910. 
<THE RURAL NEW-YORKEH 
I1S3 
HOME-GROWN OR NORTHERN POTATO 
SEED. 
The recent discussion of the value of ped¬ 
igree potato seed has led readers to ask 
why potato growers south of New England 
usually prefer northern grown seed. Would 
it be possible for a grower in New Jersey 
to select improved seed of his own grow¬ 
ing and get as good results as with the 
selected northern seed ? The following 
notes are from practical growers: 
I was in the seed business for 23 
years. I will give you my experience. 
In the early days, farmers only planted 
little Maine or New York State seed. 
Gradually we learned it always paid us 
well to use Northern seed. First, far¬ 
mers would plant only one-half of pur¬ 
chased seed, save and store enough to 
plant one-halt of their acreage. It was 
so manifest that new seed always paid, 
that our farmers now buy all their seed. 
Without question, a good many buy seed 
in the Fall, where they have cellars 
without heat. Our own potatoes are 
about all dug in August. Should we put 
them in the cellar they would wilt and 
shrink, and become soft, more or less. 
The Northern potatoes come to us solid 
and without sprouting, and they produce 
a stronger plant, a more vigorous growth. 
Our people would not take the time to 
select seed as you suggest. Without 
doubt there are 20,000 bushels of seed 
sold at our several stations—yes, 30,000 
bushels. I sum it all up in a few words. 
Experience has taught us Northern 
seed always gives us better results than 
any seed we can keep over of home 
growth. d. c. lewis. 
Middlesex Co., N. J. 
All potatoes for market grown in this 
section, are planted early, dug in July 
and early August. It is impossible to 
save these potatoes for seed to get satis¬ 
factory results. They sprout so much 
before planting time that sprouts come 
up from them weak, besides so many 
sprouts grow from an eye and so many 
potatoes set that they are nearly all 
small. One would better pay $10 a bar¬ 
rel for good Eastern seed (Maine prefer¬ 
able for this section) than have Julv dug, 
home-grown seed for a gift. Consider¬ 
able seed is grown here each season, by 
using Eastern potatoes that have been 
put in cold storage in March and planted 
in July; some years these do better than 
Eastern seed. A great many have been 
grown this season in this and nearby 
counties, which will cut down the de¬ 
mand for Eastern seed. On this farm 
we plant from 30 to 35 acres yearly for 
July and August market, all Cobblers, 
and prefer good Eastern seed. 
WARREN ATKINSON. 
Gloucester Co., N. J. 
The farmers in this locality preier 
Northern-grown seed potatoes, for the 
simple reason that the yield will be one- 
third more than from the best selected 
Long Island seed. I think the increase 
in yield is due largely to the change of 
climate and soil. Another reason is that 
the Northern seed is kept cool and does 
not sprout during the Winter, while the 
seed on the Island will sprout, causing 
the potatoes to soften, and lose vitality. 
When the sprout comes through the 
ground it is weak, while the Northern 
seed will send a strong and vigorous 
shoot. My experience has been that 
financially it is better for the Long Island 
farmers to pay $5 per barrel for North¬ 
ern-grown seed than to plant the best 
selected home-grown seed if it cost noth¬ 
ing. While New York State seed may be 
a little better than our Island seed, I 
prefer Maine, Minnesota or Michigan. 
Long Island. w. F. jagcer. 
Farmers of Monmouth County sell 
their potatoes for about $1.25 per barrel 
and pay $2 per barrel for seed potatoes. 
To-day T am sending a check for $350 
for 175 barrels of seed potatoes, shipped 
from Maine, though I averaged only 
$1.25 per barrel of potatoes sold off the 
farm. Thus, by sending away for seed 
potatoes, it, in effect, takes twice as 
much acreage for seed as it would if 
home-grown potatoes can be made to 
answer for seed. T. M. 
Monmouth Co., N. J. 
The question whether the Northern- 
grown seed potatoes are superior to the 
home-grown on Long Island is an annual 
one, some growers contending that they 
would rather have potatoes raised them¬ 
selves from seed which came from the 
North the Spring before. Probably, 
about one-half of the potatoes planted 
on the Island come from the North and 
the other half are home-grown. The 
larger part of our growers have facili¬ 
ties for keeping their seed so that it 
comes through the Winter in better 
shape than that which comes from the 
North, and, as a rule, seed of our own 
raising comes up better than seed we 
buy. If we could get good seed, that is, 
seed that has been taken good care of, 
true to name and unmixed, a much larger 
proportion of the seed used here each 
Spring would be Northern-grown. 
Now, as to the reason why we use, or 
have to use, Northern-grown seed. The 
potato, the same as other plants and 
animals, thrives the best under the most 
congenial surroundings. Among other 
conditions, the potato to grow to perfec¬ 
tion needs a cool climate, cooler than we 
usually have on the north side of Long 
Island. If we continue to plant seed of 
our own raising year after year with¬ 
out any special selection they will “run 
out,” the plants lose vigor, and the 
tubers grow ill-shaped and small. There 
is a section on the south side of the Isl¬ 
and, through tne “Hamptons,” lying close 
to the ocean, where the air never be¬ 
comes very warm and where potatoes 
grow to pertection, and these farmers 
save their own seed year after year, this 
doing equally as well as seed brought 
from Maine or northern New York. 
Whether the careful selection of the best 
hills and raising our seed from them will 
keep up the vitality of the potato so our 
home-grown will yield equal of superior 
to Northern-grown is an. unsolved prob¬ 
lem so far as Long Island is concerned. 
One year ago I started an experiment 
of this kind for my own account, but 
have not gone far enough to get any 
definite results as yet. In conversation 
with Prof. Gilbert, of Cornell, an ardent 
advocate of breeding up seed potatoes by 
hill selection, he was not at all sure that 
we could keep up or increase the vitality 
of our potatoes by selection. I (irmly be¬ 
lieve that the vigor and productiveness 
of the potato can be increased where 
the conditions are favorable. There is 
a good opportunity for some one who has 
the right location to build up a good 
business in raising pedigree seed pota¬ 
toes. With our natural handicap on ac¬ 
count of climate we could better afford 
to buy pedigree seed than try to raise 
them. 
In a variety test, conducted for the 
Long Island Potato Exchance during the 
past Summer, all plots of pedigree seed 
gave better yields than a majority, of the 
other plots. On my farm last Summer 
I had a six-acre field, one-half of which 
was planted with ordinary seed and the 
other half with pedigree seed, both be¬ 
ing the Green Mountain variety. All 
conditions for the two plots were the 
same, except the seed. The common 
seed yielded 175 bushels per acre and the 
pedigree seed yielded 273 bushels per 
acre, but the breeder of that pedigree 
seed had neglected one important point. 
He had failed to make his selection for 
conformation as well as vigor, conse¬ 
quently, the resulting crop was so very 
rough and undesirable in shape that I 
cannot use any more of that seed. 
Long Island. H. r. talmage. 
Treatment of Leachy Soil. 
F. S. A 7 ., New Hampshire .—I have one 
piece in my field of something less 
than an acre that I cannot seem to 
grow anything on. It is a light sandy 
and gravelly knoll. Around the lower 
edges i always get a good start, but ail 
over the top crops dry up and come to 
nothing. I have tried corn, potatoes, oats 
and peas, and this year had barley with 
grass and clover seed. What can I do with 
it? Will it help to pack the soil with 
some green crop? 
Ans. —Evidently this soil is so open 
and “leachy” that it cannot hold water. 
The air works in and draws it out. It 
needs humus and also some chemical or 
mechanical treatment to compact it. A 
good coat of manure plowed under would 
help. We should sow rye, turnips, or 
buckwheat at the proper season, and plow 
them under. Then give a heavy dressing 
of lime and harrow it well in. On such 
soils lime will act somewhat as it does 
to form mortar. It binds the sand to¬ 
gether so it will hold water, and this ef¬ 
fect is often made use of in handling 
light soil. 
Double Express Charges.—M any of our 
readers have been held up for collection 
on an express package when the sender has 
already paid for it. A writer in the New 
York Sun tells how his wife handled a case 
of this sort: 
“She had already prepaid express charges 
of $1.15 on her trunk, yet when the driver 
delivered it at our town address lie banged 
it down with a demand for 90 cents. I 
had the old receipt in my pocket and was 
about to produt-e it with an angry protest, 
but my wife paralyzed me with a look 
and sweetly courSted 90 cents out of her 
handbag. When the driver had ^oue she 
said, ‘Now, let me have that receipt,’ and 
before the wagon had turned the corner 
she had headed for the express office. She 
invited me to go along, but T felt she could, 
better adjust a delicate matter like that 
without me. And she did. She came back 
with $1.15. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I could 
have refused to pay at this end of the line, 
and if they had charged more than that 
at the other end I should have refused, 
but when the discrepancy was in my favor 
I just paid at both places, then went down 
and demanded the larger sum. With both 
receipts to prove that somebody in the 
company was trying to cheat they just 
had to give my money back.’ ” 
That Suit for Libel 
Against the Postum Cereal Co., Ltd., Gave a Splendid 
Chance to Bring Out Facts 
A disagreement about advertising arose with 
a “weekly” Journal. 
Following it, an attack on us appeared in their 
editorial columns; sneering at the claims we 
made particularly regarding Appendicitis. 
We replied through the regular papers and the 
“weekly” thought we hit back rather too hard 
and thereupon sued for libel. 
The advertisement the “weekly” attacked us 
about claimed that in many cases of appendicitis 
an operation could be avoided by discontinuing 
indigestible food, washing out the bowels and 
taking a predigested food, Grape-Nuts 
Observe we said MANY cases not all. 
Wouldn’t that knowledge be a comfort to those 
who fear a surgeon’s knife as they fear death? 
The “weekly” writer said that was a lie. 
We replied that he was ignorant of the facts. 
He was put on the stand and compelled to ad¬ 
mit he was not a Dr. and had no medical knowl¬ 
edge of appendicitis and never investigated to 
find out if the testimonial letters to our Co. were 
genuine. 
A famous surgeon testified that when an opera¬ 
tion was required Grape-Nuts would not obviate 
it. True. 
We never, claimed that when an operation was 
required Grape-Nuts would prevent it. 
The surgeon testified bacteria [germs] helped 
to bring on* an attack and bacteria was grown by 
undigested food frequently. 
We claimed and proved by other famous ex¬ 
perts that undigested food was largely respon¬ 
sible for appendicitis. 
We showed by expert testimony that many 
cases are healed without a knife, but by stopping 
the use of food which did not digest, and when 
food was required again it was helpful to use 
a predigested food which did not overtax the 
weakened organs of digestion. 
When a pain in the right side appears it is not 
always necessary to be rushed off to a hospital 
and at the risk of death be cut. 
Plain common sense shows the better way is 
to stop food that evidently has not been di¬ 
gested. 
Then, when food is required, use an easily 
digested food. Grape-Nuts or any other if you 
know it to be predigested (partly digested before 
taking). 
We brought to Court analytical chemists from 
New York, Chicago and Mishawaka, Ind., who 
swore to the analysis of Grape-Nuts and that 
part of the starchy part of the wheat and barley 
had been transformed into sugar, the kind of 
sugar produced in the human body by digesting 
starch (the large part of food). 
Some of the State chemists brought on by the 
“weekly” said Grape-Nuts could not be called a 
“predigested” food because not all of it was di¬ 
gested outside the body. 
The other chemists said any food which had 
been partly or half digested outside the body 
was commonly known as “predigested.” 
Splitting hairs about the meaning of a word. 
It is sufficient that if only one-half of the 
food is “predigested,” it is easier on weakened 
stomach and bowels than food in which no part 
is predigested. 
To show the facts we introduce Dr. Thos. Dar¬ 
lington, former chief of the N. Y. Board of 
Health, Dr. Ralph W. Webster, chief of the Chi¬ 
cago Laboratories, and Dr. B. Sachs, N. Y. 
If we were a little severe in our denunciation 
of a writer, self-confessed ignorant about appen¬ 
dicitis and its cause, it is possible the public will 
excuse us, in view-of the fact that our head, Mr. 
C. W. Post, has made a lifetime study of food, 
food digestion and effects, and the conclusions 
are indorsed by many of the best medical au¬ 
thorities of the day. 
Is it possible that we are at fault for sug¬ 
gesting, as a Father and Mother might, to one 
of the family who announced a pain in the side: 
“Stop using the food, greasy meaitsi, gravil's, 
mince pie, cheese, too much starchy food, etc., 
etc., which has not been digested, then when 
again ready for food use Grape-Nuts because it 
is easy of digestion?” 
Or should the child be at once carted off to a 
hospital and cut? 
We have known of many cases wherein the 
approaching signs of appendicitis have disap¬ 
peared by the suggestion being followed. 
No one better appreciates the value of a skil¬ 
ful physician when a person is in the awful throes 
of acute appendicitis, but “an ounce of preven¬ 
tion is worth a pound of cure.” 
Just plain old common sense is helpful even 
nowadays. 
This trial demonstrated Grape-Nuts food is 
pure bevond question . 
It is partly predigested. 
Appendicitis generally has rise from undigested 
food . 
I t is not always necessary to operate . 
It is best to stop all food. 
When ready to begin feeding use a predigested 
food. 
it is palatable and strong in Nourishment. 
It will pay fine returns in health to quit the 
heavy breakfasts and lunches and use less food 
but select food certainly known to contain the 
elements nature requires to sustain the body. 
May we be permitted to suggest a breakfast of 
fruit, Grape-Nuts and cream, two soft boiled 
eggs, and some hot toast and. cocoa, milk or 
Postum. 
The question of whether Grape-Nuts does or 
does not contain the elements which nature re¬ 
quires for the nourishment of the brain, also of 
its purity, will be treated in later newspaper 
articles. 
Good food is important and its effect on the 
body is also important. 
“There’s a Reason” 
Postum Cereal Co., Ltd., 
Battle Creek, Mich. 
