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importance to the farmer of raising the best varieties of 

 whatever crop he undertakes to produce. The difference 

 in the results is very great under the same conditions. 

 Even if the seed is pure and true to name, one variety of 

 almost any vegetable or fruit may produce twice as much 

 as another. New varieties are constantly being intro- 

 duced, many of them of little value, perhaps, but some of 

 them are superior, and it behooves the farmer to keep his 

 eyes open and get the best. The writer of this once tried 

 an experiment in raising potatoes which exactly illustrates 

 the point. A tract of land Avas fertilized and prepared for 

 planting, great care being taken that it should all receive 

 the same treatment. It was then planted with half a dozen 

 or more of the most popular varieties of potato then in 

 cultivation, and all were treated alike. 



The yield of each variety was carefully measured, and 

 it Avas found that the crop ranged from less than two 

 hundred bushels per acre to about four hundred. Of 

 course quality, as well as quantity, must be taken into 

 account, but we fancy that the financial success of the 

 farmer depends more on the judicious selection of varieties 

 than he often thinks. Another matter, in raising what are 

 commonly known as " hoed crops," is the importance of 

 liaving land that can be cultivated with the least possible 

 manual labor. In these days of the improved tools and 

 machinery which we see on our best managed farms, the 

 farmer can hardly afford to cultivate land that requires 

 the work to be all done by hand. Many of us can remem- 

 ber when the only tools used in cultivating " hoed crops " 

 were the common cultivator, plough and hoe. We recall 

 with disgust the hot June days when the plough, having 

 been run once or twice between the rows of corn and pota- 

 toes, we labored painfully through the low rows, the weeds 

 and grass as well grown as the crop,' and longed for the 

 sun to go down. Now, as every one knows, most of the 

 planting and cultivating can be done by machinery, pro- 

 vided the land is free from stones and not too hard and 



