1853 . 
147 
Condensed Correspondence. 
The Yam Potato.' —We have a communication from 
Lotan Smith, Esq., of Liberty, Sullivan eo., N. Y., 
who has taken much pains, for some years past, to dis¬ 
seminate this potato. He considers it the most pro¬ 
ductive, one of the best keepers, and one of the best 
for culinary purposes, as well as less liable to disease; 
the greatest objection to it being its color, it being black 
externally, and purple internally. He says —“ I raised 
535 bushels, last season, on one acre and 64 rods of 
ground. The land was gravelly loam, and had lain in 
meadow for about five years. About fifteen loads of 
manure per acre, were spread on the land, and turned 
under seven or eight inches deep—then harrowed, and 
planted on the top of the sod, in rows four feet apart, 
and from 18 to 24 inches apart in the row. Had the 
rows been 3£ feet apart, and the drills 16 to 18 inches, 
I think I should have had near 600 bushels per acre. 
The only culture they received, was the running of two 
furrows between the rows, and levelling the earth around 
the hill by the hoe. Dr. P. Crispell, Jr., of Ulster co., 
raised 554 bushels of Yams last season, on one and 
17-100 acres of land, for which he was awarded the first 
premium of the State Ag. Society.” Any person wish¬ 
ing to try the Yams, can procure them, by addressing 
Mr. Smith, as above—price $2,50 per barrel, delivered 
at the New-York and Erie railroad. 
A Profitable Cow.—I give below, the product for 
one year, of a cow owned by the late Warren Cone, 
Esq., of this town. - The aeeount was most accurately 
kept. 
345 lbs. of butter, at 16| cents,. $57 50 
Calf sold,... 2 25 
Milk sold and used,. 12 00 
$71 75 
Cost of keeping cow,. 31 00 
$40 75 
The amount of butter will be noticed as remarkable; 
and if butter had been made from all the milk, it would 
not have been less than 400 lbs. The actual quantity 
made in one year, is larger than I remember to have 
seen recorded in your Journal, except in two or three 
instances. 
The cow was one-half of the Native breed, and one- 
half a mixture of Short Horn and Ayrshire. The 
mother, a Native cow, was supposed to have been as ex¬ 
traordinary for milk, but her yearly product was never 
ascertained. Robbins Battell. Norfolk, Conn., 
March 30, 1853. -— 
Heavy Carcasses. —Mr. Septimus Loomer, of Co¬ 
lumbia, Tolland county, Conn., slaughtered a bull in 
January last, 2 years and 10 months old, a cross of the 
Ayrshire with the native breed, which was raised by 
himself, and which weighed when dressed, 1,566 pounds. 
Mr. Martin Webber, about the same time, butchered 
a hog, 18 months old, which weighed when dressed, 625 
pounds. John S. Yeomans. Columbia, Conn. 
Preparation of Seed Corn. —Corn planting season 
will soon be here, and I wish some of your readers 
would try the experiment of soaking their planting corn, 
in a strong infusion of tobacco, and report in the Culti¬ 
vator. Last summer, I had two fields of corn to plant, 
one of whieh was near the woods. Thinking that 
the birds might pull up the corn, I concluded to soak it 
in an infusion of tobacco. I took half a pound of smo¬ 
king tobacco, added sufficient boiling water to cover one 
bushel of shelled corn; I let the water remain on the 
tobacco, until it had cooled down to lukewarmness; 
then strained the tobacco out of the water, and poured 
it over the corn in a tub, and left the corn to soak 24 
hours before planting. The corn was planted on 2d of 
June; it soon came up, and the birds, ground moles, 
worms, &o., refused to touch it. On the 10th of 
planted the other field, which was at least 400 
om the woods, with corn soaked in warm water. 
About a fourth part of some of the rows of corn in this 
field, was destroyed by the ground moles and the cut¬ 
worms, and birds also destroyed a considerable quantity 
throughout the field. If tobacco obviates these diffi¬ 
culties, the remedy is easily applied. F. B. Poley. 
Skippackville, Pa., March 24, 1853. 
Buggy Peas. —In this and many other sections of the 
State, we are troubled with buggy peas. A few years 
ago, I sowed-a field of peas, in part with seed of the 
previous year, and in part with seed two years old. 
They were of the same kind, and sown the same day, 
and were sown along side of each other. The product 
of the new peas was very buggy, while in that from the 
old, I scarcely found a bug. The next year, I had no 
old seed, and used seed of the previous year. The re¬ 
sult was, a crop of buggy peas. I kept some of the 
same seed over the second winter, and sowed it the third 
year. The result a good crop, almost entirely free from ~ 
bugs, while fresh seed the same season, produced very 
buggy peas as before. O. F. Marshal. Wheeler, 
N. Y. - 
Ashes and Plaster for Potatoes. — I have often 
seen ashes and plaster recommended as a fertilizer for 
the potato. I send you the following experiment. I 
planted nine rows (Mercers,) the latter part of April, 
and dug them the last week in September. The land is 
a sandy loam, and was limed the year before, at the rate 
of 50 bushels to the acre. 
Row No. 1—no manure, yielded. 60 lbs. 
2—ashes. 
do . 
... 564 
3—plaster, 
do . 
4—no manure, 
do . 
...80 
5—ashes, 
do . 
...68 
6—plaster. 
do . 
...67 
7—no manure, 
do ..... 
8—ashes, 
do . 
... 67 2 
9—plaster, 
do . 
... 66* 
No manure, 3 rows,. 235£ 
Ashes, 3 rows, ....... 1914 
Plaster, 3 rows, . 1894 
A. T. James. New-Rochelle, Westchester Co. 
Preparation of Seed Corn.—I have made fre¬ 
quent experiments in preparing seed corn, without suc¬ 
cess, except one made last spring. I took soft soap, put 
some in a kettle, warmed it over the fire, put in the 
shed eorn, and gave it a good stirring, adding as much 
plaster as would adhere to the corn. The corn came up 
good and quick, and looked vigorous and healthy. The 
alkali in the soap is a strong fertilizer. The wire worms 
did not disturb t.hat planted with the seed soaped—that 
part not soaped, was injured more or less by the worms. 
Lest some should attribute the manifest difference be¬ 
tween the soaped and unsoaped seed, to the plaster, I 
took some thick molasses, put a few quarts of seed in a 
kettle, as above stated; there was as much plaster at¬ 
tached to this seed as to that soaped. The greater part 
of the field w 7 as planted with seed in its natural state. 
The soaped seed came up the quickest and best. Will 
others try the experiment. 0. F. Marshal. Whee¬ 
ler, N. Y., Feb. 28th, 1853. 
Culture of Onions. —The soil on which I grow them 
is what is called clay or rather stiff. I* plow the land in 
the fall, and spread on a good coat of manure, to lay 
till spring. As early as the ground will permit in the 
spring, I plow and drag it thoroughly. I then rake it 
off with a hand-rake, and make my drills fifteen inches 
apart, and plant my seeds six inches apart in the drills, 
putting in from five to eight in each hill—I then sow 
ashes broadcast till the ground looks light. This I think 
tends to keep off the worms. As soon as the plants are 
up, so that I can see the rows, I hoe them out dean. 
At the second hoeing, I thin out the plants in the hill 
to four or five. In this way, I have always had good 
crops. I procure my seed of C. F. Crossman, Roches¬ 
ter, and it is always good, and we use half red and half 
yellow, mixed. It is as easy to raise good onions as 
potatoes. Horace Benjamin. West Bloomfield , N. 
