III. ON RAISING POTATOES FROM THE SEED. 



The Commiitee of the Essex Jlgriculiural Society y on raising pota- 

 toes from the seed, and on cider, ask leave to 



Report — that they have awarded the premiums for raising po- 

 tatoes from the seed as follows 



To Mr. Daniel Putnam of Danvers, the 1st premium ^10 



To Col. Jesse Putnam of Danvers, 2d premium of $7 



To Mr. Asa Perley of Boxford, 3d premium of $5 



The process is contained in the statements of the claimants an- 

 nexed. From them it will appear with how much facility this 

 useful vegetable may be renewed from the seed. Many if not 

 most of the potatoes brought to our market are of so bad a quali- 

 ty as to be scarcely eatable. Few objects are more deserving 

 the attention of the practical farmer than their improvement, and 

 perhaps none of equal importance can be so easily accomplished. 

 By renewing them once in ten or fifteen years from the seed, and 

 selecting the best kinds thus obtained, according to the practice 

 in those countries where the best potatoes are found, we may 

 hope to improve the quality of this article to a degree hitherto 

 unequalled. 



The Committee regret that no cider was offered for the pre- 

 mium the present year. No article produced on a farm more 

 needs, or is more susceptible of improvement, or will better repay 

 the care and industry of the farmer. 



F. HOWES, ) 



J. TOWNE, JUN. ) Commiitee. 



J. NEWHALL, ) 



Topsfield, Oct. 5, 1825. 



Mr. Daniel Putnam'' s account of his manner of raising potatoes from 



the seed. 

 In the fall of the year 1823 I gathered some balls which grew 

 on the stalks of the potatoes called the Long Reds, separated the 

 seeds from the pulp and preserved them until the spring of 1824. 

 I then sowed them like garden seeds in rows about one foot apart, 

 on a piece of land about three feet square prepared for gardening. 

 The produce was about three quarts^ from the size of cranberries 



