The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-02-03
Mark Twain's Wonderful Potato,

Some of our readers, or their neigh
bors, may be in want of form OF certi-
ficate to append to a description OF
some vegetable novelty, real or ina
gined, and we offer the following as one
of the best:
Mark Twain has been visiting Beech
ers farm, Greeley's farm, and the farms
of many of our leading city farmers, so
that he has fallen completely in love
with the business, and especially the
part of it which raises the wonderful
new seeding. He stated his agricultu-
raj line by the announcement OF a new
potato. He thus tells its origin
obtained it by crossing the yam OF the
tropics with the Canadian thistle, and
by carefully selecting and cultivating
the specimen for several seasons | have
secured product that permanently
combines the earliness of the former
and the endurance Of the latter; in
other words, my new potato is rare
combination of speed and bottom, and
it will do to bet on. | christened 1T
the Early Stunner-a name suggested
by its extraordinary qualities and per-
formances."
Mr.. Twain, however, not having had
much experience in farming, thought
best to place it in the hands of some re-
liable man in which the public has con-
fidence, and publishes heaps of testimo-
mails. We give a specimen from Mr..
John Smith, a respectable butcher,
whose reputation for veracity is SO well
known. He says:
~ am perfectly satisfied with the
Early Sumner. The pound that pur-
chased of you will do me. In fact it
has already done me, so that shall not
want any more. The day after | planted
them my swine made a raid on the
patch, and | supposed | had lost my
crop You may imagine my dlsap-
pointment, when the foremost hog, af'
ter briskly opening the first hill, sud
denly dropped the slice of Summers he
had found there, and with an express
sion of disgust and modification, walked
off on his ear, sadder and wiser
hog, followed by the remainder of the
drove. My hogs usually range on my
potato crop and hog-proof potato has
long been my hope. hailed the Stun
ner with enthusiasm as being the thing
for poorly fenced fields"
Dr. Jones, the celebrated physician,
also gives the following testimony:
Having no ground of my own, |
planted a pound Of the Early Summers
in the macadamized road, opposite my
residence. One of my neighbors re-
commended an application of plaster, as
he thought the road had been summer
followed too much to raise crops with
out stimulant as this was my first ex-
perience in agriculture, l acted upon his
suggestion, and applied one of Alcock's
porous plasters to each hill. The result
was amazing. On the lst day of July |
had ten bushels of Buckeyes; July I'd
one hundred bushels of Pinkeyes July
4th, pair of black eyes; July 9th,
twins July It'll, had to dig my potatoes
or give bond to keep the peace.
" Accordingly | hired couple of
Irishmen, sunk shaft in my front
yard, tunneled under the road, and
soon struck magnificent vein of pota-
toes. l shall never know how many
bushels there were, for a rumor got
abroad that there was an Eruption of
predatory Fenians. Before the next
mornings sun burst, the last potato had
disappeared, and | was ruined"