NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



r.h >vori' lull two feet lii;;ii ; and ytiuiii lii'' 

 ,th of August, runner-! from the roots and 

 Is of ibe covered sipins protinded them- 

 es towards <lie surlV.ce ol ihe ridi;o in ^real 

 ibers, and when they reached ihi- I'glit, Ibrm- 

 considerahle stems hearinfj leaves and 

 soms, so that at lens;lh the two |>l.ints he- 

 e one mass of many appareiitlv different 

 ts issuiiiij iVom all sides of the ridy;o. The 

 ^atance ol' these runnors in such (luantities 

 peed a douht as to the identity of the (ilani 

 our common pcitatoe, which douhl was iu- 

 sed when it was ascertainiMJ, th tl so late as 

 month of August no tubers had been I'orm- 

 V the roots. The runners were, however, 

 therwise difl'eront from what are Ibrmed by 

 cultivated potatoe under ground, except 

 they were more vigorous, as well as more 

 srous. 



he plants have recently been taken up, and 



loubt respecting them is now removed ; 



are undoubtedly the Solanum tuberosum. 



principal stems when exien'led, measured 



than seven feet in length; the produce 



most abundant, above six hundred tubers 



gathered fium two plants; they are of 



us sizes, a few as large, or larger than 



eon's cao:, others as small as the original 



rather arip;ular, but more globular than ob- 



some are white, others marked with 



les of pale red or white. The flavor of 



when boiled, was exactly that of a young 



oe. 



c compost used in moulding up the plants, 

 ery m:ich saturated with manure, and to 

 ircumslance I attribute the excessive lus- 

 ;e of the growth of the stems; had com- 

 :ard(-ii ninuld been employed, they would 

 wa probably groivn so strong, and I sup- 

 hat while the plants were thus rapidly 

 jg stems and leaves, the formation of the 

 i was delayed, for the production of these 

 2en work of the latter part of the season ; 

 ;annot be called fully ripe, nor have they 

 ed the size which they probably might 

 done if they had been formed earlier, 

 sy will, however, answer perfectly for 

 urpose of reproduction (or seed, as it is 

 cally called,) and they are in sufficient 

 • to be subjected to treatment similar to a 

 on crop of polatoe. The result of anoth- 

 ir's experience is necessary to enable us 

 observe on the merits and value of this 

 itroduclion ; but the following changes al- 

 appear to have attended its subjection to 

 ition ; — the produce is most abundant, the 

 have lost all the bitterness of flavor 

 is attributed to them in the natural state, 

 eir size is increased remarkably; from all 

 circumstances 1 am disposed to infer, that 

 ■iginal cultivators of thii; vegetable did 

 ercise either much art or patience in the 

 ■,tion of their garden potatoes. 

 : increased growth of the potatoe, not on- 

 hese kingdoms, but in almost every civil- 

 art of the globe, has so added to its im- 

 ce, that any information respecting it has 

 e valuable; the subject of this commu- 

 n may therefore not be without interest, 

 he exception of wheat and rice, it is now 

 ily the vegetable most employed as the 

 f roan ; and it is probable that the period 

 2;reat distance, wheo its extensive use 

 ?ea place it before those vrhicli have 



li iliorto neen considered the chief staple? ol 

 life. The elTect of the unlimited extent to 

 ■vhich its cultivation may be carried, on the hu- 

 man race, mirst b<; a subject of deep interest to 

 Ihe political economist. The extension of pop- 

 ulation will be ns unbounded as Ihe production 

 of food, which is capable of being produced in 

 very small space, and witJi great facility ; and 

 the increased number of inhabitants of the 

 earth will necessarily induce changes, not only 

 in the political systems, but in all the artilicial 

 relations of civilized lite. How far such chan- 

 ges may conduce to, or increase the happiness 

 of mankind, is very problematical ; more espe- 

 cially when it is consiilcred, that since the po- 

 tatoe, when in cultivalion, is very liable to in- 

 jury from casualties oi season, and that it is not 

 at present known how to keep it in store for 

 use beyond a few months, a general failure ot 

 the year's crop, whenever it shall have become 

 the chief or sole support of a country, must in- 

 evitably lead to all the misery of famine, more 

 dreadl'ul in proportion to the numbers exposed 

 to its ravages. 



Under such circumstances, and with such a 

 prospect, it is surely a paramount duty of those 

 who have the m^eans and power o( attending to 

 the subject, to exert themselves in selecting and 

 obtaining varieties of potatoes, not only with 

 superior qualities in flavor and productiveness, 

 but which shall be less subject to injury by 

 changes of weather when ingrowth, and which 

 may possess the quality of keeping for a length 

 of time, either in their natural state, or under 

 the operation of artificial treatment. This is 

 one of the objects to which the care and ener- 

 gies of the Horticultural Society ought to be di- 

 rected. Under its auspices, and by its means, 

 some new kinds have been brought into notice, 

 but a wide field of exertion is still before it. — 

 With the potatoes cultivated in South America 

 at the present time, we are very little acquaint- 

 ed ; there is one especially which has been 

 heard of, but which has not yet reached us, 

 known at Lima as the yellow or golden pota- 

 toe, and which is reported to be far superior in 

 flavor to any now grown in Europe. 



On the subject of the potatoe there is also a 

 point of much curiosity and much interest open to 

 those who have leisure and opportunity of con- 

 ducting the investigation. Several accounts of 

 its introduction into Europe, and especially into 

 Great Britain and Ireland, are belore the public, 

 differing from each other, and none exactly cor- 

 rect ; the entire truth is probably lo bo extract- 

 ed from the whole, and ought to he supported 

 by references lo the original authorities for the 

 different facts. To these in order to render the 

 history of the potatoe complete, an account of 

 its original discovery, and the observations made 

 on it by the first and early visitors to the shores 

 of South America, should be obtained; and this 

 research would probably lead to a detection of 

 the circumstances attending its first introduction 

 into Virginia, which is at present involved in 

 obscurity. 



ON THE GROWTH OF EARLY POTATOES. 



BY E. H. DERBY. 



Observing the produce of a few potatoes, 

 which I transplanted the last year, to be very 

 good, I was induced ihvs season to try the expei'- 

 im^nt upon a soirewhat larger scale. About 

 the first of April 1 took some late white potetoes 



after cutting them placed them in a hot bed, a^ 

 close as they could lay, and roveied them with 

 earlh. On the 2tlh of April, the plants being 

 in fine order, some of llicm twelve inches high, 

 I took them up and separating all the shools 

 but one from Ihe parent potaioo. 1 niade drilk 

 about three feet apart with a hoe, ami filling 

 Ihe same with well digested manure ; I lrans|)lant- 

 ed as I should cabbage plants, the wlude of the 

 shoots about nine inches apart in the drills. On 

 the 3d of May there was a very sharp <rosl, 

 which injured the tops of the plants very con- 

 siderably ; they in a few days recovered and 

 grew very rapidly, scarcely one of them failing. 

 The rows were twice hoed. On the 30lh of 

 June 1 commenced using new potatoes, the size 

 large, and very fine, equal lo any taken up in 

 October: finished digging them on the 10th of 

 August; the laud measured 90 by 52 links of 

 the chain, on which stood one pear and plum 

 tree, and produced at the rate of 293f bushels 

 per acre. The rows might have been much 

 nearer, consequently the produce would have 

 been greater. I could not perceive any differ- 

 ence in the yielding of the plants, between those 

 which were separated, and the ones which ad- 

 hered to the potatoe. Should I try the experi- 

 ment again, I should take all the plants from 

 the potatoe, and replant it as it appeared as 

 fresh and sound as the day it was first put into 

 the ground. 



Vidcs, ut ulta stut nive candidum 

 Swacte ! nee jam sustlneaut onu3 

 Sylvse laboiantes. 

 Look ! how white with snow stands mount 

 Wo ; and bow the groves labor with the burden. 

 RcmarkciUc zccallicr. — The snow began to de- 

 scend in broad, moist flakes, on Saturday morn- 

 ing, at about 8 o'clock, and continued its thick, 

 fast and feathery fall, till about sun-set. About 

 12 o'clock it was heard to thunder, and again a- 

 bout 2. Notwithstanding a great part of (he 

 snow melted as it fell, it had covered the ground 

 at night to the depth of at least four inches. 

 It threw on the leaves and branches of the tail, 

 slim poplars ia our streets, so heavy a load as 

 in a considerable degree to strip them of their 

 honors; and in the afternoon there was scarcely 

 a moment in which you could not hear the grnaa 

 of some of those vegetable dandies, as they were 

 divested, one after another, of their trim attire. 

 The moral of the scene was impressive ; and the 

 diy was calculated to inspire a sheltered itnd 

 ruminating man, with a musing and quiet awe. 

 The maples, the elms and chesnuts sustained the 

 weight of the falling heavens without injury, lor 

 their branches had sprung from a good stock ; 

 their growth had been slow and solid, and their 

 strength, in the hour of need did not fail, liut 

 the precocious and exotx poplars, brought from 

 the warmer regions of the south, graceful, but 

 frail, could not bear the brunt of our northern 

 skies, and yielding the gay vesture to the storm, 

 lost all when they lost their bi.'aH.y. 



Thus may we find *• tongues in the trees ;■* and if 

 our young men and maidens will listen to what 

 those tougues teach, they will I'orm for them- 

 selves characters that will sustain them in ad- 

 versity and command respect in prosperity ; the 

 s,->cial afl'ections, like singing birds, shall raak-e 

 nests in their branches, and the solid truuk a[ 

 good principles shall sustain their honors. 



[Troi/ Sentinel, Oct 23 ' 



