83 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
got. another lot of seed at the same place. 
And I want to say to all your readers in 
Hookertown, and the rest of Connecticut, 
that if they expect to compete with me at 
the fair next Fall, they must burn up the old 
seed, papers, basket and all, and get the best 
in the market.' It is penny wise business to 
use poor old seed in the Spring, and mighty 
pound foolish in the Fall. 
Yours to command, 
i Timothy Bunker, Esq. 
Hookertown, Ct., March 12, 1857. 
THE FIELD CULTURE OF POTATOES. 
This crop, which fifteen years ago was a 
favorite upon all our farms, and among the 
most, productive and profitable, is now very 
cautiously cultivated. The rot is so gene¬ 
ral, and so little confidence is felt in the 
remedies that have been suggested, that no 
one likes to venture much capital and labor 
in its culti/ation. A few still plant quite 
largely for the early market in July and 
August, while all still plant a small patch for 
home consumption. 
Formerly, they were extensively culti¬ 
vated for making starch, and for feeding cat¬ 
tle, but the rot and high prices have nearly 
stopped the use of this root for these pur 
poses. The market demand for them is so 
brisk, and the yield is so generous where 
they do not rot, that the crop is still one of 
the most profitable a fanner can raise. The 
average price in all our northern markets is 
nearly equal to that of corn, and the yield, 
with the same outlay for manure and labor, 
is not unfrequently two or three times as 
great. 
We shall not attempt to speculate upon 
the cause or causes of the rot. Of all un 
satisfactory themes in our agricultural lite¬ 
rature, this is the least satisfactory, and we 
have never seen anything among all the 
pilausible theories advanced, that did not 
leave us in as much doubt and darkness as 
ever. 
But there are some things that most cul¬ 
tivators have observed in their practice, 
which are a safeguard against the rot. If 
not preventives of the disease, it is noticed 
that potatoes planted under these conditions 
are much less likely to be affected by it than 
when planted under other circumstances. 
It is a conceded point, that some varieties 
rot much more generally than others. The 
White Chenango or Mercer, one of our best 
table potatoes, has become nearly worthless 
from this cause. It has also been discov¬ 
ered that this crop, in well-drained muck or 
peat swamps, is very little affected, if sound 
tubers have been used for seed. Light 
loamy soils also produce better potatoes 
than heavy undrained clayey lands. The 
early varieties that mature in July are much 
less troubled with the disease than the late 
ones. The potatoes suffer most in the rainy, 
hot, and foggy days of August and Septem¬ 
ber. Many instances are upon record, where 
a part of a field dug just before such a spell 
of weather, gave fine sound tubers, while the 
remainder, dug a few days later, gave only 
diseased ones. Green fermenting manures, 
applied at the time of planting, have a ten¬ 
dency to produce the rot. 
These facts in potato culture are pretty 
generally admitted among intelligent farm¬ 
ers, whatever theories they may hold in re¬ 
gard to the disease. They accord with our 
experience, and from them we shall draw 
■ mr rules for the cultivation of this crop. 
SELECT EARLY AND HARDY VARIETIES FOR SEED. 
Far too little attention is given to this 
matter. A farmer plants what he happens 
to have on hand, however badly it may have 
rotted. He not unfrequently plants partially 
diseased potatoes. Because the Mercer 
bears the highest price in market, he plants 
it, although it rots with him very badly four 
years out of five. There are other varieties 
nearly as good, quite as early, and more pro¬ 
ductive, that with suitable precautions will 
not rot one year in five. In the last report 
oY the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 
we notice the Messrs. Hyde & Sons’ experi¬ 
ments with several kinds of potatoes, made 
at Newton. They recommend for general 
cultivation, the Davis Seedling as a Winter 
and Spring potato. It is not of the best 
quality, but a good eating potato, and pos¬ 
sesses all the other good qualities, being pro¬ 
ductive, hardy, and of good size. Next, they 
recommend for those who want a first rate 
potato, cost what it will, the State of Maine, 
Carter, Riley or Worcester’s Seedling, also 
called the Dover. They speak well of the 
Peach Blow, which is raised in large quan¬ 
tities in various parts of New-England for 
the Boston market. It is red outside, and 
yellow within, when boiled, ft is a late va¬ 
riety, and yields and keeps well. The Black 
Chenango is a pretty good potato ; keeps 
remarkably well; seldom rots. Color out¬ 
side, nearly black; inside purple, which is 
an objection to it. It is late, and yields well. 
We have used for two years past an early 
variety, common in the Providence market, 
and known in Eastern Connecticut as the 
Carpenter potato. It is about ten days to 
two weeks earlier than the Mercer, prolific, 
seldom rots, of good size, and fair quality, 
though not. the best. It is white outside, and 
within. It is in good marketable condition 
by the fourth of July, and is the best very 
early potato with which we are acquainted. 
It will not answer for a main crop, as it be- 
gints to sprout by mid-Winter. 
The Studley's Seedling originated in the 
garden of Mr. Studley, at Claverack, in this 
State, is about as early as the Mercer, and 
as good in quality. From one year’s trial, 
we have formed a very high opinion of its 
good qualities. The Dover we have culti¬ 
vated for two years, and the Black Chenangp 
six, and think them both very reliable for a 
main crop. We think it advisable to have at 
least half of the field crop of early potatoes, 
to be marketed in July. For the later crop, 
we would select hardy prolific varieties, even 
if the quality was not first rate. 
SELECTION OF GROUND. 
We would give the first place to drained 
muck or peat swamp, and if we had any 
such land lying neglected upon the farm, we 
would drain it for this purpose, if for no 
other. W’e have known so many instances 
of sound potatoes raised in such soils, when 
everything else rotted in the vicinity, that 
we can have no doubt that there is some¬ 
thing in this material very congenial to the 
healthy growth of this plant. 
But if such soils were not to be had, we 
should 
AVOID ALL FRESH FERMENTING MANURES. 
It is a good plan to turn in green manures 
the Fall previous, and where this cannot be 
done, we would use bone-dust, plaster, ashes, 
or superphosphate of lime, if we could get a 
reliable article. We have found a crop of 
buckwheat turned in the previous year, a 
very good preparation for this crop. Ashes 
are an excellent fertilizer. We usually apply 
them in the hill, at planting, at the first hoe¬ 
ing, and a third time sown broadcast at the 
blossoming of the vines. We have also ex¬ 
perimented with peat and muck that had 
been thrown up the previous Fall. A shovel- 
full in the hill gave a very good yield of 
sound potatoes. 
We think that farmers, by observing these 
precautions in the selection of seed, soil, and 
manures, may still guard this crop against 
disease,and make it highly profitable. Care¬ 
ful study of the habits of this plant, and 
skillful cultivation, will restore it to its 
former health and usefulness. Prime table 
potatoes are now selling at three and three 
and a half dollars a barrel in our market. 
Somebody ought to raise more of them. The 
early planted potatoes are most likely to es¬ 
cape the rot. Let them be planted as soon 
as the ground is dry enough to plow. 
TALKS ABOUT BEE CULTURE. 
In the January number of the Agricultur¬ 
ist, a letter from Mr. Quinby, of St. Johns- 
ville, N. Y., gave a clear and satisfactory 
account of the mode of constructing a cheap 
but useful hive ; and that such hives may be 
profitably used would seem to require no 
further demonstration than the fact stated in 
the December number, that Mr. Quinby, 
brought here for sale last year, no less than 
twenty-two thousand pounds of honey , most 
of which sold readily for 25 cents per pound. 
There is little doubt that the culture of 
bees in the United States may be made to 
yield a larger per cenlage on the capital in¬ 
vested in it and the labor demanded for it, 
than almost any other branch of husbandry. 
It has never yet received the attention that it 
demands, in our country at least, and while 
cattle and horses and grains and fruits, and 
yams and sugar-canes and guano are talked 
about in every newspaper and at every fair, 
“ the little busy-bee.” too modest and in¬ 
offensive to intrude, is practically over 
looked as if it were of the most trifling im¬ 
portance. The few farmers who keep bees 
have a periodical ferment about the time of 
swarming, and there is a strong smell of 
sulphur in their yards, some cool evening 
in the early autumn. The deceptive promises 
of patented hives have led many to abandon 
bee-keeping in disgust while the rapid in¬ 
crease of the bee-moth has made a demand 
for precautions that few would take, and the 
