THE GEKESEE FARMER. 



275 



right as to the result of their experiments. The 

 difference of o[)inion, I conceive, arises from not 

 taking into account the influence of certain cir- 

 cumstances, which must interfere with or vary the 

 results. The benefit or otherwise of plucking off 

 the flowers, will depend partly upon the habits of 

 the variety of potato, partly upon the quality of 

 the soil, and partly upon the nature of the season. 

 The greater the number of berries which a variety 

 naturally produces, the greater will be the gain of 

 removing the flower-buds. Second early varieties 

 seldom produce many seeds, consequently little or 

 no advantage could be gained by removing the 

 flowers of tiiese, as compared with late varieties, 

 which generally bear seeds abundantly. The 

 quantity of berries produced by a given late variety 

 will also depend upon the quality of the soil. The 

 better and more suitable the soil may be, the 

 greater will be the health and productiveness of 

 a plant. The productive powers of a plant also 

 depend on the nature of. the season. If the weather 

 of June and July should be warm and bright, with 

 frequent showers, we may observe that even inter- 

 mediate varieties are enabled to elaborate a quantity 

 of sap equal to the wants of tubers and seeds, and 

 in such a season the crop of berries of a late va- 

 riety would be most abundant. The greatest 

 amount of benefit to be derived from plucking off 

 the blossoms, will therefore obviously be from a 

 late variety, growing in a soil and season favorable 

 to the potato, 



" Much also depends on tlie degree of care ob- 

 served in nipping off the blossoms. The plants are 

 nearly full grown when they flower, and if many 

 stems are broken or laid by the children employed, 

 this must tend to neutralize the benefit of destroy- 

 ing the flowers. 



"In the Highland Society's Transactions it is 

 said that the difterence in favor of plucking off the 

 blossoms as soon as they appear, instead of allow- 

 ing them to rem.iin, was nearly one- sixth of the 

 crop. This maybe considered an extreme case; 

 but from a late variety favorably situated, we may 

 safely calculate on a gain of tubers of not less than 

 one tun per acre." 



RAISING EARLY POTATOES. 



"Much difference of opinion exists as to whether 

 potatoes intended for sets should be partially or 

 thoroughly ripened. One of Dr. Lindley's condi- 

 tions for renovating the health of tlie potato crop, 

 is, that the seed-tubers shall be 'thoroughly ripen- 

 ed — thoroughly organized.' The chief objection 

 which has been urged against the practice of using 

 immature sets, is founded on the notion that it 

 must, in the course of time, cause the plants to be- 

 come unhealthy. On the other hand it is clear 

 that under-ripened sets have proved highly benefi- 

 cial in mitigating the curl and dry-rot disease. I 

 believe it is equally certain that they invariably 

 produce more vigorous and productive plants than 

 perfectly ripe tubers of the same variety. I was 

 first taught this lesson by some villagers who were 

 noted for tlie earliness of their potatoes. For two 

 or three successive seasons I obtained my seed- 

 stock from them, and was always assured it was of 

 the same early variety they grew themselves. But 

 I could not produce my crops so early as the vil- 

 lagers by at least a fortnight ; and being unable to 

 . account for this difference, I reso.ved to buy the 



first potatoes they brought to market having the 

 appearance of being nearly ripe. I did so, and the 

 tubers were so immature that they shrivelled 

 almost like prunes before the time of planting; 

 but I found I was now enabled to grow them not 

 only nearly as early as the villagers, but larger 

 also; and the increased size of the tubers was 

 doubtless a consequence of the greater vigor of the 

 plants afforded by these under-ripe sets. 



"Mr. Knight planted an early variety in July; 

 the tubers produced were soft and watery and unfit 

 for food, but, as he anticipated; tbey afforded the 

 best plants ; ' they presented the appearance of a 

 ditierent variety, and afforded a more abundant 

 crop, and larger tubers than he had ever obtained 

 from the same variety.' But the crop was not 

 quite so early. Mr. Knight attributed 'this varia- 

 tion in the periods of maturity of the crops solely 

 to the different degrees of luxuriance in the plants, 

 and to the increased size of the tubers in the one.' 

 But I suspect the difference was not solely owing 

 to these causes. 



" We see in a backward spring how impatient 

 vegetation seems to be at the restraint which ia 

 imposed upon it, and with what rapidity and 

 energy plants grow in such a season when the 

 weather becomes favorable. A peach tree which 

 Mr. Knight had grown under glass, he afterwards 

 planted out by the side of a tree of the same va- 

 riety which had always been grown in the open 

 air ; and Mr. Knight observed that the former un- 

 folded its blossoms nine days earlier, and ripened 

 its fruit three weeks earlier, than the latter. The 

 forced plant commenced and finished its annual 

 growth much earlier in the preceding year, than 

 the plant which had been constantly grown in the 

 open air. Its season of rest, therefore, sooner ex- 

 pired ; it became sooner excitable in springy and 

 thus with the same stimulus of heat and light, it 

 was enabled to make greater progress and mature 

 its fruit in less time. And so it is with potatoes. 

 The villagers, as I afterwards learned, grew two 

 crops in the same year; the seed-tubers they sold 

 were from the second crop, but the sets they 

 planted were from the first crop; and this accounts 

 for he difference in the period of ripening. The 

 earlier the tubers are ripened, the sooner will the 

 produce of those tubers come to maturity in the 

 following year." 



Knows, to the Extent op his Nosb. — "Any- 

 thing that the horse can touch with his nose with- 

 out being harmed, he does not fear. Therefore the 

 hand, the halter, girth, blanket, saddle, harness, 

 umbrella, buffalo robe, or whatever is brought in. 

 proximity to him, should first be introduced to and 

 touched by that sensitive organ. A knowledge of 

 these important facts, as we learned by attending 

 a course of his lectures, is the main secret of Rab- 

 ey's success in his horse-taming. His strap method 

 of throwing horses is useless, except in cases of 

 aggravated ill-temper — and such cases are usually 

 the result of mismanagement. 



Cotton in California. — The California Far- 

 mer states that Geo. Howell, of Grand Island, "has 

 planted the present season about Ibrty acres of 

 cotton." 



