VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 397 



The best potatoes in this country are grown in the cool 

 and hilly sections of the North, and the best there are 

 grown by simply turning over a meadow sward; upon this 

 the rows are laid off shallow, and the clover sods are often 

 so tough with matted roots when planting (having been 

 newly turned over), that earth is with difficulty obtained 

 to cover the potatoes. Soon decomposition commenceSj 

 a gentle heat is given out, and by the time the potatoes 

 are ready for the first working they can be plowed with 

 ease. At the second working, when the plants are laid 

 by, the soil is mellow as an ash heap, the young plant the 

 meanwhile being supplied with moisture and the very 

 food required to perfect its tubers and render them fari- 

 naceous and nutritive. Iu our gardens we cannot obtain 

 such a soil, but we can very much improve the yield, and 

 especially the quality of our Irish potatoes by imitating 

 it as nearly as possible. We can dig into the soil vegetable 

 matter to decompose, such as leaves, garden refuse of all 

 kinds, and pine straw. Even tan bark is not a bad appli- 

 cation to the potato crop, but if used must be accompanied 

 with plenty of ashes or lime to correct its acidity. One 

 reason for the application of vegetable manure to this 

 plant is the superior quality of the tubers produced. 

 Liebig first remarked that ammoniacal manures injure 

 the quality of the potato, though they increase the size 

 and quantity. If manured with strong animal manure 

 the tubers are moist and waxy, while if grown upon a soil 

 manured with ashes, lime, and an abundant supply of car- 

 bonaceous manures, such as decaying vegetable matter, 

 the produce is far more starchy and nutritive. Potatoes 

 enriched with strong dung are far more liable to rot than 

 if manured with leaves, ashes, and lime. Cotton-seed 

 meal is an excellent fertilizer for the potato. It produces 

 smooth potatoes. The application is at the rate of 800 

 to 1,000 pounds per acre in the furrows. 



