40 



13. Potatoes are grown in the county as food for man and 

 cattle. The cultivation of this excellent root might be extend- 

 ed to great advantage. The planting and the harvesting are 

 heavy labors, which render the cultivation to many persons ob- 

 jectionable. The cultivation in general is slovenly ; and where 

 the fields are manured as is usually done with coarse barn man- 

 ure, the weeds in general contend so strongly for the mastery 

 that it is often difficult to say which is the victorious party. 



Of their value as feed for stock, I shall have occasion to 

 speak presently. The crop through the county does not aver- 

 age more than 200 or 22.5 bushels. In one instance on the 

 Deerfield meadows, 612 bushels were obtained, and 300 bush- 

 els to the acre are not infrequent. This extraordinary crop of 

 612 bushels shows what may be accomplished. When our 

 farmers will become convinced that the best cultivation is the 

 most profitable, it is not easy to predict. 



1 shall subjoin the account of the successful cultivator, Den- 

 nis Stebbins. 



" The land on which this crop was raised lies in the north 

 meadow of Deerfield, and is of a heavy rich loam. In the pre- 

 vious year broom corn was raised upon it and no manure ap- 

 plied ; and it had been appropriated alternately to the raising of 

 corn and potatoes except one year a crop of hemp. The year 

 in which corn was raised, there was applied about five loads of 

 manure. The year in which this crop was raised, the field was 

 planted on the 15th of May in drills or rows, the rows three 

 feet apart and the seed dropped in about one foot asunder ; there 

 were applied twenty loads of manure, a small shovel-full under 

 each potatoe, which was cut into three pieces. The land was 

 first ploughed and then drilled or furrowed out for the reception 

 of the seed with a small plough and one horse ; the seed was 

 then covered with a hoe. Thirty-three bushels were the quan- 

 tity of seed used, and they were a long red kind known by the 

 name of mei-ijio {La Plata). June 11th, just as the tops began 

 to make their appearance, with a single horse there were turned 

 two furrows on to each row, which nearly covered all the tops, 

 and by the application of a hoe they were completely covered. 



