THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



91 



of a one horse plough are best. As soon as the 

 potatoes are beginning to come up, run four times 

 between each row with a one horse plough, throwing 

 the dirt to the potatoes, and follow immediately with 

 a light harrow, running on the top of each bed, 

 taking care that the harrow teeth do not run deep 

 enough to displace the manure. When the potatoes 

 are about six or eight inches high, reverse this ope- 

 ration by throwing the soil from them; and in three 

 or four days give the last plowing by running four 

 times in each row, giving the dirt to them as in the 

 first instance. If there be any oats or weeds grow- 

 ing amongst the potatoes which the plough has not 

 destroyed, make small boys follow and pick them 

 out, at the same time uncovering and straightening 

 the weak plants that are sometimes buried by the 

 plough. They shonld never be worked after the 

 blossom has expanded. No hoe is ever used in the 

 crop. They are harvested more expeditiously by 

 the plough. The twentieth of February is consid- 

 ered early enough for planting in that climate; and 

 no difference in size, or quality, or early maturity, 

 lias been perceived between plantings of the last of 

 February and the last of March. 



This is the plan recommended by Col. Edward 

 H. Herbert, the President of the Seaboard Agricul- 

 tural Society. 



The practice of Mr. Henry Irwin is slightly 

 different. Guanoing at the rate of 15 lbs. to the hun. 

 dred yards, he drops the cuttings on the guanoed 

 furrow, and then follows with a slight dressing of 

 horse manure, or a heavy dressing of half stable ma 

 nure and half woods litter, which has been mixed 

 some months before. In covering he throws up "a 

 good ridge" to protect them from the cold weather in 

 March; and as soon as that month, or as he thinks 

 the severe weather is over, he harrows down the 

 ridges to let the sun have its full force on the 

 potatoes, in which condition they remain till they 

 are high enough to work. 



' This seems to be also essentially the practice of 

 Col. Thos. A. Hardy, who uses his oldest manure 

 first, "patting the newest manure on the last plant- 

 ing to help the potatoes forward as fast as pos- 

 sible by means of the heat generated by the fermen- 

 tation and decomposition." 



"If the land is heavy the quantity of guano may 

 be increased, provided the land is well drained, 

 otherwise the crop will not mature so soon," says 

 Mr. Irwin. But "guano alone will not answer 

 for potatoes," says Col. Hardy, "unless the land 

 be very rich in organic matter and of a loose 

 texture." 



Seed potatoes raised in our climate in the fall 

 will be two weeks later than good Northern Mer- 

 cers; but they will keep better through the winter. 



Tomatoes.— Sow the seed about the 20th of Jan- 

 uary, in a hot bed, prepared as follows: Take the 

 litter from the stable, composed of manure, stalks, 



leaves, &c., and put it at the bottom of the bed to 

 ihe depth of five inches; on this put three inches 

 of soil made of old horse manure and rich earth, 

 thoroughly mixed and as fine as possible. Keep 

 this 1 bed warm; but after the plants have come up, 

 take great care not to let the hot sun shine on them 

 unless you give them plenty of fresh air at the 

 same time by raising the sash. If you find the 

 plants growing up very thin, they have too much 

 heat, and must be aired. When the plants are 

 rom three to five inches high, which is eatly in 

 March, they are transplanted into another bed, 

 called "the transplanting bed," prepared as the 

 first, only with less heating matter below and 

 deeper soil on top. In this set the plants in rows 

 six inches apart, and water them and stir the 

 ground around them as you wish them to grow 

 fast or not. The transplanting bed should be well 

 warmed before setting the plants, and for several 

 days must be kept warm, and the sun not al- 

 lowed to shine on the plants. To keep it warm 

 cover the sash and ends with straw or thick cotton. 

 In very cold weather too much care cannot be 

 taken to keep out the frost. If the mice trouble 

 the plants, trap them. When all danger of frost 

 is over — say 20th of April in Norfolk county — 

 take up the plants, earth and all, and set them in the 

 field, having the ground checked four feet each 

 way, with a spade full of well rotted horse manure 

 under each plant. In the market gardens they 

 are cultivated chiefly with the plough, the hoe 

 being used to hill up. In case of drought they use 

 the plough freely. They never support the vines 

 with sticks. If the season is dry, guano alone 

 will bring them ; but for a certain crop horse 

 manure is the thing. 



It will be seen that tomatoes thus raised are 

 a difficult and expensive crop. It requires seve- 

 ral seasons experience to grow them successfully, 

 and this is the reason they pay so well. Very 

 few attend to them properly. The above mode 

 may do where they are raised on a large scaie 

 for market, but it will hardly do to pursue this 

 plan in an ordinary kitchen garden, where most 

 probably none but amateurs will take the time 

 and trouble which are involved. Certainly no one 

 should do it who is sure of an opportunity of 

 buying the early plants, which for a family of 

 moderate size, will not cost more than from fifty 

 cents to a dollar. 



Tomatoes are very difficult to force, and it is 

 not possible to bring them in more than three 

 weeks before the regular time of ripening in the 

 same quality of soil with ordinary garden culture; 

 and the small volunteer is generally of better 

 flavor than the monsters we so often see which 

 are nearly all pulp and no seed. Indeed, market 

 gardeners have discarded these latter, and we 

 rarely ever see them, except with those who like 

 to make a dish. They are acid, hard to ripen 



