4r32 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[October, 
too often gets severely burned, if not killed. The 
loss of an hour every morning, with hired men wait¬ 
ing for breakfast, makes a big figure in the course 
of a year. Look at it. Then the habit of preparing 
a year’s stock of fuel in the cold months cultivates 
forecast, and is in keeping with other good hab¬ 
its, such as preparing for seed sowing, getting tools 
in order, cultivating and harvesting, all in due sea¬ 
son. These things tell in the bank account. And 
lastly, dry fuel has an intimate connection with the 
serenity of temper and happiness of the household. 
Fig. 1.— FIRST ROOTS OF POTATO PLANT. 
It makes all the difference in the world with one 
personally, whether the woman who sits opposite 
him at the table, pouring tea and coffee, is made a 
spitfire by her daily tussle with sissing firebrands 
and soggy wood, or a saint by the use of seasoned 
fuel. It makes a great difference with the children 
and the servants. We are sceptical on some points, 
but have full faith in the use of dry fuel as a 
means of grace. It is not often the theme of pul¬ 
pit discussion, so we drop a word here at the hearth¬ 
stones of our readers: Remember there is a limit 
to “the patience of the saints,” and burn dry fuel. 
The Roots of the Irish Potato. 
Last month, page 344, Professor Atwater gave 
our readers a short chapter on the roots of the 
Indian corn, accompanied by a series of illustra¬ 
tions, engraved from photographs taken by a Ger¬ 
man investigator, Dr. Thiel. We here show four 
different stages in the growth of the roots of the 
potato plant, by engravings taken from the same 
source. These illustrations, being from nature, 
show as accurately as can be, the position, number, 
etc., of the roots of the potato plant. Figure 1 
represents a potato that has been in the soil long 
enough to have the young stems well started, aud 
the slender roots growing from their bases. In fig. 
2 the roots have greatly increased in number and 
Fig. 2.— YOUNG POTATO PLANT WELL ROOTED. 
length, filling the soil with a network of fibres. 
Figure 3 gives a later stage of the potato plant, 
the photograph being obtained by first removing 
the soil from one side of the plant with great care, 
to not either break or displace the roots, and then 
photographing the plant, with the parts thus ex¬ 
posed. It will be seen that the roots are long, slender 
and very abundant, extending over a much greater 
area than the tops. The last stage, shown in fig. 4, 
gives the potato plant after it has finished its growth. 
The tops having completed their growth are com- 
peratively leafless ; the new potatoes are full grown 
and in a cluster upon short underground stems, at 
the base of the plant, and the fibrous roots, having 
fulfilled their office, have mostly disappeared, only 
the larger ones showiug in the photograph. The 
whole economy of the life of the potato is here 
shown. In the first place we have the tuber, the 
old potato, a store-house of starch and other nutri¬ 
tive material. Wheu 
placed under proper 
conditions,the nutritive 
matter within the po¬ 
tato is expended in pro¬ 
ducing stems and roots 
—that is in establish¬ 
ing new plants, which 
are soon able to take up 
their food from the soil 
through the numerous 
fibrous roots. Thesecon- 
tribute to an abundant 
growth of tops or vines 
— the above ground 
part of the plant. 
When the vines are 
sufficiently developed, 
they make preparations 
for continuing their 
kind; at their base, 
there start several un¬ 
derground stems — not 
roots in any sense, but 
as much stems as those 
above ground, but hav¬ 
ing no need of leaves 
they are leafless. Soon 
these stems swell at the 
end, from the deposi¬ 
tion of starch aud other 
nutriment prepared by 
the foliage ; this deposit 
continues, the end of the stem is enlarged by its 
accumulation, and finally we have a cluster of 
ripe potatoes like the one with which we started. 
Liquid Manure. 
One of the most successful gardeners we know 
of, uses liquid manure largely. He has a large tub, 
a discarded whale-oil cask or sugar hogshead will 
do, holding several barrels, sunk 
partly in the earth, near the mid¬ 
dle of his vegetable garden. He 
has a cheap trough, made by nail¬ 
ing two four-inch strips together 
in the shape of a V, to conduct 
the water from his sink spout into 
the tub, whenever it is needed. It 
is not far from the well, and extra 
water is run from the pump into 
the tub, whenever it is needed. 
Into this tub all the slops from the 
chambers are emptied during the 
summer. Another line of cheap 
troughs conducts the liquid ma¬ 
nure from the tub to any desired 
part of the garden. With a long- 
handled dipper, he stands at the 
tub, and waters the growing vege¬ 
tables, and fruit trees, as their 
wants demand. He always has fine 
fruits and vegetables. When a 
house stands several feet higher 
than the garden, the tub or vat for 
bolding the liquid manure can be 
kept wholly above ground, and the 
water be drawn off by a plug at the 
bottom of the vat. This will save 
the labor of dipping. The results 
of using liquid manure upon grow¬ 
ing vegetables are quite astonish¬ 
ing. If the garden is large, and 
the wastes of the house are not 
sufficient, it is easy to increase its 
quantity by placing a few pounds 
of guano in the vat, and adding 
water from the well or cistern. The water should 
have the benefit of one day’s sun, and be applied 
just at evening, or very early in the morning. 
How to Feed Beans.— Beans, it is well 
known, form one of the most nourishing articles of 
diet that comes to the table, and the regular weekly 
appearance of the baked beans, generally on Sun¬ 
day in New England homes, attests the high appre¬ 
ciation in which they are held. Beans are much 
more used in this country for human food than 
for our domestic animals. They do not take to them 
kindly, with the exception of sheep, which are very 
fond of them and their pods and stalks also. Vil¬ 
lagers and farmers often have small lots left over 
from the winter stores, and are in doubt how to 
dispose of them. Pigs, hens, and cows will not re¬ 
fuse them if mixed with other food. The best 
method of disposing of old beans is to boil them 
until they are sufficiently soft, and then mix them 
with scalded Indian meal, or other provender, and 
use the mash for feeding pigs and poultry. They 
are excellent to make flesh and eggs ; and, in this 
shape, the last remnants of the bean bag may be 
turned to profit in the pig-pen or poultry-house. 
Fig. 3.— ROOTS OF THE POTATO PLANT AT TIME OF MOST VIGOROUS GROWTH. 
Fig. 4.—POTATO PLANT NEAR THE CLOSE OF THE SEASON. 
