374 



FARMERS' RJaOISTER— POTATOEJ^. 



GATHERING AND SECURING POTATOES. 



From the New England Farmer. 

 A variety of conflicting; opinions have been, and 

 we believe still are entertained, relative to the topic 

 of difjging and preserving potatoes. Formerly it 

 was the custom among farmers to dig them early, 

 while the tops were entirely green and the potatoes 

 not ripe, nor indeed fully grown. They took care 

 to dry them in the sun till the bulbs were almost 

 as green as the balls or apples, and nearly as strong 

 as so many quids of tobacco. Potatoes ti-eated in 

 this way "become poison for pigs, and very un- 

 wholesome for all other animals, including the 

 great rational biped whose sagacity is as apt to 

 go astray in this, as in other matters of impor- 

 tance to his welfare. It was probably this and 

 other injudicious modes of cultivating, managing 

 and using this crop, that caused those violent pre- 

 judices against the plant, which prevailed for a long 

 lime among the bulk of mankind, after the potatoe 

 was first introduced and recommended as an arti- 

 cle worthy of the attention of the rural economist. 

 Even in this enlightened age and nation, we have 

 known farmers nearly spoil their crop of potatoes 

 by mismanagement in digging and securing them. 

 Some of those wise cultivators who know too much 

 to be taught, either by the lessons of experience or 

 the dictates of reason, let them lay after they are 

 dug, for several days, perhaps weeks, in the field, 

 as if on purpose to spoil them. 



But, of late years, more correct systems relative 

 to this and other branches of husbandry are intro- 

 duced and becoming prevalent. Men who unite 

 science, good sense, and expei'ience, afford such 

 lights that none but those whose mental optics are, 

 as it were, hermetically sealed by obstinacy and 

 prejudice, persevere in the use of bad means, to at- 

 tain good ends. Among others who have deserved 

 well of their country and of mankind, by illumi- 

 nating the path of the husbandman, the lion. Mr. 

 Fiske, of Worcester, has directed his attention to 

 the subject under consideration. The remarks to 

 which we allude are contained in his address to the 

 Worcester Agricultural Society, delivered Octo- 

 ber 3, 183.3. 



" While on the subject of the potatoe," says Mr. 

 Fiske, "it may be worthy of remark, that it pos- 

 sesses one peculiarity distinct from any other ger- 

 minating vegetable. It is not susceptible of vege- 

 tation until the season succeeding its growth.* 

 From this it seems obvious, tiiat nature has not 

 accomplished its maturation at this period when 

 the vines decay, and the farmer believes it to be 

 ripe. It seems probable that the earth, by some 

 unknown process, perfects its qualities after it has 

 attained its growth. That potatoes which have 

 remained the whole season in the earth are more 

 farinaceous and pleasant, has been ascertained. A 

 farmer in this town, who was in the practice of 

 planting a large quantity, took his family suj)ply 

 from a large field early in autumn. As the residue 

 were intended for his stock, he deferred harvesting 

 them until a late and more convenient period. Du- 

 ring their consumption, his table was furnished 



* This is not the case, where the continuation of 

 warm weather is much longer than in New England. 

 The early potatoes made in Eastern Virginia, when 

 left in the ground until October, are materi^illy injured 

 by sprouting. — [Ed. Fai-mers' Register, 



with some which had been destined for the barn. 

 The quality was so obviously superior as to lead to 

 an investigation of the cause. From that time tho 

 two parcels received an exchange of destination. 

 Another fact illustrative of this position, was stated 

 to me by an eminent farmer in the vicinity of Bos- 

 ton. A distinguished agriculturist, from Scotland, 

 who had dined at the best tables in this city and its 

 neighboi-hood, remarked at the iiospitable board of 

 my informant, that he had not seen in this country 

 what, in Scotland, would be considered a good po- 

 tatoe. He imputed their difference to the different 

 mode of cultivation. Tlicre they plant early 

 and dig late. Surely the science of agriculture 

 must be in its inflmcy, when the cultivation of our 

 most common and staple vegetables is in dispute!" 



The following paper from the Transactions of the 

 Society of Arts in London, may be of use to those 

 who wish to preserve potatoes in the best possible 

 condition, either for sea stores, foreign consumption, 

 or domestic use. 



" The usual mode at present practised for endea- 

 voring to })reserve })otaloes, is to leave them, after 

 digging, exposed to the sun and air until they are 

 dry. This exposure generally causes them to 

 have a bitter taste; and it may be remarked, that 

 potatoes are never so sweet to the palate, as when 

 cooked immediately after digging. I find that 

 when potatoes are left in large heaps or pits in the 

 ground, that a fermentation takes place which de- 

 stroys the sweet flavor of the potatoes. In order 

 to prevent that fermentation, and to preserve them 

 from losing the original fine and pleasant flavor, 

 my plan is, (and which experience proves to me to 

 have the desired effect) to have them packed in 

 casks as they are digging from the ground, and to 

 have the casks, when the potatoes are piled in them, 

 filled up with sand or earth, taking care that it is 

 done as speedily as possible, and that all vacant 

 places in the cask are filled up by the earth or 

 sand ; the cask thus packed, holds as many pota- 

 toes as it would were no earth or sand used in the 

 packing; and as the vacant spaces in the cask of 

 potatoes are filled, the air is totally excluded and 

 cannot act on the potatoes, and consequently no fer- 

 mentation can take place. 



" I sailed from New-York to St. Bartholomews, 

 and brought with me two hundred barrels of pota- 

 toes, packed in the above manner. 



" On my arrival at this island I found, as I ex- 

 pected, that the potatoes had preserved all their 

 original sweetness of flavor ; in fact, as good as 

 when first dug, having undergone no fermentation, 

 nor in the slightest degree affected by the bilge or 

 close air of the ship. Some barrels of (he potatoes 

 I sold there, and at the neighboring islands, for 

 four dollars per bushel, and at the same time pota- 

 toes carried out in bulk, without packing, and others 

 that were brought there packed in casks which had 

 not been filled up with earth, sold only for a dollar 

 per bushel, they being injured in the passage by 

 the bilged air and fermentation, being bitter and 

 bad, whilst mine were as perfectly sweet and dry 

 as when first dug. What remained I shipped from 

 St. Bartholomews to Jamaica, where they arrived 

 in equally good condition, and sold at a higher 

 price than they had brought at the former island; 

 some of these casks of potatoes were put in a cool 

 cellar by the purchaser at Jamaica, and on examin- 

 ing them when I was leaving the island, two 

 months after, I found that they had in a very small 



