1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



237 



to indulge in epicurism. They fatten tlirough Half a peck of potatoes will furnish sprouts 

 sheer ennui, and for pastime's sake, rather than enough to bring a dozen bushels of potatoes. 

 through any ambition of "cutting up fat.'' The : j^ ;, ^^j.. ^^^^^ ^ set the plants by the first 

 task, moreover, assigned to them, is to destroy „ . f,, ^7 ■■,■,, r ^ ^ i-^ 



the innumerable seeds of weeds, [which they do of June. Place them in drills a foot apart, a lit- 

 in a larger proportion than the protected seeds of tie deeper than they stood m the hot-bed, leaving 

 human food,] and animal and insect vermin, the drill a trifle dishing. If the weather is dry 



vermin, 

 which would soon annihilate the labors of man, and warm at the time of setting, water them for a 

 did not certain species of birds feel an incessant ^^^ ^^^ 



craving to devour them. Birds have no nose for ,„, '-^ " , , ,,, , , , , « , 



the same reason that they have no palate. It is [ ^^'^ gi'^^n"^ ^^ould be plowed or spaded a foot 

 not necessary that creatures, destined to eat every- i deep, well manured, and thoroughly pulverized, 

 thing without making wry faces, should have I Some persons throw two furrows together, but in 

 posted in front of their stomach, as we have, a|our hot and dry summers, we think such a prac- 

 vigilant sentinel who is troublesomely cautiouSj^^^^ injurious. The soil best adapted to this root 

 who and what he allows to enter the fortress.'. '' , , . -n 



All, therefore, that has been said about the fine >» a warm, sandy loam, though it will .grow on 

 scentof the crow and the vulture, who snuff gun- 1 any soil that will bring a good crop of corn, 

 powder and corpses at incredible distances, is 'The cultivation should be careful, keeping all 



simply absurd. There is an excellent reason why i^^eeds out, and the soil constantly loose. The 

 crows should ««^ smell firunpowder: namely, that 1 . ,-, , . j.i ^ 4.1, u 



, . ., ° i.-i •. • 1 i / '^ vines run, like cucumber vines, so that the hoe- 



gunpowder 18 scentless until it is burnt, (we ven-i ' ' 



ture to doubt this statement of fact ; having a'^ng must be done early. Care should be observed 

 decided personal nose for the saltpetre.) If crows not to leave the vines covered with earth, as in 

 could pareeive that perfume, it would attract 'that case they will take root and prevent the 

 them, instead of driving them away. Crows and I .^^ti, ^f ^he first setting. Some persons forci- 

 vultures are carrion birds, who love, above alli,, , ,, . , ,, , . i j 



things, the treat of a bkttle.-.V. V. Church- ^3^ ^'^^.'^ up the vines where they have attached 



man^s Magazine. 



themselves to the ground, in order to throw the 

 vigor of the runners into the main roots. The 



THE SWEET POTATO ^'^^^ ^^ ^^ ^*^^ gathering when the tops decay. 



In harvesting, great care should be observed 

 An inquiry in relation to this delicious esculent, ^ot to bruise the potatoes by throwing them 

 by "G. S. R" of Bethel, Vt., reminds us that together, or in any other way, as a slight bruise 

 many people would find it convenient, and would ^i^ engender decay. The leaves of the vine are 

 be glad to cultivate a few rows, sufficient, at 'uftg handsome, being large, smooth, and gen- 

 ieast, for their own table through the autumnal | ej-^Uy three-lobed. 



months. We have raised them successfully for xhe potato is used lioiled, baked, is excellent 

 several years. They are not quite so sweet, or j^ making bread, and makes a pie nearly or quite 

 so yellow, as those sent here from the South, ^ g^^^ ^s the squash. It has a peculiar, agree- 

 though our crop in 1853 affjrded very fine ones. 



both in color and flavor. 



Some four or five years ago we had a corres- 

 pondence with jMr. Timothy xi. Bascom, of Hins- 

 dale, N. H., on the subject of the sweet potato, 

 who presented to us in April a box of them sound 

 and pretty good at that time, — but not with their 

 full flavor. 



As in the common potato, there are many vari- 

 eties of the sweet — the Mississippi yam is consid- 

 ered the best. It would be cheaper for those 

 wishing to plant only a few, to purchase the slips, 

 as they may always be obtained at the proper sea- 

 eon, of Raxd & Co., 110 Quincy Market. Those 

 who desire to cultivate more extensively will find 

 the following directions convenient. Plant the 

 potatoes in a common hot-bed, and cover two 

 inches deep with fine loam, and they will come 

 up in two or three weeks, and when two and a 

 half inches high they will do to set out. 



able flavor, and is called easy of digestion, is 

 wholesome and nutritious. 



The recipe for making pies of the sweet potato 

 is as follows : — Boil soft, peel and mash them. 

 To every quarter of a pound, put one quart of 

 milk, three tablespoonfuls of butter, four beaten 

 eggs, together with sugar and spices to the taste. 



Mr. Bascom informed us that the sweet potato 

 is a good crop for milch cows, — that they are 

 very fond of them, and that he can obtain a 

 larger amount of them than of any otlier potato 

 on the same quantity of ground. 



POTATOES. 



A large quantity of European potatoes wera 

 sold a few days since by auction, in New York, 

 and at a price which would pay the foreign far- 

 mer a very large pirofit l)C!youd tiie cost uf ireight, 

 etc., and this, too, in a country where tlu'y might 

 In col- h^G produced at less than the freight paid by tlie 



lecting the spi^outs place 'one hand on the potato i fo^«ig» ^^'^'^«\'V Every year since our childhood, 

 ,^ , -i. 1. J J , . .1 ^ -ii vvo have heard farmers say that they feared po- 



to keep It steady, and cut out the sprout with 1^^^^.^^ ^^,^^^1,^ 1,, 1,^^ J^^ ^^^^^ ^ evorybody 



the thumb-nail, or pull it out; the potato willl would be raising tliem in consequencj of the high 

 continue to furnish them for three or four weeks, j prices; and thus far has prevented a full supply 



