12 



THE GENESEE FARMEE. 



a use, iiiasmucb as it did not appear to prevail most 

 >vith the old varieties. The most hardy kind it eeeras 

 liave been least affected, and the least hardy, as the 

 Mercer or Chenango, Foxite, etc., the most. It was 

 nearly the unanimous opinion of those who spoke on 

 the subject, that the unusual prevalence of the defect, 

 or as some called it " disease," last year, was caused 

 ')y the very warm and wet weather, following, a se- 

 ^■cre and long-continued drouth. This idea was sup- 

 ported by many stutementa that potatoes which wei-e 

 planted ou dry soil, and so early that they reached 

 uMturity before the great change alluded to came on, 

 were scarcely affected at all; whereas the same varie- 

 ties planted later, and being in an immature state 

 when the change took place were nearly worthless 

 wlien harvested, or had become so during the winter." 

 ■J'en years subsequent experience and observation have 

 ijut strengthened the views expressed by the intelligent 

 gentlemen, among whom our friend Howard, of the 

 Boston Cultivator, was a leading spirit at this meeting. 

 A variety of causes contribute to the premature 

 dissolution of every part of the potato plant; one of 

 which is a defective gi-owth of the tubers, predispos- 

 ing them, so to epeak, to rot in wet, warm weather. 

 Why do early &ummer apples rot sooner than late fall 

 apples, when both are exposed to a common tempera- 

 ture, dampness, and to like gases? The disorganiza- 

 tion of fresh meat, cucumbers, pumpkins, apples, po- 

 tatoes and onions, is rarely u disease ; although it is 

 not always easy to say what organic bodies are dis- 

 eased, and what are not. Our studies of this subject 

 lead to the conclusion that it is generally easier and 

 better to prevent maladies than to cure them; and 

 the prevention of the early rotting of potatoes is no 

 exception to this rule. In onr report as Secretary of 

 the New York State Agricultural Society for 1845, 

 us pubUshed in the Transactions of that year, oora- 

 ineucing on page 49, we say: "Suppose a farmer had 

 lOU pounds of the minerals contained in the dung 

 and urine of a cow while feeding on timothy hay; 

 u'ould the application of these minerals in manure to 

 the hills of potatoes, supply 100 pounds of the pre- 

 cise minerals which potatoes need to form 10,000 

 pounds of their tubers? No. And here is the diffi- 

 culty that meets the practical farmer who despises a 

 knowledge of the things that make potatoes. 10,000 

 pounds of tubers use in growing only lOOipounds of 

 earthy minerals; but they are not the same in kind 

 and proportion that exist in timothy hay. In 100 

 pounds of the ash obtained from timothy there is but 

 15 lbs of potash; while in an equal weight of potato 

 ash there is Sl^tbs of this alkali. Hence to give 

 growing potatoes 51 Jibs of potash by the applica- 

 tion of cow dung, made from timothy hay or grass, 

 enough must be used, which if burnt would yield 340 

 lbs of ashes — being a loss of 240tbs, or more than 

 two-thirds of the mineral elements in the dung, to say 

 nothing of the needless waste of carbonic and nitrogen, 

 or of the organic elements of timothy and potatoes." 

 The reader will see how anxious we were to foster 

 a critical study of the things that make potatoes; and 

 to fhow that common barnyard manure is not adaj^t- 

 ed to the natural wants of this valuable plant. 



To raise sound potatoes, one must not only have 

 land that is well drained to free it of all poisonous 

 -alts of iron, alumina and magnesia, but he must feed 



his gi-owing crop with such food as nature demands 

 for the perfect organization of the starch and tissues 

 of the plant. And is this adaptation of the food of 

 a living, growing being to its natural wants, an un- 

 reasonable requiVemeut? We think not; and so we 

 have taught for thirty years. 



To make a soil just right in all its mechanical or 

 physical properties, is the first intention of all scien- 

 tific farming. This purpose is eflected by draining, 

 and securing a due admixture of mold, clay and aand, 

 or fine gravel, proper for cultivation. Decaying for- 

 est leaves on new land make better potatoes than 

 any other food and soil that we have seen in many 

 years of close observation. Leaves cojitain from six 

 to twelve times more of the minerals fomid in pota- 

 toes than exist in mold derived from decaying wood, 

 and various wild plants. The richest virgin mold is 

 formed from forest leaves by a law as beautiful and 

 universal as the vegetable kingdom. Almost the first 

 thing that attracted our attention in Georgia and 

 South Carolina was the gi^eat depth to which the 

 tap roots of Pines descended into open or perviona 

 subsoil, in search of their appropriate aliment. We 

 have traced them down into the earth more than ten 

 feet. The minerals thus extracted are very sparingly 

 deposited in the wood of roots, trunks and limbs of 

 trees ; while the leaves gave us four per cent of ashes. 

 A thousand grains of dry pine wood yielded only 

 about tliree grains of ashes; and the same weight of 

 leaves yielded forty grains. The leaves of pine and 

 of all other trees fall every year and thereby give to 

 the surface soil potash, soda, magnesia, lime, phospho- 

 ric, sulphuric and hydrochloric acids, drawn from the 

 deep subsoil, and carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hy- 

 drogen in an organized condition, taken directly, or 

 indirectly, from the atmosphere. It is in this way 

 that old and badly worn fields axe rejuvenated by the 

 growth of trees. 



One needs sound seed, sound land, and soundly cul- 

 tivate<l common sense, to grow sound potatoes, and 

 keep them in a sound state six or eight months after 

 they are harvested. Some of our friends in Georgia 

 raised excellent crops of Irish potatoes by mulching 

 them, in addition to the use of ashes, Ume and leaf 

 mold. This plant being, a native of an elevated 

 tropical region, it can illy bear either extreme of tem- 

 perature. The summer of Nova Scotia and the win- 

 ter of Florida suit its natm-al habita Hot days and 

 nights with undue moisture are very trying to its con- 

 stitution. In a cellar, the cooler and drier they are 

 kept, if not frozen, the better, to avoid their prema- 

 tm-e rotting. Many vegetables and fruits keep best 

 in a tolerably dry atmosphere; and how to dry and 

 not warm a fruit room, has become a matter of some 

 consequence to thousands of our readers. W^e could 

 quote a dozen or more instances where quick lime has 

 an-ested the decomposition of decaying potatoes and 

 apples; and we respectfully ask attention to the fact 

 that 76 pounds of recently burned lime will absorb 

 24 pounds of water in forming the common hydrate 

 of that mineral. Burnt gypsum also absorbs a good 

 deal of moisture ; but caustic lime is the cheapest for 

 all common purposes. The science of preserving 

 meats, butter, lard, fruits, vegetables, seeds, meal, and 

 flour, will be fully discussed in these pages before the 

 close of this volume. 



