JANUARY 15, 1914 



79 



ground ; and I am inclined to think they 

 were the tirst in the world to experiment 

 with hj^dro-aeroplanes. Somebody will prob- 

 ably cross the ocean vei'y soon with such a 

 craft. If they can go a mile a minute, and 

 skim along in spite of wind and wave, there 

 will be comparatively little difficulty in 

 making the trip. We clip the following 

 from the Cleveland Plain Dealer: 



TESTS NEW aircraft; OKVILLE WRIGHT SHOWS ONE 

 PROPELLER MODEL AT DAYTON, OHIO. 



Dayton, Ohio, Oct. 6. — Orville Wright, himself 



driving todaj', tested out his latest aeroplane model 

 in a series of successful flights. 



The new model has but one propeller, which with 

 the motor, seat, and drive, is in one unit in the »cen- 

 ter section, as compared with the former two-pro- 

 peller machines, with blades in opposite directions. 

 The new model " E " is made especially for exhibi- 

 tion purposes, and is capable of dismantling in short 

 time. 



Much of the machine is built of aluminum. In a 

 test against time a flight was made, and the entire 

 machine dismantled and loaded ready for shipment 

 in twelve minutes. This model has been viewed by 

 representatives of the International Club. Another 

 test will be made Oct. 15. 



High-pressure Gardening 



THE DASHEEN AND SOMETHING ABOUT IRISH 

 POTATOES^ ALSO. 



I have spoken several times of the diffi- 

 culty of getting Irish potatoes suitable for 

 planting here in Florida, say in October and 

 November, and we had the same trouble this 

 year. Of course, there are potatoes on the 

 market, but only those recently harvested, 

 and therefore no sign of a sprout started. 

 Two years ago we tried keeping over the 

 potatoes we grew, and dug in April; but 

 the rats got into our cellar in our absence 

 and ate them all; and this past summer, 

 when we boxed them up secure from the 

 rats, they all rotted. On that Brooksville 

 trip through the " wilderness " in front of a 

 lone dwelling I saw some beautiful sprouted 

 potatoes on the grass in the yard. The own- 

 er explained that he kept them through the 

 summer without any trouble by simply 

 spreading them out on the barn tloor; and 

 since then I have met several people who 

 kept them in a similar way so as to be all 

 ready for planting when they retunied from 

 the North. Neighbor Ault, the man of the 

 tall dasheens, is just now digging beautiful 

 new potatoes, and has sent us a panful to 

 mix with our " creamed " dasheens, and, I 

 may also add, very nice new potatoes are on 

 sale, where I sell my eggs, at 60 cts. a peck. 

 We have been, for a month back, fitting our 

 ground and planting Bliss Triumph pota- 

 toes as well as dasheens. 



In regard to dasheens, see the following, 

 which I have just clipped from the Jack- 

 sonville Times-Union: 



It will not grow in soil suitable for cotton, but 

 may be grown in soil suitable for potatoes. The im- 

 portance of the dasheen to the Southerner lies par- 

 ticularly in the fact that it matures in the fall, 

 whereas the main potato crop in the South matures 

 in the spring, and in winter the Southern States 

 have to obtain their potato supply from the North. 

 If dasheens were grown and properly appreciated 

 there would probably be little need for the South 

 ever to buy northern-grown potatoes for food. 



DI.STRIBUTED FROM BROOKSVILLE. 



The department's office of foreign seed and plant 

 introduction, which has been the means of making 



the dasheen known in America, has received a num- 

 ber of letters like the following : 



■' On March 20, 1913, I received from your de- 

 partment some dasheens shipped by the Brooksville, 

 Fla., station. I planted them March 24, on a loamy 

 soil here in Monroe, La., two blocks west of Ouachita 

 River. They soon came up and were large enough 

 to begin eating the greens and stems, which our 

 family soon became very fond of. I grew 40 hills. 

 The plants grew up 5 feet high. Some of the plants 

 made only 5 pounds of dasheens while others made 

 as much as 10 pounds to the hill. I have not dug 

 mine yet. In fact, I can leave them in the ground 

 this winter here, as the ground does not freeze so 

 much here. We have been eating the dasheens for 

 some time, and like them better than Irish potatoes. 



" I think you should add another name to them, 

 and call them ' dasheen, or poor man's friend,' since 

 any person with very limited space can plant a few 

 hills in a garden or yard early in spring, and have 

 nice fresh greens from early spring until frost, and 

 then, best of all, come the tubers." 



Let me say once more, where in the world 

 can you find another plant (or vegetable) 

 that produces a nourishing and delicious 

 food just as soon as it is above ground, and 

 also where every bit above ground and un- 

 der the ground is edible at every stage of its 

 growth, and that gives a yield like that, 

 mentioned in the clipping? At this date, 

 Dec. 20, I have seen no 1914 seed catalogs. 

 • I am curious to know how many will have 

 enterprise enough to offer dasheen tubers. 

 They will need but little room in gi-een- 

 houses, hot-beds, cold-frames, and window- 

 boxes, until the big leaves begin to spread 

 tliemselves. Our " amadumbes " from South 

 Africa are growing finely, and so far look 

 very much like the dasheen. As the beauti- 

 ful leaves unfold I am watching them morn- 

 ing, noon, and night. 



I find I omitted one important fact in re- 

 gard to the dasheen at the Government sta- 

 tion at Brooksville. While there was a fair 

 yield of tubers on ground without manure 

 or fertilizer, the yield was almost doubled 

 by a generous application on several rows 

 through the middle of the field. The ama- 

 dumbe I have several times mentioned (from 

 South Africa) is now making a splendid, 

 growth. A leaf just unrolling grew 5 inches* 



