5 Sept., 1907.] I'otato Expcrniicntal Fields. 555 



due to heavy culling. Several favora])le reports regarding this potato on 

 the lighter soils have also come to hand. Of all the white potatoes grown 

 at the present time Carman No. i is probablv the best. It is of superior 

 quality and is a good cropper, superior in nearlv every point to the New 

 Zealand Pink Eye, and worthy of more attention in districts where early 

 crops are grown. At Mr. Walter's farm at Coghill's Creek this variety 

 Avas tested against the New Zealand Pink Eye with the following results: — 

 Carman No. 1 — 



Market .Siu-vll Total 



•1 tons 2 cwt. (at 60s. per ton), £0 6s. ... 3 cwt. 1 (ir. (at £1 per ton), 3s. Od., £6 9s. 9il. 



New Zealand Pink Eye — 



Market. .Small. Tntal. 



1 ton 11 cwi. (at 40s. per ton), £3 23. ... 12 cwt. (at -tl per ton), 12s., ... 1'3 I4s. 



SUBSOILING. 



As the potato grows during that period of the year when least rain 

 falls anything that t'ends to promote or conserve soil-moisture should 

 prove beneficial to the crop. With these objects in view a section of Mr. 

 Park's plot at Romsey was subsoiled to a depth of 12 inches. The crop 

 in this section, however, did not show any increase in the yield, in fact 

 it was slightly in favour of the non-subsoiled, Init as no satisfactory con- 

 clusions can be formed from one year's operations it has been decided 

 to continue the work for another season. This experiment is interesting 

 inasmuch as it is in accord with similar tests carried out in America. 



Other Experiments. 



A number of minor experiments and tests was carried out during 

 the season in a garden plot where 44 different lots were planted ranging 

 from 3 .sets to 38. Most of these had teen sent in by growers for identi- 

 fication and resulted in the names of many being fixed. The dry weather 

 or hot winds interfered with or prevented the blooming of some varieties 

 and no results were obtained regarding them. 



As opinions differ regarding the value of the stem ends of tubers a 

 field experiment to test the merits of stem and crown sections was carried 

 out. For this purpose 500 tubers were selected of about 4 oz. weight 

 and cut crossways into two sections. No. i, stem; No. 2, crown. The 

 stem sections were all planted in one drill and the crowns in the next 

 drill with the following results. The crown sections, which many contend 

 are the best for seed, were very irregular and produced 140 green plants 

 bearing many inferior tubers whilst the stem sections produced only 44 

 green plants but the yield and general appearance of the crop were 

 decidedly in fa^'our of the stem sections. This experiment will be repeated 

 or a larger scale during the coming season. 



Conclusion. 



The seaso'n was not altogether a favorable one as man\- districts 

 suffered from a spell of dry weather at a critical period in the life of 

 the plant. This was the case at Kinglake, Emerald, and Coghill's Creek, 

 •especially at Emerald, where onlv 66 points fell in 10 days in January and 

 were distributed over the whole month, the heaviest fall being 25 points on 

 the 29th. February was a little better, the heaviest falls being on the 6th, 

 and 7th, 31 points and dd points respectively, but such light falls are of 

 little value to the crop. Many districts were visited by frosts as early as 

 the first week in February. 



The area planted in Victoria in 1906-7 was largely in excess 

 of the previous vear which was over 2,000 acres below the previous 



