POTATO. 



' a free space for the ploughs in the 

 boutin;fs and for tlie carts. 



" One horse will answer for three 

 carts, if the distance of draught to 

 I the pits 1)0 short, by changing hiai al- 

 ternately from an empty to a full 

 one, but this only applies to the 

 Scotch and Irish system of draught 

 by single carts and horses. The 

 general mode of securing the crop in 

 pits in the field is the safest. In 

 making the pits — improperly so term- 

 ed, for the base is only sunk a few 

 inches, and the potatoes are raised 

 considerably in the heaps — the only 

 caution to be observed is, that fur- 

 rows should be cut on all sides to 

 prevent water from lodging or [)eno- 

 trating inward, and that tiie eartli 

 thrown up and over them, to the 

 depth of four or five inches, should 

 be well beaten with spade or shovel 

 to exclude moisture and frost. The 

 potato stalks, however apparently 

 dry, should never be laid between 

 the potatoes and the earth in these 

 accumulations, for they soon ferment 

 and rot, and injure all the potatoes 

 in contact with them. Straw is at 

 least useless. The length of the pit 

 depends on circumstances, but the 

 breadth should not exceed four feet, 

 as large accumulations are most lia- 

 ble to fermentations." 



The potato crop is commonly be- 

 low 200 bushels the acre, but by good 

 management 400 bushels may be ob- 

 tained. 



"The only decided diseases of the 

 potato, besides the dry rot, is ' the 

 curl,' which is an imperfect forma- 

 tion ; and a rot of the new tubers, 

 which seems to be owing to a fungus, 

 and may be overcome by liming or 

 using salt to the land. One thing, 

 however, is clear, that from a crop 

 of which any part is intended for 

 seed, all the plants aflected with curl 

 should be carefully separated before 

 the general removal commences. 

 The dry rot, or decay of the set, is 

 also still unexplained as to its real 

 cause, though the press has teemed 

 with essays and very plausible theo- 

 ries respecting it. The same malady 

 was remarked for many years, and, 



F K F 2 



we have reason to think, m seasons 

 similar to those which we have ex- 

 perienced in latter years. Tiie set, 

 though ai)|)arentiy sound when plant- 

 ed, has either I'ailed to gernunate at 

 all, and rotted away, or has feebly 

 and partially thrown out its sickly 

 shoots.- The most contradictory 

 causes have been assigned ; over- 

 ripening in the preceding year ; un- 

 der-ripening ; fermentation in the 

 pits ; fermentation of the set in the 

 ground when placed in contact with 

 hot dung (which is utterly absurd, 

 for when in the ground no injurious 

 fermentation can arise) ; very hot 

 weather, great drought, hot sun, cold, 

 parching wind, dry and heating ma- 

 nure, sea-ware, which is always 

 damp ; exhaustion of the kind from 

 a long course of culture, contradicted 

 by many instances, in which it ap- 

 pears that the produce of the same 

 variety — for instance, the apple — has 

 been successively cultivated during 

 sixty-five years witlnnit any lailure ; 

 or the loss of vitality from prema- 

 turely shooting. 



" If potatoes have fermented in 

 their accumulated state, they would 

 bear obvious evidence of it, and 

 therefore be rejected. Fermentation 

 cannot be the true cause in every or 

 even the majority of cases, nor does 

 the failure, probably, proceed from in- 

 sects in the eyes, as has been sug- 

 gested ; for if so, it is difficult to ac- 

 count for the fact that sets from the 

 same heap planted at one part of the 

 day have totally failed, while others 

 put into the ground at another have 

 pushed forth healthy shoots. As to 

 decay in the land, from the contiguity 

 of fermenting manure, How is it 

 to be proved that the gases evolved 

 by fermenting manure can injure the 

 setsl Fermenting manures would 

 rather stinuilate by their warmth, 

 and excite their growth by the ali- 

 ment which their essential (jualities, 

 carbon and ammonia, supply to plants. 

 Why do not the gaseous exhalations 

 from rank and fermenting hot-beds 

 destroy the tender plants which are 

 raised in them !' 



" The same causes which are sev- 



617 



