REPORT 



OF THE 



CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEE ON FIELD CROPS. 



JAMES COMINS, HADLEY. 



It was with much pleasure ou the part of myself, as one of the 

 committee, that I visited the fields of the members of this Society 

 who had made efforts to produce premium crops. Had the entries 

 been more numerous, and the duties more laborious, there would 

 have been more pleasure in visiting and making the awards. I would 

 suggest that there be a more extensive circulation of the premium 

 list, for it would be profitable for the members of this society and 

 farmers generally, both young and old, to take more interest in this 

 class of premiums offered by the society. It would pay in the more 

 bountiful crops produced, and in the study of the various methods 

 of producing the same. If all do not succeed in getting a premium, 

 the effort will help them to advance in the science of agriculture and 

 profitable farming. It is on the producing of the potato crop that I 

 would engage your attention in this report. It should, and probably 

 will be, a long time before all classes of the American peojjle will 

 dispense with the use of potatoes as an article of diet. It is, under 

 favorable circumstances, easily produced, and constitutes a healthy 

 and easily digested food for both man and beast. 



The little hindrances that come to prevent raising a good crop 

 easy, only call for a more determined effort. The past season has 

 been unfavorable for producing large crops of potatoes ; the exces- 

 sive rainfall during the months of July and August, have injured, 

 and in some places nearly destroyed the crop. The short supply has 

 made a greater demand, and higher prices are obtained for what we 

 have, so that, as a money crop, it will amount to nearly as much as a 

 more bountiful yield with low prices. In visiting the several fields 

 we find, where a determined and faithful effort has been made, and 

 the locality has been well selected, a fair crop has been produced, 

 amounting to from two to three hundred bushels per acre, as was es- 



