REPORT OF TEE HORTICULTURIST. 127 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



Tomatoes. — Early: Conqueror, Dwarf Champion, Canada Victor and Early 

 Kuby. Main Crop : Brinton's Best, Livingston's Eavourite, Matchless, and Balti- 

 more Prize Taker. 



There are many varieties of this vegetable which are almost equal in excellence 

 and productiveness. Spark's Earliana is a promising early sort tested this year. 



Turnips. — Early : Extra Early Milan and Ked Top Strap Leaf. Swedes : Cham- 

 pion Purple Top, Skirving's Improved. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES. 



This was a very good season for potatoes, and the yields were high in conse- 

 quence. There was just enough rainfall to keep the ground moist all summer without 

 it becoming too wet, and the vines made rapid and vigorous growth. There was no 

 blight, and the potatoes appeared to ripen quite naturally. 



There were 117 varieties tested at the Central Farm this year, of which the 

 Sabean's Elephant, a comparatively new sort, gave the best crop, the yield being at 

 the rate of 589 bushels 36 pounds per acre. The poorest yield was 209 bushels per 

 acre, the difference in yield between the best and poorest being 380 bushels 36 pounds 

 per acre. The average yield per acre from all the varieties tested was 417 bushels 37 

 pounds, being about two and three-fourths times as much as the average of Ontario 

 this year. 



If, however, these varieties had been grown by the acre instead of in small plots 

 the yields would not have been so large, but as the poorest yielder gave about one and 

 three-fourths times as much per acre as the average for Ontario, something must be 

 wrong with the system of cultivating potatoes, generally adopted, or with the varieties 

 planted. 



The soil in which the potatoes were grown this year was a sandy loam, where a 

 strawberry plantation had been the previous season. In the autumn of 1899, after 

 the strawberry plants had been ploughed under, fall rye was sown on September 15, at 

 the rat« of two bushels per acre. On May 18, 1900, the rye was ploughed under. The 

 land was then disc harrowed, and harrowed twice with the smoothing harrow. Drills 

 were made about four or five inches deep and 2J feet apart, and the sets, which were 

 of about the same size, and with at least three eyes and a good amount of flesh, were 

 dropped 1 foot apart, each variety occupying one row QQ feet long. The potatoes were 

 covered with the hand hoe to get as uniform conditions as possible. The soil was 

 harrowed once before the potatoes were up to kill any weeds which had germinated 

 and to level the ground. The surface soil between the rows was kept loose by the 

 cultivator until the vines met, but the latter were not hilled up, level culture being 

 adopted. The vines were sprayed with Paris green and Bordeaux mixture to destroy 

 the potato beetle and prevent blight. The potatoes were planted on May 25 and 26, 

 and dug o» October 9, 10 and 11. 



