December, 191 j 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



287 



The Exhibit of Vegetables was One of the Features of the Ontario Horticultural Exhibition held in Toronto Last Month. 

 A Portion of the Exhibit is here shown. The Quality of the Exhibit* was Excellent 



ames gave an interesting account of the 

 difficulties people living in rural sections 

 in various parts of Europe, such as Swe- 

 den, Ihave to contend with in the culti- 

 vation of the soil. He believed that 

 were these people to be given informa- 

 tion about conditions in Ontario they 

 could be induced to emigrate to this 

 country. 



Before the convention closed a resolu- 

 tion was passed urging the Ontario 



Government to reserve fifty acres of 

 ground on the Monteith Experimental 

 Farm in New Ontario for the growing 

 of potatoes and to place a suitable man 

 in charge of the work. The Dominion 

 Government was also urged to establish 

 an experiment station in the middle of 

 the clay belt in New Ontario for th'^ 

 growing of grain and vegetables and to 

 distribute the products of tlhis farm to 

 farmers and gardeners at cost prices. 



New Ontario For Seed Potatoes* 



T. G. Haynor, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa 



THE question has been raised by 

 your association of the possibility 

 of New Ontario proving a good 

 place for growing seed tubers. In order 

 to test the matter, I believe arrange- 

 ments were made through your secre- 

 tary this spring to supply half a dozen 

 farmers, three of whom lived in the 

 vicinity of Charlton and the other three 

 in the neighborhood of New IJskeard in 

 New Ontario, witih seed tubers of the 

 Early Olive and Green Mountain varie- 

 tits. When the potatoes arrived some 

 disappointment was expressed in the 

 varieties, and, in two cases, in the qual- 

 ity of the stock ; the farmers thought the 

 potatoes very small to send out for seed. 

 However, all six tried the seed and the 

 results were varied. 



•Extract from a paper read at the annual 

 convention of the Ontario Vegetable Orowers' 

 AsBociation, held in Toronto, November IS. 



Such an experiment should prove suc- 

 cessful. Many farmers, when changing 

 their seed, procure it from districts 

 located north of them, and if possible 

 from a different soil. Local grown seed 

 is usually better for tihe locality produc- 

 ing it than .seed imported from southern 

 districts. Northern grown seed tends 

 to early maturity. Acting in accordance 

 with this principle, a number of prtato 

 growers in England send to Scotland 

 for their seed. Mr. Macoun, the Domin- 

 ion Horticulturist, has found that seed 

 tubers from the Maritime and western 

 experimental farms, tested at the Central 

 Experimental Farm with their own seed, 

 do much better even the first year. 



It is a common practice among far- 

 mers to change their .seed potatoes fre- 

 quently. Their idea is flhat the seed 

 runs out, and so it does, more especially 

 when the small tubers are used. Hut 



when a variety does well and becomes 

 acclimatized, frequent changes are un- 

 necessary. In northern Sweden, for in- 

 stance, some varieties of potatoes have 

 been grown for over one hundred years, 

 and are good yet. It may be observed, 

 however, that some experiment stations 

 have found that in working with the pro- 

 duct of one tuber, the strain will begin 

 to deteriorate in about twelve years and 

 will not be profitable to grow for more 

 than twenty years at the most. It is 

 different with varieties wlhere the tubers 

 are selected indiscriminately. For in- 

 stance, I have met in Ontario at least 

 six men who have grown one variety of 

 potato for over twenty-five years, and 

 to-day the tubers are as good if not bet- 

 ter than at first. This was done in 

 selecting large uniform tubers for seed. 

 Among the varieties so tested were 

 Hebron, Empire State, White Elephant 

 and Early Rose. At the experimental 

 farm at Guelph, Prof. Zavitz has been 

 testing several varieties, with ordinary 

 selection, for twelve or thirteen years, 

 and he finds that they continue to im- 

 prove in both yield and quality. 



Since the organization of the Cana- 

 dian Seed Growers' Association, a sys- 

 tematic effort has been made by potato 

 growers in different parts of Canada to 

 improve the crop by the hill system of 

 selection, either from individual tubers 

 or by selecting them collectively. 



As a supplier of potash, the oldest form 

 of fertilizer in use is hardwood ashes. 



