THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



inate new varieties. This work is very 

 interesting and might be taken up by 

 our young people. 



Care should be taken to gather seed 

 balls from the best varieties. Wash out 

 the seeds in the same way that tomato 

 seeds are washed and dried. Plant in 

 box in window, hotbed, or greenhouse 

 early in spring and transplant in berry 

 box or flower pots before the plants be- 

 gin to spindle up, and transplant in 

 open ground soon as danger of frost is 

 over, giving same care as for field crop. 



Seedlings the first year will be of dif- 

 ferent sizes, shapes %nd colors and per- 

 haps quite different in type from the 

 parent stock. Select only the fittest the 

 second and third seasons, and in this 

 way we may originate new varieties 

 equal if not superior to any in cultiva- 

 tion. 



Our first seedling was the Rot Proof 

 (which has not proved to be free from 

 rot in all sections but at home has never 

 shown any development of the putrid 

 rot caused by the late blight), which 

 yielded in 1897 at Agassiz, B. C , 45440 

 bushels, and an average at all the sta- 

 tions of 308 11; at home it yielded 

 309.15 as compared with 265.30 White 

 Star, and 206 bushels of Beauty of He- 

 bron per acre. 



The yield and shape is quite satisfac- 

 tory, but the dark red skin is against its 

 appearance in the market. 



A number of seedlings are being 

 tested. 



The Peerless, R. N. Y., Empire State, 

 Vick's Perfection, Great Divide and 

 others have been tried for market and 

 give good yields, but customers will not 

 buy them if they can get potatoes of 

 better quality. 



The Hebron, Elephant, Potatuck, 

 Early Northern, Freeman and Pearl of 

 Savoy are of good quality, but will soon 

 need replacing with new blood. 



Spraying. — Our outfit consists of a 

 spramotor No. 2 with eight feet of hose 

 connecting the pump to the centre of a 

 nine feet piece of gas pipe with four 

 nozzles arranged in it three feet apart, 

 with which we can spray four rows of 

 potatoes fast as a horse will walk. 



The barrel, pump and all are mount- 

 ed on a cart made of two rake wheels 6 

 feet apart. When the horse is walking 

 between two rows, the wheels are run- 

 ning between the next two on either 

 side. 



Two men with this rig will mix and 

 apply a 50 gallon barrel of Bordeaux or 

 Paris Green solution in 45 minutes, if 

 the water is not more than 40 rods from 

 the field to be sprayed. 



At ten cents an hour the expense of 

 applying a barrel is 15 cents. 



One 50 gallon barrel is suflficient to 

 spray an acre of potatoes once except 

 that the vines are very heavy. 



Four ounces of Paris green to the 

 barrel of water is sufficient to destroy 

 the young Colorado beetles ; if they get 

 nearly full fledged double this amount 

 will be required — 



Costing from 19 to 23 cents per bar- 

 rel, including material and time of spray- 

 ing. 



For Bordeaux we use 6 pounds Cop- 

 per Sulphate, 4 pounds fresh lime, cost- 

 ing 47 cents per barrel applied. 



The Flea beetles are very troublesome 

 some seasons, doing considerable dam- 

 age to the young plants, enfeebling their 

 growth and making them an easy prey 

 to disease. Neither Paris green nor 

 Bordeaux kills this pest but the latter 

 seems to be very offensive to them and 

 they hunt new feeding grounds. 



Conclusions. — The early and late 

 blights can be prevented by a timely use 

 of Bordeaux mixture. 



Every acre of potatoes we sprayed 

 during 1896 and 7 gave us enough pro- 



234 



