DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. 281 



not dangerous. The man I got them of, an experienced farmer, 

 said it must have been the result of putting ashes on the land 

 I planted them on. I think this is a sure cure because some of 

 the boys did it and none of their potatoes had scab on them. 

 I shall cover them this way when I have them all dropped. I 

 shall run the cultivator through the space left in between the 

 rows and put as much dirt over them as possible, then I shall 

 take my hoe and go over them and cover them up four inches 

 deep. I think this is about the right depth to cover them. 



Now that my potatoes are planted, I expect for them to 

 come up in about two weeks. After I plant them, if they do 

 not appear in that length of time, I shall run the cultivator 

 through them so as to break the soil. This will give them more 

 room to get to the top. As soon as they break through the 

 soil, I shall cultivate close to the plants. If it should be ver)^ 

 dry, I should cultivate often so as to hold the moisture. I 

 shall continue to do this until there comes a rain and then 

 there will be no need for this. When they are four inches 

 high, I shall cultivate them thoroughly. I shall do this by 

 going up ^ne row and down it again with the cultivator. Then 

 I shall take my hoe and cut between the hills. This will remove 

 all w^eeds and loosen the soil which cannot be done with the 

 cultivator. 



When they are six inches high, I shall give them a thorough 

 cultivating to loosen the soil to get them ready for the horse- 

 hoe. I shall then use the horse-hoe and carry the dirt within 

 six inches of the plants. Then I shall take my hand hoe and 

 carry my soil in among the plants carefully so that I will not 

 cut any of the stalks down. This shall be done late in the 

 afternoon. If I should do this in the heat of the day, the sun 

 would evaporate the moisture before it had any chance of doing 

 any good. 



Spraying I shall do before hilling up. When they are a foot 

 high, I shall hill them up for the last time. I shall spray them 

 with Bordeaux mixture, keeping my plot neat and free from 



weeds. 



I hope that this work of getting the young boys and girls 

 interested in farming will keep on, for this will soon be the 

 chief work in America. I hope they will have the contest in 

 Machias next year for we have had a good time in the Grange 



