74 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July 



1882. 



From a sample of cinchona bark lO'Ol per cent 

 of pure alkal' id was obtained, whilst a former es- 

 tim.ition by the lime and spirit method had yielded 

 10 02 per cent. The ch se agreement o£ these two 

 determinations confirms the reliability of this method, 

 which the author confidently recommends, — Pilar- 

 maceiUical Journal. 



SEED POTATOES. 

 A correspondent of an American farm paper, the 

 Country Oenllnnan, published at Albany, New York, 

 makes mention of a fact which ha^i ni) liitle signi- 

 ficance for English jiotato growers. Writing from 

 Kentucky, he dwells upon the d fficulties with which 

 potato culture ia now surrounried there. Not only 

 have the Americans — to use his own phrafc — " to fight 

 the bugs," but Iheir favourite variety, the Early liose, 

 has shovvu great si^ns of wearing out. Seed appears 

 to have been got, lor a time with advantage, from 

 New York State into Kentucky. But more recently 

 another |ilan liad been adopted, and, the correspondent 

 of the Albany paper states, with very marked success. 

 This was to plant E*''lj Roses very late, and to take 

 up the impei'fectly ripened tubers in the autumn, 

 aud use tijese for the seed ihe following spring crop. 

 It was found that seed fo grown produced au earlier 

 crop, and one more free from under-sized potatoes, 

 than did seed of a crop grown under more naiural 

 conditions. As the letter (in the American paper) 

 reads, it would apjjear that as a rule seed potiitoes, 

 early ripei. ed, exhaust themselves in America by shoot- 

 ing before ihe planting season of the next year ar- 

 rives, and that they yield a feeble plant. Now the 

 potato beetle "seems to prefer a weakly vine to the 

 strong tlirifty ones." In contrast it would appear 

 that the immature seed, taktu up in the late autumn 

 months, does not send out any sprout until it is 

 planted for a crop, when, "however, many eyes it 

 may have, each potato only pushes one, which often 

 comes out of the ground half au inch in diameter, 

 and branches out into a large, thrifty, healthy vine — 

 the very kind neeiled to withstand the ravages of 

 the bugs." Aijd the letter goes on to state that 

 even this method of growing special seed had been 

 improved on. A gardener found that it paid better 

 to plant potatoes of the first crop to produce a second 

 — i.e., two crops are grown in one year, the first 

 providing the seed for the second. " About the mid- 

 dle of July the potatoes of the lirst crop are dug, 

 cut, and planted again. It generally takes them about 

 six weeks to come up, and by the middle of October 

 they are about the size of a hen's egg. If no larger 

 than a pigeon's egg, it makes ao difference, as they 

 do as well as if larger." 



No doubt other English growers besides myself have 

 ascertained th^it there really is some truth in the 

 principle which is here laid down, i.e., that immature 

 ^eed vegetates more .strongly and eirlier than does 

 seed which has fully ripened. In 1S78 I discovered 

 that some potitoes of a late variety, which had been 

 taken up m July in oider to make room for the 

 bricklayers, and allowed to be about till they were 

 ijuite shrivelled, produced the only piece of winter 

 potato in 1879 which escaped the disease. Right aud 

 left of the rows from this seed the crop was wholly 

 spoiled ; but the rows actually grown from this seed 

 gave a full yield of fine tubers. In ISSO a like result 

 was obtained, i.e., the crop from ver^ immature seed 

 was the best of the season. Nor does 1881 tell a 

 different tale. I took up some potatoes for sied early 

 in July 18S1, and placed them away in trays, and 

 Bet the trays out of sight upon a high sheif. As 

 the variety was a favourite one, and the quantity 

 put away was email, the surplus potatoes from another 

 portion of the sams crop (wliich had been allowed 



to npen m order that they „igi,t be ea'en from the 

 ^rouud) were also put away jn trays in October, aud 

 these trays placed side by side with the former lot 

 upon the same shelf, 



Keading the account in the American paper, 1 have 

 just gone aud examined the two lots. The former 

 (the immature seed) have shrivelled very much, and 

 have sprouts two inches long, with abundance of 

 rhizomes emitted. The latter are firm, with the eyes 

 just pushing, i.e., about a sixth of an inch long. 

 There can be no question but that the immature seed, 

 if it have not spent itself too far (for, in consequence 

 of the unusually bright sunny winter, this seems to 

 be possible), is far more likely to produce an earlier 

 crop thau are the later tubers. It has occurred to 

 me that one reason why the earlier tubers escaped 

 disease in 1S79 was that they were taken. from the 

 ground in 1878, before the Perinospora infestans had 

 developed itself. Now the seeds of that ptst do not 

 attach themselves to the roots as a general rule, and 

 are less likely, if in tiie air, to fasttn on the withered 

 skins of the tubers. I believe that the Perinospora 

 infestans work upon the tubers from within, i.e., that 

 it descends in the sap of the infected vine down into 

 the veins of previously healthy tubers. If so, the 

 immature seed (removed from counec'ion with the 

 vine before the vine gets infected) is doubly valuable 

 —ie., it has a tendency to early growth (which is 

 in itself a safeguard) ; and it is also free within from 

 any of those forms in which the Perinospora is sup. 

 posed to pass through the winter. At all events, 

 there certainly is some truth in the opinion that im- 

 mature seed taken up out of season does produce more 

 vigorous growth in the following spring, and a healthier 

 growth too, than do tubers which are part of any 

 ripened crop grown to its full development in order 

 to secure excellence for table purposes — G. — Ficiii. 



HEDGES. 



Next to plantations nothing so much beautifies and 

 adorns the landscape aud the country in general as 

 hedges, aud the more that agricultural improvements 

 are advanced the more will hedges be appreciated 

 both for be.iuty aud utility. Any one who for the 

 first time beholds the garden-like field formation and 

 distribution of thorn hedges in Roxburghshire, the 

 Lothians, Eoss-shire, and some other districts of 

 Scotland, is alike pleased aud surprised with their 

 beauty and utility. The first consideiation, after de- 

 termining its purpose, in planting a hedge is what 

 description of plants to plant so as to suit the soil, and 

 efiect the purposes of protection and aS'ord shelter to the 

 kind of stock upon the farm. Unless the soil is of suffi- 

 cient quality to grow a good strong plant, and maintain 

 it in health and vigorous growth iu future, it is uuad- 

 visable to jjlant hedges upon it. 



After many trials, long practice, and frequent 

 failures, the following among other successful results 

 have been achieved : — In planting common whitethorn 

 hedges the first thing to do is to trench, lime, and 

 otherwise tiioroughly prepare the ground, which 

 should either be of a clayey or strong loamy n iture. 

 The plant bed should be a'tout 4 feet wide by at leai-t 

 2 feet deep, anil the ground both underneath and on 

 all sides well broken to a good depth, and thoroughly 

 draiued. It is advisable to have the preparation of 

 the ground done in summer or autumn, and the plant- 

 ing done as early the succeeding season as possible. 

 The plants preferred are strong seedlings (two or three 

 years old), and should be jjut in without any cutting 

 except iu extreme cases \\ here the roots are extra 

 loug iiud bare, iu which case they should be slightly 

 shortened with the knife. I plant nine or ten plants 

 to the yard, aud keep the hedge clean by hoeing and 

 raking for several yeai's thereafter, and nevei' cut 



