176 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
May, 
season proves long enough to ripen the tubers there will 
be no fear of rot. 
Those varieties that as yet appear to do well with us, 
should be retained,—selected with more care for plant¬ 
ing, and above all, to be planted very early. 
The Chenango has been considered a very early va¬ 
riety—but now it is a very rotten one—it has had its 
frosty time in Maine too long, to depend on it for future 
use. I have no doubt that if the Long Red or the Che¬ 
nango were carried to South America, and there plant¬ 
ed, they would show their old tricks—for their vitality 
is impaired. What may be said of the Long Red. may 
also be said of all other varieties, in a greater or less de¬ 
gree—the above variety being the best marked in its so¬ 
journ among us, I chose it for the purpose of demonstra¬ 
tion. 
Now if any one will prove to me, that the potato in its 
native country, is alike diseased as in this, then my theory 
goes for naught—and “ I take the odd hits.’ 7 Alf. Bay- 
lies. Taunton, Mass., Jan. 31, 1852. 
Messrs. Editors —We have read a good deal about 
the potato rot, for the last few years. We are as much 
in the dark as ever, as to the cause, and as theories are 
getting to be something of a bore, I will merely give my 
plan of raising sound potatoes. 
I select a loamy soil—think a sward best—plow eight 
inches, (subsoiling is favorable of course.) I use the 
variety called the Early Shaw potato; plant in April; 
from ten to fifteen bushels to the acre. The Early Shaw 
is only tolerable as a table potato, but is the only variety 
with us, which escapes. No manure, (yard manure,) 
should be used, as it gives a tendency to rot. Hoe well, 
twice—hilling lightly once. To sum up—plant on good 
quick soil, an early sort of potatoes, early in the season. 
P. Sennett, Cayuga Co., N. Y. 
Eds. Cultivator—I wish to bring to your and your 
correspondent’s notice, a new disease, (or it is so with 
us,) differing from either the dry or soft rot. I first saw 
it three or four years ago, and from that time it has gone 
on increasing, and last fall whole fields were affected by 
it, and almost every tuber. 
The first appearance of the disease is roughness of the 
skin in spots, and slightly raised, looking very much like 
a wart, but seemingly as fresh as any other part. This 
takes place about the last of July, and these warty ex¬ 
crescences gradually enlarge upwards, sideways, and in¬ 
to the potato, after a while assuming a reddish appear¬ 
ance within and then a black. At the latter stage, small 
worms, similar to the radish worm, are sometimes found 
within the decayed part, and to it some have ascribed the 
disease, but I think wrongly, as I have failed to detect 
any but full grown ones, and in a large majority of tu¬ 
bers, there was no worms at all, at any stage of decay. 
Perhaps some may say it is nothing but the dry rot; 
true, it is a dry rot, but nothing like what is understood 
as the dry rot in potatoes. Some will have only one 
spot on them, some a dozen, and some mostly covered 
over, and the rest of the potato, without and within, per¬ 
fectly sound. As far as my knowledge extends, this 
disease is confined to turf soils, and is worst on the driest 
ground. The disease is a great drawback on the the 
value of the potato, and venders many of them totally 
unfit for market. I hope these few lines, hastily thrown 
out, may call the attention of your readers to the sub¬ 
ject, and be the means of throwing some light on this new 
and formidable enemy of the potato crop. A Subscriber. 
Chester , Orange co., N. Y. 
- -»-•-*- 
A Model Farmer. —A correspondent of the Ohio 
Cultivator, says, “While at the east a year ago, I met 
a farmer residing near Auburn, N. Y. His farm, con¬ 
taining 40 acres, was cultivated in a high degree; his 
house was in excellent architectural taste, his yard and 
garden planted in good order and dressed with care, his 
out-houses neat, his fences new and painted, and all things 
in admirable style, simple, yet neat and truly tasteful. I 
was much surprised when he informed me that he and 
his family performed all the work—that lie did not work 
hard—and saved something every year. 
Transplanting Trees for Fences recommended. 
Eds. Cultivator —The old white oaks are dying in 
many places in Western New-York. Yery few live lon¬ 
ger than two hundred years, and a large portion not more 
than one hundred and fifty. In this vicinity the wood of 
the trunk and limbs is often perforated by the larvEC of 
a small insect, which soon kills the branches, and in three 
or four years the tree dies. Many farms are already de¬ 
ficient in timber for rails, and their owners will be obliged 
to adopt some other method for fencing their premises. 
I think transplanting trees at a suitable distance for fence 
posts, would be a cheap way of obtaining a durable fence. 
Were it done along our road sides, the shade of the trees 
would be refreshing to travellers; it would render the ap¬ 
pearance of the country more beautiful, and their trunks 
would be permanent posts, to which wires or rails might 
be attached. 
Several years since I saw the Sycamore, or Button 
Wood, (Platanus occidentals,) in use for fence posts on 
the east end of Long-Island. They were planted at in¬ 
tervals of about twelve feet, and rails mortised into their 
bodies. The growth of the tree soon embraced the ends 
of the rails, and all that was necessary to keep the fence 
good, was occasionally to have a new rail, when an old 
one became rotten. A better plan would probably be to 
have strong wires inserted through the bodies of the trees. 
In low moist grounds, the large yellow Willow, (Salix 
vitellina, Lin.) would be suitable. It grows rapidly, and 
there would be little trouble in transplanting it; the mere 
insertion of the lmibs in the spring being sufficient, which 
can be done very rapidly by the aid of a crow-bar. A 
neighbor has trees of this willow better than two feet in 
diameter, from branches stuck in the earth little more 
than twenty years ago. S. B. Buckley. West Dres¬ 
den, Yates Co., N. Y, Feb., 13. 1852. 
Extirpating Sweet Flag. 
Observing an inquiry in your September or Octo¬ 
ber number, of the best way to get rid of sweet flag, 
I will state a successful attempt of my own. Some ten 
years ago, I bought a piece of ground containing four 
considerable patches, which I resolved should be destroy¬ 
ed. Some of it had not been set more than 8 or 10 
years, and although mowed every year, it was covering 
a quarter of an acre, and was likely to spoil the meadow. 
To remove it, I took my team and hired man after hay¬ 
ing, and with two sharply ground shovels we commenced 
operations. I found the main root to run horizontally, 
very near the surface, and from these, thousands of small 
ones extended downwards. We first cut the surface into 
square chunks, and then running our sharp tools under 
the large roots, and cutting off the numerous small ones, 
we removed them and carted them into the barn-yard, 
where, after remaining a year, they were worked into 
good manure. My man told me the small roots would 
spring up and form a solid mat of flag; but nothing of 
the kind has since made its appearance in the meadow, 
w T hich is now growing red-top grass. E. Tail. 
-- 
The Yalue of Bones. —The American Farmer says 
that every 40 bushels of bones dissolved in sulphuric acid, 
(about | of the latter,) is equal to 200 lbs. of guano. 
