Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1874-03-28
FIELD AND GARDEN.
Edited by VI. II. BATEE
,LANTNG AND DIGGING POTATOES.

El-AN AAE>N AM EO1AIorSs
At meeting of the Farmers Club at
| Columbus, Il few. weeks since. Col. ID. c.
Richmond of Erie Co. spoke of his sue
cess in growing potatoes the past season,
and of harvesting four hundred bushels
of Campbell's Late Rose variety off from
an acre of ground, and digging the same
in one day with Carriers Potato Dig
ging Machine.
| This machine is the invention of Mr..
Fl. Carrier of Mentor in this county. 1t
| was tested and found to work well on
several farms in Mentor and Kirkland
| townships of this county, and a few
! places elsewhere the past fall; and Col.
Richmond who is an experienced potato
grower was so we'll pleased with its
work that he at once bought the ma
chine, and he expresses the belief that
it is the best machine for the purpose
that has ever been invented. We learn
from Mr.. Carrier that he intends to have
quite number of the machines ready
for work and for sale the coming fall,
and he will be prepared to dig with it a
| large amount of potatoes for those who
wish to see its performance OH their
grounds.
PLANTING POTATOES IN ROWS.
Mr.. Carrier expresses to us the con-
viction that farmers who grow potatoes,
especially such varieties as the Late Rose
would find the labor of cultivating and
harvest ing less, and the yield greater,
by planting in rows instead of hills.
Mr.. Richmond's practice is, to plant in
rows 32 inches apart and the sets II to
IA inches apart in the rows. He harrows
the entire surface of the ground soon as
the plants appear, and cultivates close
to the rows several times afterwards be-
fore hilling with the plow- In this way
very little hand hoeing is needed, and
the work of digging especially with
Carriers machine is very much les
sened, while the yield is also increased.
This is the common mode of growing
potatoes in England in many parts of the
eastern States: but in Ohio and general
ly at the West, as far as we have seen
the hill method is the more commonor
one, especially with the peach blow va
riety because it is peculiar in the man
her of its growth, the roots and tubers
spreading to a greater width in the
ground than any other. The Late Rose
on the contrary grows very compacJly
in the ground although its tops are quite
tall or long, and on this latter account
we should think that 81 or 36 inches
would be better distance apart for the
rows than 30 inches, especially if the
ground is tolerably rich.
PLANTING osAGE ORANGE.
The seed of Usage Orange can be OBJ
tanned of any seedsmen. About two
thousand seeds are contained in pound.
Allowing that one-fourth of the seed
does not grow, you will need, say five
pounds of seed to produce your plants.
The seed should have scalding water
poured on it sufficient to cover. and be
allowed to soak two days. Then spread
them between folds of cloth and keep
damp and warm until some of them show
signs of sprouting. Sow in drills
eighteen inches apart, one inch deep,
and about half an inch apart in the row,
in well prepared bed, about the first of
May in this latitude, and keep clean.
In the fall, dig the plants with six 10
| eight inches of root, cut the tops about
three inches above the roots, tie in bum
dies, set them on end in shallow trench
es on dry soil and cover tops and bot
toms with earth. The succeeding
spring, transplant into the hedgerow
and keep free from Weeds ". Rurdl.
MANAGEMENT OF HoT-BEDs.
One OF the most serious mistakes of
| the beginner in managing hot-beds, is
that they keep up too much heat and
give too little air. This, if it do not
burn the plants outright, causes them
| to grow weak and spindling; and this
| is generally intensified by allowing the
| plants to crowd each other. All good
gardeners SOW the beds very thickly
| This is entirely proper for it insures a
good stand; but, before the plants crowd
each other in the least, they are careful
| to thin properly by pulling out super
fluous plants.
| The proper temperature of a hot-bed
should range between 80 deg. during
the day and 60 deg. at night, never al
| lowing the heat to fall below 80 deg.
In the morning, therefore, the glass
should be left on for tomatoes and other
tender plants until the heat rises to
about so deg, and then ventilation
should be given by fitting the sash. in
such direction that the wind will not
blow directly on the plants and that the
heat will be kept as near the maximum
as possible, until the proper time for
closing in the evening. If the weather
is cold and clustering, the outside venti-
lation need be opened but little or per-
haps none since strong wind viii
search every crevice.
The proper temperature for cabbage,
cauliflower, celery and other hardy
plants will range from 10 deg. at night
| to 20 deg. during the day. If these
| plants are under the same sash as more
| tender ones, they should occupy the
| lower part of the bed, and, in watering
the lower portion of the bed must be
sprinkled less than the upper part,
| since, beside the lesser quantity of heat
generated there, it also receives more or
less drip from the condensation of the
moisture of evaporation on the glass.
The radiation from the rays of the sun
striking against the back wall of the bed
also causes extreme heat and drouth in
that portion of the bed. For this reason,
in watering care must be taken to coun-
teract these effects.
/ Never let the soil get dry, nor become
so saturated that the water will soak to
any considerable degree into the manure
beneath. One point in preparing the
manure for the bottom heat, is to have it
so moist that Il permanent and uniform
heat will be generated; for it is the ac-
ton of air and moisture on the manure
that generates heat; consequently, the
more firmly the manure is tramped or
beaten, the slower will be the heat.
The manure should be uniformly moist
but not wet enough to drip, and, in wa
tering the plants in tie bed. always use
Il pot with fine rose, spreading the wa
ter carefully so that it will not run along
the soil. A little practice will enable
this to be done perfectly.
Do not water too often only when the
, soil shows signs of becoming too dry. 1t
is the vapor of water in the soil shat is
used by the roots, and the nearer in
temperature the water is to the air OF
: the bed the better. Never allow the
beds to be wetted with rain unless it be
thoroughly warm one. In the first
place you are apt to get too much, and
again the bed and plants are apt to be-
come chilled and checked in growth
thereby; but always use rain water for
watering if possible.
Before the plants are finally trans
planted to the open air, they must be
| 81,