Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1865-12-01

AeRTcULTuRAL.
n sTo1rs y. ANrED UNDER STRAW BOTH
~ .uTu,rw AEDsPRINe-cRoP DOUBLED.


P6TEroFs PLANTED UNDER STRAW BOTH
AUTUMN AND SPRING CROP DOUBLED.
4 La letter containing many good hints
for Us and our readers, Mr.. lador Pa
uuet. Of Madison county. H., makes some
very Interesting statements about his
method Of raising potatoes, which we
transIate from the French, in which our
correspondent writes most conveniently
ssI have devoted myself he goes on to
saw. .sto the culture of potatoes for the
mast ten years, and forthe past three years
have grown them only under straw, and
with great success Vein the West have
a great deal of straw which we have been
accustomed TO burn, and have found this
means Of using it pr0htable. L plant
part of my potatoes late in the autumn,
In November If possible, and the resi- IN
spring When l thresh my wheat, DO
not stack the straw, for the moister 1t IS
the better, even if deeayed. and draw 1t
near the place where j shall plant pota-
toes Those planted In autumn and those
planted in spring are side by side, sepa-
rated sufficiently to allow a wagon to pass
between. / never burn straw. When,
plant in autumn, have only to draw the
old straw to one side if is Is too rotten,
pillow it in, as 1t Is good manure Mhen
there is not sufficient old straw, 1 add
new. In autumn cover potatoes to
inches deep, never less than2, and place
over them two feet of straw, we'll trodden
down; then some sticks are put here and
there upon the straw to keep high winds
from blowing it away.
Planting In spring, ] cover the potatoes
about an inch, and put on one m foot OF
straw I as is done by Mr.. H. Holbrook,
whose report was given in the Agricultur-
ist for January, 1855. / choose for my po-
tatoes a field with gentle inclination, so
that they will not rot, and a southern ex
posure. if possible, for those planted In
autumn. plant in beds only ) or 4 yards
Wide the beds separated sufficiently to al
low a cart to pass between them This ls
in order not to be obliged to pass over
them with teams, as that is very injurious
to potatoes planted under straw. | pull
verize the earth thoroughly, and then
ploW furroWs as close as i can and not
have them interfere. | drop potatoes
about. Is inches apart and cover with the
hoe. IT is not well to delay putting on
the straw; rain may come up and harden
the soil, and the lighter this is kept the
better for the potatoes In autumn we
only lift the straw with fork and NIL the
seq What are the advantages of this meth
cd 2 Quantity and quality vary with me
as well as with those who follow the old
method, but to say [ get about as much
again as BY the old plan Is not an exagger-
alton In times of drouth one is certain
to have crop. if he has not been too
sparing Of the straw. Last year almost
all myneighbors who did not plant under
straw hadenQ Ip0tat0es en- account of the
drOuth, while upon about half an acre Ga
part of which were planted In November,
1854 and the others in the-SprinR of 1864
I harvested so bushels Of the finest pota-
toes, not counting those which had been
] used for the table, from the middle Of
june uhti autumn. Those of this year
(l865) are doing well, notwithstanding the
rain. In fall planting there are two caUs-
es of failure; under an insumciency of
straw the potatoes will freeze, and they
will rot if planted in low ground. Last
fall made an experiment, using one foot
FgOf. straw at one end of my field. The po-
: ltatoes were almost all frozen, while those
escaped which were ceyered with two feet
of straw. The preceding autumn l used
only foot of straw and the potatoes were
not frozen, but the straw was fine, having
been used before and the abundant snow,
tept,the cold fronspe etratihg. There is
no risk in using 2 feet of straw well trOd-
den down (old straw is preferable.) Make
Q good furrOw on each side of the field to
carry off the water, and connect the fur
rows across at the upper part of the field.
There is no danger if the earth is dry
when you plant, and not too much trOd-
! depN They are more ifhcnlt to dig than
8 those planted in the spring. but there are
more of them. --A gqfcuLtNrtst.