Brenham weekly banner. [volume] (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, 1890-06-19
FARM AND HOME.
HOW THE IRISH PLANT PorAToI

When the present writer was 6
boy his father hired an Irishmar
fresh from the old country to work
on the farm. He knew nothing o.
our system of agriculture, but was
bright, anxious to learn, and when
the field was furrowed for planting
potatoes, and he learnt that the
plants were to occupy the burrows
he wanted to know what was to be
planted between the rows. II
seemed to him like g great waste
of ground, and wanted to plant q
patch Us they did In the old coun.
try. Permission was given and be
selected half acre of rather moist,
nearly level ground, free from
stones, the loan of the surface be-
ing we'll mixed with sand that had
gradually washed down from
higher ground, and the subso1l was
a white sand. Patrick was gong
at it with his shape, but was con-
WINGED that much of the work
could be done with plow and ac-
cepted the change. A coating OF
manure was spread on and the
ground was plowed into bods about
FIVE feet wide. Then the ditches
between them were cleaned out,
and the beds finished and smoothed
with the shovel, leaving the top
abont foot above the bottom OF
the bitches. The potatoes were
cut as is usually the case for plant
ing, and to plant them the spade
or shovel was stuck into the sur
face of the bed in a slantlng posi-
ton and lifted up until a piece of
potato could be dropped IL behind
1t then the spade was withdrawn
and the spot smoothed over. They
were planted in this way six or
eight inches apart all over the beds.
After the plants were few inches
high another coating of manure
was spread among them and COW
cred with soil taken from bottom
of the bitches. This addition of
soil was repeated several times
during the season, each operation
having some distinct name which
is of no Importance to the result.
At harvest time the tops were all
taken off and the beds dissected
with a sixtined fork, and it seemed
as if half the bulk of the bed to the
depth of foot was potatoes. No
measurement was made. but the
crop was immense, to say the least,
and the potato large, sound and
smooth.
1t seems almost incredible that
potatoes would grow so, planted
so much nearer than In our common
cultivation, but the explanation is
probable IN the fact that the soil
was enriched and pulverized to
great depth and exposed to the air
from the bitches, so that the whole
was in the condition of surface
soil. The system of increasing
the depth and aeration of the soil
was in effect adding to the surface,
giving the roots chance to extend |
down instead of sideways. This
was quite an item IN the old coun-
try whore rent was more expen-
slve than labor, and with the pre-
sent condition of the potato busi-
ness in this country on account of
the beetles and the area of proper
soil in some sections, it may be
worth trying here.
Another plan of raising potatoes,
which the some man tried in the
garden, was planting IN drills. A
trench was made like an ordinary
furrow, and the sets planted IN 1t
about six inches apart, the soil be-
tween the trenches not being dis
turbed until later. After the
plants were six inches high the
spade pas put into the soil with its
back to the plants, and not more
than three or four inches from
them, and the spadeful of soil taken
up and turned over and replaced so
that the portion which had been
exposed to the elements came next
to the roots. This was done on
both sides of the rows. The work
man was questioned about cutting
off the roots, but he seemed to have
no fear of damage in that direction.
Later in the season another strip of
soil was turned over with the spade,
and during the growing season it
was all loosed in that way. The
result was not satisfactory as in the
other case, but a hint may be taken
for some peculiar conditions where
the soil is not dry enough to work
properly at planting time and can
be turned with horse pillow after
the plants are up. The manure in
the latter case was applied IN the
trench, VIII oh may be the reason
why the roots did not extend so as
to be injured by the close cutting
of the spaee.-Weekly Union.
1t is not common for husband
and wife to be ordered together to