I 



POTATOES. 127 



concurrent testimony of almost every individual who lias tried 

 tliem, is, that they are not only the earliest potato which can 

 be relied upon, but that they are the best table potato that 

 can be obtained ; and yet there are parts of this country — 

 very few, to be sure — where the Early Rose is not worth cul- 

 tivating. In relation to the Peerless potato, I may say, that 

 in the state of New York, there is no potato which on the 

 whole has done as well as that has. The yield of that potato 

 is superior this year to what it has been in any preceding 

 year, and the abundance of its product has been exceedingly 

 remarkable to every one. I think the same thing has oc- 

 curred in some of the neighboring states. I do not know how 

 it is in Connecticut, but I have been told that in New Hamp- 

 shire their experience has been most decidedly in accordance 

 with our experience in New York, in regard to the Peerless 

 potato, not only with reference to the abundance of product, 

 but to the excellence of its quality, which is decidedly superior 

 to what it has been in any preceding year. 



I mention these facts, not only, in compliment to the farm- 

 ers of Coimecticut for the very modest way in which they 

 have confined themselves to a statement of their experi- 

 ence, but also as a caution to every one who may be inclined 

 to speak in high terms of a potato, with reference to its gen- 

 eral excellence, to avoid doing so, lest they lead their brother 

 farmers into very grave and serious mistakes. My own expe- 

 rience leads me to say, that every man should try on his own 

 soil four or five hills of potatoes, and judge of their adapta- 

 bility to his own farm, before he goes into any variety very 

 extensively. I think, if gentlemen will follow this rule, they 

 will avoid a great many mistakes, and the expenditure of a 

 great deal of money, which would be utterly thrown away. 



Mr. Gold. Is it not more reasonable to suppose that there 

 was a mistake in the seed of the Monitors shipped to Bermuda 

 than that a white potato was changed to a red one ? 



Question. I will ask Mr. Acland how he raised those 

 twenty-one barrels ? 



Mr. Acland. They had no extra care, more than the ordi- 



