14 Cultivation of the Potatoe. 
I am willing to admit the existence of this difference, and 
even of one of five per cent., if the potatoes are set in one 
part of the rows, at eight inches, and in another at twenty- 
four inches distance; so that the quantity of sets used for the 
former shall be three times as great as that used for the lat- 
ter. The quantity obtained from the half in which the pota- 
toes are at the greatest distance apart, will not amount to 
more than ninety-five bushéls beyond that of the sets, while 
the produce of the other half will amount to one hundred 
bushels. 
On the other hand the practice of setting at greater distan- 
ces is attended with the following advantages, in field culti- 
vation. 
1. Potatoes, especially those fit for setting, bring a much 
higher price in spring than in autumn, which is the time for 
gathering ; the keeping of them occasions both trouble and 
risk, and there is always a portion spoiled. 
2. Setting at greater distances occasions saving of manual 
labor. 
3. When the plantations are laid out in rows in all direc. 
tions, and the distances between the rows are wide enough tc 
allow the plough to pass crosswise, almost all the manua 
labor which would otherwise be required to weed the space 
will be saved. 
4, These ploughings-are much more efficacious in cleans 
ing, pulverizing and aerating the land, than they would be i 
performed in one direction only, so that the object of follow 
ing one of the principal ends of the culture of weeded crops 
is completely attained. We say nothing about the effect pro 
duced on the potatoes themselves, by cultivation on all sides 
since we have admitted, for argument’s sake, that those whic! 
are cultivated on one side only, yield the greatest increase. 
3. The gathering of potatoes is performed with far greate 
facility and despatch when they are grown on separate hil 
