The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-11-08
Another Potato Experiment.

Agricultural Edttor:-The ground is
loam and plenty damp enough. / plant
less than three feet apart and in drills.
Ii is my purpose to drop foot apart
and be sure to get at least one good eye
in place. My experience shows me
that there are great many kinds of
potatoes which it does not pay any
farmer to plant. 1t also shows that
there is not near the difference in the
earliness of potatoes that interested
seedsmen would have the people be-
lieve. had nearly forty kinds in all,
but much less number that | raised
any quantity of. OF the late varieties
the " Fill Basket" from Gregory, gave
the largest yield. Th y turned out at
the rate of 450 bushels to the acre.
They are rather long, white, and of
good quality. They have the largest
tops OF any potato | ever saw, by all
odds. This year it was great advan-
tage, as never did the weeds so trouble
my crop. 1t is fact that the Fill
b ,sket actually smothertd the weeds.
Close to them are the " Monroe County
Prize" | have raised them for several
years and they have always done Won
ders. The Rural New Yorker" is
first-class and yields large tubers, and
on sand is bonanza. l raised some
this year on pure dry sand, and the po-
tatOes are immense. | have many
other kinds of good potatoes, but, like
the ancient WORTHLESS, they do not " at
tain 10 the first three" OF early va
rieties, "Mrs. Cleveland still holds
first rank. II is of the " Rose" type-
early, good and very prolific. With me
and with my neighbors, it seems to do
better than "Hebrons or New
Queen" The Rochester Rose" and
- Early Puritan" also did we'll and are
safe Minds to have. This is the first
year have tried the Summit" 1t is
Of the "Rose type and medium early.
For yield it is hard to beat. | think il
is no trick at all to get over 400 bushels
to the acre. | raised many other kinds,
of which it is unnecessary to speak.
Of several things l am satisfied in
raising potatoes. One is, that it is diff
licult to raise potatoes more than two
years from the sod and have them free
from scab. Another is, that if person
changes seed often and plants on sod
(perhaps plowed the fall before), if his
land is half way decent he should get
smooth tubers. For myself, trench
deep and use bone-meal ashes aud a
little manure - the latter generally
spread and plowed in. Another thing
is, that if person wishes 10 sell pota-
toes, the besl-yielding kinds pay better
than such iine-eating varieties as the
Snow Flake" People will not pay
the difference. Sometimes you can
ind a person who will, but it is all it is
worth to hunt him up. AS to the Bor-
deaux Mixture, l am not certain that
it ever did me any good. l tried it
more faithfully than most farmers
could. l am pretty certain it will not
stop the new blight with me; and as for
he genuine rust, if person has land
where this apt to come let him plant
some of the early kinds and so escape
IT. With the exception of the Ohio"
| do not know of any early kind very
apt TO rot. Some of them never do.
| had absolutely no rot, though some
of the ground was quite low and wet
Finally, if rightly done, there is more
money in potatoes, one year with
unotber, than in any other crop. a
neighbor of mine planted this wear four
aud a quar- err acres, mostly in large
yielding sorts, such as the " Monroe
Comfy Prze," etc. He harvested
1887 bushels of sound potatoes, and
sold in the field to Spectator 600
bushels at fifty cents. The sale was a
good one, it is true; but by holding, it
is fairly probable that the Spectator
will make a good thing. This man
plowed a heavy clover sod and used
only phosphate at the rate of nearly
half ton to the acre. What else
could he have done that would have
paid as well? L. j. RANsLow.