36 POTATO CULTUEE. 



year's field, if I could. But still we made some money, and 

 our loss was very small compared with that of some whose 

 land was not drained. We are as ambitious as ever to try to 

 get a perfect field this season. 



Perhaps you do riot suspect from reading these pages how 

 much pains is taken to have every thing carefully explained 

 and correct. My way is, to write a chapter and then lay it 

 aside, and let it get cold. Then it is read and corrected, and 

 perhaps all or part is re-written. I have a way of asking 

 myself, first, " Is every word exactly true?" "Why, you 

 would not write what was false," you say. " Oh, no ! But 

 I should not be human if I did not sometimes paint a pic- 

 ture a little too brightly, or bear on to some point too 

 strongly." Second, " Can any thing said, although strictly 

 true, be misleading, or has any thing been omitted that 

 would have given a different color to the statements?" 

 When I can do no more, the manuscript goes to my partner 

 (wife), who reads it carefully, and returns with comments. 

 Eight here let me say that fully half of my little success as 

 a farmer and writer belongs to my partner, who takes care 

 of the home, and whom you hear of so little ; and she gets 

 her share of the returns, at least, if not of the credit always. 



I am now ready to give you her comment on this chapter. 

 She quickly saw a matter that needed further explanation. 

 She says, " You say in the book, that the roots occupy all 

 the soil. Now, theoretically, would not hills equidistant 

 each way,. say 20 inches by 20, give potatoes the best possible 

 chance ? Would it not be better than drills with plants 32 

 inches apart one way and crowded up within 13 inches 

 of each other the other ? You urge the very best methods 

 all the way through, and should explain why you do not 

 carry it out in this case." 



I entirely overlooked this point. An expert would under- 

 stand the matter, but it would not be as plain as A B C to a 

 beginner, by any means. Planting 20x20 inches would be 

 better than 13 x 32. Each plant would have its feeding- 



