The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-12
THE FARM AND THE GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO AGRI-
CULTURIST AND HOUSEWIFE.

Notes On Irish MISUNDERSTANDING
the seed and CuItiVntins the Crop.
Lettuce az Money crop to the
Gardener-How to Grow Fine
Peaches.
I take a little more pains with my Irish
potatoes than the average grower Of his
excellent garden vegetable. Where one Gull
uvotcs only a small area OF h. it is well
worth al the extra care given. for ordin-
arily the Weld can be increased two or
three-fold by the peinstaking grover.
This care begins with the selection Of
the seed and choosing Of variety; then
the seed is treated for the purpose Of
preventing scab and reducing the tendency
to rot. Then some regard is paid to cut
ling the seed SO that a bushel win give
not more than 100 cuts" but have
planted them when so cut that 4 bushel
Yields 200 cuts. This latter implies cut
ting TO single eye, in which case only
seven bushels OF potatoes were required
TO plant an acre. There are about 30
medum-size1 potatoes in a bushel, and
when quartered yield a thousand seed
cuts, and if planted in rows three feet
apart and twelve inches apart i'm the row
it would require fourteen bushels TO plant
an acre-a little over 1900 hills. Some
prefer to have rows only two and one.
half feet apart and give eighteen inches
distance in the row. For some Of the
early varieties having small tops. the
distance between the rows need not be
more than TWO feet and one-eye cuts
twelve inches in the row. This would
gave over 2300J hills to che acre Where
IL is desired to make the land produce
It's maximum and it is good land 10 starr
with and IS highly MANFRED, besides this
arrangement is doubtless the best for Sc
curing che greatest number OF bushels.
Ny preference usually is for three-foot
rows and sci fifteen to eighteen inches
apart, using nine to ten bushels OF seed
per acre.
Scab is now so common Il is almost i'm
perative 10 treat the potatoes with corro-
sive sublimate before planting. For sew
eral years We have. however used sui
phur with good results In preventing
scao. After the potatoes are cut every
piece is well rubbed with sulphur But
the mere generally used remedy and per
haps sne cheapest and most effective "a
corrosive sublimate." but one must be
careful in using It. There is no danger.
though, unless some Of it is swallowed
II there is any scab on the seed pota-
toes they should he treated If not the
crop VIII certainly be scabby. more or
less.
PREPARING the seed-A day Of two before
planning time procure two ounces Of Dul-
verified subimate and stir IL into two gal
Ions Of hot water until well dissolved ct
tnis stand until next day, when Il is add
ed to thirteen gallons Of water into a com
mon barrel SIR well and allow to stand
several hours. Put the pOta toes a bushel
az tine or less and let them soak nj
least one hour and a half The potatoes
should be perfectly clean when put into
the barrel If necessary they should be
washed free of all dirt before dining
After the first bushel is taken out another
bushel can be put in and so on until the
poisoned water is used up. The water
can be drained off through a bung in the
bottom of the barrel letting Ii run into n
barrel or tub and after emptying out the
"iatoes be returned to the first barrel
The potatoes can be put into crocus bags.
a half bushel or so TO the bag, and then
placed in the barrel. After the water
has dripped away the potatoes can be cut
and planted
Preparing Soil and Planting-The pota-
20 plat should be plowed and replowel
and rows laid off at two and one half or
three feet. The furrow is broken deeply
but the soil is not thrown out so as TO
leave a clean hard bottom. As the cuts
are dropped into the furrow the dropDar
presses them down into the loose soil firm
~ with his foot flirting sn inch of soil on
them at the same time Planting is never
done when the soil is wet-so wet that il
would bake hard where trodden upon. Tlle
soil Is loose and crumbly and pres ing 1t
compactly about the sets causes them 10
absorb moisture at once. consequently
hastens termination. This Is sufficient
T..
work Is pressing. About the time the
potatoes are coming up, say fifteen or
twenty days after planting. the middles
are well plowed out with a narrow shovel
The after cultivation is shallow. just deao
enough to kill young weeds and give an
inch OF soil for mulch.
As rule 1 plant two kinds Of potat
in the same plat--an early and a late kind.
The early kind natures two or three w eks
ahead of the other and is dug out Of the
way and a crop of corn or tomatoes IS
started in the rows the early potatoes oc-
cupied
In the home garden or small market gar
den ii is well wherever practicable 90 plant
two or three different kinds. that is II they
are all good kinds and differ as TO the time
of maturing There are early, medium, and
late potatoes and the following trio are
good representatives OF the three types:
Early Ohio. Goodrich, white Elephant.
The Triumph is an excellent kind for
Southern use.
1t is useless to discuss varieties here
however. Most of our gardeners take
anything that come handy. Whatever their
grocer may offer them usually. And yet
il depends greatly upon the variety used
whether there will be a big yield or not
Some kinds that do well at the North or
West do very poorly on our Southern
soils. Essace
Lettuce, Money Crop 10 the
Gardner.
Within certain limitations the market