380 
THE CULTIVATOR 
Nov- 
skillful breeding at town and county and state fairs— 
to bring the powers of his mind as well as his physical 
energies to his aid-^-to look, in fine, beyond the narrow 
present with its immediate requirements, to the future 
and permanent “ improvement of his mind and his 
soil.” From the sneers, or at least the practical con¬ 
tempt which then met the farmer from the devotees of 
professional and commercial pursuits, to the general 
regard now paid by all thinking men to his substantial 
merits, and by all sagacious statesmen to his interests 
in the commonwealth—from the suicidal tillage prac¬ 
ticed then, to the enlightened culture which prevails 
to so large an extent at the present day—from the few 
thousand agricultural books and journals then (1831) 
circulated, to the hundreds of thousands now scattered 
abroad, the advance displayed in the intellectual and 
social condition of the farmer has been great indeed. 
That there is room for still greater improvement and 
more rapid progress, and that the same influences which 
have heretofore proved so* beneficial, will now and 
hereafter avail to effect it, no one can doubt. For their 
promotion we have labored with untiring zeal for near 
a quarter of a century ; and to the furtherance of the 
best interests of our rural population, we shall devote 
whatever of strength and ability may be continued to 
us. 
Keeping the great object of our journals—the pro¬ 
motion of the true principles of agriculture and the 
elevation of the character and standing of the cultiva¬ 
tors of the soil, steadily in view—with no connection 
with any other concern—with neither prejucice against, 
nor partiality for one breeder or one seller, one ma¬ 
chine or one manure, over others, we hope to main¬ 
tain the true position that a really independent journal 
should hold ; and we look with c mfidence to our friends 
who have so long and so successfully, with each re¬ 
turning year, come up to our help, to renew their ef¬ 
forts to promote the circulation o." our journals. If 
those who have heretofore done so much, will take hold 
of the. work with the determination to increase, their 
lists for next year, and the multitude of others who 
realize the importance of placing such a journal in the 
hands of every farmer, will render them their aid, we 
may safely count upon a largely increased circulation 
for The Cultivator for 1855. 
|3|F“ We send our Prospectuses for next year, to our 
Agents, with the present No., and should any Agent 
fail to receive them, he will greatly oblige us by giv¬ 
ing immediate notice, that the omission may be sup¬ 
plied. — 
We shall be glad to send Prospectuses and 
specimen numbers to any subscriber or postmaster, who 
may be disposed to act as Agent, on application. 
Will our editorial friends increase our obliga¬ 
tions, by calling attention to our new volume. 
{PIT* In forming clubs, it is not required that all 
should be at one post-office. The papers will be sent 
to as many different post-offices as may be necessary. 
Drying Potatoes to Prevent the Rot. 
Mr. Tucker —Thinking the following detail of a 
successful experiment to prevent the rot in the potato, 
may be useful to your, readers, I have translated it 
from a Dutch journal, for your pages : 
“Mr. Bollinan^>rofessor at an agricultural institu¬ 
tion in Russia, asserts, in a very interesting treatise, 
that drying the seedling potatoes at a high temperature, 
is a sure remedy against the rot He found it out in 
the following way. He perceived that, putting them 
in the ground, the eye and the skin were often damaged. 
He thought that drying them would prevent the da¬ 
mage. In 1850 he put a certain number in a hot room, 
and after three weeks, he found they were dry enough 
to be planted. They grew very well, and yielded as 
much as the surrounding fields, and there was no sick¬ 
ness among them. Professor B. thought it a casualty, 
nevertheless he dried his seedlings again in 1851, and 
again the yield was abundant and free from sickness, 
though on all the surrounding fields the potatoes were 
attacked by the rot. In 1852 he determined to make 
a third experiment, and as his own seedlings wore not 
sufficient, he had to buy others, which came evidently 
from a yield affected by sickness, so that some were 
quite rotten. After drying them during about a month, 
he cut them in three or four pieces, according to their 
size, and dried the pieces again during a week. By 
chance they were dried so much that he thought they 
would not grow at all. Contrary to all expectation, 
they came up so well and grew so fast, that the new 
potatoes could be gathered three weeks earlier than in 
other years. Though there was sickness all around, 
there was none on his field, neither on the leaves or on 
the bulbs. 
“ These interesting facts, duringthree years consecu¬ 
tively, led to ah investigation, if more such cases were 
known, and he found two of them. Mr. Losorskey 
(government of Wite'osk) five years previous, gather¬ 
ing his potatoes, put one in his pocket; coming home 
he laid it on the stove * where it remained during the 
winter. In the spring he found the dried potato : he 
planted it without any idea that it would grow, but 
unexpectedly he got an abundant yield of healthy 
bulbs. Since that time he always dried his seedlings 
with good success. 
“ Mr. Waisleffsky (government of Mohileff,) keeps 
his potatoes where he smokes his hams. Once being 
short of seedlings, he took some of the smoked ones and 
found that in the yield there was less sickness than in 
that of his seedlings. Prof. B. is of opinion, that they 
were not dry enough when planted.” 
The temperature fit for drying the potatoes is not 
given. In the first experiment, the hot room was at 
72° and upwards. As an essay, Prof. B. put some in 
the place where the furnace stood, and where the ther¬ 
mometer was at 136°. The vitality was not destroyed 
even, though the skins were crisped. 
The trial is so easy that it is to be hoped it will be 
done. Kappa. Newark . IV. J. 
* In Russia the stoves are mostly of earthen or stone 
ware, with marble top. Trans. 
