lOS 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



For the New Enr/laml Farmer. 

 CULTIVATION OF THE POTATO. 



Mil. Cole : I have read with much pleasure the 

 article upon " Potatoes," in your last number, from 

 your correspondent, S. !M. Stanley, Esq. The sub- 

 ject is an old one, upon which much has been writ- 

 ten, and it seemed, a few years ago, as if nothing 

 more need be, or eoidd be, said about it. lUit since 

 the potato has been attacked by an epidemic disease, 

 it has required different management, and a greater 

 amount of skill than before, in order to preserve the 

 nicest varieties, and raise them in sufficient quantity 

 for even home consumption. It is not my purpose, 

 in the following remarks, to put forward a favorite 

 theory upon the rot and its remedies, but rather 

 simply to state by what means I have ahcaijs suc- 

 ceeded in raising a full supply of sound potatoes, 

 notwithstanding the disease that is abroad. 



Tlie first year that the rot showed itself in this 

 section, I had planted three rows wide of potatoes 

 around a cornfield o£ eight, acres, which was well 

 manured broadcast, with a compost of two parts 

 muck to one of stable dung. The field was of quite 

 broken surface, and the potatoes, in extending around 

 it, encountered various qualities of loam. I had the 

 curiosity to watch closely the effects of the epidemic 

 on different parts of the land. Through the hollows, 

 the soil was very rich, moist, (but not wet,) compact, 

 and fine grained. Here the potatoes all rotted. 

 Rising up from the hollows, the soil gradually be- 

 came lighter, warmer, and more open, until on top 

 of the knolls, it was either quite sandy or gravelly. 

 So, too, the potatoes began to be gradually sounder, 

 until on the warm open soil of the elevated portions 

 of the field, they were almost entirely free from 

 defect. Previous to this time, I had always chosen 

 precisely the kind of soil of these hollows to grow 

 potatoes in, and never failed of a large crop of fine 

 quality. 



In the fall, the potatoes were dug out, immediately 

 picked up, and put into the cellar, with more or less 

 moist dirt adhering to them, — as had been my pre- 

 vious custom. But they soon began to rot. In 

 overhauling them, I found that all the way down, 

 through the centre of the bin, they were more or 

 less decayed ; wliile those that rolled over towards 

 the ends of the bin were all sound. The baskets 

 were invariably emptied near the centre ; the heap 

 was of course the highest there, and the potatoes 

 that rolled down to the ends of the bin, became free 

 from dirt and moisture in so doing. As mj' bin was 

 quite wide, and the accumulation of potatoes and 

 dirt was the greatest in the centre, from always 

 emptying the Iniskets there. I thought that healthful 

 ventilation was thus prevented, and that was the 

 reason they did not keep well. 



From the lights of that year's experience, I was 

 induced to think that by planting my potatoes on 

 warm open soil, of moderate fertility, and by hous- 

 ing them in a dry state in the fall, and giving them 

 proper ventilation after being housed, I should suc- 

 ceed in growing and keeping them sound. I selected 

 my ground for the next crop accordingly. I planted 

 a part of my seed in pasture land, covered with a 

 thickly matted sward, and ivs the locality was un- 

 favorable for getting on manure from the barn-yard, 

 I simply put a handful of mixed plaster and ashes 

 in each hill. The remainder of the seed was planted 

 in a tillage field, which had been four years in grass, 

 and Avhich I manured well at planting time, from 

 the barn-yard. The crop from the latter field was 

 abundant, but not all sound. That from the pasture 

 field was not so large as the other, but, beyond all 

 comparison, of better quality. Not a single diseased 

 potato was found, and their flavor and mealineas, 



when cooked, was remarkably fine. I was always 

 aware that strong animal maniirc, applied to the 

 potato crop, made the tubers a little unpleasant in 

 taste. 



In harvesting these potatoes, I was careful to 

 choose a dry, sunny time, digging them out in the 

 fore part, and picking them up in the latter part of 

 the da}-, in order to get them into the cellar in a 

 clean, dry state. I was also careful to sort out all 

 diseased tubers from among the mnnurcd crop. I 

 made a new bin, with a plank bottom raised up 

 three or four inches from the cellar bottom, to pre- 

 vent dampness ; the sides of narrow boards, having 

 a small space between them for ventilation ; and the 

 bin being, when done, about four feet wide. I i>ut 

 my potatoes into tlus bin in a dry, soimd state, and 

 they kept so through the winter. Now this may 

 have been a needless precaution ; but this I know, 

 I have ever since pursued this course, and have not 

 been troubled with rotten potatoes in my cellar. I 

 have noticed that where a potato had at some time 

 become slightly sjjecked with rot, those specks would 

 dry down, and the rest of the potato remain sound, 

 provided it was placed in a dr}', well-ventilated sit- 

 uation. I havo also noticed that whenever I put 

 potatoes in barrels, (which I sometimes do where I 

 raise a few of some sort different from my main crop,) 

 they are quite apt to get to sweating, and afterwards 

 to show disease. 



This year's experience confirmed my previous con- 

 clusions as to the proper soil and mode of harvesting 

 and housing potatoes. I was further led to regard 

 the effects of animal manure with suspicion, and my 

 observation since would not lead me to advise the 

 use of it, (certainly in large quantities,) until we 

 shall have become pretty well rid of the epidemic 

 that is now abroad. Ever since the experiments 

 that have now been detailed, I have selected each year 

 a warm, open, sandy or gravelly loam, bearing a I'ich 

 thickly-matted sward. I find no land so favorable 

 to the growth of nice ])otatoes, as good pasture. The 

 land, by long lying to grass, becomes covered with a 

 rich sward, whose roots intimately pervade the soil, 

 forming a large mass of vegetable matter. This, 

 when inverted by the plough, decomposes gradually 

 beneath the surface, and furnishes a grateful and 

 healthful food for the potato — a food far better for 

 it, of late years, than strong animal manure. 



I have had good success in growing this crop by 

 ap})lying a compost of muck and ashes, or muck and 

 lime, the dressing being spread on the inverted fur- 

 rows, and harrowed in. Three or four bushels of 

 unlcached ashes, or a bushel of fresh lime to a half 

 cord of muck, is about the right proportion of parts 

 for the compost ; and they should be intimately 

 mixed, so that the alkali may come in contact with 

 all of the muck, thus neutralizing its acids. If lime 

 is used, it is best to dry slake it, by sprinkling on 

 just water enough for that purpose, and then mix it 

 with the muck immediately, while it is yet warm. 

 It will become ditt'used more uniformly through the 

 heap if brought to a powder than if us'jd in lumps, 

 and its action will be equally as quick. 



Last year I raised a fine crop of potatoes on a 

 piece of pasture land, dressed Avith a compost of 

 vegetable mould from the woodland, and lime. In 

 August preceding, I dug up from the hollows of a 

 wood-lot contiguous to the pasture, the leaves and 

 mould there accumulated, and mixed the same vs ith 

 lime, in the proportion of a bushel of the latter to 

 a half cord of the former. In the sining the mix- 

 ture was spread on the inverted furrows, and the 

 potatoes planted. The crop was abundant and 

 sound, and the cooking qualities excellent. 



With regard to the size of seed, I have never tried 

 experiments with that precision that enables me to 

 express an unqualified opinion. I -vi ill merely say. 



