The Charlotte Democrat

Potatoes for Seed.

The following are the ideas of an old farmer in Maine, on seed potatoes, as given in the Lewistown Journal: "We use too ripe sod when we propagate from tubers that have lain in the ground till dead ripe. Plants that are propagated by tubers require different treatment from those propagated by seeds. Our corn and grain that we use for seed we like to have stand a little longer than the main crop, and become perfectly matured. On the same principle our corn is selected, from the ripest, best developed kernels. But potatoes for seed should be dug and placed in a cool, dark cellar, just as soon as a majority of them will slightly crack open in boiling. This is most invariably while the tops are yet green and growing fast. The tubers are then in their most vigorous state. Disconnect them from the parent stalk at that time and they retain their vigor. Instead of deteriorating, as most all of us know the older sorts have, their vitality is increased, and they yield better, with less tendency to rot." As long ago as 1815, and subsequently, observations led him to make some experiments to test the theory, and he finds it the proper course to pursue.

It is not often said that the late planted potatoes are better for seed than those planted early. The lateness of their planting, presumably, prevents perfect ripening, hence the principle of the above reasoning would be in force.