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118 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



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EXPERIMENT WITH POTATOES. 



BT E. HAMMOND, OF MANORKILL, SCHOHARIE CO., N. Y. 



I AM trying to pursue the "most healthy and honorable — the most natural pursuit of 

 man." I reside on that high and elevated tract of mountain land on the western slope 

 of the Catskill range, on the eastern sources of the Schohariekill, one of which passes 

 through my farm. The soil is a dark clay loam. The stones are red, dark grey, and 

 lio-ht grey — flat and broken. I have been a constant subscriber to some agricultural 

 journal for the last seven years. I desire to know why a crop is sometimes first rate 

 and sometimes almost a failure. I desire to move with some certainty in my pursuit. 



In the April number of the Genesee Farmer for 1851 I read an excellent article on 

 that almost worn out topic, the " Potato Malady." It was very interesting to me. I 

 have been experimenting on that crop for some years. I broke up a good sod for pota- 

 toes as soon as the frost was out and the ground settled. I did not plant till June 5th. 

 The soil was in fine condition. I measured oif a piece eight rods long and four rods 

 wide to experiment upon. I planted 1st, Two rows of Carters, thirty-six hills in a row, 

 and applied four quarts composition (three quarts leached ashes and one quart plaster) 

 to each row. 2d, Two rows Carters ; applied two quarts plaster to each row. 3d, Two 

 rows Carters ; three quarts unleached ashes and one quart plaster to each row. 4th, 

 Two rows Mercers ; nothing applied. 5th, Two rows Mercers ; eight quarts of leached 

 ashes to a row. 6th, Two rows Mercers ; half a bushel of charcoal (coarse) to each row. 

 The application was made on the potatoes in the hill before covering ; nothing more 

 applied. They were dug the last week in August. 



Eesult. — No 1, Yield — 66 quarts good ; 4 quarts unsound, but not rotten. No. 2, 

 50 quarts perfectly sound ; none unsound. No. 3, 54 quarts sound ; 2 quarts unsound. 

 No. 4, 44 quarts sound ; none unsound. No. 5, 68 quarts sound, but a number of 

 them somewhat discolored — saved for seed ; 18 quarts rotten and unsound — many so 

 rotten as hardly to hold together till measured. No. 6, 61 quarts good ; 12 quarts 

 rotten and unsound. 



Now for a few facts of personal observation on the above, then a few queries, and I 

 have done : 



I observed that wherever the ashes and tuber came in contact, there was rottenness 

 on that side of the tuber in every instance. I dug them myself with care, and my 

 observations were as close as I was capable of making — perfectly satisfactory to myself 

 at least. Where I applied gypsum alone, I noticed that where the gypsum and tubers 

 came in direct contact, there was no rot or decay in any instance. I applied a gill of 

 plaster to a hill for a few hills adjoining the above experiments. There was no increased 

 vigor to the vine, nor apparently any increased product of potatoes, but the potatoes 

 were perfectly sound. The vines of the 5th experiment looked beautiful and vigorous, 

 and could be distinguished for twenty or thirty rods, and I expected great results. I ex- 

 pected that the charcoal in the 6th experiment would result in a rather good yield from 

 its quantity, but I was somewhat disappointed. 



Has the result of unusual rottenness following the application of ashes directly on the 

 seed been observed by others ? and would the result have been different had the applica- 

 tion been made on the hill, so as not to come in direct contact with the tubers ? Would 

 gjrpsum in the hill and ashes and gypsum on the hill change the result ? It appears to 

 me that it would. 



I am now dose for the present on the potato experiments. I shall make further 

 experiments the present year. 



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