470 



SECOND-CROP IRISH POTATOES. 



gardens and their outskirts. "It flowers only once in 

 seven years," some old lady will solemnly tell you, as she 

 gives you a slip of it. 



Two other plants of less frequent occurrence should 

 be mentioned with these humble old friends. A small 

 mallow {Malva sylvest7-is] with much crimped leaves 

 and bright crimson blossoms is found in out-of-the-way 

 spots about country homes in parts of the western states 

 The rich purple veining of both petals and leaves, and 

 the dark splashes of the same hue on stems and petioles, 

 afford a beautiful illustration of an interesting theory 

 propounded by certain artists who believe that whenever 

 decided but opposing colors meet, either in a plant or an 

 animal, some unifying color is present to. harmonize 

 them, I have seen this little mallow growing sturdily 



on the borders of heaps of ashes and charred coals that 

 had been raked out and allowed to accumulate about the 

 large outdoor brick ovens. Here the brave little plants 

 opened their cheerful flowers and ripened their dainty 

 "cheeses," as the children call the fruits, with which 

 they stock the larders of their play-houses. 



The sweet old cinnamon-rose is scarcely less hardy 

 than its sister, the sweetbrier. One who has ever been 

 greeted upon awakening on a summer morning in some 

 country chamber by fragrance blown through the open 

 window from one of these rose-bushes beneath can 

 never pass by a ruined chimney or the brink of a 

 fallen-in cellar where these roses bloom neglected, 

 without pausing to smell their breath and to break off a 

 few buds and blossoms. Fanny D. Bergen. 



SECOND-CROP IRISH POTATOES. 



A SOUTHERN SPECIALTY. 



FTER the war the great develop- 

 ment of vegetable-culture in the 

 south,, particularly of early Irish 

 potatoes from seed brought from 

 the north, led to the discovery that 

 the second crop could be better 

 grown from tubers of the same season. 

 At first the only object in growing the 

 second crop was to obtain good potatoes 

 for table use in winter, the early crop in the 

 south being useless for this purpose. Who first begun 

 to use the second crop for planting the early crop of the 

 following year, I cannot ascertain, but the use of these 

 potatoes for early planting is now so general in all the 

 market-gardening sections of the south that compara- 

 tively few northern potatoes are now brought south for 

 planting, and these are mainly used to grow seed for the 

 late planting, since it is the opinion of many growers 

 that it is necessary to raise seed-stocks from northern 

 seed to prevent degeneration. There is strong evidence, 

 however, that no such course is necessary, and that with 

 proper care the potato can be kept up to its standard 

 quality and productiveness better in the south than in 

 the north. 



We take potatoes of the early crop and spread them in 

 the shade of some outdoor screen until they are well 

 greened by the light. Tney are then bedded in a single 

 layer, as sweet-potatoes are bedded, but without manure 

 or hotbed, and covered with about two inches of sandy 

 soil. Here they remain until August. Any time from 

 August I to August 20 will do well in this latitude for 

 planting the crop. We then use for planting only those 

 tubers that have started to sprout, and always plant them 

 whole. Many failures in getting a stand are due to cut- 

 ting the potatoes at this season. 



But the most important matter is the preparation of 

 the ground and the mode of planting. I prefer for the 

 late crop a piece of ground upon which a crop of field- 

 peas h^s been grown and mown for hay. This can usu- 



ally be had, even when we use the same land upon which 

 the early crop grew, for if we sow peas at once upon the 

 land as soon as the early crop is off, they can be mown 

 by the second week in August, and the stubble can be at 

 once turned over for the second crop. 



We practice an entirely different mode of planting and 

 culture for the late and early crops. Early Irish pota- 

 toes in this latitude make the greater part of their growth 

 in a cool season, and comparatively shallow planting and 

 high bedding are best, because a ridge of earth warms 

 through more rapidly than the flat surface. But with 

 the late crop the conditions are different. The soil is 

 apt to be dry and the weather hot, and the land should 

 be cultivated perfectly flat, so as to retain moisture. But 

 in order to secure a uniform stand and growth it is neces- 

 sary to cover the potatoes very shallow. Then, if flat 

 culture is practiced, the potatoes will form too near the 

 surface, and will be apt to be injured by both sun and 

 frost before digging-time. I therefore hit upon the fol- 

 lowing plan, identical with what has since been published 

 by the editor of Tlie Rural Nciv- Yorker, I believe, as his 

 own trench system, which he recommends for early 

 planting at the north. 



No matter how thoroughly the land was manured for 

 the early crop, it will be best to use a liberal supply of 

 fertilizer for the late one. If put upon pea-stubble there 

 will be no need for further purchase of nitrogen, as was 

 essential with the early crop ; but it will always pay to 

 use 600 pounds of acid phosphate and 200 pounds of 

 kainit broadcast for this crop. 



In planting, lay off the furrows three feet apart, run 

 twice or three times in a furrow and clean it out with a 

 shovel if it is not uniformly deep and regular. Prepare, 

 plant and cover one row at a time while the soil is fresh. 

 Plant at the bottom of the deep furrow, but cover very 

 lightly. The covering we do with a hoe, and let the man 

 who covers tramp over the row after covering, so as to 

 press the soil tightly to the seed. When planting on a 

 large scale a machine similar to one used in some sections 



