No. 9. 



Yellow Beet. — Potatoes. 



279 



had at Prouty's seed and implement store, 176 Market 

 street, Philadelphia. 



There is reason to believe that the cooking of food 

 for stock, hy the apparatus mentioned liy our corres- 

 pondent, will become pretty peneral, and then the po- 

 tatoe will come into use for that purpose. A yellow 

 variety of that root has been exhibited at our office 

 during the winter, and appears peculiarly well adapted ; 

 it is round and rather flat, remarkably vigorous in its 

 growth, continuing green until autumn, and keeping its 

 quality late in the spring. The Feed may be obtained 

 of Mr. Philip Reybold, of Delavvare city, at the market 

 price of other kinds of good quality. There is also the 

 long red, very famous, and of excellent yield under coni- 

 Bion treatment: but we fear that our friends must not 

 expect to rival our Eastern neighbours in the growth 

 cf this invaluable crop, alllmugh much, very much may 

 bt; done by the use of the suli.^oil plough, which for this 

 purpose, as well as many others, is destined to become 

 indispensable, certainly. A week's trial with this noble 

 implement, in connexion with the sod C, centre draught 

 plough of Prouty & Mears' patent, has convinced us 

 that nothing more is left to be desired in the construc- 

 tion of these ploughs, whetlier it he in the cultivation 

 of the soil, or the ease and facility with which their 

 operations are conducted; the subsoil plough by the aid 

 of a pair of small horses stirring the earth to the depth 

 of 8 or 10 inches in the most eflcctual manner — the soil 

 being a reddish-brick clay — and leaving it in the tinest 

 state of pulverization that can be imagined. By the 

 faithful use of these ploughs, the quantity and quality 

 of all outcrops must be greatly increased, and the extra 

 labour compensated by a rich return — the only consi- 

 deration with any one of intelligence and industry in 

 tiis profession. 



General Barnum's peculiar mode of cultivation of the 

 potatoe is as follows"; it is extracted from the "New 

 England Farmer;" but it will be perceived at a glance 

 that its adoption on a very large scale is not feasible. 



• Eo. 



From Mr. Barnum's statement. 



" Preparation for Planting. — What soil 

 may be selected tor this purpose to insure a 

 larg^e crop, should be highly manured with 

 compost, decomposed vegetables, or barn-yard 

 manure. 



" The first should be deep ploughinof, and 

 may be done as early as suits the conveni- 

 ence of the cultivator. If a stiff clay soil, it 

 would be well to have it ploughed late in the 

 fall previous to plantingi. Where compost or 

 other substances not liable to fermentation, 

 are intended as a manure, it is better the 

 spreading should be omitted until just before 

 the last ploughing, after which it should be 

 thoroughly harrowed, fine and smooth as pos- 

 sible; then take a narrow furrow; with this 

 instrument lay your land in drills, twenty 

 inches asunder and four inches in depth, run- 

 ning north and south, if practicable, to admit 

 the rays of the sun to strike the plant equally 

 on both sides; put into the bottom of the fur- 

 rows or drills about two inches of well rotted 

 barn-yard manure or its equivalent, then drop 

 your potatoes, if of the common size, or what 

 is more important, that they contain about 1 



the usual quantity of eyes; if more, they 

 should be cut, to prevent too many stalks 

 shooting up together. Put a single potatoe 

 in the drills or trenches, ten inches apart ; the 

 first should remain uncovered until the second 

 one is deposited. Place them diagonally in 

 the drills, which will afford more space be- 

 tween the potatoes one way, than if laid at 

 right angles in the rows. The covering may 

 be performed with a hoe, first hauling in the 

 furrow raised on each side the drill, then care= 

 fully take from the centre of the space the 

 soil to finish the covering to the depth of 3^ 

 or 4 inches. By taking the earth from the 

 centre of the space on either side to the width 

 of 3 inches, it will leave a drain of 6 inches 

 in the centre of the space, and a hill of 14 

 inches in width, gently descending from the 

 drill to the drain; the width and depth of the 

 drill will be sufficient to protect the plant 

 against any injurious effects of a scorching 

 sun or drenching rain. The drains in the 

 centre will at all times be found sufficient to 

 admit the surplus water to pass off. I ara 

 not at all tenacious about the instrument to 

 be made use of for opening the trenches to 

 receive the manure and potatoes; this work 

 should be well done, and may be performed 

 with the common hoe, with much uniformity 

 and accuracy, by stretching a line to direct 

 the operation : it is true that the labour can- 

 not be performed with the same facility as 

 with a horse, but it can be better done, and I 

 think at less expense, taking into considera- 

 tion the labour of the man to hold, the boy to 

 ride, and the horse to draw the machine. 



" Dressing, Hoeing, <^c. — When the plant 

 makes its appearance above the surface, the 

 following mixture may be used: — For each 

 acre, take one bushel of plaster and two 

 bushels good ashes, and sow it broadcast as 

 even as possible. A moist day is preferable 

 for this operation — for want of it, a still even- 

 ing will do. 



" I consider this mixture decidedly more 

 beneficial and much safer than plaster or 

 ashes alone. The alkali and nitre contained 

 in the ashes lose none of their fertilizing 

 qualities in a moist season, and the invaluable 

 properties of the plaster are fully developed 

 in a dry one, by decomposing the atmosphere 

 and retaining to a much later period in the 

 morning the moisture of the evening dews. 

 There are but few plants in our country that 

 receive so great a share of their nourishment 

 from the atmosphere as the potatoe. The 

 time for dressing or hoeing will be found dif- 

 ficult to describe, and must be left to the judg- 

 ment of the cultivator; it should, however, in 

 all climates be done as early as the first buds 

 for blossoms make their appearance. 



"The operation of hilling should be per- 

 formed once, and once only during the sea- 



