REPORT OX POTATOES. 65 



it, in the spring of 1879 I determined to try an experiment 

 for my own advantage, and to settle, so far as I was able, 

 the vexed questions. 



I selected one-fourth of an acre, and divided it into two 

 equal parts ; and, after preparing the ground as usual, I 

 planted the rows three feet apart, and hills eighteen inches, 

 putting into the hills two hundred pounds of Mapes potato- 

 manure. The preparation of soil, and, after cultivation, of 

 each part, was made as near alike as possible. The only 

 difference was in the seed, which was prepared as follows : 

 taking tubers of medium size, I divided the seed-ends from 

 the stem-ends, and, cutting them down to two eyes, planted 

 the stem-ends on one part, and the seed-ends on the other 

 part. The result was as follows : on the part planted with 

 seed-ends there were 2,010 pounds, or thirtj^-three bushels 

 and a half of merchantable potatoes, and on the other part 

 there were 1,890 pounds, or thirty-one bushels and a half 

 of merchantable potatoes ; showing a difference of sixteen 

 bushels per acre in favor of the seed-end for planting. I 

 would say also that the quantity of small potatoes on each 

 part did not vary materially ; but the seed-end ones were the 

 earliest to germinate, blossom, and mature. This experiment, 

 I thought, tended to show that there was not much differ- 

 ence between the two ends of the potato when used for seed. 

 A single experiment, however, will not establish any princi- 

 ple. If a number of trials at different times give the same 

 result generally, some dependence may then be placed on 

 the conclusions drawn therefrom. Therefore, wishing to 

 follow up this matter still further and on a broader scale, in 

 the spring of 1880 I took one acre of land well adapted for 

 the crop, and, after ploughing it seven inches deep and har- 

 rowing it thoroughly, furrowed out in rows three feet apart, 

 and sowed four hundred pounds of Mapes complete potato- 

 manure as evenly as possible in the rows, and mixed with 

 the soil. The land was then divided into eight plats of 

 twenty rods each. Four of the plats were planted with 

 parts of the stem-end of the potato, and four with parts 

 of the seed-end. The hills were marked, the seed dropped ; 

 and the planting on all of the plats was done on the same 

 day, viz., the 20th of April ; and the cultivation of each plat 

 was made as nearly as possible the same the rest of the season. 



