Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1859-05-13
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Cultivation Of the Potato.

lection Of the secd, the planting and after
culture Of this valuable crop. Many per.
sobs are surprised iha, the soil Of the United
States or Canada does no, produce 50 erca,
a crop OF potatoes, as that Of Great Britain.
Ireland. and other European countries.
There are several reason. for this defcicn.
cy.
The active or vegetable soil Of thi. coun-
try. /. leaf mould, the remains OF the ioli.
age or trcc. which has becn nccumulaiinc
tor ages. aud i rich in some ingredients and
deficient in Others i, seldom possesses
enough Of the s,licate' and phosphate. to
implr, srensth or wirincss 10 the stem or
straw, or visor and bulk 10 the bulb or
grain Of rOo, or cereal CROPS.
The potato rcjoiccs in a dry. rich soil.
The land in this country !. too we, and cold
at one season Of the year. and too dry and
no, At onother Draining will eQualil, the
temperature. and prevent the soil from bak-
iug into impcnetrabls clols during the heat
90 summer IL will enable the roots Of
plants 10 penetrate the earth m quest Of
food, and draw up by capillary attraction
thoss sllica,os and phosphaies which some
times lie far beneath the surface under the
weight Of shsnant water.
Without draining and deepening the soil,
a very large crop of potatoes cannot be rails.
Cd. With draining aud suhs'il plowing
acr1s, the drains. to the depth Of Is inches,
a proper, and timely preparation Of the soil,
aud the application of plenty OF well made
harm yard MANURE. COO bushcl. Of poa,oe.
can BE- RAISED on ono acre. This seems
lars, crop, bat It should BE- remembered
that in genera, the Land f,r = p,ilto crop
i, only hall titled and half manured. Onc
thing i certain, large crop cnnno, b,
raised without trying 10 do -.
Select dry Geld away from the shelter
OF tree. land plowei from the green sd. i,
generally considered b,s,. but would pre-.
Ter 10 have n in tillasc tor one or two sea-
sons, that tie sols may D. perfectly dec1m.
posed, and the soil consolilAtci, as II Is then
not - ap, to yield tops instead OF tubers.
Unle., the soil be plowei deep, a large crop
cannot be rai~cd. l, should be irenehcd, or
plowcd and snbsoilcd to the depth Of i in.
ches. The subsoil should no, be turned up.
but merely soitenen - that the water can
dow through it, and the roots penetrate in
search Of food.
II much Of the cold sub.oil be turned up
on the surface, 1, will iujare the crop. \
li,,ls Of it may be useful by aiding its in.
gredients To the vegetable mould. lra,ub-
soil plow i, no, available, common plow
with the mouliboari removed, following in
the wake Of the breaking pIow and stirring
IA sol to the depth OF i've or six inches,
will do good service.
There i, little use in trying this plan eN.
c,p, 10 some place where the ground has
been thoroughly drained Thi, work may
b. performed in the fall; in the spring tie
ground should be well plowcd, narrowed
aud well pulycriIei. and drills opened > Zee;
. inches. or ; feet asundcr. To ensure a
larrc crop. care should be taken 10 US, the
best barn-yard manure, produced by cattle
led on root. or other nutritious food. Large
potatoes either whole, or cut into three or
four parts. are the bcs; tha, can be used,
and care should be taken To get them into
the ground before they have sprouted. as
nothing cxhaus,s the the tubcrs 80 much as
sproaiing before planting.
some persons assert that small potatoes.
or small sets are as good as large ones. |
have always found the reverse to be the fact.
Large seed are certainly better than small.
The best crop have ever seen was raised
from large potatoes cut into s,ron; sets, 3
or I eyes on each. and the next best was
f-gm large potatoes planted whole. The
drill. in both cases were 3 feet apart. and
the seed II inches asunder in the drills; in
both cases the soil was ullei to tho depth
OF Is inches. and the manure usel was harm
yard Jung. the produce Of sall-Icd cattle (;
it was properly piled, interlined with swamp
muck. which ab-orbs the gases and liquid
manure: turned and mi'ed before i, was
usei. and saturated with liquid manure Lc-
fore i, was po, into the drill. When the
potatoes we're high enough above the sur'aee
70 denote the position Of the drill, tie drill
harrow or euliiyaior was used to hill all
young weeds and make the soil mellow and
iriable m preparation for moulding. The
last mentioned operation was performed
three times. aceordin. as the crop required
n. twice with the single, and once with the
double mould board plow. There was not
weed to be seen. One acre thus managed
will produce as much as Eve acres Of land
titled and manured in the ordinary way.
There y scarcely any use IN preparing The
soil carefully. or managing the manure heap
properly. IL good seed be not selected. None
but the very best Of the most approved vari-
cites should he used. Round iubers Of long
varieties, and long tubers Of round varieties
are oOi Of .haye, and deteriOrated and con-
sequsnily should be rejected. The seed
should bo true to its kind. The crown Of