THE HOME ACRE 67 



hills gave forty-eight melons which weighed from 

 thirty to forty pounds each. 



In planting potatoes Mr. Dimock proceeded as 

 follows : May 2}^, opened two drills with plow six 

 inches deep and three feet apart. Hen manure spread 

 in the drill. Drills spaced off eighteen inches apart 

 and three pieces of potato with two eyes on a piece 

 were placed four inches apart around the center of 

 each mark, eyes up. In cutting the potatoes nothing 

 but large ones were used. The potato was first cut 

 crosswise near the center ; the eye end is used for cook- 

 ing and the root end is cut in pieces of two eyes each. 

 The potatoes are cut ten days before planting and 

 spread on a floor in a light place. This causes the 

 cut to dry or sear over and the sprout will slowly start. 



This method gives strong and healthy stalks, 

 and such stalks are the ones that produce first-class 

 potatoes. Experimenting with the seed and the root 

 end, with the same treatment the row planted from 

 the root end produced one-fourth more potatoes and of 

 much larger size. A preparation called *' Bug Death " 

 is far superior to paris green for the potato bug. One 

 application when the dew is on is enough for the sea- 

 son, as it adheres tenaciously to the vine. One-half 

 peck of potatoes planted as above yielded five hundred 

 and fifty-two pounds at harvest. 



The garden was a highly profitable one in many 

 ways. Mr. Dimock made a large exhibit of vegetables 

 at his local fair and captured first prize. The prod- 

 ucts from this quarter acre, sold and consumed, were 

 valued at one hundred and forty-six dollars and 

 twenty-one cents, while the cost for labor, seed and 

 fertilizer to produce them was sixty-one dollars and 

 eleven cents, leaving the handsome profit of eighty- 

 five dollars and ten cents. The home of Mr. and Mrs. 

 Dimock is a typical Connecticut homestead. There is 



