104 BOARD OF AGRICULTURB. 



Not till tho advent of the railroad, and through connections with 

 Boston were made, did the business of raising for market begin. In 

 1872 Kiinball & Co., of Boston, established themselves as buyers 

 at Hon Hon, and modern potato growing began. 



The Early Blues, Black Christies, Californias, and Jacksons were 

 the kinds grown to that date. The Jacksons sold well for a time, 

 but gave way to the Rose, as that is now fading before the Hebron. 



The New Brunswick Railroad Compan}' and its predecessors have 

 been of immense benefit to our farmers. Without these lines of rail 

 the magnificent figure of this year's crop would have been impossible. 

 "The far-seeing raihva}' manager is the best friend of the farmer." 

 Such is the statement I read in a circular put out by the New York 

 State Dair^'men's Association, and the truth is unquestioned. In 

 spite of declamation and rant, the railroads are a help to the farm- 

 ers everywhere, and a direct aid to comfortable living. In the pres- 

 ent manager of our road we have a farmer's friend, and his aim is 

 constantly to do all possible and expedient to facilitate the move- 

 ment of passengers and freight. For the past two 3'ears the owners 

 of the road have expended large sums over and above the income of 

 the road to increase its capacity and efficienc}'. 



The importance of the potato crop to the residents of the county 

 is such as to put it foremost in the list of produ(;ts. The enormous 

 expansion of the potato business the past fourteen years is due 

 wholly to the railroad facilities which have been given to us. 



Before the cultivation of the potato began on its present scale, 

 the ways were few by which a farmer could realize the indispensable 

 ready money with which to meet the taxes and other cash items. 



I am familiar with more than one instance where the man was 

 paying interest on money and had been for years, who could not ex- 

 tricate himself from the burden ; but the same man after a few years 

 of potato raising raised the mortgage and has been a free man since. 



Statistics of comparison with the other crops would only be be- 

 wildering, and while the tons of hay and bushels of oats are large 

 enough to clearly show a great source of income, j^et the greater 

 part of these crops are consumed in the year's work ; but the potato 

 is almost wholly turned into money. 



The broad scale upon which preparations are made to take care of 

 the season's crop, and the amount of capital invested in starch fac- 

 tories, as well as in the many frost-proof potato houses at the prin- 

 cipal railway stations, show the magnitude of the interest. I have 



