348 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Nov 
Agricultural and Horiicultural Literature. 
Flint’s “Milch Cows and Dairy Farming.”— 
This work, already announced through our columns, 
has just appeared, and in a style of typography man¬ 
ifesting a considerable improvement upon that of most 
previous agricultural books issued in this country. In 
contents it fills a place long vacant. The author takes 
up in his introductory chapter, the various races of 
Pure Bred Cattle in the United States, ranking them 
for dairying purposes in the following order : the Ayr¬ 
shire, Jersey, Short-Horn, the Dutch cattle, the Here¬ 
ford, and the Devon. He then turns to the Grade or 
“ Native” stock of the country, tracing it back to its 
origin, and treats of the principles that should be em¬ 
ployed in breeding. The only point on which we can 
ground a complaint, among many features worthy of 
high commendation, is in the matter -of illustrations. 
The portraits are not good examples of the breeds they 
are intended to represent, and are drawn on a diversi¬ 
ty of scale that leaves the reader in some doubt which 
would weigh the heaviest, an Alderney coworaShort- 
Horn bull, so far as the relative size of the engravings 
is any guide. The “ Oakes cow ” (p. 73) is a mon¬ 
strosity of ill-proportion. This, however, now that 
good portraits of fine animals are so frequently 
met with, is quite an insignificant point, prac¬ 
tically. * * * Chapter 3d treats of the selection 
of Milch Cows, and furnishes valuable directions, while 
here the diagrams and illustrations are of great assis¬ 
tance, and all that could be asked; the twenty-two 
pages devoted to Guenon’s system, give a very com¬ 
plete and perfect idea of its latest developments, and 
will be regarded by many as alone worth the price of 
the volume. The succeeding chapter on the Feeding 
and Management of Dairy Cows, raising Calves, the 
Culture of Grasses and other plants for grazing, green 
fodder, and curing or cooking,—render these depart¬ 
ments very full and valuable. Those on Milk, the 
Butter Dairy, and the Cheese Dairy, are pointed and 
practical. The Diseases of Dairy Stock are well and 
fully treated. The largely illustrated chapters on 
Dutch dairying are very interesting. The “ Letter to 
a Dairy Woman,” forming chapter 12, contains some 
excellent and important hints. The whole concludes 
with a consideration of the Piggery as a branch of the 
dairy establishment, and an Appendix containing 
Horsfall’s Essay on the Management of Dairy Cattle. 
And it is difficult to conceive how the author could 
have compressed more that was necessary to the com¬ 
pleteness of his work, into its compass, or better ar¬ 
ranged the space devoted to the respective subjects in¬ 
volved. A minute examination might perhaps detect 
room for unimportant improvements, and on subjects 
in respect to which there is so wide a diversity of opin¬ 
ion, it will be strange if all are found to agree exactly 
in his conclusions ; but as a sound and useful volume, 
we take pleasure in commending it cordially to our 
readers, and bespeaking for it their early acquaintance. 
It can but rank as a standard American Dairy book 
for some time to come. [New-York : A. 0. Moore. 
Also for sale at this office—price $1.25 ] 
“ The Barn-Yard—A Manual of Domestic Ani¬ 
mals.” —Fowler & Wells have just issued this volume 
in their series of rural manuals. It treats of the 
Horse, the Ass, Cattle, Sheep, Swine, the Improvement 
of Breeds, Diseases and their Cure, Poultry and Bee 
Keeping. Embracing so much within the limits of 
about 170 pp, one could not expect to find it very full 
in respect to details, but it affords a judicious resume 
of the subjects embraced and is written with a consid¬ 
erable degree of conciseness; probably there is no 
means of getting so much about Domestic Animals at 
the cost in any other volume. [For sale at this office 
—paper 30 cts , cloth 50 cts ] 
-- 
Experiments with Potatoes. 
Does the Potato Degenerate ?—In answer to this 
question, allow me to state some facts which have come 
under my own observation this season. Of some two 
dozen varieties planted, not more than one-third of 
them have produced a single ball. Six of these, oc¬ 
cupying less than three-fourths of an acre of ground, 
we do not believe produced more than one quart of 
balls all told. The Early Blues produced some half a 
pint to a pint of balls to a square rod or so. But some 
Prince Alberts produced some four quarts to the square 
rod by actual measure. This would be at the rate of 
20 bushels of balls to the acre. I do not think either 
this town or county has produced from all other varie¬ 
ties put together 20 bushels of balls this season. 
Seven stalks of the Albert produced 135 balls, and 
60 tubers. One hill of three stalks produced 54 balls 
and 20 tubers, and one stalk to one hill produced 42 
balls and 5 good table potatoes. This last named 
stalk is an isolated case, and gives a product of over 
8 balls to each tuber. The Albert is uithout a rival 
in producing either balls or tubers. The Albert is 
tough, hardy, and vigorous, and will endure the blight 
like the king of vines. His stalks are still green, 
which, with my Jenny Linds, which are also green, 
still stand unharmed comparatively with the potato 
blight, which was never known to be worse in its fea¬ 
tures, or more extended in its ravages than now among 
our common varieties. 
Experiments with Salt. —About the first of June 
last I took up a refuse potato, and began to cut it 
open ; it was black within, and not fit to give to a hog. 
The chits in part being alive, I resolved to plant it, (or 
the eye chits,) and after digging down to the subsoil, I 
put down at least two large handfuls of salt, and re¬ 
turned the earth again. Then about even with the 
surface, I scattered in the eye chits. After many days 
four of the chits came up, of a deep green hue, and 
grew vigorously. Not until just before the last hoe¬ 
ing, did I add any farther stimulant, when I put on 
two handfuls of compost of hen manure, ashes, and 
rich earth. These tops continued to grow vigorously 
until September; but no balls, no blows, and no buds, 
nor the least sign of a bud ever made their appearance 
on these tops. I pulled these tops green Sept. 11th, 
and dug out nine tubers, all sound and perfect up to 
this date; I intend to plant the same in 1859, and if 
they continue sound and produce balls, I intend to re¬ 
port the same for the benefit of the reading public. I 
believe in a warm dry soil, salt as a manure, and deep 
clean culture, in raising a crop of sound potatoes, and 
last, but not least, in harvesting potatoes like other 
crops, as they ripen—at least their tops, which amounts 
to the same thing. This is like electricity and steam 
on this point. “Knowledge is power.” 
I have as yet dug but five rods of Alberts, one rod 
of which yields 44 quarts, or at the rate of 220 bushels 
