80 
March 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Potato Culture—Soils—Bones. 
Mr. P. Pratt, of Deep River, (Ct.) says, “ After all 
that has been said and written about the potato rot, I 
think I know well the cause and the preventive. Po¬ 
tatoes have rotted for ages, when covered with water 
before ripe, and lately, when enveloped in mud, which 
fills them with water, and prevents the tuber discharg¬ 
ing its impurities. But the first great cause is a he¬ 
reditary disease, arising from bad cultivation and a 
want of the right material in the soil. The potato has 
been robbed of what is essential to its composition, in 
the soil, by the cultivation of wheat, corn, oats, buck¬ 
wheat, &c .; and stable manure will not supply what 
is needed. In most cases, new land from the forest is 
perfect soil for the various crops ; and, as far as I can 
learn, potatoes are invariably sound on new land, es¬ 
pecially if burned over. Wheat grew abundantly in 
this region when first cleared up; but the richest land 
will not grow it now. The peach does poorly on long 
cultivated land in this region, but grows finety, for 30 
years, on land not cultivated before. We had the 
finest field strawberries, in my boyhood, 60 years ago, 
but they are all minus now. 
“ About 20 years since, I manured a piece of ground 
with ivory dust from my comb-factory, and with yard 
manure, and with bone dust fermented with ashes. It 
has since been divided into two large gardens. It has 
had potatoes on it ever since, Mercers and others, and 
they have been sound and good. I do not suppose that 
ivory, or bone ctust, is the only thing that will answer; 
but I contend that something is necessary to restore 
what is taken from a perfect soil. 
“ As to whether I am right respecting the potato— 
if you find the analyses of a potato grown on new, 
wood soil, of one grown on old soil where they have 
rotted, and the soil of each, it will settle the question. 
“Your reply by mail, or through the Country Gen¬ 
tleman, will be thankfully received; and I am will¬ 
ing to reciprocate the favor; or if expense is necessa¬ 
ry, in analyzing, I am willing to satisfy you for the 
trouble.” 
We have copied so much of P. P.’s letter as relates 
to the potato ; and with regard to it we remark: 
1. If P. P. knows well the “cause and the preven¬ 
tive,” he should diffuse his knowledge ; for it is of vast 
importance to the whole civilized vrorld. 
2. We like P. P.’s reasoning. We think it goes far 
towards establishing his main positions, first, that the 
cause is “ a hereditary disease,” and, second, that the 
preventive will be found to be the restoring to the soil 
what has been taken from a perfect soil. 
3. It is not convenient for us to make at this season 
of the year, nor to procuro the analysis which P. P. 
desires. They should be made in autumn, soon after 
the potato crop is harvested; and we now suggest to 
analytical chemists, that if they will analyze a sam¬ 
ple from the sound crop of a virgin field; another sam¬ 
ple from a crop grown on an old field where many 
have rotted, and a sample of each of the soils, impor¬ 
tant and valuable conclusions may be reached. 
4, It is a question whether P. P.’s manuring with 
ivory dust, yard manure, and bone dust fermented 
with ashes, has had much to do with the soundness of 
his crop for the last twenty years. It may have had. 
The ivory dust would he likely to operate slowly, and 
consequently somewhat permanently; and the bone 
dust fermented with ashes, and applied to the soil, 
without th 8 addition of sulphuric acid, (by which it 
would have been changed to quickly acting super¬ 
phosphate of lime,) would also be likely to act slowly 
and permanently. Possibly the effects of that dress¬ 
ing may have lasted twenty years, though we could 
hardly believe it. Bones coarsely broken and spread 
upon pasture have been known to manifest the most 
marked effects for a quarter of a century; but when 
bones are heated with ashes, they fall into an exceed¬ 
ingly fine, minute division, in which the effect would 
be likely to be quicker than if they were only broken 
in a mill, but not as quick as if they were changed by 
sulphuric acid from a phosphate to a super-phosphate 
of lime, the super-phosphate being quickly, and the 
phosphate slowly, soluble in water. 
5. We will add, that we know a gentleman, who for 
eight years has manured potatoes with bones ferment¬ 
ed in ashes, has had good crops uniformly, and not 
one of them has rotted ; but unfortunately for the con¬ 
clusion to which he would have been glad to come, ho 
has planted other potatoes every one of these eight 
years, with all sorts of manure, and some without any 
manure, and neither have one- of these rotted, with the 
exception of a very few, where no manure was put. 
The bones, in the case just alluded to, were treated 
thus: In a large family, consuming much butchers’ 
meat, the bones were thrown int 0 “a hogshead from day 
to day; ashes, as taken from the fires daily, were 
thrown upon them; enough water to keep the whole 
moist and to prevent the gases escaping was added 
from time to time, the falling rains generally being 
sufficient, as the hogshead was placed in the open air, 
away from all buildings. When one hogshead was 
full, another was taken, (old sugar hogsheads.) The 
bones, treated in this 'way, retained their form and 
size, but became soft, so as to be easily cut through 
with a shovel, and rubbed down with the back of the 
shovel into powder with some extra ashes or dry earth. 
The oily matter of th'e bones, together with the potash 
of the ashes, and the water thrown on, becomes a so- 
ponaeeous mass, and the phosphate *>f lime in the hard¬ 
er parts of the bones is diffused through the soapy 
mass in a state of exceedingly fine division. Bones 
thus fermented in ashes are exceedingly valuable for 
potatoes and for Indian corn, and probably for nearly 
all crops. There is reason, from actual trial, to believe 
that the effect on the land is permanent, lasting at least 
several years. N. —-©»— 
Another Report from “ Cherry.” —There was 
made from the milk of the cow, Cherry, now four 3 -ears 
old, owned by Miss Mary Brice, New Scotland, in this 
county, from Nov. 19 to Dec. 19, 1853, 46 lbs. 4 oz. of 
butter, being over one and a half pounds per day. She 
was in fresh milk, having recently dropped her calf. 
.. .— — 
A 
