24 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The average yield is believed to have been about 26 or 27 
bushels per acre ; that of 1868 having been over 80. 
THE POTATO CROP 
Of 1869 was one of, if not the, largest crop ever produced 
in this state. It suffered in some sections from the rot^ but, in 
the main, the product was of a most excellent quality. The 
same was true of many of the other western states; the re¬ 
ported yield of potatoes of the very best quality having been, 
in numerous cases, from 800 to 500 bushels per acre. The 
price, therefore, in all the western markets was unprecedent¬ 
edly low in the early fall—ranging from 25 to 85 cents per 
bushel. But, unhappily, many of our farmers were so tardy 
in the work of harvesting that the snow and frost of the last 
week in October, cut short their labors, while full one-half, or 
even a yet larger proportion, of the crop was still in the ground. 
Several varieties of recent introduction have been found val¬ 
uable acquisitions. For although many of those cultivated 
have given excellent satisfaction—a remark especially true of 
the pink-eye, mercer, carter and peach-blow—a variety that 
would mature earlier, and yet be equal in quality, and less 
liable to rot, has always been in demand. 
It appears to be the opinion of a large majority of those farm¬ 
ers who have tried the early rose—a variety introduced in this 
state some two years since—that it entirely fulfills these con¬ 
ditions, being excellent for domestic use, and maturing some 
two weeks earlier than the other varieties already in cultiva¬ 
tion. At the last general exhibition of this society, a new 
hybrid, produced with very great care, by Hon. M. K. Young, 
of Glen Haven, Grant county, and shown by him in consid¬ 
erable quantity, attracted much attention, and received the 
award of a silver medal. Mr. Young entertains a high opin¬ 
ion of it, and we are informed that other parties who have 
tested its value, deem it a valuable addition to our list of su¬ 
perior varieties. 
The rot is still the occasion of much embarrassment in the 
cultivation of the potato. Its cause is still a mystery, and 
