164 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Juke 



MEALY POTATOES AIiL SUMMEB. 



We have always found it somewhat diflHcult to 

 keep potatoes in a crisp, mealy condition after 

 warm weather comes on. Vegetables, like ani- 

 mals, feel the force of nature when the particular 

 season arrives for them to act, in order to per- 

 petuate their kind. Put it where you will, in the 

 dark or in the light, if the potato has a little 

 warmth and moisture, it will send out its bud and 

 shoot and the root will follow if it can find but a 

 little dust on the floor or rock to cling to. The 

 potato then undergoes an important change, the 

 sprouts start, and it becomes a waxy, watery thing, 

 hardly fit to eat. 



The following mode of preserving them in 

 good condition has been described by Dr. J. M. 

 Wilson as practiced in Scotland. The experiment 

 is so cheap and easy, that we presume many per- 

 sons will test it this spring. It is as follows : 



Diluted ammoniacal water in the proportion of 

 sn ounce of the liquor of ammonia of the drug- 

 gists to a pint of river or rain water, has of late 

 years been successfully em- 

 ployed for checking the vege- 

 tative power of potatoes, 

 and prolonging their suita- 

 bleness for food. Potatoes 

 immersed four or five days in 

 this liquid, retain all their edi- 

 ble properties unimpaired for 

 a twelvemonth, improved in 

 flavor and mealiness. The 

 effect of the liquor is to con- 

 solidate their substance and 

 extract their moisture. Af- 

 ter immersion, the potatoes 

 should be spread so as to 

 dry, and will then keep good 

 for ten months ; contributing 

 in this way not only to the 

 comfort of families, but also to the health of mar 

 ners exposed to long voyages at sea. 



Gray Hair. — The change of the hair which 

 we are wont to call "turning gray" is probably^ 

 when it does not come prematurely, as natural 

 as any of the changes effected by age, and is 

 neither to be avoided or regretted. In some the 

 change takes place much earlier than in others, 

 and is often hastened by disease and by mental 

 and moral causes ; but sooner 

 or later it comes to all, to the 

 healthy as well as the dis- 

 eased. Grayness is not a 

 diseased condition of the hair, 

 for it continues to grow as 

 luxuriantly, and to be as 

 moist, sleek and glossy after 

 the change as before ; in fact, 

 it often grows thicker and 

 stronger. The term gray hair 

 is not strictly ])roper, since 

 grayness comes from the mix- 

 ture of the white or colorless 

 hairs with those of the origii al color. In general 

 the individual hair which we call gray is wholly 

 colorless. 



CULTUBE OF TOBACCO. 

 Drying Houses. 

 We gave, in a recent number of the Farmer, 

 some directions for the cultivation of Tobacco, 

 leaving the subject with the time of harvesting 

 the crop. A very important part of the Tobacco 

 grower's labor and care comes after the crop has 

 been gathered. The process of curing the plant 

 and preparing it for the market is one which re- 

 quires skill and care, and a little negligence or ig- 

 norance at this time may go far towards spoiling 

 the whole season's labor. 



A shiftless farmer may let his corn stand till, 

 very late in the fall, and the hard grain and the 

 dry stalk will suffer but little from storm and 

 wind. He may let his hay remain out through 

 two or three heavy summer showers, and still coax 

 his half-starved cattle to eat it during the winter 

 months. But the man who would be successful 

 in raising tobacco must pay constant attention to 

 his crop, from the time the seed is put in until the 

 plant is thoroughly cured for the market. 



The cut which we first present shows a very 

 common style of drying house. One end and sec- 

 tions of part of the side are removed, to show the 

 manner of hanging the plants to dry. The re- 

 mainder of the side shows the real construction of 

 the building. The boards run from sill to plate, 

 and every third one is hung on strip hinges so as 

 to be readily opened for the admission of air. 



Our second illustration shows another form t)f 

 securipg Y^n^mtion. The boards all round do 



