THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Mar. (I 



THE SWEET POTATO. 



How can the Sweet Potato be kept for seed through 

 oar winter till lime to plant ? and what is tlie best 

 mode of culture ? C. B. Jewei.1.. — Groton, JV. Y. 

 Although iho sweet potato may never become a 

 general or profitable crop for the farmer to raise for 

 market in tins latitude, yet we believe nearly every 

 farmer way raise enough, with little trouble, to supply 

 his own table with this luxurj' ; and those in the 

 neii'hborhoai of cities and large villages might make 

 it a profitable crop. Residents of villages who take 

 a pride in cultivating their own gardens and supply- 

 ino- their tables with the fruits of their own industry 

 and skill, would need no other incentive to give the 

 potatoes a trial, than to see, as we have seen them, 

 rivaling the famed Corolinas, served up on the table 

 of a friend, — the product of his own little garden. 



SWBET roiAfo (C jur !m Ivi latatu^ ) 

 Great ditScalty is eiperieuced in preserving the 

 sweet potato through the winter. The general 

 direction given is, to preserve the roots from tlie 

 CAtreraes of beat and cold, with an exclusion of air 

 !u>d light ; but we have tried in various ways to keep 

 thein, without success. We have tried them on a 

 shelf in the cellar — in a box of earth — in baked 

 sand ; — hat in cv«^- case have failed to preserve 

 them. A frioml in Brighton, in this county, treats 

 them in the following manner, with success. In the 

 fall he plarits them in a box of earth and places them 

 with his house plants. In a little while the shoots 

 will show themselves, and when gn)wn enough they 

 are carefully removed by slipping them off without 

 displacing the potato, and planted. They soon take 

 root and form new plants. As soon as the weather 

 is sufficiently v/ann, (say about the first of Juno,) 

 these plants are placed in the open ground, according 

 to the directions given in the January number. 



Whore seed can bo obtained in llie spring, the 

 better way is to Jake large [wtatoes and divide them, 

 as the common potato, and plant in a hot bed. There 

 should !)e about four inches of mold over the manure. 

 Place tlie potatoes on this, and cover with about 

 three iochei' of light earth. As the sprouts appear, 

 draw them, as practiced by our Brighton friend, and 

 plant in your field or garden. If they huvp the ben- 

 efit of a cloudy day or a shower abouf tnis time, all 

 the better. When treated in this way, a bushel of 



seed will supply plants for an acre. For the accom- 

 panying engraving we are indebted to Allen's Amer- 

 ican Agriculture. 



rTLTERUTG CISTERN. 



It has been said that some men dig their own graves 

 with their teeth. It is certainly true that many 

 diseases that afflict our race are caused by improper 

 eating and drinking — improper as to quality, quan- 

 tity, and manner. And though it is true that water 

 is the least injurious of i:ll liquids taken into the 

 stomach, and is the drink appointed by the Creator 

 for every living thing ; yet, we have no duubl tiiat 

 disease and death is often caused by the use of impure 

 water. It enters into every thing we cat. Our 

 bread as well as our tea and coft'ee are affected by it. 

 This impurity may be so olight and the injury so 

 little as to be imperceptible for a time ; but it is the 

 continual dropping that wears the stone, and the 

 continued use of impure water must produce perma- 

 nent injury to the human system. The young and 

 tender tree may be driven to the ground by a sudden 

 blast ; but the genial influences of light, v. armth, 

 and air, seconding its natural disposition, it will 

 again recover its erect position. Let the same tree 

 be planted where it is subject to the prevailing and 

 almost constant western winds, and it will be warped 

 by it — trunk, branches, and foliage driven to the east. 



Various filtercrs have been invented for purifying 

 water by filtering. Most of these have been too 

 troublesome in their operation to be favorably received 

 by farmers. It may be well enough for a man of 

 leisure, whose main business is to do the •• chores," 

 to bfi liltcring water by the pailful ; but the farmer 

 has other duties demanJing his time and attention. 

 The best plan for filtering water we are acquainted 

 with, is the 

 one exhibited 

 in the engra- 

 ving. It is a 

 cistern divided 

 into two parts. 

 G. is the pipe 

 for conducting 

 the water into 

 the cistern ; g. 

 F, pipe con- d 

 nectcd with q 

 pump, for ex- '^ 

 tracting the 

 filtered water; 

 A, B, fcc, lay- 

 ers of charcoal, gravel, &c.; the black dots are 

 passages for the water from one ])art of the cistern 

 to the other. The engraving, with the following 

 description, is from Allen's American Farm Book : 



"They may be formed in various ways, and of 

 diflerent materials — stone, brick, or even wood ; 

 though the two former are preferable. They should 

 bo permanently dividod into two apartments, one to 

 receive the water, and another for a reservoir to 

 contain such as is ready for use. Alternate layers 

 of gravel, sand, and charcoal at the bottom of the 

 first, and sand and gravel in the last, arc sufiicicnt ; 

 the water being allowed to pass through the several 

 layers mentioned, will be rendered perfectly free from 

 all impurities. Occasional cleaning may bo neces- 

 sary, and the substitution of new filtering materials 

 will at all times keep them sweet. 



riLTERINQ CISTERN. 



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