ON ROOT CROPS. 115 



Onion, the town has been taxed more heavily, in the loss on this cropy 

 than in any other manner. 



2d. As to the Carrot Crop. It is good — never better. Many 

 fields yield twenty tons and upwards to the acre. This plant is ex- 

 tensively cultivated. Corrots readily sell per ton at more than half 

 the price of English hay. They are thought to be a sure and valu- 

 able crop. They will not do well for several years in succession, on 

 the same land. Notwithstanding the drought was very severe in 

 August and September, it affected this crop very little. I have 

 heretofore remarked upon the benefits accruing to the land from the 

 cultivation of the carrot, and have attributed it to the deep stirring 

 incident thereto, 



3d. As to the Beet Crop. Some farmers have raised a very good 

 crop of the turnip beet, and esteem it a valuable product ; — but gen- 

 erally the beet is not much cultivated ; not so much, I think, as it 

 ought to be. I have seen a few patches of the sugar beet, of lim- 

 ited dimensions, very well grown. 



4th. As to the Potato Crop. Potatoes are very fair in appear- 

 ance and abundant in quantity — but of doubtful character. Some 

 farmers have lost more than half their crop, within a few weeks after 

 they put them into their cellars. Others are so doubtful as to the 

 character of the potatoes, notwithstanding their entire fair appear- 

 ance, that they are unwilling to take them to market, through fear 

 that they will prove valueless. As near as I can learn, one half of 

 the expected crop of potatoes in this town, the present season, will 

 be lost. The man who shall trace the true cause of this blight, and 

 prescribe an adequate remedy, will render the community a service 

 of more value, than has ever been rendered by the most successful 

 military chieftain. Pardon my presumption in making these sugges- 

 tions. I do it under the impression, that if we could obtain, from 

 eye-witnesses, an exact description of the actual state of the pro- 

 ducts in their respective neighborhoods, in all the towns of the 

 county, it would afford a mass of information, when continued for 

 several years, of very great utility. 



Very truly yours, 



J. W. PROCTOR. 



To David Choate, Esq., Chairman of Committee on Root Crops. 



