The Sun.
London, England, 1836-10-14 00:00:00

AGRICULTURE.

WINTER MANAGEMENT OF POTATOES.—In collectiag
a large plot of potatoes, the judgment of the farmer must
direct him in employing an appropriate method of protec-
' tion ; but as a perfectly dry condition of the skin is the
greatest means of security, the roots ought to be placed
under cover of an open shed, if possible, till the moisture
evaporate ; a common sheet let down in front of the open-
ing during a keen night will effectually secure the potatoes,
because they cannot be kept too cool, provided they he
screened from actual frost. Heat and moisture are the
agents which stimulate vegetation ; light is the element of
colour and maturity ; these are facts now acknowledged by
the wisest physiologist, and confirmed by the experience of
every day ; hence we are taught that preservation of pota-
toes, designed either for food or for future cultivation, must
depend on the absence of these stimulating agents. It ap-
pears probable, therefore, that the ordinary practice of
pitting," that is, of burying the store in broad trenches,
coated with stray and covered with a ridge of earth, i$
very far from judicious. The ground is always more or
less moist., it is also warm enough to produce some degree
of stimulus ; and thus, after the ridges have been exposed
to the.rains of an entire winter, and the earth on every side
becomes saturated by water, it is evident that the lining of
straw, or other vegetable decomposable matter, will be
acted upon, and tend to produce heat. The potatoes there-
fore push, and it is no uncommon circumstance, at the
opening of a pit, to see the whole surface of the potatoe
stock covered with a matting of long white shoots, every
one of which has been protruded at the expense of the
pulpy nutritive substance of the roots. If pits be employed,
it would always he wise to dig them in a dry spot of ground,
protected by a covering roof of some kind or other. Water
should be excluded, and the roof will also prevent much
of the operation of the frost ; but the greatest security will
be obtained by excavating the dry earthen floor of some
barn or out-house, prepared for the express purpose ; lithe
potatoes be laid upon dry ground, a little below the sur-
face level, and covered with a few inches of dry litter or
sand, no frost of ordinary character can injure them. In
fact, the potatoe will support a great degree of cold, as I
have amply proved during the last fitfully severe winter. I
deposited my seed-store of early kidneys at first in a tem-
perate cellar, but perceiving that the eyes began to break,
though the heat was seldom above 45 degrees, I had them
removed to and laid on the floor of a barn ; before they
were properly secured, frost of extreme severity occurred,
the mercury descended 15 degrees below the freezing point,
and some of the exposed roots were more or less coated
with rime. They were then covered with straw and sacks ;
some also were put in chests with dry hay ; but every pre-
caution was employed to prevent the accession of heat.
The atmosphere of the barn (which was frequently open
during six hours of the day) was on several occasions cooled
far below the freezing degree of Fahrenheit, yet when the
tubers were examined in March, they were found in so
perfect a state that I hesitated not to plant the whole of
them ; all, however, were put into the ground entire and
they vegetated with extreme regularity.—Quarterly Jour-
nal of Agriculture.

In a recent number of the Frankfort Mercury are
contained the details of the progress hitherto made in the
formation of the great canal which is to connect the Mayne
and the Danube. The works in the river Altmuhl, fourteen
in number, requisite to make it navigable are begun, and
will probably be completed in the course of the year. A
contract has been concluded for breaking and carrying the
stones to be employed in narrowing the stream, and will be
preceded with activity during the autumn and winter. In
the valley of Ottmaring, the canal begins at Dietfort ;
and the excavation, extending about 20,000 feet, is com-
menced ; and, should the weather prove favourable, it is
calculated that it will be completed this autumn. At Neu-
mark, 5,000 feet of canal is nearly completed ; and another
tract of 17,000 feet in length, where, in some parts, it is
necessary to cut thirty feet deep, is begun and will be com-
pleted in four years. At Nuremberg 500 labourers are
employed digging 45,000 feet of the canal, 12,000 feet
of which it is expected will be finished this autumn. A
line of about 2,000 feet near Doos, by the Pegnitz, is
entirely excavated. A contract for 27,000 feet of the
canal from Erlangen to Baiersdorff is adopted. The work
is commenced, and probably before the winter nearly
four miles will be completed. At Bamberg about 8,600
feet of canal is finished. The planting on the banks of
lucern and fruit trees is in progress. The foundations of
a sluice at Buckhof are commenced, and other sluices
there, and in the environs of Nuremberg, will he finished
before the winter. Next summer will be begun a bridge
over the Pegnitz, between Furth and Nuremberg, over
which the canal will be carried. If the canal from, Nu-
remburg to Bamberg be finished sooner, its continuation
not twill
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ation streumo called
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5 feet deep and 54 feet wide, with embankments of stone, is
commenced, and expected to be completed during the
winter. The progress of the works will be accelerated in
consequence of the proximity to the stone quarry on the
banks of the Pegnitz, recently purchased by the Committee
of Inspe,:tion. Eighty men are employed at the quarry,
and as soon as the stones are cut they are conveyed forth-
with in vessels to the places where required. Next year
the sluices in the track from the Nonnengrahen to the
Pegnitz will be constructed, and then the communication
from the Crane at Bamberg to the canal at Buckhof wilt
be opened. The works on the Pegnitz are reserved for
•. _ .

.his winter. About 40 miles' length of the canal are con-
.racted for; most of the contracts are commenced, and
nany miles will be completed during the autumn.
THE BOWERY THEATRE BURNT DoiVN.-At

half-past four yesterday morning smoke was seen to issue
from the centre of the roof of the Bowery theatre, and in
a very few minutes the whole building was completely en-
veloped in flames. So sudden and so rapid was the con-
flagration that it was quite impossible to save the building
when the firemen arrived at the spot. Nor were any por-
tion of the very valuable properties belonging to the theatre
saved, with the exception of the clock, a piano, and the large
mirror of the green-room. The wardrobes, and in fact
everything belonging to the establishment, with these slight
exceptions, were burnt. The upper portions of the side
walls fell on to Nos. 40 and 44 Bowery, and crushed in
the roofs. No other buildings were injured. Thus has
this magnificent theatre a second time fallen a sacrifice to
the devouring clement. Mr. Hamblin's loss will be most
severe. We understand he himsdf estimates it at se-
venty thousand dollars, not a cent of which, we are sorry
to learn, was covered by insurance—the policy having
expired on the 19th inst., and Mr. H. was in negotiation
for its renewal. The members of the company are also
severe sufferers, and in proportion to their means probably
much the more so, as they have lost the whole of their
theatrical properties, and are thrown out of professional
employment. A man named Frederick, employed to sleep
in the theatre, had a narrow escape from the burning build-
ing with his life, being obliged to make his way out of it ire
his night clothes. Of the origin of the fire there seems to
be a difference of opinion—some individuals believing it to
have been communicate] by design, and others supposing
the fire to have occurred from sparks communicated to some
combustible materials during the perfoi mance of Lajitte.,—.
New York Paver.