58 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



Tbe seed Potatoes sbotild be planted by the 

 1st of May, at farthest. In the late disti-icts, as 

 the seed may be injured by the fiost before 

 taken up, thej- could be well earthed up by the 

 plow a short time before tiic frost may be ex- 

 pected : and the same may be done in the low 

 country ; but o!" course the}' do not run an equal 

 risk so early in the seasfjn. although we all 

 know that a very slight decree of frost ^vill in- 

 jure the Potato. Those not meant for seed ought 

 to be managed much in the sanae \vay ; gi'i'ing 

 the land, however, more manure, and y>l;mting 

 deeper : as the Potato, if gi-eened, vriW of course 

 be unfit for food. I would advise the experi- 

 ment of topping or cutting the Potato-tops when 

 too luxuriant. It may be done in this way : — 

 A per.son, ^\•ith a common !iar\'est reaping-hook, 

 about the time of the decay of the blossom, 

 should be employed to go along the drills and 

 cut oft' the top.s, about 2 inches or so below the 

 blossom : this will not only ])revent tliem from 

 seeding, but will check the luxuriance of the 

 stems, and save the exhausted roots or tubers. 



I have alwaj-s thought that the produce of 

 any overeTO\\-n or luxuriant white crop pro- 

 duced inferior seed ; and I suspect tliat it will 

 be found that all white and green crops may be 

 too highly cultivated. It is well known that 

 turnip-roots rot and decay prematurelj- from 

 the application of too much manure. I have 

 aLso long entertained the idea that smut in 

 vv'heat. barley, and oats, has always arisen 

 from over-cultivation ; and, if we .shall find out 

 the cause, we can have less difficulty in finding 

 a remedy. I therefore hope that Agriculturi.sts 

 wOl a.s.sist me in exploring the field of over-cul- 

 tivation, which has seldom or never been thought 

 of, as almost every Farmer has gone on upon 

 the principle that too much .stimulus could not 

 be applied : the crop may have been too luxuri- 

 ant to be profitable, but the degeneracj- of the 

 seed or root has been invariably lost sight of. — 

 We must, then, bear in mind that Dame Nature 

 may be assisted or followed with success ; but 

 if we shall attempt to deviate from her law, we 

 are sure to fail. 



iVote. — The author of " The Problem Solved," in a 

 Tery ingenious treatise on the subject, has pointed 

 out the prob.'ihle effects of cutting the Potato in the 

 Spring or bleeding ^^eason. and also on producing and 

 raising seed from the apple. In planting the Potato 

 whole, of course this objection would be obviated. 



I have mentioned thai the American Early, and the 

 Surinam Potato or Yam, have not been known to 

 faiL Neither of these has been oxten.si^ely culti- 

 vated ; and although not an absolute failure, yet it is 

 vpell known that they have degenerated ; and the 

 Yam. for this and other cau.^e.-', has neaily disap- 

 peared from our fields. My plea is, that long-contin- 

 ued and extensive cultivation will finally deftmy the 

 plant ; and the Surinam and American Early form 

 no exception to the theoiy advanced. 



Potatoes. — Early in .Tanuarj- last I planted 

 a plot of ground with Poden's early Oxford Po- 

 tatoes: half of the plot I planted with cut sets, 

 the other half with \\-hole Potatoes. They were 

 all planted ."> inches in depth, and were not co- 

 vered with any manure or litter of any kind. — 

 The frost has not injured tlic whole Potatoes in 

 the least, as they have all come up and are hoik- 

 ing very healthv ; but it bai entirely destroyed 

 the cut sf;t.s. They were all planted in a stiff, 

 damp soil, which was frozen for several inches 

 below them. [C. J. Perry, Ilandsworth. 



noF,] 



After-culture of drill Potatoes. — SiR: 

 The after-culture of drill Potatoes is usually done 

 by paring or cuttmsrthe drill, at each side of the 

 plant, and within three inches of it ; then tlie 

 drill harrow and roller, if necessary, are applied, 

 to break any lumps the harrow may bring to the 

 surface ; ^^•eeding, &c. is then performed ; the 

 fine earth is then put to the Potatoes by a double 

 moulding plo^v; this operation is agraiu exe- 

 cuted when the work is finished. It is after this 

 fashion that all the practical farmers act, that I 

 know of, with the exception of one, who, I ad- 

 mit, is entitled to take the first place, as a really 

 practical and successful agriculturist. His plan 

 is, not to pare or cut his drills, but to cut the cen- 

 tre between them ; and then put the earth up to 

 the plant. His reason for not cutting is, not to 

 injure or di.sturb the roots ; but he takes great 

 jiaijis in hoeing and weeding. 



It may be, tliat some information can be sup- 

 plied tlu'ough the columns of the Gazette on 

 this practice ; and perhaps you might favor the 

 public with your own observations, on the rela- 

 tive merits of both-plan.s. 



[In the course of our practice, we never had 

 the earth cut away from the drill, unless by the 

 coulters of the scarifier ; and this we con.sider 

 neccssarj-. in order to have the ground properly 

 cleared, and kept loose and open for the admis- 

 sion of :ur. This can be done with safety, in 

 the early stages of the plant, before the roots 

 have extended themselves; yet we consider a 

 distance of three inches from the plant too little. 

 as the manure would be liable to be dragged 

 out, and tlie sets displaced. Six inches on each 

 side of the plant, wiU be near enough in the first 

 instance ; and in our succeeding application of 

 the implement, it must be contracted according 

 to the increased space occupied by the roots.] 



The Potato Probi-em Solved. — The Cause of the 

 Disease in the Potato pointed out ; Remedies ex- 

 emplitied ; and New Systems of Potato Cultivation 

 proposed. By Robert Arthur. W. H. Lizars, 3 St. 

 James's-square, Edinburgh. 47 pages. 

 A.N'Y new suggestion towards the explanation 

 and prevention of the Potato rot is worthy of 

 attention and trial, and especially one so well 

 founded on analoicy as that brought for\vard by 

 Mr. Arthur. In reference to the propagation of 

 plants bj- means of eyes he quotes the following 

 pas.saires from Dr. Lindley's work on the " The- 

 ory of Horticulture." — "The only species very 

 generally .so increased, are the Potato and the 

 Vine." " In order to insure success in this 

 operation upon the Vine, it is only necessaiy 

 that the eye xhould be dormnnt ■" and reasoning 

 from this on analogy he recommends Potatoes 

 to be cut for seed at a period when the juice in 

 them is dorm nut, so to speak ; v^hen in fact the 

 set will not bleed at a cut suiface. He shows, 

 in a variety of instances, though not in so many 

 perhaps as would be needed to prove " the Po- 

 tato problem at last to be '• xolved," that the 

 practice of cutting the Potato sets in Autumn in- 

 stead of Spring perfectly an.swers. Perhaps the 

 mo.st .striking confirmation of his views would 

 be the general success of the Potato crop this 

 year — for the sets, owing to the frost, must have 

 been mnch in that dormant .state which he re- 

 commends when cut this Spring. We could 

 easily extract many intere.s-ting paracraphs from 

 this little ^vork. but we have no wi.sh to satif:/^/ 

 the curiosity of our readers and interfere with 

 its sale by transferring its contents to our 

 column.^. The book is written by a yiractical 

 gardener, and well desen-es extensive peru.sal. 



