Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1841-04-16
WUB RARWa
CULTURE OF THE POTATO.

CULTURE OF THE POTATO. ID
BY common consent the Potato has been
placed at the head of all the edible roots,
wherever il has been introduced, and the eli
mate would admit its cultivation. Origina-
ling from an obscure and worthless root
among the Cordilleras Of South America, in
spite of prejudice and opposition, it has
spread with a rapidity unknown to any other
vegetable, and is doubtless destined to make
the circuit Of the globe, adding in an meal
culable degree TO the means Of subsistence.
There are few if any vegetables grown in
zone THAT yield so great an
amount Of food per acre as the potato.--|
Wheat, according to Sir H. Davy, contains
$50 parts Of nutritious matter in 1000; and
the potato $50 but when it is remembered
that the yield Of the potato on an average is |
from ten to fifteen times as much per acre as
wheat, the advantage in favor of the potato
is manifest. Besides such is the human or
ganization that pure nutritive matter is inju-
rious to its healthy functions, and the stom-
ach requires to be more or less distended
with other matter before the excitement ne
cessary TO nutrition takes place. We are,
therefore, justified in supposing that good
potatoes used exclusively as an article Of
food, would be less injurious than pure wheat
flour. Be this as it may, the potato in most
civilized countries now ranks next as an arti-
Gle Of food 10 the rice Of the tropics and
the wheat and maize Of the more temperate
regions. To Europe is America indebted
nothing more than the potato and maize,
the debt must have been considered as cam
celled.
The potato is usually propogatcd by the
tubcrs or roots, but new varieties are obtain
ed or old ones that have partially dcgenera-
ted restored, by cuItivating them from seed.
There are few plants that show more dcci-
sivelv the improvement that may be made
by cultivation than the potato, In 1888, a
quantity of the original roots were brought
from South America to England, and care
fully planted. The result was small nfe-
rior root, more resembling the ground nut
than the potato, and not widely differing in
appearance from those Of the first years
growth from seeds. There is an idea prev
alent among many farmers that potatoes are
mixed, or what by the breeder Of animals
would be called crossed, by having several
kinds planted in the vicinity Of each other.
This is an erroneous opinion. The cros-
sing takes place in the flowers or seeds and
not in the roots and hence there is the
same uncertainty that the seeds of any given
variety Of this root will produce potatoes Of
the parent kind, that there is that the apple
seeds will give apples like those from which
they are taken, a thing of very rare occur
renee.
Every farmer who has paid attention to
the manner ofgrowth in the potato, is aware
that the tubers are not produced from the
roots proper, these being, as in other plants
used solely for the purpose of nutrition, but
on shoots thrown out about these, and nearer
the surface of the earth. 1t was the opinion
of Decando|lc that by repeated coverings Of
the stem such shoots, and of course potatoes
could be poduccd the whole length of the
stalk, and some experiments that he made
seemed TO favor such a suppostIon still w
must be permitted to say, that having in par
repeated his experiments, we have fount
, nothing to Justify the opinion that such a re-
suit would be effected by this treatment ofth'
: stem.
The propriety of cutting the tubers o
planting them whole has been much discus
sed, and the multitude Of experiments o,
,, record would seem to show by their connic
ting results, that at least as much is depend
. ing on other circumstances, as on the roo
= being planted in whole or cut state. Ifal
= acre Of ground is planted in hills or drill
with whole potatoes, and another acre b.
n planted with sets or cuttings at equal distan
ccs with the other, the experiments made b,
the London Horticultural Society would g
, to prove that the acre planted with who'll
! potatoes would yield the most, but not nue.
if any more than the additional quantity @
seed required in planting. If whole pota
used. If cut, not more than half that guam
tity will be required. In both cases, howev
, err, much will be depending on the size Q
!, the whole potatoes, and the number of eye
:. . in those cut. The distance between tn
rows must be determined by the length G
- stem produced by the potato, and the sever
d al varieties vary much in this respect.
D.. In cultivatng the potato climate rathe
n cool and moist is found most preferable I
S any other. Of course the root succeed
4? much better in the Northern States and
rs the adjoining British provinces than in tn
rs southern parts of our country. In the mort
al parts Of Maine and New.Hampshire, an
If the Province of New-Brunswick, are cele
l. brated for the excellence of their potatoe
In New York, the tract lying east of LAX
Ontario, between that and the Mohawk an
IN Black Rivers produces good potatoes an
Or the elevated lands in the south Of Ne
10 York, and the north of Pennsylvania al
is noted not only for the quality of their pot;
* toes but the large crops they annually pre-
IS duce. The potato will succeed well on a
IT, most any kind Of land, provided it is rcI
}; and is not wet and clayey bu. for this, I
st for most other crops, friable kind Of LOAF
e, Of sufficient consistence to prevent droul
will be found superior to any other.-
swamps containing large quantities of vegt
J. table matter, when sufficiently drained, ha,
l. produced great crops, and what IN ne
ct countries is termed muck land, is also favors
. bic to their growth. Two things in pota'
loo l. II. 4. q. TO-