91 



courts of Essex county, Dan Weed, Jr., Esq., and was in- 

 formed by him that the " potato patch " of his venerable sii*e 

 lacked a very essential requisite to a premium, to wit : — size. 

 This information saved Mr. "Weed the trouble of doing the 

 honors to five most excellent judges of roots. 



The attention of the Committee was next called to a piece 

 of Potatoes comprising, as near as could be judged, about 

 three-quarters of an acre, upon the farm of Mr. David Stiles 

 of Middlcton. This field was visited by the chairman — no 

 other member of the Committee appearing to disturb his med- 

 itations — during the week preceding our annual fair, at which 

 time the tops of the Potatoes were entirely green and the 

 tubers seemed still to be growing. The land upon which 

 these Potatoes were growing is one of those peat bogs so com- 

 mon in this county, whose depth can be fathomed to the end 

 of the longest pole at hand and then guessed at. Being de- 

 termined to go to the " root " of this Potato patch we turned 

 out several hills and counting the product fit for the table 

 should judge that the hills might average thirty Potatoes each 

 fit for market. As this product was some five, or 7nore, ahead 

 of our own we concluded that Mr. Stiles ought to be awarded 

 the first premium on Potatoes. Reference may be had to his 

 statement herewith transmitted. 



So much for the specific duty to which we were assign- 

 ed. We now wish to say a word ^ on another topic. Dur- 

 ing our peregrinations around the county a farmer dropped 

 the remark that his crops were not as good as they would 

 have been had he been able to give to his land a sufficient 

 quantity of manure. Not an hour before we had passed 

 through his barn where were standing some forty cows. The 

 remark astonished us, and we ventured to enquire how much 

 stock he kept on the farm. He enumerated forty cows, four 

 horses, six oxen and a bull, besides some twenty persons at 

 the house. With such a host what an enormous pile of ma- 

 nure ought a farmer to make ! To every solid or liquid drop- 

 ping from such a host what vast results would ensue were he 



