190 FARMERS' REGISTER— THE POTATO— UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. 



At length a little neighbor 



Her halfpenny she paid, 

 To take her last hour's labor, 



While by her frame she laid. 



At last, the engine ceasing, 



The captives homeward rushed ; 

 She thought her strength increasing— 



'Twas hope her spirits flushed. 

 She left, but oft she tarried ; 



She fell and rose no more. 

 Till, by her comrades carried, 



She reached her father's door. 



All night, with tortured feeling. 



He watched his speechless child ; 

 While, close beside her kneeling, 



She knew him not, nor smiled. 

 Again the Factory's ringing 



Her last perceptions tried ; 

 When from her straw-bed spi'inging, 



' 'Tis time !' she shrieked, and died 



That night a chariot passed her, 



While on the ground she lay; 

 The daughters of her master 



An evening visit pay ; 

 Their tender hearts were sighing 



As negro wrongs were told, 

 While the white slave was dying 



Who gained their father's gold!" 



EFFECTS OF REMOVING THE FLOWERS AND 

 STEMS OF THE POTATO. 



Translated, for the Farmers' Register, from the ^' Journal d''- 

 JlgricuHure etc. des Fays JSas." 



In the last year, the Director of the lloj^al Horticul- 

 tural Institute, of Fromont, planted a certain number of 

 potatoes, as equal as possible, at the usual distance and 

 in the usual manner, izi a soil of the same nature through- 

 out. All the roots received the same tillage, to the se- 

 cond hilling inclusively. The whole plantation was then 

 divided into four lots 23erfectly equal : the first was left 

 to grow at liberty, and without suppressing, or taking ofi' 

 any part of the plants ; from the second lot, all the 

 flowers were removed as they appeared. The third lot 

 had all the shoots cut off at half their length, at the 

 precise time of flowering, so that only the lower leaves 

 were preserved. Lastly, on the fourth lot, all the stems 

 and leaves were cut off close to the earth, or just over 

 the top of the hill. These are the relative differences 

 which these operations caused in the product of roots. 



Product of Potatoes. 

 Lot of which nothing was suppressed, - - 7 

 Lot of which all the flowers were taken off" as 



they appeared, ------ 8 



Lot of which the shoots were cut at half 



their length, ------ 5 



Lot of which the stalks were cut close to the 



earth, 2i 



We see by this experiment that the suppression of 

 the flowers, or rather the preventing the developement 

 of the fruits and seeds, augmented the product of 

 roots one seventh. There are persons who say that 

 they have obtained one fifth more by this procedure ; 

 but it is probable that their calculation was deficient in 

 exactness. It is always true that the suppression of the 

 flowers increases the product of the roots. 



The same experiment shows that the removing of 

 half the stems and leaves diminished the product of 

 roots by two sevenths : this is a warning to persons 

 who inconsiderately cut tlie tops of their potatoes, to 

 feed cattle, or for other uses. 



Lastly, we see that the fourth lot lost about two thirds 

 of the product of roots, by having the plants cut off 

 close to the earth — an example striking enough of the 

 utility of leaves, in the production and developement 

 of the lower parts of a plant. It is not only that the 

 leaves draw up the sap, or determine it to mount from 



the roots to the stems, but they also absorb much nou- 

 rishment from the air, which they send back to the lower 

 parts of the plant. 



Those persons who pretend that by taking away the 

 leaves of beets (or mangel wurtzel) repeatedly during 

 the summer and autumn, they do not injure the growth 

 and ultimate size of the roots, are certainly in error. I 

 know well that there are circumstances in which we are 

 forced to gather the leaves of our beets to feed cattle ; 

 but it is not less true, that in this case we are eating our 

 com in the blade. 



University of Virginia. 



The ninth session of this University was closed on 

 Thursday, the 18lh of July, 1833, by the following 

 Public Exercises, lield in presence of the Board of 

 Visiters, and of a large and respectable audience. 



1st. An Essay on Popular Education, by Dr. Socrates 

 Maupin, of Albemarle. 



2nd. An Essay on Fictitious Writing, by James L. 

 Cabell, of Nelson. 



3rd. The Chaii-man of the Faculty announced as in 

 the following list, the names of those Students who had 

 distinguished themselves at the Public Examinations 

 held during the session. The numbers indicate the ex- 

 aminations at which the Student gained this honor, and 

 the names are placed in alphabetical order. 



SCHOOL OF ANCIENT LANGUAGES. 



Senior Greek Class. 



James A, Chapman, of Orange, at the IstExaniination. 



Junior Greek Class. 

 Thomas T. Bouldin, Charlotte, 1st and 2d. 

 Frederick W. Coleman, Caroline, 1st. 

 Thomas Leigh, Halifax, 1st and 2d. 

 George Wm. Ranson, Berkeley, 1st. 



Latin Class. 

 Thomas T. Bouldin, Charlotte, 1st and 2d. 

 Jacob D. Dudley, Richmond city, 2d. 

 Robert S. French, Norfolk, 2d. 

 Thomas Leigh, HaUfax, 1st and 2d. 

 Roman Geography. 

 [One Examination in this Class.] 

 Thomas T. Bouldin, Charlotte. 

 John H. Christian, Richmond city. 

 John F. Ciu-tis, Hanover. 

 Jacob D. Dudley, Richmond city. 

 Thomas Leigh, Halifax. 

 George L. Nicholson, Middlesex. 

 Robert W. Tomlin, Hanover. 



SCHOOL OF MODERN LANGUAGES. 

 French Literature, Senior Class. 

 James M. Bramliam, Albemarle, 2d. 

 John N. Brockenbrough, Albemarle, 1st. 

 Thomas L. Patterson, University, 2d. 



French Language, Junior Class. 

 David W. Brodnax, Dinwiddle, 1st. 

 Archibald Cary, Fluvanna, 1st. 

 Waslungton Van Hamm, Ohio, 2d. 

 George SicLeod, Wasliington city, 1st and 2d. 

 Socrates Maujjin, Albemarle, 1st. 

 George Wm. Ranson, Berkeley, 1st and 2d. 

 William S. Triplett, Riclnnond, 1st and 2d. 

 Spanish Language, Senior Class. 

 JolinB. Lynch, Tennessee, 1st and 2d, 

 Washington Van Hamm, Ohio, 2d. 

 George Wm. Ranson, Berkeley, 2d. 



Spanish Literature, Senior Class. 

 Thomas H. Ellis, Richmond city, 2d. 

 Washington Van Hamm, Zanesville, Ohio, 2d. 

 George Wm. Ranson, Berkeley, 2d. 



Spanish Language, Junior Class. 

 Archibald Cary, Fluvanna, 1st. 

 George McLeod, Washington city, 1st. 

 Socrates Maupm, Albemarle, 1 st. 



Italian Language, Senior Class. 

 Thomas H. Ellis, Richmond city, 1st. 



Italian Literature, Senior Class. 

 Thomas H. Ellis, Richmond city, 1st. 



