376 
THE CULTIVATOR 
Seedling Potato. 
Messrs. Editors —Accompanying this note, you 
will receive a few potatoes,—raised from seed by my¬ 
self. As you will perceive, they resemble in color and 
general appearance the Carter, a seedling from which 
variety,—grown in the near vicinity of the Mercer,— 
it is. Its edible quality, is fully equal to that of its 
parents, and its character as a yielder is far better 
than that of either of them, being in this particular 
better than any white variety with which I am ac¬ 
quainted. Its history I will give you as briefly as pos¬ 
sible. 
Seven years ago last spring I sowed forty seeds, all 
from the same parentage ; in the autumn, I saved the 
produce of those which gave promise of being superior ; 
this culling left me twenty-five varieties for further 
experiments. In the succeeding spring I selected such 
of those as had kept well, and were free from disease. 
I continued this course each season, selecting such on¬ 
ly, as were of superior edible character, as well as 
great yielders, and free from disease. This severe test 
left me three years since but this one variety which I 
shall call the Wendell Potato. I have cultivated it 
since,—in order to try it fully, in juxtaposition to the 
Mercer, Pinkeye, Yam, June, Merino, and a few others, 
and it has proved itself a far more prolific variety 
than either of them—except the last, which you are 
aware is redin color and of inferior character, and 
has never shown the least indication of disease, even 
during the season of 1853, when every one of the other 
varieties were seriously affected by it. I am thus par¬ 
ticular in giving you the whole history of this seedling, 
not only because I am convinced that it is a valuable 
acquisition, but because I feel a little vain of my suc¬ 
cess. Yours very truly, Herman Wendell, M. D. 
Albany , October 30 th. 
P. S. I shall place in the care of It. H. Pease— 
successor to Emory & Co.—of this city, a few of the 
potatoes for sale, from whom they may be obtained 
by those wishing to give it a trial. 
Carrots and Deep Plowing. 
Mr. Tucker —I have a piece of land that inclines 
gently to the south, the soil sandy loam, with a trace 
of clay. Last year melons were grown on it. About 
the 20th of last May, I gave it a generous top dressing 
of hen manure ; then plowed it a foot deep, then another 
application of the same fertilizer, after which it was 
reduced to fine tilth by the harrow and garden rake. 
Carrot seed was then drilled in, in rows 10 to 12 inches 
apart, and the weeding afterwards faithfully attended 
to. The variety was the Orange, which is the best I 
am acquainted with. The product was 1375 bushels to 
the acre. We attribute our unusual crop, first, to 
abundant manuring—second, to deep plowing—third, 
to the compactness of the rows, there being nearly two 
rows where cultivators usually make but one. The 
dryness of the season did not affect the plants in the 
least, in our opinion, nor in our judgment will it ever 
injure any crop but slightly when the earth is effectu¬ 
ally stirred a foot or more in depth. We have a few 
acres of slightly heavy, and slightly damp ground, on 
which we should like to plant potatoes another season. 
We do not know what variety of this root will be most 
likely to prosper on such a soil, but have thought that 
perhaps some of your readers could advise us. C. 
Smith. East Hamburg, Erie Co., Oct. 29th, 1854. 
Massachusetts Hort. Society. 
This Society, so long holding the highest rank of 
any Hort. Society in the country, seems of late to have 
fallen under evil influences from some quarter. Among 
other things, a charge of a very disreputable character 
was made last spring, against one of its members, on the 
authority of a report of a special committee, and a very 
severe censure passed on the offending member. It 
would seem, however, that the charges made by the spe¬ 
cial committee, were not true—at least it is stated in a 
Boston paper, that at one of its recent meetings “ ±U. S. 
Rand, Esq., the Chairman of the Committee appointed 
for that object, offered a preamble and resolution, the 
former denying the statements made by the Select 
Committee, May 26tli last, and the latter rescinding 
the same from the recoids, together with the vote of 
censure passed on Mr. C. M. Hovey at the same meet¬ 
ing. The meeting was one of the largest ever held at 
the rooms, and the vote unanimous.” This is but a 
lame apology to one whose good name has been tra¬ 
duced in the horticultural circles of this country and 
Europe, for we perceive that the Gardener's Chroni¬ 
cle and other foreign horticultural publications, have 
republished the charges and the vote of censure, as a 
specimen “ of the Yankee variety of the class of mer¬ 
cenary prize hunters.” We hope Prof. Bindley and 
others who have copied the charge, will note the re¬ 
futation. ♦ 
YELLOW LEGGED DORKINGS. 
Our correspondent, Alla Du Pays, in a letter pub¬ 
lished some weeks since, asked us whether Dorkings 
with yellow legs were to be visited with outlawry from 
the lists of pure blooded Five-toes, or whether she 
might still cherish them as true and loyal heirs to her 
favor. We thereupon searched the authorities who 
roost along our bookshelves, and found one say one 
thing and one another, and the most part nothing at 
all on the mooted point. So we gallantly referred 
judgment to the Editor (whom, by the way, we believe 
to be an Editress ) of the London Poultry Chronicle. 
Our oracle has mounted the sacred tripod and, August 
30th, thus held discourse : 
We are much flattered that our opinion stands so 
high among our transatlantic brethren, and we are 
very sorry our first verdict must dispel an illusion. 
However the golden color mentioned may rejoice the 
eyes of a ‘‘ digger,”or be sought in Califori ia or Aus¬ 
tralia, when found on the continuations of a Dorking 
fowl, it is to our mind an unmistakable proof of a 
faux pas. We do not accuse the present inhabitants 
of our fair querist’s yard with being the actual cul¬ 
prits, as it is notorious that the effect of a mesalliance 
that took place years ago may only now show itself. 
We regret we cannot grant a dispensation for this Mal- 
volio-like fancy or propensity.” 
We bow before the verdict and are willing to admit 
its justice. To our mind, though, the Poultry Chroni¬ 
cle should be glad, and not “ very sorry,” to “ dispel 
an illusion ” on any point in which it finds its weaker 
brethren in the fog. Will Alla Du Pays accept the 
judgment, or will she plead its reversal 1 
