E-text prepared by Steven Giacomelli, Jeannie Howse, Irma Spehar, Janet Blenkinship, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Core Historical Literature of Agriculture (CHLA), Albert R. Mann Library, Cornell University (http://chla.library.cornell.edu/) http://chla.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=chla;idno=2923510 Transcriber's note: Text enclosed between tilde characters was in bold face in the original (~bold face~). [oe] represents the oe-ligature. THE $100. PRIZE ESSAY ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE POTATO. Prize offered by W. T. WYLIE and awarded to D. H. COMPTON. HOW TO COOK THE POTATO, _Furnished by Prof. BLOT._ [Illustration] ILLUSTRATED. PRICE, 25 CENTS. New-York: ORANGE JUDD CO., No. 751 BROADWAY. PRIZE ESSAY ON THE POTATO AND ITS CULTIVATION. $100. In the fall of 1868, I offered $100 as a prize for the best Essay on the Cultivation of the Potato, under conditions then published; the prize to be awarded by a committee composed of the following gentlemen, well known in agricultural circles: Colonel MASON C. WELD, Associate Editor of _American Agriculturist_. A. S. FULLER, ESQ., of Ridgewood, N. J., the popular author of several horticultural works, and Associate Editor of the _Hearth and Home_. Dr. F. M. HEXAMER, who has made the cultivation of the potato a special study. In the month of January, 1870, the committee awarded the prize to D. A. Compton; and this Essay is herewith submitted to the public in the hope of stimulating a more intelligent and successful cultivation of the Potato. BELLEFONTE, PA., January, 1870. W. T. WYLIE. OFFICE OF THE AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, NEW-YORK, January, 1870. REV. W. T. WYLIE: DEAR SIR: The essays submitted to us by Mr. Bliss, according to your announcement, numbered about twenty. Several could not be called essays from their brevity, and others were exceedingly incomplete. About twelve, however, required and were worthy of careful consideration. That of Mr. D. A. Compton, of Hawley, Wayne County, Pa., was, in the opinion of your committee, decidedly superior to the others as a practical treatise, sure to be of use to potato-growers in every part of the country, and well worthy the liberal prize offered by yourself. In behalf of the committee, sincerely yours, MASON C. WELD, _Chairman_. POTATO CULTURE. BY D. A. COMPTON, HAWLEY, PENNSYLVANIA. The design of this little treatise is to present, with minuteness of detail, that mode of culture which experience and observation have proved to be best adapted to the production of the Potato crop.