206 POTATO CULTURE. 



sort of carrier. The man with the wagon lets this down 

 with a rope. Another one in the cellar bottom pours them 

 on to the pile. The boxes are pulled up with the same ar- 

 rangement, and, without any lifting or lugging, the load is 

 disposed of very quickly. 



Farming doesn't pay ! Doesn't it, though V Friend Fenn 

 is getting more for the potatoes that grew on this land than 

 the land itself would sell for. What do you think of that- 

 paying for a farm with the proceeds from a single season V 

 and a regular farm crop at that ! You may ask about the 

 expense of growing this crop. Well, it was not very expen- 

 sive. The only manure was clover and timothy that is, if I 

 am correct ; and the cultivation was all done by horse power, 

 the driver riding on the cultivator. The potatoes were also 

 planted and dug by horse power. I do not know what he 

 values his farm at ; but I do know that, within less than a 

 mile of his home, there is land that can be bought for $40.00 

 an acre may be less than that ; and what he is doing is on 

 a farm that was called, only a few years ago, a poor run- 

 down farm, and not of very much account. 



P. S. Since writing the above I learn he has taken, from 

 the nine acres, 1910 bushels. 



POTATO-BOXES FOR PURCHASERS OF POTATOES. 



I have mentioned in the previous pages of purchasing a 

 carload of Monroe Seedlings, just as they lay on the ground. 

 The farm where they were grown is about 25 to 30 miles from 

 our place. Four hundred and fifty empty potato-boxes were 

 stored in the car, which was then sent to the nearest station 

 to the grower. Although in the latter part of November, 

 the grower loaded the boxes on to his wagon, took them to 

 his cellar, filled them, and set them back on the wagon, then 

 made a trip to the car, bringing another load of boxes. On 

 Wednesday, the 22d of November, the Weather Bureau 

 notified us by telegram that a cold wave and a blizzard 

 would reach us by Thursday night. The notice was given 

 us about 36 hours ahead. The railroad companies were noti- 

 fied that several hundred dollars were at stake; and the 

 managers of our own railroad, the Pittsburg, Akron & West- 

 ern, were considerate enough to hold the train half an hour 



