122 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February 10 
Quality of Potatoes in Canada. 
D. J. S., Prince Edward’s Island.— 
Your remarks on potatoes, on page 792, 
were very interesting to me, and I would 
like to see more on the same subject. 
You are perfectly right, in my opinion, 
in asking that the experiment stations 
“ give the starch content of potatoes, as 
well as their yield per acre ”, and I would 
also add that they give the albuminoid 
content as well. I have never seen the 
analyses of different varieties of potatoes 
to prove whether they differ in the rel¬ 
ative amounts of albuminoids contained 
or not, but I know from personal experi¬ 
ence and observation that there is a vast 
difference in the feeding qualities of dif¬ 
ferent varieties as grown in this Prov¬ 
ince. Take for instance, the Early Rose 
and the Chenango, or McIntyre, as it is 
called in Prince Edward’s Island, the 
Early Rose being the chief early potato, 
and the Chenango the chief late potato. 
It has been noticed, time and again, that 
pigs fed on a ration of boiled Chenangoes 
and grain, will not grow nearly so rapidly 
if the Chenangoes be replaced by Roses, 
and in fact, the pigs will sometimes “ go 
off ” their feed. It lias, also, been noticed 
that, if a basket of mixed varieties of 
potatoes be boiled and thrown whole be¬ 
fore pigs, the Chenangoes will invaluably 
be picked out and eaten first. 
I suppose that you would term the 
Chenango a “soggy” potato, although, 
when planted early in light soil and not 
manured too heavily, it may be termed 
a solid but not soggy potato, as that term 
is generally understood. The Chenango 
is generally grown in this Province for 
main crop, and has been for the past 15 
years, but it seems to be about “ run 
out ”, as there are, each succeeding year, 
a larger percentage of small potatoes and 
rotten ones, which I suppose indicates a 
constitutional weakness. Commercial 
fertilizers are not used on potatoes in 
Prince Edward’s Island, but the cause of 
the rot is not wholly owing to the stable 
manure, as Dakota Red potatoes grown 
in the same field as Chenangoes, had no 
rotten ones, while from 10 to 50 per cent 
of the Chenangoes were more or less af¬ 
fected. Many varieties of potatoes have 
been tried, but no variety has yet been 
found to take the place of the Chenango, 
and as the days of the Chenango seem to 
be numbered, the great problem is to 
find a good potato to take its place. What 
is wanted is a late potato—as late as, or 
later than, Dakota Red—of good quality, 
that will keep well and yield a good crop 
under average conditions. What variety 
would you recommend ? Do you think 
Carman No. 3 would fill the bill ? 
Another fact that has puzzled me, and 
which I- have never seen explained, is the 
change that takes place in certain varie¬ 
ties of jDotatoes after ’being stored, 
whereby some substance is produced in 
the tuber that gives it a very unpleasant 
taste. Most of the early varieties grown 
in this Province acquire this taste after 
November, and perhaps the most con¬ 
spicuous example was that of the Bur¬ 
bank Seedling. About 10 years ago, 
when potatoes commanded a good price 
in Boston and other Atlantic ports, and 
immense quantities were shipped from 
Prince Edward’s Island by vessel to these 
cities, commission men complained very 
loudly about the rough appearance and 
poor quality of the Chenangoes, and ad¬ 
vised the farmers of Prince Edward’s 
Island to grow a smooth, white potato 
of better quality, if they wanted to sell 
their potatoes at paying prices. To this 
end, the Burbank Seedling was intro¬ 
duced and quite widely disseminated. It 
proved to be only a fair yielder of very 
handsome potatoes, of fair to good qual¬ 
ity till November, but when eaten after 
that date—well, one would have to sea¬ 
son them with Cayenne pepper to pro¬ 
duce an equally disagreeable taste. It 
is customary, in this Province, to have 
one meal per day of the hens’ ration con¬ 
sist of boiled potatoes, and several neigh¬ 
bors who fed Burbanks to their hens 
during the Winter, lost part of their 
flocks. Whether the loss was wholly 
due to the feeding of Burbanks, I am 
not prepared to say, but circumstances 
would indicate such to be the case, for, 
when Chenangoes were substituted, the 
hens proved more lively, and no more 
died. Pigs were equally ready in show¬ 
ing their dislike for them. 
I would like some of the agricultural 
scientists to explain this chemical change 
in the composition of the potato after 
being stored. Is the tendency to pro¬ 
duce this change inherent in the variety, 
irrespective of soil and manure, or is the 
soil or manure responsible for it ? 
A Blind-eyed Sir Walter. 
J. A. W., Hancock, N. Y.—The Sir 
Walter Raleigh potato sent me was a 
poor specimen, with one blind eye, a scar 
on the face, and otherwise misshapen ; 
but I felt sure that the “ blood ” was in 
it, so I put it where it was light and 
warm enough for the eyes to start, and 
waited till May 18 for the ground to get 
dry and warm enough to plant. I then 
prepared a row in light, loamy soil, not 
over rich, but fine. By splitting some of 
the eyes. I made 10 pieces (chips), think¬ 
ing that I would get more potatoes in 
number if not so large. I planted about 
18 inches apart in the row, with a sprink¬ 
ling of potato manure in each hill. They 
all came up soon, very spindling at first, 
but when the roots began to grow, the 
tops branched out and made some very 
good hills, but some were quite small. 
Some of the hills blossomed, but bore 
no seed. I dug about October 1 ; vines 
dry, and the yield was 35 of good size, 
and five very small, whole weight 10% 
pounds. Best hill, two pounds ; heaviest 
single potato, 10 ounces. One nearly 
rotten, two others slightly affected, all 
perfect in shape and very handsome po¬ 
tatoes. 
The Potato Middleman. 
F. J. F., Almond, Wis.—S ympathy for 
the grower—as in the remarks on page 72 
—is misplaced where potato growing is 
intensified as with us. Without the lo¬ 
cal dealer, the crop could not be handled. 
Improved facilities and systematic meth¬ 
ods enable him to pay more than the 
grower could get by self-shipping. Many 
farmers have tried and abandoned it, 
and why? Because of expense. Winter 
shipping needs stoves and lined cars. A 
dealer handling 300 car-loads annually 
has 10 to 30 cars thus provided, at a cost 
of about $18 each. lie uses them again 
and again. Then, too, a man must go 
along to fire the car, and pay return 
fare home. The dealer ships three to 10 
car-loads in a string, and one man tends 
them all, saving many return fares and 
much wages. We allude to an ordinary 
dealer. Some handle more stock. One 
who buys at several stations has handled 
over 2,000 car-loads to date this season. 
He is an exception. Of course, the stock 
must be well sorted. Competition is 
rife, and the farmer gets all in them, 
and sometimes more. A neighbor re¬ 
cently sold 1,800 bushels of Triumphs at 
80 cents. They go to Texas. If the 
dealer and the railroad companies get a 
profit, the Texan pays well for his seed 
stock. I could name scores of farmers 
who grow three to six car-loads each, 
annually, but know of none doing any 
shipping. 
Weak Stomach 
Indigestion Causes Spasms—Hood’s 
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I have taken several bottles of Hood’s Sarsa¬ 
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and I advise any one troubled with dyspepsia to 
take Hood’s Sarsaparilla.” Mrs. Horton, Pratts- 
burg, New York.” Remember 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla 
Is the best—in fact the One True Blood Purifier. 
Hood’s Pills cure nausea, indigestion. 25c. 
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