HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



219 



liey may be likely not to suffer froni the frost. 

 rhe choice of the best seed 1 nonsider to be indis- 

 sablo for a good crop ; small potatoes are to- 

 f unlit for tlie purpose, the eyes or s;er:,ts, which 

 to he the principle of life for the neiv crop, being 

 li t were, but half born, dwarfish, weakly and 

 pe ; bi) a careful attention to select the handsomest 

 best potatoes for seed, I have found my sorts to 



,, rove, and to run, not out, but gradually into 

 Iter perfection. The largest i)otatoes it will 

 iver well to cut, provided not less than three 

 are left on each piece, and three such pieces 

 be a sufficient stock for a hill. I have tried to 

 It whole potatoes of the largest size ; the pro- 

 e were all large, and but few in the hills, 

 cli I conceive is not desirable; the largest po- 

 es of every kind I am acquainted with, (the 

 g Red excepted) are apt to be hollow in the 

 die, and then it is difficult to get them boiled 

 centre without over doing the outside : the 

 g Reds are exempt, by the pectdiarity of their 

 je, from getting injured in that way, and I never 



,1,1 w them to be hollow. 



,, fexl to the choice of seed, we are to consider tohich 



I] I of manure is the most favorable for that crop, 

 I believe that on that question all practical 

 icrs will agree, that fresh dung, wherewith 

 e kind of litter is mixed, is the most favorable, 

 strength and richness with somewhat to 

 ten the soil round the plant, to make a sort 

 nest for the bulbs to form, to grow, and to 

 iper. Cattle dung js generally used, and the 

 culty often is, that the quantity of litter among 

 i but small, and that it is not sufficiently turned 

 mixed, and made fine before it is used, 

 reby many hills are manured with clear dung, 

 irge pieces, which, if the season turns out dry, 

 harden in the hills, and do but little good, 

 h hard pieces are often found in fall in digging 

 the crop, which evidently have been of little 

 sfit. Fine compost manure, which is proper 

 orn, is not fit to use for a crop of potatoes, 

 will make but a poor return. For many years 

 ive been in the habit, in the fall, to collect 

 es in my wood lot, and to use them as a litter 

 my cattle throughout the winter ; when the 

 r is cleared in the morning, the leaves and 

 dung are turned over, and chopped together, 

 ire they arethrown out. This kind of manure 

 jlanting potatoes, I find superior to any other 

 I ever used ; it connects the richness of ani- 

 manure with the sweetness of a woodland 

 and I feel confident that it not only contri- 

 )S to the abundance of the crop, but that it 

 Les sure of a superior quality. On meadow 

 it certainly is unrivalled. From the repeated 

 sfits I have received from the practice, my 

 nation of fallen leaves has gradually increased, 

 they have become such an essential article in 

 cultivation of my small farm, that I shoiald be 

 at a loss how to do without them. I have a 

 I in my yard 2-t feet long, and 9 feet wide, 

 ch I got nearly filled, this season, with well 

 den leaves. Wo brought in sixteen cart loads, 

 I the ladders fore and aft, and slats on the 

 s. At loading, a lad stands on, and treads 

 leaves. They may be collected at all times, 

 n the ground is dry and free from snow. They 

 c better ifthey are somewhat damp, and when 

 ed and chopped with the dung, will more 

 lily ferment. 



have always planted my potatoes in hills at 

 It three feet three inches apart, and I believe 



that there would be a risk to |)lace theai nearer, 

 tho vines would be expof-ed to get truildcn and 

 the roots disturbed, either of whicli iiijiuies will 

 greatly affiict the croji. I hoe them twice, and 

 at each hoeing I plough both ways, and each way 

 two furrows, which leave the ground well stirred, 

 and prepared for low square hills, which it re- 

 quires but little time and labor to finish, and which 

 are well formed to secure the benefit of the 

 showers. The second hoeing should take jdace 

 before the vines have come to their full growth, 

 and before the blossoms are near to open, other- 

 wise the roots having come to their full length, the 

 j)loughing and hoeing will disturb them, and 

 greatly injure the crop. In case of being belated 

 the second hoeing had better be omitted, and if 

 weedy, be at the trouble of cutting the worst of 

 the weeds close to the ground. When the plant- 

 ing is performed, or at the first hoeing, one small 

 handful of calcined ])laster of Paris to each hill, in 

 addition to the usual large shovel-fnll, and well 

 h.eaped, of manure, will be of great service on up- 

 land, especially if the season should turn out dry. 

 This article suits potatoes admirably ; the darker 

 and richer green of the plastered hills, will readily 

 point out those which were omitted. 



Although there is little, or no difference, in the 

 relative weight of the various sorts of potatoes, 

 yet the quantity of nutritive matter which they 

 contain differs essentially. I tried lately of Long 

 Red, of Blue, and of Yelloiv jiotatoes, one bushel of 

 each, uniformly filled, and I found that they 

 weighed alike sixtyfive ])ounds. 1 tried next for 

 the starch and for the fibrous matter, or grounds, 

 tfter the starch was obtained, and here I found 

 the result diflferent. I weighed four pounds of 

 fach of those three sorts, and I obtained from the 

 four pounds of Long Reds nine ounces and one 

 half of dried starch ; from the four pounds of 

 Blues eight ounces, and the same from the four 

 pounds of Yelloivs. The grounds, or fibrous mat- 

 ter, after being thoroughly dried weighed four 

 ounces, alike from the three sorts. 



This result has realized the opinion which I 

 entertained of the superiority of the Long Reds, as 

 containing a greater proportion of nutritive sub- 

 stance, and being on that account more profitable 

 to raise, whether for the food of man, or of beast. 

 Being more substantial they keep better than any 

 other sort ; I have had them firm and hard the 

 beginning of October. It has another quality to 

 recommend it, which is, that it will bear "bad 

 cooking better than any other sort. It may bear 

 soaking in the water aftev it is sufficiently boiled, 

 and yet be tolerable eating, whilst the Blues or 

 Whites would prove spoiled. 



Potatoes of a good quality will work very well, 

 whilst hot, into dough with wheaten flour, and 

 make very good bread ; some thirty years ago the 

 crops of grain failed in England, and on the Con- 

 tinent of Euro|)e, to such an alarming extent, that 

 serious apprehensions were entertained ; the gov- 

 ernment offered great premiums for the importa- 

 tion of foreign grains ; public meetings were call- 

 ed, and among other recommendations, potatoes 

 were pointed out as a fit article to make into 

 bread with flour, or meal, and they were general- 

 ly used in the proportion of one third, and by 

 many of one half I have a strong belief that in 

 most cities of the United States, they are used for 

 that purpose by many bakers ; the bread is white, 

 good tasted, and light, but will soon dry. 



After all the farmer can do, to raise potatoes of 



a fine quality, it is of little avail unless the cook- 

 ing of them is attended with care ; it is done best 

 liy steam, and the moment they are done they 

 shoidd be served, or placed after peeling into an 

 iron ]iot, without water, near the fire. 



M'eslon, Jan. 22, 1830. .1. M. G. 



P. S. The starch above mentioned, was ob- 

 tained by rasping the potatoes over a conmion 

 grater, into soft water ; the starch settled soon at 

 the bottom ; the grounds were then washed a 

 second time into fresh water, and some more 

 .starch obtained, but the quantity was so trifling as 

 to give no encouragement to attempt a third wash- 

 ing. The grounds were then pressed through a 

 cullender, and dried, as well as the starch, before 

 the fire. The water used for the washings was 

 Inghly colored by the operation, especially by the 

 Long Ucds. The concluding result, therefore, ap- 

 pears to be, that in the case of the four jiounds of 

 Long Reds, the whole amount of solid matter ob 

 tained, after being well dried, weighed thirteen 

 ounces and one half, that is to say, short of one 

 quarter part of the weight of the potatoes, and that 

 the remainder of their weight, that is to say, above 

 three quarters of the whole, must have been juice 

 or sap, which mixed with the water and thu.s col- 

 ored it. 



Now, iVlr Editor, it is a question of .some inte- 

 rest, in this matter, to know whether this juice, or 

 sap, which appears to exist in potatoes, in. so great 

 a proportion as fifty ounces and one lialf, out of 

 64, is nutritive in itself ; or whether the useful- 

 ness of that root is limited to the small proportion 

 of solid matter, as stated above, which it contains. 

 The favor of your opinion and elucidations on the 

 subject, would be highly esteemed, and interesting 

 to farmers in general, who being in the habit of 

 using large quantities of potatoes for the food of 

 their swine, and occasionally of their cattle, should 

 luiderstand as exactly as possible the real benefit 

 which may be expected from the practice. It 

 would be also very desirable to be informed of 

 some method of obtaining the starch, which would 

 unite more despatch, and make them to yield the 

 largest proportion thereof possible. J. M. G. 



The collector of Canal Tolls at Albany, has 

 published Iris statement for the past season. The 

 amount of tolls collected by him is $161,418,64. 

 The total number of boats that arrived and de- 

 parted from Albany was twelve thousand three 

 liwndred and twentynine. The property which 

 arrived at Albany by the Erie and Champlain Ca- 

 nals consistedof 260, 520 bbls. flour ; 18,558 bbls. 

 ashes; 13,241 bbls. provisions; 39,218 bushels 

 salt; 18,194 bbls. and 3,744 hhds. whiskey; 

 9,493 boxes glass ; 226,287 bushels wheat ; 206,-' 

 251 bushels corn, rye, and oats; and 132,164 

 bushels barley ; 9,182 bbls. of lime ; 18,008 cords 

 of wood; 32,156 feet of tindier; 17,130 thousand 

 shingles ; 28,180,884 feet of lumber. 



Effects of Internal hnprovement. — At a sale of 

 lots, which took place at Hebron, Ohio, on the 4th 

 and 5tli idt. about thirty lots were^old, the whole 

 embracing about seven acres of land, which ave- 

 raged more than one thousand dollars per acre. 



This town is at the junction of the great national 

 road and the Ohio Canal, 26 miles west of Zanes- 

 ville. 



March, of Improvement. — A locomotive engine 

 often horse power, is building near Baltimore for 

 the rail road. 



