100 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



As before said, the rains and the atmosphere are not only 

 charged with elements of fertility, bnt they are agents acting 

 with heat in preparing food in the soil for the use of plants. 

 Rains, heat and air should not only enter into but circulate 

 through the soil. Stagnant water and stagnant air are alike 

 hurtful to animals and plants. 



The old cut-and-cover system of ploughing, is in vogue in 

 1873, as well as in 1823. 



"We remember, when boys, the object was quantity and 

 not quality, regarding the complete breaking up and remov- 

 ing of the sod a matter of minor importance. Now, there 

 will always be boys in the field, until the theory of good 

 ploughing is better understood. 



POTATOES. 



Of all crops now grown in New England, in no other form 

 can so large an amount of human food be grown from an acre, 

 as in edil)le roots or tubers ; and of these the potato is by far 

 the most acceptable. Other roots are used occasionally, by 

 way of variety, or as giving relish to other kinds of food, 

 but the potato alone forms a part of the every-day diet to 

 all. 



SOIL AND PREPAKATION. 



The farmer who has dry, warm soil, well covered with 

 decayed or decaying leaves or brush, may expect to grow from 

 it a good crop of potatoes, provided the seed be sound and 

 good, and under a clean cultivation. Grown on dry, new 

 land, the potato always cooks dry and mealy, and possesses an 

 agreeable flavor not usually found in those grown in any other 

 soil. In no argillaceous soil can the potato be grown to per- 

 fection, as far as regards quality, although it may be so as far 

 as it respects quantity. 



To produce roots of the best quality, the soil should be dry, 

 deep and porous, and to get a large crop the ground should 

 be well filled with humus. Nitrogenous manures should 

 always be excluded ; if they must be used, it is far better to 

 apply them to some other crop the year previous to growing 

 the potato. An excellent manure for the potato is to mix one 

 cord of well-seasoned muck with one cask of air-slaked lime, 

 using, salt liberally at the time of slaking, and applying about 



