ROOT CROPS. 227 



yield was 72 and 53 bushels respectively. The first two years 

 the value per acre was a fraction over $43, and the last two it 

 was over $48, making a difference of $5 per acre in favor of 

 the smaller yields, and as the average is 105 bushels per acre for 

 the two largest yields, and but 62 h for the two smallest, it will 

 be seen that the farmer received five dollars more per acre for 

 the labor of handling the small crop than he did for the large. 

 You will also notice the high average value per acre of the 

 crop, $47.68. During this same period, the average value of 

 the corn crop was $11.20, and of the wheat crop $12.82 per 

 acre, so it will be seen that the potatoes brought nearly four 

 times as much per acre as the wheat, and more than four times 

 as much as corn. 



I think these figures teach plainly that the farmer who will 

 prepare and cultivate his land properly, and follow growing po- 

 tatoes every year, will find the crop a very profitable one, and 

 if he is thorough in his work, so as to grow average crops in the 

 bad seasons, he will realize his greatest profit in the years which 

 give nearest a failure of the crop. In proof of this, I would 

 mention the case of a farmer who, in 1881, grew a heavy crop 

 of potatoes. You will see from our table that the yield per 

 acre that year was very much lower than any other season dur- 

 ing the eleven years, and the average price higher. Following 

 his usual plan of thorough work, this man averaged $160 per 

 acre from his crop of early potatoes, and $100 per acre for the 

 late crop and realized over two thousand dollars for his entire 

 crop. I have been acquainted with a few farmers who have 

 made potatoes a leading crop, and they have in every instance 

 made a handsome profit. 



PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. I think no crop grown on the 

 farm pays better than potatoes, for extra work before plant- 

 ing. The period of growth is short, especially with the early 

 varieties, and it is necessary to have the land in such condition 

 that the plant food is available, and the plant will push at once 

 into a vigorous growth. To do this our land must be well 

 drained, for we can not work a heavy, wet soil. I prefer fnll 

 plowing for this crop, and find that a sod turned under gives the 



