1883.] 
AMERICAN AGrRIOULTURIST, 
171 
mules, thereby returning as much to the soil as 
has been taken from it, by way of enriching the 
same. Mr. D. says that two mules can be raised 
on six acres, viz.—four in pasture,, one in hay, 
and one in corn. He sows oats and rye early in 
September, and when the grasses are killed by frost 
in November, the oats and rye remain green, and 
furnish good tender food for young mules. During 
the winter they can have free use of the straw 
rack; when corn is given them, they are driven 
into a capacious stable and fed out of a long trough 
running the entire length of the building. The 
older mules are confined in box-stalls, and are fed 
on cut feed. Young mules are ready for good 
work and marketable at three or four years of age. 
In the month of January they are driven into 
South Carolina and other cotton-growing States, 
and when the cotton is up, a drove of thirty or 
forty mules brings a snug sum of money. If Mr. 
D.’s ideas .were generally carried out by farmers, 
regarding the home consumption of grain and 
feed, not only in regard to mules, but to cattle, 
sheep, and other stock, farmers would enrich their 
lands, and have good, healthy animals, for which 
they would find ready market. 
Sweet-Potato Culture. 
BY THEODORE GOODRICH, UNION CO., ILL. 
Growing the Plants.— Place two inches of 
loose earth in a cold frame, and lay the potatoes 
on this, pressing them slightly into the earth side¬ 
ways, leaving a space between them of an inch and 
a half in all directions. Add four inches more of 
soil, and drench with water until the potatoes are 
thoroughly soaked, then cover with glass, and keep 
an even tempera ture as near 65° as possible. Use 
fresh soil, as old soil is more likely to engender the 
disease known as black-root, which sometimes finds 
its way into a bed and causes great loss. No ma¬ 
nure is required in the bed unless under the soil, to 
generate heat. 
Preparing the Ground.— Do not be in too 
great haste to set sweet-potatoes in the field, for the 
plant is a native of a warm dlimate, and a cold, wet 
spell is a serious drawback. Excessively rich soil 
should be avoided, as tending too much to vine. 
Make the ground thoroughly fine, then with a two- 
horse plow, set as deep as it will run, throw up the 
ridge as large and high as you can possibly make 
it witli two furrows. Strive to keep the ridges as 
close together as possible ; let the centers be a 
trifle less than four feet apart. Let the hoes follow 
the plow, dressing up the ridges and cracking an 
occasional clod. Do not spend very much time 
hoeing. Take care not to make more ridges than 
there are plants to fill, as freshly plowed ground is 
more moist and better for the plants than dry. 
Planting. —Leave the plants in the bed as long 
as convenient before taking out, for the fresher 
when planted, the better they will thrive. When 
the plants are three and a half to five inches above 
ground, they are ready to pull. Do this by placing 
one hand on the ground around the plant, then 
draw slowly with the other, taking care not to pull 
up the potato; if a small piece of the latter re¬ 
mains on the shoot, all the better. Keep the tops 
one way, and when several handfuls are collected, 
dip the roots in water and place in a basket in the 
shade, and sprinkle the tops slightly, to protect 
from the sun. Let a boy drop them along the row 
about fifteen inches apart. The setter then follows 
with a trowel, thrusts it into the ridge up to the 
handle at an angle of nearly 45°, raises the handle, 
and with the other hand slips a plant under the 
trowel, then draws the latter, and lets the earth fall 
as it will. Set the plant as far in the ground as its 
length will allow, generally leaving about three 
leaves out. If the plants are long, all the better ; 
set them deep, and they will root at each leaf. 
Pour into the hole around the plant about half a 
pint of water ; unless the ground is very dry, this 
will be sufficient. After the water has soaked from 
sight, with the hand fill the hole, taking care to 
cover up all traces of the water, to prevent the 
ground baking. Choose the time of planting just 
before a rain, if possible, to save watering ; but if 
the clouds fail to water, you must not neglect the 
watering-pot. Unless a severe drouth follows soon 
after setting, one watering will be sufficient. 
Cultivation. —As soon as weeds appear, put a 
cultivator or double-shovel plow between the rows, 
and scrape the ridges. Run the cultivator between 
the rows every ten days ; four cultivations will be 
sufficient. Scrape the ridges as often as weeds ap¬ 
pear ; twice will generally suffice. By the second 
scraping, the plants will have run considerably. 
Lay the vines back over the plants until done 
scraping, then place them, as before, on the top of 
each ridge. Do not dig into the ridges either in 
hoeing or plowing. The ground will remain loose 
enough for the potatoes to form, after which they 
will keep it so. If the ridges are made large at 
first, there will be a surplus of soil that can be 
spared, and to scrape that away is the easiest and 
most effectual way of disposing of the weeds. Al¬ 
ways keep the ridges as clean as possible. 
A Corn Marker. 
Mr. D. C. Bartlett, Lapeer County, Michigan, 
sends us a sketch and description of a corn marker. 
It is convenient in turning around and makes four 
rows at once. The illustration shows how this 
marker is constructed. The tongue can be bor¬ 
rowed from the wagon, and the scantlings holding 
the chain can be thrown back on the marker, as 
they arc fastened on by strap (iron) hinges. The 
outside runners can be thrown upright when turn¬ 
ing or moving, the beams of the outside runners 
being fastened to the outer ends of the inside 
beams by rods. This implement will do good work 
on uneven ground. 
Guarding Against Fire. 
Although farm buildings are comparatively safe, 
and are insured at much cheaper rates than village 
property, fires are not infrequent, in which the 
dwelling, or the barn and its contents are consumed 
and the owner suffers loss that embarrasses him for 
years, or for life. Timely precaution would pre¬ 
vent most of these fires, or reduce the damage to 
the minimum. There is more or less danger, when 
all precautions have been taken, and every owner 
of farm buddings should have them insured with 
his crops and stock, at least to the half of their 
value. Then, if fire comes, the loss will not cripple 
him. Having done this, he may do many other 
things to guard against the usual sources of tire. 
Many dwellings are fired, especially in winter, from 
putting ashes ancl coals in barrels under woodsheds 
or beside wooden fences or out-buildings. H bar¬ 
rels must be used for this purpose, place them 
where, if they burn, they will not fire anything else. 
It is safer to have a stone or brick ash-house made 
for the purpose. Cigar stumps, or pipes carelessly 
emptied of their burning tobacco, are the frequent 
cause of conflagration. The farmer should be pre¬ 
pared to extinguish tires when they are kindled. 
Every farm-house should be provided with a long 
ladder, either kept in place upon the roof or stored 
near by. It is a great safeguard to have water 
brought into the house by means of a pump, or 
stored in a cistern in the garret to feed stationary 
washbowls, and to be available on short notice to 
quench flames. Lacking these, water should be 
kept in pails on every floor ready for immediate use. 
Truck-Farming in the South. 
A great change has come over the markets of 
our Northern cities within the last twenty years 
with respect to fruits and vegetables. Formerly 
people were content to enjoy each fruit and vege¬ 
table in its season, and when this passed by, were 
willing to accept the next which followed in the 
succession of months. Now the time of each is 
greatly prolonged. Strawberries, for example, in¬ 
stead of being confined to about a month are now 
to be had for four months. With tomatoes, the 
season is still further extended, and they are to be 
had in the fresh state for about nine months out of 
the twelve. Other vegetables and fruits show simi¬ 
lar changes. The first strawberries come from 
Florida; these are followed by fruit from Georgia; 
then the Carolinas and Virginia follow, and by the 
time that the fruit is ripe in Maryland and Dela¬ 
ware, the season is at its bight. The season for 
tomatoes is made still longer by the receipt of the 
first from Bermuda, from which island the steamers 
bring it in excellent condition. The Bermuda to¬ 
matoes are followed by those from Florida, and as 
the season advances from States further north. 
More perishable crops, such as peas, beans, and cu¬ 
cumbers, are sent from the South • even radishes 
and lettuce are sent from Virginia, while water¬ 
melons come almost by steamship loads from 
Georgia and other seaboard States. Supplying the 
Northern cities with these products, has created a 
new industry in several of the Southern States. 
In some instances the planters have abandoned 
cotton for these more perishable but more prof¬ 
itable crops; in others, vegetables are grown as 
adjuncts to cotton planting, while many have gone 
from more northern localities to engage in vege¬ 
table and fruit growing as an enterprise that 
promises fair returns for the capital invested. 
Being a comparatively new industry, truck- 
farming, as followed at the South, differs from the 
same pursuit at the North in many important 
particulars, largely due to differences in soil and 
seasons, a knowledge of which is essential to the 
success of whoever would engage in it. Heretofore, 
there has been no work on truck-farming at the 
South, and it is fortunate that the pioneer work 
in this branch of literature should come from one 
who can give the results of over a quarter of 
a century’s experience. Dr. A. Oemler, the 
author, is President of the Chatham Co. Georgia 
Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association, and 
cultivates crops for Northern markets on Wilming¬ 
ton Island, one of the “ Sea Islands,” just off the 
coast of Georgia. 
While the author gives the dates suited to his 
own locality, he does not forget that vegetables 
may be cultivated both to the south and to the 
north of him, and the times for sowing, planting 
etc., are given for other localities. 
Recognizing the fact that horticulture every¬ 
where is largely a battle with insects, proper at¬ 
tention is given to the insect enemies, which are 
often quite different from those that attack the 
same crops at the North. Full cultural directions 
are given, and what is very important, the methods 
of packing the produce for different markets. The 
work throughout gives evidence that the author Is 
not only a practical cultivator, but that he is an en¬ 
thusiast who loves his occupation. Price $1.50, post¬ 
paid. It is issued by the publishers of this paper. 
The quality of milk is impaired by allowing cows 
to drink foul water, and to eat improper food. All 
know the bad effect of turnips in winter, and of wild 
onions and other weeds, cropped while at pasture, 
in summer; but now comes up something which 
has not been thought of as injurious, heretofore. 
This is from grass and hay grown on boned land, or 
6uch as is fertilized by sewage. Distillery slops, 
perhaps, is the worst of all food for milch cows, 
and we do not like it any better for fattening pigs. 
Milk from the cow, when given improper food or 
drink, affects cheese made from it, more seriously 
than it does butter ; but in either case it i6 bad 
enough, and sometimes, when drank, it is the ori¬ 
gin of deadly fever and various other fatal diseases. 
