No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 701 



tubers as well as immature cuttings of any kind, will produce com- 

 paratively feeble plants. This is well exemplified by the weakened 

 constitution of grape-vines grown from green \^ ood." I am not in 

 a position to attirm tlliat continued use of immature seed will not di- 

 minish virility in the long run, and I have observed in New Jersey 

 that the growers prefer Maine-grown stock for the first crop, from 

 which seed is gotten for the mid-summer planting of the second crop. 

 But it is an established fact that immature seed is desirable for a 

 single planting. It does not evidence any lack in virility, and gives 

 a better plant than matured seed as usually kept in our warm lati- 

 tudes, because it has not lost by sprouting. The material in the cells 

 that feed the eyes lias not been broken down ready for starting a 

 sprout before the desired time for use. So true is this that many 

 northern growers of early-planted potatoes are learning to plant a 

 strip very late so that the crop will hardly mature by frost, and to 

 use this crop for the next season's planting. 



Sprouted Seed. — Too much cannot be said against the use of badly 

 sprouted seed potatoes. The material in the cells at the eyes gives a 

 stronger bud than a second supply of material can give when the 

 first bud is removed. The potato should be kept so cool that no 

 buds will start until wanted. The keeping of seed will be discussed 

 under another head. In the event that sprouts do start too early, 

 they should be removed, and the seed should be budded in the light 

 before planting. There is distinct loss when seed is permitted to 

 waste by sprouting in bulk. 



The Cutting. — There has been conflict in the teaching regarding 

 the size to which the seed piece should be cut. Careful study of the 

 results obtained at Experiment Stations and upon farms of commer- 

 cial growers will show that results under like conditions do not 

 conflict, and that a safe rule may be gotten for our guidance. For 

 soils of average fertility and state of tilth, the larger the seed piece, 

 the more ^vigorous the young plants, and the fewer the plants, the 

 larg-er the tubers produced. It has been quite definitely demon- 

 strated that a greater yield in case of most varieties can be gotten 

 from a whole large potato usediln planting a hill than from any less 

 quantity of seed, but the increase may not be gotten with profit on 

 account of the cost of the seed and the average size of the tubers 

 grown. With most varieties the whole tuber will give more plants 

 in the hill, and more setts, than is desirable. The proportion of 

 small potatoes in the crop is made unduly large. The vigor of the 

 vines may carry a sufficient number of the tubers to merchantable 

 size to make the-marketable crop equal to, or in excess of, the yield 

 from a smaller amount of seed, but this is rarely done with profit. 

 The concensus of tihe best opinions of experimenters is that whole, 

 large tubers should not be used in planting. 



