sf/4 .^iiiu^ "^ r^ ^2a- 'jeis^;^ 111 !ra ^¥ ^AiD piiiiii^i I PAW #ir l:.^L^-: J^ ih '«K I [-i^ I ^«w ^^-^^^ ^^^ ^w 'wiM^^^^^'^^Sss^'v-.'^'^i I WRITTEN EXFRESSLY FOR THIS WORK. ALSO, '*f©ri»®®*^ li^tialt f iitmf '® ENGRAVINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW VARIETIES, ETC. '-^^I — ^c ^ ***'** - ** — * C3>^ — -"^ — x^^^ iljo B\oK, SONb JiCo, Ltth., Piintlnj & Srinufac's Co., Buffalo, N. T, Offer the following Collections of Plower Seeds by Mail. accommodation of those who love the cultivation of Flowers, but who reside at a dis- ji where they can be procured, we have selected from our large assortment of Flower lie most showy varieties, and those of f asy culture, and put them up in assortments, which e sent postpaid to any address in the Union at the following prices : mmO. 1 — Contains Twenty choice varieties of Annuals, $1 oo No. 2 — Contains Twenty choice varieties of Biennials and Perennials, 1 oO No. 3 — Contains Tfen extra varieties of Annuals and Perennials, embracing many of the new and choicest in cultivation, 1 oo No, 4 — Contains Five v^ry choice varieties, selected from Prize Flowers, of English Pan- sies, German, Carnation and Picotee Pinks, Verbenas, Truffaut's French Asters, Double Hollyhocks, 1 oO Any one remitting $3 OO'will receive the four assortments postage free. The above collections have been favorably known in every section of the country for the past fifteen years. Those who have tested them recommend them freely to their friends, and the most, satisfactory reports are continually received of their good quality. The following additional as- sortments will also be sent at the prices annexed, free of postage: No. 5 — Contains Fifteen very select varieties of Greenhouse Seeds, $3 00 No. 6— Contains One Hundred varieties of Annuals, Biennials and Perennials, including many new and choice varieties, 5 00 No. 7 — Contains Fifty varieties of Annuals, Biennials and Perennials, 2 50 No. 8— Contains Twenty varieties of Hardy Annuals, Biennials and Perennials, for sowing in the Autumn, 1 00 COLLECTIONS OF VEGETABLE SEEDS BY MAIL, For Spping Planti.mg. — 15 varieties, our selection, $1 00; 33 varieties, our selection $2 00 ; 55 varieties, in larger packets, $3 50. The above contain the leading varieties usually grown in our gardens. To those who desire larger quantities, we would recommend Collection No. 1, at $20 ; No. 2, at $15 ; No. 3, at $10, No. 4, at $5, which can be safely forwarded by express to all parts of the world. A list of the contents of each collection will be found in the Fourteenth Rlition of our New Catalogue and "Guide to the Flower and Kitchen Garden," for a description of which see page 2. Freight ON all packages by express to be paid by the purchaser, unless by special agreement. Comstock's New Horticnltnral Implements. Patent Secured. Comstock's Hand Cultivator and Onion Weeder will do the work of six men with hoes. It is the only implement thut pttlls the weeds and thoroughly pulverises the soil. As much superior to the hoe for all small drill crops as the mowers and reapers are to the scythe and cradle. Price, %9 00. Boxing 20 cts. Comstock's Seed Sower. — The neatest and most perfect small seed sower yet invented — sowi ng Beet, Parsnip, and other difficult seeds with the greatest regularity ; combined with the Cultivator and Weeder and can be separated in five minutes. Price, $15 00. Boxing 35 cts. Comstock's Strawberry Cutter, for removing Strawberry Runners, cultivating between the rows at the same time — with the Cultivator and Weeder combined. Price, $12 00. Boxing 20 cts. Comstock's "Weeding Hook. — A little steel instrument with a hook at each end, one pointed and the other cleft, for hand-weeding, and is just the thing for Ladies in the Flower Garden. The Set Complete $18 50; Boxing 35 cts. B. K. BLISS & SON, Sole Agents for New York. HEXAMEB'S PRONG HOE, (Patented.) This new implement is the result of a series of experiments at the Nursery and Fruit Farm of Messrs. Reisig & Hexamer, to supply the great want of a tool for saving a considerable amount of 1 ibor at a small outlay, and doing the work as perfect as possible. It has proved a perfect success — The work can be done much quicker and in a more thorough manner than it can be accomplished with ordinary tools. The making of the Hoe was originally intended only for their own special use ; but after the severe, extensive, and comjiletely satisfactory tests of an entire season, they thought it too valuable for general application, and concluded to let the public share in its great usefulness. The highest premium, in the Horticultural Department of the Great American Institute Fair of 1867, was awarded to it. The New York Times, of October 29, 1867, in speaking of this Fair, says : Improved Prong Hoe. — This is a six-tined Hoe, exhibited by Reisig & He.xamer, New Castle, N. Y ; neatly made of the best of steel, having six tines, about eight inches long and two inches apart. Each pair of tines is independent of the other, all being secured by an iron key driven into a mortise through a malleable iron head, which receives the upper part of the tines. A socket in the head receives the handle, which is about the size of a hoe-handle. This implement subserves the purpose of a hoe and rake. It is an excellent tool tor pulverizing the soil between rows of all kinds of growing plants and for rooting up small weeds ; and it is a wonderful improvement on Hand Potato Diggers, As the tines are long, small, and strong, they pass through the soil with the application of less force than is required to work the old style of diggers. Price, $1 50 each. For Sale at Wholesale or Retail by B. K. BLISS & SON, 41 Park Row, New York. / SB 211 .P8 B56 Copy 1 RURAL BOOKS FARM, GARDEN, / HOUSEHOLD. l^^ Any Book on this list will be forwarded by mail, post-paid, to any address in the United States or Territories, on receipt of the j)ric<'. A,i;Ticultural Chemical Analysis (Caldwell). $2 00 Allen's (L. F.) American Cattle 2 50 Allen's New American Farm Book 3 50 Allen's (R. L.) Diseases of Dom. Animals.. 1 00 American Agricultural Annual, pa. 50, clo. . 75 American Ilorticultiual Annual, pa. 50, clo 75 American Pomology (Warder) ."00 American Wi'cds and Useful Plants 1 75 Bement's Rabbit Fancier SO Bommer's Method of Making Manures 25 Book of Evergreens (Hoopes) 9 00 Boussingault's Rural Economy 1 (iO Breck's New Book of Flowers 1 75 Buist's Flower Garden Directory 1 .50 Buist's Family Kitchen Gardener 1 00 Copeland's Country Life, 8vo, cloth 5 00 Cotton Culture (Lyman) 1 .50 Dadd's (G. IL) Modern Horse Doctor 1 .50 Dadd's American Cattle Doctor 1 .50 Dana's Muck Manual 1 25 Darwin's Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, 2 vols (i 00 Downiug's Fruits and Fruit Trees, revised and greatly enlarged, octavo 1123 pages. 7 50 Downing's Landscape Gardening (i 50 Draining for Profit and Health 1 50 Eastwood on Cranberry 75 Elliott's Western Fruit-Grower's Guide 1 50 Farm Implements and Machinery (Thomas) 1 .50 Flax Culture 50 French's Farm Drainage 1 .50 Field's (Thos. \V.) Pear Culture 1 25 Fuller's Grape Culturist 1 .50 Fuller's Small Fruit Culturist 1 50 Fuller's Strawbeny Culturist 20 (iardeniug for the South (W. N. White). . . . 2 00 Guenon on Milch Cows 75 to Veg. E\'. Clo. 4 00 for Profit 1 50 . . 1 50 . . 1 75 .. 2 00 ... 2 00 .. 1 00 Harris's Insects Injuri( Henderson's Gardeniu Henderson's Practical Floriculturt Herbert's Hints to Horse-Keepers. How Crops Grow (Jolmson) How Ci-ops Feed do Hunter and Trappei- Leuchar's How to Build Hot-houses 1 .50 Market Assistant (De Voe) 2 50 Miles on the Horse's Foot 75 Mohr on the Grape-vine l 00 My Vineyard at Lakeview 1 25 Pardee on Strawberry Culture 7.5 Peat and its Uses 1 2n Pedder's Land Measur:'r 60 Percheron Horse 1 QQ Practical Poultry Keeper (Wright) 2 00 Quiuby's Mysteries of Bee-keeping 1 50 Randall's Sheep Husbandry 1 .50 Randall's Fine Wool Sheep Husbandry 1 00 Rivers' Miniature Fruit-garden 1 00 Saunders' Domestic Poultry, pa. 40, cloth. . 75 Schenck's Gardener's Text-lxxik 75 Skillful Housewife 75 Thompson's Food of Animals 1 00 Tim Bunker Papers l .50 Tobacco Culture 25 Warder's Hedges and Evergreens 1 50 Woodward's Cottages and Farm-houses 1 50 Woodward's Suburban and Country Houses 1 Woodward's Country Homes 1 Wheeler's Rural Homes 2 Wheeler's Homes for tlie Peopli- ;j 00 Youatt on Sheep 1 OO Youatt and Spooner on the Horse l .50 Youatt and Martin on Cattle 1 50 Youatt on the Hog l 00 50 50 00 SPECIAL. Woodward's National Architect, New.. 12 00 PUBLISHED AND FOK SALK AT 243 Broadfrai/^ NEW Y R K ORANGE JUDD & CO. 1 km THE BEST For the Family, For the Qardener, For Stock-Breeders For Wool-Growers, For G-rape-G-rowers For Fruit-Growers, For Horse-Keepers, For Pork-Raisers, For Husbands, Tor Fathers, ,^ For Boys, /^ For Young Men, '^^ Merchants, Ministers, Lawyers, Teachers, Artists, Inventors, Draughtsmen For Rich, In City, Town, Hamlet, / North, If"^^- East AiMiliiris., PAPER For the Farmer, For the Pomologist, For Grain-Raisers, For Poultry-Breeders, For Peach-Growers, For Dairjnnen, For Seedsmen, For Florists, For Wives, mTov Mothers, '"^^ For Girls, YoungWomen, Traders, Mechanics, Doctors, Students, ^Poets, UArtisans, S^\ Engravers, FOK THE FARM, GARDEN, AND HOUSEHOLD Including a Special Interesting and Instructive Department for Childrfen and Youth. ESTABLISHED IN 1842. 7/ The A gricuUurist is a large periodical of 3 / / to 44 pages.well printed, and filled with plax practical, reliable original matter, includ _ mnilii'ils of beautiful and instructive En rnviiiss in every annual volume. contains each month a Calendar of Operations be iH 111111111.1 on the Farm, in the Orchard ani" Garden, in Hic Dwelling, etc. It is I ill ) '1 I'v 1 practical intelligent -woekino men The Household Department is valuable to every IIousckcLper. riie Department for Children and Youth is pre arcd with special care, to furnish amusenient, and to in ilcate knowledge and sound moral principles. ireulalion— Terms The circulation of the American iRicuLTURisT (about 150.000) is so large that it can be fur ed for the low price of Si.50 a year; four copies for ten copies for $12 ; twenty or more, $1 each ; single num |15 cents each. ICr" TRY IT A YEAR. ORANGE JUDD & CO., 245 BROADWAY, NEW-YORK CITY. (See other side.) •T^ iilliilsl "-^v FURNISHES Four Hundred BEAUTIFUL DRAWN AND i THE best/ FOUR [IUNDR[D LARGE 3-Columii ORIGINAL /r^ / MH^ '^- M 1 |;/ULOI V^"^ - ^^. J-^ i^i Paper \\ , T.^\ to Six Hundred EVERY VEAR ~^^^^"^-^< p/ THE ^ ' Or as iocli MiMJiiFiveLariefi FlTeHiiiiW & J Copif * (Jopies 10 " TRY IT /ii ENGRAVINGS, ! ENGRAVED ey ,\ ARTISTS FIVE HUNDRED QUARTO PAGES, MATTER, BY ^WRITERS, \Octavo Volumes of Paps eacli, ,For$l.SO " 5.00 " 12.00 I- 20.00 TRY IT ORANGE JUDD & CO., 245 BROADWAY, NEW-YORK CITY. (See other side.) BUILDING BLOCKS FOE, CHILDBEN CAN BE MADE INTO CHURCHES, FACTORIES, HOUSES, TOWERS, ARCHES, CHAIRS, WINDMILLS SLEDS, CO BRIDGES, FENCES, TOOLS, CHAIRS, CASTLES, CRADLES, BOXES, SHEDS, C/Q o pq O a c/2 :;^ H O and other forms in almost endless variety, and when finished, the structure remains firm, so that it can be carried about witliout falling to' pieces. Having given these blocks a practical trial in their own families, the publishers of the J.menc«;!, AgriculturM Avere so -well pleased with them that they consented to take tlie general agency for their sale. Tlie blocks are put up in neat, strong l)oxes, and a large sheet giving various designs of build- ings, etc., accompanies each box. Price: Plain, No. 1, $2.00; No. 3, $1.00. Orders are solicited from the trade, who will be supplied on liberal terms. Address ORANGE JUDD & COMPANY, 245 Broadway, New York. INTRODUCTION. In the fall of 1868, we offered Five Hundred Dollars, in four different premiums, to persons who should raise the four largest quantities of "Early Rose" Potatoes from one peck of seed. This amount was divided as follows: For the first or largest yield, $200; second, $150; third, $100; fourth, $50. This offer was made subject to the following conditions: 1st. The seed to be purchased of us this fall, (1868). 2d. Each account to be well authenticated, and accompanied with a full report as to the character of the soil, manner of cutting the seed and planting, cultivation, the kind of manure used, (if any,) the quantity used, and the manner of applying it. 3d. The crop must be dug at least ten days before weighing, and report sent to us by October 1st, 1869, with a statement of the exact number of bushels raised, (60 fos. to the bushel. ) 4th. Potatoes to be grown in open air, and without artificial heat. Since the above offer was made, we have received many requests from our customers to publish the reports of competitors for the premiums, and believing that they con- tained a large amount of information which would be truly valuable to farmers and potato growers, we decided to comply with their requests. It is well known that during the past two years the most intense excitement has prevailed in regard to the Potato, and fabulous prices have been paid for seed of new varieties, which, it was hoped, would more than take the place of the old kinds, which were rapidly failing, both in point of quality and productiveness. As a natural consequence, the enormous prices at which the " Early Rose" and other new varieties were selling, induced potato growers, in all parts of the country, to put upon the market seedling potatoes, of their own raising, nine-tenths of which were entirely worthless, and were offered for the sole purpose of making money. On the other hand, many new varieties have been introduced, which have proved really valuable acquisitions, and these have found a ready market among the most intelligent and progressive class of our agricultural community. Thousands of experiments have been made in as many different parts of the land, by as many different men, and in as many different ways, in different modes of cutting the seed, planting, cultivating, various kinds of manure used, different methods of applying them, and in many other particulars, too numerous to mention here. In view of these facts, we thought that an interesting article on " The Potato Mania," would be an agreeable addition to our " Potato Book," and accordingly made arrangements with Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, to write the essay on this subject which appears in its pages. In addition to Mr. Beecher's article, and the "Reports of Competitors," we give illustrations and descriptions of the most prominent and worthy new varieties, and a number of choice selections from the Agricultural Press, relative to potato culture. We hope that this unpretending little volume may prove not only interesting, but really instructive, to every farmer into whose hands it may be placed, and that it may accomplish some good, by aiding potato growers, in every section of the land, in bringing the cultivation of this indispensable esculent to a higher state of perfection. GEO. W. BEST. UTICA, N. Y., December, ISCO. SEED POTATOES -NEW A^ARIETIES, FOR SALE AT WHOLESALE OK RETAIL, BY B. lE^. BLISS & sonsr, Nos. 41 Park Row and 151 Nassau St., BRESEE'S CELEBRATED SEEDLINGS. Per Peck. Bush. Bbl. Bresee's King; of the Earlies, or No. 4.— This is, without exception, the earliest variet}' in cultivation, having been carefully tested by many promi- nent agriculturists in various parts of the country "the past season, and by them pronounced from tive to ten days earlier than the celebrated Early Rose and fullv its equal in quality, productiveness and general appearance. Two pounds, by mail, postpaid, Sl.OO, $5.00 Slo.OO $40.00 Early Kose. — This was the lirst of Mr. Bresee's Seedlings, offered by us in January, isiis, and has now been before the iiul)lic lor the past two seasons, during which it has attained a popularity unrivalled in the history of the Potato. It has now become the standard variety for earliness, quality and productiveness. Its average yield, as far as heard from the past Summer, has been from 80 to 110 barrels to the acre. Four pounds, by mail, $1.00 - 1.00 2.50 5.00 Bresee's Prolific. — An illustration and full description of this valuable va- riety, and also of the "King of the Earlies," will be found on another page of this Ijook. Four pounds, by mail, $1.00, - ... - 1.50 4.00 9.00 Bresee's Peerless, or No. 6. — The latest and best of all Mr. Bresee's Seed- lings for the main crop. This is also a seedling of the Garnet Chili, and originated from the same seed ball as the Early Rose; skin dull white, occasionally russet ed; eyes shallow, oblong; flesh white, mealy; grows to a large size, often weighing from one and a half to two pounds, and enor- mously productive. At a trial before a committee of the IMassachusetts Horticultural Society, in September last, this variety obtained more votes as to quality than any other of Bresee's Seedlings. Per pound, by mail, $1.00, -10.00 30.00 75.00 NEW EUROPEAN VARIETIES. The following varieties have been sent us by our correspondent, and recommended as the most desirable of all the varieties recently introduced : Patterson's Golden Don, I Circassian Kidney, Patterson's Early Don, Ashtop Fluke, Dr. Bretoneau, I Kaspberry-Leaved, very curious foliage. Two pounds of either of the above six varieties will be mailed, postjtaid, upon receipt of Si. 00. MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES. Prices subject to variations in the market. Orders will be executed at the lowest market prices at the date of their receipt. Per Peck. Bush. Bbl. Climax.— A seedling raised by D. S. HefFron, from the Early Goodrich. Eyes shallow; skin medium thickness, considerably netted or russet, tough, white; flesh entirely white, solid, heavy, brittle, and it boils through quickly; is mealy, of floury whiteness, and of superior table quality. In productiveness it is fully equal, if not superior, to either the Early Rose or the Early Goodrich, while it's keeping qualities are as good as the Peachblow. Ten days later than Early Rose ; free from rot. We consider this a most valuable variety for culture at the South, 1.50 4.00 9.00 Early Mohawk. — A new variety introduced last Spring, which has been extensively tried the past season, in almost every section of the country, with the most satisfactory results. It ripens a few days later than the Early Rose, is of strong growth, productive, cooks drv and mealv, and is of excel- lent quality, - - - - ■- - ■ - - - 2.00 7.00 15.00 London White. — Flesh snowy white, cooks mealy, of good flavor, moderately productive, ripens with the Early Rose; a good, early market variety, - 1.00 3.00 6.00 Early Dimick.— A new variety which originated in Oregon, where it is con- sidered the best early variety for the market. Early, productive, and of good quality, o.OO 6.00 12.00 Massasoit. — A new variety from Western Massachusetts, resembling the Harison in appearance, but earlier and of much better quality; flesh white, cooks dry and mealy, and altogether a superior variety ; strongly recom- mended for a general crop, _..__.. 1.50 4.00 8.00 Excelsior. — A new variety, first sent out last Spring, and described by the raiser as very productive, handsome and well shaped; cooks white and dry, is well flavored; a superior table variety, and retains its good qualities through the entire season, ....... 2.OO 7.00 15.00 POTATOES BY MAIL. For the accommodation of those who reside at a distance from railvoads and express offices, we will send a package containing four pounds of cither of the above under the head of Miscellaneous Varieties, postpaid, upon receipt of one dollar, or six packages for five dollars. No less than one dollar's worth, or more than one kind in a package, will be sent by mail. N. B. — Orders for Potatoes, received in the Winter, will be forwarded as early in the Spring as the weather will permit, usually about the first of Ajiril. They can be forwarded earlier if desired, at the risk of the purchaser. THE POTATO MAI^IA, HENRY WARD * B E E C H E R Written expressly for "Best's Potato Book." ^'OMETIME during tlie winter- of 1868-60, happening into tlie ^ seed store of 13. K, Bliss & Son, in New York, we fell, as "V^* usual, into a talk about Seeds, Flowers, Farming, &e. An amateur farmer is fond of such like topics; real farmers are not averse to them. The potato came in, of course, for its share, and then it was that Mr. Bliss mentioned the "Fifty Dollar Potato," ("Bresee's King of the Earlies," or his "Seedling No. 4.") The " Earh^ Rose" had not 3'et spent its force; it was sold by the pound, and at what seemed extravagant prices, but the "Early Rose," at its highest price, was cheap compared with Bresee's new "Fift}^ Dollar Potato." For a single tuber. Fifty Dollars! My father had brought up a large family in Old Con- necticut, on a salary of ElyM Iluudred Dollars a year. lie some times dabbled a little in farming. I recollect once, on his return home from a journey, to have heard him gently chide ni}- mother for not accepting an offer of twenty-five cents a bushel for a large field of potatoes which we had that year cultivated. He thought she had missed a chance that would not come again. There were about two hundred bushels. If any man had then said that witliin a few years a sinrjle potato would sell for the price of two ADVERTISEMENTS. The most Perfect and Successful Harvester in the World. BUCKEYE Mower and Self-Eaking Reaper. Mower at Work. ' Seaper at Work. LlllB 1 HI HISHlil f IIHIIMS At the Most Important Field Trials ever held in any Country. PERFECTION PRINCIPAL. EXCELLENCE OP MECHANICAL. Construction. JHower on tin- Mood. ITS GREAT DURABILITY IS THOROUGHLY ESTABLISHED AND IT IS EVERY WUERE RECOGNIZED A3 The Leading Harvester of tlie Country. The HIGH STANDARD of EXCELLENCE in MATERIAL AND WORK- MANSHIP MAINTAINED, and VALUABLE IMPROVE- MENTS ADDED. ADRIANCE, PLATT & CO. Manufactory, Poughkeepsie. Office and Warehouse, 165 Greenwich St., N. Y. THE POTATO MANIA. hundred bushels, be would have been laughed to scorn. Why! sixteen fifty dollar potatoes would have equaled the ivhole salary of the Litchfield pastor! Here would be a task worthy of an economist, to bring up eight or ten children on the value of sixteen potatoes a year! But this was an exceptional case, every one will say. No potato was ever worth fifty dollars, nor ever will be. Why not? If an article is put upon the market quietly, without puflSng or misrepresentation, and fifty sober, practical men, who earn their money by the hardest, and part with it only on good reasons, are willing to pay fifty dollars for a single tuber, on what ground is it said to be not worth that sum? Not, certainl}', for immediate culinary purposes. A dish of fifty dollar potatoes on the table for vegetables, ought to have "the Duke's Merino Ram" for the meat; — the story running that, having \ivad five hundred guineas iov a Merino, he sent it home with word to the steward to prepare dinner for some friends that he purposed bringing. The steward, ignorant of the value of the animal, had him killed and served for dinner. This was the costliest bit of mutton, we suspect, that ever passed a Duke's lips — or a King's either; but Oh! if he had had fifty-dollar-a-piece potatoes at the same time ! That Merino Ram was not worth five hundred guineas on the dinner table, but might he not be worth much more than that as the father of a long line of posterity? What a potato is worth in the dish, is one thing, and what it is worth in the field, is another. A farmer could afford to give a hundred dollars apiece for a few potatoes that were in quality as good as the "Mercer," and twice as productive. A potato like the "Early Rose," admirable in quality, productive, and ten days earlier than former sorts, was worth, to the originator of it, a small fortune,' and he ought to have made one, though we doubt if he ever did; for, in this much mismanaged world, inventors seldom make fortunes, and originators of new comestible articles see others making the money, and have themselves to be contented with a mere reputation; an excellent thing in its way, ADVERTISEMENTS. COLLin^S c5c co/s P»^TE]VT ASI eiBf^STllIi llil MOH-ES TH-A^KO" 100,000 Of these Plows are now in use, and in EVERY INSTANCE liave given perfect satisfaction. They are made by pouring Molten Cast Steel into moulds of the exact shape re- quired for the Mouldboards, Landsides and Shares. They are then highly tempered^ ground and polished. Every Plow is warranted to "scour" in the most difficult or sticky soil For full description and prices, JLX)IDE,ESS COLLIlSrS & CO., 212 Water Street, New Yorko THE POTATO MANIA. but not negotiable for goods and commodities, or discounts. Nature is very shy of trusting men with too much power. If she blesses one with genius, she is apt to hold back a little in the matter of common sense. If she sets up a man in ideas and in- ventive qualities, she gives to somebody else the money-making tact; and on the .other hand, if she sets up a man with great skill to make and keep money, she does not think it right to give him everything, and so she is apt to keep back a considerable part of the heart, and of that disposition which produces happiness. That is one reason why we find so many men that are rich and wretched. But all this does not alter the fact that an inventor of a good machine, the originator of a new fruit, the patient experimenter who brings out a better vegetable than was in market before, deserves an ample fortune. If Mr. Bresee's diligence in im- proving the potato has given to millions a better article, to gardeners an earlier and more productive one, he has increased the wealth of the country immensely, and he ought to share in that wealth. But only by a large price for one or two years, can he secure any adequate remuneration for his toil. AVe have an illustration on the adverse side of this trade, in the example of that Father of modern potatoes, the Rev. Chauncey E. Goodrich, (of Utica, N. Y.) Although a clergyman, and faithful to his duties as Chaplain of the New York State Lunatic Asylum, he gave to the study of Nature a mind well adapted to close ob- servation, endowed with that patience and culture which science demands. About the year 1843 it was, that the potato disease broke out in such alaniiing proportions in England, and afterwards in America. It seemed for a while as if potato culture had come to an abrupt termination. All the old ajid established sorts, of vigorous constitutions and without signs of feebleness, were sud- denly a prey to this plague. The loss in Great Britain was esti- mated in some years as high as ffty millions of dollars, ($50,000,000,) and between five and six millions a j'ear, for some 3'ears, in the United States. 80 great was this pecuniary loss in some countries ADVERTISEMENTS. Agents Wanted ! 15th Thousand now ready. A Book of Great Value to Farmers, Mechanics and Workingmen of all Trades and Occupations THE! Farmers' and Mechanics' Manual WITH JlLdJVr VALUABLE TABLES, For Machinists, Manufacturers, Merchants, Engineers, Masons, Painters, Plumbers Gardeners, Accountants, &.c. By W. S. COURTNEY, and GEO. E. WARING, Jr., AUTHOR OF "elements OF AGRICULTURE," "DRAINING FOR PROFIT AND FOR HEALTH," "EARTH CLOSETS— HOW TO MAKE AND HOW TO USE THEM;" AND FORMERLY AGRICUL- TURAL ENGINEER OF CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK. WITH 200 PRACTICAL ILLUSTKATIONS AND OUTLINES. [Extract from the Autfwr's Preface.] Those wlio consult this book must remember that it is not a book of recipes or prescriptions, but for the most part a work of facts and figures— assured analysis and demonstrations, about which there can be no dispute. The design was to produce a work of substantial and enduring value, and of universal application and use. * * * To sum up, then, this book is offered as containing more that has been proven by long use to be of value, more that is most necessary for every farmer and mechanic to know, and more of promising novelty, than any other that has ever been presented to the farmers and mechanics of America. It is complete in every particular in which it is possible for such a book to be complete ; and, in addition to this, it is sufficiently suggestive in many other respects to induce its readers to read more, to think more, to experiment more, and to become more intelligent and more successful in the management of their business, as well as really happier and wiser men. A Book of Solid Worth and Practical Utility. "Worth its Weight in Gold." Every ARTISAN needs it. Every BUILDER needs it. Every CARPENTER needs it. Every DAIRYMAN needs it. Every ENGINEER needs it. Every FARMER needs it. Every GARDENER needs it. Every HOUSEHOLD needs it. Every IRON WORKER needs it. Every JOURNEY.MAN needs it. Every KEEPER OF ACCOUNTS needs it. Every LAWYER needs it. Every MECHANIC needs it. Every NAVIGATOR needs it. Every OWNER OF STOCK needs it. Every PAINTER needs it. Every QUARRY'MAN needs it. Every REAL ESTATE OWNER needs it. Every STOCK RAISER needs it. Every TANNER needs it. Every UNDERWRITER needs it. Every VINF, (;U<»WER needs it. Every W(U;KMAN needs it. Every Y'Or>;(i MAN needs it. Every ZEALOUS, INDUSTRIOUS AND Labor-Saving Man cannot afford to be without it. It is comjirised in one large Octave Volume, of over five hundred pages and two hundred illustrations, and furnished in : Extra English Cloth, Gilt Back, Embossed Morocco, Marbled Edges, Half Calf, Antique $3.00 3.50 5.00 yyanfed Farmers, jyfechanics. Teachers and Workbiff Men and Women FreryH'here, to sell t?iis Work. E. B. TREAT & CO., Publishers, 654 Broadway, N. Y. THE POTATO MANIA. 9 — Ireland for instance — the potato was so nearly the only staff of life, that the food of the poorer portion of the population was re- duced to the famine point. Now the value of the potato crop was so great that men looked on with dread at its prospective annihilation. "We have not at hand the statistics of the United States for the years 1840 and 1850, but in 1860 the census computes the potato crop of the United States at nearly one Imndred and ten millions of bushels. Two years later, the Department of Agriculture put it at one hundred and fourteen million bushels; but calling it one hundred and twelve millions, at twenty-five cents a bushel, it would reach a value of twenty-eight millions of dollars. This is an enormous sum to be wiped out of the agricultural exchecquer in a single year, and every j'ear. Moved b^' considerations of patriotism, Mr. Goodrich turned to account his habit of observation and experiment in the vegetable kinffdom. Instead of seeking; for the convalescence of old varie- ties, he believed that the true road out of the danger lay in the direction of a renewal of the stock from original sotirces, and to this, being now relieved from a pastoral charge, he devoted himself with singular intelligence and industry. The potato is indigenous to the tropical mountain regions of South America. It flourishes best on the table-lands of the Andes. There is no winter of cold there, and yet the elevation makes the ground cool and moist. Mr. Goodrich, in 1843, at an enpense of two hundred dollars, pro- cured some potatoes from Chili. From 1843, until the time of his death in 1863, he raised not less than sixteen thousand seedlings. There are few instances on record, of zeal so disinterested, chiefl}' in two respects. First, in that he would not permit himself to be imposed upon in the judgment which he placed ujjon the merits of his seedlings — remorselessly sacrificing almost the whole of them, sifting and reducing the number to some seventy, and ulti- matel}^ to some eight or ten, which, by a wide and generous distribution, he had caused to be tested over the breadth of the 10 ADVERTISEMENTS. This Potato was sent to all sections of the country last Spring for trial, and hav- ing been most thoroughly tested, I have no hesitation in oftering it to the public as be- ing the EARLIEST OF THE EARLY, of large yield and superior quality. From the large number of Testimonials re- ceived from disinterested and -well known Agriculturists from all sections of the country, I claim that It is without an equal in all the new varieties offered to the public, all of which will be substantiated by circular, sent by mail, on application. I would also respectfully refer to Wm. Parry, Cinnaminson, N. J. Professor J. F^rckmons, Rome, Ga. W. I. Bishop, Ports- mouth, Va. G. W. Bradley & Son, Hamden, Conn. S. H. Howe, President Worcester Co. Agricul- tural Society, Bolton, Ma-ss. Gerard C. Brown, Crotcn Falls, N. Y. James W. Underhill, Probate Judge, Canton, Stark Co., Ohio. Charles Young, President Forrest Grove Agricultural Society. Gloucester Co., N. J. G. S. Stevens, President Lincoln Agricultural Society, Lincoln, Sussex Co., Del. AVm. Sanders, United States Experimental Gardens, Washington. D. C. A. W. Marshall, President Metuchin Agricultural Society, Metuchin, N. J. Daniel Needham, Secretary .of New England Ag- ricultural Society, Groton, Mass. A. T. Stork, Secretary Burlington Co. Agricultural Society, Bur- lington, N. J. Burton A. Thomas, President Rensselaer Co. Agricultural Society, Sandlake, N. Y. W. L. Hope, Shrewsbury, N. J. G. J. Polhemus, Woodhull, Mich. E. McCarty, Tuscola, 111. Pro- fessor Cook, N. J. Experimental Farm, New Brunswick, N. J. Thomas Dowd, President East Hartford Agricultural Society, Conn. John A. Warder, Cincinnati, Ohio. L. Woodward, President Pontiac Agricultural Society, Rochester, Mich. Charles H. Allen, Secretary Horticultural Society, Platts- ville, Wis. Joseph Baily, President Perry Co. Agricultural Society, New Bloomfield, Pa. Jefferson Rainey, President St. Clair Co. Agricultural Society, Bellville, 111. J. B. Hutchings, President lona Agricultural Society, Mich. Allen D. Morgan, President Cayuga Co. Agricultural Society, Auburn N. Y. John Duncan, President Shelby Co. Agricultural Society, Sidney, Ohio. Zodock Townsend President, New Castle Co. Agricultural Society, Del. Price, SIS per Barrel; $7 per Bushel; S2 per Peck, delivered in New York. s. IB. coisro"\rEi^, 260 & 261 "West Washington Market, foot of Fulton St., NEW YORK. THE POTATO MANIA. 11 whole North, from Canada, to Virginia; and secondly, in that he worked ont his benevolent labors to the end of his life, without turning his industry to his own profit. He was so busy with his exi^eriments that he had no time to make money. After his death, his books, which were closely kept, showed that what with pre- miums and honorary' gratuities, together with sales, he had a balance to his credit of fifty dollars, for twenty years of unremitting in- dustry. Surely the name of Goodrich should be enrolled among the saints of agriculture! Goodrich was the pioneer and patriarch of the New Kingdom of Potatoes; but his scholars have carried forward his work to a point of financial success that he himself never attained, and have reaped a rich remuneration. One can but wish that fortune had thrown part of its mercies upon the devoted cler- g3^man, the last year of whose life would have suftered from pinching poverty but for a timely donation (by a few friends of Agriculture, who chanced to learn of his narrow circumstances) of some seven hundred dollars. We have no such instance of disinterested devotion to science, and to practical economy in the annals of American husbandr}^ The two essays which Mr. Good- rich has left are masterly, and ought to become a part of the Classics of Husbandry. Besides these, his writings on this spe- cialt}', Mr. Goodrich contributed over one hundred and thirty articles to various agricultural journals. It may be said that the potato has now a literature. Many, before his day, had written upon this humble vegetable, but Goodrich first instituted elaborate and long continued trials, upon a scale that had never before been attempted, and his writ- ings are a scientific discussion of the results of his own experiments. His name may be fitly associated with that of Van Mons, of Bel- gium, who gave the great impulse to pear culture; with that of Knight, the President of the London Horticultural Society, whose philosophic experiments gave a new rank to Horticulture, and raised it from an empirical art to the dignity of an experimental THE NEAV YORK SXJ:N^. CHA-RIjES a. DANA, Editoi-. The Cheapest and Best Newspaper in the United States. Three Editions— Daily, Semi-Weekly THE WEEKLY DOLLAR SUN, Is prepared with special reference to tlie wants of country readers. It contains news of the week from all parts of the globe, the most interesting editorial articles of THE DAILY SUN, and the most instructive and entertaining miscellany. Its CATTLE, PRODUCE, AND GI:NERAL MARKET RE- PORTS, wiH he foun.l all that can be desired. As a general FAJIILY NEWSPAPER, it will be particularly acceptable. THE AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT Is under the supervision of Mr. ANDREW S. FULLER, the well known Horticulturist, who writes on the subjects in question, and reports the meetings of the FARMERS' and FRUIT GRO AVERS' CLUBS for our columns. 150 OF THE CHOICEST VARIETIES OF POTATOES. Some of them cost us last spring no less than SoO a tuber. For 25 subscribers, with $25, we will send 25 copies of Weekly for one year, and 25 named varieties of potatoes, including the new- est and most costly kinds. For $.50, 50 copies and 50 varieties. For $100, 100 copies and 100 varieties. These potatoes will be all labeled, care- fully packed, and sent free, by mail or express. For the ladies we have grown 30,000 choice LILIES AND GLADIOLUSES. To every new subscriber, or those who will renew their subscriptions for next year, at full rates, viz: One dollar for the Weekly, or two dollars for the Semi-Weekly Sun, we will send any one of the following gifts, postage paid, to anv part of the United States. In ordering the gifts, it will be only necessary to mention the number. 14. Two White Grape do. 15. Two Concord Grape 16. Two Hartford Proli- fic do. 17. One Delaware do. 18. One lona do. 19. One Japan Lily,long flowered (white). 20. One Japan Lily, Ru- brun, (Red). 21. One Jap. Lily, Rose- um, (Rose-colored) 22. One Japan Lilv, Al- bum, (White). 23. One Lilium Candi- dum, (fragr't white) 24. One Choice named variety of Gladio- ^ _ lus. No. 25 — One package Lilium Aurstum seed,tlie new gold-banded Lily from Japan. jjo. 26— Bresee's Prolific— Best late potato. No. 27 — Climax. — Large, early, excellent do. No. 28— Early Prince.— A new variety of great value. No. 29— Early Mohawk. — Large, productive, early do. No. 30— Early Rose Unsurpassed. No. 31— King of the Earlies.— Tubers sold at $50 last spring. Large, white, early as the Rose. INDUCEMENTS TO CANVASSIRS. $1,000 LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES, CHICKERING PI- ANOS, SEWING MACHINES, BUCKEYE MOWERS, PARLOR ORGANS, ETC., GIVEN AWAY. Those who desire to get up Clubs for The Sun, win be furnished free, on application, with speci- mens, posters, and prospectuses. To sdlfull-pay- 1. Two Ellisdale Rasp- berry. 2. Two Clarke do. 3. Two Philadelp'a do. 4. Two Brinckle's Or- ange do. 5. 2 Davison's Thorn- less Black do. 6. Two Seneca Bl'k do. 7. Two Mammoth Cl'r do. 8. Two ^lonthly Black do. 9. Two Summit Yel- low do. 10. One Sable Queen Blackberry. 11. 2 Early Wilson do. 12. Two Kittatinny do. 13. 2 Cherry Currants AND Weekly— at $6, $2, and $1 per year. ing subscribers, for Weekly or Semi-Weekly, whether singly or in Clubs, the vines and plants, will be sent where desired, as above; while as an inducement to get up Clubs, we make the follow- ing liberal offers in addition, a Semi-Weekly subscription counting as one /or plants and two for preminins: For Clubs of Twenty-five, with $25 we will send the getter-up a Univereal Clothes Wringer, No. 114, large family size, worth $10. For Clubs of Thirty-five, we will send Do- ty's famous Clothes Washer, price $14. ' For Clubs of Fifty, we will send both the Wringer and Clothes Washer. For Clubs of One Hundred, we will send a first-class Singer's Family Sewing Machine, of the new and popular make, price $60; has a hemmer and braider, and is well adapted for all kinds of work. For Clubs of One Hudred and Fifty, with $150, we will send one of E. P. Needham & Sou's celebrated Parlor Organs. Price $30. For Clubs of Two Hundred, we will send one of the celebrated Buckeye Mowing Ma- chines, complete. No. 2, 4 feet 1 inch cut. Price $125. For Clubs of Three Hundred, we will send one of Needham & Son's silver-tongued Parlor Or- gans. Price $145; and for lager clubs, a proiwr- tionately larger and more costly one. These In- struments are of superior tone and finish. For Clubs of Five Hundred, with $.500, we will give a full paid up registered Life Insurance policy of $1,000 in the North America Life Ins. Co. of New York, on an accepted life of the age of 25 years, or its equivalent if the person is older. These Policies are registered in the State De- partment at Albany, where securities for their payment are di']i"sitVfl, thus making them abso- lutely safe. Tills wiiulil l)e an invaluable provi- sion for wife and children, or others dependeut upon the life of the assured. For One Thousand Subscribers with $1,000, to the Weekly, or 500 subscribers to the Semi- Weekly, with $1,000, or subscribers to both edit- tions, to the amount of $1,000 we will send a mag- nificent 7)4 octave Chickering & Son's Grand Square Rosewood Piano Forte. They are No. 9 in Chickering's Catalogue, and the very best grand square they make. Price $725 ; [old price, $975.] The makers are celebrated the world orer for the superior quality of their work. Should no competitor for this premium reach the number of subscribers specified, then one of these superb instruments will be awarded to the canvasser who, as shown by our books, has ob- tained the largest number of subscribers before the 1st of February next. Canvassers need not wait till they have com- pleted their clubs, as subscriptions may commence at my time. Nor need the subscribers be all from one town or PostoflSce. All names sent by one person count, wherever come from. TO POSTMASTERS. Postmasters and others getting up clubs of ten of either edition, will receive an extra copy for their kindness. To Clubs without Plants or Premiums. Twenty copies of the Weekly Sun will be mailed to one address for $17, and fifty copies for $37 50, invariably in advance. Ten copies to one address of the Semi- Weekly Sun, $18. Twenty copies to one address, $35; and fifty copies $80, always in advance. All business communications should be ad- dressed to I. W. ENGLAND, Publisher. Sun Otfice, New York. THE POTATO MANIA. 13 science. The x>otato has noio a literature/ And why should men smile at the idea of a literature of the potato? It is one of the four great supporters of the human race. First is wheat; next, probably, rice ; then maize, and then the potato. It may be doubted whether the potato does not supply food to more millions than does the maize. If it does, then it must occupy the third place in this honorable quaternity. The potato, as food, approaches nearer to the standard of bread than any other production of our zone. It is an admirable ingredient with flour, for bread-making. It is farinaceous, nutritious, and of an agreeable flator. It is far easier of cultivation than Indian corn, and returns a greater amount of food to the acre. Long after the point is reached when corn will not flourish, the potato holds on, and even improves in qualit}''. It is raised in Iceland at its northern bounds, and in America it flourishes along the shores of Lake Superior, and to the Red River, and on the Columbia. In our own land it finds itself at home in some part of every State in the Union. It reaches as far south as do the Indian corn and the vine, provided the mountain table-lands be selected for it; and at the north it feels itself at home and vigorously happy, long after the maize has refused to grow and ripen. The crop of the single State of New York, for 1868, says a writer in the "New York Observer," was twenty-five million bushels. At fifty cents a bushel, this is more than ttvelve million dollars. This is the way to dig gold. Prospecters, with pick and pan, may do very well in the Rocky Mountains, but the true way to dig gold in New York State, is to let your potatoes do it for you. Our soil is au- riferous, if one knows how to deal with it. As there were one hundred and fifty million bushels of potatoes raised in the United States in 1860, it is a safe calculation to say that in 1869 there were, at least, two hundred and twenty-Jive million bushels. Making the price as low as thirty cents a bushel, we should have more than sixty-seven million dollars dug from potato hills in one year I 14 ADVERTISEMENTS. the: to^ts-w K.:Esijic3rioxTS ■wosiesis.Xj-k-. the: ohci^i^ti^^tv xj]xioiv — IS AN — Unsectarian, Independent Journal, devoted to Religion, Morals, Reform, Foreign and Domestic News of the Church and the World, Literature, Science, Art, Agriculture, Trade, Finance, etc., etc., etc.. And containing Houseliold Stones, Clioice Pooms, WallvS with the Cliildren, etc., etc. Contributions from WELL-KNOWN and EMINENT WRITEIIS, together with Editorials and Lecture-Room Talks Aiming to he a truly Christian Journal, and a complete Famil)' Newspaper, and having for its high- est purjjose the pr^esentation of it will advocate, in the spirit of love and liberty, the fellowship and cooperation of Christs people of every name. Eecognizing the right and necessity of different Church organizations as the natural result of the many-mindedness of mankind, it will endeavor to treat all Christian denominations with fairness and love, stating its own opinions with frankness but in kindness, and providing an jirena for courteous debate not hedged in by sectarian boundaries. Without undervaluing doctrinal truth, it will chiefly strive to foster and enforce Christianity, as a Life, rather than as a theological system. In this connection, the Publishers feel a crowning assurance of strength in that they have secured a special and pectiliar interest in the paper on the part of the man whose stirring dis- courses, and broad, rich writings on themes of Christian life have done so much toward developing the 'spirit of unity among Christ's iieople of every name. The strong and already conspicuous leadership of the Kev. Henry Ward Beecher in this direction of popular Christian feeling is too well known to need more than mention here ; suffice it to say, he is constantly represented from week to week in its Editorial and other columns, and on the first of January next lie will become its and will call to his aid some of the best and most notable talent of the land. With these advantages, the Publishers confidently commend to the reading Christian public this young and vigorous journal, THE CHRISTIAIV TTNIOIV. Its form: Sixteen Pages—Cut and Stitched, so convenient, both for use and jireservatiou, as to be a great and special merit in its fa\or, apart from its superior literary attractions. Its Circulation: More than Doubled during the first month of Mr. beech- ER's identification witli its interests, is now making even more rapid strides forward. ITB PEIO-ls ®ML¥ $0.50 PIE TIAE, And to all who subscribe NOW for 1870, it will be sent, for the remainder of the year, FREE. SUBSCRIBE FOR IT! GET OTHERS TO TAKE IT! ! Circulars sent, upon api)lieation, containing List of liberal CJLSH oo:]yn:M:issioisrs j^jstjd ip:R:Eii^xTJi^s Specimen copies of the "Christian Union" sent free, to any addi'ess, by J. B. FOMD £ CO., Fnhlishers, 39 Park Row, New York. THE POTATO SIA^'1A. 15 If one would form a sound judgment upon the matter of new potatoes, he must consider what the money value to this nation is, year by ^-ear, of this Poor Man's Crop. What a terrible mis- fortune, falling chiefly upon the hard working poor, would be its destruction or its material diminution. It is certain that at the time that Mr. Goodrich began his experiments, and inaugurated the race of new potatoes, there was a prevalent fear that all the old sorts must be given up. Men were looking about for some other esculent to take the place of the potato? To obtain new sorts, of robust constitution, as good as the Mercer or the Peachblow, which would withstand the inroads of the mysterious disease that had so almost universally followed these old sorts, was a matter of National concern. There is not a farmer in the United States who is not richer to-day for the "Potato Mania," as it is called. The enterprise and skill of the school of Goodrich, is not to be regarded as speculative. That high prices have been paid for new kinds of potatoes, that there has been a slight speculative fever, may be admitted. But this is a mere wrinkle on the face of a great movement for the regeneration of the fourth (perhaps the third) important article of National food. "VVe ought not to be misled by a mere incidental feature. The real facts are, that a great crop was perishing from our hands, and that Providence raised up men whose patience and sagacit}^ has met the evil, and warded it off. If Mr. Goodrich, instead of dying poor, had made a million dollars, he would not have been overpaid. But, we think that there is a very great misapprehension in respect to the profits made b}' any of the gentlemen whose names have figured in connection with new potatoes. Men hear that fifty dollars have been paid for single potatoes; that eighty dollars and more a bushel have been paid lor other sorts; that they are selling at a dollar a pound, &c. Compared with the old fashion piice per bushel, these sums seem utterly extravagant. The transactions seem like gambling. It recalls the speculations in Morus MulticauUs; the 16 A D VERTISEMENTS LEADING AGRICULTURAL PAPER OF NEW ENGLAND. One of the best conJucted Agricultural Journals in the country. — Rural New Yorker. ADVANCE TERMS 1870. WEEKLY, "i Q.^ r\ MONTHZY, 53.50 FEPt .^ISrNLrJVI. i. O « V/. $1.50 FER ^ISTNXJJU. During the past nearly fifty years this Pioneer op the Agricultural Press has become so well and favorably known to New England readers, that a brief enumer- ation of its merits and claims will be sutficient. THE WEEKLY NEW ENGLAND FARMER Is a large folio sheet, thirty-two columns of reading matter, calculated especially for the interests of the rarmer, Horticulturist, Mechanic, and the Family Circle, Edited by competent persons, and embracing in its list of contributors, practical men in every part of the country. Illustrations of Practical Value and Interest given in nearly every isssue The News Department is carefully compiled, and the Summary made up to the latest hour before going to press. We give special attention to our m:a.iiket rep^ohts. Including the Brighton and Cambridge Cattle Market; the Wool Markets; ProdiLce Markets of Boston and the leading Commercial Points of the Country ; the Boot & Shoe Market; Financial Matters, &c The fourth page is devoted to Literary Selections — giving a complete Story each week, Poe- try and General Selections. We also publish, at frequent intervals, articles on HDOIMIESTIO EOOIsTOIMI'Y', Of great interest and value to our lady readers. Advertisers receive, on liberal terms, the Benefit of a Circulation over lyiOOO ! Larger than that of any other Paper of its class in New England, Rates given on application. Specimen Copies and Circulars sent on receipt of Red Stamp. THE MONTHLY NEW ENGLAND FARMER Contains, each month, /or/y-ei^'i^psges of reading, handsomely printed and illustrated, forming an annual volume of nearly 600 pages, in neat and appropriate binding. Address all orders to the Publishers, R. P. EATON & CO., ^STo. 34 ]VIercliants' IRo-w, sosTOisr. THE rOTATO MANIA. 17 Dutch speculation in Tulips in Holland; articles on the Exchange, as Erie stock is to-da}', badgered and bated by "Bulls and Bears." But, tulips never were more than fancy articles. The extraordinary price which some of them reached during the prevalence in the Netherlands, of what has been fitly called ^^ TuUpomcmia,^^ bore no proportions whatever to any real or pros- pective value; it was an artificial inflation. During the three years following 1634, a single bulb of the "Viceroy" brought 2,500 florins. The " Deutzer Augustus" was often sold for 2,000 florins, and in one case, 4,000 florins, together with a new carriage and a pair of horses with harness, were promised for a single root; and in another instance a single bulb brought twelve acres of land. It needs no exposition to show that this was a crazyness ; that there was no sound basis in intrinsic value. But a new potato, as good as the Mercer, and not subject to disease, in a few years would add to the wealth and comfort of millions of men. A potato that should be as good as the Peach- blow, and so productive as to yield three to four hundred bushels to the acre, would be a direct and appreciable addition to the National wealth. Again, a potato that comes in as early as the Dykeman, and is more productive, and of a larger size, is literally worth, to market gardeners, millions of dollars. "Goodrich's Early," and that admirable successor, the " Early Rose," were not speculative novelties. They were long strides in good husbandry, and were positive additions to the wealth of the communit}-. If, now, Mr. Bresee, or any other gentleman, has advanced a step be3^ond the "Early Rose," and produced a potato large in size, fine in quality, productive in the hill, and some days earlier than any put upon the market before, he deserves a premium far larger than he will really get by the sale of a few tubers, for a single year, at great prices. People do not reflect upon the labor required to raise a new fruit, or a new vegetable. Mr. Goodrich raised more than sixteen thousand seedlings. Perhaps ten of these are permanent acquisitions, and deserved large prices; but where 1 8 AD VERTISElVrENTS . NOW IS THE TIME TO SUBSCRIBE — for' the — NEW YORK WEEKLY, THE PEOPLE' S FAVORITE JOURNAL. THE MOST INTERESTING STORIES ARE ALAVAYS TO BE FOUND IN THE NEW YORK WEEKLY. AT PRESENT THERE ARE six: o-i^e^t stoi^ies Running through its columns; and at least One Story is begun Every Montli. New subscribers are thus sure of having the commencemout of a new continued story, no matter when they subscribe for the NEW^ YORK ^WEEKLY. Each number of the NEW YORK WEEKLY contains Several Beautiful Illus- trations, Double the Amount of Reading Matter of any paper of its class, and the Sketches, Short Stories. Poems, etc., are by the ablest writers of America and Europe. The NEW YORK WEEKLY does not confine its usefulness to amusement, but pub- lishes a great quantity of really Instructive Matter, in the most condensed form. The New York Weekly Departments have attained a high reputation from their brevity, excellence and correctness. The Pleasant Paragraphs are made up of the concentrated wit and humor of many minds. The Knowledge Box is confined to useful information on all manner of subjects. The News Items give in the fewest words the most notable doings all over the world. The Gossip with Correspoxdents contains answers to inquires upon all imaginable subjects. AN UNRIVALLED LITERARY PAPER — IS THE — NE^V YORK WEEKLY. Each issue contains from EIGHT to TEN STORIES and SKETCHES, and HALF A DOZEN POEMS, in ADDITION to the SIX SERIAL STORIES and the VARIED DEPARTMENTS. THE TER]MS TO SUBSCRIBERS: One Year— single copy^ Three Dollars " Four copies ($2.50 each) Ten Dollars " " Eight copies Twenty Dollars Those sending $20 for a club of Eight, all sent at one time, will be entitled to a copy FREE. Getters-up of Clubs can afterward add single copies at $2.50 each. STREET & SMITH, Proprietors, No. 55 Fultox Street, N. Y. THE POTATO MANIA. 19 are the Jifteen thoicsand nine Jmiidred and ninety kinds that, after much care, proved valueless, and were thrown away? The culti- vator must make up on the one lucky hit all the expenses of hundreds, and it may he of thousands, of failures. It is very seldom that raisers of new fruits or vegetables earn even their expenses. It is a costly process, requiring time, patience, skill, and not a little outlay. When success crowns the sagacious in- xjbijISh:e;33 se:m:i-m:ontkly, TJie 1st and 15th of each 31onth, for ^1.00 a year, in advance. 4@® ,^W4mS@ gA©Ei A WMMM The Cheapest Paper in America. <3ir.i^fM>:E: IVIBfLS , ^^IjXj ■W.A.ITT IT. Occupying, as we do, a iield that no other paper does ; advocating in the most earnest and practical manner, every means calculated to improve and elevate our common schools and dignify the farmer's calling, we feel warranted in asking the friends of Agricultural and Educational im- provements — men, women and children — to help extend the circulation, thus widening the sphere of usefulness of our paper. A.ny one sending fOUH STIBSCIilSJERS, at a dollar each, ivill receive Jiis paper FREE. $DU IJ^ urllLlI will be given to the person sending us the largest club. As all cannot get the largest number, we will give to those who try and fail, TWENTY PER CENT in CASH, or in WATCHES, SEWING MACHINES, BOOKS, SEEDS, PLANTS or IMPLEilENTS on every dollar they send in. BEGIN NOW AND SUCCEED. WHY GIVE $2.50 OR $3, FOR WHAT YOU CAN GET FOR $1? ADDRESS, BOCHESTER, N. T. THE POTATO MANIA. O?. dollars per barrel, (2f bushels). In small quantities the "Early Rose " was sold at prices yet higher than these. Without ex- pressing an opinion as to the probable profits of these transactions 1»o the persons employed, we do not doubt that the stimulation of such prices will stir up multitudes of men to originate new varie- ties of potatoes. There will be, doubtless, much carelessness and some imposition; but it cannot be but that the countr}^ at large will be an immense gainer b}- all this excitement. Individuals may suffer some losses, but the community will be greatly enriched. 24: ADVERTISEMENTS. CAHOON'S BROADCAST SEED SOWER Sows all kinds of Grain and Grass Seed with perfect regularity and wonderful rapidity. • ]il'i///////y.;'.- The uuparalled success of this Seeder ''ilff'/^/''/^'^'^ during the year 18G9, is entirely beyond ' / ; •'•''<'-;^ precedent. It has been sold in nearly ''?5--'r;. every State in the Union, and thousands ''-_''■ to-day are testifying to its wonderful merit. ■ i^ _3l-v ■' The Hand Machine, which retails every- //>:V:Sr3.j^:l^ where for SlO.OO, will SOW 50 acres of wheat . ,,--^jT;Hr!-- per day, and lighter grain in proportion. ^'/^y,''i^'><^>'<':,-- it in every particular. Sold by all respect- ■=fe=^ > i"t-=^'-^,- ■' al)ie dealers in Agricultural Implements ~- _ ". _;_ __ throughout the country. D. H. COODELL & CO., Sole Manufacturers, Antrim, N. H. LARGEST CIRCULATION AND MOST POPULAR IN THE WEST, THE WESTERN RURAL The great leading Agricultural and Family Weekly of the West. 03^Xj"Z" ^2.00 I»:E3H. "STE-A-H.. Owing to its Superior Adaptation to the wants of the "West, it has established a cir- culation ah-eady DOUBLE THAT OF ANY OTHER Agricultural Journal west of New York. ^TT-TTl WOULD LIKE TO PRESENT A COPY OF THE "WESTERN RURAL;' FOR VV ri-i perusal in every family where it is not now received, knowing that an examination will secure a subscription. It is the most practical Journal of its class, and its ample pages are crowded with "good things." It is printed with large and beautiful type, easily read by lamp-light without hurting the eyes. Give the Western Rural the preference.— CArca^'o Ti-iburw- Possesses uncommon excellence.— Chicago Jmimal. A popularity beyond precedent.- Pe/roi/ Free Press. Capital farm and family paper. — Christum Standard. Better than Eastern Journals.— C'Airaj'O Timfs. SPECIMEN LETTERS.— The following is from a Postmaster : "The Western Rural is the l>est paper that I ever canvassed for, and is looked after with MORE INTEREST than any other paper taken at this office. A SUBSCRIBER WRITES:— "The Western Rural has the prettiest name, the prettiest dress, tiie best print, and gives the best family reading of any weekly paper I ever held before my eyes. Every time I come home from the post-office, my ears are greeted with 'O! Pa, I want to see the Rural,' or 'Did you get the Rural?'" *** The Western Rural gives the most liberal promiums of any FIRST-CLASS WEEKLY in America! More than $40,000 have been given awav us ]iremiums to those who have formed clubs during the past two years. Our premium list cinliraccs over ONE HUNDRED DIFFERENT ARTICLES, given for clubs of from two to one hundred suliscribers. New subscribers to the AVesteen Rural, for 1870, by subscribing early, will receive .the re- maining numbers of 1869 without charge, commencing at the time the names are received. 4®= Enclose $2.00 at once, or subscribe through your Postmaster, or some one who is foriuing a club. Specimen Copies, Premium Lists, etc., sent free. Address H. N. P. LEWIS, Publisher "Western Rural, At either Chicago, 111., or Detroit, Mich. THE EAKLY EOSE. THE EAKLY ROSE. Although this valuable variety has been but two years before the public, it is already as "well known as any varietj' now nnder cultivation in the United States, and it has been the subject of more vinanimons and universal praise than any other potato ever offered to growers. It was raised from the seed of the well known '"Garnet Chili," by Albert Bresee, an intelligent farmer of Hortonville, Vt. , and whose name is familiar to potato raisers in all parts of the country. Wlien first offered for sale, it was at enormous prices, but the supply is now so abundant as to bring it within the reach of every farmer in the land, and if the}' profit by the experience of the thousands who have tested it, not one of them will fail to give it a trial the coming season. The tuber is of large size, eyes shallow, skin thin and tough, flesh white, solid and brittle; boils through quickh', is very meah', and has a delicious flavor. 26 ADVERTISEMENTS. THE OHIO FAR!ViER--VOLUME XIX-1870. TO BE BETTER TIIAX EVJCll BEFOEE. THE FIRESIDE AND CHILDREN'S DEPARTMENTS TO BE ILLUSTRATED. VALUABLE INDUCEMENTS OFFERED SUBSCRIBERS. LIBERAL PREMIUMS OFFERED TO CLUB AGENTS FOR EITHER OLD OR NEW SUBSCRIBERS. Consisting of BEAUTIFUL COLORED LITHOGRAPHS, DIAMOND POINTED GOLD PENS, SPLENDID CHROMOS, WEBSTER'S PICTORIAL DICTIONARY, SILVER WATCHES, GOLD WATCHES, SEWING MACHINES, MELODEONS, &c., &c. T^venty Tliousancl IVe^v Sixl>scr-il>ers "Wanted. THE OHIO FARIWER IS A WEEKLY AGRICULTURAL AND FAWILY PAPER, Devoted to Agriculture, Stock Raising, Sheep Husbandry, Dairy Business, Swine, Poultry, Garden- ing, Fruit Growing, Mechanical Arts, Housekeeping, Domestic Education, Family Reading, Rural Inteiligeuce, Wool Markets, Live Stock Markets, Produce Markets, Ac, giving a great variety of practical matter for both old and young readers. THE OHIO FARMER is a live weekly of fifty-two numbers a year— twenty pages every week ; over eighty pages per month — making an annual volume of One Thousand and Forty Pages for Only Two Dollars! THE OHIO FARMER is published in quarto form, and the only weekly paper in the country that is covered and stitched. Sample copies sent free. Address, OHIO FARMER, Cleveland, O. COTTAG-E G-AKDENEE We are in receipt of this valuable little monthly paper, edited by A. M. PURDY. (successor to Purdy & Johnston, ) of Palmyra, N. Y. It contains the most practical articles in relation to this subject we ever saw, and should be in the bands of every person who has a garden of even a rod square. THE PRICE IS mn FIFTY CENTS A YEAR, Send stamp for a specimen copy and circular containing offer to those getting up clubs. "We notice any person getting up a club of six has one copy gratis. He also sends out a valuable little work called the sm:^ll fuxjit iivstrxjctor. Which has received the highest testimonials from the most prominent horticulturists and pomologists in the United States. It tells how to plant and grow all kinds of small fruits. Address, for either of the above, the above parties. BKESEE S "'KING OF THE EAKLIES. 27 BKESEE^S "KITnTG- OF THE EAKLIES," OR SEEDLING NO. 4. This is the variety spoken of by Heniy Ward Bcecher, in his essay on "Tlic Potato Mania," whieli he calls "Tlie Fifty Dollar Potato." The following description is taken from the potato cir- cular of B. K. Bliss & Son, the well known seedsmen of New York : "Raised in 1862, by Albert Bresee, of IIul)bardton, Vt., from a seed ball of the Garnet Chili; vines quite dwarf, averaging from ten to twelve inches; bears no seed balls; leaves large; tubers large and handsome, roundish and slightly flattened; eyes small and somewhat pinkish; skin flesh color, or dull pinkish white; flesh white, floury; cooks well, and is of the best quality for the table. Has thus f:ir proved very hardy and the earliest in cultivation. '•The above description was given by Mr. Bresee when this variety was first exhibited in the fall of 1868, and we are happ}' to state to all interested in the culture of the Potato, that the expe- rience of another season full}' confirms all that was then claimed for Continved on Page 20. 28 ADVERTISEJIENTS. AN INCREASE OP FROM 100 TO 300 PER CENT — ON — Cotton, 3ti'hrat, and ©ovn, anrt all ^outhi^m §xop A Saving in cost, of 50 per cent, over Peruvian Guano, and 100 per cent, over Stable Manure, by tne use of BAUOH'S RAW BONE SUPER-PHOSPHATE OF LIME, In ^vhich are combined ALL the reliable and permanent fertilizing properties of PURE, finely ground DISSOLVED RAW BONES, with the active, stimulating properties of PERUVIAN GUANO. J^=In its present IMPROVED condition, without an EQUAL, at ANY PRICE. These statements are endorsed by prominent planters all over the Southern States. Space will permit us to refer to a few only : Ex-Gov. Smith, Virginia, Col. W. W. Durant, South Carolina, Gen. A. R. Wright, Pub. ' Sentinel,' Augusta, Ga., Ex-Senator Dorteh, North Carolina, Lieut.-Gen. Pemberton, Virginia, Judge Osborne, " " Hon. C. C. Langdon, Alabama, Hon. N. P. Borden, " " Hon. F. B. Clarke, " Dr. E. R. Wilkins, Hon. T. C. Weatherly, South Carolina, Hon. B. F. Rixey, Virginia. Gen. G. W. Evans, " " FOR SALE BY BAUGH «fc SONS, Manufacturers, 20 Soutti Delaware Avenue, Philadelphia, And NOItTH-WESTERHf FERTILIZINO CO., Chicago, III. Fresh Warranted Garden Seeds, BY MAIL, TO ANY P. 0. IN THE UNITED STATES. » ■ ♦ ■ » Owing to the increasing demand, from a distance, for our Garden Seeds, we have made a speciality of furnishing them by mail, and forward all orders for seeds in papers, amounting to $1.00 or upwards, to any Post Office in the United States, Postage Paid, Enabling the most distant purchaser to buy as cheaply and favorably as if at our store. We also guarantee all Seeds sent out by us to arrive safely at their destination. Our Seeds are now favorably known in every State and Territory in the Union, and the many flattering testimonials we have received from our old customers stimulate us to increased efforts to maintain their purity and reputation. Our new crop is remark- ably fine, and we are even better prepared than heretofore to give entire satisfaction to all who may favor us with orders. Our Illustrated Descriptive Priced Catalogue, for 1860, will be furnished to parties desiring, until the issue of our New and Enlarged Catalogue for 1870, which we will mail to any address on receipt of ten cents. To our old customers, or parties intending to order, it will be sent free. Address EDWARD J. EVANS & CO., Nurserymen and Seedsmen, YORK, PA. BKESEe's " KING OF THE EAKLIES." 29 Continued from Page 27. it by the raiser. It has been fairly tested in various parts of the countr}^, by some of the most experienced potato growers, and pro- nounced by them as being from five to ten days earlier than the Pearly Rose, and fully equal to it in qualit}- and i)roductiveness and general appearance. It possesses one great advantage over all other varieties, on account of the dwarf habit of the vines, in consecpience of which they can be planted much closer, both in hills and drills, than other varieties, thereby giving a much greater yield per acre. So great was the anxiety among potato growers to procure this variety, last spring, that quite a number were sold at |50 each. As far as we have heard, all who purchased even at this high price are fully satisfied of its superiority. A silver medal was awarded to Mr. Bresee for his seedlings, by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, in the fall of 1868." The following is from Mr. Burr, author of "The Field and Garden Vegetables of America:" HiNGHAM Centre, Mass., Aug. 28, 1869. Mr. A. Bresee — Dear Sir: I am happy in communicating the result of a trial of the "King of the Earlies." The tuber emplo^-ed for seed was cut to single eyes, and these were planted eighteen inches apart, in drills. No means for sprouting or forcing Avere adopted, and the experiment throughout was strictly one of open culture. The plants were small, and far from promising; but the yield was remarkable, amounting, as it did, to one hundred and twelve fold. So numerous and uniformly large and fine were the tubers, that, in view of the slender, dwarfish character of the vine, the crop seemed almost a marvel. The variety ripens some da^-s in advance of the "Early Rose," is nearly or quite as productive, and must prove an acquisition. • These newly-introduced earl}^ descriptions of potatoes are earnestly commended to cultivators, as well for the field as for the garden. Besides being quite as productive and of as good quality as those later in maturing, they are easily grown bej'ond liabilit}^ to disease by making the planting as earl}^ in spring as the weather will admit. Thus managed, the crop will be well ripened by the beginning of August, before which time the potato malady seldom, if e^er, makes its appearance. FEARING BURR. 30 ADVEKTISEoNIENTS. THE a- 1^ E ^T AGRICULTURAL NEWSPAPER OF IVETT E]VGLA:iVr>, Massachusetts Pioiigliman -A. IT ID NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. THE OP THE uthi fenglantr Sgricultural §0tictg, DEVOTED TO AGEICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, SHEEP HUSBANDRY, STOCK RAIS- ING, DOMESTIC ECONOMY, CHOICE LITERATURE, GENERAL NEWS, WOOL MARKETS, CATTLE MARKETS, ETC. AND CONTEIBUTED TO BY SUCH MEN AS Dr. GEO. B. LOSING, Hon. CHAS. L. FLINT, Hon. SANFORD HOWARD Col. DAN'L NEEDHAM, ALEXANDER HIDE, and others. SPECIMEN COPIES SENT EVERYWHERE ON APPLICATION. TEHIVIS, »S2.50 P*er Year, in advance. GEORGE NOYES, Publisher, Nos. 51 and 52 Nortli Market Street. BOSTON, MASS. ]3resee's prolific, or xo. 2. 31 BKESEE'S PROLIFIC, OR No. 2. [From B. K. Bliss tt Son's Potato Circular.] "This variety originated with Mr. Bresee in 1861, and is from the same seed ball with the Early Rose — both seedlings of the Garnet Chili. "The vines of Bresee's Prolific are of medium height, quite bushy, somewhat spreading, large leaves, have produced no seed balls. Tubers large, regular in shape, and very smooth, slightly oblong, somewhat flattened. Skin dull white, inclined to be rus- seted, eyes but little depressed and slightly pinkish, flesh white, cooks quickl}', is very mealy, and of excellent qualit}', 3'ield very large, often exceeding one hundred fold, matures about three weeks later than the Early Rose, and will prove a most valuable variety for field culture. "This variet}- has been thoroughly disseminated throughout the country the past season, and we are continually receiving the most flattering reports of its extraordinary productiveness and qualit}'." 32 ADVERTISEME^'TS. Tilton's Journal of Horticulture, Subscription Price, S3.00 per annum. Two Wilder Straivherry Plants given each subscriber, and the balance of this year (1869) given each new sub- scriber, from the time their subscriptioio is j^eceived at our offtce. FOR TWO SUBSCRIBERS. Any one sending us the names of two subscribers, one of which must be new, and $6.00, we will give either one of the following articles: The American Agriculturist for 1870; The Parlor Gardener ; a bos of Tilton's Initial Note Paper; a Silver Napkin Ring; a Photograph Album holding fifty pictures; a Gold Tooth Pick; a Silver Pocket Fruit Knife ; "Gardening for Prolit; " "Practical Floriculture; " "Small Fruit Culturist; " a Silver-plated Butter Knife ; Pickle Fork ; Sugar or Jelly Shell ; Cream or Gravy Ladle. One may make up a large club and take their premiums from this list, viz. : for each two subscribers they cau select one of the articles. FOR THREE SUBSCRIBERS. Any one sending us the names of three subscribers, two of which must be new. and $9.00, we will give either of the following articles: Grape Culture, by W. C. Strong; " Garden Vegetables ; " Parkman's Book of Pvoses ; Tennyson's Poems, complete; a Silver-plated Flower Vase; Table Bell; Set of Tea Spoons; Pie, Fish, or Ice- Cream Knife ; Four Table Spoons, or a Half Dozen Nut Picks ; a Gold Locket ; a Pair of Gold-plated Sleeve Buttons. One may make up a large club and select their premiums from this list, viz. : for each three subscribers one of the above articles may be taken. FOR FIVE SUBSCRIBERS. To any one sending us a chib of five new subscribers and $15.00, we will give: A copy of The Journal for 1870, and One Dozen Plants of the "Wilder Strawberry; a Silver-plated Spoon Holder ; a Pair of Salt Cellars ; Set of Table Forks ; Soup Ladle ; Card Receiver, or a Set of Dessert or Table Kuives ; Set of Croquet. Or for a club of five, one may select one article from each of the premiums offered for clubs of two and three subscribers. FOR TEN SUBSCRIBERS. To any one who will send us a club of tex new subscribers and $30.00, we will give either of the following articles: A Silver-plat. 'd ^Sardine Box; Breakfast Table Caster; a Porcelain-lined Baking Dish; Cake Bas- ket ; Fruit Stand, or One Dozen Dessert Spoons; a Solid Silver Jelly Spoon; a Silver Set— Knife, Fork and Spuuu ; Silver Pie or Cake Knife ; a Pair of Silver Butter Knives. J. E. TILTON & CO., 201 Fulton St., NEW YORK. 161 Washington St., BOSTOiN. THE EARLY M<3HAWK. 33 THE EARLY MOHAWK. -*- American liijititule (N. Y.) Fanners' Clul), October, 1SG9. S. B. CoxovKK, of Washington Market. — This potato originated in Miciiigan, in 1864, by Lewis H. Brown, from a ball of the Peachblow, the bloom of which had been impregnated with the pollen of the Buckej'e, from whom I obtained the seed three years ago, and gave them a thorough trial for two years previous to the spring of 1869, "when, being well satisfied of its earliness, strength of growth, and superior quality, T concluded to have them most thorougldy tested Coniircued on Pcqe :',.'. 3 34 ADVERTISEMENTS. j"TJST :ftjbxjIsh:eid. THE tttf It U Mmmm FOR THE T^xjL3UO, 7^ Ots. A Brilliant and Effective Composition Suitable for Parlor or Concert room, and will unquestionably assert its claim to a place in the repertoire of every good player. The Duo is arranged en concertante. The Secondo having a beautiful solo and a good share of the subject throughout the piece. Copies pre-paid and mailed. Address JAMES BEST, XJTICA, IC, Y. THE EAKLY MOIIAM'K. 35 (hnliimed from Page 33. hy the public tiirougbout all sections of the country, and if they still maintained their character, to offer them to the public for sale this Fall. In order to have them thoroughl}' tested in all sections of the country, by disinterested and trustworthy persons, I refused to sell any of them at an^^ price, but sent them out in packages of five and six potatoes b}^ mail, post-paid, to the Presidents of all the county and town Agricultural Societies that were rei)orted in the last edition of the Agricultural Report of the Patent Office, with circular accom- panying each package, requesting that they try them against all the other varieties of potatoes, in regard to earliness, strength of growth, yield and quality, and report to me this fall. From the large number of letters received up to this time, I feel no hesitation in offering the Early Mohawk potato to the public as the very best, without exception, of the new varieties offered, and one which will not only answer as an earl}^ variety, but one which, from its large yield, will take the place, for a winter and spring potato, of the long and well known white and red Peachblows, which are fast becoming an uncertain crop. This potato sends up a stout, vigorous stalk, branching out above ground, taking the form of a bush, growing about one and a-half to two feet high, of a very dark green foliage, rather inclining to make top before the potatoes set, but after setting they increase in size very rapidly ; the tubers grow away from the stem from three to six inches each way, setting from eight to ten potatoes, which grow uniforml}^ of large, even size, and good shape ; the vines mature and die evenly, and at the same time the tubers are of oblong, roundish shape, with rather square or flattened ends. The flesh is white, the skin of a very light pink or russety white, with prominent pink eyes, but little sunken, the potato being very heavy and solid, and never hollow inside. All parties who have tested this potato ])y cooking, say that it cooks white, dry, and mealy, and the flavor superior to any that they ever have eaten. 36 THE EAl^LY PRIXCE. THE EARLY PRINCE. \ww\ w If we were personally interested in the sale of this potato, we should very much dislike to have the public form an opinion of it, based upon the merits of the above engraving, for no one would sus- pect that it was ever intended to represent a potato, unless they were so informed. This variety was originated liy a practical nurseryman of Geneva, (whose name, we think, is Robert Simpson,) and first offered for sale by E. W. Harrington & Co., of the same place. Like all of the new seedlings recently introduced, it is claimed to be ^^ earlier and better than the ^Uarly Eose,^" hut the public must take these opinions for what they are worth, and prove by actual experiment, which is really the most worthy. The " Earl}^ Prince" has not yet been sufficiently tested, to enable one to form an opinion as to its value for general cultivation, and we would advise our readers to give it a fair trial. THE EARLY GOODRICH. 37 THE EARLY GOODRICH. See Description, Page SS. 38 THE EARLY GOODRICH. THE EARLY GOODRICH. See Engraving, Page 37. A SEEDLING of tliG Cusco of 18G0. Ill 1862, Mr. Goodrich described it: "Round to longish; sometimes a crease at the inser- tion of the root; white; flowers, bright lilac; (produces) many balls; yield large. This sort is No. 1 in every way." In the spring of 1864, Mr. G. said of it: "This early sort gives me more satisfac- tion than any other I have ever grown." "This variety ripens as early as the Ashleaf Kidney ; on rich soil yields from two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty bushels ])er acre; has never shown any disease; is white fleshed, and of superior quality." In the year 1868, the season being a very severe one for the potato crop, although the yield of the "Early Goodrich" was abundant, the quality was very poor, and in many instances they were decidedly unfit for table use ; but as it had done so splendidly previous to that year, potato growers were not willing to discard it entirely, and nearly all of them gave it another trial the present year. The result is (as far as we can learu,) that it has fully sustained its good reputation, and has yielded abundant crops, of first-rate table qualit}-. We are happy to be able to note this fact, as it tends to perpetuate the memory of the lamented Mr. Goodrich, and preserves for the farmers a variety they could ill afford to lose. THE HARISON. 39 THE HAKISON. This is also a seedling of the dis- co, and a brother of the "Early Good- rich." "It has a smooth white skin, white flesh, and is the most solid of large potatoes, hav- ing no hollow at the centre. It is enor- mously productive, yielding as well as the parent Cusco, and exceeds all oth- ers ; its form is good, table quality excel- lent; keeps well; ripens ten days ear- liear than the Garnet Chili, and thus far is as hardy as the Garnet Chili." In regard to the crop of Harison, of 1868, the same might be said as of the ' ' Early Good- rich." Although we have raised none ourselves the present year, we understand from several growers that the (juality is greatly improved, and that it is really a good potato for family use. In view of its large size and enormous productiveness, we would strongly recommend it to those who raise potatoes for feeding stock, as for this purpose we think it Ims no equal. 40 THE WORCESTEK, OR REILY. THE WORCESTER, or REILY. This potato first came to our notice tlirougli Mos.-^rs. "SVasliburn & Co., Seedsmen, of Boston, by wliom it was advertised for sale in the spring of the present year. It is well known in the vicinity of Boston, and is said to be highly prized b3' those who have given it thorough trial. We (piote the following description: "An old variety, but not generally known. The vines are erect, slightly si)reading; leaves large, of a glossy green color; tubers roundish in form, slightly swelled at the centre, and terminating abruptl}-; eyes much depressed and numerous; skin smooth, thin, of a light i>ink color; flesh very solid, never hollow, and perfectly free from disease. Its cooking qualities are excellent, being very dry and mealy, free from any earthy taste, and of a snow-white color. They mature in ninety days from })lanting, but are not over product- ive. A valuable variety for faruily use. One great advantage is, that the tubers are fit for use wlien onh' two-thirds o-vc>wn." EXPERIMENTS IN POTATO GEOWinSTG BV COMPETITORS FOR THE PREMIUMS. (see ixtroductiox.) N. L. Hall, Harrisville, Ohio: Agreeable to conditions, I will give a brief statement of the crop of "Early Rose" i)otatoes raised from the peck received from you last fall, (1868). I planted them April 10th. The soil, I suppose, miglit be called a clay loam, with considerable gravel mixed with it. It was a stiff sod, plowed the spring jtrevious, and planted with sweet potatoes. I plowed the ground twice, and put it in good condition. The plat being too small, I had to crowd them more than was best, the rows being about ■2^ feet apart, and the pieces about a foot apart in the row. The potatoes were cut to single eyes, and as I alwa^-s prefer it, were cut a few days before planting. A small shovelful of ma- nure was thrown into each hill, the manure iised being the re- mains of an old hot-bed which had been forked over several- times to make it fine. I covered them with about four inches of soil, and when the}^ began to come u^), went through them with the single shovel plow to cover up the weeds. When they were all up they were plowed with a double shovel plow and hoed. After this I went through them with the cultivator, and then hilled them up a little. This was all the working the}' got. Crop was dug Julj' 13th, and after drying twelve days, found I had TTO pounds, or 12 bushels and 50 pounds of very nice pota- toes. 42 EXPERIMENTS IN POTATO GROWING. Christopher Shearer, Tuckerton, Pa. : The piece of land selected for the purpose of competing- for one of your premiums was part of a large field of limestone land, which had been in clover and timothy for two ^^ears pre- vious. In September, 18G8, I hauled well rotted barn-yard ma- nure (derived principally from litter of cows and horses) on the patch, at the rate of forty-eight tons to the acre. In the third week of the same month the sod was turned down to the depth of twelve inches. Manure of the same kind, and at the same rate, was then again applied to the soil, which was cross- plowed late in autumn to a depth of twelve inches. After the second plowing, a third dressing of manure, similar in quality and quantity, was spread on the top, where it remained during the winter. In the last week of March the land was again plowed twelve inches deep and harrowed. Of the sixty pounds of "Early Rose" potatoes which I had obtained from j^ou, fifteen pounds were accurately weighed apart, cut into single eyes, and planted the day following, in rows three feet apart, one eye to the hill, the hills being eighteen inches apart in the row. The work afterwards done to the crop was performed exclusively by hand with the hoe. As soon as the potatoes had come up the ground was hoed, and a week thereafter this operation was re- peated. When the stalks were about six inches high, they were hilled up and then mulched with a compost of spent tan and stable manure, mixed in the proportion of three parts of tan to one of manure. This mixture was prepared last fall (1868), and lay exposed to the weather over winter. It was laid in the hills so as to fairly cover the ground, none having been placed be- tween the hills or rows. The crop required no farther attention before maturing. The potatoes were dug on the 10th of August, and weighed on the 21st of the same month. The weight was three thousand six hundred and forty-three and a quarter pounds, or sixty bushels and fortj^-three and a quarter pounds. The po- tatoes were of large size, many of them weighing from one pound to one and a half pounds each. EXPERIMENTS IN POTATO GROWING. H. C. FisiiER, Odell, III. : I planted my peck of "Early Rose" ou the Otli day of April, on timothy sod, second breaking, without manure of any kind. Soil black, with yellow clay sub-soil. Hoed them twice, which was all the tending they had. I planted 3^ by 3 feet, and \)\\t one and two eyes in a hill. Could not see any difference in the yield betAveen the hills with one, or the ones with two eyes. But I fear that it is useless for mc to apply for one of the premiums, yet I gladly give you this statement of facts, as I know by my own experience that your "Early Rose" is capable of returning a much larger profit to the farmer than any other sort known to me. I dug my crop on August 13th, and had 1,027 pounds, or 17 bushels and 7 pounds. Sixty-eight and almost a half from one, makes the farmers stare some. L. A. Williams, Glemvood, Iowa: On the 8th day of April, 1869, I planted one peck of "Early Rose" potatoes with a view of competing for premiums offered. The soil was a sandy loam, subdued from hazel growth in the spring of 1868. I cut the seed to one e3"e for each piece, and planted in drills or rows, one piece in a hill, about ten inches apart, the rows about three and one-half feet apart. The ground was broken about six inches deep, harrowed, and furrowed off in rows with a shovel plow, the seed covered with the same, and then harrowed immediately after planting. As soon as the pota- toes were large enough to plow, I plowed them with a shovel plow, and a week later I hoed them. After another week I plowed and hoed again. I used no manure. The land was up- land. On the l7th day of August, I dug the product of the peck of seed, and stored them in my barn. On this day, (September 4th,) I weighed accurately said product, and found it to be 1,866|- pounds, or 31 bushels and 6|- pounds. 44: EXPEKIIMENTS IN POTATO GKOWINO. Henry B. Lucas, Groves, Indiana: I planted my peck of "Early Rose" on black soil with an un- derground drain. Used stable manure ; applied in the fall of 1868 two wagon loads on the patch. Plowed my land very deep in November, and again April 21st. What I call deep is about eight inches, that being as deep as you can go without sub- soiling. Planted my potatoes April 28th, in hills about two feet apart each way. Cut m}^ seed so as to make from one to two eyes to a piece, and j)ut two pieces in each hill; had 488 hills. Plowed first with a small shovel plow just as they were coming up; plowed very close to them so as to loosen the ground thoroughl}', and when they were four inches high, gave them a good hoeing. Just before the tops fell down I hoed them again, making a small hill. This is all the cultivation they received, and after weighing my crop I find I have 3,090 pounds, or 51 bushels and 30 pounds. A })retty large yield, and in size and quality they can't be beaten. OscAK W. Mapes, Hoicells, iY. V. : The ground on which I planted the peck of ' ' Early Rose" was a sand}^ loam. I cut m^' seed into single eyes, and planted in drills three feet apart, and pieces two feet apart in the row. Plowed the ground April 12th, and cross-plowed at the time of planting, April 28th. Plowed out twice, and kept the weeds hoed out. I used fifteen cords of coarse horse manure to the acre, plowed under at first plowing, and fift}- bushels of slacked lime at the second plowing; also a small dressing of ashes and plaster at the first hoeing. The yield is 36 bushels and 5 pounds. Seth S. Barnes, Olena, III. : I have just dug and weighed the product of ni}- peck of "Early Rose" potatoes, obtained of you last fall, and here is the way I EXPERIMENTS IN POTATO GROWING. 45 got ray great yield: I took fifteen pounds of seed, cnt them to single eyes, and planted them the middle of April. Half of the seed was planted in my garden, a part of which was a hog pen for several years, and the rest had rotten stable manure scattered over thickly at the rate of fifty two-horse loads to the acre. The ground was plowed deep in tlie 1^x11 and again in the spring. The seed I planted in rows about three feet apart, and ten inches apart in the row. When the potatoes were up I gave tliem a harrowing, a few days afterwards plowed with a two-horse cultivator, an soiled it last Autumn twelve inches deep with a * ' Michigan Plow," and in the Spring I cross-plowed it again, making a fur- row eight inches deep. I then spread horse manure upon it at the rate of about five cords to the acre, cultivated it in thor- oughly, and furrowed it both ways three feet apart. I had cut out each eye of the seed potatoes into separate pieces, and in planting them I tried, as far as possible, to put but two pieces each with a single e3-e into each hill, and added a handful of "Fale's phosphate" to each. Thej- were planted the first of May, and and hoed several times to keep down the "witch grass." The crop was ready for market July 15th, although I did not harvest them till August 16th. Amount of crop was 810:f pounds, or 13 bushels and 30^ pounds. H. GuNTERMAN, Georgetovm, Mo. : I commenced in April to prepare my ground for the "Pearly Rose" by giving it one good plowing, harrowed it twice, laid ofl!" the rows with two-horse twelve-inch plow, making the furroAvs 48 EXPERIMENTS IN POTATO GKOWING. about six inches deep and three and a half feet apart. On the 2Gth of April I c\it the potatoes to single eyes, planted one eye in a place, about fifteen inches apart in the row. I placed them with the eye uppermost and covered them with the hoe. When they came up they were hoed once, and plowed once, which is all the cultivation they received. The soil is what we call a "mu- latto" or red soil, and is underlaid with a flint gravel. Its chem- ical properties I am not posted in. No manure has been applied to the ground for the last two years. The crop was dug Septem- ber 1st, weighed on the 11th. The crop is 37 bushels and 20 pounds. Wm. B. Galway, Indkmola, III : I planted my "Early Rose'' on prairie soil, in three difl'erent pieces of ground, the soil of each differing somewhat from the others. I will describe them as Nos. 1, 2, and 3. No. 1 is of a clayish nature, (yellow clay sub-soil, well surface-drained,) has been cultivated in garden for two years. Was manured this j^ear with well rotted stable manure, spread on the surface about two inches deep, plowed under early in the spring, and plowed again just before planting. Planted two and a half pounds on this piece May 5th. The potatoes were cut one eye in a piece, and one piece put in each hill; rows three feet apart and hills two feet; plowed once with double shovel plow and hoed three times; dug August 28th, and dried ten days before weighing. Product 617 pounds, or 10 bushels and 17 pounds. No. 2 was a timothy sod, soil clay loam, yellow clay sub-soil, both surface and underdrained; hogs fed on it all last summer; trench plowed this spring; four and one-half pounds of seed, cut (May 5) same as in No. 1, one piece in a hill; hills three and a half feet each way; plowed three times and hoed twice; dug Au- gust 30th, and dried same as No. 1. Product 1,388 pounds, or 23 bushels and 8 pounds. EXPERIMENTS IN POTATO GROWING. 49 No. 3 is a rich sandy loam, j-ellow clay sub-soil, both surface and underdrained; was a blue grass sod, trench plowed last year and in potatoes; plowed deep this spring; planted eight pounds May 6th. This lot was cut, planted and cultivated in the same manner as No. 2, and yielded 1,989 pounds, or 33 bushels and 9 pounds. Total yield from the fifteen pounds, 3,994 pounds, or 66 bushels and 34 pounds. Lot No. 1 yielded 246.8 for each pound of seed planted. " 2 " 308.4 " " " " " .3 " 248.6 " " " " The average yield from the 15 pounds was 266.2 pounds. Note. — The above competitor, Mr. Wm. B. Gal way, was awarded the fourth premium of fifty dollars for the fourth largest yield of "Early Rose" potatoes from one peck of seed, he having complied with all the conditions. Sampson Gray, Norwalk, Ohio: My soil was a sandy loam, manured last fall at the rate of thirty loads per acre, and plowed it under just before it froze up. This Spring I dragged it well without plowing. On the 22d of April we planted the potatoes, putting the rows three feet apart each wa}'. We cut the fifteen pounds into one thousand and ten pieces, some of the eyes being divided into four parts, planted them with the hoe, put half a shovel full of well rotted manure in each hill, and covered them well. They were up on the 10th of Ma}'. On the 26th of Ma}' we had a severe hail storm, which cut off and destroyed one hundred and fifty hills. The seed rotted in the hills and did not come up a second time. This left me 860 hills which grew. We kept them clean, and hilled them up twice. The}' were dug September 4th, and weighed on the iTth of the same month. Product was 3,941 pounds, or 65 bushels and 41 pounds. The average number of hills planted with each pound of seed was sixty-seven and one-third. The one hundred and fiftv hills de- 4 50 EXPERIMENTS IN POTATO GROWING. stroyed took two and a quarter pounds of my seed, leaving twelve and three-quartei' pounds which grew. My yield was 309 pounds of potatoes from each pound of seed, and if the whole peek had grown the yield would have been 76 bushels and 58 poimds. My largest potato weighed 2 pounds and 10^ ounces. E. W. Young, Sweden, iV. Y. : On April 24th I weighed and cut fifteen pounds of "Early Rose," and on the 29th of the same month planted them. At the time of planting they weighed eleven pounds, having been ex- posed to the sun for two days after being cut. Planted them on sandy loam, in a high state of cultivation. The previous year the ground was planted to corn. I opened holes three feet apart one way and two the other; put into the bottom of each hole a small garden trowel full of hen manure, and covered it with about half an inch of soil before dropping the potatoes; put two pieces in each hill, most pieces containing only one eye; hoed three times and watered once with liquid hen manure ; dug them August 30th, and weighed them September 10th. Yield was 2,335 pounds, or 38 bushels and 55 pounds. Eli Wickershaw, East Rochester, Ohio: The character of my ground was a sandy loam. The seed was mostly cut to single eyes, but occasionally two eyes in a piece; were planted in rows three and a half feet apart, one foot apart in the row, and one piece in a place; planted April 26th, 1869; hoed June 1st; passed cultivator between the rows on June 2d, and top-dressed the rows with wood ashes, about one barrel to the patch; hoed June 14th; hoed and hilled July 5th. I applied four two-horse wagon loads of manure from sheep sheds, and sowed about thirty pounds of plaster thereon before the ground was plowed in the spring. My crop amounts to 2,510 jjounds, or 41 bushels and 50 pounds. EXPERIMENTS IN POTATO GROWING. 51 J. C. Davis, Neiv Providence, loioa: I cut my peck of " Early Rose" into single ej^es, except where the eyes were of unusual size, when I cut each one into two or three pieces. They were planted in rows four feet apart, and one eye or piece put in a place, with the eye up, eighteen inches apart, and covered with about three inches of good loose soil. It was new ground, and was used for a cow lot for four or five years. In the Spring of 18G7 it was plowed and planted with rhubarb roots, which were dug up and ground plowed a week be- fore the potatoes were planted. On the 2'7th of May the potatoes were plowed with a small double shovel plow, two furrows in a row. Plowed in same manner on June 10th and July 3d, and a;fter each plowing the patch was gone over with the hoe, in order to cut out all weeds which were not covered with the plow. The potatoes were only hilled up with the plow. The yield of the peck was 87 bushels and 44f pounds, generally good, large sized potatoes. Note. — The above competitor, Mr. J. C. Davis, was awarded the Second Premium, of One Hundred and Fifty Dollars, for the Second largest yield of "Early Rose" Potatoes from one peck of seed, he having complied with all the conditions. John M. Harrin"f^^^ >° Superior Style each Number comprising Sixteen Large Double-Quarto Pages (eighty columns, Finely Illustrated and Neatly Printed. Title Page, Index, Ac, at the close of Volume ^ j-mc ^ ,igc, TEJtMS.—Only $3.00 a Year ,- $2.50 in Clubs of Ten. IsTO'W^ IS THE TinyCE TO STJBSCI^T:B:E T All who form Clubs will be Liberally Rewarded— receive " Good Pay for Doing Good." Our Pre- mium List includes One Hundred and Fifteen Ornamental. Useful aiul Valuable Articles, ranging in price from $4 to $600. Send for the List, form a Club, and secure a Premium. All disposed to lend influence m behalf of the Rural will be furnished Specimen Numbers, Show Bills, Premium List. Ac, without charge. Address D- D. T. MOORE, 41 Park Row. New York. I® ^f) Nos. 41 PAKE ROW and 151 NASSAU STREET, NEW-YORK, (Late Office of the American Agriculturist,) IMPORTERS AND DEALERS IN Garden, Field and Flower Seeds, DUTCH BULBOUS ROOTS, SUMMER FLOWERING BULBS, Fertilizers, and other Requisites for the Farm and Garden, HARDY AND EXOTIC GRAPEVINES, SMALL FRUITS, &c. Put up or the trade in packets for retailing, in boxes containing all the leading varieties, from to to $50 each. The following CATALOGUES are published during the year, and will be mailed to all applicants upon receiptof priee : No. 1— Seed Catalogue and Guide to the Flower and Kitchen Garden, published in January. Sixteenth Annual Edition, enlarged and improved. Profusely illustrated with fine en- gravings of the choicest varieties of FLOWEKS and VEGETABLES, also a splendid colored litho- graph, and a Descriptive List of about Twenty-five Hundred varieties of Flower and Vegetable Seeds, with explicit directions for their culture, and much other information upon the subject of Garden- ing generally, which will he found useful to the experienced amateur as well as those about to en- gage in the delightful occupation of gardening. Price 25 cents. No. 2 — Bulb Catalogue, (illustrated,) published September 1st, containing a choice collection of i)o«6/f and Single Hyacinths, arranged in their several colors; Tulips, in many varieties, both Double and Single ; Polyanthus Narcissus, Crown Imperials, Jonquils, Snow Drops, Lilies, dx. Price 10 cents. No. 3— Abridged Catalogue and Gardener's Almanac combined, with monthly />^j> Ciili^ndar of operations. For gratuitous distribution. Will be mailed to all applicants upon r^' -r receipt of a three cent stamp. Addres >^lv B. K. BLISS & SON, Bo\ 5712, New York LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DDDEt.a5Ht)72