320 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



How TO Raise Potatoes. 



Mr. J. W. Gray, Albion, Orleans county, N. Y. — "In answer 

 to inquiries, I will tell the club how I produced twenty-eight 

 bushels of 'Early Goodrich' potatoes from one peck of seed. The 

 ground on which they grew raised only a fair crop of wheat the 

 previous year, the stubble turned under soon after harvest. In 

 the spring a pretty heavy crop of barn-yard manure was spread 

 on the surface, after which it was plowed and dragged, and cross- 

 plowed and dragged again. The seed was then cut into single 

 eyes, and planted two pieces in a hill, the hills three and a half 

 feet apart each way. The ground was kept clean and well culti- 

 vated, and that is where the great secret of success lies in pro- 

 ducing a large crop of potatoes or anything else. I am satisfied I 

 can produce a larger yield the coming year. My 3'ield of ' Glea- 

 6ons ' was nearly as large, and I think they can be made to yield 

 more than the Early Goodrich." 



Snakes. 



Dr. J. V. C. Smith.' — Having traveled extensively in foreign 

 countries, and noticed many wild animals, I propose at some future 

 time to give my views on snakes. Although they are loathsome 

 and shocking, they certainly have a distinct purpose. In South 

 America I saw an anaconda twenty-one feet long, shed his coat, 

 and this he did by turning it inside out, even to the eyes. I have 

 also seen the snake charmers in Egj^pt, the same class of men 

 spoken of 2,000 years and more ago. These are Arabs, but they 

 belong to a particular family in which their art has been transmit- 

 ted from father to son; and they are looked upon by the other 

 Aral)s with the same wonder that we look on them. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn moved to take up the subject of " Spring 

 Crops" at the next meeting. Adjourned. 



January 15, 1867. 

 Mr. Nathan C. Ely in the chair; Mr. John W. Chambers, Secretary. 



OxVE Hundred Dollars for the best Raspberry. 



Bridgewood, Bergen Co., N. J., Jan. 12, 1867. 

 Farmers' Club, American Institute : 



I will give $100 for the best four quarts of raspberries, for gen- 

 eral cultivation, as a market fruit. The only restrictions to be 

 placed upon the award are that the plants shall be hardy and 

 prolific. 



