40 



Sweet potatoes should be dug soon after the first severe frost, 

 and, if intended for keeping, should be packed in thoroughly 

 dried sand, and placed in a warm and dry situation. In this way 

 they may be kept till the latter part of winter. 

 Very respectfully yours, 



L. Johnson. 



Of Indian corn, the average crop through the county has been 

 a little less than usual. Wet weather and early frost damaged 

 the corn in some places. Some seed rotted in the ground, and 

 the fields were planted a second time. Still there have been 

 yields from fifty to more than a hundred bushels to the acre ; and 

 the general opinion is undoubtedly correct, that no other crop is 

 so well adapted to our climate and soil. Every farmer believes 

 himself competent to grow corn to the best advantage. Sugges- 

 tions from us may, therefore, seem superfluous. Nor do we claim 

 superior wisdom in practical skill. But famihar with the practices 

 of the best farmers in the county, and with different results, we 

 may be excused for offering one or two hints, not of things new, 

 but of things neglected. Every one knows that corn is a rank 

 feeder, extending its roots in all directions where it finds nutri- 

 ment. Hence the necessity of deep ploughing and thorough pul- 

 verization of the soil. Subsoil ploughing has been found beneficial 

 by supplying moisture in dry weather, and furnishing room for the 

 extension of the roots. The more thoroughly the manure is mixed 

 with the soil, the better chance has the corn of exhausting its ben- 

 efits. We have noticed several fields, this season, that yielded 

 on good ground scarcely twenty bushels to the acre, owing to 

 imperfect ploughing, which left the soil in lumps, and to coarse, 

 unreduced manure. It was difficult to cover the manure, and 

 much of it was exposed to the air and sun. " Pulverization of 

 the earth, and the mingling and perfect incorporation of the ma- 

 nures with the soil, may be regarded as the fundamental principle 

 of judicious and successful culture" of this crop. Under any cir- 

 cumstances, in the barnyard or in the field, it must be considered 

 bad management to let manure lie unsheltered. Its exposure to 

 sun, rain, frost and wind, must diminish its value by carrying 

 away its most fertilizing properties. The use of coarse manure 

 for corn, so coarse that it must be partially wasted, is the more to 



were not quite so good as usual, in consequence of the cool and wet 

 weather." 



The success of ]Mr. Caleb Bates, of Plymouth county, is well known. In 

 a recent circular he says : " In flavor, the potatoes raised in Plymouth 

 county are sweeter, on an average, than those brought from the South, as 

 hundreds will testify. In yielding, they far surpass the common potato, 

 producing from three to five hundred bushels to the acre, with good treat- 

 ment." Mr. Bates' address is Kingston, Mass. 



