food produces the same effects. These foods 
saturated with water soften all of the foods 
which pass into the stomach and so cause a 
more washy condition of the whole system. 
This is not a good condition for a male of any 
species. A horseman would never think of 
fitting a stallion in this way. There must be a 
medium; a combination of foods to produce a 
free action of all tho organs of life; but of 
none to excess; as with the kidney's always when 
all sloppy food is given: there is also 
more danger of colds and sudden inflamma¬ 
tions, followed with fevers. The genital or¬ 
gans are always in sympathy, physically, 
with the urinary. Fat will cover a multitude 
of defects in a pig, and it is wonderfully tak¬ 
ing to the ordinary eye. Leanness is an ex¬ 
treme much more to be preferred. 
Kirby Homestead, N. Y. 
RAISING ROOT CROPS. 
nard writes in favor of the Shropshire sheep. 
Now, I wish to put in a word for the Hamp¬ 
shire Downs. 
I sold Hampshire Down lambs this spring, 
three months old, which averaged (S3 % pounds. 
I have a pen of yearlings which average, at 
one year old, 149 pounds, wintered on hay 
alone. A half-blood yearling lamb last sum¬ 
mer, at four months, weighed 105 pounds. 
My thoroughbred Hampshire ram weighs 277 
pounds. I sell my half-blood ram lambs at 
§10 per head. 
One very late three-quarter-blood ram 
larnb I did not sell, and he gained fill pounds 
last winter; ray ram lambs are three-quarter 
blood this year. Since I began this letter I 
thought I would go out in the field and weigh 
some lambs. My man and I caught one each; 
they both happened to be ewe lambs; one 
weighed 47',^ pounds when eight weeks and 
two day's old; another was seven weeks, and 
weighed 87>$' pounds. This is not as good a 
record as 1 gave al»ove, but I think the weights 
would have been heavier if we had caught 
bucks. The mutton of the Hampshire Down 
is hardly inferior to that of the South Down, 
while the carcass is considerably larger. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. E. J. G. 
many English farms where all other breeds 
have previously been tried. There are com¬ 
paratively few White Dorkings in this coun¬ 
try. The rage here has been for Plymouth 
Rocks, Wyandottes, Leghorns and Light 
Brahmas, Those who breed and handle the 
White Dorkings are much pleased with them. 
They fiud them fair layers, the best of table 
fowls and safe prize-winners in most large 
poultry shows. The breed is worthy of a 
more attentive study by poultrymen. 
From careful tests and observations in the 
culture of roots, I find the most practical and 
simple method is to select the ground, manure 
it heavily, if sod (which is always preferable), 
in the fall before sowing the seed. The following 
spring, as soon as the ground is dry and warm, 
plow as deep as yon can, turning grass and 
sod under, or leaving the furrows on edge if the 
gross is all covered. Apply at least 50 bushels 
of wood ashes to the acre, harrow; then apply 
hen manure, if possible, at the rate of 40 or 
50 bushels to the acre, and harrow until per¬ 
fectly mellow and in prime condition for seed. 
Sow in drills 28 inches apart, with any good 
seed drill (Matthews 7 is good). When the 
plants have come up and made two leaves, hoe 
carefully, stirring the soil close to the plants. 
Then sprinkle land plaster upon each plant 
and leave for a week or ten days, when the 
cultivator can be called into requisition with 
good results. From this time on use the cul¬ 
tivator every week thoroughly, and the hoe 
and all baek-aebing work will be dispensed 
with. When the plants are about half an inch 
through, thin to the proper distance, three to 
six or eight inches. If you are troubled with 
extreme wet or drought, hitch a pair of good 
horses,tandem-fashion, to a plow and run be- 
DISAPPEARANCE OF THE TENT 
CATERPILLAR. 
The Tent Caterpiller has become in this part 
of Queens County a thing of the past. For many 
years it held high carnival in all orchards; 
but its chief delight was the wild cherry trees, 
of which it is particularly fond, and they 
were annually stripped of their leaves as fast 
as they appeared. As Nature usually looks 
out for her own, the young worms and young 
leaves appear together, so the pests feed on the 
tender leaves, in their tender days. So great 
was their numbers that not a tree 
or scarcely a leaf was spared, 
whereas now an entomologist 
would have to search hard to secure 
a fair specimen of a nest. 
Now for the cause of their dis¬ 
appearance: In 1S&4 there were 
myriads of them, and wild cherry 
/ hedges were as bare of leaves as in 
-•/ winter, and orchards were nearly 
-//, in the same condition. After the 
5>y, caterpillar had reached its full 
growth, and left its nest to find a 
suitable place to change its state 
(as silk raisers know, this is a very 
A v critical period in the silk worms’ 
$ existence, as a heavy thunder 
i shower may destroy them in great 
quantities, and the same is the 
if /i fr&rJpfc case with this pest), while in its 
r,v, unprotected condition a long, cold, 
north-east storm set in, which 
lasted three days, and when it 
. ( ceased the reign of the caterpillar 
*■ was over. The next season I saw 
not over half a dozen nests, and as 
i ■’ there were so few, the cuckoo, the 
\ S only bird I know that feeds on 
r. > them, seemed to require all that 
Last year I saw but 
HOW TO RAISE A MAXIMUM CROP OF 
POTATOES. 
THOMAS BARRETT, 
In preparing ground for potatoes, if man 
ured in the fall, then is the best time to plow, 
as the manure becomes thoroughly 
incorporated with the soil, and 
will be more or less rotted by 
spring. Spring plowing will do, 
but If the manure is not rotted, it 
will not produce as good results as 
fall plowing. I find nothing in 
the way of fertilizers equal to barn¬ 
yard manure: if well-rotted, all 
the better. Let it be spread on A 
liberally—say 50 to 75 two-horse / J 
loads per acre. Wood ashes are ~ AdfJ 
also good, A tablespoonful of “ 
unleaehed ashes spread over each . iljjmfct ', 
hill, as tho stalks come through or ' jMjfflf') '! 
just before, will be of great benefit, 1 
killing or driving off worms and ■fwjMW/l 'y 
greatly promoting growth. The mm; 
drills should Ixj three feet apart 
with strong-growing varieties- 
three and a half l'eet are still bet- 
ter. Make the drills four inches ^ 
deep. Cut tho seed to two eyes, 
and plant sixteen inches apart. IT 
planted uniformly, as by a line, at 
1(5 inches apart, they can be cross- 
worked with a hand cultivator, 
while the tops are small. This SjgKS&v;? 
would be of great advantage to gagaBfcj 
the crop, destroying the weeds 
and mellowing the soil. 
Medium-sized potatoes cut up in 
two, length-wise, and the halves SfjMKlSj 
split lengthwise, produce good re- 
suits. We thus get in each seed- 
piece, seed-end, stem-end and mid- 
die. If cut to one eye, plant the 
pieces one foot ai>art. KskSsS 
Flat cultivation is to be pre- 
ferred, unless, after abundant 
rains, the weeds come up thickly, 
when it would be better to lull suf- 
ficiently to cover the weeds, rather 
than let them appropriate the 
nutriment due the potatoes, or, by 
over crowding, rob them of sun 
and air. My practice Ls to com- - 
menee hoeing us soon us the sprouts 
come to the surface. I make it a 
point to clean them thoroughly 
once, taking every weed that cun 
he seen, and where the hoe cannot 
reach them without cutting the 
patato tops, to pull them ont with —-- 
the lingers. This gives the potatoes 
a fair chance to grow and they get ~ _ 
so much ahead of weeds that spring 
up later as to almost smother them. 
utirrfn.w -’rr- 
*» ".-Jr . i j-er 
season’s crop 
two nests; this year the same, and 
these I destroyed. This was a re¬ 
petition of the phenomena that ap¬ 
peared in 1844 iu L*lster County, 
under precisely the same condi¬ 
tions, when I lived there. Has the 
same thing been noticed in other 
parts of the country under similar 
conditions? n. h. 
Creedmoor, N. Y. 
ARSENITES FOR FRUIT PESTS. 
Here is my experience with the 
curculio: Two years ago I tried 
the "arsenic spray” fortbe pest on 
plums, with no appreciable benefit 
except that I thought the leaf-roll¬ 
ers, skeletonizers, etc., were less 
numerous. The proportions used 
were one pound of arsenic to 200 
gallons of water. This is the for¬ 
mula recommended by Dr. Dixon, 
of Iowa. It was applied twice 
with the Field force pump, once 
soon after the blossoms had fallen 
and again ten days later. It was 
also tried on apple trees for the 
WHITE DORKINGS. (Re-engraved from Vinton’s Gazette.) Fig. 203 
Keep the cultivator going until 
they have all beeu worked three or four times. 
For the later w orkings, shallow cultivation is I 
the best, to prevent cutting the tubers and roots. 
Another point of great importance Is thiu- 
niug out the stems, wheu too many grow in 
the hill. Sometimes there will be from six to 
12, and even more, starting on each hill: if all 
are permitted to remain, only small potatoes 
will be found iusuch a hill. It Ls a good rule to 
thin them to three stems (n the hill, leaving 
tho strongest. For destroying the bugs I have 
fouud nothing equal to one jmrt of Paris green 
and 50 parts of plaster, thoroughly mixed, and 
sifted over tho plants. This is death to the 
beetles, and will not injure tho plants. If ap¬ 
plied when tho latter are wet with dew 
or after a light shower, it is less liable to be 
blowu off and wasted. A fruit can with holes 
punched iu the bottom makes u good sifter. 
If a few pieces were rolled in the above poison- 
ous mixture and scattered about before tho 
potatoes conic up, it would kill off most, if uot 
all, of the old bugs, aud be a great saving of 
after-labor. 
tween the rows and you will be more than sur¬ 
prised at the result. Thorough tillage with 
roots is os essential as with any other crop. 
If once stunted or chocked iu growth, it is 
hard to induce rapid and healthy development 
afterwards. I am convinced that no stock 
raiser or dairyman can afford to do without 
this all-importaut crop. Half a bushel of 
roots, cut fiuc with a Clark’s rootreutter, with 
u little grain, will greatly reduce the amount 
of hay required, and bring the stock through 
to grass iu a more healthy aud thrifty condi¬ 
tion, which is very essential to the dairyman. 
Let more roots be raised and fanners will 
have more hay to place upon the market. 
Fluvanua, N. Y. x. x. v. 
Sljecp ijitsbantinj. 
IN FAVOR OF HAMPSHIRE DOWNS. 
In a Rural of January, Mr. J. D. Stau- 
Vljf ^)oitliu( Dari). 
WHITE DORKINGS. 
The White Dorkings shown at Fig. 203, are 
considered by Vinton's Gazette, from which 
paper our engraviug was reproduced, to bo 
tine specimens of tho breed. This is more 
populur iu England thun it Ls in this eouutry. 
Tho birds are good layers aud unexcelled as 
table fowls. They are also very beautiful and 
are much esteemed by those who seek to make 
their poultry add to the adornment of their 
lawns. For some years, in England, the 
White Dorking was called a ‘‘neglected” bird. 
The public considered the white birds infer¬ 
ior to the Silver Grays both in hardiness, lay¬ 
ing qualities aud size, Tho Whites were con¬ 
sidered more suitable for fanciers than fot 
practical farmers. Of late years, however, 
much of this feeling has beeu done away with, 
and the White Dorkings to-day are found on 
codling moth with no result except 
to scorch the foliage in many places. The ar¬ 
senic was boiled two hours in water and then 
further diluted. b. b. 
Faruiingdale, Illinois. 
farm (Topics. 
NO CAUSE TO FEAR BEES. 
“On! Isn’t that honey nice?” “I wish we 
could keep bees and get such honey as that, 
but bees don’t like me.” “I can’t go in sight of 
bees without getting stung, but I do like 
honey.” 
Such remarks as the above were frequently 
heard as the people passed through the hall de¬ 
voted to bees aud honey at the last Michigan 
State Fair. 
It certainly is a pity that so many people 
have such fear of a harmless bee. There is 
scarcely a farmer, mechanic, lawyer, minis¬ 
ter, or man in any other profession who might 
