SECRETARY'S REPORT. 183 



obtained from an acre. They are not suitable for the table, but 

 are excellent for stock, and I think it would be found more profit- 

 able to grow them for feeding out to stock, thau to grow carrots 

 for the same purpose. 



As a general rule, manure is not applied directly to the potatoes 

 in the hill, but if old pastures are not plowed up and planted to 

 them, a light dressing of manure is spread on and worked into the 

 soil with a cultivator or small plow. It is thought that potatoes 

 are more liable to rot if manure is applied in the hill. Plaster is 

 used in the hill, aud with good results. 



During the last fifteen or twenty years, the rot has seriously 

 injured the potato crop in the county, as it has in other sections of 

 the State ; and various experiments has been carried on to find out, 

 if possible, the cause of this universal and alarming disease, and 

 to discover a remedy. These have been tested upon different soils, 

 and with potatoes planted in different ways, yet no satisfactory 

 conclusions have been reached. For a time it was supposed that 

 seed potatoes obtained from distant places — if possible from those 

 sections where the disease was unknown — would help to avoid it ; 

 and this was done in many instances with favorable results. New 

 varieties are generally less liable to rot, and from this fact it may 

 be an object to grow them, and also to devote some time to the 

 culture of seedlings to take the place of those which are liable to 

 become diseased. 



Farmers need to grow an early ripening sort, not only that they 

 are generally more free from rot, but that they can be dug before 

 the wet fall weather comes on. Potatoes should be dug in dry 

 weather, and placed in bins or barrels in a cellar, but not in too 

 large heaps, as they are likely to heat, and become more subject 

 to disease from this heating process. It is a common practice with 

 our farmers to sort their potatoes in the field, making three classes 

 of them, viz : No. 1, for market ; No. 2, for planting and for table 

 use, and No. 3, for hogs or cattle. 



Some speculation has arisen regarding the best size of a potato 

 for planting. It is stated upon good authority that small potatoes 

 will produce a progeny of as large size as those of larger growth. 

 Dr. Reynolds,* in speaking of this fact, writes : " The tuber is not 

 a seed. It consists of a material prepared by the plant to nourish 

 the bud or eye, which is a true bud, until it can form roots and 



* "Transactions Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture." New Series, 

 voL 1, page 215. 



