SECRETARY'S REPORT. 141 



Root Crops as Food for Man. — Next to cereal crops as food 

 for man, follow root crops. In variety and excellence of "flavor, 

 so comprehensive and universally excellent, meeting the wants 

 of the appetite in all seasons of the year, and the conservator 

 of health : in substance, gratifying and satisfying " the sys- 

 tem." Root crops have become, at least to man, an indispen- 

 sable need. The farinaceous vegetables are cultivated on a 

 broader belt of earth than the cereals : their improvement in 

 quality has kept pace with civilization. First in value for the 

 support of the vital forces is the potato. The predominance of 

 saccharine juice in the parsnip, carrot and beet, entitle these 

 roots to a more general appreciation. The potato, originally 

 " a sea shore plant," thriving best in a hilly, rocky soil, not- 

 witlistanding it has been multiplied into hundreds of varie- 

 ties, (and planted in every variety of soils remote from the 

 sea,) has not changed its essential farinaceous qualities. These 

 changes have perhaps weakened the vigor of the root. 



Cnllivation. — The following mode of cultivation has been 

 practiced with economy on Long Island : — 



Manure the land, plough, harrow, plough again with swivel 

 plough, drop the seed (medium size or large potatoes cut 

 lengthwise) twelve or fourteen inches apart — in the third fur- 

 row opened, and at the same time, sow plaster, ashes and salt, 'in 

 the furrow. Cover six inches in ploughing the next furrow, 

 and so continue until the field is planted over. When the 

 potatoes break ground, harrow crosswise. Use the cultivator 

 once or more as necessary. Follow the cultivator with the 

 double mould board plough, thinning out the weeds andlevelling 

 up the earth about the stalks with a sickle hoe. In harvesting, 

 (after pulling the tops) run through the rows with the potato 

 digger plough. Store the crop as soon as possible after it is 

 taken from the ground. If the potatoes show signs of decay it 

 is very doubtful whether any yet discovered misnamed specific 

 will arrest the evil. Potatoes when properly stored in the 

 manner stated for mangolds have been kept as safely as the 

 mangolds through a long season. 



Instinct may have been a sufficient guide for man, to induce 

 him to learn the cultivation of the vegetable kingdom. But it 

 is not the less important tliat his sense of their value and ne- 

 cessity to the race should be quickened by a knowledge of the 

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