The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1899-09-30
FARM NOTES.
From Agricultural Epitomist.

We do not like house cellar for storage
of the potato crop. 1t Is true that II we
are building house, the entrance to the
cellar can be 50 constructed that a man can
carry a basket Of potatoes in or ont without
difficulty, but he cannot DO 1t in the or'ii-
nary cellar. Many cellars are too damp
for this purpose, and many are so arranged
that dairy products and stored vegetables
are together, which is very injurious TO
milk. cream or butter, and above all there
are gases that may escape from vegetables
in the cellar and permeate the whole
house. Every farm ought to have barn
basement or a vegetable house Tor such
purposes: and it should be 50 arranged as
to make it unnecessary to carry potatoes
in a basket. That means work and ex-
pense. Ripe potatoes can be put into
basement or root house without injury, by
the use of a shoot extending from the
wagon to window, with shorter shoot
from the window to the floor or pile.
These are labor saving devices, and such
things lessen the cost Of handling. Il i
better. when possible, to have the wagon
directly beside the heap Of potatoes, and
that too can be arranged, in building a
new structure. Perhaps Ii can and per
haps it cannot with an old structure.
Business farming involves the saving of
every step and exertion possible.
If the potatoes are fully ripe, or over
ripe, if we may use the expression, when
they are dug and stored they win not shrink
much for 90 days But if dug and stored
Just when they are ripened they will shrink
at once. One of our farmer friends stored
400 bushels that were dug just as soon as
it was safe TO dig them. They we're not
fully ripe. At about the beginning Of
winter they had shrunk % bushels.
Many farmers owning both bottom and
upland corn fields make the mistake Of
using the same seed on both kinds Of soils.
Corn, which Is adapted to the sell and
moister conditions Of the valleys, viii moi
do as well on the upland as viii some
variety that has by several years OF cult
walton and selection become adapted 10
the conditions there. Ii is for the same
reason that the large Colorado potatoes
that have been grown for years under ir-
rigation, viii do 50 poorly when used for
seed in Kansas without the accustomed
supply of water.
It IL generally the case on the farm that
the corn from al the fields, beth upland
and bottom, Is cribbed together. When
the time for seed selection comes the
largest ears are picked out irrespective Of
the kind Of soil that grew them. AZ the
bottom land produces the larger ears It Is
more than likely that the bulk Of the seed
will be from the lower and moister per
tons of the farm This is the proper
seed for the Iow land, hut ii Is not so vel
adapted to the drier aud the poorer upland
as is seed that has been raised there. 1t
is advisable to select the seed either before
or at at husking time, when not only the
quality of the ground but the character Of
the individual stalk and ear can be taken
into consideration.
s small box, attached to the side Of
the wagon bed, into which the desirable
ears can be thrown is the mos. practical
device that can be recommended BY a
little judieious selection for a series Of years,
a strain can be established on the upland
portion of any farm which viii be well
adapted TO that and other soils similar in
location and composition. An eight inch
ear from the upland will ordinarily prove
better for planting on the upland than will
a 12-inch ear from draw in the lower
portions of the farm.