ir 9 



• |l j give Mr. Terry's three years' experience with this variety, as published in the columns of "The Practical Farmer ," for 

 which petper Mr. Terry writes exclusively. Mr. T. B. Terry, of Hudson, Ohio, has had the reputation for years of being one 

 of, if not the most practical, experienced potato grower in America. There are tens of thousands who read this catalogue who 

 have a personal acquaintance with Mr. Terry, from having met him at farmers' Institutes, etc. To those who may not know 

 him, I will say that Mr. Terry has been considered an authority on Potato culture for years. 



2 What nr. Terry had to say about The 

 Freeman Potato in 189 1. 



Taken from the September 19th 1891, issue of the P. F. 



"Some readers of The Practical Fanner will remember our planting 

 a barrel of the Freeman Potatoes last Spring. We cut the seed up pretty 



speet they this year beat any variety I ever grew. In July we had a fear- 

 fully hot week. This perhaps did as much to injure the early potato 

 crop as the excess of rain. There was a little gravelly spot on the half 

 acre, with a southern exposure. The Freemans died down on this spot 

 during the hot week considerably. They were just burned up. On the 

 heavier cooler soil, they were not affected much, ine result was that 

 these last grew on steadily and died down naturally. The injured ones 

 on the gravelly soil come on when rain and cooler weather "came, and 



j, fine for field culture and spread it oyer ground enough to give them a grew all up green again . >- ow potato men know what this means-little 



fair chance. The barrel contained 165 pounds of tubers when it came 

 J last Fall. The Freeman has but few eyes, and many of the potatoes 

 * were too large to spread well for seed. We planted them about the 1st 

 »• of May by hand. No manure or fertilizer of any kind was used except 

 clover and a small patch of old June grass sod. There was actually no 



In that respect we did 



m forcing whatever except in the line of tillage. 

 S our best. The surface was kept mellow by 



potatoes swelling out here and there on the big ones. This with all other 

 troubles made me entirely disgusted. Why, only last week some visitors 

 wanted to see some of the Freemans and I took a fork and went to where 

 they had grown all right and dug some fine tubers, v hich indicated 

 a yield of about two bushels to the souare rod. I was careful not to dig 

 any of those second growth ones. We ail do naturally want to put our 

 best foot forward you know. 



Now I will not surprise you as much as I was surprised when I say 

 there were only nice smooth potatoes where the second growth was 

 made. The energy of the vines was spent in increasing the size of the 

 little potatoes, instead of growing little ones on the big ones. I got my 

 finest potatoes where I expected almost worthless ones." 



Freeman Potato in 1893. 



kept mellow by means of cultivator and 

 fc pronged hoes, without any regard to time spent. They were planted 4 



1 inches deep on half the ground and 3 on the rest. They were never hilled 

 Z up at all, except just as the vines began to die we went through with a 

 »• hoe and covered some tubers that had raised up out of the ground, be- 



. cause there was no longer room for them to expand in it. Right here 

 o we made a mistake. We covered the seed all at once. These little pieces 



would have done better if planted in holes 4 inches deep and the dirt ii ,< . m» rwy i_ a. « j_ i-r, 



^ but half put back at planting time. After the plants got up and started Wttat Mr. I erry ttaS tO SUV aDOUt 1 tlC 

 H the rest could have been gradually worked in round them. As it was, 

 p although they were covered with the finest earth, they were a long time 

 g getting up to daylight where planted and covered 4 inches deep. 

 S Well, now, what was the result? An experienced potato grower who 

 E was over here yesterday, after looking over the potatoes, said to me: 

 "Terry, don't you ever tell of this, because not one man in a hundred 

 will believe it." Perhaps be is right, but I shall tell all the same. We 

 ^ have 305 bushels of Freeman Potatoes in our cellar, the product of that 

 £ barrel of seed. The potatoes were all picked up in bushel boxes and 

 Z counted and emptied after each day's digging, so there can be no mis- 

 take. Of course there were many hills that were not very good from 

 such fine cut seed ; but many of them, where they got a good start, were 

 wonderful. The ground was bulged up about like half a pumpkin. 

 Some of the potatoes were very large. 



bushel basket. I do not think I have had such a basketof potatoes on 

 my farm since the Early Rose first came. They were fully as large the 

 first year we grew them (in a small way), but were heavily manured. 

 These were fed on clover only. The June grass patch was not as good. 

 Of course the splitting of eyes could have been carried much further, as 

 £ some experts know. 



Some will wonder, perhaps, whether I could have done as well with 

 5 any of our many varieties of potatoes as I did with the Freeman. I 

 a think not. It seems to be a wonderful potato. But further trial will be 

 necessary to establish this point. 



We dug out Freemans by hand, as they were in small patches, and it 

 was hardly worth while to turn around so many times with our big 



2 four-horse digger. 



What nr. Terry had to say about The 

 Freeman Potato in 1892. 



Taken from the October 8th, 1892, issue of the P. F. 

 Last year the writer tried to see how many he could grow of these 

 from a barrel of seed. The result was 305 bushels. Of course the seed 

 H was split up very fine, and each little piece given plenty of room. The 

 H yield per acre was not large; that was not what we were after. This 

 E« year I measured off an exact half acre and planted one eye pieces, such 

 !5 as we ordinarily use, the common distance apart, to see what this noted 

 ^ potato would do in the way of yield per acre. The half acre was all 

 - good land. Our land is not all good for potatoes. This was selected so 

 < it should be. I intended to give them every care that a good farmer 

 B should. But, alas ! Everything was against me. May and June were 

 O wet beyond everything ever known here, and my land not sandy enough 

 h to stand it without serious injury. Owing to constant rain, the seed, 

 which was unsprouted the first of May when we intended to plant, laid 

 around until it was sadly injured. Thecrop was planted hastily, indrills 

 32 inches apart and a piece every foot in the drills. It was too wet when 

 we planted, but wetter in a very short time. Nearly all the early part 

 Of the season we were unable to do our best in caring for the crop. 



Well, we dug the crop yesterday, such as it was. We got 157 bushels 

 from the half acre, or at the rate of 314 bushels per acre. Quite a few of 

 the small ones were not picked up. With such a season as last I should 

 have expected to put just another hundred bushels on the same ground. 

 I like the Freeman even better than I did last year. They are almost per 

 feet in shape, smooth and nice 



Taken from September 23d, 1S93, issue of the P. F. 

 "The last day of August, we dug and put into the barn 305 bushe'isof 

 Freeman Potatoes. There was some work about this. Our four horses, 

 on the Hoover digger, turned them out easily and nicely, but to engineer 

 the matter so the men were never out of boxes or potatoes, and to see 

 that everything was done just right in the field and barn was no smalt 

 job. Of course, with a large crop this would be a moderate day's work, 

 but with a light crop, the result of this excessively dry season, it took 

 some push to get out 305 bushels in good shape. But, we beean work at 

 7 a. M. and quit at 6 P. H., with a full hour out for dinner. But, now my 

 Twenty of the largest filled a half friend who was spoken of last week will say this was uotan 'every-dav* 



job. Well, he is right, because the next day we dug and put in the barn 

 340 bushels, and there would have been 20 or 30 more if we nad not broken 

 a bolt in the digger, that hindered us some. But truly we do not work 

 like this often. 



Now, I suppose you would like to know how these potatoes turned 

 out? Well, during the entire season of their growth, we had but one 

 rain that wet them down. There were places nearby where it rained 

 more, but our showers were mere sprinkles that did little more than 

 check evaporation for a few hours. The price of potatoes shows what 

 the season was. We could have drawn these to Cleveland, after thev 

 were fit to eat, and got a dollar a bushel for almost all of them. I* takes 

 work to grow a good crop in such a season. One must know h_w. and 

 then never once fail to do it. As I look back I cannot see where «e 

 made a single mistake on this piece just dug. In addition to the drought, 

 we had that terrible 60 hour rain, after they were planted, which put the 

 ground in the worst shape, notwithstanding drought. But we melloned 

 it up all we could, and saved every bit of needless evaporation by keep- 

 ing the surface lightly stirred. Until the middle of the season, the out- 

 look was grand. I never had a more perfect stand on this field, or a 

 more beautiful show. Neighbor Croy said to me, "That is equal to the 

 most showy picture I ever saw in a catalogue." It was. It could not be 

 made more fine. The dry weather began to tell. The exposure was 

 mostly a Southern one, and we had some very hot days. Then for weeks 

 we had to see them fight for life. They seemed sometimes as if they 

 could not bold out another day, but they did, yielding only inch bv inch. 

 Meanwhile we often watched the threatening clouds in vain; but that 

 was not all. When they had about covered the ground, we quit cultivat- 

 ing for awhile. But as they began to shrink and dry up, we 

 kept the' surface stirred not more than an inch deep. Not 

 a single armful of weeds were allowed to pump up "-..ature in 

 the entire field. The result is 912 bushels of these wcicrtul potatoes, 

 from 5 4-10 acres. This is good enough considering the price, 

 but with timely rains, I would have had s r -r.ething grand to 

 report. The fine seed from my old friend, J. vi. Smith, grown in 

 Wisconsin, did no better than our own. We had to plant 

 quite a good many bushels of our small potatoes, from lack of 

 anything larger. We cut off seed end and then split them into two or 

 three pieces, and it is a fact lhat we could see no particular difference in 

 the yield, dry as the season has been, so much vitality has this new 

 potato. By mistake, our fo ks cooked a mess of them, and the moment 

 I sat down to the table I as ted them where they got those Freemans. 

 They are so nice and white I knew them at a glance. Wish we could 

 They are strong growers. In one" re- eat them all the time, but ran hardly afford to yet." 



wish to emphasize the fact to one and all my customers that if they wish the genuine 

 simon pure Irish Daisy and Freeman Potatoes, they should send to headquarters. My 

 prices this year are most reasonable; in fact, I am asking but little more for either Freeman 

 • or Irish Daisies than for ordinary sorts; consequently, there is very little, if any, excuse for 



not sending your order direct to headquarters. During the last four years there have been thousands of bushels of so-called 

 § Freemans sold the confiding public, that were Freemans in name only. This has undoubtedly done the Freeman Potato 

 ■ a great injury. The same thing promises to be repeated in the case of the Irish Daisy. Last year I sold all the Irish Daisies 

 b I could spare at §15.00 per barrel. This year, according to precedent, my price should be $7.50 per barrel; but in view of the 

 tS fact that it has come to my knowledge that several dealers, anticipating I would ask a very large price, are offering a potato 

 ~ said to be Irish Daisy, that is no more Irish Daisy than Irish Daisy is Freeman, I have determined to offer the Irish Daisy, 

 Si this the second year of its introduction, at rock bottom figures. So beware of those people who, knowing that on account of 

 3 the wonderful record made by the Irish Daisy the past season, there is bound to be a tremendous demand for them, are offer- 

 «« ing stock with which I have never had anvthing to do. Unless they can show some evidence that they bought their stock 

 5 from me this year or last, LEAVE THEM ALONE. 



= At prices at which I quote Irish Daisy and Freeman Potatoes this year, there is absolutely no 



5 excuse for any one, desiring to plant these varieties, not sending their orders direct to headquar- 

 ters. I am just as positive as I can be that owing to the drought and bad season generally, no one 



6 in America will be able to quote either of these celebrated varieties at lower prices than given herewith. 



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! CAUTION. 1 1 



