In dry land, fall planting is preferable, and the earlier done the better, after the leaf falls; but any time in winter when the ground is free of frost, they may be safely planted-it may be well to say that could the ground, where the hedge is wished, be cropped, either with corn, beans or potatoes the season previous to planting the hedge, it may be useful in eradicating weeds and getting the ground in good tilth for it. I have generally found the ground to be quite rich enough without manure, but if it should not be, it will be far better to put it in the ground with some previous crop than after; still I am opposed to forcing the growth by such means, for I think it is apt to bring on premature decay, and perhaps from this cause the remarks in a recent number of your paper may be true. This I suggest, not assert to be the case. W. M. B. Skaneateles, N. Y.

Pardee on the Strawberry.

A complete Manual on the Cultivation of the Straw berry, with a description of the best varieties. By R. G. PARDEE. New-York: C. M. Saxton. A notice of this interesting and valuable little book, has been accidentally deferred a few weeks since its publication. It is a neat 12mo. volume of 144 pages, and contains besides a treatise on the Strawberry, directions for the culture of the Raspberry, Blackberry, Gooseberry, Currant and Grape. The author has been long known to the horticultural public, for his enthusiastic fondness for strawberry culture; and his book, which is written in a clear and sprightly style, is the result of thorough experience. As his experiments have been confined, however, to amateur culture or to limited grounds, we are not furnished with so full details of market cultivation as would be desirable. With this addition, it would become a work of universal acceptance. We think that good and distinct portraits of the fruit would be rather better than the sec

fruit is very small, and the product much larger. The demand for extraordinary fruit is every where increas ing.

Of the many varieties on our own grounds one season, more than twenty different kinds, without special effort, produced specimens four inches in circumference, while the larger were six.

Those who wish to obtain in a portable form and in a clear and condensed manner, the results of the latest and best experience on the culture of this delicious fruit, should by all means purchase and read this book. A Profitable Acre in Western New-York.

EDS. Co. GENTLEMAN-During a recent visit at Naples, Ontario County, we learned some facts respecting an acre belonging to Mr. MCKAY which may be interesting to the readers of the Country Gentleman. They show conclusively that large farms are not neces sary to derive large profits. Said aere was planted. with Isabella grape vines in 1849. The fall of 1852 these vines bore quite abundantly, but no particular account we think was kept of the quantity. Last sea son (1853,) about eight hundred dollars worth of grapes were gathered and sold from them. It should be stated that the grapes sell readily in market at more than an average of one shilling or twelve and a half cents per pound. The stems are picked and carefully packed in boxes for market. This year according to the statement of the gardener in Mr. McKay's absence, the vines produced ten tons of grapes. This, at six cents a pound, would amount to twelve hundred dollars. They could have been sold at eight cents picked at the grapery. We do not know the expenses of cultivation and of getting the grapes to market, and therefore cannot give an estimate of the clear profit. But suppose the grapes are sold at the grapery for eight cents per pound, and allow that the gardener estimated the quantity by two tons too much, still the grapes would

the characteristic appearance of the varieties.

As a specimen of the author's condensed and practical manner, we copy the following paragraph on the facility and cheapness of strawberry culture:

During many seasons we have had on trial in our garden from twenty to sixty varieties at a time, and alhtough some were comparatively unproductive, yet the average cost of producing them for years has been less than fifty cents per bushel; not including the cost of picking or expense of plants, which were taken from our own garden. Others can, and have done, the saine. We can refer to amateurs, market-men, farmers, and nurserymen in Western New York, who have raised them at even a smaller cost, both on a large and a small scale. On a plot of ground fifty by sixty feet, we have repeatedly gathered over fifteen bushels in a season, under all the disadvantage of many varieties. With a good selection of kinds, it is certain that one hundred and fifty bushels can easily be produced on an acre, and we have abundant testimony that on a larger plot, at the rate of two hundred bushels per acre has been gathered. It is almost as easy to raise extra-large, fine fruit, as it is small indifferent berries; and it is a decided object. Fruit of high flavor, measuring from three to four inches in circumference, will command fifty cents per quart in New York or any other good market, as readily as small fruit will ten cents; while the labor of picking such large

follows: All the grapes were gathered. More than two thirds were sent to market and weighed. The remainder were unweighed and guessed, as he said, at a low estimate.

Suppose it costs four hundred dollars to take care of the vinery, and pick the grapes for market, and we think this a very high estimate, for one man will not be required to take care of the vines half of the time except during the picking season when extra hands are wanted;) and still there would be a clear profit of over eight hundred dollars. This vinery is situated near the base of a hill in a valley sheltered from winds, in a sandy gravely soil, highly manured. Between the rows of grapes potatoes and other vegetables were grown, enough to in part pay the expenses of cultivation. We were told that all the grapes could have been sold in Canada at 18 cents per pound, and when we were at Naples about two weeks ago, Mr. McKay was at Montreal selling grapes. Yours truly, S. B. BUCKLEY. West Dresden, N. Y., Nov. 6, 1854.

Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy.

Struggling with Limited Means.

We cannot help feeling a sympathy with young people just setting out in life, and struggling under the difficulties of small means to support a newly rising family, and perhaps occasionally with attacks of sickness. It often happens that the first few years of married life are attended with more anxieties and discouragements from these causes, than any other period, Sometimes much valuable experience is acquired at this juncture, but not always without severe cost; and it may be therefore of some utility when suggestions can be afforded by those who have weathered and passed this point...

We have just received a letter from a young correspondent in one of the states of New England, asking advice on this very subject. He says—“ I am a young lawyer, making about $400 per year by my profession, and with almost no hope of increase, as the market is overstocked, and I am sensible that I am neither a Kent, Emmet, nor a Story. Having a wife and child to support, I am anxious to try some other business, that will enable me to do so better than at present. Would farming be better?

"I possess a thorough theoretical knowledge of agriculture, having at college made chemistry and botany my particular studies, and have for years been a constant reader of the best agricultural books and periodicals, the Cultivator included. I have had considerable experience in gardening, and have been very successful. There my qualifications end. I have never worked a whole day in the field, and am too feeble in body to do much labor of any kind.

"About five minutes walk from my house and from the town of B, there is a piece of land containing 16 acres of good clayey loam, sloping toward the south about 100 feet down to the sea shore, where marine weeds are abundant for manure. It is well fenced, but the buildings are worth nothing. It has been badly cultivated without any kind of manuring. It rents for $50 a year, and may be bought for $1000, on easy terms, say $100 cash, and the rest in 8 years. My

whole available funds are about $200-would it be prudent then to buy it? I can hire a good man for $80 a year and board. Produce brings fair prices, and is readily bought up-barley at $1 per bushel, oats 60 cents, potatoes 60 cents, Swede turnips about 40 cents, and hay $15 a ton this year, and about $9 in other years. Indian corn we rarely grow, being liable to injury by early frosts. Will you give me your advice? It would not be necessary to relinquish the law altogether I could probably make $200 by it, and still work my land. H. P. K."

In giving advice in such a case as this, it should be borne in mind, that much more depends on THE MAN than on the nature of the business, provided the latter is such as to give an opportunity for the exercise of the energies. We have known more than one instance where two men with similar opportunities and means,

If we were to give one rule in business for beginners, which we should place at the head of all others, it would be, "Feel your way." Do not undertake any thing untried, on a large scale, no matter how promis

ing the results may appear. The most uniformly suc

cessful men in business, have nearly always pursued this course; and we could on the other hand, name many instances where large and bad failures have resulted from a different practice.

Our correspondent should not give up his practice of law immediately. He must depend on that mainly, in farming If he could rent the land for two years, for two or three years at least, until he gets under way with the privilege of purchasing, it would undoubtedly be best. He must therefore take into consideration the probable But this, probably, cannot be accomplished. cost, in addition to the land, of animals to stock it,

(for even the smallest farm should have some animals)

the expense of a horse or of a yoke of oxen, of the various necessary implements to work it to best advantage, and of proper buildings. A man must be also hired to do most of the labor in the present instance. All these will be found to consume more than the proceeds of the land for the first year or two. If after all these calculations, he can be sure of meeting his interest and other payments, allowing for disasters and contingencies, a purchase may be made.

Great judgment and skill should be exercised in selecting first, those improvements which promise the greatest return with the least outlay. On this branch of the subject, a large book might be written. We can only say here, make a list of proposed improvements— examine from all the practical knowledge that can be collected, and to some extent from limited experiment on the spot, the probable cost on the one hand, and the probable advantages on the other, and then select first, those showing the largest percentage of profits. These may be some kinds of manuring-or some cheap and efficient underdraining—or deep plowing of the tillage land--or heavy seeding of the grass land-or the cultivation of certain crops-or the introduction of certain animals-remembering the rule in all cases, "feel your

way."

Sixteen acres constitute but a small farm-but such a farm skilfully managed, may after a while be made to produce a considerable amount. Ordinary field crops alone will not be likely even to produce one half of the $400 now made by law practice; but these with fruit raising, rearing fine animals, producing marketable garden crops, and perhaps the more saleable young fruit trees, may with skilful hands, be made to increase the product to an almost indefinite extent.

We have heard wealthy farmers assert that not over

one failing, and the other accumulating wealth. Hence we cannot advise in a general way, the purchase of a farm by running almost wholly in debt for it. A few would easily work out, but to most the debt would be likely to prove a long continued and oppressive load It must depend on the management, tact, and economy in every sense of the word, possessed by the purchaser in question.

to stock them, could be fairly relied on as an average for all seasons. But this estimate is made for ordinary superficial farming. We have found by experience, that a better mode of practice, economically pursued, would, without any special trouble, double the products, and triple or quadruple the nett profits. For instance, where a ton and a half of grass are commonly cut,

four tons have been produced simply by heavy seeding and plastering; where thirty bushels of corn have been the common crop, seventy bushels have resulted from well applied manure, selected seed, and good cultivation; and where only 200 bushels of carrots or ruta bagas were ordinarily yielded, six to eight hundred have been obtained by performing every part of the operation promptiy, in the best manner, and on a deep and rich soil. We have known a gain of more than one hundred dollars a year on a single farm from a selection of the most efficient tools, and proper labor-saving machines. We could also name some farmers, who instead of reaping an average nett profit of only two per cent, make at least twenty per cent; and some of the best farmers of Western New-York, (and doubtless elsewhere,) clear from seven to nine hundred dollars from every hundred acres-and in one case, about six thousand dollars have been made in a single season from a five hundred acre farm. The owners and managers of these farms were active, intelligent, and energetic men, of long experience, always in the midst of every important operation, and, we need scarcely add, constant readers of the best agricultural publications of the day.

Preservation of the Sweet Potato.

EDITORS COUNTRY GENTLEMAN.-I notice in your No. of Oct. 26th, some inquiries for the best method of preserving sweet potatoes through the winter for seed, to which I respond, though probably too late for avail this season. My eye fell on the notice but to day. A large branch of our farming is the raising and preserving of sweet potatoes for Cincinnati market. We commence digging them here, the first and second weeks in Oct., or about the time of our first frosts. Hard freezing is apt to injure them as the ends of the potatoes are near or quite at the surface. In digging and handling them we are careful not to bruise them more than is possible to prevent, as it is an injury. They should be dried before putting away, either in the sun the day they are dug, previous to gathering in, or after by spreading on a floor. When the surfaces are dried, we put them in boxes not more than two feet deep (other dimensions to suit convenience) till a foot in depth or thereabout, then fill by pouring in dry sand, dry enough to dust or run well. It is better to be screened as it better finds its way among the potatoes, we then finish filling the box with potatoes to the top, and again pour in sand till all the space is filled and the potatoes covered. They should be kept in a dry room, the less liable to sudden changes of temperature the better, and in an atmosphere ranging from 50 to 60° Fah, but if allowed to sink to 40 or rise to 709 it is no harm if not long at a time. Of the two the high temperature is to be preferred. We put up from five hundred bushels upward each year, and have found by experience that this is the surest method. We cord our boxes one above the other by placing 14 inch strips between, for them to rest on, and to give space for the circulation of air which is indispensable. With these precautions we can safely calculate that from 95 to 99 per cent will come out in perfect order for market. I have forgotten to mention that the sooner they are put up after digging, the better, if sufficiently dried, as long exposure to the atmosphere is detrimental. Hoping this may be of benefit to your inquiring correspondent as well as others, I willingly tender them the small stock of knowledge I have on the subject, and will, if desired, give a full detail of our mode of propagation and culture, at some future time. Yours for improvement, M. M. MURRAY. Fruit Hills, Ohio, Nov. 20, 1854.

On Making and Saving Manure. [The following communication was mislaid, or it would have received an earlier insertion. Our correspondent will please accept our thanks for it, and the assurance that both ourselves and readers will be glad to hear frequently from him-EDS.]

MESSES. EDITORS-Manure being one of the most important subjects to the farmer, especially away from large towns or cities, a few brief hints on collecting it may be useful.

To save manure by your woodland.—Clear a space in a suitable place in your woodland, and of sufficient size; early in the fall gather all the leaves so far as is practicable, which have fallen; lay them a foot for so thick, on the surface of the cleared space; now put a layer of mould, turf, muck, the surface soil of your woodland-in fact anything or substance which with hold the gases evolved by the decaying leaves-as may be most convenient, over these leaves, and so on, until you have a pile as large as you need. In due time the leaves will have become decomposed, and are in a fit state to apply to your land. Quick lime or unleached ashes, will hasten the process. The earth, muek or turf, answers a double purpose; prevents the leaves from being scattered by the wind, and holds the volatile gases of the leaves.

By Weeds.-Weeds are not altogether useless; for they can be very economically made into manure, thus giving back to the land, what they extracted from the same, as well as that drawn from the atmosphere. All weeds should be cut up by the roots, or drawn up, roots and all," before they seed, unless you wish to propagate them. Gather them together after cutting, and compost them as directed for leaves.

By old or worn-out pastures.—If you have a wornout pasture, a good way of making manure from it, is to plow it out once-then with a scraper, or anything which will answer your purpose, gather it up in a heap, whence it can be taken to the barn-yard, and spread over the same, to retain the fluid portions of manure, composted with barn-yard manure, carcases of dead animals, and other putrescent manure, or composted as directed for the two foregoing substances.

By straw. With straw, cattle and horses should be kept thoroughly littered, while in their stalls; the yards should also be littered to a good depth with it; and it will be a great advantage if it is first cut. (I will speak more fully as to the uses of straw as manure under the following head.)

By the stables and barn-yard.-The stables of a farm should have proper stercorary or stercoraries adjoining them, with cisterns underneath for retaining the urine of the stock, which should be conducted to them by gutters. These stercoraries may be 3 feet deep, or rather the pit of the stercoraries should be from 6 to 10 feet wide, and of an indefinite length. It should have a roof, and be walled or fenced at the ends and exposed side, (the other side being joined to the stable,) leaving an opening of sufficient size for conveniently removing the manure. A pump, or pumps should be

A Place for Every Tool.

"In vain the search:

Nor hoe, nor spade, in its own place is found."

EDWARDS.

Every body, who is any body, likes to see system and order displayed in the various operations of the farm; and even the most careless and negligent, admire, and approve the practice of him who has an appropriate place for every tool, and who strenuously insists on keeping them there. " A place for every thing, and every thing in its place," is a maxim, coeval with the art of printing, for aught I know; and we find, many times, that those who often insist on having this precept carried into practice, come the farthest short of keeping it themselves. Many farmers fail, greatly, in keeping this precept ; and in time lost, patience tested, and the many hindrances which result therefrom, they are often obliged to suffer a mortifying penalty.

er.

Ask Mr. A. where he keeps his hand saw, or his augers, or piek, crow-bar &c. "Well, let me thinkwhere did I use them last! Look in the wood house. If they are not there, look in the carriage house; and if they are not to be found there, let us see if they are not some where about the barn, or in the stable." Mr. B. says, I usually keep my tools, either at the house, or barn, or in the path that leads from one to the othWhen I have done with a tool, it is thrown in the path that leads from the house to the barn; and it generally gets carried to one place or the other. There being generally, such a destitution of order, in reference to keeping tools in their appropriate place, it is deemed a matter of no impropriety to speak of the order and arrangement, in the disposition of the various tools of the work shop, and farm, which is practised by a young farmer, not a hundred miles distant from the residence of the writer.

Ask him, for instance, where his hand saw is; or his drawing knife; or his augers; or any other tool yon may need. And the unhesitating reply is, in such a part of the shop, hanging on such a pin, or nail, or standing, or lying in such a corner, or, on such a shelf. There hang the augers, each one in its appropriate place; and on all the premises, they are allowed no other place. There hang a half dozen saws; and if one of them is taken down, but for a moment's work, its first and last resting place is, on its own peg. There is a drawer with an apartment for screws, one for rivets of a half dozen different sizes, one for washers, for bolts of all sizes, one for nails of different sizes and so on. In one corner is a shallow box-shelf, where are a lot of carriage bolts, and other bolts, and where every thing in the bolt line is kept, in case of a break down. There hang a number of extra plow-handles; in case one should be broken, in seed-time, a half day need not be spent, in going several miles, to have it repaired. Extra pieces of harness, picces of worn-out or broken tools, hang on nails, on one side of the shop, where, at a glance of the eye, any thing that is wanted to repair a break down, can be had, without tumbling over a whole box full, to find something, which, perhaps, may not be there. There hang a variety of

useful little articles, instead of being tumbled into a box, where they can never be found, when needed. There hang the chains, (not on the fence any where on the plantation) in that corner. There the beetle and wedges are kept. Are there any extra plow points about the shop?-you will find them, up stairs, in such a place, and no where else. Every one who assists about the barn and stables understand that this shovel, when not in use, mast stand in that corner. The manure fork must be kept here. That fork and that shovel, in the feeding-room must always stand in this end of the box, where feed is mixed. This fork must be left on the mow, and when not in use, the end of the handle must be rested on the ladder, so that one always knows, even in the dark, where to find the fork, to throw down fodder. That harness, and that collar belong on that horse; and they must always be hung on that hook. When the halters are taken off the horses, each halter is hung on its appropriate book. A score of other little things, which are generally thrown bere and there, by the majority of people, have their own place, and will always be found there, when not in use.

Where there are a large number of workmen, and boys to use the tools, it is just as easy to keep them in one place, and far more important, as where there is but one, or two individuals to use them. Let it be understood by each one, that every tool must be returned to its proper place, immediately. When an augur, or chisel is needed ten or twelve rods from the shop, let it be returned, without delay. It will require but one minute to travel ten rods; and if one is in haste, at such a time, one or two minutes will make no material difference in the work of a day; if it were like to do so, who could not work one or two minutes later at night to redeem those lost moments? And, besides, when tools are laid down, here and there, thinking to return them, when it is more convenient, they are often forgotten, and scores of minutes are lost in search for them, even when one is in the greatest haste. There is always a great satisfaction, when one needs a certain tool, in having the assurance, that the hand can be laid directly on it, even in the dark.

Those farmers who succeed best in their operations, are noted for their strict adherence to system and order; and those who set at naught all order and system, are always in a hurry-never know where to find any thing-never have a place for any thing, except somewhere on the farm, and they never accomplish but little in comparison to what they might, were system and order their watchword. S. EDWARDS TODD. Lake Ridge, Tompkins Co., N. Y.

CHINESE PIGS.-In looking over the Country Gentleman of this week, I see an inquiry made for pure Chinese Pigs. I have a few pigs, the produce of a pair sent direct from China by Dr. Green, surgeon of the Japanese Exploring Expedition, last winter. I would be happy to supply gentlemen with a few pairs at a moderate price. BENJ. HAINES. Elizabeth town, N. J., Nov. 17, 1854.