FIELD CROPS. 



805 



The tuber.s j)railace(l by each plant are kept separate. Tliose of the 

 best plants are used for i)i()p;i^;ition the followino- year, the distance 

 allowed by some breeders in tlie si'coiul year beinj^' only 25. G by 12.8 

 ill., by others 40 by 40 in. (Jlos(^ planting" is soinetiiiies advocated as 

 affording' the conditions under which the plant is in futnre to be grown 

 on a large scale. Wide planting perinits of easier observation of each 

 plant, is less subject to errors arising from an irregular stand, and is 

 the method favored by the author. The best stocks are planted in the 

 third year on areas of 20, 50, or 100 square meters, are given the usual 

 fiehl (iulturc, and compared in yield and qualities with well-known vari- 

 eties. It is usniilly 5 years before tiiere is obtained a type so fixed and 

 valuable as to serve for future crossing and to deserve a name. 



Fertilizer experiments on Irish potatoes [New Jeraey Stas. Upt. 

 ]S!>o, pp. 120-1'^t). — E.Kpeiimeuts on twentieth acre ]»lats were con- 

 ducted in (xloucester Oounty on a sandy, well drained h)ani of medium 

 fertility, and in Somerset County on a gravelly clay loiim with good 

 drainage. Three hundred and twenty pounds of boneblack, 1(!0 ll>s. of 

 muriate of potash, 240 lbs. of sulphate of iiotash, and 200 ll)s. of nitrate 

 of soda were used in various combinations. Stalile manure was used 

 alone at the rate of 20 tons per acre, and at the rate of 10 tons per 

 acre in combination with half the above amounts of commercial fertil- 

 izers. On 2 plats the quiintity of commercial fertiliz(MS was 50 per cent 

 greater than that indicated above. The following table gives the cost 

 of fertilizers per acre, the value at 75 cts. per bushel of salable crop 

 after deducting cost of fertilizers, and the value of the increase after 

 deducting cost of fertilizers: 



Financial resalts per acre from tlie use of stable manure and chemical fertilizers on Irish 



potatoes. 



In the first experiment both chemical fertilizers and stable manure 

 were used with protit; in the second experiment only chemical fertil- 

 izers returned a profit. 



Ramie, W, (J. Stubbs {Louisiana Stas. Bui. 32, pp. 1127-114G). — 

 The i^ossibilities of ramie culture, the character of the ramie i)lant and 

 fiber, the draft made on the soil fertility by ramie, and machines for 

 prepaiing ramie fiber are treated at length. The data relative to the 

 composition and fertilizer re(|uirements are quoted from Bulletin 04 of 

 the California Station (E. S. It., 3, p. 371). 



