95 



STATEMENT OP ROBERT FRANK DODGE, OF WENHAM, ON 

 POTATO CROP. 



Gentlemen : 



The crop of 1885 was grass ; 1500 pounds to the acre, 

 with no manure. Crop of 1886, an excellent yield of corn, 

 planted with twenty loads, of thirty bushels each, of barn 

 manure, and 400 pounds fertilizer. Soil is a dark, gravelly 

 loam, with slight mixture of clay. 



Ground was ploughed April 28, about six inches deep, at 

 a cost of $4. Spread twenty-five loads, of thirty bushels 

 each, of barn manure, and 500 pounds of fertilizer, and 

 harrowed it in. Value of barn manure, $2 per load ; fer- 

 tilizer, $12 per 500 pounds. Cost of harrowing and fur- 

 rowing, $2. Planted in drills three and one-half feet 

 apart, with seed one foot apart in the drill. Used 500 

 pounds of fertilizer in drill. Cost, $12. Planted eight 

 bushels of Clark's No. 1 potatoes, covering with horse. 

 Cost of seed and planting, $12. Brushed once ; cultivated 

 and hoed twice ; cost, $6. Turned potatoes out by plough. 

 Cost of digging, five cents per bushel. 



Gathered upon the one-half acre entered for premium, 

 170| bushels, giving 341 bushels of potatoes per acre. 

 Cost of crop per acre : 



Ploughing, $4 00 



Harrowing and furrowing, 2 00 



Barn manure, 50 00 



One-half ton fertilizer, 24 00 



Seed and planting, 12 00 



Cultivating and hoeing, 6 00 



Harvesting, 17 00 



$115 00 

 For one-half acre, 157.50. 

 Value of one-half acre, at $1 per bushel, $170.50. 



Note — Product per acre, 341 bushels of potatoes, $341 00 

 Cost of crop, per acre, 115 00 



Profit per acre, exclusive of land rent and interest, $226 00 



