DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. 2/5 



also one of the best crops that has been raised on our farm for 

 a number of years. But in 191 5 I am going to make an effort 

 'To Make the Best Better." 



In November I plowed one-half an acre of ground for my 

 next year's crop, plowing it seven inches deep, and turning the 

 sod completely over. The ends of this plot are gravelly loam, 

 but in the middle it is a little heavier, a light clay loam. The 

 subsoil is a light clay. This piece of ground is well drained, 

 and has been cutting hay for quite a number of years, and a 

 fair crop was cut from it this year. It has a fairly good sod. 



As soon as it is dry in the spring, I will pick the rocks from 

 this plot, and I am planning to spread a little stable dressing on 

 it, for, as we all know, the war in the east has diminished 

 our supply of potash, causing a rise in the price of commercial 

 fertilizers. This stable dressing wnll supply humus, as well as 

 fertilizer, to the soil. Then I will harrow it with a disk harrow 

 diagonally, lengthwise and crosswise until it is thoroughly pul- 

 verized and the manure well mixed with the soil, finishing it 

 with a spring tooth harrow. I will follow out the advice which 

 our farm demonsitrator, Mr. Day, gave us at our Boys' Club 

 meeting: "Harrow and harrow until it is harrowed enough, and 

 then harrow some more." Then I wnll drag it with a plank 

 drag to break up all the lumps, pack the ground so that the 

 moisture will not escape, and smooth the soil off. 



Next year I plan to use for seed Lowell Green Mountain 

 potatoes. I will treat them with formalin, using one pint of 

 formalin to thirty gallons of water, to prevent scab, black-leg, 

 and other diseases. Immediately afterwards, I will green them 

 by placing them on a board platform, one layer thick, in the 

 sun, letting them remain there for at least ten days and not 

 allowing them to chill. Then I w^ill cut them into quite large, 

 blocky pieces, two or three days before planting, using land 

 plaster as a dryer. 



Next comes planting. \\'e have an Aspinwall picker planter; 

 but although we consider it one of the best of its kind, I will 

 only sow my fertilizer with it, and plant my potatoes by hand 

 as I wish to be sure that every seed is there, one foot apart, and 

 in rows 32 inches wide, covering them with the horse-hoe. I 

 am undecided as yet how much fertilizer I will use ; but what- 



