256 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Dr. Waterbury said he had fed 800 bushels one season, and he 

 had faith in them. 



Mr. Vail went into a minute calculation to show what an im- 

 mense sum of money might be saved by substituting carrots for a 

 part of the oats in feeding horses. Carrots can be raised for $60 

 an acre, and average 600 bushels, including all the items of cost. 



The turnips, beets, ruta bagas, and parsnips are all equally 

 profitable, and w^ould save immense sums of money if more ex- 

 tended. 



POTATOES. 



Mr. Joseph P. Simpson spoke of the value of the potato-crop. I 

 only came here to learn. I wish somebody would tell me how 

 to plant potatoes. 



Solon Robinson — I w^ould plow ten or twelve inches deep, first 

 spreading the manure on the surface. I would then mark off the 

 rows three feet apart, with a small plow, and if the nature of the 

 surface would admit, always running the rows north and south. 

 I would use large potatoes for seed, dropping them a foot apart 

 in the drill. I would cover the seed by two small furrows turn- 

 ed each way. I would afterward cultivate upon the level sys- 

 tem. The best soil for potatoes is a vegetable muck. I have 

 seen good potatoes grown by dropping the seed on a grass sward 

 and turning a furrow each way, so as to cover a strip of sod with 

 the seed under the furrow-slice. If the summer is a wet one 

 they will grow well; if dry, as last season, you will get no po- 

 tatoes. The cheapest method of fertilizing land for potatoes is to 

 turn down a clover-sod. The roots furnish food to make the 

 plants grow, and the ground is kept mellow. You never can 

 raise good potatoes on any land, however rich, unless it is mel- 

 low. The tubers must have room to expand. I deprecate hill- 

 ing potatoes except by turning two furrows to the row at the last 

 plowing. Our system of hilling corn is derived from the Indians, 

 who had no plows and no hoes better than sharp sticks, or clam- 

 shells, and were obliged to scrape up the loose earth around the 

 roots. It is a heathenish, old practice, adopted by our fore- 

 fathers, and followed by us without a shadow of reason or iota of 

 benefit. 



Mr. Judd — A friend of mine has cultivated the same variety 

 of potatoes in the same way for 25 years, with good success. He 

 always plants middle-size potatoes, and always in hills. He 

 thinks that a good plan of planting, and I believe in it both for 

 corn and potatoes. 



