46 



THE GEXESEE FARMER. 



oats Lad scarcely got rooted when hot, dcy weather 

 came, which they were uuable to conteud with suc- 

 cessfully. 



Next season I hope for better results I have ex- 

 pended much more in enlarging the ditches and deep- 

 ening the outlet, (in company with those owning the 

 remainder of the marsh,) than I have yet made from 

 ray little farm, and last fall I had the mars^h plowed 

 into narrow lauds, and the furrows nicely opened into 

 the main ditch, so that the water can pass off at once 

 in the spring. The land will be tit for early sowing, 

 and I shall again try oats and seed down to grass, 

 hoping for more profitable returns hereafter. I find 

 that some parts of the field, previously fall-plowed, are 

 in better condition, especially where clay was turned 

 up, and think that mixing muck and clay will have a 

 good effect, and make a soil better fitted for our dry 

 summers; while draining will fix it for our wet ones. 



It is astonisning to see the vigorous growth the mud 

 thrown out of the bottom of the ditch has produced. 

 There must be great virtue in it, and I have no doubt 

 that, if spread over the land, it would produce effects 

 equal to the best manure. This is partly due, 1 think, 

 to the animal matter it contains, for thousands of 

 small fi.shes perished therein, as the water dried away, 

 and there were also a great many little shells and 

 water insects. 



The higher portion of this marsh has lain for 

 several years in meadow and pasture. I plowed 

 it up last fall, and intend to plant some portion 

 to corn and sow the remainder to oats and 

 barley. I would like to underdrain this part, but 

 must get some profit from it before I go to that ex- 

 pense — though if I had the money to do it at once, I 

 am quite confident that it would be the most direct 

 route to the farming that pays. B. F. — Jan.. 18.37. 



CULTIVATION OF POTATOES. 



The Potato has long held a veiy prominent place 

 f&mong the necessities of man as an article of food, 

 but being easily cultivated, and yielding a large re- 

 turn, with slight care or labor, there seems to have 

 arisen among our farmers a most culpable negligence 

 in raising and propagating so useful a vegetable; 

 most farmers seem to think that it is sufficient to plow 

 the ground, put in any kind of seed, run a plow be- 

 tiveen the rows onee or twice in the season, and let 

 them take their chance. If it should be a good sea- 

 son, an 1 they happen to have the right kind of seed, 

 they have a good crop; but the contrary circumstan- 

 ces, an 1 their potatoes are not worth digging. Now 

 if a farmer would be a farmer, it should be his aim to 

 put in his crops in such a v/ay that he may have at 

 least a remunerative return, even in a bad season. — 

 For instance, in this part of Illinois, this past season, 

 most farmers have but few potatG&=i, and those very 

 "small potatoes," on account of an extremely d.y 

 summer, while two or three, ])rofiting by past experi- 

 ence, had large and profitable crops. Their process 

 was this: They laid their seed on the top of the 

 grround in rov>-s two foet apart, and cover-ed the ground 

 all over with straw six inches deep, in which the po- 

 tatoes grew without any I'urther troulde; for while 

 the potato vine was stout enough to force its way 

 through the straw, weeds had to hide their diminished 

 beads, as the straw was Iroo much for them. But this 

 ■would only answer for very dry sep^sons; and if these 

 .gentlemen repeat the procesa in a very wet summer, 



they will find the boot on the other leg; for the straw 

 will hold so milch water that if the potatoes are not 

 entirely rotted, they will be found to be only fit for 

 cattle and hogs; but that can be easily remedied.— 

 The plan I shall adopt will be this: Put down three 

 rows of seed two feet apart in beds six feet wide, 

 leaving one foot wide outside of the outer row on 

 eacii side, and dig a trench two feet wide and nearly 

 as deep between the beds, throwing the beds, just 

 barely covering the seeds; then put on straw five or 

 six inches deep. If it should be dry weather, the 

 straw performs its office by retaining moisture; if an 

 extremely wet season, the surplus water drains off into 

 the trenches. 



A very important object in planting potatoes 

 is to have sound seed, of a good variety. All 

 who have planted the same kind of potato a number 

 of years on the same farm, know that the potato will 

 run out or get watery and hollow in the heart, and 

 the evil increases every year whatever the season may 

 be. Such potatoes can be restored to their former 

 soundness, with the loss of only one season, in the fot 

 lowing manner: Save back two or three bushels of 

 potatoes for six or seven weeks after the usual time of 

 planting, say until the last of June; then plant them 

 in the usual manner. They will not be ready to dig 

 till a frost has wilted the vines. On digging them 

 then, they will be found to be quite small; save them 

 carefully till spring, and plant them at the usual 

 planting time, and if il;e sc^-sou is favorable, they 

 will produce large potatoes and as sound as ever 

 that variety was ori si iiiJIy. Charles Seagar. — ffor 

 verly, Murgmi Co., III. 



POTATOES ON CLOVER SOD. 



" IS''o i)lant enriches the soil so much for potatoes as 

 red clover. But a tough clover sod, turned over im- 

 mediately before planting, prevents, more or less, that 

 thorough after-working of the soil, with the horse and 

 hand hoe, which is essential to the production of a 

 good crop. IIow can we get the enriching advantages 

 of the clover sod without this drawback ? — Eds. Gen- 

 esee Farmer, March, 1856. 



That clover sod prepares the land well — ^in fact 

 first-rate — for potatoes, I know from experience. But 

 that there is any material difficulty in pisjper after 

 cultivation, I have never found, though I know it is 

 not quite as easy hoeing as in a mellower soil. Let 

 me give you my method of growing potatoes — one I 

 have practiced for many years. 



The same soil and preparation which will produce 

 good corn, with me, brings a good crop of potatoes^ 

 and very generally the soil is fitted for both at one 

 operation. I take a good clover sod, on a loamy 

 soil, and apply from twenty to thirty loads of barn- 

 yard manure — leaving it in heaps as drawn out, and 

 spreading it immediately before plowing. Plow it 

 but a few days before planting, from six to nine inch- 

 es deep, taking care to make no balks, and to turn 

 under the manure as perfectly as possible. I then 

 harrow throughly, lengthwise the furrow, then, per- 

 haps, across, so as to get the surface in as fine tilth 

 as may be. But very few sods are torn up, and the 

 tougher they are, the better, in my estimation. 



The ground is then marked out and the potatoes 

 planted — in hills, so as to give chance for cultivating 

 both ways. I have never tried rows or drills, and 

 think it would require more labor. To get the most 



