The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1854-04-27
THE PIONEER.
AGRIcULTURA RAJ.
Suggestion ON Potato Culture.

warm climate, and hence 1T Is injured bI
ecold chills. and sudden changes, just al
Tomatoes. Cucumbers. and Melons are
1t is, however, stranger. than they are.-
But it comes, moreover, from mountain
region, and so is halfhardy requiring les
heat than other tropical plants. For thi
reason, hot weather with frequent rains
Injuries it, and causes it to rust. just al
Wheat, Grapes and mahy other hardy
plants do. Potato Disease has nothing
peculiar in it except that it has not beer
much known until late years. In the
weather that causes it, and tho mode o
its manifestations, it is just like the disease
that Injuries as many as twenty other
plants, all of which are always diseased
more or less, with one or other Of the sort,
of weather which diseases the Potato.
Our Potatoes have been cultivated {
long time from the tuber, or if occasion
ally renewed from the seed ball, it has no
been wisely done. Hence, they have
grown weak. Rich culture, in the wrong
sort of soil, has increased the difficulty,
just as it has in the case of wheat rust.
Potatoes with overgrown vines are more
watery and have less woody fibre in their
structure than when they are grown in
poorer SOIL Hence, they feel bad wealth
er more severely. Such potatoes too are
like to grow too late in the fall. Apota-
to growing in cool. dark and damp wealth
er can no more be health than a Melon,
Bean or Cucumber can in the same wealth
ar.
9. Soil. This should be but moder-
etely rich. A sandy soil heat and cools
too readily. A stiff clay soil is too
close. A loan soil is best. A new soil
with much woody matter in it is good.--
For this reason, stiff greensward and
well drained swamps furnish good soil for
potatoes. Be content with a moderate
crop. .-
5. ExrosITIoN.-High HIS. and even
mountains are favorable places for the
cultivation Of Potatoes. Level ground,
or slopes to the east or south. On the
east slope they heat up too rapidly after a
cold night, while on south slope they
heat too much at noon We err in plant
ting Potatoes in the same soil and position
with Corn, Tomatoes, Melons, DC, unless
constrained by the want of one that is
cooler. In the southern States they have
learned to put the Potato in their coolest
4. CULrURE.-(D Do not cut your
seed small, nor plant very small seed
The reason is plain. Such seed gives a
feeble plant, which grows too slowly for
the first few weeks, and SO does not bear
the succeeding hot weather, nor tuber as
carly as it ought. 1t is true that where
your variety of Potatoes ripens quite ear
ly, the cutting Of seed very small will give
a much larger crop for its weight than i'll
the use of larger seed, but it is not, in the
end, as well for the health of the CROP
(2.) Plow and plant deep, except you
are obliged to use a heavy or wet SOIL
Thus the roots are cooler in hot weather,
and chill less in sudden changes. They
also stand drouth better. e.. Cultivate
level. A high Hill heats and cools worse
than a level one. (4) Plant wide, usu
ally as wide as 3, and often more
Thus every bill has its share of light and
air. The rule should be to have your
ground covered when the vines get their
full growth. (5.) Plant early. Then
the vines make a slower and more hardy
growth, having less spongy and more
woody matter in them. They will
thus stand bad weather better than when
rapidly grown. (6.) Use early sorts
Then the tubers get ripe before the bark,
damp and cool weather, which is always
felt in the parallel Of Boston and Caicago
Ind often early in September The wealth
er that produces early chills and disease,
has almost always come in the first of Ju-
ly. Potatoes of tolerable constitution
with having been cultivated as above di-
rected, usually escape in this chill. (7.)
If however, you wish to cultivate for ear
ly market or fall feeding. you may force
your Potatoes in rich soil, and reap a
heavy crop. but do not use such for seed.
Indeed, Potatoes with a vigorous consti-
tuition may be cultivated without imme
diate harm. in rich soil, but the tendency
will always be to weaken their constitu-
ton. e. Potatoes should be frequently
renewed from the seed ball. No crop
which we cultivate, suffers as much in the
the mode of culture, storing, &C., as this
This injury accumulates from year to year
in such climate as ours. In Chill, CAL
ifornia and Oregon, where the climate is
cooler and steadier, this much less, moi
only to the Potato but to all other vegeta.
bles. Very few persons however have the
knowledge of the best modes of cultiva
ting seedlings, or have the patience to ap-
ythem. Hence, they usually fail. Equal
ly do most importations from S. Americs
fail. OF twelve sorts imported hv mo