AWARDS OF PEEMIUMS. 145 



found mucTi larger Potatoes than those, one of which weighed 

 2 1-2 pounds. I obtained my seed of Mr. , near Bur- 

 lington, Iowa, and he obtained them further south. I do not 

 know the variety. In the spring of 1854, I received my seed 

 the last of May. My hot-bed was made on low ground, and 

 excessive rains drowned it out so, that my plants were not large 

 enough to set till the last of June. By this time I had lost all 

 faith in their maturity. My neighbors received those I gave 

 them without faith, and gave them but little care ; and I only 

 set 500 hills, leaving thousands of sprouts to waste. I was 

 agreeably surprised to find large and fine Potatoes the next fall, 

 one of Avhich measured 9 3-4 inches in circumference, and was 

 10 inches long. But persons from the South said that we had 

 an exceedingly fine summer, a Southern summer. You cannot 

 do it again. As an experiment we put 1-2 a bushel in sand to 

 keep, and but for the dampness, caused by plastering our rooms, 

 I think that I should not have lost any. I kept about half 

 These were sprouted in the house, and planted the first of May. 

 A late hard frost killed a part of these, and all of my early 

 Corn. This last spring, I planted earlier, commencing the last 

 of May and ending the last of June, except that I planted a 

 few sprouts the 15th of July, which did well, and we have them 

 in a keg of sand by themselves. So far they keep well. The 

 season was a bad one ; so unpromising that I anticipated a fail- 

 Tire, being a cold and dry summer. I had 3 bushels of seed 

 and planted 100 rods of ground ; I sold some, gave away some, 

 and let some go to waste. I had 200 bushels of Potatoes, yield- 

 ing at the rate of 320 bushels to the acre. Some part of the 

 ground, with smaller and closer hills, yielded at the rate of over 

 400 bushels to the acre. My soil varied from light sand, to 

 heavy clay, without indicating much difference in the yield. I 

 I am satisfied that any soil good for Corn and common Potatoes 

 will raise Sweet Potatoes. The cost of cultivating an acre is 

 about $40, including harvesting. It will be seen at once that 

 this is a very profitable business. Estimating the yield at 250 

 bushels to the acre, which is low according to my experience, 

 and the price_^at 75 cents per bushel, which is less than half of 

 Q 



