POTATOES A SURE CROP. 113 



on after the weeds start, either before or after the potatoes come up. 

 The result will be, if the experiment is properly conducted, a growth 

 of healthy potato plants having vigorous stalks, and roots as well. 



When the season is sufRcientlv advanced, the frame of the hot- 

 bed is removed and the plants are placed in sections and with care 

 upon a drag, by means of a suitable fork, then taken to the field and 

 set out. 



It must be borne in mind however that to make a success of forc- 

 ing any plant in a hot-bed requires experience. It is not within the 

 scope of this article to pursue the subject except to show cautionary 

 signals. When potato plants are in danger of frost they may be 

 covered with soil until the danger is past. In regard to the after 

 cultivation it is only necessary to emphasize what our candid Yankee 

 farmers already know. The best cultivation yields the best returns. 

 I cannot forbear to add a word in reference to selling. Potatoes that 

 have been forced to early maturity, even if ripe, will usually scar 

 and lose their fresh, inviting appearance if tumbled into bags or 

 barrels in the field and out again at the market. 



Our produce of ever^' kind should be put before the public so 

 that it will attract attention and favorable comment. In short, we 

 should offer a good article, displayed to good advantage, but hon- 

 estly, when we have a right to demand good prices. For open 

 market and grocery retail trade I know of nothing better than 

 "bushel boxes" for potatoes. A box 18x1 8x6 J inches inside meas- 

 ure will hold about a bushel. Such a box, made on the farm will 

 cost but a few cents, and is of convenient form. AVhen potatoes 

 are gathered in the field and displaA'ed in market in one of these 

 boxes, thev are alwavs seen at their best. 



POTATOES A SUKE CROP. 

 By S. L. HoLBROOK, Member from Sagadahoc County. 



It was but a few years ago that the idea was taught b3' our most 

 advanced agricultural leaders and progressive farmers that the grow- 

 ing of potatoes, especially in large quantities, was detrimental to the 

 best interests of the farm, and that the growing of that crop indicated 

 a poor husbandry ; that the farmer who raised them for market was 

 selling his farm by the bushel and at a very cheap rate. But the 

 light which a more modern science has shed upon practical farming 

 tells a very different story. Science teaches us, and practice corrobo- 



