366 STAFFORD COUNTY, KANSAS 



rif^ht piece eighteen inches long to each scantling, and spike a 

 board on top, and you have the right size for two heavy horses. 

 If you want one for three or four horses, make it proportion- 

 ately large. This apparatus will far excel an ordinary roller if 

 the clods are very dry and hard, and no man who has ever tried 

 it will be without one. 



POTATOES. 



For potatoes I plow the ground, if possible, in the Fall, 

 the same as I would for corn, and then again in the Spring. I 

 plow as deeply as a common plow can be made to run. I cut 

 my seed very small, one eye in a piece, and plant in drills three 

 feet apart, the pieces twelve inches apart in the dxill. I cover 

 with two-horse plow, turning them under seven inches deep, 

 and cultivate once a week till the blossoms appear. I have 

 raised peachblow potatoes weighing two and one-half pounds 

 in this manner. Should too many sprouts or too many side vines 

 appear, it is of most vital importance to pull them out. 



•* WHEAT. 



For wheat I plow as soon after harvest as possible, stirring 

 the ground to a depth of six to eight inches. Deeper than that 

 is unnecessary if not positively injurious, as the wheat in this 

 country must positively have a hard bottom on which to root. 

 This fact has been pretty well established in Kansas since 1874. 

 I have at the present time one hundred and eighty acres of 

 growing wheat, of which fifty-five are Mediterranean, five are 

 Fultz, and the remainder Red May. These varieties succeed 

 best here. I am satisfied that it is very necessary to thor- 

 oughly pulverize the ground for wheat, as well as for any other 

 crop. No growing crop obtains aliment from clods. I place a 

 few dozen bricks in mv wheat bins to absorb all moisture. 



HOGS. 



I give you the plan of one of my farms, also my plan 

 for hog pens and my views concerning the care of swine. I 

 floor all my pens, roofing one-half and letting the other half be 

 open to sunshine, for hogs will neither grow nor fatten in a 



