358 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 29 
“ That Potato Experiment. " 
E. T , Penza, O —The more I study 
the potato, the less I think I know about 
it, and the less I think other people 
know about it. We have been taught 
to believe that seed kept in cold storage 
would produce a heavier crop than would 
the wilted, sprouted tubers taken from 
a warm cellar late in the spring. But if 
Dr. Funk made no mistake (page 191), 
and is sure that there i6 no other cause 
for the inconsistent behavior of his pota¬ 
toes than the difference in condition of 
the two lots of seed at planting time, 
then we have surely been “ barking up 
the wrong tree ” again. I don’t like to 
find any fault with what the doctor has 
said, but we all want to know the truth 
if it can be learned, and the only way to 
find it is to hunt for it, and keep hunting 
and comparing results until a theory is 
either killed or proved to be a fact. I 
am not prejudiced in either direction, as 
1 wouldn’t keep potatoes in cold storage 
if I had it, neither would I plant seed 
that was badly sprouted; but I firmly 
believe that the tendency of all varieties 
to “ run out” is due more to planting 
sprouted seed than to any other one 
cause. 
A single one of several things might 
have caused the result stated, and I 
would ask the doctor why he kept only 
one barrel of seed in the refrigerator. 
Is he sure that the early bug didn’t 
make its nests more numerous on the 
refrigerator potatoes than on the others 
that came up three days later ? Did the 
refrigerator potatoes die naturally, or 
did they blight ? Did he fertilize this 
plot with the Spangler machine, and, if 
so, did he run the machine himself ? He 
says that “ The refrigerator potatoes 
came up first, strong and robust, fully 
three days ahead of the others, and kept 
the lead for about three weeks.” 
I have always thought that the good or 
bad qualities of a tuber or “piece” would 
be entirely transmitted to the growing 
plant in less than three weeks from its 
appearance above ground. The fact that 
the refrigerator seed kept the lead for 
three weeks, is good evidence that it 
was better seed than the other, and that 
some cause that has been overlooked 
led to the strange result. “ With insuffi¬ 
cient manure for the past 30 years ”, 
may be the cause of it. Such land is 
generally “ streaked,”caused by manur¬ 
ing pretty heavily in strips and letting 
the rest go without. Those refrigerator 
potatoes might have been on a strip that 
had been repeatedly neglected, while 
the others were on land that had been 
manured. 
Seeding to Grass and Clover. 
C. S. Bice, Lewis Co , N. Y.—In this 
vicinity, in an average season, there is 
no difficulty in getting a good stand of 
grass or clover on thoroughly tilled, 
well-manured soil. For more than 20 
years previous to 1895, there had been 
no marked failure in such seeding on my 
farm. My practice was to pile the 
manure in the field during the winter 
and spread on the surface after plowing 
in the spring. Very little was used on 
sod ground, and very little was plowed 
under. The meadows were kept newly 
seeded and yielded an average of two 
tons of hay to the acre. The after¬ 
growth was pastured off. There was 
no difficulty in maintaining the desired 
acreage of profitable meadow. But now 
all this is changed. The seeding of 
1895 was so far a failure that only half 
a crop was harvested last summer, and 
the seed sown in 1896, was almost an 
entire loss. This occured on the best of 
land, well-tilled and manured on the 
surface at the time of seeding, and also, 
where corn was grown the previous 
year on a manured clover sod turned 
under. Six quarts of Timothy and six 
quarts of clover seed to the acre were 
sown after drilling in the grain, anc 
covered with the smoothing harrow and 
roller. These conditions were all that 
could be desired so far as soil and seed¬ 
ing were concerned. 
I doubt whether there is any practica¬ 
ble way to avoid failure in a season like 
that of last year. At Lowville, there 
was only one-fourth the usual amount 
of rainfall in April and about one-half 
in May and June. The soil was moist 
enough to secure germination of seed, 
but very soon became so dry that most 
of the plants died when only an inch in 
height. Land plowed the previous fall 
retained moisture better than spring 
plowing, and more of the clover lived 
through the summer, but no Timothy. 
I have not tried seeding to grass with¬ 
out a grain crop, but such a seeding 
here last year would, probably, have 
proved a failure and would, also, have 
involved the loss of the crop of grain, 
which was a good one. 
Why not sow grass seed in the fall ? 
A large amount was sown here last 
September, but the ground was so dry 
that it was not safe to seed until too 
late to secure much growth before win¬ 
ter, and good sugar weather with the 
ground bare this spring has made sad 
work with the small plants. On the 
whole, I can see no better method of 
seeding here than the one practiced for 
many years with almost uniform success. 
Using Corrosive Sublimate. 
F. B., Vernon, Wis.—F or using the 
sublimate treatment for potato scab, we 
have used three large casks or barrels 
with a faucet in each. We soak in two 
at a time, and have the third to receive 
the liquid while the other two are being 
emptied of potatoes ; then we place back 
in one of the barrels half of the remain¬ 
ing liquid, and are again ready to fill 
with potatoes until no more can be sub¬ 
merged. We have the barrels on a low 
platform, and empty out the potatoes on 
the ground to dry. We are getting 
ready a new tank that will hold 25 
bushels, in sacks containing about a 
bushel each, and have a swinging crane 
like those used in slaughter houses, to 
lift out the sacks ; it is easy to operate, 
and is far more convenient for those who 
plant a large acreage. 
Crimson Clover in New York. 
J. C. B., Wayne County, N. Y.— After 
harvesting a crop of oats and peas early 
in July, I plowed and harrowed the 
ground, and sowed a peck of Crimson 
clover seed per acre, July 15. I har¬ 
rowed and rolled once after sowing. It 
made a quick and heavy growth last 
fall, and covered the ground completely. 
There was no snow on it except about 
half of the winter, but it came out in 
perfect condition this spring, and at 
present is looking finely. 
A Perfect Strawberry. 
A. T. G., Washington, D C — On page 
327, F. B. says, “ What we need is a 
strawberry with as good a blossom as 
Chas. Downing, and as good a plant- 
maker as Haverland, with a berry equal 
to Bubach No. 5. Is there such a berry?” 
If he were familiar with the French 
berry called Louis Gauthier, he would 
not ask this question. The L. G. has as 
fine a blossom, a better-flavored fruit 
and more of it than the Downing. It 
makes stronger runners than the Haver¬ 
land, which are quicker to root. Its 
fruit is larger and better-shaped and 
flavored than the Bubach. The Bubach, 
after the Gandy, is the best American 
sort, but a great part of its value lies in 
the fact of its being a strong grower, 
with healthy foliage, and a maker of a 
few, but strong runners. I should never 
quote its fruit, though, as a standard of 
excellence; being only fairly shaped, 
soft, and only medium as to quality. 
Pumps 
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Potted Strawberry Plants. 
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Leading varieties, carefully packed In baskets, aud 
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The Thief of Time! 
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