AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 387 



in different years, and when grown upon different soils. Altliougli 

 the potatoes containing the greatest quantity of starch are the 

 most valuable, the extracted starch is not a good substitute for 

 the w^hole tuber. Manure should be used calculated to increase 

 the quantity of starch, and soil and varieties selected for that pur- 

 pose. Mr. Pell also recommends the production of new varieties 

 of potatoes from seed balls. He showed some handsome tubers, 

 resembling the English whites, which he had produced. His 

 potato ground is always plowed in the fall, and subsoiled in the 

 spring. And in iiarvesting potatoes, dry weather should always 

 be selected. Mr. Pell advocates cut potatoes, or gouging out cjes 

 for seed. 



Professor Mapes rose, evidently prepared to express his dissent 

 from the process of " gouging." Many years ago, and especially 

 in a subsequent year of scarcity, that had been recommended. 

 He had tried the experiment. Two bushels of seed potatoes were 

 taken. One of these bushels was planted whole; the other was 

 subjected to the gouging with a chairmaker's gouge. The result 

 was, that both bushels being similarly and carefully planted, the 

 same number of potatoes was obtained from each bushel, but, 

 upon weighing, the difference was largely in favor of the crop 

 from the uncut seed. Some person in Germany had stated, that 

 four hundred potatoes might be produced from one, by a peculiar 

 mode of cultivation which he advocated, and wdiich was to be 

 conducted until the blossom made its appearance. In practice, 

 he (Prof. Mapes) had found that the adoption of that plan would 

 certainly increase the number of potatoes, but their size was cor- 

 respondingly small. The w^eight of the lot was not so great as 

 that of produce from flat culture, growing in the same soil. 

 There were more pounds with one-tenth the number of tubers, 

 in the other case, a great number of very small potatoes, and as 

 useless as they were diminutive. The starch of the original 

 potato was, doubtless, the natural pabulum of the growing plant. 

 In planting whole potatoes, it w^ould be found, that after three or 

 four years the button or potato apple will re-aj^pear, but it was 

 also true that planted eyes would produce only half the weight 

 that the whole potato would have yielded. Farmers are apt to 



