ON FARM GARDENING. 59 
apart, and the plants thinned to stand 5 inches apart in the 
rows. The culture is the same as for parsnips. Fresh manure 
must be avoided, as it makes the roots ill-shaped. The roots, 
under good treatment, will exceed an inch in diameter, and 
may attain a size of 2 inches or more. They may remain in 
the ground over winter, to be taken up whenever the frost 
permits or they may be taken up in late autumn and pre- 
served in sand in a cellar. Good salsify is in demand where 
its merits are known. 
THE POTATO. 
The cultivation of the potato is so well understood by 
every American farmer and gardener that it seems unneces- 
sary to discuss the details of cutting the tubers, planting, 
cultivating, harvesting, etc. The weak points of potato cul- 
ture are most commonly the fertilizing and the treatment of 
diseases. These will be briefly discussed. As to lack of 
moisture, to be remedied by artificial watering, the reader is 
referred to our new book, entitled, "Irrigation by Cheap 
Modern Methods," in which a case is mentioned where water 
alone made a difference of 129 bushels per acre in the crop. 
Fertilizing. — A ton of potatoes {zzVi bushels) contains 
4*2 pounds of nitrogen (equal to 5*1 pounds of ammonia), 
1*5 pounds of phosphoric acid and 10 pounds of potash. This 
shows that nitrogen and potash are the elements mainly ab- 
stracted from the soil by a crop of potatoes. An analysis is 
not an infallible index of what must be applied to any soil, 
for that soil may be naturally rich in some one fertilizing 
element and deficient in the others. Only experiment will 
Potatoes.— Best for the South, Bliss Triumph, Pride of the South, 
Crown Jewel, Early Thoroughbred. General crop in the North — Houl- 
ton Early Rose, Table King, Late Puritan, Rural New-Yorker No. 2. 
For descriptions of these and other varieties, see "Johnson & Stokes' 
Garden and Farm Manual." 
