POTATOES. 29 



potato. We generally preferred a sod. We commenced 

 plowing the latter part of March, with sharp shares, not very 

 deep, and when we wished to plant we plowed again thor- 

 oughly, and, very frequently a third time, until the ground 

 was in perfect order, and then we furrowed it a little over two 

 feet apart, put the potato the depth of the seed in the ground, 

 and covered it sufficiently so that the earth would not wash 

 away, and no more. As soon as we could see the rows the 

 plow was started. I have very frequently raised crops of po- 

 tatoes without taking a hoe into the field. Managed in this 

 way, my crop for twenty-five or twenty-six years was from 300 

 to 360 bushels to the acre. 



Dr. Baldwin. — Plave you any opinion as to which end of 

 the potato is the best for seed ? 



Mb. Gould. The seed end, undoubtedly. 



Dr. Baldwin. — Why do you say "undoubtedly?" Is that 

 proved by experiment? 



Mr. Gould. — Yes, sir, again and again. 



Mr, Day, of Brooklyn. — Thirty or forty years ago we farm- 

 ers raised very much larger crops of potatoes than we can 

 now, upon ground that was not cultivated any better than our 

 lands are to day. In 1844 the potato rot first began to make 

 its ravages felt in Connecticut, when, in consequence of the 

 high price, the farmers were induced to cut their potatoes, to 

 make a smaller quantity of seed answer their purpose. I want 

 to ask if the falling off in the yield of our potatoes is to be 

 attributed to the fact that we have planted small pieces, or 

 whether some other cause has tended to produce these small 

 crops. 



Mr. Low. — My father always planted large potatoes, but his 

 potatoes rotted notwithstanding; so I do not think that the 

 rot originated in cutting the seed. 



Mr. Gould. — I did not think of saying any thing on this 

 matter. I want to make a remark or two upon the paper 

 which was read by the gentleman who first addressed us. 

 While I should go with him in most of his statements, I think 

 they were not sufficiently guarded ; that they require enlarge- 

 ment and amplification before they can be taken as sufficient 



