1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



551 



after the rain that came once during the night. 

 I asked for physical strength, and that only. 

 The prayer was answered, and far more than I 

 ever thought of asking for. I had enjoyed a 

 glimpse of the beautiful world, met pleasant 

 people, and had one of the most delightful 

 times of my life. 



SELLING RECIPES FOR DOING THINGS, ETC. 



In a recent issue of one of my favorite agri- 

 cultural papers is the following advertise- 

 ment: 



POTATO-GROWING. 



For a number of years past I have been experiment- 

 ing in the cultivation of potatoes, and have succeeded 

 in developing a mode or process of planting, by which 

 their yield is increased at least 50 per cent. The only 

 extra expense above the usual or ordinary way of 

 planting them is two days' extra labor per acre, for 

 one man at the time of planting. In all other respects 

 the poiatoes are cul'ivated and cared for in the usual 

 way. I will mail the instructions, giv ng full direc- 

 tions, and explanation of the new mode of planting, 

 for the sum of $1 00. D. Tyler, 



S06 Noith McKinley Ave., Canton, O. 



As I am interested in all improvements in 

 growing potatoes, 1 sent the dollar at once, 

 and the following is what I received, so badly 

 written that it was really a task to decipher it: 



NEW MODE OF PLANTING POTATOES. 



Prepare and have the soil ready for planting in the 

 usual way of getting the same ready for ordinary 

 planting. Select the seed potatoes from good and 

 well-matured potatoes. If necessary to cut them, cut 

 lengthwise and with three to four eyes to the hill. Do 

 not break off the sprouts before planting. The pota- 

 toes will, of course, send out new sprouts, but every 

 repetition of sprouting is weaker than the first, and 

 the breaking off of the first sprouting-eyes, and also 

 the selecting of small or immature potatoes, is the 

 greatest cause of the deterioration or the running out 

 of potatoes. It is also of great importance that pota- 

 toes intended for planting should be kept in a cool 

 and dark place, soa^to prevent their sprouting before 

 they are planted. They should, however, be selected 

 and gotten in readiness a few days before planting, 

 and exposed to the sunlight, spread out, if possible, 

 for a few days. 



When you have dropped or planted, and before any 

 ground is covered on them, cover or drop, say, a quart 

 or three pints of cut straw, hay, or chaff, or a mixture 

 of them, on the potatoes — that is, on each hill, and 

 with either an old broom or any convenient thing 

 spread the straw or hay covering so that there will re- 

 main, say, about an inch of the covering on the pota- 

 toes, and also all around them, the same thickness — 

 that is. as far as the covering will go; then cover the 

 ground or soil on and over the covering that is on and 

 about the potatoes, using or c vering the same amount 

 or thickne-s of soil as you ordinarily cover over pota- 

 toes when planting them — say if loose loamy land, i 

 to 5 inches: if sandy loam, 3 to 5 inches; and if a 

 heavy soil, 2 to 3 inches. 



Cultivate and attend the potatoes during their growth 

 in the usual and regular way, keeping them clear of 

 grass and weeds. 



The cost or time consumed in peparing the straw 

 or hay should not be considerel as an expense, as the 

 benefit that they will render the soil will more than 

 compensate for the cost of it, and will be a benefit 

 for two or three successive crops of any sort. 



Almost any kind of straw or hay will answer the 

 purpose ; but either must, of course, have been dried 

 or cured. Musty or sour grass or hay will answer the 

 purpose. 



It will take, say, about 300 bushels of cut straw or 

 hay to the acre of potatoes for the covering. The hay 



or straw should be cut no longer than an inch; shorter 

 will be better. 



I have found " level culture," no hilling, the best, as 

 they are not as liable to suffer from drought, and also 

 saving some labor. 



Plant during the " dark of the moon." I have found 

 it prevents excessive running into tops of the plants, 

 which they are liable to if in rich soil. D. Tyler. 



Now permit me once more to protest against 

 this whole business of selling information in 

 this sort of way; and I want to protest vigor- 

 ously to the editors of our various agricultural 

 papers. Instead of accepting an advertise- 

 ment of this sort, send the man a dollar, and 

 then print his great secret, for the benefit of 

 your thousands of subscribers. I do not 

 know how many have sent a dollar as I did. 

 I hope not very many, because our people are 

 too well posted to bite at such baits. 



Let us take a common-sense view of the 

 matter. A dollar should buy a good-sized 

 book full of illustrations on potato-growing. 

 In fact, it would buy all the books devoted 

 specially to potato culture, and leave some 

 money, if I am correct. And then the know- 

 ledge furnished in this way is never new or 

 valuable, so far as my experience goes. I 

 have been sending money for every thing of 

 the kind offered for years past, and the above 

 is a fair sample of all the valuable informa- 

 tion (?) I have ever received. The plan of 

 sprinkling straw or chaff on potatoes before 

 covering is not at all new, and strawy manure 

 is ever so much better than the chaff or cut 

 straw, only it is apt to induce scab. Father 

 Cole, the author of the " New Agriculture, " 

 used the same plan, except that he used for- 

 est leaves, and he declared that the latter are 

 very much better than chaff or any thing of 

 that sort. Matthew Crawford, the great straw- 

 berry-grower, has for years used wheat bran. 

 He says this will produce a larger result than 

 any commercial fertilizer, but he afterward 

 said it did harm instead of good during very 

 dry seasons. No doubt friend Tyler thinks 

 his idea is new, but be is not at all posted on 

 potato growing. He has not read the books 

 devoted to the subject, nor even the agricultu- 

 ral papers ; and I was not at all surprised to 

 see, toward the close, that old exploded non- 

 sense about the "dark of the moon." Per- 

 haps some of my good friends right here will 

 jump up and declare that planting at the right 

 time of the moon is all right. I have only to 

 say again that different experiment stations 

 have tested this " moon " business with more 

 care and scientific accuracy than any farmer 

 ever did, and they have decided that the moon 

 has no effect whatever, either on the vegeta- 

 tion or on the weather. 



With the exception of the moon part, the 

 directions are all very good for caring for 

 potatoes ; but I would expose the potatoes to 

 the light, spread out a very much longer 

 period than mentioned above — that is, where 

 we want to plant late and still preserve the 

 sprouts. We spread ours out on trays on the 

 barn floor from the first of May until the last 

 of June — sometimes clear into July where we 

 plant that late. Where ground is suffering 

 from a lack of humus, a pint of chaff to each 

 piece or potato might make quite a difference 



