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the essential ones. Let them be movements that will serve 

 you at all times, and in all places, in the day time and in the 

 darkness of the night, if an accident occurs, the harness 

 breaks, or the carriage is overturned. We do not care about 

 funny tricks. A prompt response to the word whoa, is worth 

 more than all else, and might save the life of our family. 



THE POTATO. 



BY GILBERT CONANT OF IPSWICH. 



The potato, as an esculent root, excels all others. As such, 

 it ranks with corn and wheat as cereals. The loss of the po- 

 tato crop in New England, would be a greater calamity, than 

 that of either corn or wheat. However high the price of this 

 delicious root may be, few families could be found, that would 

 be willing to give up the daily use of it upon their tables. 

 The price of potatoes is, generally, higher than that of corn, 

 and sometimes it has been as high as that of wheat, and even 

 then, the demand for them was good. The potato is both 

 healthful and nutritious; and, when prepared for food, has no 

 peculiar taste that is unpleasant. Its flavor is as good as that 

 of flour. When the grain crop has been short, and that of 

 potatoes abundant, they have often been used for the purpose 

 of making bread ; and have been found to be an excellent sub- 

 stitute for flour. But the potato, like all otlier esculents, has 

 its destroyers. Of late, innumerable armies of the potato beetle 

 seem to threaten its utter extinction. A partial remedy 

 against the ravages of this most baneful pest, is found in Paris 

 Green ; still, the application of this deadly drug is attended 

 with much labor and expense ; and with danger to the lives of 

 both man and beast. 



The potato rot. This is another detriment to the success- 

 ful growth of the potato crop. This lias, oftentimes, cut off 



