# The Family Kitchen Gardener (1856)/Potato

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POTATO.
Solànum tuberòsum.—Pomme de Terre, Fr.—Kartoffel, Ger.
This universal vegetable is a perennial, well known upon every table. It is a native of South America. In the vicinity of Quito, they are known under the name of Papas. They appear to have been known in Virginia as early as 1584, and were at that period cultivated by the Colonists. It is very amusing to observe the remarks of early writers upon their character, some saying they are only fit for “swine,” while others recommend them as a delicate dish. It is a species of a very extensive family of plants, inhabitants of every part of the globe, all of a forbidding aspect, and not a few of them of the most deadly poison, while others are being extensively cultivated both as food and luxury to man. Among them are the Egg-plant and the. Tomato. We are now arrived at a period of the history of the Potato when there appears to be a universal scourge or blight passed over the crop, in every country where it is cultivated—universal in its effects and as universally unaccounted for, some attributing it to one cause, while others take an altogether opposite view. It has always and does still appear to me to be an atmospheric disease, a kind of Cholera, as I termed it two years ago, which has threatened the past year nearly to extirpate the whole crop. We now predict that it has come to its height, and another season will produce a more healthy crop. Cultivation may promote health, though it will not avert the calamity. New soil in the past year has been more genial to the production of sound tubers, than old cultivated fields, though the former has not been entirely exempt from disease. The vines have always been affected after a few dull, cloudy, moist, warm days; these, succeeded by strong sunshine, made visible the first blighting effects. To eut off the stems close to the ground, as soon as the disease appeared, has invariably benefited, and in many instances, en​tirely saved the tubers, and we still hope that this root, which has been for many years a luxury to the rich and bread to the poor, will yet continue to improve, as it has done during the past hundred years. On the quality of the Potato, as used for food, a few words will suffice. It is the most nutritious of vegetables, where it agrees with the constitution, which is almost invariably the case, excepting some few instances where there is a spare or thin habit of body. To those who take much exercise in the open air, it is excellent food, and yields a very considerable amount of nourishment.
Too little attention is generally paid to the dressing of it; for an indifferent potato becomes good when well cooked, and a superior one gains every attraction that an appetite can desire.
An untinned iron saucepan is preferable to any other for boiling potatoes. In preparing them, they should never be peeled, or much of their nutritious quality is lost. They only require to be washed clean, and at farthest to be slightly scraped. After soaking in water for an hour, put them into the saucepan, with cold water sufficient to cover them; when it begins to boil, let a cupful of cold water be put in, which will check the boiling, and allow time for the potatoes to be done through, without their being in any danger of breaking. When they are sufficiently soft, which may be known by trying them with a fork, pour off the water, and let the pot with the potatoes continue for a short time over a gentle fire, and the heat will cause any remaining moisture to evaporate; when, after being peeled, they will be fit for the table. By this method of cooking, if strictly adhered to, they will be found more palatable than under any other.
Various States and places have their favorite sorts. To enter into a general detail of their merits, would only produce conflicting opinions, for we are certain that what may do well in one State or country would fail in another. Mercer and Foxite for Pennsylvania, Pink-eyes and Mercer for New-York, ​Winnebagoes and Blue Jackets, for more eastern countries; but in no part of this country do we find the English, Irish, or Scotch Potatoes to succeed. We must look to our own exertions and industry in raising sorts from seed. If we wish to excel in quality, there is a very extensive field for improvement, and one that we can easily operate upon every year.
The Mercer, in this vicinity, is the universal favorite. The genuine sort is of a longish, flat, kidney form, with a liberal quantity of eyes, and pink-colored on the tapering end. Those covered with knotty protuberances are not considered so pure as those of a uniform shape. It is very early, a good bearer. and a good keeper.
Fox’s Seedling, for garden culture and earliness, will be found preferable to the former. It is a round, white Potato, of good size and excellent flavor, when eaten from the ground, but will not retain its superior qualities for Winter use.
Foxite.—A yellowish-white Potato, with the eyes much sunk It is a great favorite in some situations and soils, as a late variety. It is an excellent keeper, and well flavored.
No vegetable varies more in quality in different soils than this; for a sort that will be pleasant and well-flavored in one soil, will be coarse and rank in another. One fact may be observed, that white Potatoes do best on light soils, while red will be most productive on clayey or retentive soils.
Culture.—The first matter to be considered is the soil, which, if of a sandy loam, is better calculated for the potato than a heavy or very clayey soil. Though any soil will do, it must be observed that the roots produced in a light, are more dry and sweeter than those grown in a heavy soil. The finest potatoes are grown in a new, light, rich loam. If the soil is heavy, the manure used should be composed of well-decayed leaves, horse manure, and ashes, well blended and mixed together before using. A good crop can seldom be raised if this ​article is sparingly laid on. Two or three inches thick is a good manuring, but if that quantity cannot be obtained to cover the whole ground, put it three or four inches thick in the drill only whereon the sets are laid. It is not our purpose to enter into a labored dissertation on the culture of this esculent on a large scale, or we could easily show that it is but very imperfectly understood. Our object at present is garden culture, and our remarks are intended to apply to that branch. A gardener or farmer must be very low in the scale of his profession, unless he knows what crop is to follow another; and it is a point very necessary with potatoes that the ground be roughly dug before Winter, to have the soil well ameliorated before planting. Presuming that the ground is clear where the late Cabbage crop was taken from, dig it deeply and turn it up roughly for the action of the Winter; then, early in Spring, lay on your manure, and as soon as the ground can be worked, open a furrow the full depth of the spade. Lay therein three or four inches of dung, on which plant the sets with the eye upward, ten inches apart, eighteen to twenty inches from row to row. Dig over the ground and plant as you proceed. Sets for planting should be cut at least one week before planting, and spread out thin on a floor to dry. Potatoes of medium size can make from four to six sets. There is a great difference of opinion in regard to the size of the potato to be used for the purpose of planting, some carefully selecting the largest, others preferring the medium, and some retaining the smallest. We never put any regard upon the size of the tuber, though we are careful in observing the size of the set. In the event of their being small, we do not cut them; if of medium size, we make four to six sets; and if large, eight sets may be made. Again, the point of the potato is considered more early than the root-end, and some only use those eyes that are in the middle. We have never deemed this advantage worth much attention, though for a few very early planting we give preference to those eyes nearest the point of the tuber. As soon ​as they appear above ground, give frequent and deep hoeings, drawing earth carefully to the stems as they advance in growth. We assuredly detest the appearance of a weed among this crop, and frequently mourn and almost weep over fields of the rankest weeds where the undergrowth is potatoes. What can be expected from such slovenly husbandry—gardening we will not call it. The crop is thereby injured in quality and quantity, and not only that, but frequently disease ensues, which is attributed to the Potato degenerating. What an idea! Degenerate! no, never! All seeds, not only of this vegetable, but of every other, should be changed every three years at farthest; and we would change the kind of soil, or the Potato for seed, every two years. A change from light soil to heavy, or the reverse, will tend to benefit the quality, and if this cannot be effected, change with some of your distant friends, or make purchase from other States. We have said that early Potatoes should be planted as soon as the ground can be worked, which is from the 1st to the 20th of March. A few may then be planted in a very sheltered place, where they would not be much exposed to late frosts. The main crop should be planted about the 15th to the end of April. If left till a later period, they are very liable to be affected by the droughts of Summer, and take on an Autumn growth, which invariably injures the quality of the tuber. The maturity of the crop is readily known by the whitening of the stems, though they are fit for the table before that period. As soon as they are what is termed half-grown, a few may be lifted for use. Those intended for seed are considered better adapted for the purpose if they are not perfectly ripe, yet I doubt if this opinion is confirmed by experience. Writers on this subject too frequently reiterate the expressions of their predecessors. This is very observable among writers on horticultural and agricultural subjects. The experience of Abercrombie, Speechly and Knight is retailed as new matter for the present age, (advanced in every other science,) and is admitted as being as undeniable ​as any rule of Euclid. When passing through Ireland, that hot-bed of Potatoes, we observed them transplanting the stems that had grown six or eight inches from one part of the field to another, in the same way that Cabbages are planted, and I was informed the crop from those were fully as good as from the sets planted early in the season. This operation can be performed in a country where there is a great deal of moisture, or during very cloudy, moist weather, but in dry arid temperatures it would be a doubtful practice.
Artificial Culture.—Various are the methods by which Potatoes are forced, such as in frames, pits, hot-beds, under glass, or under shutters and mats. Whichever of these conveniences may be at hand, let there be from twenty inches to two feet of good manure in the bottom, over which place eighteen inches of good soil. Plant thereon your sets of Fox’s Seedling, and cover them with four inches of earth. It is necessary that when finished the materials should be within six or eight inches of the glass. Sow over all some Early Short-top Scarlet Radish, which will be off before the Potatoes can be affected by their growth. To prevent their becoming long and spindling, give air on every favorable occasion, when there is sunshine, from ten to three o’clock, protecting them carefully at night. A few Lettuce may also be planted between the rows. They can be cut off as soon as they are in the way. This is making the most of every inch of ground, and every industrious gardener knows the value of time and space.
New Sorts From Seed.—We can never have Potatoes entirely suitable to our climate till we obtain such from seed—an operation rarely if ever attended to properly. For these experiments the field is very large, and certain to be crowned with successful results. A single apple, as they are called, collected in September or October, will produce two dozen ​new kinds; and if even half a peck of apples were collected, separate and wash the seeds from the pulp, dry them, and wrap them up in strong paper till Spring about the middle of April, prepare a bed of fine earth, draw shallow drills thereon six inches apart and a quarter of an inch deep; sow the seeds thinly, and cover lightly with very fine earth. They will come up in two or three weeks. When they are two inches high, thin out a portion, lifting them very carefully with a trowel, and transplant them into a piece of well prepared ground, four inches apart and eight inches from row to row. Choose a moist, cloudy day for the purpose, hoe them freely, and earth them up a few times during the season. Treat the bed in like manner. In October, the roots will furnish a supply of small Potatoes, which must be taken up and a portion of the best preserved in sand during Winter, to be planted next Spring in the usual way. After they have had the ensuing Summer’s growth, in October their tubers will have attained a sufficient size to determine their properties. It will be necessary to consider, not only the flavor of each variety, but the size, shape, color and fertility; also the earliness or lateness, rejecting all that have not every quality combined, for only such are worthy of permanent culture. It will thus be seen that with very little care and a little labor, new varieties may be produced and proven in the short space of two or three years.
Potatoes intended for keeping should be fully ripened before being taken up. When going through the process of lifting, drying, and storing, they should be handled with care, not filled up and emptied down as if they were as many stones. After having gone through this stone-casting process, nearly every Potato shows its effects when brought to the table, being covered with bruised marks in proportion to their rough treatment; whereas, if they are managed properly, every tuber would be as sound as on the day of its removal. Dry cellars, free from frost, are the most appropriate places of storage, and ​if they have a covering of sand they will not lose a particle of their flavor. If sand or dry earth is not used, give them a covering of straw, to prevent the air from giving the outside Potatoes an acrid taste. Towards the end of January and February, they should have a regular turning, to prevent their sprouting. If any have begun to grow, pick off the growths. They will require this operation repeated every few weeks while they are in the cellar. If this is not carefully attended to, and the Potatoes allowed to grow to any extent, they will lose much of their farinaceous quality. It is also very essential to turn over frequently those intended for seed, to prevent a premature growth. The greater the vegetative power of the set, the finer and stronger will they grow.