4'20 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The Board met at the hour appointed. The President announced 

 as the topic in order for the day, 



The Potato, its Culture and Varieties. 



The tables were laden with a very larg-e assortment, prominent 

 among which was the very extensive collection gro's^n by Mr. H. S. 

 Goodale of Massachusetts, and shown by him at the Exhibition of 

 the New England Agricultural Society, at Portland, embracing 140 

 varieties. Mr. Goodale kindly consented to its doing service at 

 this session in the way of comparison and instruction, and has 

 furnished the following statement of his method and results. The 

 fact of their having been grown at a considei'able elevation above 

 the ocean level, brings them nearly into conditions similar to those 

 grown in this State, farther north but at lower elevation. 



Sky Farm, Mt. AVashington, Mass., Oct. 1869. 



Dear Sir: — I send you with this a statement of the results of an 

 experiment the present s.eason with, I thhik, most of the potatoes 

 now in general use, including several of the bqst English varieties, 

 several seedlings of the late Rev, Mr. Goodrich which have never 

 been "brought out," and three or four promising seedlings of the 

 Early Rose, the qualities of which are not yet fully developed. I 

 consider the record of the time of blooming and of the vines dying, 

 of the difierent varieties, as of no great value in this trial, in deter- 

 mining their comparative earliness, because not sufficiently exact, 

 and because the dry weather in August seemed to ripen many 

 kinds prematurely ; but it is certainly interesting and instructive 

 to note the wide diflerence, both in the yield and health, of our 

 difierent potatoes under nearly the same conditions of soil and cul- 

 ture. AV^ith perhaps now and then a marked exception, varieties 

 which have distinguished themselves on this mountain land — the 

 natural home of the potato — under this treatment, will, I believe, 

 do correspondingly well in other localities at the North ; and those 

 which have here a poor record — save undeveloped seedlings — will 

 probably show a poorer if given less favorable soil and eulture. 



Varieties originated abroad, I have found, are generally poor 

 yielders and much inclined to rot. As regards quality I think we 

 may say that, as a rule, the potatoes which so delight us with their 

 magnificent yield at harvest, need not be expected to give us quite 

 that same glow of satisfaction when they appear at table. In a 



