LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE. 
POTATOES AND MELONS. 
Editor of Seed-Time and Harvest:— 
I have thought several times of writing a 
little for your valuable magazine, but have 
been very busy, having my various farm 
duties to attend to; but, now that winter is 1 
at hand I have more spare time. I will 
tell you how I experimented with potatoes 
and melons, and what success I had. 
A year ago last spring I planted the seed 
from two potato seed balls. I planted in 
a hot-bed in the last part of March, and in 
the last part of May, transplanted to the 
open ground. I harvested last year, one- 
half .peck of potatoes, all sizes, from the 
size of a pea, to the size of a large hen’s 
egg. There appears to be three different 
varieties, red, white, and red with white 
spots. The seed balls were from the Straw¬ 
berry potato. I planted all of them this year, 
and have three pecks of good sized potatoes 
and some small ones. The red and white 
variety is a very handsome potato and 
promises to be a good variety. Will know 
more about them next year, and if the 
readers of Seed-Time and Harvest wish, 
I will tell more about them. 
This year 1 tried planting melons among 
my potatoes. It proved a success in ridding 
the melons of the 6triped bug, but I got 
my potatoes too close together; they shaded 
the melons too much. I think that a good 
plan would be to plant melons among po¬ 
tatoes, and when the bug season is about 
over, pull up the potatoes and let the mel¬ 
ons have all the room. 
if this finds a place in print I will write 
again. Success to Seed-Time and Har¬ 
vest. Yours Truly, R. M. Greeley. 
Bristol , loiva. 
LARGE ONIONS. 
1 see in the current number of Seed-Time 
and Harvest, M. D. Dumbell fills a col¬ 
umn in describing his success with onions^ 
says he had three that measured 4f inches 
in diameter, and wants to know if any has 
done better. 
I did not count but a half bushel of my 
“Roccas’ and there weie just 24 onions to 
fill the halt bushel, just as you measure 
onions for market. I measured only one, 
and it was not the largest I had; it meas¬ 
ured 5f inches the smallest way (horizon- 
tallv). I had hundreds of them that would 
measure o inches, I had 18 rows 135 feet 
long, and had fully 70 bushels of onions. 
And I did not take any to the fair either. 
I did not think a premium of $2.00 was a 
sufficient inducement. But after all I did 
not make my onions pay. for half of them 
rotted before I could get them sold. 
Robert B. Wilson. 
Moawequa, III. 
1,000,050 “rIants!^ 
STRAWBERRY 
PLANTS. 
Besides an immense stock of Fruit Trees, Rug* 
?|^ n ^ RI U l 1 1 be ^ r 7» Kilborn and Wager 
Peach, Blackberries, Grapes, Ac, Cat¬ 
alogue Free, Purdy’s Fruit’ Recorder 
Pur dr’s’ Sin L ll I « C- ’ for onl >' ° n e Dollar, 
7’a Small Fruit Instructor, tells u & 
“S P marketing, etc., lor only 25 
cents cloth covers, 40 cents. Splendid Terms 
£ g ? n , te and those who wish to sell our stock. 
™ »°L Ca f te w e before buying elsewhere, and send 
us a list of what you want, with number of each, for 
us to price. Marlboro raspberry, 50 cts. each • A5 00 
per dost. A, M, PURDY, Palmyra, 'nTy* 
