24 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
in the midst of the crop. Granting the certainty of these reme¬ 
dies, it must be admitted that the Paris Green is both rather 
expensive and disagreeable to use, and that the growth of buck¬ 
wheat in one’s potato-patch will of necessity interfere with easy 
cultivation and also tend to diminish the crop it is introduced 
to protect. 
Believing neither of these methods feasible, a majority of 
our farmers seek to protect the crop by a frequent gathering of 
the beetles and killing them—a very sure remedy, one must 
admit, so far as applied, but rather laborious and difficult of 
application if one attempts to grow a heavy crop. 
[See an illustrated article on “ Tlie Colorado Potato Bug,” in a subse¬ 
quent portion of this volume.] 
The prices of potatoes in the Milwaukee market for the 
several months of 1870, were as follows: 
January. 
65 
July (old). 
February. 
60 
August. 
... 80@ 95 
March. 
. 50@ 
65 
September.... 
.... 80@$1 10 
April. 
.40@ 
53 
October. 
.... 70@ 90 
May. 
45 
November.... 
... 65@ 90 
June. 
.G0@$1 00 
December .... 
.... 70@ 85 
Sweet potatoes are grown very extensively in the southern 
states, but to a very limited extent in the north. The crop of 
the whole country has never yet (unless the last census should 
show such results) equaled two bushels per inhabitant; while 
the product of the southern states amounted, in 1860, to 4.16 
bushels per capita. 
The last three decennial crops in this state have been as fol¬ 
lows : 
Crop of 
1850 .. 
1860 .. 
1870.. 
The sweet potato delights in a rather sandy soil, and in a 
few localities thus characterized some of our farmers annually 
/ w 
produce handsome crops. 
Bushels. 
879 
. 2,396 
,. 2,220 
