Litchfield enquirer., 1837-07-06
AGRTCULTURAL.

potatoes some to come up with large and thrifty stock or shoots, and others that were small and feeble-and all in the same hilI ; and when dug, feared as much difference in the potatoes as in the tops, which caused me to bestow some thought on the subject ]; and l concluded it would not be in the soil, but tn the seed. In order 60 bring the sub ject to the test as we'll as knew how, took a parcel ofpotatoes all of one sort the last spring, cut off tue seed ends enough for two rows; the other part of the potatoe l cut sufficient for two rows more; and plan ted them side by side at the same time.- Those from the seed end had, as might be supposed, the greatest number of shoots, but much smaller and less vigorous, and continued so until harvest. Those from the stem ends produced the largest, fairest, aud most in measure, but not most in num- Der. Fair, good sized potatoes should al- ways be selected for seed and if the seed ends be avoided, think it the better. As to the best soil for good table potatoes, l have no hesitation in saying. that good, light, loamy land is the best; moist, strong soil may, and doubtless will produce the most in quantity. Fresh or green sta- ble manure should never be put into the hill if used at all, it should be spread and ploughed, and narrowed in.'
 I give the above account and directions only upon newspaper authority. They seem to me quite worth verifying by care- full experiment. The use of stable manure in the hill for potatoes, designed for the ta- ble, is to be entirely disapproved. Plaster of Paris applied in small quantities in the hill, we have found sorviceable; and the experiments of others have confirmed our experience. Sea sand in the hill, where the potatoes were planted in peaty soil, moist and heavy, has proved an excellent manure. In our old lands, which have been long cultivated and highly manrred, it seems difficult to raise potatoes of very good quality for the table; aud they are seldom comparable to potatoes grown on a new soil; and especially on land recently cleared and in moist climate. This fact is we'll settled, but the philosophy of it is yet undetermined.
 Potatoes are one of the most valuable of our agricultural products and in spite of all that tho sarcastic pen of Cobbett has uttered against them, there is no product cultivated among us that yields more in quantity, or more nutritious food, for man and beast, per acre. There is no crop grown among US, cultivated with more slovenlness. In general, little attention is paid to tho selection of potatoes of the best kinds for eating; and to the selection of the best seed of the best kinds. They arc taken indiscriminately from the heap {; or oltentimes the most worthless. those ! 1s-l. AxAA for planting and the different kinds are often intermixed in the same hill and field without any regard to the different times of ripening; and at harvest, some will be rire and others not ripe, from not being seasonably planted; whereas, it is as desi- rable that potatoe should be ripe. as that an apple should be ripe.
 | Experiments made in England, some years since, are con6rmatory to the com- parative importance of the different parts of the seed as used for planting, which has been stated above. The British Farmer s Magazine says, that it has been found that seeds from the top end ofihe potatoe, yiel- ded the largest and earliest crops; that seeds from the middle portion gave two thirds of the former, and that those from the smaller or root end, gave no less than ons- third of the first. It follows, that if only the root ends had been rejected, the whole crop would have been increased at least at the rate of seven to nine. lO some parts of Ireland, where the culture of the potatoe is carefully studied, it is com- mon to reject seeds from the root end.
 1t is stated likewise in Silliman's Jour- nal, and tn the British Farm0r's Magazine, that from experiments made in Holland, when potatoes are planted. the germs ot which are developed as happens occasion- ally in late operations, or in open mild wln- iers, that the produce differs in quantity by more than third, to what it would be i potatoes, which had not advanced, had been used and further, that besides this diminished product, the quality is inferior. All these circumstances go to prove that this crop admits of great Improvements ln several districts in England, they have suffered for two or three years past from a most remarkable failure of their seed to germinate. Various animated and long discussions have been had in their agricul- tural periodicals and newspapers as to it's cause as yet, however, 1t remains un- determined and considerable uneasiness and even alarm has been excited. Po.a- toes with US, are subjects of no serious dis eases but suffer mainly from the muck worm, whose ravages are sometimes con- siderable. H.C. ~. Y. Farmer.
 RZnek Flv.-Sow a busbcl of dry ashes