36 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



be niade to retain it. It is a good plan to 

 have the potato crop follow clover or grass 

 sod, as the sod when turned under forms 

 humus, and the more humus there is in the 

 soil, the more it will retain moisture. This 

 vegetable matter will also help to keep the 

 soil loose, which is another factor in the 

 growing of the crop. 



The best method is, if the soil is loamy, 

 to plow early in the spring, so that the sod 

 will be thoroughly rotten, and then use the 

 disc harrow and smoothing harrow thor- 

 oughly jusi before ])lanting. By plowing 

 in the spring, plant food is saved which 

 might be lost by leaching. Stiff soils. 

 which, if possible should not be used for po- 

 tatoes, may be plowed in the autumn. The 

 looser the soil is at planting time the bet- 

 ter the results will usually be. Farmers 

 make a great mistake b}' manuring heavily 

 for potatoes. A moderate top dressing of 

 barnyard manure of lo or 15 tons per acre 

 on the sod before plowing is quite suffi- 

 eient to ensure a good crop if cultivation 

 and spraying are attended to. If these are 

 neglected heavy manuring is of little avail. 

 I believe thorough cultivation to be more 

 important than manuring. 



\'ery satisfactory results have been ob- 

 tained at the ^enlral Experimental Farm by 

 having the potatoes follow a root crop which 

 was well manured and by not applying any 

 manure direct to the crop. Manuring in 

 the rows induces scab and should be 

 avoided. The time of planting will vary 

 according to the district, but the best time 

 to plant for a main crop is about a week be- 

 fore the danger of frost is past, the object, 

 being to have the potatoes come up just 

 about when danger of frost is over. From 

 the middle to the 24th of ]May is a good 

 time. In 1902 in a test made of plantingf 

 ])otatoes at different dates an early varietv 

 planted on ]\Iay 15 yielded at the rate of 

 294 bushels per acre, and when planted on 

 May 29 of only 217 bushels, a difference of 

 yj bushels in favor of ]^Iay 15. A late 



variety yielded at the rate of 459 bushels 

 per acre when planted May 15, and 411 

 bushels when planted j\Iay 29, a difference 

 of 47 bushels in favor of the earher plant- 

 ing. Potatoes planted on May i did not 

 yield as well as those planted on the 15th, 

 the soil probably being too cold. The longer 

 the plants are growing before blight appears 

 the better the crop is likely to be. For an 

 early crop the seed can be planted earlier 

 and some risk taken. Anything which re- 

 tards the growth of the plant lessens the 

 crop, hence danger from frost should be 

 avoided for the main crop". 



In 1904 there were yi^ varieties tested at 

 Ottawa under as nearly uniform conditions 

 as possible. The most productive variety 

 was the Vermont Gold Coin, which yielded 

 at the rate of 554 bushels per acre, and Mor- 

 gan's Seedling, which produced 514 bushels. 

 Both were new varieties. The third most 

 productive variety, and one which we have 

 been recommending for several years, was 

 the Carman No. i, which yielded at the 

 rate of 501 bushels per acre. Three of the 

 least productive varieties were Early Andes, 

 123 bushels; Bliss Triumph, 127 bushels, 

 and Bovee, 180 bushels, or 431 bushels per 

 acre more from the heaviest yielding variety 

 than from the lightest cropper. These 

 great dift"erences are obtained every year, 

 showing the importance of trying different 

 kinds. Some of the best varieties are dis- 

 tributed free from the Central Experimental 

 Farm, Ottawa, in 3 pound samples. 



The 12 varieties which have averaged 

 best at Ottawa for the past five years, with 

 their yields per acre, are : 



Bush. Color. 



1. Late Puritan 485 White. 



2. Barnaby Mammoth. . . 483 Pink and white. 



3. Money Maker 482 White. 



4. Flemish Beauty 467 Pink. 



.5. Carman No. 1 459 White. 



6. Dreer's Standard 458 White. 



7. Sabean's Elephant. . . 454 White. 



8. Canadian Beauty. .;. . 452 Pink and white. 



9. Rural Blush 437 Pink. 



10. I. X. L 433 Pink and white. 



11. Clay Rose. 432 Pink. 



12. Irish Cobbler 432 T^'hite. 



