472 



THE POTATO 



we call it, and the land is now ready all in good 

 time for the growing of turnips for this season, 

 with every prospect of a good crop, and the po- 

 tatoes have realized £276 ($1,380) — that is more 

 than the purchase price of the land and I am very 

 much pleased and rather proud of the result. 



"The cultivation was quite expensive. The 

 jBeld, after barley, had fifty tons of good cowyard 

 manure made under cover and a good deal from 

 feeding linseed and cotton cake, put on before 

 being plowed. Then four hundredweight per 

 acre of kainit was sown broadcast on top of the 

 plowing, and after being ridged ready for planting 

 six hundredweight of Peruvian guano was sown 

 down the ridges, and after the potatoes were well 

 up one hundredweight of nitrate of soda was sown 

 straight down the rows. 



"The other field had no cowyard manure, but 

 four hundredweight of kainit per acre was sown 

 broadcast after plowing and then one ton of shoddy 

 waste manure per acre was thrown on and pretty 

 well spread. After ridging ready for potato 

 planting we sowed ten hundredweight per acre 

 of a compound potato manure, analyzing about 4 

 per cent, ammonia, 3§ per cent, potash, and 25 per 

 cent, soluble phosphate, and after the potatoes 

 were well up and about ready for ridging up we 

 sowed one hundredweight nitrate of soda straight 

 down the rows. 



"You will see from the above that both fields 

 were pretty Uberally manured and the crops paid 

 for it, because I find if we mean to dig potatoes 

 early (and every day's delay makes a difference in 

 price) we must be liberal with manure in order to 

 force them along. 



"I have about forty kinds of new and old po- 



