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SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
IRISH POTATOES — THE FARE CROP. 
Most people plant their Fall crop of Irish potatoes in 
May, usually afier they have done planting corn ; and 
therein they make a mistake. In a hot climate like ours, 
the vines grow very' well in warm weather, but the tubers 
mature best when it is cool. The best natural climate for 
the potato is in Ireland, where it is cool and damp; in 
Nova Scotia and the New England Siates, where they hav^ 
a short summer and an early, cool Fall, and in the moun- 
taineous regions of Virginia', where elevation is equiva- 
lent, in point of temperature, to latitude. We do not be- 
lieve a mean potato can be grown on the Blue Ridge, We 
have raised the Long Johns— di large potatoe with a desh- 
colored skin and a productive kind — in Albemaile to 
great perfection of size, but of such a strong, brassy taste, 
that they were hardly fit to eat; and w^e have eaten the 
same variety raised at the foot of the Blue Ridge. The 
latter was a rich, mealy, well-flavored potato, equal to the 
Mercer from the North. 
Let us consult climate, then, when we plant, and come 
as near the proper latitude as we can by artificial means. 
Late planting will enable us to do this, 
A late neighbor of ours said, that his father one year, 
failing to get tobacco plants enough for all his land in 
August, planted the remaining hills in Irish potatoes ; and 
the product was the best he ever had. A market gardener 
of Richmond, two years ago, confirmed the statemenj by 
his own experience. We then tried to follow the plan, but 
failed to get our seed and lost the crop. Last year we 
planted in May to be sure of the seed, but it was after the 
first drouth had set in, which lasted from the 6th day of 
May to the 3d day of June ; and the potatoes either rot- 
ted in the ground, perished in the sprout, or died after 
they came up. We were so fortunate as to obtain 
another supply of seed, and on the 10th of July planted 
again. From the 7th of July to the 4th day of August 
was another period of very severe drouth, and most of 
the potatoes shared the fate of the first planting. But the 
crop was prodigious. As there were so many missing 
hills a good deal of guessing was necessary to get at the 
quantity of land actually growing the potatoes. But mea- 
suring the area and the potatoes, and guessing at the va- 
cancies, we found we had made over four hundred bush- 
els per acre of the largest potatoes we ever saw. They 
were curiosities; a gentleman at our table measured one 
— a sampleof many— and it was nine inches long; sever- 
al of them weighed a pound, and a great many, fourteen 
ounces. 
Their size, and the failure to get a stand, were owing to 
the mode of preparation, which was this; the land having 
been previously well ploughed was laid off in row^s three 
feet apart ; the furrows they were dropped in was made 
by the plow going twice in it, up and down ; guano, at 
the rate of four hundred pounds per acre, was scattered 
in the bottom of the furrow, and on this was laid stable 
and farm-pen manure indiscriminately, filling the furrow 
about two-thirds its depth. On this were planted the po- 
tatoes, ent into pieces, having two eyes each, — the cut 
part on the manure — and nine inches apart. They were 
covered lightly with plow, returning a portion of the dirt 
thrown out by its up and down furrows. In the drouth 
which ensued, the manure absorbed the moisture from the 
superincumbent dirt, and prevented any from coming up 
from below; and the potatoes perished inconsequence 
A row treated with guano alone grew off very well, and 
produced a good but not great crop. This is one of the 
Norfolk plans. 
We would advise a trial of it — only a trial — by other 
persons, with this precaution: Let them prepare the 
ground as we did, but not plant until after a rain has sat 
Turated it. It will only be necessary to do it soon enough 
before hand to ensure that the ciop will not be planted too 
late. We would not wait until August ; for a drought, 
and an early frost might keep the crop back until frost. 
Ours was slightly injured by that cause, but mainly by the 
drouth : a light frost will do no harm. 
We presume all our readers are familiar with the plan 
of raising potatoes under straw. If the covering is nine 
or twelve inches thick, fine tubei's may be grown in that 
way on the hard ground, though it will be better to plow 
and harrow until a good tilth be obtained. But do not 
plant too early in this way. The premium crop of Irish 
potatoes, at the late Fair of the Virginia State Agricultu- 
ral Society, was grown by Francis Staples, Esq , of Hen- 
rico. He planted under straw on the 20th of June, and 
made on a measured acre, three hundred and ninety bush- 
els of the finest potatoes we ever saw. They were not 
as large as ours, though of a fine size, but they were great- 
ly better, round, smooth, and uncommonly mealy. Ours 
were not well-flavored as compared with Mercers, though 
they were very fair potatoes. Whether this inferiority 
was due to the variety, or to the mode of growing, we 
cannot tell until after another year. 
The after cultivation in the Norfolk plan is very simple 
— throw the dirt from them and weed once — throw the 
dirt to them without weeding a second time. This is all : 
and for a Fall crop that much may not be necessary. It 
was so dry last Summer that no weeds grew ; so we 
could not tell. 
Reader, try this plan on a small scale, if you please. — 
The labour saved in harvesting and handling a crop of 
large potatoes is worth the labour and value of applying 
the guano and dung; and the satisfaction of having a nine 
inch, pound potatoe, for your guests, is something. — 
Southern Planter. 
EFFECTS OF COLORS ON HEALTH. 
Important Suggestions — From several years’ observa- 
tion in rooms of various sizes, used as manufacturing 
rooms and occupied by females for twelve hours per dav, 
I found that the workers who occupied those rooms which 
had large windows with large panes of glass in the four 
sides of the room, so that the sun’s rays penetrated through 
the room during the whole day, were much more healthy 
than the workers who occupied rooms lighted from one 
side only, or rooms lighted through very small panes of 
glass. I observed another very singular fact, viz: that 
the workers who occupied one room were very cheerful 
and healthy, while the occupants of another similar room 
who were employed on the same kind of work, were all in- 
clined to melancholy, and complained of pains in the 
forehead and eyes, and w^ere often ill and unable to work,. 
Upon examining the rooms in question, I found they 
were both equally well ventilated and lighied. I could not 
discover anythingabout the drainage of the premises that 
could affect the one room any more than the other; but I 
observed that the room occujiied by the healthy workers 
w'as wholly whitewashed, and the room occupied by the 
melancholy workers was colored with yellow^ ochre. 
I had the yellow ochre all washed off, and the walls 
and ceilings w'hitewashed. The workers ever after felt 
more cheerful and healthy. After making this discovery 
1 extended my observation to a number of smaller rooms 
and garrets, and found, without exception, that the 
occupiers of the white rooms were much more healthy 
than the occupiers of the yellow’ or buff colored rooms: 
and I succeeded in inducing occupiersof the yellow rooms 
to change the color for whitewash. I always found a cor- 
responi ing improvement in the health and spirits of the 
occupiers. From these observations, I would respectfully 
drop a hint to the authorities of schools, asylums and 
hospitals, to eschew yellow, buff, or anything apfiroach- 
ing to yellow, as the grand color of the interior of their 
buildings. 
