STARCH CROPS 1 7^3 



been sent to twelve localities in Kent and Surrey, and where the hop has 

 become established favourable reports as to the growth have been received. 

 The second good hop, called Pickers Delight, is of unknown parentage ; 

 it w'as raised in igoS from a seed collected in the Experimental Hop-garden 

 at Wye College from a certain hop which showed the following characters : 

 — Earh' to mid-season, growth very vigorous, ver\- fruitful, hop very large, 

 oval, nice shape, dense, often with a tinge of red on the petals, flavour pro- 

 nounced good in most cases, sometimes excellent. The seedlirig hop is 

 now being grown experimentally in 12 places in Ketit and in 2 localities in 

 vSnrrey and Sussex. 



1274 - The Value of Immature Potato Tubers as Seed. — Hutchinson h. p., iu journal starch crops 



of the Board of Asriciilture, Vol. XXIII, No. 6, pp. 529-539. l,ondon, September, 1916. 



Many practical potato growers believe that tubers lifted in an imma- 

 ture or unripe condition give better yields than fully ripened tubers. This 

 has been confirmed by experiments carried out at Garforth (Yorkshire) 

 in 1905 and igcG with mid and late-season varieties, at Wye College (Kent) 

 in igi2 and 1913, and at the Midland Agricultural College in 1914 and 1915. 



At the Midland Agricultural College in 1914 the variety Factor yielded 

 as follows : 



tons cwt lbs 



Crop raised from ripe tubers 12 4 72 



Crop raised from immature tubers ..13 9 80 



Iu 1915 the variet}- King Edward yielded : 



Crop raised from ripe tubers 6 4 62 



Crop raised from immature tubers . . 12 19 42 



The use of immatitre tubers as seed gives plants that are earlier, more 

 vigorous, and less attacked by diseases and pests, while the crops are ear- 

 liei and heavier. 



The superiority of immature seed may be due to the following causes : 

 i) M ethod of selection. — In usual farming practice the tubers retained 

 foi planting purposes are of medium and smaller sizes, the larger tttbers 

 being sold. For planting with immature seed the larger tubers are selected, 

 whi^h are mainly derived from the mo.st productive plants, so that the result- 

 ing tendency is to increase, or at least to maintain, previous productivity, 

 i) The structure of the tuber coats. — The cortex of immature tubers 

 is thinner, which facilitates evaporation, imbibition, respiration etc and 

 consequently aids germination. 



3) The amount and condition of the reserve food material. 



4) The length and time of stora\!e. — The inmiattire tubers are given 

 several weeks longer storage, so that a larger proportion of the starch is 

 transformed into compounds that are more easily assimilated by the 

 young plant. 



