366 



L A F E Rl M EN IAL FARM X 



2 GEORGE V., A. 1912 



HOME GROWN ROOT SEED. 



In the fall of 1908 a number of roots of several good varieties of turnips and man- 

 gels were saved and planted out the following spring. Most of the roots produced seed, 

 which ripened and was harvested before severe frost in the fall. 



Last spring a row of each variety of seed was sown under the same conditions 

 i: the varieties grown from commercial seed; the balance of the seed wa3 used for 

 sowing field lots. 



The following table gives the yield per acre from the home grown seed and from 

 commercial seed of the same variety. 



Homk Guow.v and Commercial Root Seed. 



Variety. 



Good Luck Tumi [j 



Hall's Westbury Turnip 



Yellow Intermediate Mangel 

 Half Sugar White Mangel. . . 



Commercial 

 Seed. 



Home Grown 

 Seed. 



1,000 



96 



512 



1,176 



The difference in yield is very little, except with one variety. 



A notable feature of the home grown mangel seed was that it germinated quicker 

 and more uniformly than the commercial, the young plants appearing three or four 

 days earlier. The commercial seed was sown thickly enough to give a good stand, so 

 that the high vitality of the home-grown seed is not indicated in the yield per acre. 



In the seed year, two varieties of mangels were planted side by side and there- 

 fore cross-fertilized. This was evident when the roots were produced this year, the 

 distinctive colours of the two varieties being considerably mixed in each lot. A selection 

 of roots of Half Sugar White was made in the fall of 1910 from the product of the 

 home-grown seed. Roots uniform in shape and of good size were chosen, and these 

 will be planted out next spring. In a favourable season mangels produce seed very 

 abundantly and a dozen roots will easily produce sufficient seed to sow an acre. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES. 



Potatoes were rather a light crop last year but they were of good quality and 

 there was no loss from rot or other causes. 



The variety tests were conducted on land which had produced a crop of turnips 

 in 1909, and had been manured and ploughed in the fall after the roots were harvested. 

 They were given thorough cultivation throughout the summer and were hilled up 

 slightly about the first of August. 



The potato beetles were particularly numerous but were controlled by spraying 

 with Paris green. 



Twenty-three varieties were grown. They were planted May 23, in rows three 

 feet apart, the sets being placed about a foot apart in a row. They were dug October 5. 



The yield per acre in each case was estimated from the product of one row 68 

 feet 1'ing. 



