272 
THE CULTIVATOR 
Sept, 
Mr. S. said he had kept sixty cows thus far, and had 
green feed for six horses, since the first of May; and he 
believes that twenty acres will carry them through the 
six months, when the land comes into a higher state of 
cultivation. He further says that this farm (sixty acres), 
when in the hands of a tenant in 1844, produced only 
one hundred and twenty dollars to be divided between 
landlord and tenant! He grows a quantity of broadcast 
corn, which is dried in small bundles, cut up in winter 
with his hay, and steamed with carrots, which practice 
he considers a very great saving. All the feed he pur¬ 
chases for winter, is about a peck of brewer’s grains per 
day for each cow, or its equivalent in oilcake. 
The Depot is well arranged: a passage sufficiently 
wide to drive a wagon between the cows’ heads, with 
room enough to feed on either side. His office and 
steamer are on one side of the entrance, and a place for 
his wagons on the of her, with his horse stable attached 
in range with the cows, so that all can be fed at the 
same time. 
It is all admirably arranged, for which and for his new 
enterprise Mr. Stewart deserves great credit. 
The farm of William Buell, Esq., is situated about a 
mile from Rochester. It received the second premium 
of the New-York State Agricultural Society in 1845. 
At the time he purchased it in 1844, it was in a most 
dilapidated state—large stones were strewed around in 
every direction ; stumps, with their wide and extended 
roots, occupied much of the land; a considerable part 
consisted of swampy hollows, and it was almost desti¬ 
tute of fence. 
His house is built on a hill in the centre of the farm, 
from which is a gradual slope on either side to the flat 
land below. He has now one hundred acres of wheat 
on the farm, and part of which is on some of these 
swamps which have been reclaimed by thorough drain- i 
ing. Judging from the straw, I should say that some 
of it would yield forty bushels to the acre. In a portion 
of his crop, the weevil had made ravages, and destroyed 
much of it. He was drawing the wheat to his barn, and j 
threshing it with a machine of six horse power. This 
barn is built on a side-hill, and the straw is conveyed 
by an endless chain to an exceeding large stack, and re¬ 
quires two men to remove it from the machine as it 
it is threshed. This stack of straw denoted that my 
friend had done something for his soil. It was the lar¬ 
gest I ever saw. The large piles of stones in every di¬ 
rection, ready to be conveyed in winter and placed in 
stone walls, prove that industry and the purse have been 
good friends. The compost heaps in the fallow fields 
denote the good husbandman. He had twenty acres of 
corn looking as finely as corn can possibly look, and j 
other grain in proportion. The hospitality and good | 
cheer in the house proved his valuable friendship. Com¬ 
fort, happiness and plenty seem to reign around him, 
anu his example will do much to all observers. 
WM. II. SOTHAM, 
NUTRITIVE PROPERTIES OF POTATOES. 
An article has lately been published in the Irish 
Farmer's Journal, in regard to the relative proportion 
of nutritive material contained in potatoes compared 
with that contained in wheat and other grain, which we 
think can hardly fail of commanding attention from 
those qualified to investigate and elucidate this subject. 
Considerable diversity of opinion, it is well known, has 
existed in regard to the comparative value of the pota¬ 
to. The results of most chemical analyses have been 
looked upon as indicating that this root possesses but 
very little nutriment; though we believe that this con¬ 
clusion has not been so readily reconcilable with facts 
developed by practical observation. Certain it is, that 
a higher estimate is usually allowed to potatoes by 
those who form their opinions from actual trial, and 
the results produced on the animal system, than most 
chemical tests would justify. We do not say this as 
opposing science, for it is obvious that real science ex- 
nibits no discrepancy with practical facts; truths can 
never oppose each other, whatever may be the mode 
by which they are discovered. The attainment of truth 
is, however, the grand object, and in that view, we are 
gratified to meet with the article mentioned; which, if 
not wholly true itself, we think can hardly fail to elicit 
such an examination as will much enlighten the subject. 
The article in the Journal relates chiefly to a state¬ 
ment and facts therewith connected, laid before the 
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by Mr. Jasper W. Rogers, 
of Dublin, a Civil Engineer, who, it is said, has for 
several years devoted considerable attention to the com¬ 
position of the potato and its susceptibility of being ap¬ 
plied to various uses. From the extracts which we 
give below, it will be seen that Mr. Rogers deems the 
nutritive properties of the potato, when whollj r con¬ 
verted into meal or flour, not essentially different from 
those of wheat, Avhile the aggregate amount of substan¬ 
ces proper for the support of animal life, afforded by a 
given quantity of land, are held to be four times greater 
than can be had from wheat. 
At the request of the Lord Lieutenant and other gen¬ 
tlemen, Mr. Rogers exhibited, at an appointed time, 
some of the results of his method of making the potato 
available as food in many different forms. This exhi¬ 
bition is stated to have been “in the form of an elegant 
dejune, all the items of which, with the exception of 
coffee, were prepared more or less from the potato; 
when a most satisfactory account was afforded by Mr. 
Rogers, of the different processes of their preparation, 
with much interesting information relative to the value 
of the potato itself, which, he very justly observed, is 
too much overlooked. Every one present was aston¬ 
ished at the rich treat provided on the occasion, which 
consisted of soup, stirabout, milk porridge, jellies, 
blanc mange, Spanish flummery, and pastry of all kinds, 
made, as we have alread}' stated, principally of the pro¬ 
duce of the potato, either as meal, flour, or fecula. 
“ After the gentlemen present had partaken of the 
various preparations, Mr. Rogers observed, that the 
preparation of the meal and flour from potatoes was so 
simple that it could be accomplished in the cottage of 
the poorest peasant. He then described the component 
parts of each food upon the table. The general pro¬ 
portion being one-half potatoes; some, however,—viz., 
milk porridge, e Scotch bread,’ and rock biscuits—be¬ 
ing entirely made from it; also the jellies, blanc-mange, 
&c., produced from the pure fecula , without animal 
matter of any kind—in fact, no addition but the usual 
seasonings. The soup, also, which appeared to be a 
palatable and nutritious food for the lower classes, was 
stated to be made of a small quantity of bacon, thickened 
with meal of the potato, and which was capable of 
being made in a short period of time, at a cost of about 
one farthing per pint. 
“Mr. Rogers then alluded to the general impression 
as to the want of nutritive power in the potato, and 
deprecated the publication of statements which were 
founded in error, stating that there was c little, if 
any, nutriment in the potato.’ He contended that the 
nutritive properties of the meal and flour of potatoes 
were almost, if not entirely, equal to that of wheat; 
and then gave the following analyses of each, assuming 
the constituents for the support of animal life, con¬ 
tained in vegetables, to be starch, sugar, and gluten 
When converted into meal, the potato contains— 
Starch and sugar,. 84.8 
Gluten,. 14.82 
Oil,. 1.10 
100 . 
While wheat converted into meal, contained— 
Starch and Sugar,. 78.20 
Gluten,. 17.53 
Oil,. 4.27 
100 . 
Thus showing that the difference between the gluten 
was but 23 per cent., while the starch and sugar were 
more abundant. 
« The difference between e meal and four cf potato,’ 
prepared as recommended, and ‘ farina,’ was pointed 
