20 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
roughly covered with a lime white-wash. Then hang 
them up in a cool place, and whenever you want ham 
you can have it, and that which is good an! palatable. 
I have practiced the above method for several years, and 
know of no better way of preserving hams, though ma 
ny may differ with me. If there be any such, I should 
be happy to have their opinions given through the col¬ 
umns of the Cultivator. W. S. T. 
Culture of Indian Corn. 
Mr. Jesse Buel—A s I have been a constant reader of 
the Cultivator, I often find the inquiry from your differ¬ 
ent correspondents, respecting the best method of rais¬ 
ing a crop of corn. I therefore send you a statement of 
the soil, management and profit of one acre, planted by 
me with corn the present season. The soil, two thirds 
of it, was a warm gravel; the other third was low, wet, 
and covered with rushes and wild grass, with a very 
tough sod; but I was careful to put two good under¬ 
drains through it, which left it a rich black mould.— 
About the first of May I drew twenty-two loads of un¬ 
fermented manure, each load containing thirty-five bush¬ 
els, and spread it evenly over the acre. I then plowed 
before the manure had time to dry ; then dragged length¬ 
ways of the furrows; planted the 9th of May, with Dut¬ 
ton corn, the hills three feet apart each way, making 
4840 hills, with six kernels in a hill. It was attacked 
by the grub as soon as it made its appearance above 
ground, at which time I spread twelve bushels of un¬ 
leached ashes upon it, which checked them a little, but 
they succeeded in destroying 70 hills, leaving only 4770. 
These were hoed and thinned to four stalks in each hill, 
June 6th; then I sowed two bushels of plaster upon the 
hills, and hoed again July 2nd; put no more earth to 
the hills than was taken away; went through with the 
cultivator both ways, four times—June 1st and 6th, Ju¬ 
ly 1st and 12th. On the 14th of September I cut up and 
shocked the corn, and on the 28th finished husking and 
housing it. 
Upon one square rod, of twenty hills, and one fourth 
of a hill, of the best of the low ground, grew seventy 
pounds of ears, equal to one hundred and forty-eight 
bushels per acre. The whole product was one hundred 
and twenty bushels. 
COST OF CULTIVATION. 
One day plowing,.$2 00 
Harrowing half a day,. 1 00 
22 loads of manure,. 11 00 
Planting, 2 days,. 150 
Seed corn,.... 50 
Hoe and cultivator, 2 days,. 2 00 
Hoeing, 4 days,. 3 00 
12 bushels ashes and 2 bushels plaster,.... 1 70 
Spreading ashes and plaster,. 1 00 
Cutting and shocking,. 1 50 
Husking and housing, 7 days,. 5 25 
Carling stalks,. 75 
Threshing, 3 days,... 2 30 
Interest on land,...- 2 50 
Total cost, $37 00 
PRODUCT. 
115 bushels of first rate corn,. 
Five bushels of second rate,... 
Stalks, four loads,... 
WILLIAM INGELL. 
Volney, Oswego co. N. Y. Dec. 9, 1839. 
I hereby certify, that I am personally acquainted 
with the above named William Ingell, and believe him 
to be a person of truth and veracity, and that his state¬ 
ments may be depended on. 
R. D. HUBBARD, Justice of the Peace. 
Experiment with Potatoes. 
Messrs. Editors—F armers are generally aware that 
the potato is not produced on the proper roots of the 
plant, or those devoted to nutrition, but on side shoots 
from the main stem, above the roots proper, and nearer 
the surface of the earth. It has been stated that De 
Candolle, taking the hint from this production of the 
tubers, and conceiving that the shoots still farther from 
the roots on the main stem, if covered with earth, would 
furnish tubers instead of leaves, actually succeeded in 
growing them, for considerable distances on the main 
stems, by repeated coverings of them with earth. A 
writer on vegetable physiology, in the Farmer’s Regis¬ 
ter, basing his opinions, it is presumed, on this peculiar 
law of the plant, recommended the following method as 
probably the best for the cultivation of that root. 
“ Let the ground be prepared in the usual way; lay 
the potatoes in the bottom of the furrow, and cover them 
to the depth of three or four inches, with coarse manure 
or leaves, and then with two or three inches of earth.— 
After the stalks are six or eight inches above ground, 
cover all except their ends in the same manner; and 
perhaps this process may be advantageously repeated 
a third time; after which they should be suffered to go 
to seed. The first covering should, unless the land be 
very rich, consist in part of manure, in order to furnish 
nourishment to the plant; the second and third may 
consist of straw or leaves, as the principal object is to 
keep the earth loose, and protect the tubers from the 
action of the sun.” 
In order to test the correctness or fallacy of these 
opinions, I determined last spring to partially repeat 
t ie experiments of De Candolle, anu selected for the 
purpose two hills on my bed of early potatoes in the gar¬ 
den. The ground was highly manured, having the last 
year been occupied by a mound of manure, on which 
cucumbers and melons were grown. This was tho¬ 
roughly incorporated with the garden mould by plow¬ 
ing, and in this potatoes of the common early variety 
were planted in hills, at the distance of about three feet. 
Taking a barrel, I saumd it in two in the middle, and 
placed one half over each hill of potatoes, sinking the 
rim some two or three inches in the earth; the heads 
of the barrel of course were out, and the hills were cov¬ 
ered in the usual manner by being slightly rounded.— 
When the plants came up, and had attained a height of 
about ten inches, I filled the half barrels with the same 
rich mould, merely leaving the tips of the plants in sight. 
The growth of the plants was most luxuriant, the length 
of the stems far exceeding those in the same earth near 
them, and they continued green and flourishing long af¬ 
ter the others had ripened and died. At the time of 
digging, the half barrels were taken away, and the earth 
carefully removed, without disturbing the stems. Not 
a trace of a tuber was to be found, except on the shoots 
below the natural surface of the ground, not differing, in 
this respect, in the least from those around them. The 
shoots that came out above these, from the main stems, 
showed no disposition to produce tubers, but reaching 
the surface, rivalled in vigorous growth the original 
stems. The yield from the hills was a little more than 
from those around them, owing perhaps to the longer 
period of their growth, or the greater supply of nutri¬ 
ment afforded by the additional mould. 
Whatever may be the cause, my experiment has not 
resulted as did De Candolle’s, in the formation of tubers 
above the original or first crop, and would seem to add 
but little force to the arguments used by some in favor 
of deep hilling, at the second or latest hoeing. A rich 
f riable earthen, which the roots find sufficient nutriment, 
and the tubers enlarge at their pleasure, and a cover¬ 
ing of sufficient depth at the first, would seem to be 
about all that is required, with a clean surface, for the 
production of the potato. H. M. G. 
Laborer’s Cottages.—[Fig. 9.] 
The inconvenience frequently experienced by farmers 
in boarding laborers, renders the proper construction of 
cottages a matter of some importance. The English 
mode of building not being adapted in general to this 
country, it becomes necessary that we should devise 
our own plans, and with a view of contributing in a 
small degree to this object, the accompanying outline is 
furnished, of a laborer’s cottage recently erected. 
The dimensions inside are 19 by 21 feet. The walls 
are built of cobble stone, and are 18 inches in thickness. 
The building fronts the east, and is built on sloping 
ground, so that the back part has a bank of earth against 
it three or four feet in height, and the north-west corner 
is used as a cellar, the bank being rather the highest 
at that part. The cellar is about 8 feet square, the bed* 
room 8 by 11, and the principal room 13 by 19. The 
caves are 4 feet above the second floor, and the cham¬ 
ber is divided into two rooms. Cupboards, one in each 
of the rooms below, are made and set in the wall, which 
is built round them. They extend about two-thirds of 
the distance through the wall; as they are surrounded 
thus by solid masonary,there is no entrance for rats and 
mice , and as they are even in front with the insidewall 
of the room, they occupy no space. The cellar being 
on a level with the principal room, is rendered very con¬ 
venient for access; and the expense of a separate cel¬ 
lar is thus avoided. 
The inside plastering is upon the surface of the stone 
wall, but in moist climates the wallnextlhe bank should 
be lathed to prevent too much dampness. The chimney 
is built in the wall, and some expense in brick thus 
avoided. 
The cost of such a building must depend much upon 
the convenience of materials In the present instance, 
the stone were drawn from adjacent grounds, and a part 
of the sand obtained on the spot. It was erected how¬ 
ever at an unfavorable season of the year, which over¬ 
balanced these conveniences. The w'hole cost, including 
every thing, was about two hundred and fifty dollars. 
Macedon, 12 mo. 1839. J. J. THOMAS, 
Weight of a Durham Calf. 
Messrs. Editors—H aving seen in your Cultivator of 
of the 20th November last, That a Mr. Winant Young- 
hans of Rensselaer Co. had raised a Durham calf, which 
when five months old weighed 554 lbs., I w r as induced 
to try one that I have raised, and was five months and 
ten days old, and found him to weigh 575 lbs. I was 
pleased to see that we can raise as large calves as you 
folks down east. The mother of my calf is only 30 
months old, and girts six feet four inches. I have never 
weighed her. I weighed a common cow to-day, (at 
least of the common breed,) she weighed 1,295 lbs. Ii 
Mr. Younghaae will weigh his calf when one year old, 
I will weigh mine and compare notes. Please give this 
a place in the Cultivator. JOHN JOHNSTON. 
Near Geneva, 7th Dec. 1839. 
Contents of this Number. 
Introductory-—To Correspondents—Back Volumes—An-) 
nual Agricultural Meetings—New Terms to Agents— > 
Advertising—District School Libraries, . . . ) 
Means of Agricultural Improvement—Notices of Agricul- ) 
tural Societies, . . . . . . . 3 
Statistics of Agriculture—“The Farmer’s Companion”— 3 
Rocky Mountain Flax, . . . . . .3 
Bots—-Carbon of Plants: Use of Rotation, . 
Mutual Improvement: Clubs—Gov. Hill’s Agricultural ? 
Address, . . . . . , . .3 
Wood Painting-—Hatching Chickens—Hedges and Fen-) 
ces—Baulky Horses—Seton or Rowell—Galls from ! 
Harness or Saddle—Bee Moth—Mites in Cheese—Va- ( 
lue of Sweet Apples—Saltpetre for Gargets, . . J 
Scab in Sheep, cure for, ...... 
Dictionary of Terms used in Agriculture and its Kin- ? 
dred Sciences, . . . . . . .3 
Management of Hogs—Night Soil—Planting Apple, Plum) 
and Peach Seeds—-Improved Berkshire and China ! 
Pigs—The Rohan Potato—Culture of Carrots—To j 
make Leather Water-Proof, . . . . . J 
A Chapter on Swine, by A. B. Allen, 
Book Farming, by H. S. R.. 
Management of Sheep in Winter, by L. A. M. 
Prospects of the Silk Culture in the U. S. by W. W. B. 
Union of the Cultivator and Farmer—Good Fences—Of 3 
Stock and the manner of Feeding, by Niagara, . 3 
Rural Life, by Edward Wilbur, ..... 
Oak Lands for Wheat, by Myron Adams, 
Making Farm Wall, by A. ..... 
Improvement in Dressing Hogs, by D. Tomlinson, 
The Root Culture, by Rawson Harmon, Jr. 
Dutch method of Yoking Cattle, by E. H. Burnaby, 
Notice of Miner’s Pump, by C. N. Bement, 
Letter from Solon Robinson, ..... 
Preserving Hams, by W. S. T. .... 
Culture of Indian Com, by William Ingell, 
Experiment with Potatoes, by H. M. G. 
Laborer’s Cottages, by J. J. Thomas, 
Weight of a Durham Calf, by John Johnston, 
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