Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1841-04-16
,ating nation has ever

ion, that no potato eating nation has ever r
great man. IL
The greatest crops Of potatoes on record, t
,rc those grown by General Barnum, OF I
Vermont, which reached from 1900 TO 1900 s
bushels per acre and he gives it as his {
opinion, that in good soil, and with his
mode Of culture, from 800 to 1000 bushels
per acre may be safely calculated upon
The reports Of the Agricultural Societies OF
our country show that from 500 to 700 BUSH
els per acre, are not uncommon. Mr.. Bache
of Wellsborough, Pennsylvania, in 1889,
raised 600 to the acre, and the crop Of MIR.
Morris, of Cattaraugus, in this State, fell but
little short. The average crop in the coun-
try can not we think be estimated at more
than from IT'S to $50 bushels, the influence
Of the seasons being more felt in this crop
than many others.
The methods of planting are various.-
General Barnum's mode, after careful and
thorough preparation of his land is to plant
in drills, % inches apart, and the sets in the
drills 10 inches from each other. The drills
are kept clean, but the earthlis hiIled around
the plants only once in the season as he
considers there is much danger of disturbing
the young tubers by removing the earth,
or causing the formation Of new shoots for
tubcrs by repeated heeings or killings. The
secret Of his great crops appears to consist,
in his bringing rich fresh earths, the scraping
Of the bitches or streets, or earth from the
barn.yard, or the mould deposited in swamps
and giving each hill shovel full, as a top
dressing. He does this with the aid of
horse and cart, the horse and the wheels
passing between the rows.
We have seen very good potatoes grown
by simply dropping the seed on clean turf,
and spreading over them covering Of straw,
six or eight inches in thickness. The straw
must be evenly placed, and if moved by the
wind before it gets settled together, which it
will soon do, it must be carefully replaced.
This covering Of straw keeps the surface
moist, and the grass can notspring up thro'
it, and in the fall the potatoes are found on
the surface of the turf, and perfectly clean
when the straw is removed. The danger in
this mode of planting would seem to lie in a
dry season which is frequently fatal to the
crop; and heavy crop is rarely in this
way produced.
In the Monthly Visitor, for February,
1910, is an account of an experiment with
potatoes, which was eminently successful
and deserving of notice. In the spring o.
1891 Mr.. Whitney, Of Craflsbury, Yer
mont, "broke up piece Of green sward,
narrowed j, thoroughly, car,cd upon it ma.
nurc from the yard at the rate of 32 loads tc
the acre, cross plowcd it, narrowed it again
and planted it in the usual manner in hills
t At the proper blowing between the rows
the piece was we'll hocd, and at the prope
time was repeated. In the fall he dug from
+ this piece at the rate of 800 bushels to thu
acre, which, on account Of the rust, wa
5 considered good yield. By the side of thi
piece, on precisely the same quality of soil
q manure was carted and spread at the rate
8 80 loads to the acre the sward was the
/ carefully turned over, and the burrows lai
:. fiat with roller. Between every other fur
). row, where they came together, THAT is be
d tween the first and second, and between tn
q Sd and fourth and so on) holes two feet apal
n were made with a sharpencd stick, about
# inches deep, large enough to receive tn
% seed. Into each hole one piece of potat
h was put, and the holes filled up with mello,
= soil, even with the general surface Of tn
field. There was 10 fu' tho, labUi Lv,tuwe
IN upon the crop till the digging, when tn
~ quantity produced was little over 40
~ bushels per acre. Although never hocd, ne
9 IA weed was seen in it. Before digging, tn
n field had the appearance of having bee
ar well hood, the potatoes having raised up til
N ground above them"
nj The Rohan Potato is an instance of III
as fortunate production Of a new and valuab
10 variety from seeds. This root, which, where
Ia ever it has been tried in our country, seen
70 to have satisfied all reasonable expectation
IT that had beeu formed, Is destined doubles
nj to add much 10 the value Of the potato crop
.. and no good reason can be given why othe
10 and still more productive kinds may not b
produced by the same methods. A compaI
., ison Of crop Of Rohans with one of ii
- original wild potato, would seem to justit
-, expectations Of still further improvement
:" from tho combined agencies Of cultivatio
! and reproduction from the true seeds.
-, In all cases the value of early potatoes
w great; and particularly so in the vicinity
u. cities, where constant demand, and read
vs. market for such vegetables. always exists.--
~ Experience has taught the growers of Il
-, potatoes for the London market, that ril
:. potatoes can be found from 10 TO IA day
Ia earlier in hills or drills planted with set
IL, from the top end (the one that has the mo
~. ~ eyes) than in those planted from the 70
" end ofthe tuber. The Lancashire gardne
=. therefore assert their sets, so as to ha,
~ them ripen at the same time, and thus Of
" tain roots for market sooner than they othe
of wise could do. tits probable that quite ;
o o. Improvement might in this country be etie
,,s ted in the same way.
VI The Gardener Ot.Beds.
-" Within few years, since horticulture h