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different varieties of potatoes grown as far as may be under 

 the same conditions as to fertilizer, cultivation and care 

 which I think may be of some benefit to my brother farm- 

 ers, I therefore take this means to furnish them the data. 



My business the past winter brought me in contact with 

 a great many of the best farmers of Essex and Middlesex 

 counties, and especially those who grew crops for the mar- 

 ket, and as my time was not limited and the farmers were 

 not very busy at that season of the year, I had many a 

 good chat with them on the subject of crops and their cul- 

 tivation. I know it was to my benefit and I hope it was to 

 theirs. These chats in a measure led to this experiment, I 

 have for years been very much interested in the potato 

 crop, the different varieties which from time to time are 

 thrown upon the market and much lauded for their many 

 good qualities, have particularly interested me, and many a 

 hard earned dollar have I squandered to find that ignis 

 fatuus — the best potato in existence. 



Now with this preliminary I will proceed to business. 

 Almost my first question to the farmers when I met them 

 was, what variety of potatoes do you raise, and strange to 

 say almost every farmer thought he had the best one grown, 

 and whenever I found one that a whole neighborhood 

 thought a good one 1 bought some of that variety and sent 

 them home, and the consequence was that when I came to 

 plant potatoes this spring I was in possession of fifteen va- 

 rieties which were supposed to be world beaters, and among 

 which I found several good ones. The old varieties which 

 I had previously grown like the Hebrons, Early Rose and 

 New Queen I did not touch, but I found many of the farm- 

 ers still stick to the old stand bys, which I think is a very 

 good thing, until they are convinced that they have found 

 a better one. 



I took a half-acre of land for my experiment which was 

 in all parts as exactly alike as soil can be found, and each 



