134 CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 



be applied with great benefit; but if the "planting is under a 

 fresh sod, the liming should be deferred until the tops are just 



4 coining through the ground, then harrow, spread the lime, and 

 harrow again. " It is stated by JOSEPH CLOUD, Esq., one of 

 the Vice Presidents of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting 

 Agriculture, that for two or three years past several of his 

 friends had experimented on the culture of potatoes, substitut- 

 ing the sulphate of lime for putrescent manures. The lime 

 was strewed liberally along the furrows, and directly upon the 

 potatoes. Their subsequent treatment was after the usual 

 manner. The results proved highly satisfactory particularly 

 the last season arising, probably, from a defect of moisture, 

 to promote the decomposition of vegetable matter. The cause, 

 whatever it may have been, remains to be developed. The 

 effects are of vast importance in the-science of agriculture. 



The proper manure, under ordinary circumstances, is that 

 formed and prepared in the barn-yard. Bone dust has been, 

 employed with good effect. Lime has been found very bene- 

 ficial, though by some its application has been condemned. 

 It is thought to destroy worms, slugs and insects, and to bring 

 the crop earlier to maturity. A large table spoonful of plas- 

 ter thrown upon the potato in the drill, is highly recommend- 

 ed, as tending greatly to increase the crop. 



Planting. As soon as the manure is spread along the hol- 

 lows of the drills, the potatoes are to be planted. The potato, 

 or the sets, as the case may be, are placed directly upon the 

 manure, from ten to twelve inches from each other. In this 

 operation the planter is directed by the eye. The seeds are 

 now covered by splitting each drill, so that the top of the new 

 drill formed is immediately above the hollow of the old one. 

 This simple series of operations completes this method of plant- 

 ing the potato. 



The time of planting varies according to the latitude, the 

 season, and the state of the farm work. They have been 

 planted in New Jersey and Pennsylvania as early as the fif- 

 teenth of March, and as late as the fifth of August. These are 

 the extremes, and cannot be recommended, though fair crops 

 have been produced. The best time is from the first to the 

 twentieth of May. Good crops depend upon tillage, seed, 

 soil, manure, and the season. 



There are other modes of planting preferred by many intel- 

 ligent farmers. The practice, once universally prevalent, of 

 hauling up the ground, and raising high hills' about potatoes, 

 only to turn off the water which the crop needs, has not been 

 able to abide the light of science or the experience of modern 



