New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 



419 



that the i>opular opiuions of the people concerning agricultural 

 practice are usually based upon fact. Empiricism has often led 

 science. 



The experiment was made in cooperation with Messrs, White 

 and Rice, of Yorktown, N. Y., and much credit is due these gen- 

 tlemen for the painstaking manner in which they carried out the 

 details of the experiment. The land used for the experiment was 

 in a young plum orchard and was fairly, though not absolutely, 

 uniform. In 1896 it had grown potatoes which were so scabby 

 that a large part of the crop was unmerchantable. In October, 

 1896, the land was plowed and harrowed, and divided into six 

 plats, hing side by side, as shown in the accompanying dia- 

 grammatic table. On October 12, rye was sown on three alter- 

 nating plats, three other plats being left as checks. In spite of 

 the lateness of seeding, the rye made a good growth, being about 

 six inches high when plowed under, April 26, 1897. No fertilizer 

 was used on any of the plats. The plats were planted April 28. 

 Four rows were planted in each plat and exactly 175 pieces of 

 " seed " (cut to two eyes) in each row. The " seed " consisted of 

 slightly scabby tubers grown on the same land, and was of the 

 variety Carman No. 1. In each i^lat two of the four rows were 

 planted with tubers which had been soaked one and one-half 

 hours in corrosive sublimate siolution, containing 2J ounces of 

 coiTosive sublimate in 15 gallons of water. The remaining two 

 rows in each plat were planted with untreated tubers. 



YiBLD OF Sound and Scabby Potatoes on Rye Plats and Check Plats. 



