HAWAII EXPERIMENT STATION. 395 



extent. Not only were a niuiil)er of improved varieties of seed corn 

 planted, l)ut an experiment was made in method of plantino-. Instead 

 of dropping the seed l>y hand, as is customary in this district, a 

 portion of the land was planted with a one-horse planter, and on one 

 portion of the held the seed was dropped in deep furrows instea<l of 

 lieino- jdanted on the smooth surface. This experiment is not yet 

 completed; in fact it will he hest to continue this experiment throuf^h 

 a term of years. 



At the end of .lune of the present fiscal year the <'orn planted on 

 the land on which the mamire had l)een applied was lookint^ especially 

 tine, and the corn which had been planted in deep furrows in plowed 

 land was also in better condition than that which had l)een simply 

 planted in surface rows. Two of the varieties, the Leaminjif and the 

 Boone County White, were makino- a nnich more faxorahle growth 

 than any of the others, or than what may l)e called the native corn. 

 Re])orts received since June indicate that these two varieties are 

 particularly adapted to cultivation in the Kula district. 



POTATOES. 



The potato experiment begun during 1902 was continued. A small 

 quantity of seed of the 4 varieties, which showed a tendency to resist 

 the black rot, was procured from Maine. Unfortunately, the seed 

 was delayed in transit. It did not arrive until fully a month after the 

 time for planting potatoes, and then in such bad condition that only a 

 few tubers of each variety were left to plant. This failure to procure 

 good seed of course rendered it impossible to continue the experi- 

 ment as planned last j'ear. In the meantime, through correspondence 

 with the Office of Experiment Stations, we had been informed in regard 

 to experiments which were being conducted by the Ohio Experiment 

 Station in the treatment of perhaps this same potato disease. A 

 ({uantity of seed was purchased in the Honolulu market and the work 

 was continued on the same land in the Kula district, but with a view to 

 finding out whether active measures could not be used in fighting the 

 disease. The potatoes were soaked in a solution of 3 per cent forma- 

 lin for from twenty minutes to half an hour just before planting. 

 Then the seed was dropped in furrows, covered, and then the whole 

 furrow was sprayed with the 3 per cent formalin solution, as Professor 

 Selbv, of the Ohio Experiment Station, had stated in liis report in 

 regard to a similar disease that this treatment, both of the seed 

 and of the soil, with formalin in a measure insures the crop against the 

 destruction by the very serious fusarium fungus. The formalin costs 

 about 1^5 cents ])er pound in the local market, and al)out 4i> pounds were 

 used in treating the soi'd potatoes and in spraying the furrows where 

 the potatoes were planted on 1 acre of land. The cost of applica- 

 tion was not excessive, and if formalin could be procured at cheaper 



