THE GENESEE FARMER. 



29 



growing, Init if dry they should be watered in the 

 evening after setting, the plow and hoe must be 

 used whenever necessary to keep them clean ; when 

 the vines run, they should be carefully laid over, out 

 of the way of the plow and replaced when the 

 row is plowed. The last time of working, the 

 earth should be well thrown up, making good 

 large ridges.. The best implement I have yet found 

 to dig the potatoes, is a one horse plow, throwing 

 out a furrow each side of the ridge and then, by a 

 tliird furrow, turning them out beautifully, so that 

 they can be picked up with little trouble. Before 

 putting them away for winter, I think it best to let 

 tliem lay in a heap under shelter, wliere they soon 

 sweat and after tliis they are not so liable to rot. — 

 Many ways are practised for preserving the pota- 

 toes through winter. When few are to be kept, a 

 box of thick planks placed in a warm cellar will 

 answer, and by putting a layer of dry sand and a 

 layer of potatoes until full, and then covering tight 

 they keeii very well ; but when a large quaiitity are 

 to be kept, choose a situation at the south side of a 

 building and raise the earth where the potatoes are 

 to be deposited ; on this, place the potatoes in a 

 neat pile, and cover quite thickly with corn husks, 

 say one foot thick, then cover well with earth; 

 over the heap build a shed and when the groundbegins 

 to freeze, place corn stalks over and around it, and 

 there is but little danger that they will be injured. 

 The earth being taken up round the heap forms a 

 trench, thereby preventing any wet soaking into them. 

 Fin Oak, Warren Co., Mo. W. D M. 



CT7LTIVATI0N OF EAELY POTATOES. 



It is not very difficult to raise good Potatoes, in 

 a moderately dry season, on properly prepared soil 

 that is adapted to their culture ; there are few soils, 

 however, on which potatoes cannot be raised to 

 good advantage, if not with profit. Potatoes will 

 gi-ow better on dry hill land that is of the right 

 mold, than on the ""flats," of sand, or gravel with 

 the same treatment, but it will not pay to plant 

 tliem on soil tliat is very wet. 



In order to raise early potatoes it is necessary to 

 have the ground well prepared, — if wet, it should 

 be thoroughly drained, and well plowed in the fall; 

 if sod ground, plow early ; if tough sod, give a 

 good coating of ashes before plowing to facilitate 

 the rotting of the sod. 



Tlie great advantage of plowing in the fall, is, that 

 it can be worked and planted earlier in the spring. 

 As soon in the spring as the ground is sufficiently 

 dry and warm to put in the potatoes, commence 

 operations by manuring the ground well, by draw- 

 ing on at the rate of thirty loads to the acre, of fine 

 barnyard manure, and spreading it evenly over the 

 ground, then drag thoroughly till the manure is well 

 mixed with the soil, and the ground is mellow ; and 

 tlien mark with a chain, or .what is better, a light 

 marker,— about two feet and a half apart each way, 

 and tlie ground is ready to plant. 



I select seed after this manner: in the fall when I 

 dig the Potatoes, I take to the field several empty 

 barrels to put them into. I then proceed to dig- 

 ging ; after digging enough to fill the waggon, or 

 what can be picked up and properly secured before 

 night, I take my small basket or pail, and i)roceed 

 to pick up the potatoes to be saved for seed, by pass- 

 ing over the rows and selecting only those that are 



perfect, avoiding all such as have secondary sprouts, 

 and those artected with the rot. Being particular 

 to select all of about the same size, sufficiently large 

 to plant one in a hill, usually about the size of a 

 small hens egg. and puttingtheminto the barrels. I 

 take them to liW arm dry cellar, and keep them in the 

 barrels till spring, in which also they are again taken 

 to the field, and the seed is not tumbled about a 

 half dozen times, which I consider a detriment to 

 its early growth. 



Having prepared the ground in the spring as be- 

 fore directed, draw out the barrels of seed and plac-e 

 them along side of the piece ; let one man take the 

 basket and proceed with two rows at a time, and 

 drop the Potatoes, one in each hill where the marks 

 cross ; let another take a pail of jdaster, and drop 

 at the rate of about half a table sixjonful of plaster, 

 on the potato in each hill, and let another follow 

 with the hoe, and cover the potatoes about two 

 inches deep. 



By placing the plaster in the hill with the potato 

 it gets the benefit of the plaster at the start, and by 

 covering lightly, the warmth of the sun reaches the 

 potatoes more readily, than when covered deep. — 

 Tliese two considerations are of much imiiortanoe 

 in securing early potatoes. One thing more, I would 

 recommend about seed, and that is, by all means 

 keep the varieties separate, as a matter of conve- 

 nience and of profit. If there are dift'erent varieties 

 to plant in the same field, commence by taking the 

 earliest variety, and plant just so many rows, or rods, 

 as you wish of that variety, and so of the next early 

 variety, until tlie ground is all planted. 



By using seed of uniform size, and covering ac- 

 cording to the directions, it will all come up at the 

 same time, and there will be no need of waiting 

 three or four days, or a week, for the hills to come 

 up that were planted with small indifl:erent Po- 

 tatoes, 



As soon as they are up, so the rows are plamly 

 seen, plow them out one way, two furrows in a row. 

 If any hills get covered, stop and uncover them, — 

 wait a week or ten days, and plow out the other 

 way, two furrows in a row, and dress them out nicely 

 with the hoe. All that is neccessary after this, is Xo 

 go through them and cut or pull out the weeds, if 

 there shoidd be any, and perhaps stir the ground a 

 little. , , , 



I have planted potatoes after this method, tor 

 several years with good success ; and here I would 

 make a statement as a test, somewhat, of this plan 

 of raising potatoes. 



One of my neighbors, whose land joins mine, 

 planted his potatoes according to his own plan.-- 

 The ground that he planted— the same kind of soil 

 as that I planted ; the kind of Potatoes were the 

 same; he manured his as I did ; I plastered mine m 

 the hill, he plastered his after they were up ; I plan- 

 ted on the top of the ground, he furrowed his with 

 the plow, and planted in the furrow ; mine were 

 planted about two weeks first. I dug for him one 

 (lav, he dug for me one day ; his piece was a little 

 more than twice, the size of mine. Fow for the re- 

 sult. He got fiftv bushels, I got forty ; of sorted 

 potatoes, he got thirty, I got thirty ; of rotten Po- 

 tatoes, he had from a bushel to a Ijushel and a half, 

 I got 'as I estimated, from twenty to twenty-five; 

 my sorted potatoes were better than his, as I selected 

 my seed, as described above ; he also allowed that 



