Portland gazette and Maine advertiser. (Portland, Me.) 1805-1818, 1817-09-23

Comparative advantages OF raising po.a-
s.--Piob.bly there is no article of vege-
sagion cultivated in this pat Of the country,
which yi.!ds IN proportion 10 the la5pur
and expense bestowed upon II, gtsNer prot
its .szn potatoes do. Admitting a medium
crop OF Indian corn to be twenty five bush
els per acse, and it would seem from the
statements oil agricultural societies as well
as those of individuals in different parts of
The state, and my own information on the
subject, this estimation is very near the
truth; and that the price Of corn 10 be
ST IS per bushel, The produce of an acre
would be worth ISL. Land, when planted
with potatoes, equally manfred and tended,
as when planted with corn, will yield at
least one hundred and fifty bushels to an
acre. The price of potatoes is generally to
tina, Of corn as 2 OF, consequently the
price OF potatoes would be about 36 cents,
and the cop obtained from an acre would
be worth about Ss4 or SIS more than the
profits of corn On the same extent ofground.
Ii may be said that the fodder which the
cultivation of corn affords is considerable ;
il is however, well known, that corn ex-
hausts the land, and the other snrichss it
rather than otherwise.
We are more certain CT good crop OF
the latter than Of the former article. po-
,aioes are seldom destroyed or injured by
insects or frost, which is often The case with
corn. 1t is not our motive to dissuade far
mers from paying suitable attention to
raising.this species OF grain it is one OF
the mos, impo, TAM and useful plants of the
vegetable kingdom, Blu! we think it folly
TO attempt TO cultivate il on such poor land
and so poorly prepared to receive the seed,
as many dc. Potatoes will pIoducea toler-
able harves. where but little ii any corn
would arrive to maturity.
The root of which We are now speaking
has lately been applied to variety of uses
with success. They are nourishing TO cat
tie and sheep,if not given TO them too pen-
lifuliy and mixture OF boilyd potstoes
and little coin or oatmeal is an excellent
food for fattening swine. With regard to
The method of cultivating potatoes but little
need be said. Particular care should be
taken to have the largest selected for seed.
Some are in the habit OF planning potatoes
whole, but cutting out the eyesis generally
preferred, as The seed will 10 much father
aud there will be saving oil the body ofth
polatoe for other uses. ! hey will grow
on most any kind of soil nor is it SO ma
.erial about manuring the ground so tho
roughly as we do for corn. Stubble land,
it ploaghed Immediately after the grain is
harvested viii commonly bear a good crop
OF potatoes OF the hes, Quality even without
Being manured. The best time for plant
ing is about The krst OF June. They ought
not 10 be planted ill the latter part of May
Potatoes should never be exposed TO the
air for, in short time they will be much
injured thereby.
The reasons We have urged in favour oil
extending the cultivation of potstoes, NAV
be applied with the same object in view tc
oats and barley; but as the quantity Of
these several articles is annually increasing
and their properties more fully known, il
is lnexpedient 30 enlarge upon the subject.