TWENTIETH ANNUAL MEETING. 71 



TESTS OF VEGETABLES. 



We have also endeavored to test all the promising novelties in 

 vegetables. The first season they are given a preliminary test on a small 

 scale, using from twelve to 100 plants of each variety, and on the 

 following year the more promising sorts are grown on a larger scale, that 

 we may have more reliable knowledge of their value under field culture. 

 Particular attention has been given to the varieties and methods of 

 planting of potatoes, tomatoes, peas, cabbage, lettuce, and radishes, besides 

 which we grow large collections of beans, sweet corn, beets, onions, 

 peppers, various cucurbits, etc. 



Very few of the novelties of 1890 are more valuable than the sorts 

 previously introduced. Many of them were old sorts renamed, and the 

 strains showed no better selection than the original varieties. To sell 

 such seed at prices from three to five times as high as was asked for 

 larger packages of the same seed under its real name, was nothing less 

 than fraud. 



Of our potatoes, the Summit and White Elephant were most productive 

 of the late sorts, and Lee's Favorite and Timpe's No. 4 of the early kinds. 

 For two years our results have been in favor of a liberal amount of "seed" 

 for potatoes. In 1889 the best results were secured from halves of medium- 

 size tubers, and practically the same conclusions were derived from this 

 year's results, although, as the crop was nearly a failure, we place less 

 dependence upon them. 



An interesting experiment tried this year consists in planting pieces 

 varying in size from single eyes to whole large tubers, at distances ranging 

 from one to three feet. We obtained the best results from single eyes at a 

 distance of one foot, and from whole tubers at about two and one half feet. 

 The largest net yield was obtained from the use of pieces weighing from two 

 and one half to three ounces, at a distance of one and one half feet, or 

 about twenty bushels of seed per acre. For two years we have obtained 

 as good results from the use of seed ends of potatoes, as from the stem or 

 middle cuts. In our tests as to the best depth to cover potatoes, one or 

 two inches have furnished better results than were secured at three, four, or 

 five inches. This might be changed, however, in a dry spring and on 

 light soil. 



As with trees, our practice has been to distribute our surplus seeds of 

 new vegetables, and very satisfactory results have been secured. 



Considerable attention has been given to the origination of new 

 varieties, both by selection and crossing, and we are now testing a large 

 number of seedling strawberries, raspberries, currants, besides potatoes 

 and other vegetables. 



The only variety that has been distributed and placed on the market is 

 the Ignotum tomato, a single plant of which was found in 1887 by Prof. 

 Bailey in a German variety, and by careful selection for three years its 

 type has been so far fixed as to make it the best of all tomatoes. 



WORK WITH FERTILIZEES. 



Our work with fertilizers has been confined to testing the effect of 

 various chemicals on the growth, earliness, productiveness, and quality of 

 various fruits and vegetables. 



We are more than ever impressed with the value of unleached wood 



