293 
the cultivator. 
the improver. The soil is that of the coal measures, 
generally inclining to clay, and often very stiff. He has 
induced most of the tenants on the estate to drain their 
lands, and he told me that the harvest is fully ten days 
earlier in consequence. The subsoil plow is also here in 
full operation. The pasture fields on the best farms 
were remarkably fine. On our way to Wakefield, the 
next afternoon, we saw the farm of our other fellow- 
traveller, Mr. Johnson. In every respect, it was one of 
the very best that we had visited. The crops were ex¬ 
cellent, and scarcely a weed to be discovered. At Wake¬ 
field our little party separated, after a most pleasant and 
profitable week. I might fill many sheets with details, 
but fear to weary your patience by anything more than 
this slight sketch. I am, very truly, yours. 
John Pitkin Norton. 
CULTURE OF THE POTATOE IN SCOTLAND. 
Featherhall, Midlothian, August, 1845. 
To the Editor of the Albany Cultivator :— 
I shall now detail to you, the most approved practice, 
in regard to the cultivation of the different crops, and 
shall devote this letter to that of potatoes, which may be 
regarded as the commencement of the rotation in the 
district in which it is reared. 
The land, which the previous season had been under 
oats, is plowed before the winter frosts set in, with a 
furrow varying in depth from eight to nineorten inches. 
In giving the first furrow for any of the fallow crops, it 
is considered good practice, to cleave down the ridges, 
taking care, however, to preserve the original furrows 
if the land is not thoroughly drained. The advantages 
of this plan are, the levelling of the field, thus rendering 
the subsequent cross plowing more perfect and more 
easily accomplished. It also affords greater facilities for 
the escape of sudden and severe falls of rain on undrained 
or retentive soils, and more perfectly exposes all parts 
of the soil to the action of the frost during winter. The 
land having been plowed in the manner already de¬ 
scribed, and that when it is not too much saturated with 
moisture, the furrows at the headlands and the water 
courses are cleaned out, so as to prevent any water from 
lodging. 
When the drying winds of March have fairly set in, 
and the land is relieved of that excess of moisture which 
usually prevails through the winter, the field is harrowed 
so as to pulverize the surface, and is then plowed in a 
direction across the ridges. This furrow is generally 
eleven or twelve inches in depth, or as deep as the plow 
will work. It is then harrowed with four or five turns, 
and rolled if found necessary; after which it again re¬ 
ceives a double turn of the harrows, and the root weeds 
which have been brought to the surface, and freed of 
adhering soil by the different operations, are carefully 
collected into heaps by bands of women and boys, and 
removed from the field. Should these various opera¬ 
tions not have rendered the soil clean, or of sufficiently 
fine tilth, it is either grubbed with Finlayson’s harrow, 
or again plowed, harrowed, and rolled, and the weeds col¬ 
lected as before. If the land has been allowed to be¬ 
come foul, or is of a very stiff nature, it is sometimes 
plowed a third time, so as to render the soil very fine, 
and absolutely free from weeds. I have found it an ex¬ 
cellent plan in cleaning foul land, to give it (prior to 
the spring plowing) a turn of the Finlayson harrow to 
the depth of four inches, then to harrow, roll, and col¬ 
lect the weeds brought up. The advantage of this is, 
that a considerable portion of the weeds are removed 
before they are mixed through the large quantity of soil 
stirred by the deep spring furrow; and that portion too, 
which being then laid undermost by the plow, is most 
difficult to be got rid of afterwards. In preparing clay 
land for green crops, I have tried the following plan with 
success: As soon as possible in autumn, I plow and 
otherwise work the land, then open the drills, and allow 
it to remain in this state till the time of planting. 
The plow is then passed along the drills, for the pur¬ 
pose of removing any soil which may have fallen from 
*he sides of the ridgelets by the action of the frost; the 
manure and seed are then deposited, and the ridgelets 
split by the double mold plow. A fine “ crumb” is 
thus placed over the manure and seed, excluding the air 
and drouth, and affording a suitable nidus for the young 
plants ; and this in a soil, which any amount of labor, by 
the ordinary method in dry seasons, would hardly re¬ 
duce finer than a mass of clods the size of road metal. 
The saving of spring labor effected by this plan, is also 
an important item in its favor. 
But to return from these digressions. The field having 
been properly worked, in the way which I have en¬ 
deavored to explain, two plows, each drawn by two 
horses, proceed to open the drills which are usually twenty- 
seven inches wide. The manure, which has been turned 
about eight days previously, and allowed to attain a 
slight degree of fermentation, is then carted out and de¬ 
posited in heaps, commonly in every fifth drill. A per¬ 
son follows the cart dividing the heaps equally among 
them, while five spreaders with small forks or “grapes,” 
distribute the manure regularly along the drill. These 
are followed by an equal number of planters with the 
seed which they drop seven inches apart. After the 
plows have opened fifteen drills, they return and cover 
two of those first opened, in which the manure and seed 
has been deposited; they then open two in going, and 
cover two in returning, and so on; thus there are never 
more than fifteen drills open at once. By the method 
detailed, the seed and manure are but a very short time 
exposed to the sun and air, while I am satisfied that there 
is no plan more economical of labor, for if there are a 
proper number of men at the dung hill, not an instant of 
the time of any individual in the field is lost. Thus, if 
the dung hills are conveniently placed, two plows, 
three carts, three men filling manure, one boy driving, 
and one man dragging out the heaps, in addition to the 
field workers already mentioned, will finish in the best 
style, three Scots acres per day, supposing such were to 
receive forty tons of manure, about the average quantity 
allowed. The planting of each field is concluded by 
working and planting the headlands, cleaning the hedge 
roots, or bottoms of walls, and planting by the spade, the 
corners, as well as all other places not accessible to the 
plows. The beginning of May is as late as it is con¬ 
sidered prudent to plant. 
The potatoes used for sets or seed as they are termed, 
are for the most part brought from some of the high, 
cold districts, where the land has been lately reclaimed 
from a state of nature. Those from moss are most es¬ 
teemed. Peebleshire and the upper ward of Lanarkshire 
furnish a large portion of those used in Midlothian. As 
the price generally exceeds the ordinary market rates, 
while the Lothian farmers themselves do the half of the 
cartage, the raising of potatoes for seed, has of late years 
added very much to the resources of the farmers in these 
bleak moorland districts. 
Few subjects have attracted more attention in the ag¬ 
ricultural world, than the cause of the failure of the po- 
tatoe crop, but it still seems hid in impenetrable mystery. 
It is now a well ascertained fact, that potatoes grown in 
the potatoe districts of the Lothians, will not reproduce 
themselves in a healthy manner. I observe in a late 
number of the “American Agriculturist” what I have 
heard also stated in this country, that the application of 
manure in the drill, tends to increase the destructive ef¬ 
fects of rot. This I must take leave to doubt, as on the 
only farms in this parish, which have entirely escaped 
this scourge, the manure is never applied in any other 
manner. It is of the utmost consequence, that the seed 
should not be kept in large heaps, neither before nor 
after cutting, as fermentation is easily induced, and I am 
aware, has often taken place when little suspected. The 
quantity of seed used for an acre is four-fifths of a ton. 
Soon after planting, the drills are rolled with a light 
roller, and when the stems are within a short distance of 
the surface, they are saddle-harrowed. By this means the 
annual weeds which may have germinated are de¬ 
stroyed, and before another braird can make its ap¬ 
pearance, the crop is ready for the hoe. Whenever the 
rows can be distinctly traced, a drill grubber is passed 
down between them, being adjusted by means of its 
screw, to go as close to the young plants as is consistent 
