22 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



perphosphate — Bradley's XL. In the remaining two I put 

 ashes in the hills, as in the first four rows. 



When the potatoes came up I could not see any apparent 

 difference in them. There came a little rain soon after they 

 were planted, and they came up, and seemed to flourish finely. 

 I hoed them twice. They were kept quite free from weeds, 

 because the dry weather seemed to prevent their growing very 

 fast. When I came to harvest the potatoes I did not weigh 

 them, as I should, perhaps, if I had known that I was making 

 an exact experiment to be reported, but I measured them as 

 carefully as I could, and noted the difference between them. 

 I should have said that the seed was from quite large-sized 

 potatoes, cut into pieces with two eyes, and two pieces put 

 into a hill. 



The first two rows yielded two bushels and one peck of very 

 nice potatoes. That was where the ashes were put. The 

 rows were about five rods long, and the piece about three rods 

 wide. Tlie next two rows yielded two and one-half bushels. 

 That made, say four and three-fourths bushels from the four 

 rows, or a little over a bushel to a row. The next two rows 

 (where I put the hen manure) only gave me about a Ixishel 

 and a half; whereas, on the two right before them, with no 

 perceptible difference in the hills, I had two and a half bushels. 

 The next two rows (where I used the compost) yielded a 

 bushel and three-quarters — a little more than where the hen 

 manure was. 



Mb. Low. — About what proportion of salt in the mixture ? 



Mr. Lyman. — About half a bushel of salt was put in when 

 the lime was slacked. 



Mr. Low. — One-third of the mixture? 



Mr. Lyman. — No, sir, not over a tenth or a fifteenth. I did 

 not make the mixture for the potatoes, but for other purposes. 

 T should never use it for such a purpose, because potatoes do 

 not need lime. I used it because I happened to have it, to see 

 what the effect would be. 



From the four rows where I used the phosphate I got just 

 two bushels from each of the two rows, as near as I could de- 

 ermine without weighing, making four bushels — three pecks 



