NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



101 



POTATOES. 



Mn. Editor ; I appear once more before the 

 readers of the Germantown Telegraph, on a topic 

 which all will acknowledge to be one of importance 

 to the farmer — that of potato raising. I will give 

 you our mode of culture, down here, where the 

 potato may be regarded fis a staple product, and 

 where its cultivation is as well understood as per- 

 haps any where else on the globe. 



Potatoes planted early generally succeed better 

 and produce more liberally than when planted late. 

 There are various methods of cultivating this root 

 practised, but I am aware of none that is preferable 

 to the following : — 



Ereak up sward land in the spring, roll, harrow 

 thoroughly, and spread on your manure in liberal 

 quantity, harrow again, and having furrowed, place 

 some good compost in the drills, drop your seed, and 

 cover. The compost should be fine, consisting of 

 rotten leaves, chip manure or muck — say one load ; 

 house ashes, ten bushels ; salt, four bushels ; lime, 

 five bushels ; gv'psum, one and a half bushel ; nitre, 

 twenty lbs. ; the whole to be thoroughly incorporated 

 and reduced, by repeated turnings, to a perfectly 

 homogeneous mass. One shovel full of this in 

 every hill wiU be sufficient. The potatoes may be 

 covered with an instrument made by fastening two 

 pieces of plank, six inches wide, and three feet long, 

 together, in the form of an A, and drawing it 

 lengthways of the rows b)' means of traces secured 

 to the wide end. A cross-piece is secured to the 

 upper part, into which handles are inserted for 

 its guidance, similar to those attached to the hoe- 

 harrow and cultivator. This instrument, which may 

 be constructed in a few hours by any field hand who 

 possesses sufficient ingenuity and artistic skill to 

 " whittle a Yankee shingle," works admirably, and 

 is one of the most perfectly operating labor-saving 

 implements to be found on the farm. If necessary, 

 the bottom of the sides may be scarfed away, say 

 from one lialf the distance from the fore part to the 

 hind part, reducing the sides by a gradual taper to 

 one half or one third their width at the hind end. 

 This will leave the rows over which it passes ele- 

 vated somewhat in the middle, or just over the 

 seeds — an arrangement sometimes necessary, espe- 

 cially where the furrow plough has excavated but a 

 shallow trench, or where the soil is too close or com- 

 pact, from recent rains or other causes, to admit of 

 the covorer gathering sufficient earth competently to 

 inhume the seed, liy "shoeing " the coverer, which 

 is effected by attaching two strips of iron to the 

 lower edges of the triangle, and allowing them to 

 project some two inches or so from the edges, 

 inward, with a slight inclination downward, the 

 entire surface between the rows will be " scraped," 

 and the soil thoroughly loosened and refined. As 

 soon as tlie plants make their appearance, a liberal 

 dressing of lime and plaster, or house ashes and 

 plaster, should be applied broadcast, and the cultiva- 

 tor introduced to arrest the development of weeds. 

 No ploughing or harrowing should bo allowed where 

 the cultivator can perforin its sufficient work ; nor 

 should there be any — not even the slightest — eleva- 

 tion permitted about the plant. Some, perhaps, will 

 question the philosophy of this theory, as it is a 

 practice to which they have always been accustomed ; 

 but this is neither here nor there in establishing the 

 truth or falsity of the usage. Where a high conical 

 hill is made around any vegetable, it can only serve 

 as a drain or ditch, by which water is conveyed /row 

 the vegetable and into jilacers — the interstices be- 

 tween the rows, where it is not immediately wanted, 

 and of course can efl'ect only a remote advantage; 

 but a fiat surface allows the rain to penetrate the 

 Boil immediately about the roota, and to exert its 



invigorating influences at once and with power upon 

 the plants. Besides, in a dry time, the gathering of 

 soil into hills, by exposing a greatly increased sur- 

 face, augments the effects of drought. This no one 

 can doubt who reasons upon the subject candidly. 



In cultivating the potato, many adopt a vcrv loose 

 and reprehensible method ; they seem to tliiiik that 

 it is a hardy vegetable, and will therefore " fight its 

 way through," even though left alone and unas- 

 sisted ; but this is an error, for altliough the potato 

 will sprout, push upward to the inviting air, and 

 fonn tubers, even when uuaidcd, yet its jjroductive- 

 ncss and value, as a field crop, must ever intimately 

 depend upon the care and cultivation it receives. 

 No production better repays extra attention, none is 

 more essentially injured by neglect. Weeds should 

 never be permitted to overtop the vines, or indeed to 

 corrupt the soil devoted to this root. They are no 

 less injurious in the potato field, than in the" garden, 

 or among the com crop ; and where they cannot be 

 thoroughly extirpated by one or two hoeings, the 

 operation should be repeated till they are completely 

 eradicated, and the soil emancipated and cleansed. 

 A NEW ENGLANDER. 



Near Claremoxt, N. H., Jan. 26, 18-30. 

 — Germantown Telegraph. 



CAUSE AND EFFECT. 



In writing for the public, farmers should be care- 

 ful to give nothing but the result of exact experi- 

 ment on doubtful subjects. Too many, in their 

 anxiety to discover the cause of diseases in grain, 

 such as siniU in wheat, or the rot in potatoes, 

 judge frora a single imperfect experiment ; whereas, 

 such subjects require the most careful examination. 



Thus, a late writer in the "Newspaper " supposes 

 he has discovered the cause of smut in wheat, frora 

 the single fact, that after sowing oats that had been 

 harvested before fully ripe, and his crop was much. 

 injured with black, or smut oats, that of course the 

 same must be true in regard to smut in wheat, and 

 closes by asking, " If this is not the true cause, 

 what is?" Now, he should remember that it is 

 often much ea.sier to ask questions than to answer 

 them. Now, it is all right to call attention to such, 

 facts ; but before coming to any conclusion, it would 

 be bettor to make a few more experiments, and then 

 find whether smut in wheat and smut in oats is the 

 same disease, and arises from the same or similar 

 causes. My own experience is rather opposed to his 

 theorj', having last season harvested both my oats 

 and wheat rather greener than XLsual, and finding this 

 season both remarkably clear of smut. Any thing 

 calculated to thi'ow light on such subjects should be 

 carefully noted, and repeated experiments made be- 

 fore coming to a conclusion, as " appearances are 

 often very deceptive." 



Another subject to which I would like to call 

 attention is, that in giving the result of exj)eriment3 

 with lime, manure, &c., more care should be taken 

 to state what kind of soil it has been apjilicd on, as 

 there is so great a variety of soil and such a vast 

 difference in the component parts of many, that 

 farmeis arc often led into error in this way. For 

 instance, some one applies lime to a soil in which 

 it is naturally deficient, and of course with good 

 effect — tlic result is known; and others again spend 

 time and cajjital in applying it to a soil in which 

 nature has deposited a great sufficiency, and the 

 astonished farmer is able to see no effect whatever. 



Such has been the result in our neighborhood, 

 where the soil is strongly impregnated with lime ; 

 although applied in different wajs, not the slightest 

 efi'cct has been produced on the crops since raiscil oa 

 the land to which it has been applied. J. P. 



— Dollar Newspaper. 



