DIVISION OF HORTICULTURE 765 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



TURNIPS. 



Eight varieties of turnips were sowoi for table purposes on the 2nd June and gave 

 Excellent results, particulars of which are given below: — 



Bu^. LA). 



Best of All 1,805 38 per acre. 



Westbury Purple Top 1,483 34 " " 



Bang-holm Purple Top 1,452 " 



Sutton Purple Top 1,4 25 25 " 



Skirving Purple Top 1,318 45 " 



Favourite 1,151 2 •' " 



Carter Inviota 1,140 24 " " 



Hall Purple Top 1,093 3 " 



POTATOES. 



A number of experiments- were planned in connection with potato growing, but 

 the weather in May and June was abnormally wet and the land upon which the work 

 was to be done was newly cleared, not yet underdrained nor levelled, which make a 

 combination of conditions which prohibited the carrying out of much of this work. 



Seven acres of potatoes were grown. Four acres were under fertilizer tests, the 

 stock was pure Green Mountain and Commercial Green Mountain, on plots of one- 

 twentieth acre each. The yield varied on the different plots from 10.3-3 bushels to 

 30-1 bushels per acre. The average yield for the sixty-eight plots was 199-78 bushels 

 per acre. 



The potatoes were planted with a potato planter on June 14. Seed was cut about 

 three eyes to the set. 



The soil was a sandy loam, with a stiff clay subsoil, and previous to tile draining 

 in 1913 was very wet. The whole area covered by these plots was planted to potatoes 

 in 1911 without fertilizer of any kind and gave a crop of 209 bushels per acre. 



The ground was kept well cultivated; either the single or two-row cultivator was 

 run through the plots, followed by the horse hoe weekly. Cultivation began within 

 one week of planting and was continued until August 1. Spraying with Bordeaux 

 mixture and arsenate of lead began the latter part of July, and seven applications 

 were made, using about 40 gallons per acre. Check rows unsprayed were left, an 

 equal number in each plot. These died down three weeks before the crop was killed 

 down by frost on October 11. Some of the tops were damaged by frost on September 

 25 and October 5. Plots were du^ from the 18th to the 25th October. These potatoes 

 had a growing season of 103 days from the day of planting till the first injury by 

 frost. There was a good deal of rhizoctonia, some black leg and some of other diseases. 

 Early blight and late blight in the check rows caused some diminution in yield. In 

 fact it would be a conservative estimate to say that there would have been 20 per cent 

 larger yield had there been no disease of any kind. 



The stand looked fairly even over all the plots, though on the 1st of August a 

 careful scoring of the plots was made and they varied from 50 per cent to 75 per cent 

 of a perfect stand. The result of the spraying test was that the sprayed portion of 

 the field gave 205 bushels and the unsprayed 163 bushels per acre, a gain from spray- 

 ing of 42 bushels per acre. 



COST OF PRODUCING AN ACRE OF POTATOES. 



One acre was planted commercially with a one-row potato planter. This was 

 land broken from the stump in 1914. It was ploughed in May, manured at the rate 

 of 16 tons of green barnyard manure per acre, and an attempt made to get the manure 

 incorporated with the soil with a heavy disc harrow. As the manure was very long 



Fredericton. 



