Methods of Breeding a'sd TArpROviNG the Potato Crop. 587 



Planting the selected tubers. The seed tubers selected as indicated 

 above should all be of about uniform size. In planting them they can 

 be cut into quarters longitudinally and the pieces will then be nearly 

 enough of the same size to answer all practical purposes. A seed patch 

 should be selected in which to plant these special tubers, and this seed 

 patch can be in one corner of the potato field if so desired. The selected 

 seed should be planted in just the same way as the grower plants 

 his ordinary crop. It would of course, be well to have the different 

 hills dropped at about an equal distance apart, as each hill should have 

 the same comparative amount of land for its development. And the 

 grower must also know positively that only one quarter is planted in a 

 hill. This seed patch should be cultivated the same as the ordinary 

 field. 



Selection of high-yielding hills. The next factor of importance in con- 

 nection with the seed selection is a selection of the high-yielding hills 

 in the seed patch, which of course should be done at the time of digging. 

 To do this properly it is necessary that the hills should be dug by hand, 

 and the product of each hill laid out separately at the side of the row. 

 If feasible, the entire seed patch can first be dug and laid out in this 

 manner, or the selection can progress while the digging is in progress. 

 To make the selection the writer would advocate that in the first place 

 all of the hills be examined hastily and the low-yielding, poor hills be 

 taken out. The problem before the man making the selection is of 

 course to leave only the best hills. The best hills are naturally those 

 producing the heaviest yield of proper sized tubers which are regular 

 in outline. Hills which show a tendency to produce some very large 

 tubers and many small tubers are undesirable of course, although the 

 total yield may be large. Hills which show a tendency to produce 

 tubers irregular in shape, budding out at the sides, are undesirable 

 and should be discarded when this condition is marked. Having these 

 factors well in mind, and they are factors .which are well recognized by 

 the majority of potato growers, the operator can pass down the rows 

 and throw out the poor hills almost at a glance, leaving only the good 

 high-yielding hills. 



After this first process of selection the operator should go over these 

 good hills and select from among them what Professor Stone calls the 

 " Gilt Edge " hills, that is, those which are the very best in the field 

 from the standpoint of yield and uniformity of product, and from each 

 of these " Gilt Edge " hills take the best tubers and retain them for 

 planting the seed patch the ensuing year. After the tubers from the 

 *' Gilt Edge " hills have been removed, the good tubers from the remain- 



