CULTIVATION OF POTATOES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume I, Issue 15, 10 November 1852, Page 4

CULTIVATION OF POTATOES.

We are indebted to tbe " New Zealander" for the following article on the cultivation of the above important staple of our daily food, "Each successive arrival from Australia only adds to the impressions previously formed that for the present the trade of gold digging baa superseded if not cutliely destroyed every other source of Australian industry. Every succeeding dsy, therefore, only the more clearly proves that to tbe industry and energy of tho New Zealand farmers tbo vait and accumulating masses of Australian

population must trust for food. There will not, we incline to think, be a more extensive demand for any article of food than for potatoes. To insure a steady continuance or that demand it will be of the bst conscquenoe that the potato shall be uf sound and excellent quality. Our growers should bear In mind that they will have to compete wiiu the flue potatoes of Van Diemen'a Land, and with tho disadvantage of a muoh longer passage to teat tbeir keeping qualities. Wo should, therefore, strive to produce an article which shall not only be able to encounter tho risks of the voyage, but to establish the reputation ol the New Zealand potato upon an rqaal if not a superior sttudard to that of Van Diemen's Land. To accomplish so desirable a purpose we can discover no means so likely is by producing a fre*h and vigorous body of sets, by raising them from the seed. Even In the finest potato districts of Van Diemen's Land, the root has been gradually deteriorating. It has beeu found to be diseased at the heart, and the flavour, quality, and power of keeping greatly impaired. " It is a principle, says an American writer, that plants which are usually propagated from tbe bulb, root, or tuber, loose alter a lima their procrestlvo or vivifying power, »nd It is necessary to resort to the original element for setd. We aro happy to have it in our power to transcribe for the benefit of our potato growers, the plain mid simple instructions for raising potatoes from seed. We urge them, as they value thoir own best intercsta, 10 profit by these instiuotlona, inasmuch as by raisin? the potato from its ssed they will not only be likely to obtsln several varieties, but, wbal would be of Infinitely greater importance, thsy may succeed in introducing a potato far better adapted to the climate of this country than those produced by the sets from which thoy havo so long been accustomed to propagate. The following are the opinions of a celebrated American writer on the subject,— " Without inquiiing whether the rot which has so extensively prevailed in the potato is owing to the fact that it is cultivated from tho tuber, and not from tho seod, it is true that certain varieties of the potato do resist the disease more than others. It is desirable to ascertain whether new varieties raised from the seed oro less liable to be attacked by the diseaso than theold.andexpctimcnta should bo extensively tried, nnd tbe results carefully noted. It becomes therefore desirable to know tbe best mode of propagating the potato from the seed. For this purpose, select good, fair sized ripe potato balls (or apples) from the best varieties of potatoes cut the ball open, and wash the pulp containing tho ssed iv water, until the seeds arc entirely separated from the pulp and are perfectly clean, then slum them out of the water and dry them ; examined with a mlcroncope they have tho appearance of seeds of the summer squash. The seeds shou d be started in a hot-bed, ao that the plants nil bo about three Inches high when the weather is si> warm that there is no danger Ji° ra *«>»*• They should then be carefully transplanted into worm, rich, aud mellow cartb, and set in drills 3 feet apart, and 10 inches from cacb oth er '» tho drills. The vines of the potatoes thus set by me in 1850 grew strong and thrifty, 3 feet in height, blossomed, and bore balls, from which I hvve n>w tbe seeds. Mvny of the potatoes attained a fair s zo, weighing In many instances six ounces each, and were good edible potatoes. In one sesson I have thus obtained above 100 varieties. For two successive years tbe potatoes raised from tbo seed have been in no wise affecteJ bj the rot, and if there was not a potato in America I should not despair of having a tolerable supply of edible potatoes the fiist year from the seed. The common impression Mint three years are necessary to propagate potatoes from tho seed Is erroneous ; and I impute the rapid growth and largo size in the instance referred to, to the perfect mode of saving the seed, and to high and judicious ooltivatlon."

Wood ashes, in addition to a rich mould, are excoedingly valuable fertilizers of a potato crop. We have thus furnished our readers with a knowledge of tho means of improving their potato crops, by which we trust, at tbe lime the apples are formed on the graving potato, they will not fail to profit. It is only by incessant industry and untiring perscveranco that nations can hope to be great and picpe'ous.