CULTIYATION OF POTATOES. 325 



Whatever may be the character of the soil, it should be 

 ploughed deeply and thoroughly mellowed by the harrow. 

 Deep ploughing, deep jilanting and frequent stirring of the 

 soil with the cultivator will place the crop beyond the con- 

 tingency of a wet or dry season. If the soil is thoroughly 

 drained and pulverized, so as to be liglit and spongy, it will 

 allow the excessive moisture of a wet season to pass through 

 it, leaving its enriching qualities for the nourishment of the 

 potatoes, and in a dry time will, like Gideon's fleece, aljsorb 

 the vapor which always abounds in the atmosphere. The state- 

 ment that a deep and mellow soil is best adapted to resist the 

 extremes of moisture and drought may seem to some paradoxi- 

 cal, but facts abundantly verify it. In case the land is not 

 thoroughly drained, and is of a clay nature, inclining to be 

 wet, we prefer broad hills or drills to level culture, as the 

 potatoes will be less exposed to excessive moisture. Drills 

 will give the greatest return, and if the land is sloping should 

 be made to run directly down the slope, so as to afford partial 

 drainage. We have heard the fear expressed that if drills run 

 with the descent of the ground the land would be liable to wash 

 in heavy showers ; but this is a mistake. With a furrow once 

 in three feet there can be no great accumulation of water in 

 any one furrow. The frequent furrows scatter the water, much 

 as Quimby's frequent points on his lightning-rods scatter the 

 electricity, whereas if the furrows run obliquely or transversely 

 with the slope the water will accumulate in the furrow till it 

 rises to a sufficient height to overcome the barrier of the drill, 

 when it makes bad gullies, as the Yankees call the channel 

 made ])y running water. If potatoes are planted in drills three 

 feet apart, and the seed dropped at intervals of a foot, the culti- 

 vator can pretty much supersede the use of the hand hoe. This 

 should be run between the drills as soon as the young shoots 

 make their appearance, to keep the ground mellow and open 

 to atmospheric influences. One hand-hoeing may be necessary 

 to eradicate the weeds growing in too close proximity to the 

 potatoes to be exterminated by the cultivator, otherwise we 

 should never care to put a hoe among potatoes. By much 

 waste of human vitality the hoe may be made to pulverize the 

 soil as well as Share's cultivator ; but we have never seen it 

 done, and should decidedly object to putting our muscles to 



