438 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Undoubtedly, the gentleman is right in what he says with regard 

 to the number of stalks in the hill. You may plant a whole potato, 

 if you please ; and then, if you will go over the field and destroy 

 all but one, two or three of the stalks, you will get large-sized 

 potatoes ; but my experience has been, that you may just as well 

 cut your potato, and save seed and save the trouble of going over 

 the field to thin out the plants. 



It is not wise to. plant potatoes upon land the second year. 

 They are much more likely to rot, although you may raise good 

 potatoes. I planted the " Jackson " potato for a number of years, 

 and found them very small, until I resorted to the plan of allow- 

 ing but one or two plants to a hill. I raised TO odd bushels on less 

 than a third of an acre, and I think out of the whole, we selected 

 but five bushels as small. The rest were all sufficiently large for 

 cooking. 



I conje, therefore, to the conclusion that green sward is the bet- 

 ter soil on which to plant potatoes ; that you want to plant them 

 very near the surface, and give an ample width to the hill, so that 

 the roots shall not run out and deposit the tuber too near the 

 edge, and have it sufficiently high, so that it will easily drain in 

 wet weather ; apply your ashes, your lime and your plaster, and 

 they will preserve it in almost all years from the rot. 



Mr. Warren Percival, of Vassalboro'. Perhaps my experience 

 may assist some gentlemen. There is, however, such a variety of 

 soils, such a variety of culture, and such a variety of seed, that it 

 is impossible, in my opinion, to establish any fixed rules to govern 

 us in this matter. But there are some general rules we may fol- 

 low with success. In the first place, I believe that every farmer 

 should understand the nature of his soil, and in order to do that, 

 we must have the aid of the Agricultural College. I have strong 

 faith in that institution. 



I have been trying, in my limited way, to cultivate the soil for 

 thirty-five years or more. I have not raised potatoes very exten- 

 sively, for I believe that, as a general thing, they are an exhaust- 

 ing crop to raise. We hear a great deal about the difference in 

 yield of the diffei-ent varieties. I do not attribute it so much to 

 the varieties, as to the change of seed. AVhen I was a boy, my 

 father brought home, at a certain time, some potatoes, (precisely 

 the same as we cultivated,) that had been raised on a clay loam, 

 our farm being a rocky, red loam. We had a piece of land, which 

 was all ploughed and treated 2:)rccisely alike, and planted one half 



