15 Nov., 1919.] 



Change of Seed of Potatoes. 



655 



'' In order to eliiuiiiate all factors which iiii^'ht affect the yield other 

 than that with which the experiment was directly concerned, seed was 

 obtained early in 1913 from a common source in Ulster, and sent to six 

 centres to be grown there for a number of years; each season part of 

 the produce being returned and distributed to Agricultural Instructors 

 for the purposes of the experiment. Unfortunately, the potatoes grown 

 at the English centre were all disposed of at the end of 1915 (due to the 

 war) ; consequently, only two years' results from English seed are avail- 

 able. 



''The centres at which the seed was grown are as follows: — 



1. Ulster — Cookstown, Co. Tyrone. 



2. Munster — Clonakilty, Co. Cork, 



3. Leinster — Glasnevin, Co. Dublin. 



4. Connaught — Athenry, Co. Galway. 



5. Scotland — Dumfries, Dumfriesshire. 



6. England— St. Ives, Huntingdonshire (1913 and 1914 only). 



" During each of the first two years, seed was obtained from all the six- 

 centres, and in 1916 from all the centres except England, and after being- 

 graded as uniformly as possible, was distributed to the Agricultural 

 Instructors by whom the tests were carried out. The seed for the 1916 

 experiments had been grown three years at each centre, for, as already 

 explained, the original stock was sent out by the Department in 1913, 

 The variety was ' Up-to-Date.' 



" As a basis for comparison, a plot was included on which was planted 

 the farmers' own seed of ' Up-to-Date.' 



" The results have been summarized in the briefest form in the follow- 

 ing table : — 



Change of Seed Experiment. — ^Summary of Eesults. 



