The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1890-11-28
ExEraoratnary Crops.

The most marvellous achievements in
crop raising ever known are the result OF a
competition in which farmers all over the
country have joined the past season to win
the prizes offered by the american Agri-
culturfst. So extraordinary have been the
Yields obtained by several competitors
that the result seems to signify almost a
revolution i'm the scientific practice OF
agriculture and the discovery Of new
and priceless secrets Of natures labora-
tory. To have actually grown 135 bushels
of oats on one acre, 1884 bushels of pota-
toes on one acre, so bushels of wheat on
one acre, and 255 bushels of shelled corn
within the limits Of one acre, wasthe mag
nifcent total of the AgfieUltUTist crop COM
petition of1SS9. IN each class these were
The largest crops ever grown en- che acre.
But 1889 was an pnfavorable year for
Irish potatoes; therefore the Agricalturfst
renewed the potato contest and offered
large prizes for the best crops grown in
1890. This years experience has demon
strated the possibility of producing 1000
bushel of potatoes on one acre of land.
Yet the season has been, on the whole,
even more unfavorable than in 1889, the
average yield Of potatoes for the whole
country being placed at fifty-seven and
one-half bushels per acre by the United
States Department of Agriculture.
The forthcoming number of the Agrtcut-
turist will give a statement OF the forty-one
crops of potatoes reported hat exceed 250
bushel per acre. Partial reports were re-
ceived from several hundred farmers, who
estimated their yields at from 100 to 400
bushels per acre. out did not consider such
crops sufficient 70 warrant going to the
trouble Of harvesting and weighing in the
presence of witnesses, so that all details
could be sworn to, as required by the
rules.
The winner of the first prize is William
J. Sturgis, of Buffalo. Johnson County,
Wyoming, His acre of potatoes yielded
9T4 bushels and As pounds. The crop was
grown on virgin soil, without manure or
fertilizer, but the land was rich in potash
and the oopious irrigation was of water
also rich in saline material. There were
%, 500 hills on one acre, and 800 pounds
of sets, containing one, two and three
eyes. were planted OF the Early Vermont
and Manhattan varieties. The profit on
the crop on this first prize acre was STA,
exclusive of $500 in prizes.
The yield described is, of course, phe-
nomenal: but the natural conditions were
also. to say the least, unusual. The result
in the case ofthe man taking second prize
is perhaps of greater interest, because it
was the largest crop ever raised on ferti-
lizers. r. a. Chisholm of Del Norte, 10
southern Colorado, is the winner of the
second prize on a crop Of S47 bushels Mr..
Chisholm used LOCO pounds of fertilizer
to produce this wonderful yield. His land
is adjoining and practically identical
with that which produced the sixth prize
(Nisbet) crop of 491 bushels in 1889 on a
heavy application of stable manure. The
two seasons. cultures, irrigation and
variety being alike. furnish singular proof
of the fact that a few pounds of plant food
ia the right forms, so as TO become avail
able at the right times, have almest doub-
led the T over what il was on stable
manure. The Agricultuglst afarms that
| the two years contests have clearly de-