Potato Growing in New York. 



187 



duce large hills of potatoes and a large yield per acre results. Some 

 weak and inferior hills, however, are always found and in the absence 

 of an}^ system for excluding these from the next season's planting, 

 their proportion to the whole increases from season to season with a 

 gradual decline in productivity of the general stock. 



This tendency is observed when the "run of the pile" is used for 

 planting. It is much increased if, for the sake of economy, "sec- 

 onds" are selected for seed. A second from a good hill may be ex- 

 cellent seed, but good hills produce few seconds, while the inferior 

 hills produce little else than seconds. The farmer, then, who plants 

 seconds is really selecting his seed in the main from the weak and 

 inferior hills. Many farmers think that seconds are satisfactory for 

 planting. This sometimes is true. If the stock is vigorous, so that 

 nearly all the seconds come from good hills, little deterioration will 

 be observed ; but if the stock is already weakened so that most of 

 the seconds come from inferior hills, the deterioration will be rapid. 



Considerable experimental data gathered from numerous sources 

 could be presented to sustain the above statements, but space limits 

 us to one experiment extending through two years by the late Pro- 

 fessor E. S. (ioff with potatoes of the Snowflake variety. 



Table II. — Showing Yields from Most Productive and Least 



Productive Hills. 



Care was taken to cut the seed so that in each case the same weight 

 should be planted. The total produce of the seed from the most 

 productive hills is nearly three and one-third times that from the 

 least productive hills. Differences so marked have not always been 

 obtained, l)ut the tendency seems to be uniformly manifested. 



It is evident, then, that tubers for planting should be selected on 

 the basis of the character of the hills they come from, and that a 

 system for making such selections that is practicable for busy farm- 

 ers is much needed. We believe that the system about to be sug- 

 gested is practicable and will prove profitable to farmers adopting 



