THE FARMERS' REGli>ij:.i... 



665 



dfumnd, iou-ard Npw York, wliere its vnUir was 

 iippreciiiieil in llie currencv. S^o in lact ilie brinks 

 of Virfrinia have iiotliini^ to leitr, by re.*umiriLr, 

 vvl)ilsi H.iliiniore retiirtiiic: suspeiulci). Tlio iioics 

 oi ilie Virifiiiia liaiiks will iii once bear a iircniiiiin 

 in IJiitiinoie, lor use in Viiiiini^i, equal lo ilie de- 

 precimion oi ihe J5aliinioie curiency- Bnl ihe 

 hanks ot'B.iliiniore will not be the purchasers, i»inre 

 by iloinir so, they are losers ol the sum which 

 iliov have to pay as preniiun). Tlie town of Pe- 

 lernburg can maintain a sound currency il it will. 

 Wiihoui the slightest diliicuiiy, every imiiviilual 

 may decide, that he will recoiziiize no cnrrency 

 Ity receiviiiij or paying i', but at ns specie value — 

 llicre lies ilie true remedy. Expiouikxck. 



' Boston, October 15. 



ROOT CULTURE IK FRAKCE. 



For the Fanners' Recistcr. 

 Afr. Editor. — I senJ you an article on the culture 

 ol' potatoes, turnips, carrots, and beets in France, 

 translated from ' Le Bnn Jardinier.' 



Pomme de terre. or Parmentiere, Solannm tube- 

 rosum — Irish potato. — This valnible plani Ibrlu- 

 nately needs no recommendation in France ; its 

 merits are fully appreciated there, and if some 

 parte of the kinadom are still behind-hand in the 

 cujiivaticm of it, that will not long be the case. 

 Care lor the future should be directed to the ame- 

 lioration of which its culuire is su^^cepiihle, care 

 as 10 the diflerent operations which i' requirf^s, 

 care in the choice of varieties in relation to the 

 difference of soils and climates. Want of space 

 prevents my entering into details sufficiently for 

 any of these objpcts ; I shall thereliire confine 

 myself to a few detached remarks. The methods 

 of cuhivatinir the potato are various, and one can 

 name none of them that are not advantageous 

 when the work has been done with attention and 

 assiduiiy. Whatever method one follows he 

 should never forget that, ihe oltener and better he 

 woiks his potatoes the greater and larger will be 

 their product. There is yet a dilfierence of opi- 

 nion as to the best method of manuring !iir ihem; 

 but the prevailinff custom seems to be to throw 

 the compost into the furrows, and to place the 

 potatoes immediately on it. In hard clay lands, 

 where crenerally the quality of the potatoes is 

 bad, one will find it better to nsp, instead of the 

 compos*, coarse litter, or even new straw, or the 

 leaves of any dry plants which serve to raise and 

 litrhten the ground. We will give here an idea 

 of the Irish method of cultivaiins the potato, 

 which differs widely from ours, and which they 

 eay is more productive, and which has in addition 

 the advantase of brinsinor good potatoes in land 

 naturally too wet for this plant. 'I^hey divide ihe 

 land into beds more or lees wide, but say five feet 

 divided by an interval of two feet. This interval 

 should not be planted, and will serve to furnish 

 eanh to lay on that which is plan'ed. They 

 work liorhtlv wiih a hoe or spade the surface of 

 the beds. They then spread the manure, on the 

 surface of which they place the potatoes at re- 

 gular distances of from nine to ten inches every 

 way. They then cover them with from two to three 

 inches of dirt taken from the aforementioned 

 unplanted intervals. When the plants are BOtne 

 Vol. IX.-67 



inches higli iliey place about them another layer 

 of earth, lakcn Irom ihe same placcu ; ihie opera- 

 tion is to lie repealed rather later a third time. 

 It is unnecessary lo say that the eanh Irom the 

 iiiicrvals ^llould be well pulverized belore it ia 

 t.(>rea(i on the beds. ~'_ 



As ihe quesiiun of giving preference to large 

 tubercles or lo tmall ones, to quarters or to eyes, 

 cannot be discussed here, I will only permit myself 

 10 say ihat, from some comparative experiments, 

 It seems that with an equal number and on equal 

 ground ihe large tubercles will give the most con- 

 sideratile net product, and ihal the small (uberclea 

 or the bits of potato [)r 'duce a greater quantiiy 

 in |)roporiion lo ilie quaniiiy of seed that is plan'- 

 ed. Therefore one should preler either the one 

 mode or other as he finds il to his interest to ma- 

 nage lo advant.iire his land or his seed. The 

 eyes detached with a liule of the pulj) have been 

 v^ery much recommended. This is a sup[)'emeniary 

 means, very uselul in years of scarcity, but in ordi- 

 nary cases is not as desirable either as the whole tu- 

 bercles or as ihe quarters. The germs already put 

 out, detached !rom the tubercle which bears them, 

 and jilanted, give very good results. To obtain 

 ihem at the laiesl period it is well to plant some 

 time in June sli|)S taken Iroin stalks that aresuf- 

 (icienily firm and develo|ied. This mode is ad- 

 vantageous for replanting where they have failed 

 to come up, and appears suscepiible of very im- 

 portant applications, and deserves lo be studied 

 Willi atiention and interest. The seed irom the ter- 

 ry is another valuable mode of reproduction, which 

 It is desirable that every one should know, that 

 ihey may make use of il in case of need. It will 

 give, in the first year, if the land is I ghi and 

 suiiable, produce o\ good size, li is executed, 

 in two manners, first by sowing them in a nursery 

 in the garden, to replant at Irom fiiieen tocigh'een 

 inches'' between each plant, or by sowing ihem 

 in Ihe following manner, viz: The earth being 

 propel ly prepared, they make sliglii trenches at 

 the distance of from eighteen inches to two leet 

 apart. In March or April they sow it very thinly 

 in tlrese trenches, and cover it very lightly with 

 eanh well pulvenzid. When the young planta 

 cvtn be easily distinguished pull up the weeds wilh 

 the hand ; then when they are some inches high 

 work them anew and thin them in the places 

 where they are too thick, and with a hoe place 

 some earth about the plants which remain, to 

 ] sirength.m ihem. Rather later a second thinn'ng 

 lis necessary, which leaves the plants about one 

 Iboi apan, iliis time they should be moderately 

 hilled up. 'I'hey then continue to hill them as 

 they do planted potatoes. In an experimental 

 sowinc of an entire field, executed for the Society 

 of Ai/riciilture by M. Sageret and myself, we ob- 

 I tained in this manner potatoes of which the 

 ' largest moiety vvere •f the ordinary size and the 

 I resi were as large as nuts. But the principal and 

 I alntost only de^n'ri in sowing them i^ to obtain 

 t new varieties. ]Mjriy vaiieiiea of potatoes differ 

 ' very widely, some are very early and some very 

 late J f ome are distinguished for their great yield, 

 others lor their excellent quality; some have but 

 few stalks and leaves, giving free access to the 

 ravs of the sun, and in some species the leaves 

 form a thick cover that ellectually wards ofi the 

 SUB. These differences should have great in- 

 fluence on the eh«ice of the kind lo be culiivated 



