Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-03-30
AGRICULTURAL.
CAEpISG THE CATTI E.

uoh near on too hard, especially over tn
hip bones and shoulder blades
We have seen people card cattle when W,
thought neither carder nor animal much en-
loyed it; the animal would cringe and shrinl
away from the card. and the carder woull
tear round and scold, because it did no
Keep still, evidently not thinking this wa'
the only way the animal had of telling hin
ne hurt. lou never see n man rubbing his
back against the door casing unless it itches
nor do cows care to he carded unless they
have the same occasion, and then not hard
enough to make it n pain instead ofa pleasure
We have found an old broom cut off up near
the tying to he an excellent article fol
grooming cows, especially about the roots Of
the tail, where card will not work: while
not harsh enough to be painful it will scratch
nicely and reach where the card will not
About rs much solid comfort as usually falls
10 the lot of mortals in this wicked world,
may be taken by the man who loves animals
IN seeing them stretch themselves under his
brush, or follow him about and poke their
noses under his arm. or hold down their
heads to be scratched, as natural folks. Try
the old broom, boys, and see how it works.
| freeman.
POTATO PLiNTISG.
Joseph Harris, author of walks and Talks
on the Farm" gives long and useful Talk"
on Growing Potatoes, in the American Agri-
culturist for March lst, from which We ex-
tract the following:
Last year planted thirteen acres Of pota-
toes of different varieties, including Early
Rose Early Vermont, Snowflake Brownell's
Beauty, Compton's Surprise, Genesee King,
Jones No. 1, and Thornburn's Late Rose.
And the Deacon in the adjoining field planted
Peachblow, Peerless, and Late Rose. but the
| Peerless and pcachblow We're hardly worth
digging
In my field the Late Rose gave the largest
| yield, but the Early Vermont, on the whole,
was the most satisfactory crop. The pota-
toes were more uniform in size. We had
three acres, Welding 126 bushels per acre
The Late Rose had not come TO maturity
when the drouth and the second crop of bugs
struck them, and consequently we had a
great many small potatoes. Snowfakes did
tolerably well. but not as well as the Yer
monts. But it is not worth while talking
about the varieties that did well last year. 1t
was an exceptionally bad season. As n rule.
the only good potatoes we had were the ear
lest varieties-and this simply because they
had nearly got their growth before they were
seriously injured by the drouth and the bugs.
The Early Vermont, planted side by side
with the Early Rose on the same day, came
up earlier, and made more vigorous growth.
robust. do not attribute this wholly to the
variety. The Early Rose has been grown on
this farm for several years, without q change
OF seed. The Nermonts are comparatively
new. Had We got Early Rose from dis
tance, instead of planting our own home
grown seed, the plants might have been as
vigor ous as those OF the Early Vermont
at is not clear to my mind" said the
Doctor, THAT mere change of see is so
impor tant. l know that the New Jersey
potato-Srowers often send here for their seed,
and We sometimes send to New Jersey for our
seed; but | have never yet seen any positive
evidence that anything has been gained by
1t. And them" continued the Doctor, zone
farmer thinks it very important to plant large
potatoes, and another thinks small ones lust
as good-and the results of careful expert
ments are quoted to sustain both opinions"
The thing Is certain" said the Deacon,
tive shall have to plant small potatoes this
year, The spring of 1875 potatoes were
planted-some not larger than marbles and
yet We never had such great potato crop
The next spring potatoes were not worth
marketing, and We planted the best and
largest-and never had a worse crop. And
SO 1t is evident that the character of the sea-
son had mole to do with the result. than the
size of the seed"
The best crop Of potatoes ! ever raised on
this farm happened to be from small seed.
But it was bit of prime light land, in high
condition. The root of the plant penetrated
into the fine, mellow soil, and needed little |
nutriment from the seed.
Shall We plant in rows or in hills ; shall |
we plant small seed or large shall we cut |
potatoes or plant whole; shall we cut the sets |
from the top or bottom or middle OF the pota-
to; shall We cut the potatoes a few days be-
fore planting, and sprinkle lime on them;
shall We plant one or two sets in hill; shall
we plant deep or shallow; shall we earth up,
or shall we cultivate on the fiat:
To all these, and dozen other questions
which are frequently asked, answer: "Do
as You have done, or change if You feel like
it; but whatever else you do, or leave un-
done, make the land dry, rich, mellow and
clean. If you cannot do it this year. make
up your mind TO do it next year, and begin
to prepare for il now. Farmers must look
ahead. We must keep our land rich enough
to grow a fair crop in an unfavorable season.
We shall have high prices and low prices in
the future as in the past-and the men who
will make money by potatoes will be those
who take the most paIns to keep up and in
crease the fertility OF their farms.
A PAPER on MUCK READ BEFORE THE yEI-
MONT STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AT WOOD
STOCK, FEB. 9TH, 1877, HY BYRON p. RUG
Giles OF HARTLASD.
AlE. CHArRMAS:-I only propose to tell you
of my experience in the use of
muck. My muck swamp is about two acres
IN extent; the hard dry ground comes down
close to the swamp, and the muck il from
two to three feet deep at the edge o. the
swamp, to seven feet deep in the middle
Under the muck there is mari; and by run
ming down pole, judge there is more mari
in the swamp than muck. At the top of the
mari there Is an immense number of shells
Of various kinds; from which fact the swamp
has long been known in the vicinity, as Sneli
swamp; and is SO designated on the map OF
Hartland village, in the Atlas Map of Wind
sor County. l commenced tdigging near the
edge, where the muck was two and half
feet deep; and in five years have dug over u
Hat iorty feet by sixty, running out INTO the
swamp where the muck is four feet deep / ..
have gone pretty uniformly four feet deep, :
taking out more or less mari. / have drained
the swamp to the depth of two and half !
feet, and use pump when digging deeper
than that. | have not been Obliged to work
the pump more than one hour per day. In
taking out sixteen cords of muck last sum
mer, did not pump more than half an hour ,
IN all. The upper part of the muck appears
like decayed wood, weeds, and grasses. The
lower part Is OF a finer quality, evidently ,
formed under water, and mainly of leaves.
In this | have found the work of beavers:
have found sticks three inches through, cut
Df in their peculiar style, plainly showing :
the marks of their teeth. | build a wheel
barrow track of three-inch plank from the
surface of the swamp, like an inclined plane,
put on to dry ground three or four rods dis ,
lant, making the outer end SIX or eight feet
high. find fve-tined manure fork the !
best thing to handle muck with, and to get !
out one hundred wheelbaTrow loads Is AN
average days work for myself alone. My :
experience Is, that muck direct from the /
heap at the swamp. Is too cold and sour To be j
Of much immediate benefit II Immediately
worked IN 10 the soil. But when spread ON
moving land night after having, it will get
dried by the sun, wet enough by rams and
frozen enough IN winter, to come To terms
he next summer and show where 1t has been
put by better growth OF grnss. To warm !
lp the muck, neutralIze the acid in it, and !
make 1t ap good the best stable manure. =
several methods are given in "Danns Muck +
Manual, and III "JuhnsOn's Peat and It's
Ises, the different methods including the
Ise OF ashes, potash soda ash euano, lime, /,
Hlt, etc. The authors mentioned and other :
writer's also, recommend composing muck .
with manure, claiming the mass will heat and :
,rng about the desired change IN the muci. !;
Sow IT occurred To me that to mix muck Z
With already hot and fermcnting manure, I,
you'd hasten the process; that the mixing Ii
night go ON all winter and the mass Le q
eady Tor use in the spring. This is the plan 4
hat lave mainly followed; and believe 1t -,
q be the cheapest, and quickest method of :
making muck available as manure bed /,
ny cows with fine bedding. such as snwdust !,
n something that has been tlroupb tls Straw 4,
utter, and the manure with such bedding i
n it, heats as surely MS horse manure. When ~
pile of several loads has accumulated, a.
prohd down layer of 1T = flat IA large :,
; experience tells me is me-, ssury about a /,
hoyel full deep and cover il with muck then ;,
over the muck with manure, and the man !,
re with more muck, and SO on, till / have n
sed up all my heated manure. Two or three ii
7eeks later, have another spell of draining :,