National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1874-01-16
Farm. Garden and Household:
whole or Gut Potatoes for Seed.

Whole or Cut Potatoes for Seed.
Nearly fifty years ago Thomas An.
drew Knight, President Of the London
horticultural Society. wrote a very ex.
haustive essay upon the above.named
subject, proving conclusively, to many,
that whole potatoes were far preferable
to pieces of tubers for planting. Mr..
knight, at that time and for many sue.
ceeding years, was considered in Great
Britain the highest authority in the
world on horticultural subjects, conse-
quently his opinions carried great
weight among the people. His idea was
that tuber, as whole, was but one
seed, like kernel of corn. But we now
consider potato tuber more like an
ear of corn, containing many seeds,
each Of which is capable Of producing
plant equal in strength and value to
the whole combined. OF course there
are hundreds of farmers who will and
do cling TO this old theory of Mr..
Knights, despite all the science or
practice to the contrary. We should
think, however, that the enormous yield
secured from the various new sorts
within the past few years, and frequent.
~ referred to in the agricultural Jour-
nails, all of which have been produced
from cut seed, woull begin to awaken
the sticklers flor whole seed and set
them to making experiments in this di.
rection. Ne one will suppose for a
moment that the yields reported in the
case of the Bliss prizes for the Early
Vermont and Compton Surprise could
have been secured by planting whole
tubers. Those farmers who believe
that whole tubers are best for seed
should look at these fgures-511t, COZ,
437, and 456 pounds, raised by different
men in different localities, each having
but one pound for seed. We think
these facts and figures are worth a
dozen theories, and we'll worth remem-
bering at planting time.-Rural Ne,D
Yorker.
Sugar from the Soft Maple.
A correspondent of the Canada
Farmer thus .refutes the traditional
notion that sugar can not be made from
the sap of the soft maple:
In looking over little book by a
Canadian authoress, Mrs. Trail, the
other day, I came across a statement
that the sap of the soft naples did not
yield sugar. When this lady wrote
these words she only expressed belief
shared in by nearly the whole of the
rural population of Canada, and I find
that her view is held by all with whom
l have conversed on the subject ; some
even go SO far as to maintain that good
sugar cannot be extracted under any
circumstances from the sap of the soft
maple. Until very lately I held that
opinion also but last spring friend
of mine who lives on new bush farm
where naples of that kind are very
plentiful, tapped over 200 of them he
did not tap single hard maple, for the
simple reason that there were none to
tap within easy distance of his camp.
The reward of his labor was $50 lbs. of
really the finest sugar-and have seen
good deal-that 1 ever saw. The only
feature connected with the manufacture
of it that he noted was. that it required
a little more sap to yield certain guam
tlty than of the sap of the hard maple.
He intends to tap 100 additional soft
naples next spring, and is confident of
good yield and first-class sample.
Household Hints.
The following suggestions are of
course intended for the masculine
heads of families but the many un-
fortunate women who find that on
their shoulders rests three. fourths of
the cares of the household, can, in case
of need, easily put them into use. as
time rather than strength is required.
Never allow door to creak for want of
oil, or to shut so hard as to require
slamming to make it latch. For this
purpose pass around once o week at
some regular time, say Saturday even
ing or Monday morning, with drop of
oil on a feather, or on the tip of the
finger, and give every rubbing part,
latch, hinge, etc., a touch. Scissors,
which are inclined to work hard, can
also be greatly improved in this way.
Ventilation would be more easily ac-
complished and more certainly per-
formed, and rooms kept with purer and
healthier air, if windows were made to
slide easily. If not hung by pulleys
and weights, let a carpenter add good,
freely-working catches. Cellars should
be kept constantly clean-as much so
as your parlor. It is the easiest thing
in the world, if you attend to it daily
and only becomes q heavy task when
you allow months accumulations to
remain undisturbed. 1t is hardly
necessary to add that fevers have been
contracted by breathing the miasma in
an iil-kept cellar.
Trap for Moths.
A writer in a French horticultural
journal relates the following suggestive
experience : "After sunset I place in
the centre of my orchard an old barrel.
the inside of which I have previously
well tarred. At the bottom of the bar
rel place lighted lamp. Insects of
many kinds, attracted by the light,
make for the lamp, and while circling
around it strike against the sides of
the barrel, where. meeting with the tar,
their wings and legs become so clogged |
that they fall helpless to the bottom.
In the morning examine the barrel,
and frequently take out ten or twelve
gallons of cockchafers, which I at once |
destroy. A few pence worth of tar en-
ployed in this way will, without fur
ther trouble, be the means of destroy
ing innumerable numbers of these in
scots, whose larvae are among the most
destructive pests the gardener or farmer
has to contend with.
Preserving Meat.
A new system of preserving meat for
export, invented by Mr.. Pierre Kock,
has been brought into notice in Eng
land. Some specimens were examined |
in London, and the Times says it con-
,ists in bringing over raw steaks of