Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-03-14
Maine Board OF Agriculture,

time, or to the Secretary during the interim,
I have preferred to rerOr, here, because II l
fail to prc.eu, anything Of practical value
20 the agricultural community. s,ill should
.aevccd in provoking members to discuss
the .ubject, and thu. draw cot their ideas,
/, may Be the mean. Of Contributing TO the
common good.
"a paragraph lately appeared in some
Of the papers. to the eject, tha, an acre oi
wheat will furnish nouri.hmsnt cor too per-
con. oue year. and an acre Of potatoes for
four psr.Ons ior the SANE tine-Poatoe'
producing double the amoun, Of food per
acre, tha, wheA, dos. lfneh he the fac,
the .ubjee, is Of much Importance. Tha'i'
!. the case I think We shall te obliged to ad-
nit. when we compare the sverass yield Of
wheat per acre, with the acreage OF Po'a-
toes.
by the census Of 1850, the average crop
on al the land in wheat In tie United
State. wa. found TO be but nine and one
eighth bushels Per acre. 1, !. doubtful
whether u has increased since. The aver
ace Of potatoes I have no, A'cer,ained. bu,
IL !. probably ten or twelve tine. greater.
=" Potatoes have become alrno., iniispen.
cable To every hOu.ekccrer. Asod dinner
can hardly be provided ~i,hoa, them the
tenders, steak or iati..t turkey !. not .a'-
i.iactory ~ithou, the accompaniment OF a
good mealy potato. Potatoes tend to pro-
mote healta. and are a nsuitioa. article Of
food Tor both man and bcss, Although
heavy Of transportation. and more p~risha-
bls than the CEREALS. .ull perhaps II 1. safe
TO ,Ay. iha, more ineom, j. derived by the
farmer. Of Maine. from the .alO- Of potatoes.
than from The sale. Of any other single crop.
" By the eensu. return. Of lsG0. 10 ap.
pear. tha, there MAS nised in hi. State
6 G.3aj. .535 bushels. En,,r'ns 80 largely into
our farm operations, !, D very important u
ascertain how 10 raise the creates, amount
al ihe leas; expense. Al.o ~ha, varieties.
all thing, Considered, arr mos, desirable for
farmer. to culuva,e. For market, the vAlse
depend. as much. perhaps more. on the
quality Of the tubcrs a. on the quantity
raised
We would no, at,ebp, TO d,sicnaie any
particular variety To De- cultivated TO the si.
elus,Oo Of others. The Jackson and Orono
are probably more generally .ough, after.
and command higher price than almost
any other variety. We ,sink these are le..
Liable To diseAse ,han uos, Others. i!gasn-
uty, without, regard TO qs.liiy 10 -oughi
for. the California. of all pO,.tOc. with
which We Sr- acquainted. !. most prolific.
And when planted early, On ordinary so'l
without manure. and well ripened are tol.
erahle potato Tor table u-O.
"POiAiss flourish better and produce
more healthy tubsr-. on new land. or on
land that ha. bcen Ion, pa.,urei than on
iha, which bA. besn sometime under cult
,ation. Ssa dressing. where 10 can b. OBJ
tainci. such as rock weed and ecl.srass, ap-
piled 10 the hill. prove, TO BE- a very esca'
eious manure COZ ihi. crop, Experience
proves that sarn-manurc. when applied IN
moderate quantitiss in the hill, produce.
better result. than when spread. would
recommend carly planting; also 10 plant
pretty closely. say about three fee, between
tie rows. with hill. FROM one and half to
two ieet apart. Ia regard to h'lIins OF,
there are various opinions. the most sue
cc-.iul potato growers within my knOwletse
practice ii.
The writer would no, assume To teach
the intelligent farmers Of Maine the beet
mode Of caliure, hut hopes by calling the
attention Of msmber. Of the Board to the
subject, they may bring out such fact. and
suggestion. a. shall be Of practical value to
ibe community"
The Report gave rise TO considerable dis
eus-ion on vsriou. points, and resulted IN
tie adoption Of the following. as being the
only true method Of seiiling point of in-
prtanee-nsmely, by experiment. IL he
ing the fault Of mO.t experiment. that too
uueh i' attempted. and consequently moth.
ing learned With certainty. IL ~M decided
that one point a.csr,ainei is better than
several guessed ~, and accordingly, one
point obly is aimed at, viz: The proper dis
t.nss IN planting
Whr,ds. A great diversity Of opinion
prevails m rrgsrJ to the culture OF the 20
ato-the proper dis,ancs at which they
should BE- planted. the quantity Of seed 10
b. u-et for bet results. &c, and
/ WAsr,a,. IL !. desirable tha, conflicting
opinion. should be hsrnouir-d and errors N
practice corrected. concerning crop oi such
magnitude and impor,ane.. through the re.
suits Of numerou. and well conducted eI.
7 perimsnts. therefore
/ Rs'O!rsd. That We pledge ourselves TO con.
duet ON experiment. the present year. as fol.
love: Select pisoe Of land oi uniform
! quality. as near q. may be: manure the
whole equally; leach eIperimenter TO deter.
m,ns the kind aud the manner Of its appli-
cation tor himself y DIVIDE the pieces into
ioor equal lots; lay out the whole in rows
three feet apart.
Plant 10, No. / in hill. } Zee, Distant
=. . . Z"
} lie"
j