POTATOES. 35 



stone. He spent four or five days clearing off the stone, and 

 piled them up in the corner of the field. It was after he had 

 sown his oats, but his crop was nearly twice as large on the 

 land within three or four rods of this heap as elsewhere, and 

 three years after, the clover was luxuriant there, when it had 

 died out on the rest of the field. This shows me that some 

 of our soils need to be packed. I have practiced rolling for a 

 great many years with great success. I make the ground soft 

 in the first place, and then roll it with a stone roller. 



Mr. Gould. I expressly stated that there were some soils 

 that required to be packed. 



Mr. Reade, Then it is all right, for we are agreed. 



Mr. Gold. Thomas' smoothing harrow has been recom- 

 mended for the culture of potatoes. We used it last spring 

 with excellent results. Just as the potatoes were coming up, 

 we harrowed the field all over, and it answered the purpose 

 perfectly — killed the weeds without injuring the potatoes. 



Mr. Gould. Thomas' harrow is a capital one, if the ob- 

 ject is not to pulverize the soil, but simply to destroy the 

 weeds, when they first start to grow, and to make a smooth, 

 even surface. No implement of husbandry has ever been in- 

 vented which is equal to it for laying down and smoothing the 

 surface in preparation for meadow. But the Nishwitz harrow 

 is by far the best implement ever made for pulverizing the soil. 

 Let any man who has a stiff soil go across it diagonally with 

 this harrow, and then go over it in the opposite direction, cut- 

 ting it into diamonds, and he will acknowledge, I think, that 

 it is the most admirable implement ever used by the farmer. 

 I have never heard a single dissenting voice. I have used it 

 myself; I have heard the testimony of many others, and I 

 have never heard any other opinion expressed. With regard 

 to the old harrow, I would ask if every gei)tleman does not 

 know that it is the invariable practice of road-makers, in or- 

 der to settle their roads down, to harrow them ? 



Mr. Reade. I never heard of it before this afternoon. 



A Voice. I can corroborate the statement of Mr. Gould 

 m regard to the Nishwitz harrow. • 



Mr. Low. So can I, too. 



