MARCH IS 
ard, one of my workmen, and directed him to 
keep them set, examine them at least every 
morning and evening, place them wherever 
he thought, he had the best chance of catching 
a mole, and keep a reconi of the result, and I 
believe he attended faithfully to the traps and 
showed no partiality. Trapping began No¬ 
vember 2, and lasted till the frost so hindered 
the work that we took in the traps for the 
Winter. The following is the result as given 
me by Win. Southard:—Hale mole trap: No¬ 
vember ?, one mole; November 9, one; De¬ 
cember 5, one; December 10. one mole. Total, 
four moles. Isbell trap: November 3, two 
moles; November 5. one; November 10, one; 
November 15; one; November 13, one: No¬ 
vember 14, one: November 19, oue; Novem¬ 
ber 54, two; December 6, one; December 7, 
one. Total, 15 moles 
POTATO EXPERIMENTS 
CONTINUED. 
Experiment to de¬ 
termine how much 
flesh each eye should 
have when planted, to 
produce the most sat¬ 
isfactory results. 
Test 46, A. — The 
seed potatoes were se¬ 
lected all of the same 
size, and peeled, all 
eyes being cut off ex¬ 
cept the strougestnear 
the middle—that is, 
whole potatoes were 
peeled so that but oue 
eye was left with a 
ring of skin about it. 
It would be equivalent 
to cuttin 4 out all the 
eyes but one. and then 
planting the whole po¬ 
tato as if it were a 
seed piece with a sin¬ 
gle strong eye. The 
variety was the Peer¬ 
less —the amount of 
chemical potato fertilizer used 1,000 pounds 
to the acre. They were planted, as in all 
our teste, one piece (four inches deep) every 
foot in trenches (spade wide) three feet 
apart cultivation flat The yield was at the 
rate of 800.66 bushels to the acre. The best 
five weighed three pouuds three ounces. There 
were of large and small potatoes at the rate of 
1.40,560 to the acre, or niue-aud-two-tbirds to 
a hill. 
Test 47 A.—The pieces 
were cut as shown by 
Fig. 89, and of that size. 'W/l W 
They were planted, as m 
46 A. three inches deep. •; 
So many of the pieces % 
either failed to sprout or \C 
died after sprouting that 
no estimate could be W 
made of the yield per „. on 
acre. 
Iest 48 A. In this test cylindrical pieces 
were cut through the 
pota o, as shown at Fig. 
90, with a strong eye 
upon oue end. and plant¬ 
ed four inches deep. The 
yield was at the rate of 
211.75 bushels to the 
acre. Of large and 
small there were at the 
rate of 87.150 potatoes to 
the acre, or six to a hill. 
In order to ascertain 
how much flesh should 
be left to an eye or to 
the eyes of seed pieces, 
it would doubtless be ne¬ 
cessary to repeat the 
tests hundreds of times 
in different soils and 
with different varieties. 
Enough is as good as a 
feast,” but what would 
be enough in a wet 
Spring might prove too 
little in a dry one: what 
might serve in a rich scil 
might prove insufficient in a poor soil. The 
quautity of flesh which should go with each 
piece is, theoretically, that which without un¬ 
necessary waste, will best support the eyes un¬ 
til, by the growth of roots, support from the 
flesh is uo longer required. 
i-V *• * 
Jr* r 
ff 
TESTS WITH NEW VARIETIES CONTINUED. 
Test 58 B, Orwell. Received from O. H. 
Alexander, Charlotte, Vermont. Lister's 
potato fertilizer and uuleached wood ashes 
were used at the rate of 590 pounds of the 
former and six bushels of the latter per acre. 
Seed pieces (two eves each) planted oue foot 
apart in trenches (spade wide) three feet apart. 
The fertilizer was broadcasted after the pieces 
hod been lightly covered with soil. Cultiva¬ 
tion flat. The yield was at the rate of 798.60 
hsuels to the acre. Among the best, five 
weighed four pounds 6 }■£ ounces. Of largo and 
small (rejecting all less than an inch in dia¬ 
meter) there were at the rate of 200,376 pota¬ 
toes to the acre, or 13 4-5 to a hill Tubers 
form close to the stalk. Buff skin, shallow 
eyes, irregular in form: vines very long and 
k heavy—an intermediate as to ripening. Eaten 
Nov. 10, it was thought to bed ry ami mealy. 
Flesh white. Flowers large and of a lilac color. 
Test 61 B. Charlotte XX Extra. From 
same. Same fertilizers and cultivation iu 
every way. Yield 499.14 to the acre. Best 
five weighed three pounds two ounces. Large 
and small 108,900 to the acre, or seven-and-one- 
half to the hill. Nearly white skin; long, 
roundish; eyes sometimes a trifle deep, as 
shown in Fig. 91, which was drawn from na¬ 
ture. The flowers are white, the potato quite 
early. Eaten Feb. 28 : flesh nearly white, 
and not as dry and mealy as some. 
±«U> Crops. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES. 
A FENCE GRAPE-TRE1 LIS. Fig. 95. 
Test 60 B. Snow Fairy. From same. 
Same fertifixation and treatment in every way. 
Yield 399.30 bushels to the acre. Best five 
weighed two pounds 6J£ ounces. Large and 
small 116,160 to the acre, or eight to a hill. 
Light buff skin; very smooth and shapely; 
round-oblong, flattened; few eyes, and those 
on the surface. Eaten Sept. 25. not quite dry. 
Flesh not as white as its name would indicate. 
Early. 
Test 67 B. Clark’s No. 1. From Hiram 
Sibley & Co. Yield 566.50 bushels to the acre. 
Best five weighed two pounds 13}£ ouuces. 
Large and small 58,080 to an acre, or four to 
a hill. Of the general appearance of Beauty 
of Hebron. Early. 
Test 02 B. Sport of Late Rose (f). From 
Frank Osborn, Castleton, Reus. Co.. N. Y. 
He writes: “First came under my notice at 
digging time, when it turned out 22 potatoes 
to the hill, all of marketable size {!). aud most 
ol' them extra large (! !). I saved aud plauted 
them last season, and fiud them two weeks 
later in blossoming than the Late Rose. They 
yielded well, though the season was dry— 
more than double as much as the Late Rose.” 
Yield at the rate of 587,69 bushels to the acre. 
Large aud small 68.420, a large average. 
Eaten Nov. 25: the same as late Rose as to 
CHARLOTTE XX EXTRA POTATO. Fig. 91. 
quality—dry, mealy, white flesh. Irregular | 
iu form, rather deep eyes; piuk at seed end, 
and sometimes all pmk. Selections should be 
made for several years yet. It proved with 
us nu intermediate as to maturing. 
Did the Rural tell you last Fall that pota¬ 
toes would rule low. aud that it’would be wise 
to sell them early? Well, considering the 
shrinkage and loss, has it paid you to keep 
them? How much aro they worth for feed? 
firmly oelieve that if oue-half the time and 
money spent in testing new varieties (to prove 
most of them worthless) were spent iu experi¬ 
menting with old and tried kinds, to fiud the 
right amount of so<n 1, best manures and mode 
of cultivation, the results would bo far more 
satisfactory, especially if we took as much 
pains in selecting seed as we do with coni. 
For early, dig or mark the first hills ripening; 
from these select the best specimens. For late. 
select from bills that produce the largest num 
ber of good specimens later in the season, and 
there will be a large gain to the average farmer 
Wallsrville. Pa. w. e m. 
Here are reports of two small experiments 
I made the past season with potatoes. The 
first was with “potatoes under straw.” I 
plowed a. small piece of sod ground: made the 
furrows tegular; dropped the “seed” between 
every other furrow 16 inches apart; then har¬ 
rowed the ground smooth lengthwise, covered 
the furrows well with straw, and left the crop 
to look out for itself till diggiug time. The 
season was unusually wet, which was unfavor¬ 
able for potatoes under straw, as the mulch 
held too miueh water. I kept no accurate ac¬ 
count of results, but the yield was much better 
than that of those beside them cultivated iu 
the usual way. 
Iu the second experiment I chose large 
White Elephant Potatoes, weighing three- 
quarters of n pouud each, and planted them 
in five rows of five hills each. First row. or 
No. 1. whole yield of marketable potatoes, 45; 
weight of large, seven pounds six ounces; of 
small, one pound 14 ounces. No. 2, two eyes 
on a piece; two pieces iu a hill; large, 38— 
weight, six pounds nine ouuces; weight of 
small, oue pound two ounces. No. 8, two eyes 
on a piece; one piece in a hill; large, 26— 
weight, five pounds eight ounces: weight of 
small, 12 ounces. No. 4, one eye on a piece, 
two pieces in a hill; large, 81—weight, seven 
t ounds four ounces; weight of small. 14 ounces. 
No. 5, one eye on piece; one piece in hill; large, 
50—weight four pounds five ouoces; weight of 
small, eight ouuces. No.5 had hardly as good 
a chance as the others, being on the outside of 
the row; otherwise all had an equal chance. 
This little experiment goes to show that No. 
4, one eye on a piece, two pieces to the hill, 
was the most profitable way of seeding, taking 
into consideration the quantity of seed and the 
size of product. This has been a poor year 
for experimenting with potatoes on account 
of there having been so much wet; but I 
SPRING WHEAT. 
As the time of sowing Spring wheat ap¬ 
proaches, perhaps a little of my experience 
in regard to making that crop a success would 
be beneficial to my brother farmers. In 
the first place, procure good seed. If you 
want to sow four bushels get six, and 
take it to a good mill where two bushels of 
the poorest, shrunken kernels should be ta¬ 
ken out, or. better yet, let the poorest half of 
the quantity be removed. Thus you have 
the largest kernels to sow. which will make 
a stronger growth and longer heads than 
could be obtained if all were sown. I have 
tried this plan three 
years, and know to a 
certain ty that my 
wheat improves. No 
one would think of 
planting nubbins of 
corn, so why sow poor 
wheat? As to kind, 
the Russian White is 
the best, as it closely 
resembles a Winter 
wheat in growth, and 
yields well. In regard 
to soil, select the best 
(this is for farmers 
who wish to raise just 
their own bread). If 
plowed last Fall, so 
much the better; if 
not. plow just as soon 
asdryenough.and im¬ 
mediately sow, broad¬ 
cast, salt at the rate 
of 400 pounds per 
aci-e, or one barrel 
will do. Take also one 
barrel of unslaked 
lime, slake it and sow 
it broadcast. Go over the ground once 
with a harrow, aud let it lie from two to four 
weeks before sowing the wheat. On Fall- 
plowed ground the lime and salt can be sown 
when there is a light snow; no need of har¬ 
rowing then. Salt is a good fertilizer, and 
sure death to wire-worms. Lime prepares the 
soil well for growing wheat, aud is very bene¬ 
ficial to clover. I have pursued this plan for 
three years, and have not failed to raise from 
29 to 56 bushels of wheat of the finest quality 
per acre. E. G. s. 
Cuba, N. Y. 
[Our friend evidently has a soil that needs 
lime. In our experience such au amount of 
salt would not disturb wire-worms.— Eds.] 
VinnjtU'ii. 
THE ADULTERATION OF AMERICAN 
WINES. 
A RURAL CORRESPONDENT AMONG 
THE WINE MAKERS. 
“PURE WINE” SOLD FOR LESS THAN 
THE COST OF THE GRAPES. 
THE ACID REDUCED BY WATER—THE 
SACCHARINE MATTER BROUGHT 
UP BY GLUCOSE. 
“we must have grapes enough to swear 
BY,” 
There is nothing that we eat or drink more 
mysterious in its composition or that requires 
so much faith in the user as our wines. 
Few people are aware how universally and 
vilely wines are adulterated. Of the imported 
wines it is difficult to find a sample of the dark 
ones not compounded of poor whisky, log¬ 
wood extract, burnt sugar, and various drugs. 
Tbe light wines and champagnes are, at best, 
largely composed of American cider doctored 
to order. A cider firm of my acquaintance 
shipped to France, on a single order, over 25,- 
000 casks, bought for the avowed purpose of 
being manufactured into champagne for the 
American market. If we use native wines we 
fare but little better; there is not one gallon 
in a thousand of the purest that has not been 
“reinforced” by adding one pound of sugar 
or glucose to each gallon to “give body”—i. e ., 
to generate sufficient alcohol to prevent its 
turning to vinegar. The great bulk of wine 
made is not even so pure as that. 
During the past few years I have traveled 
considerably ill the grape and wine producing 
seotious. aud have visited scores of wine 
makers, and inspected their cellars, aud with¬ 
out calliug names or mentioning any locality, 
I propose to give the substance of a conver¬ 
sation with the principal owuer and manager 
of one of the largest vineyards and wine cel¬ 
lars in this country, as showing the method of 
manufacturing a very large share of the wines 
used. I was received very cordially, and 
