^34 



JouniaL of Agri culture , Victoria. [li Sept., 191 i. 



II cwt. 3 qrs.; Copperskin, 7 tons 19 cwt. i qr. ; and New Zealand 

 Pinkeye, 7 tons o cwt. 2 qrs. 



Several of the varieties did not do as well as was anticipated. They 

 are: — Green Mountain, Brownell's Beauty, and Carman No. 3. 



The object of including Brownells Beauty in the variety test was ta 

 confirm the results of previous experiments in similar soil and climatic con- 

 ditions, which show that it is not suitable for the later districts of the 

 State. In the case of Carman No. 3, it is necessary to point out that the 

 yield in no way represents the cropping capacity of this variety. The low 

 averages are due to the large number of misses in most of the .sections — in 

 A, exactly half the sets failed. Had there been no blanks, it would have 

 aveiaged 5 tons 4 cwt. i^er acre. Full details are given in Table VII. 



Cavendish Plot. 



The .soil on this plot was a gra\elly loam situated on the slope of a. 

 hillside and was not at all suited for potato-growing. In a dry sea.son it is 

 doubtful whether it would yield anything like the quantity obtained last 

 .season, which was abnormally wet. 



VIII. — Cavendish Plot. 



Section 



Manure 

 acre 



Cost per Acre . 



Tasnianian Red 

 Black Prince . . 

 Snowflake 

 Xew Zealand 

 Pinkeye 



Average 



2 cwt. 



Superplios- 



piiate. 



8s. 9d. 



Tons cwt. qr." 



D. 



2 cwt. Super- 

 priosphate ; 

 1 cwt. Sul- 

 phate of 

 Potash. 



22s. 1\A. 



Tons cwt. qrs. 



2 10 



8 II 



4 lu 



4 in II 



3 cwt. 

 Superphos- 

 phate. 



13s. lid. 



Tons cwt. qrs. 



Average. 



Tonscwt. qrs. 



1 17 2 



2 7 2 



3 16 1 

 3 16 1 



The first point in the alx)ve table t(^) attract attention is that stction C 

 without manure did not produce any croj) ; there was simply a dwarfed 

 crop of plants which failed to produce any tubers larger than marbles, 

 whilst the manured sections gave what may be considered satisfactory 

 returns. 



Manures. — The manures consisted of a minimum dressing per acre of 

 2 cwt. superphosphate, a maximum of 3 cwt. of superphosphate, and 

 the former comliined with i cwt. of sulphate of ammonia in section B and 

 w'ith I cv/t. sulphate of potash in section D. 



The results are very striking — no manure, no crop ; whilst all the 

 dressings proved highly remunerative. Section A with 2 cwt. of super- 

 phosphate costing 8s. pd. gave a yield of 2 tons per acre; an increase of 

 50 per cent, of superphosphate in .section E only improved the yield by 

 12 cwt. 2 qrs. This soil would probably respond tb heavier dressings of 

 phosphatic manure, up to 5 cwt. per acre; if applied as equal parts of 

 super] )hosphate and bonedust or basic slag. 



The heaviest yields were obtained in .sections B and D which cost 

 respectively 23s. pd. and 22s. l\(\. per acre. Tavo of the varieties gave 



