ROOT CROPS. 79 



provided the muck ^Yas not less than about five feet deep where 

 they were planted. All the other varieties have rotted more or 

 less. No potato, I think, can be successfully raised in a shallow, 

 cold, mud soil ; it must be deep, light and porous. 



From year to year I have planted the small potatoes, two in 

 a hill. But where the lands were dry, or in poor condition, 

 two of the largest size would insure a more vigorous vine and 

 guard against drought. Two potatoes in a hill, about a fo.ot 

 apart, gives you something like two hills in one without 

 additional expense in cultivating. 



Had this ground been planted a week or ten days sooner, 

 and had seasonable rains occurred, the crop would probably 

 have been larger. Wet seasons have produced the largest crops. 



These potatoes were not planted with a view to offer the crop 

 for premium, otherwise I should have planted them a little 

 nearer together. Some of the rows actually measured five by 

 six feet apart, and would average more than three by four feet 

 apart. Yet the vines nearly met. 



My experience has taught me that nothing is gained by 

 crowding a crop ; it causes a greater draft upon the land and 

 additional expense in cultivating. 



When the muck is deep no underdraining is needed. Ditches 

 at the distance of six or eight rods will take all the surplus water. 



The cost of cultivating and harvesting on these lands is far 

 less than upon the upland. Though rackets must be used on 

 the horse's feet, yet few, if any, would refuse to work in them, 

 and therefore but little trouble is experienced from this sourcis. 



The planting was done in one day, and the second time hoe- 

 ing in one day, by myself ; and the first time hoeing was only 

 about a good day's work, making three in all. With the aid of 

 two boys of the age of fourteen years, I gathered, assorted and 

 put in the cellar, fifty bushels in a day of nine hours. 



I do not claim that this land is better than hundreds of acres 

 in our county, now producing nothing but brakes and bushes, 

 which would furnish food for vegetables of various kinds, and 

 particularly the potato, long after the Western prairies have 

 failed, by drawing from them more than is returned, while these 

 bogs of ten feet deep — the accumulation of ages — must outlast 

 the richest soil on the globe. 



MiDDLETON, October, 18G5. 



