The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-11-20

how what one small part OF the held
seems to teach is contradicted by all
the rest. Now suppose that that small
part were all, would you not have
been badly deceived if you had founded
your future practice upon what it
seemed to zach, but really did not?
THE SMALL GRAINs.-The secret of
growing wheat, barley and oats sue
cessfully and proftably is simply the
secret of rotation Continuous grain
growing, as followed for awhile all the
way from Vermont across the CONT
neut to Oregon, can be successful only
for few successive seasons on the best
land. This has been thoroughly proved
in Iowa, Minnesota, and now in Da-
kota; and the flood of cheap wheat in
America must necessarily soon abate
1t is 50, though not so quickly or COM
| pletely, with corn; and the time is not
far distant when New England farm
ers can successfully compete with other
sections in the production of bread
stuifs. We can remember when wheat
was an export product from Maine,
and it is not impossible that we may
live to see Vermont wheat again staple
product, as it was fifty years ago. The
progress of good farming will make
this possible, which now may seem inn
probable. On this subject the Ne,o
| England Farmer remarks: We be-
lieve there is but very little land on all
the broad earth, other than intervaes
periodically inundated, or that arti-
licially irrigated, that can be continu-
ally grain-cropped, the products
mainly sold from the farm, and still
have paying fertility remain in it.
We will 90 farther: We do not believe
that even very good land, naturally,
can be cropped but cery fer times,
ere the profitable point in cultivating
it has vanished, and the farmer is SOW
ing in hope, and often reaping Just
enough to keep soul and body together,
all because he don't comprehend the
point that he has distracted from the
soil most of the available plant food
that can yield profit, and he has so
farmed it that few or none of those ele-
ments have been returned to the soil
that bore them"
THE POTATO IN AROosTOOK.-Th
remarkable yield of the potato crop in
Northeastern Maine, even in this I'M
favorable year, is more than surpris-
ing-it is astounding. Who would want
to emigrate from section where such
results as the following, reported in the
Maine Farmer, are got from the land
in bad year: Several parties planted
fields in competition for the prize
offered by the american Agriculturist
for best acre grown from the applica-
ton of commercial fertilizers alone.
AT our recent visit to northern Aroos-
took we picked up some statements of
these prize acres and also other re-
markable yields. c. B. Coy, Pressure
Isle, claims to have raised 73S bushels
of the Dakota Red on a single acre.
f. S. Wiggin of the same town raised
537 bushels on an acre, sixty-seven of
which were small ones, leaving 40
bushels of market potatoes to the acre.
The details of growing these almost
fabulous crops are not yet given to the
public. Mr.. Wiggin, however, states
that his acre was one of field of five,
and received no different treatment
from the rest, only in the commercial
manure used. G.. B. Loveioy of Per-
ham from field of eleven acres put
1000 bushels into the factory and had
few bushels over 1000 more of market
potatoes. A single selected acre gave
470 bushels. John Eddy of Woodland
averaged over 400 bushels to the acre
with his whole crop. A son of Column
bus Hayford, Maysville, still a boy,
harvested and sold what brought Sl3l
from single acre, and this was only a
sample acre of field of fourteen. We
could go on with similar statements of
crops to an unlimited extent, but these
are enough to show the bounty of the
crop. 1t can not appear strange that
the farmers of that county are cheerful
over the situation. Within reach of
the railroad, the cellars are still full of
market potatoes. We have always
thought Orleans county about as good
as any place for potatoes; and we did
once grow 410 bushels of merchantable
potatoes on one acre, but this year we
are obliged to confess that Mr.. Hay
ford's son got as much money out of
one acre as we got out of three.
Draining a Swamp.
M. Editor II hava q niaca Of