VOI.J XHI. NO. 33. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



173 



the nostrum coiitiiiiieci for four, five or six tijiif s, ihe 

 foliage would get so over-co;itKcl, that a very per- 

 ceptihle difference woukl directly show itself; and 

 the leaves would assume a hrown unhealthy n\> 

 pearance: the washing every third day (using a 

 plentiful supply of clean water) quite prevents 

 this. — Abdalonymus. July 7, 1834. 



Make a table-spoonful of sulphur into a paste, 

 and afterwards put it into a large pot full of water. 

 The sulphur should be in sucli proportion to the 

 water as to make the latter yellow. Syringe the 

 leaves with this mixture two or three times in the 

 course of a fortnight, adding a little juore sidphur 

 each time. The spider will soon bid you farewell. 

 — P. Davis. Upton, near Stratford, Essex, June 

 24, 1834. 



VERTICAIi wool. SPINKER 



— William Sykes and George M. Conradt, Freder- 

 icktown, Frederick co. Maryland, March 10. 



The novelty claiiried in this machine con- 

 sists in the mode of drawing the thread. The 

 slubbing is put on to a roller in the usual way, and 

 is conducted down to the spindles on the lower 

 part of the machine ; in descending, it passes be- 

 tween two segment rollers, that is, rollers which 

 have opposite sides flattened, so as to remove about 

 half of their touching surface; the roving in de- 

 scending is embraced, alternately, between the 

 two cylindrical parts. Similar rollers are placed 

 a few inches below these, embracing the thread 

 at the time it is free in the upper rollers ; " and 

 thus the operation of a continued drawing is per- 

 formed, and at the same time the flyers give it the 

 requisite twist. If hard twisted yarn is required, 

 the pairs of rollers are placed nearer together ; 

 for loose yarn, further apart." The claim is con- 

 fined to this part of the structure.— ^/ourna/ of the 

 Franklin Institute. 



Of one tli.insand seedlings raised by myself in 

 1832, nnt one was red, inostly long-shaped and 

 i:xcelk'iit. — Genesee Farmer. 



THE MASHANNOCK. POTATO. 



We received in a letter from a subscriber in In- 

 diana, last week, a small fine looking potato, in 

 which he gives the following account: 



" I send you, in this letter, the celebrated Ma- 

 sliannock Potato of the west. I call it the Mashan- 

 nock of the west, as it was produced from a seed 

 of the Mercer potato, by an old Irish woman in 

 Columbiana county, Ohio, about the year 1820. 

 This variety spread over the country in 1824, with 

 such rapidity, as to reach almost every farm that 

 year. Since that time, it has had no rival among 

 the old varieties. It remains in full |)erfection to 

 the present day. The Mashaunock potato greatly 

 resembles the fiercer of Pennsylvania, but is supe- 

 rior to it in evfery respect. The Mercer potato is 

 shorter and whiter, and, I believe, the product not 

 more than one-fourth as much. If your tar- 

 iners have not this kind of potato already, they 

 will do well to try it. 



" The Mashannock has vines of a beautiful light 

 yellow color, medium size, soft and and spreading. 

 A common |)otato is six inches long, as thick as a 

 man can span, and flattened in its form. Over- 

 grown ones are much larger, some seasons weigh- 

 ing from two to three pounds, with lumps on the 

 sides. The vines bear a moderate quantity of 

 small seed-balls ; and some seasons, when the crop 

 is very good, the ground is nearly covered with 

 them. These seed-balls make the greatest variety 

 of potatoes, and the most promising kinds of any I 

 have tried. They sport in endless variety of early 

 and late, large and small, and all colors except red. 



( Front Loudon's Magazine. 

 Oti THE CUIiTIVATIOK OP POTATOES. 



On readijig the observations on planting pota- 

 toes, by J. Hart, of Dublin, (Gardener's Magazine, 

 IX. 589.) it struck me that, if every one would 

 communicate the result of his own practice as a 

 potato grower, it would elicit facts from which 

 correct data might be obtained that would enable 

 horticulturists to determine generally what are the 

 real causes of failure in the cultivation of that val- 

 uable vegetable. 



Much has been said on the curl in potatoes, and 

 many reasons have been assigned as to the cause 

 of it ; but most of them are unsatisfactory, being 

 often directly opposed to every day's experience. 

 Perhaps my ideas on the subject may be as vague 

 as those of ray predecessors ; but, be that as it niay, 

 I have the satisfaction of knowing that, by atten- 

 tion to the ndes here laid down, I have never fail- 

 ed of success. 



I shall begin with the most prevailing idea, that 

 the curl is occasioned by the over-matured state 

 of the tidiers from which the plants were taken. 

 This is a point on which I differ from some who 

 rank high as vegetable physiologists; but, always 

 judging for myself according as circumstances 

 have occurred, I am induced to believe that much 

 more importance is attached to that cause than it 

 really deserves. That it ia possible for potatoes to 

 be over-matured, 1 admit ; but it will only occur 

 in those seasons that are exceptions to our EUin- 

 mers, generally considered. 



During the last twenty years I have been exten- 

 sively connected with the culture of potatoes on 

 various soils, and by inany different methods, both 

 for early and late crops; and though 1 have never 

 suffered from an attack of the curl, I have in many 

 instances seen the crops of those around me suffer- 

 ing to a great extent during that period. 1 will 

 describe my practice in as few words as possible. 

 For early crops I always plant tubers produced 

 from an early crop the preceding season, in pre- 

 ference to those of a later growth. I consider tu- 

 bers well matmed, preferable for planting, because 

 in them the embryo of the future plant is more 

 perfect than in those not yet arrived at a state of 

 maturity ; and, consequently, the functions of the 

 |dant are brought more readily into action by the 

 three great agents of vegetation, light, heat, and 

 moisture, than in those of later growth. The well 

 keeping of potatoes intended for planting is a very 

 iTiaterial point as respects the curl in the future 

 crop. I hesitate not to say tbilt the curl is often 

 caused by the injudicious manner in which pota- 

 toes are frequently stored through the autumn and 

 winter months. We often see them thrown into 

 large heaps, and suffered to remain till young 

 shoots appear through the top of the heap. They 

 are then perchance turned over, to rub off the 

 young shoots, and again consigned to chance, till 

 another crop of shoots appear. Indeed, I have 

 known instances where three successive crops 

 have appeared before the time for planting had ar- 

 rived. Under these and similar circumstances, 

 we have no reason to expect a healthy growth and 

 good crop ; it is quite impossible that plants with 

 their vegetative powers thus nearly exhausted, can 

 fully develope their respective parts ; and hence 

 those monstrosities, contortions, and contracted 

 appearances of the stem and foliage, which end in 



disappomtment to the grower. It is not to lie in- 

 ferred that I consider this as the sole cause of the 

 curl in potato crops ; on the contrary, I believe 

 that there are others ; but these appear to me of a 

 secondary nature, and I may at some future time 

 address you respecting them, should you deem the 

 hints here thrown out worth attention. 



My method of keejiing potatoes for planting is 

 this: — I lay by well-matured tubers of my earliest 

 crops, in a dark dry shed, frequently turning them 

 over to prevent them from sprouting; which by 

 proper attention may be effectually done. They 

 will retain their vegetative powers unimpaired. 

 Wlien the season for planting arrives, I cut my 

 sets in the following manner : first, I cut off the 

 blind eye, as it is generally called, at the base of 

 the [)otato, and throw it into the waste basket ; I 

 then proceed to divide the remaining |)art, accord- 

 ing to the size of the tuber, and the number of 

 eyes it contains, always taking care to have one 

 good full eye at least to each set; and, when the 

 sets are cut, I lay them in a moderately thick heap 

 for a few days, that they may dry before planting, 

 taking especial care, in early crops particularly, 

 not to plant when the ground is very wet from 

 heavy rains or snow. 



I have frequently taken tubers from fully ma- 

 tured crops, and exposed them to the influence of 

 the sun for several weeks ; and in the following 

 season planted tliem at the same time, and on the 

 same piece of ground, with tubers of a late crop j 

 the results have fully confirmed my opinion, that 

 planting early-produced tubers, for early crops, is 

 the best method to adopt. 



Kespectmg the idea that fate produced tubers 

 will not produce a curled progeny, I sidniiit the 

 following case to show that they are as likely to 

 produce curl in the succeeding crop as the most 

 matured tubers. In the year 1826, through the 

 prevalence of rain, the late crops were generally 

 not of a marketable quality ; consequently the 

 greater part were reserved by the growers for plant- 

 ing. The following spring and summer, the curl 

 prevaile<i to a great extent, and hundreds of acres 

 were plonglied up, the crop not being worth the 

 expense of taking. I examined many hundreds of 

 [)lants on different soils and under different mode.s 

 of treatment, and seldom found more than three or 

 four per cent of healthy plants. On carefully ex- 

 amining the soil, I found nothing to induce a be- 

 lief that it was caused by any local circumstance ; 

 indeed, so general was the disease, that the most 

 sceptical growers declared they could not ascribe 

 it to any other cause than the unripe state of the 

 sets ; a conclusion strengthened by the fact, that 

 those who planted well-rij)ened tubers had crops free 

 from curl and as productive as usual. W. M. 



PUDDIiEIVG OR REPINIIVG IRON WITH AN- 

 THRACITE COAL. 



We understand that Mr. M. B. Buckley, of this 

 Borough, has made a successful experiment of pud- 

 dling or refining iron with Anthracite Coal. The 

 iron thus refined has been tested and found to be 

 of an excellent quality. The advantage to be de- 

 rived from this experiment is, that Iron can be re- 

 fined by the use of Anthracite Coal, from 12 to 15 

 dollars per ton cheaper than by the usual method. 

 Judging from the discoveries already made, we 

 have no doubt but that Anthracite Coal, will, in a 

 few years, be applied to all the ])urpose8 for which 

 wood is now used in making iron. — Poitsville Mi- 

 ners' Journal. 



