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Report of the committee of the board of agriculture, appointed to extract information from the county reports, and other authorities, concerning the culture and use of potatoes
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be done(and with proper attention it may certainly be effected) two very important points will be anſwered thereby; the firſt advantage is, that the ſets will be put into that part of the ſoil which has been compſetely cleaned, and is no way exhauſted by the preceding crop; the ſecond is, that of affording an opportunity of extirpating the weeds upon that ſpace where the former crop grew, and which could not ſo readily be done during its growth. Where this plan is exactly followed, the weeds are completely de- ſtroyed, and no fallow can ever be required upon ſuch lands.

This plan of raifing two crops in a ycar upon the ſame land applies ſtrictly to light free foils, ſuch as ſandy or gravelly lands, and the dif- ferent kinds of loam. Theſe ſoils, from their want of capacity for retain- ing moiſture, will always be ſufficiently dry to allow the firſt crop to be put in early enough; but upon wet moſſy lands or ſtiff clays this cannot ſo readily be done, eſpecially the latter, which if the winter has been wet, is a confiderable time before it can be laboured. There is ſtill another cir- cumſtance againſt potatoes planted upon clays; which is, that they are for the moft part watery, and very inferior in flavour to thoſe that are pro- duced upon dry free ſoils. The only kinds upon which clay makes no difference, are the Vam and the different kinds of red potatoe. The taſte and other qualities of theſe are nearly the ſame upon all ſoils; but what gives them a decided preference for clay-lands, is the circumſtance of their growing to a larger ſize, and being more prolific than upon any other ſoil; to add to this advantage, they do not require to be planted very early, time is therefore allowed for working and reducing the land properly.

They may therefore be confidered as one good ſubſtitute for fallows upon clay; at leaſt all clay-lands that have once been completely fallowed may afterwards be kept clean by ufing potatoe, cabbage, or bean crops. To do this effeually, however, more pains will be required than is uſually beſtowed upon drill crops. Very deep hand-hoeing, in addition to the ploughing will be requiſite, both to looſen the earth and deſtroy the weeds entirely: each of the labourers employed in hoeing fhould carry at his belt an inſtrument about eighteen inches long, tipped with iron, with which he can very readily dig up any of the deep-ſeated weeds that are beyond the reach of the hoe or the plough; ſuch as the various kinds of docks, thiſtles, c. which though the tops may be injured, or even cut off, will continue to live and put forth new ſtems, unleſs they are taken out by the root. An inſtrument that is uſed for taking up carrots, is alſo a good contrivance for digging up the long-rooted weeds.

We ranked moſs along with the clays, on account of the difficulty of making it dry enough for the reception of the ſeed early in the ſpring: this difficulty may, however, in ſome degree be got quit of, by laying it off into ridges of from ſix to twelve feet broad, digging a trench from twelve to