436 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



or upon old ground ? Shall we put them upon well rotted manure 

 or upon fresh manure, or upon commercial fertilizers ? Shall we 

 hill up, or use surface culture ? Shall we hoe once, twice, or three 

 times ? Let me put any of these questions, and I should receive, 

 in all probability, to each and every one, almost as great a variety 

 of answers as there are gentlemen present. Then what have we 

 learned during the hundred years that we have been cultivating 

 the potato as a field crop ? These are some of the questions which 

 I hope during this discussion may be determined. I hope that 

 facts may be ascertained, so that another year when we go into the 

 field to plant, we shall know more about its culture than we knew 

 this year. These are important questions, and should be taken up 

 carefully, considered fairly, and so far as possible decided. 



Mr. Henry Little. I wish to add one more question to the list, 

 and that is, whether it is advisable to plant potatoes year after year 

 on the same soil. Will Mr. Burleigh answer ? 



Mr. Burleigh. I would not recommend planting potatoes for 

 more than one year on the same lot, although I have done it and 

 raised good crops, for two years in succession. Still, I believe it 

 is injurious to our fields. 



Mr. Efhraim Goodale of Orringtou. No sensible farmer would 

 plant potatoes on the same land for more than two years. I have 

 raised very good potatoes for two years, but beyond that they 

 always detei'iorate ; the tubers grow small, but the vines grow 

 large. I knew a gardener who raised potatoes on the same land 

 for several years, and was surprised that the vines should be so 

 large and the potatoes so small. I told him, "You have got all 

 the potato out of the soil." I should never plant more than one 

 year, under ordinary circumstances. 



Mr. Moore. The suggestion in relation to the effects of the 

 potato on the soil startles me. It is a common remark, that it is 

 an exhausting crop, but that point I should like to liave discussed 

 here. We find by analysis that the potato requires a large amount 

 of certain constituents ; potash, for one ; but by comparing the 

 potato with turnips, beets, rutabagas, carrots and other roots, I 

 have supposed that it was not a very exhausting crop. From our 

 farm is sold milk. We sell no potatoes, meaning not to carry off 

 much of the inorganic elements of the soil. By converting them 

 into milk, we carry away less than we otherwise should. We must 

 carry something to market, and what shall it be ? My practice 

 now is, to raise potatoes, follow with a crop of barley, and seed 



