Hillsdale Whig standard. (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1846-1851, 1850-03-12
slss a PROPRIETORS,
WHOLE No. 10
fotatoe Culture.

fotatoe Culture.
There is one important fact ln The culiya.
lion ot the poiatoe. which deserves to be coil-
sidefed, a. IL wil explain what is otherwise in
explcable, aud hat is, that the potatoe Is
dependent, To great extent. for us nuri-
menI ou the almost here. 1t is absorbed from
| u by the plant. Ia manner known ooiy 10
I those acquainted with the PRINCIPLES of bola-
ny. and which IL is here foreign TO my pur
pose To explain. As proof of this (of its
deilsIpg so much uulrmeut from the aimos-
! phere,) we will NEARLY advert TO the ciIcun-
tance of rs being raised IN what ne usual
I ~ termed lazy beds, These. II is we'll
known, consist at nothing but parcel ofweI
J straw, so placed th,t the putatoe cannot de-
! rive any pnIrlRe0s Whatever from soil. A
piece of earth Is covered with boards or plank,
| OF pirce oi liI,n, hard ground is selectc l.
aud on lbis he putatocs are placed and GOV.
J cred with sufficient thickness of straw. sup
! ported al the edges. As soon as the stiam
becomes sufficiently wei, the potatoe springs
up aud begins To bear. The straw affords a
kind Of bed or nureiy lor il to form and grow
2 IN: and this is an important CONSULTATION in
I the cultivation OF the potaloe. The follow
iug is the most successful plan we have inuEd
/ Ia tie cultivation of this vegetable. We
speak trvm experience
/ Select piece Of hard, tampled ground,
! the harder the helfer. A lot on which stock
OF any kind, but particularly hogs have beeu
kept aud fed, will be found To be the best
/ Break il up well, houroughly aud deeply.
! one way. no matter how cloddy ani do no
/ hairuw 1t any, but let the clodS remain un
broken We will give our reasons after a
while. The ground being thus broke one
way, lay 1t off lnio rows the other way, or
acrost the blowing, two and half or hi &c
feet aprI,-Open these with a"turuing' plow.
with which kind of pillow The ground should
be brohe.) running the plow back IN the
same iuirow. 50 as To open the trench as
widely aud deeply as possible. Cut all the
large seed potatoes, so as TO leave a suflicien
cy of eyes on each piece. Then drop
them IN about six inches ap,it. Nuw, I'LL
the trench with straw or chat; or If nelher
Of these can be obtalned, with leaves lIom the
woods, or uash Of some SOFT. This is very
important TO "A successful cultivation ut the
potaroe. not. as is geUeraly supposed, because
il gives the pola.ue room TO grow and expand
I in. (;hUugh this, too, is "a IN ter ofsOme i'm
pOiIauce.) bul because, rs we lave shown.
II furnishes it with kind OF bed OF nursery
To form and grow in. We do not deny that
il may receive some nutIimeui from the de-
composing straw; but then IL is of nature
entirely different from that afforded by soil
as the straw must DO entirely decoppose be
fpie IL can enter into the composition ol soil
We have heard of excellent potatoes being
raised in trenches fIled with cow-haIr from
the tan yard One great advantage OF the
straw, trash, &c, is, that IL absorbes and re
tans moisture, which u very important 1"
the poratOe. The trenches thus iilled, may
be covered with the pillow, and the "niddles
entirely broke Ot turned by the plow 10 the
ridges, so rs to leave funow only beteen
each. Two workings, a wedding. aud then
afterwards at the proper time. hllling up
each aided by the plow about twice between
each row, will generally comfle.e the cult
yalion Never regard the clOdS or turi, put
on the ridges by The plow IN planting: the
potatoes will fad their way through. In We
~ tch aud finely puverized soil the pulaioe
is apt 30 co to vine' too much. we say;
or to have too much ,ol; aud hence very
Iuxuriant ctop of vines or tops will DC ac.
companied by very poor ''iurn out OF
potatoes. This is because the soil luulthes
too much ofthe nutriment necessary for the
yinr; and this predominaliug. that absorbed
from the atmosphere will be carried To sup
port lie Top. Tie beSt ftintuN TOT tliiS u
the stlaw and clo1s; and hence the necccsIy
of putin. in the one, and setting the oIhels
alone. These two act as neutralIZefs %
this, il may use the expression, Ia oriei
to have very early potatoes. they should b'
plancd as above, in the fall. Just before Ih,
setting in OF winter, aud good ridge RAISED
over Ihem. They will thus stand the cold
aud come much earlier than ifplanled in rht
spring. la planting the late Kind OF pola oes
which is generally pos pOued until after tn,
full moon in May, the same rules abou
planting aud culllvatIng, a. above, must be
observed, with some litlle difference. a.
they are apt To fail ifthe season bo dry, tlcI
should be planted IN low aud moist situations
aud the trenches. instead of being filled will
straw, should be filled with green vegetation
of some Sort as green wheat or rye straw
The common May weed or lcnnel is said to
be ilne. Ii filed with dead straw, &C., j
should be made thoroughly wet when put in
as il takes too long, when put in dry, to &C
qulre the GecessaTy moisture. n 5 The poia
toe alwsys grows. or is formed. above Ih,
seed, that should always be placed Al the bot
tom of the trench, and the straw sc. above
Where The potatoes are planted in the ial
for early spring use, the vines musi be pro
lec,ed from the frost in the spring, as wher
bit down, after they are up, the growth o
the young potatoe is so entirely arrested by
il that it ceases, and there will be nothing bu
a crop Of vines or tops Great West.
A Cfyaufic RuiueSs