704 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



7 GEORGE V, A. 1917 



THINNING OF VEGETABLES. 



Three 100-foot rows each of beets and parsnips were sown on the 18th of May. 

 The plants in one row of each vegetable were thinned to 2 inches apart, the second 

 row to 3 inches apart, and the third row to 4 inches apart. The result was as follows : — 



Vegetable. 



Early Model Beet.. ... 

 Hollow Crown Parsnip. 



Yield per acre when sown. 



2 in. apart. 



Tons. lb. 



10 909 



11 1,000 



3 in. apart. 



Tons. lb. 



9 1,079 



14 227 



4 in. apart. 



Tons. lb. 

 10 1,694 

 13 1,704 



POTATOES. 



An experiment was conducted to determine the best number of eyes to leave 

 in potato sets for planting. Two varieties were used, Early Puritan and Gold Coin. 

 The following table gives the average returns from duplicate plots: — 



Kind of sets. 



Whole potatoes.. 

 Sets with 1 eye. 

 Sets with 2 eyes 

 Sets with 3 eyes 

 ♦Check 



Yield per 



acre 

 Market- 

 able. 



Bush. 

 132 

 135 

 133 

 148 

 145 



lb. 

 24 

 51 

 6 

 30 

 68 



Yield per 



acre 

 Unmarket- 

 able. 



Bush. 

 150 

 47 

 73 

 89 

 48 



lb. 

 42 

 18 

 34 

 55 

 31 



Total 



yield per 



acre 



Bush. 

 283 

 183 

 206 

 238 

 194 



lb, 



6 



9 



40 

 25 

 39 



Bush, of 



sets per 



acre 

 planted. 



Bush. 

 48 

 18 

 31 

 46 

 26 



lb 

 24 

 42 

 54 

 45 

 24 



Yield per 



acre less 



amount of 



sets used for 



planting. 



Bush. 

 234 

 164 

 174 

 191 

 168 



lb. 



42 



27 



46 



40 



15 



Note. — The sets used in the check row contained 1 or 2 good strong eyes. 



The land in the above experiment was not as uniform as we would have liked it, as 

 shown by the checks. The above data would indicate that a good large set is more 

 important than one with many eyes in it. A large number of eyes would appear to 

 increase the percentage of small potatoes. 



The experiment with planting potatoes at different dates gave the largest return 

 of potatoes from the first planting, May 24. The plantings made on June 1 and June 

 15 were fairly good. The potatoes planted on June 8 and 24 were poor. 



A comparison was made between potatoes cut and coated at once with lime, with 

 sets not so coated and planted the same day. Those limed gave much better returns. 

 A further experiment was tried by treating the sets as above and holding them in 

 the cellar two weeks. The results from this experiment were not so marked. The 

 number of marketable potatoes harvested from the limed sets was greater but the total 

 yield was not so great. The experiments would indicate that lime applied to fresh cut 

 sets is advantageous. 



An experiment was conducted to determine the best distances apart for planting 

 potatoes. Two varieties of potatoes were used, one the Early Puritan and the other 

 Green Mountain, for a main crop variety. The sets used had three eyes and the plots 

 were all grown in duplicate. The following table would indicate that with both 

 varieties the rows 30 inches apart and plants 14 inches apart in the row produced the 

 heaviest crop. 



Uh.\rlottetown. 



