40 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



THE POTATO. 



The potato is emjjhatically one of the neces- 

 saries of life, and is found equally welcome on 

 the tables of the rich and poor. Notwith- 

 standing that its flesh-forming material is not 

 so abundant as in wheat, yet it ranks high 

 and is worthy of all consideration, it being 

 rich in starch; one pound of fresh potatoes 

 contains 12 oz. of water, 2 oz. and 219 grains 

 of starch, and only 100 grs. flesh-formers, with 

 smaller portions of sugar, gum, fat, woody 

 fibre and CI grains mineral ashes. In 61 va- 

 rieties of potatoes it was found that the amount 

 of starch varied from 9 to 20 per cent. 



There is a nitrogenous substance which they 

 term hinMase, anil which is found in germin- 

 ating seed near the embryo, as also in certain 

 fungi. This, it is asserted, is capable of one 

 part to transform 2,000 parts of starch, first 

 into dextrine and finally into sugar. There is 

 a complication, however, it is known, that 

 any albuminoid may produce the same eSect, 

 that is, the bodies thus altered become fer- 

 vients; moistur(^ and an elevated temperature 

 hasten the process. It is generally taught 

 that oxygen acting on the albuminoids in 

 presence of water and within a certain range 

 of temperature induces decomposition. I will, 

 by way of comparison, state that 1 lb of wheat 

 contains 2 oz. and 100 grs. of water, 2 oz. 21 

 gi-s. of gluten, 120 grs. alliumen, 9 oz. and 242 

 grs. of starch and 385 grains of sugar, equiva- 

 lent to gum, fat, woody fibre, ashes and 7 oz. 

 of carbon. These constituents can readily be 

 varied by foreign admixture, or conditions of 

 soil, weather and moisture. We have thus 

 consideied the components of a good potato. 

 The thin skin that envelopes it is of a corky 

 nature, through which water can scarcely 

 pass, and hence aids in preserving the tuber 

 during winter. We all know what a good 

 potato is, and it requires no savant to tell us 

 when it is bad or waxy. What can they tell 

 us of the causes and remedies to prevent the 

 evil? The well-known "curl," they tell us, 

 may arise from using over-ripe seed stock, or 

 such that has been improperly kept during the 

 winterand exposed to the lightand air, instead 

 of having been covered with earth, sand, or 

 straw, so as to preserve their juices. Again, 

 it may also arise from want of lime or mag- 

 nesia in the soil, an excess of strong manures, 

 and successively planting'in the same ground. 

 But the potato rot of Europe and this country 

 has been carefully examined. Those kinds 

 that mature early are least liable to the rot. 

 The disease is rarely if ever known so early as 

 May, and foimd most prevalent in August, 

 especially during moist, warm weather. If 

 possible, they should be taken up before Sep- 

 tember,unless during dry weather. Wood ashes 

 are reconmiended as a good manure. Lime, 

 plaster and salt are advantageous, while strong 

 nitrogenous inamu'es are considered detrimen- 

 tal to the potato. The rot is ascribed by some 

 to a deficiency of lime and magnesia in the 

 soil, for upon testing the ashy residue of good 

 or sound tubers witli those that were diseased, 

 it was found that the sound ones yielded 5 per 

 cent of lime, but the ash of diseased ones only 

 1.77 per cent. Hence there may be an Im- 

 portant fact presented by Dr. Grace Calvert, 

 who has demonstrated that lime is one of the 

 feio knoiim subsUiwts tliat are capable of 

 altof/ether prerentlny the dcrdapmcnt of fimiji^ 

 and thinks that caustic magnesia would have 

 a similar effect. This presents a valuable 

 hint, and may throw light upon the statement 

 of J. W. Boys, who affirms that he has escaped 

 from this foul disease attacking his potatoes 

 for eight successive years by his mode of keeping 

 them, wliich is to sprinkle tlie floor with fine 

 unslaked lime, on which he places a layer of 

 potatoes from 4 to 5 inclies deep, and then 

 another layer of lime, and so on, using about 

 one-fortieth jiart of lime by measure, to the 

 potatoes. lie also states that waxy and watery 

 potatoes are improved by this process. 



Here are concurrent circumstances that seem 

 to teach a lesson worthy the attention of your 

 readers. It is worthy of notice that the eye 

 of the potato is the last part affected by the 

 rot. The eye is actually a- bud and has the 



same relation to the tuber as the germ has to 

 the farinaceous matter of the albumen of a 

 seed in which it is enveloped. In developing 

 a young plant the Amyhim (that istlie starch) 

 aiid the nitrogenous and mineral constituents 

 of the sap of the tuber are employed to form 

 the young branches and leaves. Wehave now 

 glanced at some of the causes and cures of 

 disease ; I shall briefly consider the fungus 

 concerned in i)roducing the visible effects 

 called "blight " and "rot," so ably set forth 

 in the Jan. No. page 11 and Feb. No page 17, 

 vol. VII of The Fakmer. I have before 

 me the article referred to. The fungus by 

 Berkley named Botrytis in/estans is novi' named 

 and figured as the Feronotipora infestans. 



This genus belongs to a 

 class of fungi wliich do not 

 foster on decaying plants, 

 as is the case with the 

 majority. There are now 

 known and figured other 

 species of Pcronospora sev- 

 erally infesting parsnips, 

 peas, cabbages, onions and 

 spinach, differing from those 

 found on the potato in structure. However 

 interesting, I cannot stop to describe the 

 various kinds in this article. For the benefit 

 of those who have no microscope I append a 

 copy of the potato fungus, above named. Tlie 

 external signs are soon apparent; the leaves 

 are usually first attacked; they turn yellowish, 

 the stem gets blotched with brown and the 

 fine threads (mycelium) extend to the tubers 

 and soon wholly or partially destroys them by 

 inducing a gangrenous ferment and producing 

 a putrid mass. Young plants are arrested in 

 their growth ; in older plants we find the 

 tubers discolored with reddisli spots, first under 

 the cuticle. When taken up and exposed to a 

 warm damp situation in the air, the parasite 

 appears on the surface, and will be found to 

 penetrate to the interior, deconii)osing the 

 tissues by a kind of ferment induced; this mass 

 forms a nidus for other kinds of fungi foimd 

 on decaying matter, and care must be taken 

 not to confound the two, as has happened. 



Here, again, we see how necessary it is to 

 have a knowledge of eflects from change of 

 condition ; patient observation under diverse 

 circumstances may give us a clue to see from 

 which quarter the wind blows. The exjie- 

 rience and obsei-vations of others may assist us 

 in our own; therefore it is well to present them 

 to the public, that those who read and digest 

 may have some data from which to compare 

 notes. Some one says when the vines are de- 

 tected to be affected with the fungus, cut 

 them down and burn them. Although this 

 might supply some ashes as a manure, it is a 

 doubtful remedy, especially if the mycelium 

 has already reached the tuber. 



As starch is so prominent an ingredient of 

 the potato, it may interest some to test various 

 kinds. Iodine is peculiar in its action on 

 starch when dissolved in water or alcohol, and, 

 brought in contact with starch, gives it a 

 beautiful purple or blue color. This test may- 

 be used even in microscopic observations with 

 the utmost facility. There are other tests. 

 Cut a thin slice of a potato; if reddish spots 

 appear, it is a bad sign for the health of the 

 potato. Witli a soft brush pass diluted tinc- 

 ture (alcoholic) of iodine liglitly but so as to 

 touch all the parts. This will "eftectually re- 

 veal the starcli cells, and often exhibit various 

 tancolored markings in concentric zones or 

 scattered-like letters of German text, as in one 

 case I lately witnessed. Cooking or steaming 

 potatoes, when done, all the part not tainted 

 by the red matter will break easily between 

 the fingers, wliile thataflected or marbled will 

 resist tlie jiressure and remain comparatively 

 solid. If you will take the time, a slice of 

 potato put in water for 12 or 15 days, the 

 soundest part will be the first to decay, whilst 

 that which is affected will remain un- 

 changed. But the point I wish to make is, 

 after all, to call attention to the im))ortanx;e 

 of lime as a preventive, and should any 

 good come of it, my object is attained. Jacbo 

 bTAUFFEK, Lancaster, Pa. 



SHALL WE RAISE OSAGE-ORANGE 

 HEDGES? 



Eighteen years experience convinces me that 

 osage-orange is not the thing for inside 

 faiTn fences. The objection arises not from 

 any imperfection in the hedge — for a well 

 grown osage hedge wiU turn any animal larger 

 than a rabliit — but because of the ground it 

 occupies. This plant is a gross feeder, and 

 impoverishes the ground for at least a rod on 

 each side of it. In a wet season the injury 

 done is not so great, but in a dry summer, like 

 the past, the row of corn next the hedge is a 

 total failure, the second one reduced one-half, 

 and even the third row is somewhat damaged. 

 Other crops are injured also, but to a less 

 extent than corn. It is not only the pecuniary 

 loss that is here complained of ; the farmer of 

 good taste dislikes to have half-staiTed crops 

 around the margin of his fields. 



Those who are determined to raise osage 

 hedges had better plant them along the road- 

 side and let them draw half their nourislmient 

 from the public road. 



The chief objection, then, tp the osage- 

 orange hedge is its exj)mse. I was led to make 

 this statement by a remark made by 11. M. 

 Engle, at the last annual meeting of the 

 Fruit Growers' Society, that osage-orange 

 hedge could be grown for twenty-five cents 

 per rod. I think that a hedge four years old 

 cannot be grown properly for less than one 

 dollar per rod. The young hedge, for two or 

 three years, should have the same attention 

 that a row of com or potatoes has. If the 

 mice are permitted »o gnaw the bark off the 

 roots and make gaps in the hedge it is difficidt 

 or well nigh impossible to get them filled up 

 again, after the hedge is grown it costs from 

 six to ten cents per rod annually to keep it 

 trimmed. 



The osage-orange, in good hands, makes a 

 neat and tasteful, as well as an enduring 

 fence. The careless farmer should never at- 

 tempt to raise one. On the great prairies of 

 the West where land is cheap and the enclos- 

 ures are large, hedges may be used to advan- 

 tage; but in eastern Pennsylvania, where land 

 is high in price, we should endeavor to bring 

 every rod under culture. Fencing is a heavy 

 item of expense and the subject is one which 

 deserves the earnest attention of fanners ; but 

 I am convinced that we will not find relief in 

 hedging. In conclusion, I would advise those 

 who intend to plant a hedge, as Douglas Jer- 

 rold advised those about to get married — 

 '■'■don't do it." — J. C. L. Gap, Lane, co.. Pa. 



THE PAW-PAW. 



This subject of the vegetable kingdom be- 

 longs to the " Custard apple " family. Paw- 

 paw of the United States — a Creole name. It 

 grjiws west, middle and south, but is not known 

 in New York or Canada. It is more indige- 

 nous to the south than to the west. Found 

 abundant on the banks of the Susquehanna, 

 from below Harrisburg to the Chesapeake Bay. 

 It is oftentimes only seen as a shrub or a small 

 tree, or under the boughs of the majestic forest 

 trees. They are very numerous between St. 

 -Toseph and Kansas City, on the banks of the 

 Missouri, where they grow under the mam- 

 moth "Cotton-Poplar," and are generally 

 looked u))on as "underbrush." Tliey are in- 

 veterate si)routers from the root, and come up 

 almost as thick as hemp in a wild state, and 

 that accounts for the fact that they never ap- 

 pear very large. They are so nimierous on the 

 banks of the Missotn-i that the vineyardmen 

 use the tender herb to tie up the grape vines 

 in their vineyards. When one is kept clear 

 of other trees, it will get from six to ten inches 

 thick in the trunk, and on the southern river 

 bottoms they have lieen known to grow from 

 fifteen inches to two feet thick. The Paw-paw 

 is about Ijeing introduced as a common fruit, 

 and no doubt will be sold by nurserymeu 

 everywhere. 



These trees, when brought imder cultivation 

 in yards, will form beautiful heads, foliage and 

 appearance resembling the Magnolia family. 

 Flowers precede the leaves in early spring, and 



