No. 6. 



The Culture of Potatoes. 



181 



We noticed an abundant supply of aoriciil- 

 tural implcinentrf and tools of every descrip- 

 tion. The order in wliicli tliey are kept is 

 worthy of imitation. Even when there is a 

 house fiir tools, as there is, or should be on 

 every farm, we often see the implements and 

 tools thrown in promiscuously, without ordor, 

 and to gel at some particular tool, the whole 

 must be overhauled ; but here, we saw a room 

 of ample dimensions, with a place for every 

 tiling — all amnsfed iu order; the shovels, 

 hoes, forks, rakes, &c. in separate racks; the 

 ploughs, well cleaned, by tliemselves, and 

 every article ready for service; a person ac- 

 quainted witii the room mijfht place his hand 

 upon any thinsr that was needed in the dark- 

 est night, if desirable. 



As we were about to leave, Mr. French in- 

 troduced us into his library, and here we saw 

 the secret spring which moved the operations 

 without. We liad the evidence before us that 

 he is guilty of book-farming. We saw the 

 place where his long winter evenings are 

 passed, and now we were almost moved to 

 envy. We noticed upon his table all the 

 proniinent agricultural periodicals of the day, 

 and on his shelves were displayed a rare col- 

 lection of agricultural hooks; the most con- 

 spicuous was the N. E. Farmer, in 16 volumes. 

 After giving the library a hasty glance we 

 were compelled to leave, regretting that we 

 had no more time, as we might have spent 

 lialf a day with much pleasure in looking 

 over his books, and various curiosities with 

 which his room is enriched. 



As we returned home, we could not but re- 

 flect upon the impitrtance of a steady, well 

 directed system of efforts on the part of the 

 husbandman, and how much may be accom- 

 plished by patience and perseverance guided 

 by knowledge, in the course of a few years. 

 — New Eascland Farmer. J. B. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



The following communication " on the 

 culture of potatoes," was presented some 

 years since to the Agricultural Society, and 

 it is thought the publication of it in the Cabi- 

 net, so as to give it an extensive circulation, 

 would be u.^efol to tho--e uho may be desirous 

 of raising a good crop of potatoes at a small 

 expense of manure. 



Rocldand Place, G mo , (June,) 10, 1S00. 

 Gentl.r.mpn, — Any discovery made, substi- 

 tuting asubstance in the p'aceof barn yard or 

 fitablemanure, that will operate equallv well in 

 promoting the growth of a valuable esculent 

 for the table, at a much cheaper rate than 

 said manure, [ am of the opinion ought to be 

 generally known, and, therefore I have been 

 induced to state the result of an experiment 



r made last year in the culture of potatoes; 

 substituting rye straw, in the diy state, on a 

 part of them in the place of stable manure. 



The seed potatoes were first dropped or 

 placed in the furrov.-s, the usual distance 

 apart, sny ten or eleven inches; a moderate 

 quantity of straw was then spread irniTie- 

 diately on them; after which, the potatoes 

 and straw were covered with the soil, by 

 means of the plough, in a similar manner to 

 those planted wil^h the stable manure, and 

 their treatment the same during the sea.son. 

 The strawed and manured potatoes were 

 both planted on the 19th of the 5th month, 

 (May,) and on the 2lst of the 10th month, 

 (October) following, [ had the produce taken 

 from the ground ; and as the season through- 

 out had been remarkably dry, as is well 

 known, I was surprised to find (presuming 

 that a wet season would have best suited the 

 dry straw) that my straw potatoes were quite 

 equal in quantity, quality and size, to those 

 in which I had been liberal in the applica- 

 tion of stable manure. The nature of the 

 soil on which the potatoes grew, is about the 

 medium between a light and heavy loam. 

 Encouraged by my success last year, I am 

 again trying the straw on a more extended 

 scale this season. [ should like others to try 

 it, and on different descriptions of soil. 

 I am with sincere respect, 



Isaac C. Joxes. 



Straw being a bad conductor of heat, and 

 it being pretty well ascertained that potatoes 

 do best when on a noithern exposure, or 

 when they are protected from excessive iieat, 

 this may in part explain the reason of the 

 benefit derived from covering with straw. A 

 farmer in Montgomery county, some years 

 since, put U;ne pretty copiously in the fur- 

 I'owsofpart of his potatoe ground, dropped 

 the seed upon it, and covered in the usual 

 way ; the other part of the lot was planted in 

 the common manner without lime: when 

 tiiey were dufr, the rows that were limed 

 were unexpectedly fimnd to yield more than 

 twice the quantity of the other rows where 

 no lime was used. 



I am induced to state this fact from seeing 

 in the last number of the Cabinet, page 162, 

 a similar one stated, taken from a nortiiern 

 paper. It' is hoped some of our agriculturists 

 the coming season will make trial of liming 

 in the rows, and lot us know the result of 

 the experiment of covering with stra'v. 

 Some think it-best to put the manure on the 

 top of the sets, and not under them; this is 

 easily tried. The application of marl to po- 

 tatoes has long been known to produce as- 

 tonishing results, and it is confidently affirmed 

 that the quality, as well as quantit}', of them 

 is much improved by it. O. 



