74 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



hundred bushels the acre, and without increasing 

 materially the expense of culture. It is a reproach 

 to us, that thi&foot is brought three thousand miles 

 from England; Ireland, and Germany, to supply the 

 wants of our city population. Let us try to do 

 better. It is in the hope that we may contribute to 

 increase our average product, so as to supply the 

 demands of our own market, that we give the fol- 

 lowing directions for its culture. 



Soil and preparation. A mistaken notion prevails 

 with many, that the best potatoes are grown on a 

 warm, sandy soil. The reverse of this is true. The 

 best potatoes, tfs to quality, are believed to be grown 

 in the west of England, Ireland, Nova Scotia, Maine, 

 and other high latitudes, and particularly in humid 

 climates. In a dry season, the quality and quantity 

 are with us not as good as they are in a moist and 

 cool one. The potato zone does not extend south 

 of New- York : that is, its quality deteriorates south 

 of that latitude ; and it probably has the most con- 

 genial climate between 42 and 45. If these as- 

 sumptions are well founded, then it should be our 

 aim to plant upon a cool and mcist, though not wet 

 soil, which approximates nearest to the temperature 

 of the best potato-growing districts elsewhere. The 

 potato will grow anywhere if there are vegetable 

 matter and moisture, but it will be inferior upon dry 

 sands, and stiff or wet clays. It does best in loams 

 or reclaimed swamps ; and it pays well for a good 

 dressing of long manure, and should, if practicable, 

 be planted on the first furrow of a grass ley. If the 

 sod is old and tough, plough deep in September, hav- 



been ascertained, it has averaged from 150 to 200 bushels per 

 acre. In the county of Susquehanna, for example, the aver- 

 ago for the whole county was about 175 bushels per acre. 

 Some towns have given over 200, and a few, perhaps, have fallen 

 below an average of 100 bushels There is, hawever, no room 

 for doubt, that the average is much less than it would be wilh a 

 bettor system of cultivation. Ed*.} 



