THE CULTIVATOR. 
279 
1846. 
FACTS AND OPINIONS 
Condensed from various Exchange Papers. 
Potatoes. —H. N. Sherman in the Boston Cultivator, 
is led to conclude from experiments, that it is not very 
material what the size of the seed is, if the land is good. 
He planted well manured moist loam, in three ways. 
One piece had two middle sized potatoes in the hill; 
the next, one large one; and the third, one small one. 
The result was, the two potatoes in a hill produced 
many potatoes, hut of small size. The one with a 
large potato in a hill, “produced less amount, but of 
larger size.” The one smalL potato in the hill, “gave 
the least in amount but the largest and most even in 
size.” 
Guano for Peach Trees.— W. W. Mills, ofSmith- 
town, L. I., says he applied guano successfully as fol¬ 
lows:—The trees were on the decay, and nearly de¬ 
stroyed by the worm. The fiist of June, he removed 
the earth from the roots, destroying the worms, then 
sprinkled a handful of guano about the roots, wetting 
it afterwards by sprinkling water. The guano was then 
covered with a peck of pulverized charcoal to each 
free, which was also wet thoroughly. “ The trees imme¬ 
diately changed their color, grew astonishingly, and 
ripened their fruit in great perfection.” 
Length of Corn Roots. —As a proof of the impor¬ 
tance of deep plowing, Ellsworth mentions the follow¬ 
ing fact. There are now in the National Gallery, corn 
roots taken from one side of a hill of corn laid bare by 
a freshet, sixty days after planting, some of the larger 
roots of which, covered with lateral branching roots, 
were more than four feet long. The aggregate length 
of all the roots in the hill, fine and coarse, were estima¬ 
ted at over 8000 feet. 
Subsoiling and Manuring. —C. F. Crosman, of 
Rochester, says, in the Ohio Cultivator, “I raised 410 
bushels of carrots on one-quarter of an acre; 550 bu¬ 
shels of potatoes on two acres; about 600 bushels of 
onions on one acre; anil over 1000 bushels of beets, 
(several kinds) on three-quarters of an acre. I plow 
with a double team as deep as possible, and subsoil each 
furrow—adding plenty of compost manure.” 
Profitable Crops. —The following is the produce 
of 10 acres of land, for 3 years, belonging to Charles 
Tenney, of Riga, Monroe county, N. Y. 
40 bushels of corn per acre, at 50 cts., ... $200.00 
30 “ “ wheat, “ at 87| cts.,.. . 262.50 
2 tons hay per acre, at $10 per ton,. 200. 00 
35 bushels of clover seed, at $7,. 245.00 
3 colts wintered on clover straw,. 25.00 
$932.50 
The expense was estimated as follows:—Interest on 
land, $50 per acre, $105; manure, $3; plowing both 
crops, $20; seed, hoeing &c., $35; harvesting, $60; 
cleaning clover seed, $23. Total, $264; leaving a 
nett gain of $686.50, or $68.65 per acre. 
Fruit Trees — Good Cultivation. —We have often 
spoken of the value of giving young trees, good mel¬ 
low cultivation. The Boston Cultivator says that W. 
Flanders, of Woburn, set out a young orchard six years 
ago, on good rich land, and has since given it good but 
economical cultivation, by tilling and cropping. The 
trees are now from four to six inches in diameter. 
Some of the trees have already ) T ielded nearly a barrel 
of fruit. 
Large Tree.— Prof. Lindley, in his “ Vegetable 
Kingdom,” says, “ Martius (a careful and accurate sci¬ 
entific traveller,) represents a scene in Brazil, where 
some trees of this kind, (locust; occurred of such enor¬ 
mous dimensions, that fifteen Indians, with outstretched 
arms, could only just embrace one of them. At the 
bottom they were 84 feet in circumference, and 60 feet 
where the trunks became cylindrical. By counting the 
concentric rings of such parts as were accessible, he 
arrived at the conclusion that they were of the age of 
Homer. 
Cultivation of Peach Trees. —A great many far¬ 
mers usually let their peach trees lake care of them¬ 
selves,—that is, suffer weeds and grass to grow round 
them, or to stand in meadows, pastures, or grain fields. 
Potatoes, being a low, hoed crop, have been found one 
of the most favorable; yet J. W. Thompson, of Wil¬ 
mington, Del., who is well acquainted with the manage¬ 
ment of the great peach orchards in that state, says, 
“ After the trees commence bearing, no other crop of any 
kind should ever be grown amongst them, as I have 
known two rows of potatoes between a row of peach 
trees, not only to alfect the fruit, but seriously injure 
the trees.” He adds that they should be regularly 
plowed three or four times in the season. 
Cultivation of Orchards. —At a late agricultural 
meeting at the State House, Boston, Mr. Porter, of 
Danvers, stated that a few years ago, he had an old or¬ 
chard of four or five acres, which had not been plowed 
for thirty years, which his neighbors said was worth¬ 
less. He plowed it, manured it well, and took off a 
good crop of oats. He pursued the same course the 
two following years. The third year, he had seven 
tons of oats, cut before ripe for fodder, and two hundred 
and eighty barrels of apples. Previous to plowing, he 
did not get more than eight barrels a year. It may be 
proper to add, that although sown crops with manure, 
do well for full grown orchards, low hoed crops, only, 
as potatoes, beets, and turneps, will answer for young 
trees. 
Salt for Plum Trees. —The Maine Farmer says, 
that P. C. Holmes of Gardiner, had several plum trees 
planted in a soft clayey loam, which had not borne any 
fruit for seven or eight years. In the fall of 1844, he 
strewed a quantity [how much is that.?] of salt around 
the roots, and in 1845, they were full of fruit. 
Corn Raised for Fodder. —D. S. Beers, Knox Co., 
Ohio, in Ohio Cultivator, says, “I plowed about three 
acres of swamp ground that had become dry, but was 
overrun with weeds, and sowed four bushels of corn 
on it. From this I cut ten tons of most valuable fod¬ 
der, and it has proved the most valuable crop I raised 
this year.” Tripple the amount of seed would proba¬ 
bly have greatly added to the crop. 
Wheat in Ohio. —The following is given as the 
aggregate amount of the several wheat crops for the state 
of Ohio, during the four past years; and shows very 
strikingly the extent of the impoverishing system of 
farming which too much prevails there as well as else¬ 
where. 
Crop of 1842,. 25,387,439 bushels. 
“ 1843,. 18,786,705 “ 
“ 1844,. 15,969,000 “ 
“ 1845,. 12,000,000 
Draught of Plows. —The London Ag. Gazette 
states, that upon an average, 35 per cent, of the labor 
of plowing is attributable to the weight of the imple 
ment, 55 per cent, to the operation of cutting the fur¬ 
row slice, and only 10 per cent, to the action of the mould 
board. Hence more attention should be directed to 
lessening weight, and improving the cutting part, while 
the form of the mould-board should not be overlooked. 
The English plows, it is true, are usually heavier than 
the Yankee plows; but this estimate of the strength re¬ 
quired for cutting must appear nearly correct, when it 
is remembered how much more force is required to 
thrust a spade through a tough sod, than merely to lift 
the weight of the earth removed. 
Strong Women. —Henry Colman says, the most re¬ 
markable instance of strength and endurance is perhaps 
to be found in the fish women of Edinburgh, who attend 
market from a distance of more than two miles on foot. 
Their load of fish, in baskets, slung upon their backs, 
often weighs 150 lbs., and has been known to weigh 
200 lbs. They stop to rest but once on the road, and 
after their arrival are found crying their fish in all parts 
of the town. “ How many,” asks Colman, “of the Chest- 
nut-street, or Washington-street, or Broadway belles, 
would it require to lift even one of these loads from the 
ground?” He says these ivomen are neat in appear¬ 
ance, of fair complexions, and not by any means bad 
looking. 
