SECRETARY'S REPORT. 199 



With the success of our fathers as a motive power to urge us for- 

 ward ; with their experience to direct our efforts, and with many 

 superior natural advantages, may we not anticipate, with a confi- 

 dence bordering upon certainty, a bright future for northern Maine 1 



The Potato and its Culture. 



By E. B. Stackpole, Kenduskeag. 



S. L. GoODALE, Esq., Secretary, <^c. 



Dear Si?^ : — Near the close of the last session of the Board of 

 Agriculture, "Potatoes and their Culture" was assigned to me, as 

 the subject' upon which I should write; I herewith send you my 

 thoughts on the subject. 



The potato, when first obtained from its native mountains, was a 

 small watery tuber, and of but little value as food for man. Since 

 then, by cultivation, it has been brought into so improved a state, 

 that most of the civilized nations of the earth took to it, as one of 

 the most important articles of food. I think it will be conceded by 

 all, that no vegetable has so large a claim upon our attention, as 

 farmers and cultivators of the soil. It has become a common dish 

 upon most of our tables, and is well adapted to meet the wants of 

 the people of this country. The potato grows best on green sward; 

 old pasture land plowed up in the fall of the year, and planted early 

 in the spring, is the best for raising potatoes. Such land appears 

 to furnish, as its turf decomposes, the most natural nourishment for 

 them ; it preserves moisture in the soil, and forms a loose mass, in 

 which they form and grow to a large size, and generally of good 

 quality. I think it is not advisable to use fermenting manured in 

 the hill ; if such manures do not cause the potato rot, they no doubt 

 are auxiliary to it. Ashes, lime, salt, plaster, coal dust, muck and 

 old tanner's bark, or a compost made of most or all of them, may be 

 used with profit and safety. In Penobscot county, the best varieties 

 raised for the table, are the Jacksons and the White Blue Noses ; 

 the best for a crop and a market, is the Orono or Reed potato. The 

 seed — about eight bushels to the acre, of medium sized potatoes — 

 should be put into the ground early, in drills three feet apart, one 

 piece of seed in a place, fifteen inches apart in the drills, and cov- 



