On Corn and Potatoes, 331 



all the hands I could get were employed in setting it 

 up ; some of them being awkward, broke the plants, and 

 sadly mangled the roots, and it was not until about 

 seven acres had been set up, that I observed the active 

 power of vegetation was performing the operation infi- 

 nitely better than the most expert workman in the field. 

 After this two other storms blew down a considerable 

 quantity, when the ears were too heavy for it to rise, 

 and although part of this lay flat on the ground, it was 

 not observed that the filling of the ears were hijured, 

 but it became necessary previously to ploughing up the 

 potatoes to remove those plants out of the way, which 

 it was found had rooted from their joints fast to the 

 ground ; with a sharp hoe those roots were easily cut, 

 and the plants readily laid aside with but little injury, 

 while I was present ; but other business demanded my 

 attention, and the crop sustained very considerable 

 damage from the carelessness of the person who did 

 this work : these disasters, together with calculating the 

 roller from its round instead of the round of the extremi- 

 ties of the indentures, reduced the fruitful plants in the 

 field to one half the number originally designed. They 

 were ascertained by measuring a rod in various parts of 

 the field, when the ears of the re-planted were well formed, 

 and estimating the average of fruitful plants within those 

 distances, and from that moment I clearly perceived my 

 high expectations were blasted : but the disasters of 

 this ill-fated experiment did not stop here; early in 

 August, it was discovered that proper grasses for soil- 

 ing the cattle would soon be very deficient, and on the 

 20th of that month one row of corn was topped, to as- 

 certain how it would bear early cutting, and it was 



