386 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
I 
nearly as possible with the known habits of growth of the sev¬ 
eral varieties. Those with small tops that grow compact in 
the hill, like the Early Rose, being planted near together, while 
those with large tops, as the Peachblow, were planted farther 
apart. 
The Colorado potato beetles were more troublesome early in 
the season than ever before. The remedy that proves most 
successful with us has been hand-picking. With constant at¬ 
tention the potatoes upon the University farm have been in¬ 
jured very little, if any, although there were several gardens 
in the vicinity where no measures were taken to destroy them. 
We did not use Paris green, the only common remedy used, 
for the reasons given in my report last year, that it is a poison, 
and should not be put upon the soil. 
Many of the above varieties of potatoes are quite new, or at 
least little known among farmers. 
The “Peerless” and “ Bresee’s King of the Earlies” are two 
varieties that were sold last spring at very high prices. The 
former bids fair to be a valuable late potato and a good 
yielder. 
The King of the Earlies is no earlier than the Early Rose, 
but is of good quality, prolific, and doubtless will prove a val¬ 
uable addition to the list of early potatoes. The “ White 
Rose ” will probably prove a good late variety, but instead of 
being “bug-proof,” as advertised, it is as liable to attack by the 
potato beetle, as the Early Rose. The general value of the 
different varieties may be told by the remarks on size and 
appearance above. 
Improvement of Soils by Mechanical Means. —For the 
purpose of testing the comparative value of different depths of 
plowing, an experiment has been begun upon four plats of an 
acre each, to be cultivated through several years as follows : 
No. 1 to be plowed to the depth of five inches only. 
No. 2 to be plowed to the depth of twelve inches. 
No. 3 to be plowed twenty inches in depth, by trench-plow¬ 
ing. 
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