773 
,89i THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Business. 
FEWER VARIETIES OF POTATOES. 
Make the Product More Uniform. 
Not long since Mr. J. A. Woodward suggested : " Is it 
a good idea for all the potato growers of a community to 
grow one sort, so that one car-load or one half dozen 
of them may be sent at one time to fill an order ? A dozen 
car-loads of any sorb may be sold more quickly and easily 
than one car-load of a dozen sorts.” This matter was re¬ 
ferred to a number of well known potato growers with the 
following questions : 
Do you believe that ? How many varieties are grown 
at your place ? Would it pay better if there were 
fewer varieties ? Is it necessary to keep track of all the 
new kinds ? Is it possible to get the farmers to combine 
on fewer varieties ? 
This Plan Suits Mr. Terry. 
Yes, that agrees with my experience. Mixed car-loads and 
wagon loads are not wanted. I was standing near a farmer 
who was unloading potatoes at a large city grocery, not 
long since. They were badly mixed towards the bottom 
of the load. The dealer came out just then. ” Why,” he 
says, “ I thought those were all one straight kind ; they 
were on top of the load, and I never would have touched 
them if I had known they were mixed.” 1 have sold 1,000 
bushels at a time to a dealer, to be retailed, at 10 to 15 cents 
above market rates, partly because he knew they were all 
one kind and would cook alike and give satisfaction to his 
customers. If he laid in a store at the market price, buy¬ 
ing wagon loads, he would get many varieties, and could 
not keep them separate. When selling a car-load, dealers 
have always been particular to insist that they be all of 
one variety. I remember once trying to sell a Cleveland 
dealer a car-load, half one sort and half another. It was at 
the end of the season and I had only these left. He wouldn’t 
buy them, although he wanted a straight lot. 
This is all nice and straight and right, but how does it 
work practically? Suppose we get the farmers all to 
combine on one or two varieties. It would be business as 
far as the selling was concerned. For some years I raised 
Early Beauty of Hebron almost entirely. Suppose every¬ 
body got into the same line. Just then the Early Roches¬ 
ter came along. I got a barrel for trial. They beat my 
Hebrons all out, and I dropped the latter. What is a 
fellow to do when he gets a barrel of a new variety, and 
plants them right through the field side by side with his 
old standard, and gives them just the same care, and they 
yield at the rate of more than 100 bushels per acre more 
than his old sort? I have done just this. That means 
change, you see. And another fellow may find some other 
kind to change to, and soon we are hopelessly mixed up 
again. We wouldn’t come out much better than the Farm, 
ers’ Alliance has come in getting farmers to hold their 
wheat. I do not believe in running after all the new sorts, 
but it pays me to change to new varieties occasionally, 
and I must test some of the most promising new ones in 
order to know what to change to. But I do not want the 
bulk of my crop to be more than two varieties, say one 
ripening at the middle of August and the other by Sep¬ 
tember 1, just in time to get off for wheat. 
The above is one reason why the specialist can make the 
most at potato growing. He can furnish a car-load, or a 
number of car-loads, of the same variety, unmixed. He 
will look out for such things. He will run his business by 
himself. The farmers growing only a few will not gener¬ 
ally get so much for their mixed lots, and there seems to be 
no chance for them to combine and stay so. to any great 
extent. Summit Co., O. 
All Long Whites are “ White Stars.” 
I think it a good plan for the potato growers to plant as 
few kinds as possible, although I do not think it makes 
much difference as regards the sale of the potatoes. All 
long white potatoes such as Burbank, White Star, Monroe 
Seedling, White Seedling, Monroe County King, etc., 
go into the same car, and are sold in the market for the 
kind the market requires, mostly for White Stars in the 
New York market at present. Some are sold a3 Burbanks 
I think, although but very few of that variety are grown 
in this section. I grow only Monroe Seedlings for market, 
but all of the varieties named are grown in this section. 
For red potatoes we have Red Stars, Dakota Reds, Rose, 
etc. I find it necessary to keep track of some of the new 
varieties in order to have something to take the place of 
older kinds that have run out; that is, they do not yield as 
well as formerly. The present method of marketing pota¬ 
toes is an outrage upon good farming; it makes no differ¬ 
ence if one load is worth 10 cents a bushel more than an¬ 
other, they all go into the same car at the same price. I 
find the best plan is to sell a single variety in car lots. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. Webster Edmunds. 
Will Not Farmers Combine? 
Yes, I think it a good idea for all potato growers in a com¬ 
munity, who grow less than a car-load to grow the same 
sort so that they can fill car-load orders with one sort, for 
the buyers prefer this to mixed lots ; but it would be nearly 
impossible to get farmers here to combine in this way. I 
am half a mile from a railroad station, and three and four 
cents per bushel land my potatoes in one of the best mar¬ 
kets. I grow principally one kind, and sell to the retail 
dealer who buys from one to two car-loads. The other day 
I told a merchant that I had two car-loads of nice State 
of Maine Potatoes. He said they were preferable to and 
really worth a little more than a mixed lot of several sorts. 
I believe in testing some of the new varieties in a small 
way, say one row of each of two or more new kinds across 
the field, giving them the same treatment as the old sort. 
A new kind should be tested two years with the old sorts, 
and if the former beats the latter in both years it may be 
safe to make it a main crop. The State of Maine Is my 
main crop. I planted a few bushels of the Monroe Seed¬ 
ling this and last year, but they were far behind the State 
of Maine in yield and not quite so good in quality. 
J. H. RITTENHOUSE. • 
There’s Money In a Name. 
Zeno Kelley told the wood hauler who offered him oak 
that he burned nothing but hickory, “ the best being good 
enough for him.” Why should not the potato grower take 
his stand also upon the “ best.” In every locality it will 
be found that some one variety, in early, intermediate and 
late growing sorts, will have a preponderance of good 
points in its favor; why should not everybody combine on 
it ? Taking the country over, many different kinds would 
be named as this first choice, owing to variations in soil, 
climate and other conditions. In this neighborhood, not 
enough late potatoes are grown to determine what kind 
should be the leader; we run almost exclusively on Early 
Ohio. This year’s crop is not all harvested yet; but out 
of last year’s crop about 300 cars of Early Ohio were 
shipped from this station and only one car of any other 
early sort. That car was Crown Jewel and was sold at 
planting time as Early Rose to the commission man who 
received it. The falsehood made the grower over $100; 
for, while the potatoes were good stock, they bore an 
unfamiliar name. In a large market, not only can a dozen 
car-loads of one sort—if a good one and well known—be 
sold more quickly and easily than one car-load of a dozen 
sorts, but the “straight” cars will bring the highest price. 
Standard varieties can be more easily sold than new 
kinds. It costs time and effort to establish a reputation 
for potatoes, as well as other things; and when made, it 
is valuable. The recognition which the Kansas Early 
Ohios and Tennessee Triumphs now have in the Chicago 
market, for instance, is worth a good deal of money to 
those who furnish them. 
No doubt farmers lose money on most of the new vari- 
ties of potatoes and of all other things they plant. Moat 
of the “novelties” are frauds. Still, I keep trying in a 
small way, every year, a few of the most promising intro¬ 
ductions; for some day one of them will knock out the 
Early Ohio as it knocked out the Early Rose. This year, 
I have the Freeman, Minister, Vaughan and Howe’s Prem¬ 
ium. Neither of them is as early as the Early Ohio. Their 
other qualities I cannot report on, for they are not dug 
yet. 
Farmers are learning all the time; as they learn, they 
will concentrate on fewer varieties and fewer things. 
Wyandotte Co., Kan. EDWIN taylor. 
Must Consider Soil as well as Locality. 
My observation and experience have taught me that a 
car-load of good potatoes of one kind will always sell more 
rapidly and at a better figure than a load of mixed sorts. 
The best way to load a car of mixed varieties is to put in 
board partitions, and keep each sort separate, and even 
then, in a year like the present one, they do nob meet with 
as ready sale nor bring as remunerative a price as if all 
were of one kind. I certainly believe that “a dozen car¬ 
loads of a good sort may be sold more quickly and easily 
than a load of a dozen kinds ” if thrown into the car with¬ 
out sorting, and this is especially true when there is an 
abundant crop like the present one. 
I cannot subscribe to the theory, however, that the po¬ 
tato growers of a community are to confine themselves to 
growing one variety. My reasons are that some varieties 
yield better on clay soil than on a sandy one, and vice 
versa. 
I cannot tell precisely the number of varieties grown in 
this section this year for market, but I know of 10 different 
sorts that have been shipped by rail to Pittsburgh this 
season; then the early kinds thrown entirely on the home 
markets would easily make 10 more. 
It would pay much better and would otherwise be more 
satisfactory, if the potato growers of a community would 
confine themselves to not more than two good varieties 
each season. By such an arrangement, car-loads of a single 
variety could be got together more easily and much better 
inducements could be held out to the city buyers than by 
the present method. 
It is not necessary or wise for one farmer, or any dozen 
of them, to attempt to keep track of all the new varieties, 
but, on the other hand, no good agriculturist will plant 
largely of any new variety unless first tested on the same 
kind of soil which he owns. To test two or three kinds 
every year in a small way, is my rule and the yield will 
always pay the expenses and from these I make selections. 
The movement, in this section, to confine ourselves to 
about two varieties of potatoes is already inaugurated. 
The difficulties we encountered this year have taught us 
a lesson. Last year, with a short crop, potatoes sold 
readily, but this year, with an abundant crop, the buyers 
are very particular in choice, and will buy none but the best. 
Tuscarawas Co., Ohio. J. D. c. 
From a Jersey Fertilizer Farm. 
This community of farmers are growing principally the 
varieties known as the Burbank, White Star and Monroe 
Seedling. The last is the most recent introduction of that 
kind of potato, and may be loaded in the same car as the 
others without in many cases being detected. If all our 
potato growers were to grow for late markets, it would be 
best to grow as nearly one variety as possible, provided it 
was a good cooking potato and was a fairly good yielder. 
Quite a good many farmers in our community grow, in 
part, the earlier varieties for the early markets. I have a 
regular trade for which I may ship from 200 to 400 bushels 
per week, commencing to dig about the middle of July. I 
have shipped in that way directly from the field, on orders 
from week to week, about 2,000 bushels. Hence I need 
more than one variety, as I must have the earlier and late 
sorts. I have no doubt that if we were to ship largely in 
car lots we should confine ourselves to one variety. Of the 
earlier kinds the Charles Downing, Early Hebron and 
Early Rose with a few Queens would be desirable. Our 
standard varieties are the Burbank, White Star and Mon¬ 
roe Seedling, as above named. I think it well to keep 
track of the new varieties, and by experience learn if they 
are adapted to the locality. I am now introducing a new 
variety called the Troy Seedling, and for the first time will 
have a fair distribution. It is a vigorous grower, very 
hardy and must, under favorable circumstances, prove a 
valuable addition. My experience is that, as a rule, the 
farmers are growing fewer and fewer varieties. 
Middlesex Co., N. J. D. c. lewis. 
Two Varieties In Colorado. 
Two varieties constitute the great bulk of the potatoes 
raised in this county. Old varieties run out In time, and 
in ord er to have something to take their place, we must be 
experimenting with a few new kinds. We have found 
that different soils act differently on potatoes, so that a 
variety that succeeds on one farm will prove a failure on 
land a mile or two away ; for that reason I think it would 
be difficult to get the farmers to combine on one or two 
varieties. I have five varieties on my place and think that 
too many. I think The R. N.-Y. No. 2 takes the lead of any¬ 
thing I have. To plant a few of every new kind one hears 
of, I think is a waste of time and money. c. F. mason. 
Weld Co., Colo. _ 
THE SHEEP BUSINESS IN ENGLAND. 
The fact that the McKinley Bill has not increased the 
price of American wool has been used as an argument 
against a tariff on that product, and in the discussion it 
has been claimed and denied that the sheep industry In 
other countries is worse off than here. The facts as re¬ 
gards English sheep are given in a recent issue of the Lon¬ 
don Livestock Journal—about the most conservative live 
stock paper in the world. That the wool trade through¬ 
out the world has been dull is shown by the following 
statement: “ Lambs and ewes were rarely in worse con¬ 
dition than they were in May, 1891; and had everything 
gone well, since, there would still have been some little 
soreness to overcome in the minds of breeders, before they 
could be Induced to repeat the experiment of sheep-breed¬ 
ing upon any farm which can, anyhow, be cultivated with¬ 
out it. And all things have not gone well since I The 
action of the McKinley Tariff, in America, has been a 
severe blow to our woolen industries ; and has made them 
to be such half-hearted consumers of English wool that 
the trade in wool has been bad.” 
It is also feared that the wet August in England has in¬ 
creased the spread of liver fluke in sheep and that more 
than usual are diseased. Still there is hope ahead for the 
English shepherd in mutton rather than in wool. The 
Journal says: 
“ There is a great probability of very large arrivals of 
American maize before winter is over. There is, beyond 
all risks of weather, a fine and extensive crop of maize 
already secured in the States; and Europe will be certain 
to have a fair proportion of this crop sent into its markets; 
for the American farmer—like his European brother— 
has been (and still is) distinctly pressed of late by the want 
of ready money; and he is believed to be * understocked ’ in 
consequence. He will have to sell his maize because he has 
nothing to which to * feed * it. 
“ The foreign demand for primest mutton sheep seems to 
be growing rapidly. Whatever other countries may have 
done for wool bearers, Britain Is untouched, as yet, in its 
priority of place as a producer of mutton sheep. And mut¬ 
ton is the meat of the future. It is really a most curious 
manifestation—this recent preference shown, all the world 
over, by those who can afford it, for mutton over beef, and, 
still more, for mutton over pork. Now, although fashion as 
to what people,wear is distinctly capricious—and what is in 
demand to-day, in the way of clothes, may to-morrow be 
almost unsalable—men’s choice of food (although one 
might think it equally liable to variation) is always a 
steady continuous movement, in one direction or anotner. 
There is no instance on record of a population which has 
once adopted wheat as its ‘ bread corn ’ ever going back to 
any other cereal. And we believe that it will be found 
that no population which has ever taken kindly to the 
mutton chop will be willing to chop their bill of fare, In 
the future, for any other.” 
IMPLEMENT NOTES. 
Hand Fodder Cutters.—A succession of several dry 
seasons made it necessary to economize in the use of feed, 
and in no way has there been so much gained as by cut¬ 
ting corn fodder, and since we have had good and cheaper 
crops of hay, our best farmers who have power cutters con¬ 
tinue to use them and claim a saving of one-third by their 
employment. One great saving lies in the more econom¬ 
ical manner of feeding the cut than the whole fodder, as 
the former is always fed in mangers while the latter is 
usually fed in yards, oftentimes on the ground and tramp¬ 
led on. With a herd of 15 cattle It might pay to cut 
fodder ; but I do not think the practice would be followed 
the second season unless there was a cheap and willing 
hand to turn the crank. A. u. 
Caldwell, Wis. 
Parchment Butter Paper.— In the manufacture and 
care of butter, every little detail from the stable to the 
market must be watched with unerring care. The dairy¬ 
man who makes the finest butter and then makes the mis¬ 
take of packing it in an old rusty tub loses the benefit of 
his whole former care and labor. If after packing it, he 
neglects to keep it properly covered, so as to exclude the 
air and foreign matter, he makes another serious error. 
The writer has had an experience of several years in pack¬ 
ing butter for summer storage, and has never received a 
complaint from customers. After packing and setting the 
package away, it is covered with a strong brine which is 
frequently removed and replaced by fresh brine. An 
article that I prize very highly in my dairy for covering 
stored as well as fresh butter is the parchment butter 
paper manufactured by A. G. Elliot & Co., Philadelphia, 
Pa. This is cheap and clean, and makes a very desirable 
substitute for the objectionable muslin cloths formerly 
used. I would pay double what the parchment paper now 
costs me rather than go without it. j. j. d. 
