82 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
EXPERIMENTS IN CULTIVATING POTATOES. 
Unless our farmers adopt some method in 
the cultivation of potatoes superior to that 
which they have too generally pursued for 
years past, the crop is likely to become so 
scarce and high, as to be deemed a luxury 
rather than a necessary in this country. We 
hope shortly to give an extended article of 
our own on this subject. In the meanwhile 
we copy from the Mark-Lane Express, some 
highly valuable experiments in the cultiva¬ 
tion of the potato, made by T. J. Herepath, 
Bristol, England. 
The mineral manures used by him, “ ac¬ 
cording to the directions ” of the Mark-Lane 
Express, in the eighth experiment proved the 
best. They were composed of— 
30 lbs. of wood ashes, 
15 “ of calcined bones in fine powder, 
10 “ of gypsum, 
20 “ of common salt, 
30 “ of air-slaked lime, and 
7 “ of nitrate of soda, all well mixed. 
To the above he added coal and wood ashes, 
in quantities which he does not state. 
The steep used to soak the seed was one 
ounce of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), 
dissolved in a gallon of water. 
If our farmers would plant on recently 
cleared and burnt-off forest lands, of a dry 
soil, they would not require ashes, lime, or 
any other mineral manure. If they have no 
such land to plant, then plow up a rich old 
pasture the last of May, or fore part of June, 
after the grass has got to be four to six inches 
high. Turn the sod flat over, harrow length¬ 
wise—furrow out two or three inches deep 
for the rows—and then drop and cover. In 
furrowing out, be very careful not to disturb 
the sod. If there be any danger of rot, 
spread 10 to 20 bushels of wood ashes, as 
much more of lime per acre, and 5 to 10 
bushels of salt if it can be had cheap, on the 
turned up sod, previous to harrowing. 
It will be seen throughout all Mr. Here- 
path’s experiments, that he relies mostly on 
wood ashes, lime, and salt, to preserve the 
growing crop from the rot. Unfermented 
manures, and cold, damp soils are to be 
avoided, as these are highly favorable to the 
production of rot. Will our readers please 
favor us with the details of experiments they 
may make this year in the cultivation of their 
potato crop 1 
!• This year, 1854, I planted a large field 
with potatoes, and manured them according 
to your directions, with mineral manure. 
The sets were well dried, and, when planted, 
the soil was top-dressed with a compost of 
lime, salt, and soot. The produce was nearly 
free from disease, and very fine and well 
tasted, and very different in character from 
that of the last two or three years. Pota¬ 
toes cultivated in an adjoining field, and 
cultivated with farm-yard manure, were, to 
some extent, diseased. The roots, when 
cooked, were not to be compared in flavor to 
those manured according to your directions. 
2. I top-dressed my land with ashes— 
several tuns to the acre. The potatoes be¬ 
fore planting were dipped for a short time in 
a weak solution of blue vitriol. The salt 
being expensive, I used only about an ounce 
or two to the gallon. * * * The roots 
having been allowed to remain for about 
half-an-hour or so in this liquor, they were 
manured with lime and salt, mixed together 
in the proportions you recommend (two 
bushels of lime to one of salt), and dung, 
well rotted. The lime and salt I used at the 
rate of twenty bushels to the acre. The 
dung about half the usual quantity. * * * 
The crop was very fine, the haulm healthy, 
and the tubers sound and free from disease, 
and of capital flavor. Some potatoes, ma¬ 
nured only with farm-yard dung (the usual 
quantity), and without ashes, &c., were af¬ 
fected with the disease, though not so much 
as in former years. The tubers were not so 
much as the haulm, but turned out some¬ 
what waxy on boiling. 
3. This year I cultivated my potatoes ac¬ 
cording to your directions. I exposed the 
seed for some weeks in a warm atmosphere, 
and thus well dried them before planting. 1 
manured the land with a mixture of lime, 
salt, and ashes (sown broadcast), using two 
bushels of lime to one of salt, and incorpo¬ 
rating nearly twice the quantity of the ashes 
of our fire-grates, in which we burn both 
coal and wood. The crop was excellent, 
both in quality and quantity. A few of the 
tubers were diseased, but we had more than 
an average crop, and the roots were infinite¬ 
ly superior in flavor to those I had manured 
with nitrogenized manure only; that is to 
say, with the refuse of my pig-styes and 
stables. 
4. All along this coast (North Devon) the 
farmers are in the habit of mixing large 
quantities of sea-sand and shell-sand (satu¬ 
rated with salt water) with the soil of their 
potato fields, and the crops turn out excel¬ 
lent. Sometimes we manure also with farm¬ 
yard manure ; but, so far as my own experi¬ 
ence goes, I think you are quite right in 
stating that highly nitrogenized manure is 
not suited to the potato crop. I have gen¬ 
erally observed that those fields where most 
dung is used is always the most diseased. 
A field this year manured with salt and lime 
bore an excellent crop, as did also a neigh¬ 
bor’s who followed the same plan. * * * 
The soil was rich, but was manured lastyear 
with shell-sand. 
5. I manured my potatoes with a mineral 
compost, prepared with wood ashes, salt, 
lime, and coal ashes, with some soot. The 
crop was good, and, I may almost say, en¬ 
tirely free from disease. We have not had 
much disease in this neighborhood, but I 
think my potatoes are infinitely superior in 
quality to those manured according to the 
old method, I mean with common farm-yard 
manure. 
6. I cultivated my potatoes this year ac¬ 
cording to your directions, taken from the 
London Journal. I dried the seed by ex¬ 
posure for several weeks on the floor of a 
room in our manufactory, and planted them 
in drills in the usual way, manuring them 
with mineral compost, prepared by mixing 
together about 1 cwt. of wood ashes with a 
quarter of a hundred weight each of gypsum 
and bone dust, nearly the same quantity of 
nitrate of soda, and say another hundred 
weight of salt and lime. In another trial I 
used only a mixture of road scrapings, well- 
rotted dung, and litter, followed by a pretty 
heavy top-dressing of lime and salt. * * * 
The crop was very fine ; much better, I may 
say, than any I ever had before. The pota¬ 
toes were of excellent quality, and not at all 
diseased. 
7. In my experiments the land was ma¬ 
nured about three weeks or a month before 
planting, with fifteen or sixteen (I forget 
which) bushels of salt and lime, with ashes. 
The potatoes were very carefully dried, and 
manured with a small quantity of good yard 
manure, but I employed much less than I 
heretofore used. The crop was a fine one, 
and not in the slightest degree diseased. 
8. I adopted your suggestions to a certain 
extent in the cultivation of the potato. I j 
kept the seed very dry on a boarded floor a 
month or more before planting, early in 
March. In the drills I put a small quantity 
of earth on the seed, then filled up with lime 
and salt, well mixed together, in your pro¬ 
portions (two bushels of lime to one of salt); 
the land was manured in February with 
earth composed of very rotten dung, quite 
decomposed, and road dirt. At a proper age 
they (the potatoe plants) were well earthed 
up, and the haulm was of a fine green color, 
and showed no symptoms of decay until the 
second week in August. I have not finished 
digging ; but so far as I have gone, it is the 
best crop 1 ever had, in quantity and quality; 
not more in number decayed than we used 
to have before the disease originally ap¬ 
peared. If I had applied your remedy in 
full, I doubt if I should have done better. 
My men inform me no one in the parish 
(Westbury) has been so successful. 
AGRICULTURAL SURVEYS. 
The following programme is marked out 
by Edmund Ruffin, the distinguished agri¬ 
culturist of Virginia, for conducting agricul¬ 
tural surveys. Though intended for his own 
State, the principles, with slight modifica¬ 
tion, may be adapted to any State : 
GENERAL PLAN AND ARRANGEMENT, AND 
SOME OP THE PARTICULAR SUBJECTS, SUG 
GESTED FOR A REPORT OF AN AGRICULTU¬ 
RAL SURVEY OF A COUNTY, OR ANY OTHER 
AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT. 
I. General features and character of the country, in the 
following respects: 
1. Situation, extent, and natural physical 
characters and divisions, illustrated, by a 
map of small size. 
2. Surface and face of the country, and 
diversities of elevation and exposure. 
3. Climate, and especially any peculiari¬ 
ties thereof, and the causes. 
4. Geological characters of different parts, 
so far as known. 
5. Useful minerals, and especially such as 
are, or may be, valuable as manures. 
6. Water, in reference to uses of naviga¬ 
tion, irrigation, propelling machinery, &c. 
7. Market, towns, and manner of or facil¬ 
ities for transportation of products. 
II. General description and management of lands. 
1. Classes and kinds of soil, and of sub¬ 
soil, to be designated (when entensive) on 
the map. 
2. Quantities of arable land, or meadow, 
(not subjected to ordinary tillage, or rotation 
of crops,) of land, swamp, or marsh, and 
other waste or unproductive lands. 
3. Sizes of farms, usual or unusual. 
4. The usual crops, of large and of small 
culture. 
5. Rotation of crops. 
6. Manner and depth of plowing, and pre¬ 
paration for and tillage, and general man¬ 
agement of crops. 
7. Expense of cultivation. 
8. Agricultural products proper to be 
made in the locality, and which are brought 
from other places, and the extent of such 
supplies. 
III. General market prices of lands, past and present, 
and causes of rise or fall in prices. Rates of rent. 
IV. Drainage and embankments. 
1. Of tide marshes and swamps. 
2. Of swamp or other low and wet lands, 
higher than the tide. 
3. Drainage of arable, or high and firm 
lands, for either surface water or springs, 
and by either open or covered drains. 
V. Implements and machines for agricultural opera¬ 
tions. 
VI. Fencing and inclosing. 
1. Kinds and costs of fencing. 
2. Advantages and disadvantages of the 
