Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-03-25


Mr.. Jonathan Talcotf, of Rome, N. Y,
communicates to the Rural NeV Yorker
his experience with potatoes as follows:
Some time since / gave the experience
Of the past year with the Early Rose DO
tato as field crop, which has been the
potato mostly used in my family so far
since September last for the table, and we
find it the best potato we have used for
the past two years. thinking them fully
equal 10 the Peach Blow in quality, and
more easily raised than that variety, and
more hardy, with less liability to rot.
| ] also raised the Shakers Fancy; but
they have rotted so badly with me the
past year that | have discarded them
altogether The jackson White has been
my fayorite for an early potato for the
past ten years, and holds its own re-
markably well, but win now have TO give
place to the Early Rose. The Early
Goodrich did much better the season past
than in 1868; that year it was almost an
entire failure; very light in yield and very
poor in quality--it is now as good as the
Early Rose for the table. / also planted
one-haf pound of the Early Prince, sent
me by Mr. Edward Wood of Geneva.
They were not planted as soon as the
Early Rose, so cannnt compare them
fairly as to the time of ripening. We
have tested them two or three times;
think them fully equal to the Early Rose
In quality, but they showed rather more
rot at harvest time than the Rose.
Mr.. Levi Bartlett Warner, N. H., sent |
me four pound packageof the Excelsior, |
which, for few trials for the table, we
pronounce the best CT anypotato we raised |
the past year. They are not as early as |
those mentioned above, but earlier than |
the Peach Blow, and more compact in the |
hill, and Inotice that at the annual meet |
ing of the State Agricultural Society of |
New Hampshire, the past winter, the Ex-
celsior won the first premium as the best |
table potato. That is high praise, and I |
most sincerely hope that it will not disap- /
point growers in the future in its good /
qualities; and if the Early Rose and Ex- /
celsior should prove in future what their
praises have been in the past, we shall
have at least gained something in that
branch of farming.
The Harrison, that has received so much |
praise, was also cultivated on q small
scale; il will yield well, but is utterly /
worthless for the table. have tried near
iy all the Goodrich seedlings that were
thought good enough to be disseminated
but not one of them was ever first-class
potato for the table, and no one of them
ever attained the popularity with the pub
lie that the Garnet Chill has; nor has there
ever one of them equaled the old standard |
sorts in New York markets for price, be-
cause of their inferior table quality, so
that we are forced to give them up, even |
against our best wishes for them; for few
farmers wish to raise potatoes, however
well they may yield, unless their table
quality is good enough to insure for them
a ready sale in the market which is not
the case with the seedlings mentioned.
The Vanderveer's Seeding see moth
ing in which was not already obtained in
the Prince Albert, if indeed it is not that
old VARIETY Planted side by side, | can
see no difference. Ihave also given it to
others to test, and their uniform testimony
is, they can tell no difference in growth,
yield or quality.
Bresee's Prolific promises well, both in
hardness and yield; have not tested its
quality enough to decide correctly its
merits in that particular; if it fails in
that, it can never become favorite with
the public. The Prince Albert Garnet
Chill, Peach Blow, Dykeman and Mercer
have been so long before the public that
they need no description of their merits or
failures, as they are too well known TO
be lightly esteemed.
There are numerous new sorts that are
to be much better than any
we now have-some of which l have
ordered for testing the coming season on
my grounds, keeping in mind the advice
given by the Rural the past year, to-
wit To invest no more in new things adj
vertised than can be given away or lost,
as many of them are worthless, or of no
more value than older and tried sorts
already on hand; but, having passion
for testing new sorts and then giving my
experience with them, that others can
notes if they wish, induces me
TO still continue the experiments for
pleasure, or profit and loss, as the case
may be, whether they prove valuable or
worthless under my cultivation.