2I40 Farm Bureau Circular No. 6 



The tuber unit experiment emphasized the following points : 



1 . That there must be a full stand of plants per acre in order to realize 

 a maximum yield. 



2. That there is a vast difference in the reproductiveness of tubers 

 selected from the bin, even when they are of the same size, shape and 

 appearance. 



3. That more even-sized potatoes were obtained where each plant was 

 given only four and one-half feet of surface. 



4. That less area per plant gave an increased yield of 105 bushels per 

 acre on the farm of Mr. F. M. Crampton, all other factors governing 

 the crop being the same. 



The farm bureau urges every farmer to select his seed potatoes by 

 the hill selection method. 



The investigation made by the farm bureau in 19 14 on 23 farms in 

 Cortland County shows that there is an average of more than 20 per cent 

 of inferior stock that should never be put on the market, but that should 

 be fed to the cattle or the hogs on the farm. If a standard for size and 

 quality should be adopted by all potato growers in Cortland County, the 

 stock would become widely known and would be in great demand. 



E. H. Forristall, 

 Farm Bureau Manager of Cortland County. 



DELAWARE COUNTY 



(Work begun March i, 19 14.) 



Since the organization of the Delaware County Farm Bureau on March i , 

 the manager has visited 452 farmers on their farms once and many of 

 them tw^ce. A number of orchard inspections to study diseases have 

 been made. Two hundred and twenty-two farmers visited the ofhce to 

 obtain help and to discuss farm work. One thousand two hundred and 

 fifty letters have been written in answer to inquiries. In performing this 

 work 9840 miles have been traveled by rail and by automobile. The 

 manager has held 38 meetings, such as farmers' institutes, grange meetings, 

 group meetings of farmers on farms and in schoolhouses, with a combined 

 attendance of 2450. Booths were arranged at Walton and Delhi fairs 

 and were visited by 600 persons. The bureau assisted in arranging for 

 two school fairs, and through its efforts four boys were awarded a free 

 trip to Ithaca during Farmers' Week, as a prize for raising potatoes. 



One of the most important projects accomplished has been demon- 

 strating that farmers can economize on grain and yet increase milk pro- 

 duction. It is not profitable for every Delaware Cotmty farmer to attempt 

 to raise alfalfa, and as most of the forage now grown consists of mixed 

 grasses, timothy, redtop, orchard grass, and some clover, so it is important 

 that some legumes be grown to supplant much of the grain and to increase 

 the fertility of the soil. Vetch, grown with oats or rye and cut green for 

 hay, is better than alfalfa for Delaware County. From four hundred and 

 eighty acres of oats and vetch grown in the county this year, there has 

 been an increase of from three-fourths to one and one-fourth tons of forage 

 per acre over the yield of any previous year, 



