190 THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 



These apples on the first of October in the years 1853, '54 and '55 

 did not average larger than crab apples at that time of year. They 

 were not so large at harvesting as the small one I picked yester- 

 day, nor were they quarter as large as most of the apples on the 

 tree at this time. The tree was then about ten years old, and was 

 covered with moss and in all respects of no value, and I threaten- 

 ed at the time to cut it down as a cumberer of the ground. I 

 should guess that the tree might possibly have borne two bushels 

 of apples in a bearing year, and we did not pretend to gather 

 them. The apples now on the tree are large, fine and fair; in fact, 

 they are the finest russets I ever saw. 



" You showed me Early Rose potatoes grown this year, the like of 

 which I never saw anywhere. Some of these weighed from a pound 

 to a pound and a half apiece, and I should think one would weigh 

 two pounds. You assured me that you had grown them at the 

 rate of over one thousand bushels to the acre the present season, 

 and I have no reason to doubt it. As there is no fungus on your 

 grounds, there is no rot. The tomatoes all over the town are rot- 

 ting, but I did not observe any rotten ones on your place, and I 

 certainly never saw such splendid fruit, nor anything like as many 

 to the plant. 



" I gave you an account of my experiment with two acres of po- 

 tatoes in 1854, and here repeat it. The plot on which I planted is 

 a portion of the ground now embraced in your garden, on which 

 this year has been grown such crops as I never set eyes on before. 

 I fitted these two acres with greater care and painstaking than any 

 equal amount of ground in my life, mixing a portion of the sub- 

 soil with that of the surface, and covered it deep with well rotted 

 barnyard manure, making it very rich. A careful man and a good 

 farmer planted the two acres to potatoes on halves, and I realized 

 just thirty bushels for my half. This completely discouraged me 



