formed by 
the mountain streams. They are covered 
with grass, affording excellent sum wer range 
for cattle and sheep, and are wonderfully 
adapted to fruit growing. The soil is not 
deep, and is underlaid with firm layers of 
sandstone, and, consequently, unlike the 
Island of Manhattan iu the days that Knick¬ 
erbocker describes, is not well adapted to 
the driving of piles. The ot her class of val¬ 
ley lands are not so abundant, as the table 
lands but. form an inconsiderable part of 
Tennessee. The weather in these valleys is 
generally a few degrees warmer than on the 
mountain, and the spring from eight to ten 
days earlier, forming quite a variety of cli¬ 
mate in a small extent of territory. 
The valley with which the writer is best 
acquainted, Grassy Cove, is in Cumberland 
County. It has many features which render 
it a highly desirable location. The mountains 
which surround the valley are in the highest 
degree picturesque, in many places termi¬ 
nating in high, perpendicular bluffs whose 
tops are fringed with red cedar and rhodo¬ 
dendrons, forming a wild, romantic scenery 
of exceeding beauty. The sides of the valley 
at other places gradually sloping, possess a 
rich soil covered with giant oaks, interspersed 
with chestnut and black walnut and over¬ 
grown with luxuriant grape vines. 
An important feature in these valley lands 
of East Tennessee is tlieir adaptability to 
grass, which makes them equal, for dairy and 
grazing purposes, to the best grass lands of 
Western New Y ork. 
More desirable locations for farming pur¬ 
poses can hardly be imagined than these fer¬ 
tile mountain valleys; they contain all the 
elements necessary to prosperous communi¬ 
ties. C, L. Btratton. 
