112 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Mat. 



For l>.c (icnesoe Farmer. 



The Culture of Potatoes. | 



Mr. Editor: — The rot among potatoes has! 

 given rise to many theories respecting its cause — I 

 none of them, 1 believe, satisfactory. Tliat it 

 cannot he attributed to any particular state of 

 the weather, or to any particular kind of soil, is 

 proved by its prevailing so universally in this 

 country as well as in Europe. The belief at one 

 time entertained by a few, that all at once the 

 potato had iailcd fron) the want of new varieties, 

 lias, too, gone the way of other theories. 



Whether it arises from animalculsc, or " the 

 ahsence of a trace of copper in the soil,'' or from 

 fungi, let the learned decide. In the mean time, 

 let the farmers note what experience teaches, 

 and if they cannot find out the cause, at least, 

 by different methods .of cultivation, endeavor to 

 find out a cure. Having suffered much for two 

 or three years past by the rot, and having read of 

 lime being of service in preventing it, I concluded 

 to give it a trial. For that purpose I had my 

 seed potatoes, which were carefully selected 

 from the remains of my diseased crop the year 

 before, cut and rolled in newly slaked lime, 

 and put in the hills of some a little lime ; others, 

 lime and ashes — plaster and ashes, and ashes 

 alone. When harvested I could perceive but lit- 

 tle difTerence, and that little I thought was in fa- 

 vor of the ashes. 



They were all sound. I had them put in a 

 dry celler, and lef\ a free circulation of air so 

 long as I could with safety from the fi-ost. Mine 

 were planted early — before any of my neighbors. 

 Theirs were much laj-ger than mine, and ap- 

 peared perfectly sound, and they thought they 

 had got the better of me this time. I began to 

 think so myself, but in a short time their finest 

 looking potatoes began to exhibit dark spots — 

 then an examination was made of those in heaps, 

 as well as those in the cellar, and those in the 

 former, particularly, were found to be decaying 

 in great quantities. Mine were and are perfect- 

 ly sound. When my hands were busy planting 

 them last spring, a person passing in the road 

 stopped to see what Ave were doing, and on learn- 

 ing, said, as he was going for a load of lime, he 

 would try some en his potatoes when he planted 

 them. I have since been informed, for he re- 

 sides some miles distant, that where he used lime 

 his potatoes were sound, and where he did not, 

 in the same field, they were unsound ; and so 

 well convinced was he and his neighbors of the 

 benefit of the lime, that they intended to do the 

 .same this year. I would recommend early plant- 

 ing and the use of lime. Mine were plastered 

 when they were about a foot high. B. 



Hareicood, Pa., April, 1846. 



IIay and Oats as Feed for Horses. — 

 Twenty-five pounds of oats, on a fair average, 

 have been found equivalent to fifty pounds of 

 i;<w' Khi- -n nutritious qualities. 



Raising Potatoes. 



Thk important question now presents itself — 

 How shall we raise potatoes ? For the plague 

 may be on them again. Every reflecting farmer 

 who has read the Cultivator for a year past, has 

 learned much on this subject, from the numer- 

 ous facts that have been presented. We have 

 given our opinion that the disease was owing to 

 tiie atmospheric influence, and a number of cor- 

 respondents have expressed the same opinion. 

 But allowing this or any otl^er general cause for 

 the malady, it appears evident that there are nu- 

 merous predisposing causes, and that preventives 

 may be used with partial, perhaj)S with general, 

 though not invariably with universal success. 



Therefore avoid as much as possible predispo-* 



sing causes, use preventives, and thus 



" Act well your part and do your best, 

 And leave to Omnipotence the rest." 



In the first place, select for planting those kinds 

 of potatoes that are least liable to injury from this 

 disease. 



Early planting has in most cases been in some 

 measure a preventive of rot, as the potatoes were 

 grown, and vegetation had ceased before the dis- 

 ease commenced. 



Early kinds of potatoes have escaped more 

 than late ones, for the reason above given. 



Potatoes have done better on soils tolerable 

 light and dry, than on wet heavy soils. 



High, airv situations should be prefered to low- 

 damp situations, where the air is damp, heavy, 

 and more cliilly on cool nights. 



A northern exposure should be preferred to a 

 southern. 



New lands either recently from the forest, or 

 sward land, are more favorable than old lands. 



Animal manure should not be used, or it should 

 be well composed or decomposed, and then used 

 sparingly, and spread, and mixed intimately with 

 the soil. 



Pasture lands, that are not very poor, will be 

 favorable for avoiding the ro!. 



Apj)lying lime or plaster to the "seed before 

 planting, seems to be a remedy in some measure. 



Lime, -ashes, salt, plaster, soot, charcoal, and 

 some other substances have favorable efTects, not 

 only in preventing the disease, but some of them 

 serve as a manure in promoting the growth of 

 the potato. There are various ways of using 

 these; some are used alone; in some cases sev- 

 eral are mixed ; and the proportions have been 

 varied by difi'erent experimenters. We have 

 published various experiments and the results. — 

 Boston Cultivator. 



The Better Way. — The sons of the poor 

 die rich ; while the sons of the rich die poor! — 

 What an encouragement to toil through life, ac- 

 ((uiring wealth to ruin our children ! Better to 

 use our money as we go along — educate our 

 sons — secure their virtue by habits of industry, 

 and let them take cai-e of tliemselves. 



