1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



173 



sure a crop as the common potato, and yields 

 double the amount, say from two to six bushels 

 for one hundred slips, while in other sections they 

 may not do so well, for they are quite sensitive 

 about the soil they are in. For instance : I have 

 had a strip about twelve feet wide run across, say 

 twenty ridges, with the tops looking the same, 

 wliile the roots were like whip-lashes, with no tu- 

 bers, yet on each side the very best of digging ; 

 no mortal eye could see any difference in the soil, 

 nor was there any difference in the treatment. If 

 I had tried a smaller ex{)erimeiit, all in that par- 

 ticular spot, what should I have seen ? 



The soil in general, for them, will lead me to 

 speak of what I do not pretend to know much 

 about ; that is, geology, — but as an observer, I 

 may know a "thing or two." If we look at the 

 map of the United States (so called,) we shall see 

 that New Jersey cuts oft' Pennsylvania from the 

 ocean, the boundary between the Delaware River, 

 running south. The Pennsylvania soil is not fit 

 for the sweet potato, and the farmers do not raise 

 them ; but Jersey is very good. This strip is 

 called the tertiary formation ; after jiassing Penn- 

 sylvania it begins to widen, taking Delaware, Ma- 

 ryland, East Virginia, most all of North Carolina, 

 and so on, widening to the Gulf, going in the same 

 direction as the Alleghany Mountains. This is 

 all low, not rising more than two hundred feet 

 along the sea. The presence of shells gives evi- 

 dence of this space having once been under sea- 

 water, and, as general thing, is all good for the 

 sweet potato- Something of this kind of forma- 

 tion which tapers up to New York and is crowded 

 from the main land, takes the Islands and then 

 dips in at Rhode Island, taking the south-east part 

 of our State, running out at Quincy, where it finds 

 another rocky region ; again it dips in above Bos- 

 ton, say at North Chelsea, and runs along the 

 coast as far as Portland, and ends for good. I 

 have observed that where I have sold plants in 

 this section, below Boston, they have done well, 

 generally, while around Boston in the section 

 marked on Prof. Hitchcock's map as the Silurian 

 and Devonian Rocks, they have not succeeded 

 well. It appears that Mr. Ives is successful above 

 that section where the geological formation is the 

 same as it is this side, as has been described above. 

 All will perceive that the above has only a general 

 application. 



From what I have seen, it appears plain that 

 the sweet potato likes sandy soils, not much above 

 tide water, or that have been formed by the sea ; 

 they will grow on the sands of tlie beach, and I 

 am not sure but the best. Although we have 

 much soil adapted to their growth, we lack length 

 of season, but this can be made up in a great 

 measure by special manures and skilful cultiva- 

 tion. By these we can come up with the Sloven- 

 ish farming of the South, where they have longer 

 seasons of growth. Avoid rank soils and rank 

 manures. 



I am having a large compost heap prepared for 

 them thus : In the fall I put eighty bushels of 

 leached ashes into, say at a guess, one hundred 

 horse loads of finely reduced peat ; have it all thor- 

 oughly mixed ; then I have another pile of fer- 

 menting bones, about one ton of crushed bones, 

 and this, with about five hundred pounds of fish 

 guano, will be thoroughly mixed with the other a 

 few weeks before using. 



They appear to want manure that is light and 

 bulky, all concentrated in the ridge, and none 

 ploughed in. These ridges I make four feet apart 

 from centres, make them sharp ; they will flatten 

 by hoeing, and bring the tubers near the surface, 

 which is a benefit. "l set them from the middle 

 of May to the middle of June. If there w danger 

 of frost, cover the tips entirely with sand; this 

 may be dcme in the most careless manner, and if 

 left on for days before l)eing removed, will not in- 

 jure them. I let no other thing grow in their 

 patch. I soften the soil after every hard rain, dig 

 them soon as the frost kills the vines, and have 

 found in so doing, my reward. 



And now my advice to others is to try them in 

 different {)laces in their gardens, miiuling always 

 that no shade comes over them when the sun 

 shines ; no matter about their having a breath of 

 air, oidy Id the sun pour in on them. 



Kingston, March, 1863. Caleb Bates. 



HINTS FOB THE SEASON. 



Mulching. — Many persons are not aware of 

 the advantages to be derived from the practice of 

 mulching or covering the surface of the soil with 

 some sort of litter through the growing season. 

 There are many substances suitable, but some are 

 much better than others. The dead, dry grass 

 thai may be raked from the lawns about the house, 

 is the best material we have ever used. It is fine 

 and soft, and lies so close that the wind does not 

 blow it about, nor allow weeds to grow up through 

 it. A thorough hoeing about pear trees or grape 

 vines in the spring, followed by a mulch of tliis 

 dead grass, will not only keep weeds down, but 

 keep the ground in a moist condition. Under 

 these circumstances, the tree or vines will make a 

 Steady, even growth, and be well sustained 

 throughout the whole season, if the soil is rich 

 and loose. Last season we had about 100 pear 

 trees hoed in April and mulched with this grass, 

 and scarcely a weed appeared through it during 

 the summer. The soil under it was kept moist 

 and light, and the trees not only bore a fine crop, 

 but made a good growth. The soil, however, was 

 rich, and the spaces between planted with beuns 

 and kept well cultivated. Old hay, straw, brush 

 cut fine, sawdust, or tan bark will answer the pur- 

 pose. Meadow muck is also excellent where the 

 land is light. 



The Gauden. — Now is the time to give it 

 shape, and make preparatiens for it to receive 

 whatever seeds or plants we desire to introduce. 

 Those farmers who have not given much attention 

 to the garden, will be pleasantly surprised, upon 

 experience, to find how much pleasure and profit, 

 may be derived from a few rods of good, and well 

 tended, soil. How many fresh, and excellent 

 fruits and vegetables may be drawn from it through 

 the entire summer and autumn. In no other way, 

 perhaps, can the farmer do so much to relieve th« 

 women of that monotonous and ever-recurring la- 



