THE CULTIVATOR. 55 
The Bohan Potato. 
We have a letter from our friend J. A. Thomson, 
Esq. of Catskill, the gentleman who first introduced the 
Rohan potato into this country, in which he expresses 
the opinion that much of the prejudice existing against 
it as a table potato, has arisen from the use of a spuri¬ 
ous Rohan, which he avers has been extensively sold 
and cultivated in some parts of the country, and also 
from the use of the genuine potato before it was well 
ripened. He says—“ In every instance where I have 
had an opportunity to test the comparative merits of the 
Rohan potato, by selecting the potato and having it 
cooked for experiment, the result has been most une¬ 
quivocally in its favor, over all other varieties compared 
with it. The fact is, the prejudice excited against this 
variety has originated from the imperfect mode of its 
cultivation. It is a very late growing variety, and 
should be left in the ground even after the frost has kill¬ 
ed the vines, (in order to mature it sufficiently for the 
table,) and when,gathered should be put immediately in 
a cellar on the bare ground and covered over with sand 
or evergreens. They will then continue to improve, 
when treated in this way. I have eaten them the last of 
June, as solid and firm as in January. From five suc¬ 
cessive seasons that I have cultivated the Rohan potato, 
I am perfectly satisfied that it is not essential to plant 
them any earlier than other late varieties ; I have suc¬ 
ceeded best in planting them after the 20th of May, and 
up to the 10th of June; somewhat like the turnep, the 
tuber of this potato acquires almost its whole growth in 
the last five or six weeks.” 
From a communication of F. E. Faxon, near Boston, 
we quote as follows :—“ In 1S3.9, I bought two Rohan 
potatoes weighing 11 lbs., from which I cut fifty eyes 
and planted them one in a hill. They were manured 
with a shovel full of barn yard manure, and a spoonful 
of plaster to each hill. The product was two bushels. 
In 1840, I planted the two bushels in the same manner, 
and the product was 190 bushels, some of the potatoes 
weighed 3 lbs. The season w r as very dry, and I did not 
have more than half a crop of the Chenango or Blue 
potato. I do not like them for the table, but for stock 
I think they are a profitable crop.” 
Mr. A. C. Sanders of Shushan, Washington Co. N. 
Y., says —“ I raised last summer on a middling quality 
of land, from 21 bushels of seed, 200 bushels, quite 
a share of them very large, some weighing more than 5 
pounds.” 
Solomon Henkel, Esq. of New Market, Va., under 
the head “ Rohan potatoes no humbug,” says —“ My 
son purchased in Philadelphia, one pound of Rohan po¬ 
tatoes, for which he paid 25 cents, in the spring of 1839, 
out of which I made 24 hills, four feet apart; in each I 
put two eyes ; the product was forty pounds. In 1840 
I planted the 40 lbs., and obtained twenty bushels and 
one half. I weighed 12 of them which weighed 10 lbs. 
Several of them weighed more than a pound. We find 
them next best to the Mercer potatoes, as they are good 
flavored and mealy, and have hopes that they will im¬ 
prove by spring, as they are much better now than 
when first dug.” 
From Mr. J. W. Poinier, Middletown, N. J .—“ I 
planted 16 bushels, obtaining from some potatoes 25 
tubers and upwards ; they were planted in rows three 
feet asunder, and the tubers about 15 or 18 inches apart; 
manured from the barn yard ; they came up well, and I 
calculated on a large crop, but to my surprise when 
they were dug, there was but 230 bushels. I shall try 
them again the coming spring, with, I hope, better suc¬ 
cess. It appears to me they will yield as large or larger 
- crops than we can obtain from any other potato.” 
“ Observer,” in allusion to Mr. Guthrie’s commu- 
nication in the Dec. number of the Cultivator, says —“ I 
see Mr. G. has anathematized the Rohan potato, as 
decidedly as he last year eulogized the Chinese corn. 
That he has been truly unfortunate in his crop cannot be 
disputed ; that it is a solitary instance of failure so far as 
I have been able to learn, is also true. Many fields have 
! fallen under my notice the present season, and there 
has been no complaint from any one as to the quantity 
of the crop. I have grown them three years, and they 
have uniformly been most productive. As to the quality 
for cooking, or for the table, I should not perhaps dis- 
i sent so widely from Mr. Guthrie ; but for animals I 
know no reason why it may not be equal to any of the 
fast growing, large kinds. I must therefore dissent from 
i Mr. G. wholly, when he pronounces the Rohan a hum¬ 
bug, and ranks it with the Chinese corn, and think I am 
right in presuming that of the many thousands who have 
cultivated them the past year, he will find few or none 
who will agree with him in his opinions, either of the 
sugar beet or of the Rohans.” 
Mr. Calvin Butler, of Plymouth, (Conn.) alluding 
to the condemnation of the Rohan by Mr. Guthrie, 
says —“ In the spring of 1839, I procured of Mr. Bull, 
of Hartford, a peck of Rohans, imported, as I under- 
i stood, from France. I had them planted on good 
(ground, and well tended, and they produced about 30 
bushels ; some single ones weighing over three pounds, 
3 We had several meals of them cooked, and all the family 
pronounced them good. The greatest part of what I 
raised in 1839, were planted by different farmers in this 
■county, and I have inquired of nearly all that had seed 
f of me, and others who have grown the Rohan the past 
season, and the answer uniformly has been, that they 
have fully answered their expectations; some single 
ones weighing over 4 pounds. As it was not convenient 
for me to plant any potatoes the last season, excepting 
in my garden, I grew none of the Rohans, and have no 
interest in them, only that the public should be correct¬ 
ly informed on the subject. The late Judge Buel, than 
whom no man in the community on that subject woulc 
be entitled to more confidence, after several years expe¬ 
rience, and a fair candid trial when he had no interest 
but to give the public correct information, recommended 
them highly as a good table potato, and a valuable ac¬ 
quisition in our husbandry, (see Cultivator, vol. 5, page 
149, and vol. 6, page 66,) and so far as the trial has 
been made, and made known, the result has been al¬ 
most uniformly the same. I think therefore they should 
not be at once abandoned as a humbug in consequence 
of a failure in one or tw r o particular neighborhoods. J' 
cannot account for these few failures, but am persuader 
they are to be attributed to some other cause than the 
qualities of the potatoe. As to the suggestion of procu¬ 
ring seed from a southern climate, it is to be considered 
that they originated at Geneva, in Switzerland, a much 
higher latitude than any part of the State of New-York. 
They require, it is true, a little longer season to mature 
in, than other kinds, and that is possibly the cause why 
they have been condemned as a table potato, having 
been dug before coming to maturity, in which case any 
potato would not eat well till they sprout in the spring. 
Some of my neighbors that had seed of me, say they 
use them daily for the table, and find them excellent.” 
Plan of a Cheap House. 
Messrs. Editors —I have been during the year past 
a subscriber to your excellent paper, and for many 
years, although a professional man, interested in the 
culture of the soil, and in all matters of general utili¬ 
ty and improvement. I occupy a glebe of about thirty 
acres, upon which I have made some experiments in 
farming, and am convinced that scientific investigations 
may be made highly conducive to the advancement of 
good husbandry. I do not agree with some that the Rohan 
potato is to be discarded, or that snow is as good as 
eggs in fiap-jacks ; but I do agree with those who main¬ 
tain that whatever discoveries may be made beneficial 
to the world, and especially to those who occupy the 
humble walks in life, should be made public. In ac¬ 
cordance with this principle, I send you the plan of a 
cheap house which I furnished one of my neighbors, 
combining, as many think, good economy with great con¬ 
venience. 
(Ground Plan — Fig. 29.) 
A. Parlor, 14 by 14 feet—B. Kitchen, 14 by 15 feet— 
C. Bed room, 14 by 9 feet—D. Bed room, 9 by 9 feet— 
E. Buttery, 6 by 6 feet—F. Cellar door—G. Stairs door 
—H. Door leading to wood house, 12 by 20 feet—I. 
Frontdoor, south side—J. Chimney—K. Closet'—L. M. 
Clothes Rooms. 
Length 32 feet—height 12 feet—windows 5 by 3 feet 
—door 8 by 3 feet—upper windows 3 by 1£ feet. 
One good evidence of the excellence of the plan is 
the fact that the gentleman to whom I gave it has built 
twice from it, and has lately remarked that should he 
build twenty houses they should all be alike. 
The following are the dimensions which can be di¬ 
minished or enlarged as taste or means may dictate. 
Length 32 feet, breadth 23 feet, height one and a half 
story, 12 feet. The house contains a good kitchen, par¬ 
lor, buttery and two good bedrooms below, besides clo¬ 
sets and clothes presses. He has moreover an excel¬ 
lent cellar and wood shed, and one large store room, 
and two bed rooms in the upper story. The wdiole 
cost $425. 
Of course we do not expect to build a palace for this 
small sum ; but we can build a house good enough for 
any j r oung man who has his own fortune to make—and 
who prefers a neat, snug tenement of his own to the 
looking up of a new habitation every year. 
For a common laborer’s cottage, or for a substantial 
farmer’s more expensive dwelling, the plans given du¬ 
ring the past year are very good. As a medium be¬ 
tween the two, for the accommodation of those who do 
not wish to appropriate more than four or five hundred 
dollars for that object, I think the enclosed plan will 
be found very convenient. A piazza in front, one-third 
the height of the house, would be found very useful, 
without adding more than $25 to the expense. 
I would merely add that building materials do not 
differ much in cost here, from the same articles through¬ 
out New-England or New-York. The price of labor 
also is about the same. Very respectfully yours, 
Lanesboro.’ Mass. Jan. 5, 1841. S. B. SHAW. 
Bohans and SVIerinoes. 
Messrs. Editors —If you deem the follotving ac¬ 
count of a trial of Merinoes versus Rohans, worthy of 
the space it will occupy in your valuable journal, you 
will please publish it. 
When I planted my potatoes last spring I cut my Ro¬ 
hans into pieces containing two eyes each, and put three 
pieces or six eyes in each hill ■ adjoining the Rohans I 
planted a row of Merinoes in the same manner. Upon 
digging them a few days since, I found the row of Meri¬ 
noes, twenty-two hills, gave a bushel and a peck. The 
row of Rohans, likewise twenty-two hills, gave the 
same quantity and about six or seven middling sized 
potatoes over. 
I then dug a square rod of Merinoes that gave a bush¬ 
el and a half; the adjoining square rod of Rohans, con¬ 
taining the same number of hills, gave a bushel and 
three-eighths. On another side a square rod of Merinoes 
gave a bushel and five-eighths, and a like square of Ro¬ 
hans adjoining gave a bushel and one-eighth. 
These potatoes all grew on the same kind of land and 
were treated in precisely the same manner, except that 
the two squares of Merinoes were planted in the usual 
manner with whole potatoes and the Rohans cut and 
planted as above stated. 
Yon will perceive that these potatoes gave a poor yield, 
which was owing to the uncommon dryness of the sea¬ 
son. In many cases in this part of the country the po¬ 
tato crop is next to nothing. My Rohans appeared 
to have suffered much less from the drouth than the 
Merinoes and others. At digging I found them furnish¬ 
ed with very long and fibrous roots which may account 
for the fact. 
I procured last fall a barrel of Rohans from the late 
Judge Buel, of which I lost about half in consequence 
of their being sent to me in an old salt barrel. I men¬ 
tion this to caution those persons who have potatoes or 
other roots to transmit, against packing them in any 
vessel that has contained salt. 
PIERRE V. C. MILLER. 
Sfiawangunlc, Ulster Co. Oct. 17, 1840. 
Blossburgh Coal. 
Messrs. Editors —I herewith take the liberty to send you, 
for your gratification, a small parcel of Blossburgh Coal: As 
this coal is destined to assume a rank of importance in this 
state, for fuel in domestic economy, and in the manufacturing 
and mechanic arts, and its ashes for manure, a few facts con¬ 
cerning it, may perhaps be interesting. 
The mines from which this coal is taken, are situated on the 
head waters of the Tioga River, in Tioga county, Pennsylva¬ 
nia. Here, also, in the heart of the coal region, ts situated the 
village of Blossburgh. From the mines, the Tioga river and 
valley descend northwardly into the state of New-York; the 
river emptying into the Chemung, near the village of Corning 
in Steuben county. 
_ The villages of Corning and Blossburgh are about 38 miles 
distant from each other; but are united by a rail-road running 
down the valley. A depotfor the sale of coal is established at 
Corning, where the coal is delivered by the Arbon Coal Com¬ 
pany, and sold at $3.50 per ton of 2,000lbs. Corning is situ¬ 
ated at the head of the Chemung canal, and is accessible to 
boats from all parts of the state. If. is distant from Albany 
298 miles, from Troy 291, Whitehall 353, Utica 198, Syracuse 
128, Oswego 166, Geneva 73, Rochester 158, and Buffalo 253. 
At our agency in this city, No. 37 Columbia-st. for the sale 
of Blossburgh Coal, the price of the coal is $7 per ton by the 
cargo; and the price at any other point will be the same as at 
Corning, with the charges of freight and toll only added. 
This coal is an excellent article for domestic use, kindling 
very easy and burning freely with a clear white flame. Every 
ton brought to the city of Albany, pays a dollar toll to the re¬ 
venues of the state. 
It is decided by the best mechanics in Albany to be a very 
superior coal for their use for smithing, and for manufacto¬ 
ries. The Agent of the Albany Iron and Nail Works, who 
has thoroughly tested its quality for making iron, says the re¬ 
sult of the trial proves it to be superior in strength to any bi¬ 
tuminous coal he ever used. On an average of 38 tons, he 
found 930 lbs. of the Blossburgh coal equal in efficiency, in 
the quantity of iron it produced, to 1120 lbs. of any other; 
showing a superiority in the Blossburgh coal of 15 per cent. 
The opening of the Blossburgh coal mines is a great acces¬ 
sion to the wealth of this state. The supply is inexhaustible. 
In an area of 22,000 acres, it is estimated that there is coal 
enough to supply 170 thousand tons a year for 500 years. 
This coal was discovered at an early period by one Benja¬ 
min Patterson, while crossing the country with a party of 
German emigrants. In the course of a hunting excursion, 
he found the coal on the top of a hill, where the wind had 
blown over the trees by the roots. But it was Dr: Witt Clin¬ 
ton who first called public attention to the subject. In hia 
message to the Legislature in 1827, he says :—“ Bituminous 
coal has been found in the state of Pennsylvania, within 20 
miles of the state line, near the Tioga river, which when the 
Seneca Lake shall be opened, can be delivered in Albany by 
means of the Erie canal, on very reasonable terms.” 
Yours, very respectfully, WM. YATES, 
Agt. A. C. Co. No. 37 Columbia-st. Albany. 
