Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1862-09-12
AGRICULTURAL,
Potatoes Mixing in the NM.

Some errors have more lives than cat
Kill them thrice dead, and bury them, yet
they will not stay dead. The above notion
Is one of these Instances of persistent res
direction. We shall not stop now to dc
anything more than bit the thing y rap, and
then pass il by.
II would seem PLAIN TO every mind that
no plant can sink" through its branches
and roots. Set the elm-tree in the same
hole with beech, and let their roots and
branches grow and twine together for a
century, and will there be any mixing Of
the twoP Or lets red elm and white
elm grow side by side, or red and white
beech, and will either, in process OF time,
become streaked? no has not seen the
red and white pcony growing side by side
for many years without any mixing? And
the same may be said Of any plant which
is propagated by divisions Of the roots or
tubers. Now the potato is tuber, like the
peony. AS we plant il, it is not the seed,
but the tuber. And it will no more mix
through this root than the peony through
its. The only possible way Of mixing this
or any other plant is through the flower and
sseed.
When different varieties Of plant, (say
The peony, potato or what you wilI,) grow
side by side, and blossom at the same time,
the pollen Of one flower is often blown, or
carried by bees to other flowers, and thus
introduces cross fertilization. The stig-
ma Of one blossom is impregnated by the
pollen of another blossom then the seed
is matured and ripens. Now plant this
seed (not the root, remember, FOR that has
not been affected at all,) plant the seed, and
we shall be likely to get a new plant having
"a mixture of the two varieties. Thus, if
we sow the seed-balls Of our potatoes, we
SHAH doubtless get mixture of varieties,
but we may plant pieces of their roots to all
eternity, and there will be no mixture. In
deed these roots are not real roots, but only |
arrangements OF the branches.
But some persons reply, we don't care
zig for science; for we have facts to prove
that potatoes do mix in the hill. And here,
contemporary well observes: +" No theory,
however absurd, can be started, but some
are ready to furnish proof of its correctness
from actual observation. Had the Messiah
presented the question to the people of this
day, which he did to the Jews some 1900
years sgc,--'Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles some would
be ready to reply in the affirmative, and de-
clare that they had seen it DONE" So now,
men have facts TO prove that wheat changes
to chess the influence of the moons rays on
vegetation and perks and that potatoes mix
10 the hill.
Let, however, few other facts BE- noted,
which throw some light on our subject. A
parti-colored potato, if planted for few
years in sandy soil, becomes lighter, and ,
darker if grown in heavy clay soil. Plant
only the light colored parts of the mercer,
and the crop will be chiefly white. Plant
several sorts Of potatoes In the same field
for several years in succession, and the
finer varieties will be found mingled among
the coarser because the latter always pro-
duce more abundantly than the former, and
will get mixed with the others, by careless
hands. Sometimes lot Of one kind of po-
tatoes is left in the ground over Winter,
and next year we find them mixedawith |
others" mixed in the HILL indeed. Then,
in the haste of gathering and housing 1t is
not strange that one sort gets mixed with
another. And then in the Spring planting,
when the different kinds are cut up and
carried to the field, hired men will some |
times mix the kinds without knowing it.
In fact, it is almost impossible to prevent
this where small potatoes are used for plant
ing, because the kinds are then not easily
distinguished. Facts will always show that
potatoes do not mix in the hill, unless it is
done by the planter.-Americm Agricui-
tssIst.