On Corn and Potatoes. 331 
pa NT A ST Re ed 
all the hands I could get were employed in setting it 
up ; some of them being awkward, broke the plants, and 
sadly mangled the roots, and it was not until about 
seven acres had been set up, that I observed the active 
power of vegetation was performing the operation infi- 
nitely better than the most expert workman in the field. 
After this two other storms blew down a considerable 
quantity, when the ears were too heavy for it to rise, 
and although part of this lay flat on the ground, it was 
not observed that the filling of the ears were injured, 
but it became necessary previously to ploughing up the 
potatoes to remove those plants out of the way, which 
it was found had rooted from their joints fast to the 
ground; with a sharp hoe those roots were easily cut, 
and the plants readily laid aside with but little injury, 
while I was present ; but other business demanded my 
attention, and the crop sustained very considerable 
damage from the carelessness of the person who did 
this work: these disasters, together with calculating the 
roller from its round instead of the round of the extremi- 
ties of the indentures, reduced the fruitful plants in the 
field to one half the number originally designed. They 
were ascertained by measuring a rod in various parts of 
the field, when the ears of the re-planted were well formed, 
and estimating the average of fruitful plants within those 
distances, and from that moment I clearly perceived my 
high expectations were blasted: but the disasters of 
this ill-fated experiment did not stop here; early in 
August, it was discovered that proper grasses for soil- 
ing the cattle would soon be very deficient, and on the 
20th of that month one row of corn was topped, to as- 
certain how it would bear early cutting, and it was 
