THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



629 



ua (hat are in the dark " more li<j;hl" on this 

 subject. Invite such as have hud any experience 

 in llie mailer to come out and " show their liatids." 

 Let us not be content to carry our pumpkins in 

 one end ol" llie saclc, with a rock in the oiher end 

 to balance iheui, because our liithers did so be- 

 fore us. 



There was a resohition passed at our meclitifr, 

 to forward ihe reports that were read un various 

 subjects, (amounting to lour in all,) to tlie editors 

 of the Farmers' Kefiister and Temperance Ad- 

 vocate lur publication, but us some ol us have 

 come to the conclusion since, tliat, as the reports 

 were elicited by a call Irom the Siate Agricultural 

 Society, through the district society, ihey are 

 their legitimate properly, to do wiiat they may 

 think proper witli, and, consequently, it would 

 not at present be proper to publish them, the 

 resolution will not in all probability be complied 

 with. These are the principal reasons why this 

 communication is made. For if my report liad 

 been published, it most probably would have 

 drawn out all the uiformalion nowsouj^ht lor. 



In conclusion, sir, permit me to congratulate 

 you, and all those lor whose interest you have 

 so ably contended, on Ihe lesult of your ho'd and 

 daring advenlure ol" " bcarJing the lion," the 

 "great monster bank," in his den. S. 



SWEET POTATOES. 



From llie Soutli Carolina Temperance Advocate. 



The best plan of rait;ing sv\eet potatoes, agree- 

 ably 10 my experience, is as Ibllovvs : 



Some warm spell in March, 1 would say, about 

 the middle, take your seed potatoes from the 

 slack, cellar, or where they have been preserved 

 during the winter. Sort out such seed as you 

 would like lo plant, and bed then) in fresh earih, 

 some potatoes and some eanh, uniil you have as 

 many as you need. Then leave tlie bed exposed 

 ta the weather until plantinir lime. In so doing, 

 the potatoes will sprout. Prepare your ground, 

 which should be sandy soil if you have it. Old 

 land is best if manured. Covvpen land is prefera- 

 ble. Any other manured land will do, except 

 hog-pen. I have tried hog- pen and hog manure 

 three times, flnd it has liiiled every time. The 

 potatoes will come up very bad, and directly begin 

 10 fire, and finally die. You should |)lough your 

 ground by the middle of March, and continue to 

 plough it about every ten days until the 15th or 

 20ih of April ; then check your land three and a 

 half feet, and make your hills small ; then raise 

 your seed carefully, about three in a hill. I be- 

 Ueve cutting the potatoes in small pieces to be 

 injurious. Plant them whole. If you should 

 wish to plant in lidges, cut a channel on the top 

 of the ridge and lay in it a potato every 10 or 

 12 inches. Planting at this season, the potatoes 

 will come up in a few days, and grow finely ; 

 whereas, if planted early they will not. 



When they want work, plough and draw up 

 dirt with a hoe. Which of those two plans 

 is beet, I can hardly say, although 1 believe the 

 ridge will make the mast, but the hill the largest. 



1 have planted yam potatoes for several years, 

 and generally bed my seed in March. In doing 

 thisj I scrape a little of the surface ofl about 2 



inches, and lay the potatoes thick on the ground, 

 and cover with the soil very liuhi ; plough your 

 patch as belore directed, until ihe planis come 

 up from 4 to inches high. When there is ap- 

 pearance of rain, make as many ridgea as you 

 liave plants lor. When you get a season, set 

 your plants in as you would cal)bage or any other 

 plants, 10 inches apart, and as the planis become 

 large enough, set out as before dnected. I be- 

 lieve they will bring a tolerable good crop, when 

 planted as late as the 4ih of July. 15ut the 

 sooner the belter. Sometimes, however, we 

 get no seasons, and can hardly raise them 

 in this way. Therelbre, I have tried planting 

 ihem in the hdl and ridge as other potatoes, 

 and have been successful in raising tliem in this 

 way. I raised the largest ones last year I ever 

 eaw ; they weighed as high as seven and a half 

 pounds. I have the red, Spanish and ihe yam ; 

 the red grows large, but of them all, i thmk most 

 of yam. 



The next is how to preserve them during the 

 winter. 1 have tried several plans, and the plan 

 most successful is in hill or stack. Scrape out a 

 hole about 4 inches deep, and as round as you 

 well can, large enough lo hold 25 or 80 bushels ; 

 then place heart pine boards in ihe bottom; then 

 pine straw, u good layer under and over the pota- 

 toes. Then stand corn stalks very closely all 

 around the straw. Then cover vviih din. The 

 stacks should be covered so as to keep Ihe rain 

 and cold from them. Perhaps I should say some- 

 thing about the time and manner of digging! 

 The vines should be well frost bitten before dig- 

 ging, and 1 am of the impression that Ihey ought 

 to be let stand several days after fj-ost. The po- 

 tato, hull or peeling will harden very much by 

 standing, and the potato is not hall" so apt to 

 bruise and injure in putting away, and I believe 

 if the potato vines were all cut oil' as soon as 

 frost bitten, it would be an advantage to the po- 

 tato ; lor when the vine is frost biiten, the sap is 

 inclined to run back to the potato, and if the vines 

 were cut ofl, it would prevent the sap's returning. 

 The potato would be diier, and perhaps not rot 

 so soon. 



My common mode of gathering them is with 

 Ihe plough, first dragging the vines away, then 

 [)lough the hill or ridge followed with hoes. 



July 22(1, 1841. George Bozey. 



MELILOT AGAIN. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Kegister. 



Dear sir : — The pressure of cares and business, 

 and a greater portion of ill health than has ever 

 before fallen to my lot, have long prevented me 

 from attempting a contribution to the pages of 

 the Register. To tell the truth, sir, I got such 

 a castigation the last time any of my efforts ap- 

 peared there, that I have doubted much whether 

 I ought not, in future, to keep my shoulders out 

 of the reach of such a cat-o'-nine tails, as your 

 correspondent "Commentator" wields. But, sir, 

 I love the Register, and the objects which it is 

 intended to promote, and while its editor encour- 

 ages me to write, I shall feel it a privilege, when 

 circumstances allow, to exert my humble efforts 

 in the noble cause. 



