70 
JAN. 34 
POTATOES WITHIN POTATOE8. 
This occasional phenomenon is thought by 
some to be caused by the perforation of the pota¬ 
to by young shoots, the tips then developiug Into 
tubers. Another view Is that the bud Is formed 
within the tuber; that It feeds on the parent 
and finally ruptures the skin by its increasing 
pressure. A Mr. Lacbanine asserts, the Gar¬ 
dener's Chronicle, of London, says, that he can 
Fxo. 29. 
produce thiB abnormal formation of tubers at 
will by persistently pinching out the sprouts. 
The rmd of the potato finally burst", revealing 
small, perfect tubers within. The internal 
development, according to this theory, was 
“ provoked by the couotant suppression of 
exterior growth” forcing the development of 
adventitious buds within. It docs not appear 
thut this abnormal growth can be turned to 
any practical account. The cut which we have 
reproduced, was drawn originally for the Gar¬ 
dener’s Chronicle of England. 
-» • ♦ 
Planting Cohn on Sod Land.— A friend of 
the Kukal, Mr. N. C, Jessop, of Long Island, 
who is noted for raising large crops of corn, 
pursues the following method of culture :—He 
invariably plants his coin on sod land. In 
plowing the ground he takes care to plow in a 
straight line. The laud is marked crosswise, 
and the corn is planted at the intersection of 
these markings with every fourth furrow, 
dropping a little pulverized manure in each 
hill. No harrow is allowed on the laud before 
the corn is planted. Ify this method the soil 
does not become so compact as if harrowed 
fine, and the sod will rot quicker, ii the weeds 
should slai t before the corn, a light harrowing 
lengthwise will check their { rogress and not 
hurt the corn. 11c says lie has followed this 
method for severul years with signal success. 
At first his neighbors ridiculed it, but, some¬ 
how, they are now beginning to plant corn on 
Bod land, and to use the harrow sparingly. 
Jam &0JJUS. 
CULTIVATING WITHOUT PLOWING. 
W. J. FOWLER. 
Plowing land has always seemed to me an 
expensive and wasteful way of preparing it for 
seeding. All that the plow aims to do is to re¬ 
verse the soil. If in addition It pulverizes the 
newly turned surface, the benefit is incidental 
and accomplished only by disproportionate 
labor. The Londoner said he never liked farm¬ 
ing—the land was iuvuriubly wrong side up, 
and had to be turned over before anything 
could be done. With sod land intended for 
sowing or planting, this reversal of the soil is 
necessary. Hut fully two-thirds of the plow¬ 
ing done in this couutry is of stubble or after 
hoed crops, and for these, turning the surface 
soil to the bottom of a deep furrow is more 
often a detriment than a benefit. English 
farmers are using a scarifier, cutting up the 
stubble and pulverizing the soil to the deptli 
ol five, six or seven Incites, but, without turn¬ 
ing it over. This does not cost as much labor 
as plowing; more surface can be prepared per 
day in as good or better condition, and from 
what 1 have heard of this process, I judge it is 
a success. 
It seems to me that this surface-working 
stubble grouud for wheal in the full ought to 
succeed. When wc plow, good farmers drag 
and roll the surface so as to make it bard and 
pack the nnder soil as thoroughly as before 
plowing. If the soil Is properly enriched, it 
makes little difference to wheat how'hard It is. 
Generally the harder the sub-soil, with only two 
or three inches at the surface moist and per¬ 
meable, the safer the pluut will be from winter¬ 
killing and the better the crop. The stubble 
of oats and barley is in the way of successful 
shallow culture. The plow, which will turn the 
stubble well under the furrow, seems to be in¬ 
dispensable. Yet the stubble itself is of little 
or no advantage to the wheat plant. If the 
field could be burned over before plowing, and 
theu cultivated to the depth of three or four 
inches, it would be the best seed-bed possible. 
The ashes of the stubbie mixed with the Bur- 
face soil,would be worth more as manure than 
the stubble itself, decaying as slowly as it is 
apt to do. 
Our severe Northern winters pulverize the 
surface soil totbe depth of three or four Inches, 
and especially irfter hoed crops there will be 
on the surface a fine vegetable mold which 
makes ths best possible seed-bed for oats or 
barley. If the preceding crop has been kept 
dean of weeds, as It should be, it will be a 
great mistake to plow It. Dragging or culti¬ 
vating the surface lightly, so as to level down 
ridges, Is all that U required. If corn stubs or 
old potato vines are in the way, they should 
be gathered In heaps and burned. By this 
method a large amount of land may be pre¬ 
pared for seeding with little labor and in much 
better time than If done by the plow followed 
by the cultivator or harrow. For most kinds 
of spring grain, it seems to be well settled that 
shallow plowing is usually better than deep. 
On well cared for, clean and mellow potato 
stubble the after gram crop will be better if 
the plow is dispensed with altogether. The 
exceptions to this are where the soil is foul 
with thistles aud other weeds which need to be 
checked by spring plowing, so as to give the 
grain an even start aud better chance to keep 
down the weeds. 
-♦♦♦--- 
THE TIME TO BELL PRODUCE. 
One of the most perplexing questions with 
which the fcanuer has to deal is when to sell 
bis farm produce, so as to realize the highest 
possible price for it. It is straight-forward 
work to raise a crop and prepare it for market; 
tint to decide Upon the exact time to sell it an I 
the price It should bring. Is quite another 
tiling. Almost any product of the farm will 
bring more at some part of the year than at 
any other; but that time varies iu different 
years, and it is not always easy to foretell 
when that time will come or to recognize it on 
its arrival. If a farmer harvests a crop, be 
feels that lie should receive the highest market 
price for it, and so when he has prepared it for 
market, he is sometimes undecided whether to 
sell it at once or bold it iu hopes of a rise in 
the price. It is impossible to give any rule by 
which a person can decide the time to sell any 
crop to the best advantage. Some farmers are 
in tile habit of keeping their produce too long, 
aud aru thereby sometimes heavy losers. A 
case of this kind came under my notice, of a 
farmer who once received tbu enormous price 
of $2 50 for a large crop of wheat. lie was 
thought by his neighbors to have been very 
fortunate; but it proved the reverse, for siuc5 
then be lias not been willing to Bell any crop 
of grain at a fair, remunerative price, but al¬ 
ways “ hang* on" for more, sometimes for 
years aud almost always with loss. 
Here Is one of the greatest advantages that 
a farmer may receive from reading agricultural 
papers. Ths market reports and especially 
the “Everywhere" department of the Rural, 
are of great use to those who know how to 
utilize than* From them we learn the state of 
the market*} In the principal centers, and the 
11 rogress *hd prospects of all the principal 
farm crops la different parts of the country, 
by which we may judge, whether there is likely 
to be a scarcity or u surplus In any product wc 
may have to sell. If we fiud, from these re¬ 
ports, that In a great many parts of the 
country a certain crop Is unusually poor, it is 
reasonable to judge that the demand for that 
product will improve, or if for any reason 
there is a light crop of some certain product 
in some foreign country, thus causing a great 
foreign demand, we can also hope, with 
reason, for higher prices for that particular 
article. 
But there are other things to be considered 
besides a probable rise in price, in holding 
farm produce. In all the products of the 
farm, there is, of necessity, a constant waste. 
Loss of weight from shrinkage, damage from 
rats and mice, insurance and iutcrest on the 
money that it would bring, should all be taken 
into account. Doubtless the best time to sell 
produce, in the long run, is as soon after It 
iB ready for market as we can receive a fair, 
remunerative price for it, unless for some 
good reason there is a reasonable prospect of a 
better market in the future. G. A. Goff, Jk. 
FUENISH YOUE BOYS WITH TOOLS. 
Prof. John E. Sweet, in an address before 
the Ouondaga (Jo. Farmers’ Club, said : “ The 
farmer who provides himself with the neces¬ 
sary tools to do the repairing of the farm, not 
only makes u paying investment, tint does for 
Lils sons, In another way, just exactly what be 
does for them when he semis them to Bchool. 
He gives them a cliance to learn something; 
he does even more he gives them a chance to 
learn to do something. From among those 
boys will be found the mecbauical engineers ol 
the fn'ure." 
It would be difficult to crowd mere truth and 
common sense into tills short space. It is well 
known among mechanics that when an appren¬ 
tice “ learns to handle his tools," his trade is 
half learned. No man can even saw off a fence- 
board as it Bhould be done without consider¬ 
able practice. He must first learn to handle 
bis saw. Not half of mankind—to say nothing 
of womankind—can drive a nail without either 
splitting the article nailed or pounding their 
fingers, and perhaps they will do both. Not 
one man In twenty can shove a jack-plane with 
any reasonable hopes of success, and the like 
awkwardness extends to the use of all manner 
of tools. If farmers will fnrnlsh their boys 
with tools, aud teach them how to keep them 
in order, the next generation will not be so 
helpless when anything is broken, us Is the 
present one. With a few dollars invested In 
tools, many journeys to town may be avoided. 
Moreover, by the use ot tools one may learn 
something of mechanics, and Is a much belter 
judge when called upon to select any farm 
machinery or tools. 
I remember an instance, when a boy, of a 
neighbor who had a small workshop, with an 
assortment of tools, which his boys were 
allowed to use, aud the consequence was, bis 
five boys, every one of them, became iu lime 
first-class mechanics, aud some of their useful 
inventions have been described aud illustrated 
in the Epical. Other boys in the same neigh¬ 
borhood, apparently equally intelligent, almost 
without an exception, grew up to be bunglers, 
some of them without sufficient skill to sharp¬ 
en a sled-stake. N. H. 
.^rborirultural. 
PLANTING HIGHWAY SHADE TREES. 
FORREST K. MORELAND. 
That portion of the highway laws of this 
State which has particular reference to the 
planting of shade trees Is well calculated to ac¬ 
complish the desired end. The law is con¬ 
tained in (Jbup. aw of the laws of 1870, and is 
substantially a* follows: 
Auy inhabitant liable to highway tax, who 
shall transplant by the side of the road any 
forest shade trees or fruit trees, of suitable 
size, shall be allowed by the overseers of high¬ 
ways, in abatement of ills highway tax, one 
dollar for every four trees set out; but no row 
of Elms shall be planted nearer than seventy 
feet, no row of Maples or other forest trees 
nearer than fifty feet apart, except Locusts 
which may beset tfiirty feet apart, and no al¬ 
lowance, as before mentioned, shall be made, 
unless such trees shall have been set out the 
year previous to the demand for such abate¬ 
ment of tax. and are living and well protected 
from animals at the time of such demand. No 
person shall be allowed In abatement of bis 
highway taxes, us aforesaid, more than one 
quarter of his annual highway tax, and no 
one shall receive any abatement of tax for 
trees planted previous to the passage of the 
act. This is substantially the law as affecting 
the reduction of highway taxes by setting out 
shade trees. There is also a statute protecting 
farmers who may set out trees In the highway 
Opposite their lands, provided the trees arc not 
set closer than six feet apart. In th'iB latter 
ease the farmer owns the trees and may use 
them lor his own profit and may protect his 
rights as against all others. 
It Is iny opinion that those who take advan¬ 
tage of the statute allowing an abatement of a 
portion of the highway tax. after receiving tins 
abatement, lose the right to convert such trees 
to private use afterwards. For illustration: 
A, in the spring of 18?'J planted a dozen shade 
trees on the road-side. In the spring ol 1880. 
all of the trees being alive, he receives his 
abatement from high-way tax to the amount 
of three dollars. Ho has virtually sold these 
trees to the public, and when they become 
valuable for Limber or fuel, he has no right to 
cut them und apply them to hi6 own use. Not 
that the public own the trees, but trees trans¬ 
planted under these conditions become like 
the soJJ of highways—the property is in the 
adjoining owner, nut the public has an ease 
meat that the individual cannot interfere with 
or control. 
The compensation for setting out shade trees 
is sufficiently liberal, so that there ought not 
tube any highways unprovided with such ticcs. 
There arc few farms bo situated that good 
wages cannot be made ut setting trees at 
twenty-five cents each. It is only necessary to 
set sufficient trees each year to cover one 
fourth of the highway tax for the next year. 
An interesting question might arise when a 
farmer having compiled with the statute and 
having received bis abatement, should uflcr- 
wards take advantage of his right to set out as 
many trees us he wished not nearer than six 
feet apart. He would own the trees not set 
out under and ill compliance with the statute, 
free of any claim or interest the public might 
have. I think the statute a very good one and 
one that aims at important results, hut in no 
part of the State with which I am familiar, lias 
it awakened much interest among farmers. I 
should like to see the experiment tried of fix¬ 
ing the value of the trees at a higher price, or, 
if that should not be deemed advisable, to al¬ 
low them to be plauted closer, and allow a 
larger portion of the highway tax to be com¬ 
muted In a single year. The law is a good one, 
but it does not seem to reach the average mind, 
and it certainly has not been productive of the 
good that our legislators strove to accomplish. 
St. Lawrenoe Co., N. Y. 
The Hunray 1’lne. 
I have had the Pinus Massoniana in cul¬ 
tivation for ten years. Daring this time it 
has proved perfectly hardy, and very easy of 
propagation. Five years ago I grafted sev¬ 
eral young Scotch Pines with cions of this 
tree; nearly every cion grew and one small 
tree is bearing cones, though none have ap¬ 
peared on my oldest tree. This Jupun Pine 
Is not only very hardy, but it is very beauti¬ 
ful, having the soft, slender leaves of our 
White Pine arranged after the manner of 
the Scotch Pine—two loaves in a sheath, aud 
densely clustered ou the ends of the branches, 
spreading in every direction, hence the com¬ 
mon name ofSunray Pino. 
Hardin Co., Ohio. W. c. Hampton. 
[The Rural New-Yorker had the honor 
of conferring the name of “Simmy Pine" up¬ 
on the Golden Variegated Pinus Massoniana. 
The species had never, that we know of, been 
called “Sunray Pine," for the reasou stated by 
our friend or for any other reason, before we 
so named it.—E ds.] 
- 4 ■» ♦ ■ — 
That Florida Coffer Tree —I see by an 
editorial note iu the 11 URAL ol Dec. 18 th, 1879, 
that some of the public press doubt the truth 
of the maturing of the coffee-berry in south 
Florida. During thu past week 1 had the 
pleasure of inspecting a limb taken from a 
Coffee Tree belonging to Mrs. .Joe Atzbotb, Of 
the County of Mannatee, Florida—the lady al¬ 
luded to In tiie article. On it were berries of 
three different ages, some fully ripe, some 
green and growing, some young berries and 
blooms. No, sir; it was not the product of 
the hot-house in Washington City, but the pro¬ 
duct of a four-year-old plant, grown Iu the 
open air on the banks of Mannatee River, at 
Braidentown. None of the trees has been in¬ 
jured by cold yet. Doubt no more ! 
Tampa, Fla. T. F. Hampton. 
fomologtral. 
TRAPPING THE CODLING MOTH. 
M. B. HATKHAM. 
Professors Cook and Real deserve much 
credit for their persistent labors in teaching 
the people of Michigan how to trap that worst 
Of insect pests, the codling moth, by what is 
called the band method; aud it appears by the 
reports that quite a number of the orc’iardlsts 
of that Slate are practicing this method of 
saving their apple crops from worms, with 
Considerable success. Professor Cook has also 
favored us in Ohio with bis presence and in¬ 
structions on this topic at several of our meet¬ 
ings within the past five years, but, as far as I 
have learned, not a single orebardist iu tills 
State has adopted this method, excepting on a 
tew trees by way of experiment, or in small 
orchards where sheep or bogs could not be 
kept. Mention was made of this fact iu my 
report of the late meeting of our Statu Horti¬ 
cultural Society published in the Rural of 
Jau. 8. Prof. Heal, alluding to that report, iu 
a recent letter to me, says : 
“ I see that you again slate that most of the 
speakers at your meeting, 111 discussing the 
codling moth, say the band method of trapping 
is too laborious or troublesome for large or¬ 
chards. Here wc change the bauds nine times 
during a season ; the labor costs only $1.08 per 
100 trees, and the material for the bauds about 
one cent a tree—iu all a trifle over two cents a 
tree per year. Not such adreadlul expense or 
bother to us!" 
I heartily congratulate Prof. Heal aud the 
orchardistB of Michigan on the discovery of 
such a cheap mode of uuuniging this method 
of trapping codling moths, and i hope it may 
prove as effective as it is cheap; then it will 
certainly be the fault of the growers it the 
apples of that Stale are not hereafter free from 
worms, lhope also that Prof. Heal will tell us 
just how it is done ; for I know lie is not a be¬ 
liever In horticultural pateuts or monopolies. 
I have fears, however, that bis cheap method 
will not be of much advantage to us in Ohio. 
For so little expense to be possible, I appre¬ 
hend the trees must be young, with smooth 
bai k aud low beads, so thut ouly one baud has 
to be used, and no rough bark to tie removed, 
and thu bands were doubtless of cheap paper, 
and the work done by college boyB or other 
cheap hands. In the Michigan Pomologieal 
Report for 1878, Prof. Beal states that lie found 
the expense of the bund.- and labor for 250 trees, 
amounted to about foureeutB a tree. The size 
of the trees is not stated, nor whether one 
baud or two were used. I presume it was the 
