soil, and this class generally, require potash 
more than an.v other fertilizer. This did not 
appear to rue to be possible, for the reason 
that there was so much decayed wood in the 
muck that I supposed would furnish sufficient 
potash. I have since applied all the ashes I 
could get, with marked benefit. Therefore I 
conclude that one reason why the raspberries 
and grape-vines, and fruit trees did not 
succeed was from the lack of potash. 
THE EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION UPON STRAW¬ 
BERRIES 
were thoroughly tested in this field. The 
plants had suffered from late spring frosts as 
usual, but as there were many blossoms unin¬ 
jured, we dammed the stream and turned the 
waters into the furrows running across the 
rows at the upper end. From these the water 
was permitted to escape into the alleys be¬ 
tween the rows, where it rippled along mer¬ 
rily until it became entirely absorbed in the 
soil at the lower end of the row. Every week 
material with which to looseo the soil to a 
remarkable extent. The uplands being a 
clayey loam, and rather too tenacious for pro¬ 
pagating purposes, the propagating beds and 
gardens have been prepared by drawing on 
them many loads of muck and mixing it with 
the soil, A thorough mixture composed of a 
load of muck and a load of our upland soil 
will have the appearance of being all muck, 
so loose and friable that one can hardly dis¬ 
tinguish the loamy soil; therefore the effects 
of a load of muck would be perceptible on 
quite an extent of surface. As the muck is 
exceedingly porous, almost as much so as sdow 
or sand, we made free use of it in covering 
the strawberry plants set in the Fall, for win¬ 
ter protection. X have known strawberry 
plants to grow up through a foot or more of 
this muck. 
I could not see any evidences of there being 
any TILE DRAINS 
on my run-down farm, but as we progressed 
TYPICAL HEADS OF THE RURAL’S CROSS BETWEEN ARMSTRONG AND FULTZO 
CLAWSON WHEATS. 
aehituenes, moutbrietias, Hyaciutbus candi- 
caus, Milla biflora and Bessera elegaDS 
planted in June, will be in season. They are 
bulbous and tuberous, aud ueed no window 
room. Old fuchsias and lemon-scented ver¬ 
benas that were wintered in a frost-proof cel¬ 
lar, will also, if we wish, be in flower. And 
add to these aloes, century plants, cactuses 
and the like that are grateful for a dry shelf 
in a frost proof cellar. Make up little pots of 
tradescantia, othonna, lnother-of thousands, 
saxifrage, aud other like plants that are 
grateful for a foot-hold in Winter on the sur¬ 
face of the earth in pots containing other 
plants. And all of these, together with the 
ether plants that occupy an ordinary sized 
window in Winter, will surely make a decent 
showing in September. 
PlIORMIUM TBNAX BLOOMING. —I would say 
to Hortieola, apropos of his note, page 670, 
that I saw Phormium tenax variegata in 
bloom some years ago at Prof. C. S. Sargent’s, 
Brookline, Mass., and repeatedly a good many 
years ago in Europe. Lookiog into The Gar¬ 
den, 1 find, Vol. IV, page 70 and Vol. XI, page 
396, instances recorded of its blooming in 
England; Vol. IX, page 467and Vol. XI, page 
151, or its blooming in Scotland; and Vol. VII, 
page 202, of its blooming in Ireland. One of 
the finest specimens 1 remember seeing in 
bloom, was in ’73 at Parkers’ Nurseries, Toot¬ 
ing, London. Judging from my own obser¬ 
vation, the variegated form is more often 
seen in bloom than is the plain, green one. 
farm topics. 
EXPERIENCE ON A RUN-DOWN FARM. 
THIRD PAPER. 
CHARLES A. GREEN. 
UTILIZING A MUCK BED. 
I found on our run-down farm a field of 
muck, partly surrounded by a cedar swamp. 
The muck averaging from one to two feet in 
dep.h, was composed of partially decayed 
wood, sand, and the washings of the uplands. 
The color was black, aud it had the appear¬ 
ance of being very rich, but l soon found that 
it lacked eertaiu ingredients to make it pro¬ 
ductive. Asa spring bruok ran the entire 
length of this muck lot, which could be raised 
higher than the surface of the field by dam¬ 
ming, I concluded that the muck lot might be a 
valuable piece of property for growing straw¬ 
berries and other small fruits, which we would 
be able to irrigate. The open ditch which 
carried off the surplus water was at some 
points higher thau the surrounding lands, 
causing a large waste of valuable soil. I em¬ 
ployed two men the larger part of one season, 
cleaning out this ditch. They found in many 
instances two or three feet of sediment, the 
ditch appearing not to huve been cleaned out 
in 20 years At several points the water had 
escaped from it and passed off into an adjoin¬ 
ing wood. This changed the current entirely, 
owing to the bed having been raised by the 
accumulation of sediment. The cleaning out 
and deepening of this ditch brought several 
acres into cultivation that were previously 
wet and barren. 
Aside Trom this water-soaked portion, there 
was some waste land adjoining, covered with 
a dense mat of golden rod, wild red rasp¬ 
berries and other plants of this class. Late 
one Fall we mowed these weeds and burned 
them; and started the plow, intending to sub¬ 
due the tangled labyrinth. Three horses could 
hardly pull the plow through the mass of roots 
which it encountered. Ofteu the plow would 
throw up an unbroken mass of roots as large 
as a dining table. We encountered numerous 
hurried logs and stumps, which were piled up 
aud burned after becoming dry. By this 1 
means we nearly doubled the size of the muck i 
lot. 1 
While I supposed that many kiuds of fruit 
would succeed there, i deemed it best to ex¬ 
periment in a small way at first. Thus we 
planted a few each of quinces, pears, plums, 
cherries, strawberries, raspberries, grapes,and 
of almost every kind of fruit. Nearly all of 
these failed to thrive. The red raspberries 
grew vigorously, also the blackcaps, but they 
were not fruitful. Strawberries, although 
they did not grow as vigorously as on the up¬ 
lands, succeeded passably well, but the blos¬ 
soms were usually destroyed by late Spring 
frosts, which settled on tbo low lands with 
exceptional severity. A Ithough I have growu 
strawberries here every year since, principal¬ 
ly for the purpose of procuring plants, they 
never escaped damage by late spring frosts 
until the present season. Not being satisfied 
with the growth of the plants, I applied kainit 
freely, scattering it. broadcast over the rows. 
An improvement tu the color of the foliage of 
the plauts was immediately preemptible. 
There is no doubt iu my mind thut our muck 1 
during the dry weather we turned the water 
on in this manner. The soil became so satu¬ 
rated by this treatment that the foliage of 
corn and potatoes growing near-by turned 
yellow, showing that too much water was re¬ 
ceived for their welfare, but the strawberries 
throve amazingly, and when picking time 
came the ground was literally ablaze with 
very large, handsome berries; but they were 
soft and not so good In quality as those growu 
without irrigation. It is astonishing how- 
much water will be required by an acre of 
soil in a dry time. Any persou who has ex¬ 
perimented in this way will bo discouraged 
from attempting to draw water in w agons for 
irrigation. My experiments have lead me to 
the opinion that in Western New York we 
can fight drought more economically by keep- 
lug the soil rich, and by frequent loosening 
with the hoe aud cultivator, thau by drawing 
water. 
USK8 OF A MUCK BED. 
While the muck lot has proved as valuable 
for growing crops as the upland, its greatest 
value has been in supplying an abundance of 
mulching material for plants and vines, and 
Fig. 470. (See page 724.) 
with the work of draining, numerous horse- I 
shoe tiles that had beeu laid many years, I 
and which had become tilled with mud, were 
encountered. As the tiles had no bittoms, I 
think it possible that, having nothing but a 
sharp surface to rest upon, they had been 
pressed into a yielding soil, and become clog¬ 
ged in that way. I have always laid the round 
tile, which cauuot be thus easily forced into 
the soil. Oue of our fields had a Large quag¬ 
mire near the center, which was tilled with 
swale grass, the water oozing from it at all 
seasons, making it utterly impassable for a 
team. There were other wet places adjacent, 
the water having come from permanent 
springs. We put In tbree-iuch tile half the 
distance, or to the point where the first lateral 
came in, two-iaeb tile being used above that. 
This drain was dug two years ago, and the 
quagmire has now become firm soil, and is the 
richest part of the field. We have just sown 
the entire field to wheat, intending to seed it 
down for meadow. The drains discharge 
water during the driest season. In passing 
over these drains early in the Spring, I can 
>raee the line as far as 1 can see, by the dry¬ 
ness of the surface over the tile. Where these 
drains crossed several old tile drains, which 
had been clogged, we fonnd that although no 
water passed through the old drains when first 
opened, after a tiuiB water found its way 
through them into the new drains; therefore I 
think the old drains are doing good service 
now. Where the new drains cross the old 
the water now comes in from both sides. 
This shows that there was not enough fall to 
the old drains, for otherwise the water 
would only come iu from the upper side. 
My drainage experiments have shown that a 
good outlet is a feature of prime importance. 
In several of the drains we have bult I sup. 
posed there was ample fall for an outlet, but 
when the drain was completed, the outlet was 
found hardly low enough, and we have been 
compelled to deepen the open outlet fora long 
distance at considerable expense. Where the 
lateral drain comes into the main drain at 
about the same depth as the main drain, 
there is a continual liability to clog; thus the 
main open drain has to be kept running freely. 
I also found that the tiles coming from the 
lateral drains aud projecting into the open 
main drains were liable to crumble by repeat¬ 
ed freezing. It is clear that after one has 
drained his farm, his labors are not complete, 
for he must keep a continual oversight of his 
outlets, to see that there is a free flow of 
water. 
Desiring to drain a piece of upland late in 
the season in time to put in cuttings, and not 
having time to continue the drain a long dis¬ 
tance below, as was necessary, we permitted 
the outlet to empty into a well made by sink¬ 
ing a barrel into the soil. The water flowed 
here successfully all the Fall and Winter, and 
I thought it might be successful in a tempor¬ 
ary way until we could extend the drain to the 
outlet, which was not possible at the time, as 
other crops were growing thereon. The fol¬ 
lowing Spring, for some reason, the outlet be¬ 
came clogged, and the drain would not work. 
This experiment I would not repeat, as we 
shall doubtless have to take up several rods 
of tile in completing the ditch. In digging 
drains we found numerous log drains that had 
been laid in earlier days. These had no doubt 
done good service for many years, but were 
entirely decayed when opened. 
ANNOYANCES AND DRAWBACKS. 
It is surprising what mischief will be caused 
by small springs in an open field without any 
outlet, except such as the water can make 
over the surface. I have found sneb springs 
to affect a large part of an acre of ground. 
K we could be sure in building drains, that 
when once built they would be permanent, 
there would be great satisfaction in this 
work; but there are chances of the drains be¬ 
coming clogged by the tile becoming displaced, 
or by unevenness in the bed of the drain in 
which the tile lies, cauriDg the silt to accu¬ 
mulate in the depressions. A spring brook 
that runs through the center* of our farm has 
furnished an open outlet for different tile 
drains. One day I thoughtlessly placed a 
sprig of water cress iu this main ditch, hardly 
supposing it would live, and knowing little of 
its nature; I was surprised a year or two later 
to hud the ditch filling up with water-cress. 
The cress has now become an intolerable 
nuisance, growing often three or four feet 
high, far above the ditch, and tilling it com¬ 
pletely from one end to the other so that the 
water flows with great difficulty through it 
MTe are compelled several times a year to go 
through the ditch aud draw out the cress 
with potato hooks, with no other effect than 
to let the water flow until the pest grows 
again. It would be safe to say that the plac¬ 
ing of the sprig of water cress in the brook 
will cost us several hundred dollars. I confess 
that I have made many 
MISTAKES 
on this run-down farm. In fact, a man who 
moves on to a strange place aud makes no 
mistakes the first few years, must be a remark, 
able character. First, I knew uothing about 
the peculiarities of the fields of this farm, 
each one of which bad peculiarities of its own, 
differing as much from another as one indi¬ 
vidual differs from another. Therefore, my 
first blunder was in sowing crops on fields 
which were wholly unsuited to them. In the 
second place, I was not posted in regard to 
the different degrees of fertility of different 
fields. Strange as it may appear, some of 
those fields that were far removed from the 
house were exceedingly reduced in fertility, 
being naturally of a different character of 
soil from the rest of the farm, and uot having 
received any fertilizer from the barn yards. 
In a few fields there were patches of stiff clay, 
which had to be worked at just the right 
moment or they coaid not be pat in tine con¬ 
dition. My experience here has shown that 
it requires four or five years for a farmer to 
become thoroughly acquainted with the dif¬ 
ferent fields on a 150-acre farm so as to be 
able to decide which is the most desirable 
