Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1871-08-16

farm, chiefly with view to making such
farm paying investment convenience, 30.
cia interests, and even educational facilities,
were left out of the account, or leil to be sup
piled subordinate to the financial problem !
assumed that the quality Of soils would be
duly considered with respect to the line Of
farming intended But with a majority Of
farmers, that point is already disposed Of
Every variety of land is already taken up
and occupied-ai least it is desirable that it
should be 50 else all might pitch on the
same farm, and majority Of the pro luctive
lands would be left to waste Such a calamity
would be about the same as il all the young
men in a community were to resolve on single
blesseiness, unless each could marry the same
woman la such q case, what would become
Of all the rest of the spinsters and maidens
who grace the social circles Of your towns? It
is for the public interest, and on the whole for
the interest Of individuals making up that pub
Iic, that every foot Of land in the state should
be SO appropriated aud used in such way as
will produce the largest income in a term Of
years. As general rule, farms in Vermont
are already selected or located, except in a
lsw localities, where nabobs in the sheep in.
terest sustained by speculative prices in wool
aud in stock-sheep, have driven out the legit-
innate farmer and turned back the tide Of in.
dustrial progress to a semi.barbarsm
But finding our farmers distributed over
every class and quality of land, the question
Of the most appropriate crops seems to be the
next in order. \ variety of productions
seems to be for the public interest and as a
general rule, what is consumed on the farm,
bad better be produced from it. But it is
better to rely on domestic exchange of pro.
ducts than attempt to produce that which,
from the climate and character Of the soil.
viii be certain failure.
The best potatoes are raised on elevated
lands. The finest potatoes as to flavor and
iarinaceous properties have ever eaten
were raised on the elevated taDe.lands Of the
Green Mountains, in the town of Fayston, in
your county. Potatoes raised in low moist
lands, are apt to be watery aud Of bitter
taste; while sandy soil, on the margin Of
streams, requires manure, if not irrigation, to
produce a good crop Of potatoes and then
the crop is hardly equal to that obtained on
the rock debris mingled with mould and fixed
earths of upland fields. But as potatoes are
an exhausting crop, they cannot be continued
on the same land without fertilizers and ma.
uures though on newly broken fallow fields,
the recuperation of the soil by grass crops
may render it productive for year or two in
potatoes. But if the crop is continued, lib
eral use Of manure is necessity.
Potatoes as a paying crop will be more and
more esteemed as their use and adaptation for
food and for farm stock is carefully cousid.
cred. In ireland, where the population seem.
to be in excess Of land or its products pota.
toes are the most common and favored crop
In fact, so much do the people depend on this
crop for their food, that its failure inevitably
produces a famine. In Ireland the selection
Of this crop in preference to others is not ,
matter Of experiment or choice, but ola prac-
tical necessity, that has been demonstrated
for century. Facts arrived at under such
pressure may well be taken for grant.
ed,-that land under high state of cultiya
ton will produce more Of the material tina
supports life in potatoes than in any othe
crop The capacity of soil in this crop being
SO illustrated, its financial profit, where Ian,
is plenty, or there is no danger of famine from
an over crowded population, is still open t,
consideration. The making of crop, 70
and drought excluded, with fair cultivation
Is generally assured. But is there money il
III In almost all our large cities bushe
OF potatoes, through an average season, cost
the consumer as much as two bushels of corn
Then, why do not our farmers, who lormerl,
supposed they did well in raising potatoes a
I to IS cents bushel, give better suppl
to our city markets The reply to this ques
lions is found in the extrayagant and il.ad
jnsted schedule Of freights for this article
fixed by the railroads. The average freigh
charged on potatoes from different sections o
Vermont to New York, would amount to from
4Oto so cents per bushel, to say nothing o
carriage and handling. At the rate per bushe
at which western freights are transported, pc
iatoes should be brought from any part o
Vermont to New York at rate not exceed
ing 10 cents per bushel, while if the TART
for western freight is to be taken as a rule
10 cents per bushel would exceed the actua
cost Of such transportation.
But blind monopolists are not to be show
any fact affecting their immediate income
however clearly it may be demonstrated |
forty to fifty cents barrel for freight on pc
tatoes from Vermont, instead Of ninety cent
TO $780, would stimulate their production +
the extent Of a million bushels year, woul
not the aggregate income Of the roads be in
creased rather than diminished by such reduc
tionf Railroads, above any other institu
tons, if wisely managed, create the bushes
by which they are enriched. | may rever
again to this question Of railroad freight o.
farm produce, but in the giving attention t
any particular farm crop, things are to b
taken as they now exist, las two OF tire
crops Of potatoes will be likely to rot on tn
hands of their producers before railroad me
will learn the wisdom Of making farm freight
as near their practical cost as possible. Blu
not to pursue this point further, may cit
the fact that twenty years or 50 ago, tn
farmers Of Franklin county, W., raised potu
toes for the starch mills, for from twelve t
twenty cents bushel, and made this crop
speciality Whether it was profitable at sue
prices | am not advised But the domesti
uses Of potatoes for the table and feeding t.
farm stock will render them fayorte cro
in the ahganca ~ an, e. ro,e., o.Lat