344 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



prossessioii of the iield. He was obliged to mow them to dig the 

 potatoes, which yielded not over 150 bushels to the acre. 



Clean Cultivation. 

 Neiohbor C planted about three acres of the same variety of 

 potatoes, on ground where corn had been grown the year before. 

 The seed was cut to two eyes, and planted in drills two and a half 

 feet wide and fifteen inches apart in the drills. The potatoes came 

 up well, and were well tilled. About the 1st of July the weeds 

 ■were pulled out, and again on the last of the month. This piece 

 was the admiration of the neighborhood, nothing 1)ut potato vines 

 could be seen. There were no rank weeds to be seen that would 

 have robbed the vines of what they needed to develop the tu- 

 bers. The yield from this piece was estimated at not less than 260 

 bushels to the acre, the most of them marketable potatoes. To 

 raise a o-ood crop of potatoes several things are necessary to be 



observed. 



Rotation of Ckops. 



Never plant twice successively on the same ground. Change 

 your seed every year, and if possible get them IVom another sec- 

 tion of the country, put the ground in good condition, plant iu 

 drills two and a half feet apart, and from twelvg to fifteen inches 

 iu the row. Cut the potatoes to two eyes. After the first plow- 

 in"; ""ive them a topdressing of plaster and ashes. Cultivate well 

 until they arc in blossom, then keep all weeds pulled out, and a 

 satisfVictory crop will be the result. Work on the farm when 

 rightly directed is full of interest and produces satisfiictory results. 

 The farmer is not only a consumer, but he is also a producer, and 

 therefore a benefactor of the human race. The prosperity of this 

 country greatly depends on the development of agriculture. Par- 

 alyze this arm and what would be the result? The wheels of the 

 manufacturer would stop, the merchants' doors would be closed, 

 the sail that whitens every avenue of commerce would be furled 

 and prosperity would be at an end, not to be revived until the re- 

 vival of that power which creates the wealth of the world, viz., 



agriculture. 



Planting Potatoes. 



Dr. Hallock, Br. Hexamer and several others, related some of 

 their experience in planting potatoes, and Dr. Hexamer promised 

 to write out an account of some of his experiments in the manage- 

 ment of potatoes, and to read the paper at a future meeting of the 



