Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1860-05-04
Cultivation Of the Potato.

| could hear Of new Kind OF potato, lc'
the distance be what IL night, the expense
Of carriage was no obstacle in the way oI
procuring IL. During ny potato mania.
procured la3 ,atie,ie,-wha, did say, "a.
ris,ies' Alas varieties OF names-some
o. the sorts having 10 fewer than six diGsr'
sni ones. For several years ras, | have
urs,l your readers 10 adopt the principles
laid down BY me Tor potato cultivation, bat
in many instances am afraid ny pcrsuA.
sion. have been Ia vain. Allow me thsrrfor'
to recsriiulaie briefly the mos, essential
points on which success almost entirely De-
pend'.
cHofcr or eHorND.
The bs.t .oi'. Tor the potato are light, dry,
and iriahls loans In general, new or r.
Gently broksn.up land will produce better
potatoes than worked ground. Uplanis and
the lighter kinds Of sol, are better than
rich. strong ground. Sandy land produce.
,Sab. which vill prevent the potato from re-
AliIine high marhs, price, beside, in dry
.sason,. the tubers are frequently very small
while strong. tenacious soils, IL constantly
10 . state Of moisture, produce immasurG
tuber.. which are soddsn. Way. and OF bae
qunlit, but in ground which to all aprear-
ancc i. Loose and sandy, II there i' humidity
enough. pOta,oe. will thrive and be OF oI-
eellen, quality.
rEEFAEs.IoN or ruE GROUND.
All .oil. intended 70 Be planted with po-
iaios. .hoald he 20, up IN as rough state
a. possibl, by tbs end Of November. in or.
der ,hA, il may receive the ben,s, oi frosty
weather. The ridges should no; Be nearer
than from . Zee, 6 inches to feet apart.
This should depend entirely on ths nature
Of the ground and the vari,,ie, intended to
Be- planted some sorts produce double a'
nueh haulm A. others. Potatoes sheuld al,
ways Be planted at such distances as tia;
they may r.c-iye foil benefit Of sun and AR
Mauurc ssosli Away, Be applied in autumn
iu thoroughly decomposod .;ate-fresb
green manure {, certainly detrimental to the
plant, aud encourages disease.
sEucTIoV or TrBEEs IoR sEED.
Unless your land varies in quality, ii is
Away. much better 10 exchange or purchase
the seed Tor planting. II you would escape
di.ea.s. never plan, the variety on the same
land two years IN SUCCESSION. l prefer a
change Of sorts and seed every season.
would here remark THE Is one Of the points.
Necessary in order 10 avoid disease whole
sets are decidedly the best, aud although
they may cost tribe more Ter acre, yet a
greater crop IS obtained from them, and
they have far more power 10 resist misehiey-
Gus influences and % escape disease.
Middle-,ilcd sets should in all cases tc
preferred. Grecn tubsr-. a. t.sy are term
81. ar, those which are full Of vesc;aiiyc
sap such as have never rirgocl TO drynes'
arr decidedly ths best. and are found 10 in-
herii ,igJr and health the best way 20 pro-
cure them j. TO dis uP part Of q crop before
/, sufficiently ripe, and sIpos, toe produce
g. sun and air There IS another advantage
Ia procuring seed from land OF different
quality fron that you intend TO plant, BE-
,ils the one alluped TO above 4; l have always
found nv crop "a; least Ons.ihirl heavier
whom planted with fresh sorts AMI .ecd than
when planted with my own s,le,,ci seed
from the sane quality oi land
have remarked more than once, even
when the tubsrs have been particularly
snail. that Of those not Of home growth the
produce was much larger than that OF full
.itsd sesd sets that have been selec;l FROM
the sane KIND 90 ground. In fact. the lars.
ss; crop Of Po,a'oe, ever saw was from
sets (mA,y Of them not larger than Cob
mutt Of the Iapstons kidney these were
bsough, 10 Worcester BY ny late employer,
Sir Omy wakeman, Bart. from Searb1ro'
This convinced m az once that twas requi-
ste 70 change the .s j and kinds more ire-
queutly than bad hitherto done, rrae-
ties that cannot Be to- highly recommended,
rmr AID NrTHoD % PLANTING.
The be-, time Tor planting is as early IN
spring a. the weather and state Oi,hs ground
will admit. prefer the la, week IN Feb,
for potatoes under low temTs-aiurs With
out covering of mould Begin to sermina,e
spontaneously in March and April, which
clearly indicates that i,i. time they were in
,he ground. ! Away. think @, detrimental
70 tle crop II ii j. kept ou, or the ground
later than the second week in March.
Age tpoin, since the appearance Of the
disease. Is huul Co be having the potato
crop sufficiently forward to escape the rex
Ofti,;.situds, VI the weather at the stag,
OF iormirs il. ,ubers. and the damaging ei'
fc,ts q We, arl cold a,ripsnius time. This
cAnno. % attained by any eIPcdient short
OF tie earlies, planting vet situation, eli'
mate, soil. and the variety, are powerfully
controlling circumstances, and may renteI
later planting necessary.
have found. from eleven years expert
sDce. thci il i. the best mode to plant po,a'
toe. in old tan. with a portion Of lime
which no, only improves the quality Of ih'