174 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The drought and the consequent check to the growth have affected the 

 results to some extent, but we believe some general conclusions can be 

 drawn from them. 



It will be noted that, as the size of the seed was increased, there was a 

 resulting increase of the yield, both in the total and market crops, and that 

 this occurred at the various distances, except in the case of the market 

 yields at one foot, where there is a slight apparent exception. Attention 

 may also be called to the fact that the yield from small seed rapidly 

 decreases as the distance between the hills increases. 



A careful study of this table leads to this opinion: Single eyes and 

 quarters of medium-size potatoes, may be placed in drills from a foot to 

 fifteen inches apart; when halves are used the distance may be increased 

 to two feet, and when whole tubers of medium size are planted they may be 

 placed at from two and one half to three feet, and thus admit of cultivation 

 both ways. In each case these are intended as maximum distances. This 

 will require from 12 to 15 or perhaps 20 bushels of seed potatoes per acre. 

 With well prepared and thoroughly drained soil, and in favorable seasons 

 the smaller amount might be somewhat diminished with profit, but for the 

 average planter, and in average seasons, the largest would prove best in 

 the long run. 



In 1889, we made two series of experiments intended to show something- 

 regarding the amount of seed to use, and the method of cutting it. This 

 year the experiments were repeated, using three varieties in each. 



In ont' of them 66 potatoes of each variety were selected, weighing about 

 twenty pounds. 



Half of them were planted whole, one foot apart, the others were cut in 

 two parts, lengthwise, and a half of each planted. The remaining halves 

 were again divided and a piece (quarter) of each planted. This was kept 

 up until we had halves, quarters, eighths, and single eyes from the same 

 tubers, thus doing away with any personal equation that might exist in 

 the tubers. The following table gives the results obtained with each 

 variety, together with the average of the three. 



