1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



603 



toes, or not having therii in sufficient quantity, 

 must be traced to the netrligence of tlie farmer, 

 ratiier than any deficiencies of soil or climate. 



Tlie preparation of a field for the potato is 

 sinnple. If a fjmps ley PufFi.'iently rich without 

 manurins, a rare case with litis crop, the Pod may 

 he carefully turned over, rolled down, and then 

 the surface earth ioo-^ened wiiii a fine harrow, in 

 in vviiich the tuhers or sets are tn he planted. If 

 it requires manuring, let the manure, and this 

 should he ionir ratiier than short, he evenly spread 

 over the around; with the plough make the fur- 

 row, and into tliis let one hand haul the manure 

 so placed in the (iirrovv. - This row is covered by 

 the plongli and the operation is repeated till all 

 are planted. Corn on the ley is sjerierai preferred, 

 and roots wed manured afier the corn. The first 

 in the rotation may depend on convenience, as tb« 

 turf ie excellent lor either. 



A multitude of experiments have been made 

 and recorded, both in England and the United 

 States, to determine the best methdd of plantin;^ 

 the seed, whether in whole tubers, or in roots cut 

 in two or more pieces, called sets. The result of 

 these experiments have been somewhat contradic- 

 tory, yet they seem to have established the lact 

 that whole tubers will produce rather more pota- 

 toes than sets, but not more than sufficient to bal- 

 ance the extra quantity of seed, required where 

 whole potatoes are used. There are many far- 

 mer? who prefer sets altcselher, and the proba- 

 bility is. that twent}?- bushels of lar^e potatoes, 

 cut into sets and planted with a proper number in a 

 hill, would produce more potatoes :han the same 

 quantity planied whole; but the space planted would 

 of course be more extensive with the first than the 

 last. iMr. Rhoades o( Skaneatles, an observing 

 and very intelligent firmer, says lie would not use 

 whole potatoes, could he have them given him, (or 

 seed; and his success with sets would seem to jus- 

 tify the preference. 



It was once the faslnon amopi; farmers to make 

 little mountains of their potato hills; but that seems 

 to have been useless labor, and extra hilling is dis- 

 pensed with. The ground alter planting should 

 be kept free from weeds, the earth stirred with the 

 cultivator or the hoe; but after the tubers have be- 

 gun to form, the plousrh should not he used, as it 

 frequently cuts so deep as to disturb the young 

 plants, breaking off the little tubers, or causing 

 the formation of new roots, processes decidedly 

 injurious to the crop. The general lenirth of the 

 vines must determine the distance at which the 

 rows are to planted, and this of coarse varies greatly 

 in the several kinds comimonly cultivated. If po- 

 tatoes are planted in the rows nearer one way than 

 the other, the rows should run north and south, 

 that the sun may produce its proper ^Hect on the 

 leaves of the plant, and on the eurli^ice of the 

 earth between the rows; and the same remark 

 will hold good of corn or other plants, the rows of 

 which should always run north and south, when 

 the make of the land will permit. 



When it is foimd that potatoes yield large quan- 

 tities of balls, It is considered by many farmers a 

 proof that the poia'o has reached iis maturity 

 and begun to degenerate ; the production of seeds 

 in all plants being indicative of this fact. Mr. 

 Knight, the celebrated writer and gardener, main- 

 tained the certainty of the arrival at maturity, and 

 consequent degeneration of all varieties of plants, 



the potato among the rest, and the necessity of 

 occasionally renewing them from the seeds, which 

 is the process nature itself employs for prevent- 

 ing the degeneracy or extinction of plants. 



There are few districts in our country where fa- 

 vorite varieties of the potato are not cultivated, 

 and not unlt-equently the same kind is known in 

 different places by flifierent names. The Pinkeye, 

 tlie Sardinia, the Mercer or Chenangoa, the Eno- 

 lish and Irish v/hites, and the several varieties of 

 the red and bjack potato," are the best known. 

 The Rohan potato, lately inlro'duced into this 

 country from France, promises to be a great ac- 

 quisition both for productiveness aiid quality. But 

 we have yet seen no potato, that, lor the table, 

 could be compared for excellence with the Pinkeye. 

 !t cannot be considered a great bearer, though it 

 yields well ; but (or flavor, and amount of nutri- 

 tion, we tiiink it unrivalled. 



The production of early potatoes for the markets 

 ofourciiics and villages, is becoming yearly a 

 matter of more interest to the farmer; by practi- 

 sing the mode adopted in England of selecting 

 the earliest kinds, and then treating them in '.he 

 fbllovviag manner, described by Loudon, important 

 improvements might doubtless be effected. The 

 cultivators in Lancashire have found that there is 

 a Ibrtnight's difference between the ripening of 

 potatoes grown from opposite ends of the same 

 potato; that part to which the root is attached 

 beirig the latest in ripening, while those that spring 

 from the nose end, are found much in advance of 

 the others in vigor, early maturity, and in size. 

 Each potato is therefore by the gardeners divided 

 mto three parts, which are planted by themselves, 

 and thus they ripen and are fit lor the market to- 

 gether. 



The potato being in its native state a poison- 

 ous plant, like many others of the tropical climates, 

 from which wholesome nutriment may be derived, 

 it should not be cooked until ripe, or becomes 

 mealy. The value of a potato depends in a great 

 measure on the starch ii contains, and of course 

 the nutritive matter greatly varies in the several 

 varieties, and in the same varieties at diflerent 

 times. Perhaps there is no method that developes 

 the qualit}' of a potato more fully than baking. 

 We have seen a very fine early variety, and also 

 some superior specimens of the Pinkeye, when 

 exposed to the heat of the oven, expand and burst 

 like parched corn into a thousand fragments. Sui h 

 roots contain little else than pure starch ; and the. 

 experiments of Raspail on the nutritive action of 

 the potato, shows that in such plants it is found 

 in the most abundant quantity. Next to baking, 

 steaming is the preferable method of preparing 

 this root, and experience shows that it should ne- 

 ver be given to any animal unless in a cooked 

 state, if we would derive (rom it its liill value. 



Cellars in which the temperature is but a few 

 degrees above the fi-eezing point, or from 40 deg. 

 to 45 deg., are the best for roots, and particularly 

 for the potato ; but they keep no where so well as 

 in pits, covered with just enough earth to keep out 

 the frost. Light, and exposure to the air, are in- 

 jurious to roots, and in pits these are excluded. 

 To have these roots then in their excellence in the 

 spring, enough should be pitted for use as well as 

 for planting. Some writers in the 'Quarterly Jour- 

 nal of Agriculture,' have strenuously recommend- 

 ed that potatoes intended for seed, should be gath- 



