554 



Ji'itnial of Aoriinliurc. 



[9 Sept.. 1907. 



little more than twice as many small, the weights being Blue Prolific 

 small 14 cwt. I qr. 24 lbs. per acre; Brown's River small i ton 10 cwt. 

 25 lb., 



The followin'j table will show the market \alue of the two varieties: — 



A gain of 23s. iid. per acre is shown at Kinglake and i6s. 46. at 

 Emerald. The market value of both varieties is put down at 50s., but the 

 Brown's River produce was not worth within 5s. to 7s. 6d. per ton of 

 Blue Prolific. 



During the last few vears there has been a great increase in the number 

 of white skinned varieties, many of them not being suitable for 

 local trade, while there have been practically no new reds, except The 

 Gem of the South, a new red skinned variety raised by Mr. Russell Kidd 

 of Invermay, Tasmania. A few small plots were planted last season and 

 from reports to hand appear to have done well. Actual Aveights were 

 supplied in one case only and then the yield was equal to 15 tons 15 cwt. 

 3 qrs. per acre, with a very fine sam.ple of tubers and scarcely any smaller 

 than seed size. This variety pos.sesses all the points of a first class Brown's 

 River and it is to be hoped that it will receive a fair trial in the coming 

 season ; should it prove a much heavier yielder than the latter it will be 

 welcomed in the late districts. Another dark-skinned variety planted under 

 the name of Black Prince gave satisfactory returns; it has a dark purple 

 skin, and if not identical with the Blue Derwent, it bears a strong re- 

 semblance to that variety. It is rather liable tO' second growth, and 

 consequently requires a favorable season, so that the tubers may develop 

 without a check. Sometimes thev develop a purple ring inside, but this 

 disappears in cooking ; a number of tests as to its cooking quality was 

 made at all stages of growth and from all kinds of soil, the results 

 being entirely satisfactory. 



Among the white-skinned varieties planted, Up-to-Date, Sutton's 

 Abundance, and Clark's Main Crop gave good yields; the latter produces 

 a large number of tubers, and unless it meets with favorable conditions, 

 produces too many undersized tubers, Up-tO'-Date on the other hand has 

 very few sma.l]. Fox's Seedling, which is an earlv variety, proved a 

 heavy cropper, and of good quality. Cook's Favourite, Avhich is a sport of 

 Carman No. i, is proving a heavy cropper. It is a verv 

 vigorous plant, resists frost well, and is a late maturing potato 

 of good quality ; it cuts very white and cooks well. This variety 

 was planted in only one plot. Mr. Argyle's at Kyneton, where 

 section {d) gave a yield of 10 tons 6 cwt. per acre with 8 tons 10 cwt. 

 for all the sections there being 7 tons 5 cwt. of marketable and i ton 5 cwt. 

 small. The amount of small seems large but nearly half the weight was- 



