Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-03-12

II -.
Ar. 7. N. Carr, Of lafayette, Indiana, relates
the Ohio ostiUaior an experiment in regard to tn
covering Of poiatoes at planting He was stopPini
with friend whom he found planting pctatoes' GOV
eEing lightly, say two or three inches deep, anf
advised deeper covering. His friend thought not
but allowed him to cover row his own way. he
picked ont the largest potatoes hs friend had 'nen
cut up quite ane) aad dropped a row, covering siz
or eight inches deep. This row did not come up as
soon as the rest but when the plants did come,
their superiority was manifest as far as you could
see tllenl and they kept ahead through the season
| and at digging time told the whole story,
yielding two or three times much as
any other row. And yet it would not in
all cases give the best results to thus deeply
Three or four inches in heavy SOILS four or Eve in
msdium soils, and five or six in those very Light
would probably do better, taking one season with
another, than deeper covering; and our own expe-
rience teaches u.s. that past doubt there are soils
and seasons, in which astil shaower covering pro-
duces better results than either. no rule can be
given adapted 70 the season, for we know not be-
forehsnd what it win be- The safest way is to COW
from three to six inches, according to the com
psctness of the sO and then take the season as it
comes. Deeply covered potatoes should be billed
at hoeing time less than those shallow covered, and
in neither case should they be hiiled more than
half as high as has been the common practice.
Above all things, do not hill but once unless you
prefer tat your crop should be very unequal in
size and mostly small.
Early potatoes are much sought after in our mar
kets, ami there are several methods of fastening
their maturity, some of which are thus stated by
the American AgriedIiTists:
A favorite method with the German market gar
deners is to bring the seed potatoes in barrels into
warm room, about the first Of March The eyes
start rapidly, and in about two three weeks they
are ready to plant Another method, which we have
practced for years. is to start the potatoes in
a gentle hot bed about the middle of March. Tho |
tubers are cut in halves, and laid fat aide down
upon the bed thick as they can be placed. They
are then covered with about two inches Of garden
mould, and the sashes are put over them. As soon
as they are up or three inches, they are ready
70 transplant. They should be removed carefully, /
the roots with little breaking pos
sble, and put in drills where they are to grow. As
they do not yield full crop under this treatment
they be planted closer than in common field eul
ture, say in drills thirty inches apart, putting the
bills twelve inches apart in the drill
A warm sandy loan sloping to the South or
Southeast, should be selected for this crop. 1t /
should be well manfred with horse dung, about
half of it applied in the drills. Some manure their
grounds for early potatoes in the fall, and that is
We think, good plan for that part of the manure
which is applied broadcast Fresh horse dung in
he drills raises the temperature Of the soil, and
iastens their growth
We viii add that we have succeeded well on a
mall scale, thus Two or three weeks before the
lime when it viii probably do to plant out, take
pieces of turf sod say four to five inches square,
md put piece of potato in each. These are set
closely together where they can be watered at need
md can be exposed to sunshine Whenever there is
cold night. or "cod snap" straw is put on to
,eep them from freezing They sBreut and all the
urf with roots. At the proper time the pieces are
et in the open ground, piece in hill, and the
rowth is hardly checked The turf itself also acts
g manure 20 aid the growth In this way two or
hree weeks may be gained