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1 have always seen the largest and hest crops raised on new land, that 

 is, land newly broken out of grass, but the field should be always 

 ploughed for a considerable time previous to planting, in order that the 

 roots of the grasses may be perfectly decayed. The deeper the land is 

 ploughed, the better will be the crop. The greatest crop that ever I 

 have seen, was raised on land Avhich had been trenched tivo spade% 

 deep; and the second best, was on land ploughed eighteen inches deep. 

 In the latter case, the work was performed by two ploughs, one follow- 

 ing in the furrow matle by the other, and turning up a considerable part 

 of the subsoil. Parallel drains, three feet deep, according to the Deaus- 

 ton system, Avith subsoil plowing across the drains, are of great utility 

 in potato culture, as they remove excess of moisture, and potatoes are a 

 species of crop which delight in dry, friable soil, and cannot live in soil 

 saturated with too much wet; at the same time, a certain degree of mois- 

 ture is highly essential to their gro"\\i;h. 



Land intended for potatoes should be deeply ploughed in the fall ; if 

 it be in gi-ass, the double or paring plough should be used, and the 

 grass completely covered. If it is not, it will come up between the 

 furrow slices, and remain a lasting nuisance. In the spring, the plough, 

 drag, Jind roller should be as early in the field as the weather will per- 

 mit, and the land ought to be well cleaned, and completely pulverized 

 before the sets are planted. 



I approve of drilling in preference to hilling, for these reasons : Fii-st, 

 in drilhng, the greatest part of the operations can be performed with 

 the plough, and sets will be placed at a uniform depth, which is not the 

 case when potatoes are planted with the hoe. Second, the work 

 can be performed with more expedition, and where the double-mould- 

 board plough is used in opening and closing the drills, the superiority 

 of drill husbandry, over every other system, is strikingly evident. 

 Third, in drills each set is placed at a uniform distance, and each en- 

 joys an equal proportion of earth, sun and air, which is not the case 

 when sets are croioded together in hills. The produce of di*ill«, when 

 they are properly managed, is far greater than that of hills. 



Drills should be made three feet apart, and the sets ought to be placed 

 one foot asunder in the drills. In warm climates, the drills ought to be 

 made as deep as possible, that the sets and manure may Ite placed 

 away from the scorching influence of the sun. Sets, when placed 



