0ULTI7ATI0N OF THE SWEET POTATO IN N. Y 



The following remarks on the Cultivation of the 

 Sweet Potato, is given in a letter from S. S. RmoKR, 

 of Maria Forge, Alabama, to B. P. .Tohnso.n, iSecro- 

 tary of the New York State Ag. Society, and pub- 

 lished in the Transactions lor 1848: 



" I have been asked by some of the members of 

 your Society, my opinion about the practicability of 

 cultivating the sweet potato in this State, and the 

 best mode of cultivating them. [ have no doubt of 

 your being able to raise sweet potatoes in this cliniate 

 if properly managed, as I have known them grow to 

 a very large size in Alabama in three months; and 

 you have three months of quite as warm weatlier 

 here, generally, as we have in Alabama, (viz.,) June, 

 July, and August. I will give you a brief statement 

 of my experience in cultivating the sweot potato. 

 When I went to Alabama, six years ago, I knew 

 |i' nothing about the method that it was best to pursue, 

 I't and had to depend on the experience and instruction 

 K of my neighbors. I pursued their plan until I found 



i'jj, a better. The best mode that T have found is the 

 (^ following: First prepare a bed for laying down your 

 i.J seed potatoes to pro luce slips for planUng, by dig- 

 m ging up a bed, say three feet wide and ten feet Tn 

 1^ length, longer or shorter, according to the quantity 

 of potatoes you have; throw the earth out of this 

 bed to the depth of one foot, and fill in manure from 

 the horse stable sufficient to make a good hot bed. 

 It should be raised some ten or twelve inches above 

 the surface of the ground, and the top of the bed 

 should be sand and loam. Place your potatoes in 

 rows about six inches apart across the bed, and cover 

 them to the depth of tv.o or three inches; the manure 

 should be kept moist to create heat, to foward the 

 growth of the slips as fast as possible. As soon as 

 the slips are five or six inches high they are ready 

 for planting. 



Your ground for planting should be a light soil of 

 sand and loam, where it can be had, but good clay 

 will produce very good potatoes sometimes. The 

 ground should be plowed very deep, and thrown up 

 in ridges or hills, such as Irish potato hills after they 

 have been hoed. The ground should be ridged or 

 hilled immediately before planting, so as to be moist, 

 as this is a very important matter to the growth of 

 the slips when first planted. It is best to choose a 

 time for planting when there is a little rain and cloudy 

 weather, but thoy may be planted in dry weather if 

 they are watered for two or three evenings, and do 

 well. When you draw slips from the bed you should 

 place your hand over the potato, to keep it from coming 

 out of the ground, and take hold of the slips with the 

 other, catching them as close to the potato ag possi- 

 ble, and pidl them off. You can pull all that have 

 full sized leaves, and in eight or ten days your bed 

 will yield another crop. Plant one slip in a place: 

 if in ridges put them about eiffht inches apart.— 

 When you get done planting throw the earth from 

 each side of the ridge with a plow or hoe. that the 

 sun may warm the middle of the ridge. As soon as 

 your vines get fully rooted and are ready to com- 

 mence running, throw tlie earth back, and after the 

 vines begin to spread, hoe out all the weeds, and draw 

 the earth up well around the vines, but bo careful 

 that there is no earth allowed to go on them, as they 

 will take root wherever thov are covered, and produce 

 a bunch of small, stringy potatoes. I was told to 

 cover a part of the vines, and after following the 



direction and the ej^tom of the countrv one or two 

 years, I abandoned it, and I soon found that I had a 

 much better crop. Although I had not as many in 

 number as when I had the vines loafled witli little 

 stringy potatoes, my potatoes in the hill were all 

 large and fine, and the aggregate crop much larger." 



ARSENIC FOR THE WIRE-W0RJ4. 



Messrs. Editors: — Arsenic, although a very dan 

 gerous article, I am inclined to believe, mir^ht be 

 used in destroying the wire-worm, which is destruc- 

 tive to wheat. In reading an English paper, I 

 observed a statement that certain gaine-keei;crs fonud 

 numbers of pheasants and patridges dead, and to 

 ascertain the cause, their stomachs were anahv.ed 

 and iuund to contain arsenic. This thev had 'pro- 

 cured from the seed wheat they had picked out of the 

 and, which had been soaked in arsenic and water. 

 Would not such a hint be useful to our farmers when 

 they plant corn? I should strongly recommend it, 

 and alter planting is finished, sow broad-cast a ppck 

 I his would save the crows the trouble of scratchi:ig 

 It up, which no farmer would object to. 



Should anyone be induced to mix arsenic with 

 salt, which I believe would completely clear the land 

 ot wire-worms, grubs, and all other insects, the man 

 who sows it should do so with gloves on, as he mi.rht 

 suffer if he did not take this precaution. The nn-rV- 

 nails show the effects first. If it is mixed Oii^he 

 barn floor, it should be washed clean, for if horses or 

 cattle should lick the floor it might prove fatal.— 

 1 he gloves and all connected with tuis mi.xtur- it 



would be safest to bura. Joh.n Park Gatfg, ]'>-h 



month, IS49. ' 



Reiiarks.— Arsenic on land would undoubt- 

 edly prove destructive to both birds and insect^ But 

 we fear frightful accidents from carelessness would 

 follow Its general use. We are not surprised that 

 English larmors should use arsenic, and we opine 

 they ieel no regret at the death of tlie patrid<ros and 

 pheasants. We have seen large fields of wheat 

 two-thirds destroyed by the game. They are the 

 curse of the farmers in many parts. 



I 



Guano.— Does guano afford a permanent improve- 

 ment to the soil, or does it act on the first crop, and 

 then leave the land as poor, or piwrer, tlian it was 

 before? This is a question so often asked, we will 

 once more answer, that this is like all other stimv- 

 Umts, whether applied to man or the soil, unless f>!m- 

 ished with some other fooil, the effect will not be 

 permanent. But give the land a small coat of marl, 

 manure, or green crops, for the guano to work u;.on, 

 and then it will be found that the effect will bo' not 

 only boneficial to the first crop, but several succeed- 

 ing ones. None but the genuine Peruvian guano 

 can be depended upon. '■ Manufactured guano," in 

 many cases, is nearly worthless. The Maryland 

 Farmers, the past year, have tried various experi- 

 ments 111 planting potatoes with guano, and find that 

 when It IS put on top of the hill or drill, and slln-hlly 

 covered with earth the yield is much greater Ihah 

 when placed at the bo/tom of the hill 



A remarkable specimen of Indian corn is to be 

 seen in Baltimore. The stalks are about eleven feet 

 in height, and on the four exhibited there are 18e"3, 

 large and well filled. 



