Jield 
ABOUT POTATOES, OATS, Etc. 
In the Rural New-Yorker for Feb. 27, I 
notice what Nelson Ritter of Syracuse, N. 
Y., says of the Extra Early Vermont Pota¬ 
to:—“That he last year purchased two 
pounds ami planted them where Early Rose 
had grown the year before ; that In conse¬ 
quence, both varieties grew together, and he 
could see no difference in the vines when 
growing, and cannot tell which is Early Rose 
or which is Extra Early Vermont, now they 
are grown, and thinks that the Extra Early 
Vermont is another potato swindle,” &c. 
Also, he wishes to hear from others on the 
subject. 
I think, Mr. Editor, that few of your read¬ 
ers have spent more money than the writer 
of this letter on the new varieties of potatoes 
that have been sent out the past 15 years by 
those who have produced them from the 
seed ball, and by importation ; and in all 
these years, with hundreds c*f dollars expend¬ 
ed for such new sorts, all that has proved of 
real value could be counted on the ends of 
your lingers. I have cultivated the Extru 
Early Vermont the past three seasons, and 
1 feel constrained to say that with me, on 
my farm, they have proved the best early 
potato I have ever tried, when you take its 
three good qualities into consideration—qual¬ 
ity, productiveness, and its freedom from dis¬ 
ease ; in each of these essentials it has, on 
my farm, very much exceeded the- Early 
Rose. 
I had my seed direct from Messrs. B. K, 
Bliss & Sons of New York, the first year, to 
test them with the Early Rose, for those gen¬ 
tlemen ; and grown side by side, the Extra 
Early Vermont grew much more stocky and 
vigorous in the vines, and were ripe fully a 
week earlier than the Early Rose, entirely 
free from disease, while the Early Rose had 
quite a percentage of rotten ones among 
them. The difference of the two sorts con¬ 
sists iu the greater thickness of the Vermont!*, 
while the Rose is larger and dimmer in ap¬ 
pearance ; yet, I don't think an expert could 
select them when mixed as Mr. Ritter’s are. 
Mr. Ritter may have got only Early Rose 
for seed and not got the Extra Early Ver¬ 
mont at all; such mistakes <i<> occur some¬ 
times. 1 would advise Mr. Rittkk to get 
some pure seed of the Extra Early Vermont 
aud then test them, and if they don’t prove 
superior to the Early Rose, they will not do 
with him as they have with me. 
In my experiment s with the potato I have 
found the Excelsior, Prince Albert, Early 
Rose, Extra Early Vermont, Brownell’B 
Beauty, Compton’s Surprise and Snowflake, 
that have given satisfaction. The Prince Al¬ 
bert arid Early Rose will not be planted any 
more at present on my farm, as the other 
varieties mentioned are so much better that, 
it is not advisable for me to plant them long¬ 
er. The Extra Early Vermont, Brownell’s 
Beauty and Compton’s Surprise are the best 
varieties that I know of for general cultiva¬ 
tion, that will be offered so cheaply this sea 
son for seed, that any good farmer can afford 
to buy them. In the ease of the Extra Early 
Vermont, the Early Rose may be easily sold 
by unprincipled or ignorant persons, thinking 
them the same variety and the purchaser 
thus be cheated. The writer, once in early 
life, in pursuit of a Berkshire pig, found a 
farmer who said ho had some fine ones ; on 
going to see them, behold, they were white 
pigs ! I did not purchase. 1 regret to say, 
Mr. Editor, some farmers are not strictly 
honest, und such persous do the honest farm¬ 
ers and seedsmen at times great injury by 
selling spurious articles of all descriptions to 
their customers. 
1 notice also, iu same paper, page 138, that 
a customer of mine from Schoharie Co. has 
grown some extra fine potatoes from a bar¬ 
rel of seed purchased of me two years since, 
I think. From that letter I learn the Excel¬ 
sior does not do os >veli with him as witli me. 
Some seasons the Excelsior is very liable to 
disease and it is rather late, but the quality 
is No. 1. I sold a customer a barrel a few 
years since, and iu the fall after he said he 
raised 130 bushels of the best potatoes from 
them he ever saw ; thus showing what is 
often shown in practice, that potatoes are 
very liable to variations in different localities 
and on different soils. I now have some new 
sorts on trial, but must wait another year 
before giving my opinion on their merits. 
The writer tests most new sorts of pota¬ 
toes, oats and some other seeds and grains as 
well as cattle, hogs and sheep iu a small way. 
Potatoes aud the new oats perhaps have been 
a hobby. The first person that tried to ex¬ 
pose the Norway oats mania was the writer 
of this letter, and the past year I had $2 
packages of the Hulless oats presented by a 
friend who had bought them to test, but 
selling his farm gave them to me to test; the 
result was less than a half-bushel of oats 
grown, that I consider of no value us u seed 
grain ; but as there is going to be an effort i 
made to sell them at great prices, shall test 
them again the present season, if life and 
health are spared. Another mania like the 
Norway will doubtless pass over the Country 
to the benefit of the sellers of the article; 
but I fear the farmers will not be benefited 
thereby. Jonathan Talcott. 
Rome, Oneida Co., N. Y. 
-- 
BERMUDA GRASS IN THE SOUTH. 
In answer to an inquiry as to how to get 
rid of it, the Editor of the Southern Cultiva j 
tor saysLand set in Bermuda grass fur- | 
nishes the best summer pasture that can be 
had iu the South.—Bermuda is as hardy as 
broomsedge and vastly more nutritious—it 
stops guiles and enriches the soil. On the 
other hand, it is troublesome to eradicate, 
and on bottom land the task is well nigh im¬ 
possible. On upland it can be subdued, but 
only by labor, care and wutchfulness. It 
spreads by under-ground stem9, which pos¬ 
sess great vitality, and the smallest piece of 
these left buried by the plow where the soil 
is damp, will at once grow and establish a 
new center, from which it will spread rapid¬ 
ly. Portions hung to the plow are thus con¬ 
stantly scattered in cultivated land. Shading 
it and frequent plowings during dry, hot 
weather, so as to bring it to the surface, and 
cut it off from moisture and expose it to the 
sun, are the best means of destroying it. 
The most favorable period for beginning an 
attack against it would be midsummer, could 
the land then be caught soft enough to take 
the plow-share, and leisure be found for the 
work. If practicable, we should plow and 
cross plow, and then early fu September 
seed down thickly with oats. But as a 
farmer could seldom carry out this pro¬ 
gramme, we give the next bestBreak the 
land early iu the winter ; tills maybe done in 
two ways, 1st., if you have a strong team and 
a skillful plowman, with a two or four-horse 
plow, nicely and smoothly turn the land over, 
deep enough to permit the harrowing In of 
oats without disturbing the “sod;” or 2d. 
with a small, narrow plow—coulter for in¬ 
stance—run just deep enough to get below 
the “sod,” first, in one direction and then 
across it. The object in the 2d case being to 
loosen and tear the “sod,” without bringing 
it up in large masses, which would make the 
surface very rough and uneven. The plow 
mg done, seed down heavily in oats, that 
they may shade the Bermuda as thoroughly 
as possible during spring and early summer. 
As soon as the oats are harvested, sow the 
land down broadcast in peas— X% to 2 bushels 
per acre—and in September turn the vines 
under, anil sow In oats agaiu. This succes¬ 
sion of oats and peas should run through two 
years at least. After that a crop of cotton 
may be grown upon the land. In most cases 
some of the Bermuda will even then be found 
around stumps, rocks, or the edges of the 
field, where the plow could not reach it, and 
from these centers it will rapidly spread 
again, if groat cane is not exercised. We 
have been contending with Bermuda grass 
for many yearn, and whilst we would not of 
choice introduce it upon land intended for 
cultivated crops, we never hesitate to attack 
it when set Upon land we desire to bring Into 
cultivation. Tile labor at first is pretty 
severe, but is largely paid for by the increased 
fertility the Bermuda has wrought in the 
soil. 
-- 
TOBACCO IN CONNECTICUT. 
At a recent meeting of the Connecticut 
Valley Agricultural Institute, Prof. Stock- 
bridge is reported, in the New England 
Homestead, as saying that there was about 
forty million dollars worth grown in the 
United States, in the following order, 1, Vir¬ 
ginia ; 2, North Carolina ; 3, Maryland ; 4, 
Kentucky ; 5, Mississippi ; 6, Connecticut; 
7, Massachusetts, &e. The analysis of tobac¬ 
co shows it to be a narcotic poison. No 
other plant is like it in composition. In a 
small quantity it. is a stimulant, in large 
quantities a deadly poison. It is a rapid 
grower and draws from the soil more than 
anj r other plant. Clover takes from the 
mineral element of the soil ten per cent., 
tobacco twenty per cent., or one ton of to¬ 
bacco exhausts 400 pounds of mineral sub¬ 
stances for every acre. The Connecticut 
seed-leaf tobacco has a peculiarity in contra¬ 
distinction to any other in its fineness and 
thinness of leaf and texture, and lightness of | 
color. Tobacco is made by its soiL It can¬ 
not be heavy clay, heavy loam or alluvial 
soil. Must be fine sandy land, having ab¬ 
sorbent power, and retaining heat tlirough 
the night. Taking this poor soil a large 
quantity of manure must be used. The land 
is the machine for raising tobacco, and it 
must be fertilised and not allowed to deterio¬ 
rate a particle. Tobacco is so exhaustive 
that no farmer or farm can make it an ex¬ 
clusive crop. Stock must be fed for the 
manure, and the streams of grain which flow 
in from the West are to be taken advantage 
of. 
Prof. Stockbridge said if tobacco raising 
was managed on business principles, with 
economy, it is the beat business a man can 
engage in, in the Connecticut Valley. There 
will always be a market for all that will be 
grown. The reason of the present, depression 
of the business is because the quality has 
much deteriorated, and this is accounted for 
in part by not using the right kind of fertili¬ 
zers, but mainly in the failure to ripen and 
cure it. ' Tobacco properly cured should be 
ripened just as much as any other plant we 
grow, and the modern method of planting it 
too near together lias caused a serious evil, 
and is the great source of pole sweat, in 
planting so close together all except the 
upper leaves are shaded, and the jucies of 
the leaf are not properly elaborated. To 
make a fine leaf, and to develop the oils aud 
acids of the plant we must expose it to the 
direct rays of the sun. 
The curing process is defective, by the 
slow gradual process, much of the essential 
narcotic oil is lost. Prof. Stockbridge refer¬ 
red to a new system adopted largely in 
Maryland and Virginia, to cure tobacco by 
an artificial heat with a furnace constructed 
for that purpose. And it could be done 
thoroughly in seven days, first making the 
heat temperature to eighty degrees, and 
t hen in the course of five or six days increas 
ing to ISO degrees. This artificial curing 
retains all the virtue of the tobacco, in Tact 
increases its essential oils. 
-- - 
P0TAT0E8 IN MISSOURI. 
I SEE in the Rural NEW-VORKEBof Feb. 
27 that Nelson Ritter cannot see any differ 
enee between Extru Early Vermont and 
Early Rose. His views and mine are the 
same. 1 cannot see any difference between 
the Rose and Ex. K. Vermont. 1 planted 
both varieties the same day besides several 
other sorts. Vermont ripened with the Rose 
and if they were mixed together I don’t think 
| any one could see any difference. I thought 
at digging time 1 was sold again. My expe 
rience with fCampbell’s Lata Rose lms been 
anything but satisfactory. 1 got my seed 
direct from Mr. Campbell, and we tried 
them for three years with poor success. They 
are too late, with too many small tubers; 
but few large enough for market. The Early 
Rose does well here ; also an old variety 
known as the Georgias ; but they do not sell 
as well as the Peachblows on account of their 
deep eyes ; they yield and eat better t ban 
the Peerless. 
The potato crop was cut short here on ac¬ 
count of drouth, aud gardeners and farmers 
expected high prices for what they did grow ; 
but when fall came, thousands of bushels 
were shipped here and the market glutted— 
prices ranging from 60e. to 80o. per bushel by 
carloads. The severe winter froze out some 
lots; a great many were consumed here aud 
shipped further West last fall. Now, prices 
range higher—$1.10 to $1.35 per bushel. 
Kansas City, Mo. Robert S. Brown. 
-- 
FIELD NOTES. 
Cost of Raising Oats.— At a recent meet¬ 
ing of the Doylestown, Pa., Farmers’ Club, 
one of tire members reported from actual 
experience, the cost of raising oats in Bucks 
County to be as follows: Estimating the av¬ 
erage value of farm laud in that section of 
country to be $120 per acre, he had found the 
expense of producing a bushel of oats, in¬ 
cluding the interest on the land, when the 
yield is 80 bushels to the acre, to be 25 cents 
per bushel. If the yield per acre is 60 bush¬ 
els the cost of raising a bushel wifi be 30 
I cents. A yield of 40 bushels to the acre will 
cost 42 cents per bushel, and 80 bushels to the 
acre will cost 50 cents per bushel to raise. 
” Ice-Cream ” Potato. —This is the latest 
or among the latest new potatoes we have 
seen announced. In answer to an inquiry, 
we must say that we know nothing, person¬ 
ally, of its merits, 
| Cas&r Beans.— It is asserted that 23 lbs. 
‘ will plant an acre, or a bushel two acres. 
(^cnomg. 
TAKING PAPERS IN HARD TIMES. 
Is there a better thing in the world than 
taking a live, active newspaper ? No. I say, 
No, Sir,— when you take a paper and are 
benefited thereby. 
Many farmers are crying up, “ Hard times, 
hard times.” Now I wish to ask them one 
question What do the hard times consist 
of t Have you not had most abundant crops 
the last season ? Is not country produce 
fetching a high price l “ Yes, but that ain’t 
it,” I have heard a great many fanners say. 
Now this stuff is all nonsense. I, for one, 
don’t believe in it. The usual price of a news¬ 
paper is from #2.50 to $3. Now, if you sub¬ 
scribe for a paper which costs either of the 
above prices will you be any poorer when 
the year comes around for the want of that 
money than you were before you subscribed V 
If you take a lot of papers just for the name 
of taking them, does that do you any good 
more than to boast that you take more papers 
than your neighbor ? Tf you take a paper 
and you think you are benefited by it, keep 
on taking it. If, on the other hand, you think 
you are not benefited in the least by it, then 
by all means stop it. I f you now really think 
so, just try it one year without a paper. If 
you don’t change your mind pretty quick, 
then you must be made of a curious kind of 
metal. 
--- 
ECONOMICAL NOTES. 
Silk Culture in Florida. —The Florida 
Agriculturist, of a recent date says A 
gentleman of this city showed us a pair of 
silk stockings, made from the home product 
by his mother, who some fear* ago, living 
near St. Augustine, and having a number of 
mulberry trees on her promise*, procured 
some silk worm eggs. She attended to them 
herself, spun the silk, and knitted the stock 
ings ; she then sent them North and had 
them dyed. The gentleman does not like his 
name to appear in print, but we have no 
doubt will be happy to show them to any 
one applying at our office. We hope to see 
the day when every T farmer’s wife aud 
daughters will turn their attention to this 
easy aud lucrative huisness. it is in the 
power of these to make a considerable 
addition to the comfort of their home* by 
attending to it. Several people in this city 
were successful last year with the silk-worm. 
Farm Deodorisers. The Agricultural 
Gazette say's:— Charcoal aiul earth are 
universal deodorisers ; they are capable of 
absorbing all the gases given off by 
putrefying bodies. A dead body covered 
by a few inches of earth Is, as we all know, 
rendered harmless; the earth-closet is 
another illustration of the same fact, The 
sprinkling of earth in poultry houses and 
kennels, is the best and simplest mode of 
keeping them sweet.; a dry loam will au- 
swer well for this purpose, dry peat will also 
prove very useful. 
Pasture Lands and Sheep. — The New En¬ 
gland Homestead says :—Col. Wolcott of 
Agawam, who has for many years been 
eugaged iu sheep husbandry, says “ I have 
two pastures twenty acres each. 1 have 
kept sheep on one of them about seven 
year? in ten, and the other three in ten. 
The one 1 kept, sheep on the most is worth 
twenty-five per cent, more than the one 1 
pastured with cattle.” 
Ashes oil Grass Lands,— (D. D. S.) Yes, 
Yes ! Ashes are good for grass lands or for 
any other lands that are cropped. Don’t 
sell an ounce of them. Save and apply 
them to any kind of a crop on any kind of 
soil. It will pay. Buy aud use all you can 
of fresh wood ashes at 25c per bushel. It 
will pay you to do so. 
Rolling Grass Lands in Spring, P. R. D. 
is informed, jg an excellent practice, espe¬ 
cially where iftle soil is not firmly established 
and where the ground is heaved by frost, it 
is well to sow seed, before rolling, on the 
naked or thinly-seeded spots. 
Qus Lime on Soils. —Gas lime will not 
injure soil or crops provided it is exposed 
long enough to the air. Incorporated with 
the soil or spread upon it in the fall it will 
not injure any crop that can be planted 
on such soil the coming year. 
New Manure.— (D. C. S.) Don’t add lime 
to it. Mix it with muck or leaf mold, or 
common loam and apply in the hill to corn. 
It is an exceedingly stimulating manure. 
Plaster is better than lime to mix with it. 
Don’t use lime on any account. 
