MARK TWAIN'S POTATO.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 794, 28 March 1871, Page 3

MARK TWAIN'S POTATO.

Mark Twain announces a new potato, and thus describes its origin : " I obtained it by crossing the yam of the tropics with the Canadian thistle, and cultivating the specimens for several seasons, I have secured a product that permanently combines the earliness of the former and tho endurance of the latter; in other words, my new potato is a rare combination of seed and bottom, and it will do to bet on. I christened it the Early Stunner—a name suggested by its extraordinary qualities and per formances " Mr. Twain, however, not having had much experience in farming, thought best to place it in the bauds of some reliable man in whom the public has confidence, and publishes heaps of testimonials. Wc give a specimen from Mr. John Smith, a respectable butcher, whose reputation for veracity is so well known. He says : " I am perfectly .satisfied with the Early Stunner. The pound that I purchased of you will do me. In fact it hrs already done me, so that I shall not want any more. The day after I planted them my swine made a raid on the patch, and I supposed I bad lost my crop. You may imagine my dispapointment, when the foremost hog, after briskly opening the first hill, suddenly dropped the slice of stunners he had found there, and with an expression of disgust and mortification walked off on his ear, a sadder and a wiser hog, followed bj' the remainder of the drove. My hogs usually range on my potato crop and a hog-proof potato has long been my hope. I hailed the Stunner with enthusiasm as being the thing for poorly fenced fields." Dr. Jones, the celebrated physician, also gives the following testimony : " Having no ground of my own, I planted a pound of the ' Early Stunner' in the macadamized road, opposite my residence. One of my neighbours recommended an application of plaster, as he thought the road had been ' summer fallowed ' too much to raise crops without stimulant. As this was my first experience in agriculture, I acted upon his suggestion, and applied one of Alcock's porous plasters to each hill. The result was amazing. On the Ist day of July I had ten bushels of Buckeyes : July 2d, one hundred bushels of Pinkeyes ; July 4th, a pair of blackeyes ; July 6th, twins : July 7th, had to dig my potatoes or give bonds to keep the peace." " Accordingly, I hired a couple of Irishmen, sunk a shaft in my front yard tunneled under the road, and soon struck a magnificent vein of potatoes. I shall never know how many bushels were there, for a rumor got abroad and that night there was an irruption of predatory Fenians. Before the next morning's sun burst, the last potato had disappeared, and I was ruined."