Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1853-06-16
NV plan has been to manure heavily broad
cas-. with stable and bsrn-yard manure, using
I;oaa o.. nna.,n at The same Tine [ haue 81 :


lime or guano a, the same time. have al
ways planted for the first crop, potatoes
The result has been that have been fully
renumersed the first year, beside the i'm
provemen, of the land. | then follow with
IA crop Of wheat, and sow clover, or clover
and timothy mixed, and let it remain in grass
two or three years, The land then being in
a condition to produce anylhing you may
wish to put in it. have been uniformly
successful raising potatoes, having always
made fair crop, and frequently very heavy
one. have tried variety of experiments
on dfferen, kinds Of land, and the result has
always been greatly in favor Of broom sedge
or any other old field land. Indeed, great
ly prefer it TO the best clover land have
Having no knowledge Of agricultural chem
isiry, ] cannot account for i, in any other
way than this There is no other plant
with which am acquainted lha. puts out
more fibrous root or which takes longer
time in decomposition, than broom sedge.
The great quantity Of roots keeps the land
so light lha, it offers little or no resistance
10 the growth of the tuber. Nor is this its
only advantage the roots act as conduc-
tor of water, and have always found after
a light rain, when other land was not wet
more than an inchdeeP, that the sedge land
was wet to the roots of the plant, and after
heavy rain, when the potatoes in other
land would be sobbIng in water, those in
the sedge would be comparatively dry, the
water having descended below the ,uber.-
This consider to be lis greatest advantage.
There is also another reason for which
prefer it. have always found, when in
other lands the potatoe has suffered very
severely by rot, those planted in sedge land
have been entirely free from H. | had fair
les. of this in 1916, and my experience since
that time has fully confirmed lhesopinon
then formed.
took small piece of broom -sedge land
adjoining clover lot, for the purpose Of max
ing il square. The land was treated exact
ly alike, having the same quantity of manure
produce Of the potatoe al least one third
more on the sedge than on the clover. On
The frs, the potatoe was perfectly sound,
while on The latter los, one half 5y r,Jr.-
If the sedge be heavy the land should be
plowed about three inches deep with sharp
plough, SO as TO cut the roots about half
way down, and be well turned over. Twelve
months previous to its being pu. in cuIlva-
ton, when the sedge is very light, or on
any other old field land, i, may be plowed
and planted Immediately. have for ten
years been trying experiments with seed,
large, small and medium size. have plant
ed them side by side on the same day, same
manure and the same mode Of culture.
! ko- thooo ,I,lo
| Frequently found the small po,ales to have
the advantage, both in quality and quantity,
but never in any one instance have found
the advantage IN favor of The large ones. |
think the potatoes, no matter how small, cut
in two pieces, just as good for two sets as
for one. formerly planted ten bushels per
acre. now plant 4 l-2 with jus. as good
result.
Judging from my own experience, do
not think that potatoes can be probably
raised on rich land, that has been in cult
valion for series Of years in the ordinary
mode Of rotation of crops. The land be-
comes too solid and compact, not admitting
sufficient water in light rains to nourish The
plants, and retaining i. too long after heavy
rains, suhjectng the vine 10 the blish! and
the tuber to the rot.
have planted at all times, from the first
of February TO the 26,h Of July, the early
planting generally yielding onethird less
than the late. Although late this year, as |
think, on accoun. Of the heavy rains in Au-
gust, am still Of the opinion that from the
! lOih of June to the 10Th of July is The bes.
time to plant, have observed that there is
,bop tho nj
great deal of moisture 10 make good yield
and that time is when The iubers are about
as large as marbles. According TO my OBJ
serva,on, we have, in seven years ou. Of ten,
more rain in September than in August,
which take to be the reason why the June
planting yields the best, ii being just the time
when the potatoe requires the most rain.
also lhink the quality of polatoe much
better when il ripens jus! in time to put a.
way for the winter, and is not SO subjec, to
ro. after storing as if i, had laid in the ground
from four 10 six weeks after it was ripe.
always plant in the ground, and never
in the moon, and an not aware tha, the
moon has felt himself offended by it.
have always found the best time TO be when
The land was in the bes, order
MINK montgomery county presents me
best pota,oe field have ever seen. There
are thousands of acres of old field land of
the right quality and texture now lying idle
and which might easily be brought into cul
,vation by the use Of guano, 400 lbs. per
acre sowed in the drill. The first crop pay
ing twice the amount of the outlay, besides
the improvement. of the land. have often
heard objections made on account of the
heavy carriage, but when we take into con-
sidera,ion The convenience TO market, the
increased quantity we can produce over any