594 



Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Oct., 1916. 



Drying the Cut Seed. 



The dusting of lime, ashes, or sulphur on the seed to dry the 

 wound caused by cutting is not necessary, as the ruptured cells quickly 

 dry on exposure to the air. 



Sulphuring at this stage may have some advantage, on account of 

 it being fungicidal in its action, but it cannot, in this capacity, be as 

 effective as spraying the growing crop. 



Viability of Various Portions of Tubers. 



Provided that the tubers used for seeding are normally healthy, and 

 are cut to pieces of equal weight — no section of the potato has superior 

 vigour to another, i.e., stem ends and terminals are of equal value, weight 

 for weight. The number of eyes on each set is of minor importance — 

 it is the size of the set which counts. 



Fig. 4.— Evidence of the Advantage of Boxed Seed. Note perfect condition 

 of the two specimens of boxed tubers (on left.) 



Weight of Seed per Acre. 



This, obviously, depends on the individual weight of the sets and 

 the distance at which they are planted. For general practice, the 

 spacing recommended by this Department is 27 inches between the 

 rows and about 15 inches between the sets in the rows. If planting 

 is done at these distances, and two ounces is the average weight of 

 the sets, approximately 17 cwt. of seed per acre will be required for 

 planting. 



This is not a bit too much. The experience of specializing potato- 

 growers goes to prove that it is sound business policy to use fairly 

 heavy ratings of seed per acre, and to manure liberally. 



