432 Wisconsin state agricultural society. 
In the case of potatoes, the advantage of raising a good crop in 
an unfavorable season is even still more striking, fknd since the 
advent of the Colorado beetle, rich land and better cultivation are 
absolutely essential, for the reason that it costs no more to kill the 
“ bugs ” on a crop that will yield 250 bushels per acre than on a 
crop that will yield o.dy 100. 
I live in a great potato-growing section. One hundred bushels 
per acre is a fair average crop. Last year (1875) the season was 
remarkably favorable for the growth of potatoes in nearly all sec¬ 
tions of the country, and millions of bushels were sold for less than 
it had cost to dig and market them. In my neighborhood, I have 
seen many pits of potatoes that were left in the field to rot. The 
year before we got $1 per bushel for potatoes, and it need not sur¬ 
prise any one if they are $1 per bushel again before next spring. 
Such a season as this is the good potato grower’s opportunity. 
With potatoes at $1 a bushel, a good farmer can make money, and 
make enough to more than compensate for the loss he suffers from 
low prices in seasons when the average farmer has a fair crop. But 
I must not dwell on this point. The truth of the matter is this. 
With our large area, a fair average crop, such as we have in a highly 
favorable season, means low prices and small profits. A poor gen¬ 
eral crop means high prices for everything we consume at home, 
such as beans, potatoes, barley, oats, buckwheat, etc. A poor crop 
of wheat and corn does not always result in high prices, for the rea¬ 
son that we export largely, and the price is dependent on the price 
in England and on the cost of transportation. As a rule, we should 
aim to produce those articles which we import, rather than those 
which we export. A short crop of barley, beans or potatoes always 
gives us good prices; but such is not the case with wheat and corn 
unless the failure is so general and so severe as to entirely stop ex¬ 
portation. When the price of these articles is determined by the 
price at which they can be delivered in our markets from foreign 
countries, rather than by what it is worth to export to foreign mar¬ 
kets, the American farmer is sure of getting full compensation for 
his labor. And in this connection let me say that it seems strange 
that we have so long let the foreign seed-growers supply us with 
such a large proportion of the vast aggregate amount of field,* veg¬ 
etable and flower seeds which we annually use in this country. 
Depend upon it, in the near future, we shall grow our own seeds. 
