Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1853-06-16
State Agricultural Chemist.
EXPERIMENT IN PLANTING AND GROW
ING POTATOES.
CoLEsyILLE, Montgomery Co.,
November l9, 1852.

| CoLEsyILLE, Montgomery Co.,
November Is, 1852
Dr.. James Higgins-Dcar sir: Ia COM
pliance with your request, and my promise,
| will now give you my experience in grow
ing potatoes. For the las. ten years have
paid grea, deal Of attention to the subject,
and have tried various experiments. And
as i. canno. possibly do harm, and may do
something towards the promotion of agl-
culture, ] leave you TO make what US of it
Tor may think advisable
As you have seen and expressed some
interest in the experiment which tried this
year, will first give you the result of it.
From piece ofland 25 yards long and
26 wide, dug and measured l53 l-2 bush
els perfectly sound, weighing 81 lbs. per
busheI-S,743 1-2 lbs.-being at the rate
Of $50 bushels and 80 pounds per acre,
statute measure.
In giving the mode of cultivation so that
it can be properly understood, it will be
necessary for me TO GO back two years.
The land has a northern exposure, and a
considerable inclination was in pine and
broom sedge, aud full of bare places and
gulleys. In the winter Of '49 and 80, the
pines were cut down and laid upon the
ground until the spring of Isl, when they
were burned of, and the land plowed with
three horse pow. 1t being very rough
and matted with pine and broom-sedge roots,
it was impossible to bring it into a proper
state of cultivation. In June, 81, planted
it in potatoes, laying them on the surface :;
spread broad cast about one hundred horse
cart loads of coarse barn-yard manure per
acre, and then covered the whole with straw
to The depth Of 9 or 10 inches. The crop
would have been very heavy had it no! been
for the mice destroying the vines, suppose
in finding food and harbor. The potatoes
were very large, knos.y and dark, | think
in consequence Of being too much exposed
to the atmosphere. 10 gathering them,
whenever we found any of them covered with
earth lhev were white uniform shape. In
May last rak ed all the old straw into ridges,
dug up The ssumps, and put on 600 lbs.
guano per acre broad cast, plowed in deep
and subsolled. On the 18Th of May plant
ed it again in potatoes, planting in every
rows for every thirty feet. planted them
one foot apar, in the drills, and covered
them about l2 inches deep then cover
ed the whole with the old straw. The seed
was very small. planted 20 bushels on
l-2 acres. Nothing was done to them
after planting, except pulling out few
weeds. have planted for several years at
every depth between 10 and IL inches end
have come to the conclusion that about 5
inches is best when planted in the ordinary
wsy, have suffered lille fr ON the 70.
this year in the low wet places, the potatoes
nearest the surface being rotten, while those
deeper were perfectly sound. Potatoes
should always be planted on land having
considerable inclination. They are very
fond of frequen. rains, but do not like the
water to remain too long with them, as it
subjects them to blight and very frequently
to rot.
In the spring of 1912 first began to turn
nv attention 10 the improvement, Of poor
land, and certainly had as fair field as
any one ever had, as the land had TO ope-
rale upon was as poor IS any 10 be found.
was always of the opinion that farmers
generally were in the habit Of spreading
their manure over too large surface, and
taking i, all off again in one or two crops.