}44 



POT 



P O T 



drained, because of the height of 

 the land on every side. But in this 

 case, if the banks be not clay, they 

 may be drained in tlie following 

 manner. 



Take notice on which side land 

 that is lower than the pond is near- 

 est. On that side, in the bank near 

 the pond, dig a knid of cellar, two 

 or three feel deeper than the sur- 

 face of the pond ; do it in a dry 

 se^i-^on. If a hard stratum appear, 

 dig through it; and leave digging 

 where the bottom is loose gravel, 

 or sand. Then make an open or 

 a covered drain from the pond to 

 the cellar. The water will be dis- 

 charged from the pond, and soak 

 into the earth through the bottom 

 of the cellar, till a scurf is formed 

 on the bottom that will stop the 

 water from soaking into the earth. 

 This scurf should be broken from 

 time to time, and taken away with 

 a long handled hoe. Or, the cel- 

 lar may be filled up with refuse 

 stones, wliich I think is preferable 

 to the other method. 



If the pond should not then be- 

 come sufficiently dry, a small ditch 

 should be drawn round it, and dis- 

 charge itself into the cellar. The 

 land that is thus gained will be rich 

 muck, much of which may be cart- 

 ed away for manure ; and common 

 earth, or sand, may replace it, with- 

 out detriment to the soil. 



POTATOE, Solanum, a well 

 known vegetable. It was reported 

 to have been first brought to Eu- 

 rope by Sir Walter Raleigh, but 

 the better opinion is, that it is a na- 

 tive of the high table lands of South 

 America. 



No plant is so prolific in varie- 



ties as the potatoe, and no one va- 

 ries so much as this does, in the 

 several requisites of productiveness, 

 and of excellent esculent qualities 5 

 some being very dry and farinace- 

 ous, and others watery. The at- 

 tentive and scientific observers of 

 Europe have maintained that the 

 varieties of the potatoe soon run 

 out ; and they have gone so far as 

 to assert that their duration extends 

 only to fourteen or fifteen years, af- 

 ter which period they degenerate 

 in quality and productiveness. 

 This, certainly, is very much cor- 

 roborated by the (act, that not one 

 of the varieties, recommended by 

 Dr. Deane in his last edition is now 

 even known in our country. Since 

 his time we have had many kinds, 

 which have had their day of suc- 

 cess, and have entirely disappear- 

 ed. Perhaps there is no one fact 

 better proved than this. We shall 

 quote one example only. The 

 red, or cranberry potatoe, which 

 20 years since was thefavorite,and 

 almost the only one in the Boston 

 market, has entirely disappeared. 

 We speak from experience, when 

 we say that it gradually diminished 

 in its productiveness till it entirely 

 disappeared. 



The foregoing facts would lead 

 us either to seek new and improv- 

 ed varieties from other countries, 

 or to endeavour, as the Europeans 

 do, to raise them from the seed of 

 the berry. 



I shall here give the method of 

 doing it. Take the apples in the 

 beginning of October, before the 

 frost has hurt them : Hang them up 

 by the foot stalks in a dry closet, 

 where they will not freeze : Let 



