118 On the Use of Steamed Potatoes ' 



iviilch cows, taking away all hay and only giving a little 

 straw. Each horse has a stone and halt' of potatoes, or 

 twenty-one pounds, estimated at' 3d. per stone, 4-^d. ; 

 steaming, a halfpenny; ten pounds of bruised corn, (3d.; 

 five pounds of hay, 9d.; two pounds of cut straw to mix 

 wilh the corn, a halfpenny ; making on the whole IS-^d. 

 per day. Each tub of potatoes, containing eleven stone, 

 has one of cut straw mixed up with it ; it is given warm, 

 and a horse will cat a stone in less than half an hour, whilst 

 between six and seven would be required to eat a stone of 

 hay. The time gained for rest contributes greatly, I have 

 no doubt, to promote the health and condition of the 

 horses. 



The facility with vvhich potatoes can be transported from 

 place to place, is nuich in their favour, and being without 

 damage, to vvhich hay is liable, is a further object. The 

 individual gain will be found great where ground is highlv 

 rated and not easilv procured, as will be commonly the 

 case where horses are most wanted. In a national point 

 of view it may be important, should the population of the 

 country advance as rapidly as it has for some years past. 

 The potatoe crop is produced from ground w:hich would 

 otherwise be under fallow; and when proper care is taken, 

 the wheat after potatoes is equal, if not superior, to that from 

 fallowed ground. The year previous to my adopting my pre- 

 sent method, I sunk the rent of my farm, valued at a thou- 

 sand pounds (about JuO acres), and seven hu)idred pounds be- 

 sides. In the last year I cleared, receiving the same prices for 

 my work, 2IS9]. The only ditrerence I can point out is in 

 the price of cats ; this might deduct SOOl. I bad forty acres 

 last year under potatoes : the wetness of the ground, and the 

 very unfavourable season, made my crop a bad one. I shall 

 have this year sixty. I have found no difficulty in importing 

 .from Scotland and Ireland, at 3d. and 3-|,d. perstone. The 

 quantity being more than T required, 1 have sold to the 

 poor at reduced prices at 3d. whilst the markets were from 

 5d. to 6d. I had 300 acres under hay, and never suffi- 

 cient : I expect that 150 now wdl be more than sufficient 

 for all my wants. The value of hay was heretofore in pro- 

 portion to my necessity : having no longer occasion for 

 any, the price will fall to the neighbourhood. Indeed it 

 has, as I might purchase at 6d. per stone what v/as seldom 

 or ever under gd., and more frequently a shilling. 1 have 

 every pound of hay weighed, so as to prevent all waste ; 

 and, though this is some trouble and expense, I have reason 

 to believe it is amplv repaid by the ceconomy it enforces. 



b ' I beg 



