Litchfield enquirer., 1857-01-08
Potatoes in Tan.

lt . nine eers since first directed atten- uea to the planting of potatoes in old tan, a practice have ever since followed with the best results. My potatoes, grown under this method, have been witnessed by hundreds, both at public exhibitions and in a growing state at home. At the former they have always stood pre-eminent. Although must admit I am one of the most fortunate in escaping the dis ease, do not presume to say that it is entirely through growing them in old tan. This is, however, Q very great point in their favor, and it is entirely through using this that my pota. toes have always called forth such high com. ments when exhibited, being perfectly clear and free from scab. It is by selecting the earliest varieties, planting early in spring the middle. sized tubers in old tan-taken up and stored away with sprinklings of lime as soon as sufi
 clently ripe, that always manage to escape the disease that is have scarcely had any bad ones worthy of notice, and unless these points are strictly adhered to, we shall never successfully escape it. A great portion of the potatoes round this neighborhood were perfect ly ripe by the end of July or the beginning of August, and the haulm dried quite up; the crop at that time was perfectly sound ill fact, scarcely bad potatoe was to be found. Now, If these had then been taken up and stored sway, the crop would have been perfectly free from disease. The great point since the ap- pearance of the disease, is to have the potatoe crop sufficiently forward to escape the risk of vicissitudes of weather, and the damaging ef- fects of wet and cold at the stage of ripening sf the tubers and this cannot be attained by anything short of the method above recomnlcn- dsd. The potatoe crop has suffered more in parts of this district this season than has ever been known since the appearance of the disease. have been called to witness many acres of potatoes that have not paid for the labor of digging up, yet all these potatoes alluded to were quite free from disease up to the first or second week in August. trust that the folly
 of planting late potatoes, and carelessly leaving the early ones in the ground to grow second
 time, has been fully established this season, by
 the appearance again of the disease, which
 generally takes place after heavy rains about
 August, and by so many persons compalng Of
 their potatoes growing second time but if
 we are to escape the evil it must be through perseverance, and the following method :: Plant early varieties so soon after the second week in February as the ground will permit, previous ly dressing the land with lime place them from two to three feet apar5 from row to row, and use all the old tan you can procure and lastly dig up the tubers as soon as the skin is set hard and the haulm died down; store them
 away perfectly dry, dusting them over with sprinkngs of lime. Having the last two sea- sons grown a large collection of potatoes, se- lected with great care both in and out of tan for experiment, am able to state that some varieties are very liable to the disease on all
 kinds of soil, while others have never shown the least symptoms of the malady. This should be borne in mind by all potatoes planters
 Cor. Gardener's Chron;ele, Eng.