273 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1. 



vested a great crop of potatoes; but as I found 

 out they used, in preparing this article, chemi- 

 cals that my soil did not need, I was prejudiced 

 against using it. With the many cares I have 

 already on my hands, I presume I shall use the 

 Mapes fertilizer again this season; and I shall 

 be sure to have some test rows, without any 

 application whatever, that I may see what ben- 

 efit I can get from it. 



MAULE'S thoroughbred potato at the OHIO 



EXPERIMENT STATION; TESTING NEW 



POTATOES, ETC. 



Mr. Boot:— On page 1.53 of Gleanings, ia speaking- 

 of Maule's Early Thoroughbred potato at tiie Ohio 

 Experiment Station you make the following state- 

 ment: 



•'The Thoroughbred is 857 bushels, besides being 

 almost as early as the Early Ohio; and it seems a 

 little singular that they do not make more of a stir 

 about it in tiieir comments." 



In my remarks regarding this variety, which you 

 quote on a preceding page, you will see that I state 

 that we tested it one season only, and in a small 

 way. The fact is, we had fourteen hills only — not a 

 very large piece of ground on which to make much 

 of a "stir." If the variety should turn out to be as 

 good as it promises to be, I shall be glad to praise it 

 more highly; but with the meager facts which I 

 now have concerning it 1 do not feel warranted in 

 saying more than has been said. It often happens 

 that a variety does well one season and poorly the 

 next, even on the same soil; and small plots are 

 notoriously untrustworthy. Suppose that the soil 

 where we had this kind planted was just a little 

 richer than the average of the field, or that we made 

 a slight mistake in weighing. Since we had to mul- 

 tiply the yield of our small plot by 874 to get the 

 rate of yield per acre, it will be seen that a very 

 small variation or error becomes exceedingly large 

 after the calculation is made. A variation of a sin- 

 gle ounce to the hill makes a difference in the result 

 of nearly 13 bushels per acre: and it is conceivable 

 that the variation from the normal might have been 

 greater than that, and we not able to detect the 

 difference in the soil. Ordinarily we make our plots 

 the is of an acre in size, and duplicate them besides, 

 thus reducing the possible error to a very low limit. 

 The limit of error in small plots is so large, and one 

 season's trial .so untrustworthy, that I liave often 

 thought it might be better if our reports were with- 

 held until we get the evidence of at least two .sea- 

 sons' trials and the average of several large plots. 



It seems best, however, after taking all things 

 into consideration, to give out the results at first; 

 for the results of our trials are simply to be taken 

 as evidence, which is to be put alongside of evidence 

 secured by others, before a correct verdict caa be 

 rendered. The final verdict is to be rendered by the 

 public after sufficient evidence comes in. We can 

 not settle the status of a variety: we simply help to 

 do it; and the difference between our work and 

 that of outsiders is that we are unbiased, and per- 

 haps a little more careful than the average potato- 

 grower. 



Now, Mr. Root, please remember that we are 

 working for the public, and that by far the greater 

 part of our constituency consists of growers or buy- 

 ers, while the originators and dealers are compara- 

 tively few. 



It might help to increase sales somewhat if we 

 were to make more of a stir about promising new 

 varieties; but in my opinion the public gains more 

 than it loses by not buying very heavily of new 

 varieties until they are proved, and the price is 

 reduced to a reasonable rate; hence it is our duty 

 to be conservative, and not to bestow praise until 

 we know it is deserved. It is better to err on this 

 side than on the other. W. J. Green. 



Wooster, C, Mar. 16. 



Friend Green, in my remarks I did not think 

 of criticising our Ohio Experiment Station. On 

 the contrary, what I had in mind was right 

 along in line with your remarks. I rejoice that 

 we have men in such important positions as 

 this, who are careful and conservative. Of 

 course, I was not aware that you had only 14 

 hills. I am very glad indeed that you have 

 given us this little insight in regard to your 

 work and reports. 



SCABBY POTATOES 



I have a small quantity of choice seed potatoes 

 that were grown in an old pasture, and in one par- 

 ticular spot in the field the potatoes were somewhat 

 scabby. I should like to know if it is safe to plant 

 such seed without treating it. What is the best way 

 to treat such potatoes to prevent scab in the expect- 

 ed crop ? Tubers are nice and smooth, excepting 

 some from this particular portion of the patch. 

 This strip ran crosswise of the rows, and every 

 variety was diseased on this part of the ground. 

 The varieties are Mills' Prize, Stanley, Monroe Seed- 

 ling, and Freeman. The last I got of you. 



Arlington, Neb., Feb. 21. G. M. Whitford. 



Most surely you should treat your scabby 

 potatoes with corrosive sublimate. Dissolve 4 

 ounces in 30 gallons of water. Wash your scab- 

 by potatoes thoroughly, then put them in a 

 coarse loose sack and Immerse for two or three 

 hours in the solution. Take them out and dry 

 them, and they are ready to plant. But even 

 this treatment will not secure clean potatoes on 

 the same strip of ground you mention. You 

 probably will bave scabby potatoes there again 

 unless you devote the ground to some other 

 crop for two or three years. The only way to 

 kill the scab fungus in the ground, that I know 

 of, is by the use of sulphur, say 150 lbs. to the 

 acre, or about 1 lb. to every square rod. This 

 was first suggested by the Rural N'ew -Yorker, 

 and the results of careful experiments have 

 been recently given in one of the experiment- 

 station bulletins. Sulphur costs about 2 cts. a 

 pound by the barrel. While some varieties of 

 potatoes are much more liable to scab than 

 others, it appears from your experiment that 

 almost any variety will be scabby if planted on 

 scabby ground. Potatoes that contain no scab, 

 or that have been treated as above, planted on 

 ground that has always been free from scab, 

 are apt to be smooth. But you are liable to 

 start the scab fungus by the manure used. If 

 you feed your scabby potatoes to the cow, and 

 then spread your cow manure over your ground, 

 you are apt to have scab of the worst kind all 

 over where the manure was spread. 



maule's EARIA-|tHOROUGHBBE0 INJtHE GREEN- 

 HOUSE. ;. 

 We now have potatoes as large as goose-eggs, 

 but a good many of them are Injured a good 

 deal by being nipped by the frost; and then, to 

 add to the damages of the frost, I made a blun- 

 der by letting them get too dry. The tops be- 

 gan to turn yellow, and they showed signs of 

 ripening up. I thought it might be want of 

 moisture, so they were watered several times; 

 but it seems I did not water them enoxigh. 

 They are in one of the middle beds 6 feet wide 

 and about 20 feet long. This bed is boarded up 

 from the paths about two feet all around; so 

 you will notice this gives it a big chance to dry 

 out. Well, during these March days it has 

 dried off faster than I thought for. When I 

 tried soaking the bed with water, running it on 

 until the water ran through into the paths, 

 then I found out what the matter was; and we 

 have now the handsomest potatoes in the 

 greenhouse, both tops and tubers, that I think 

 anybody ever saw. Some of the lops are fully 

 two feet high, and of a beautiful bright green 

 (untouched by insects of any kind), that is 

 enough to delight the eye of any potato-grower. 

 Many are now budded, all ready to blossom. 

 We expect them to be ripe in time for outdoor 

 planting. We propose to make every potato 

 commence to sprout before we plant them out 

 in the field. 



SETTING THE GLASS IN OUR CHEAP HOT-BED 

 SASH. 



In one of the agricultural papers I saw the 

 idea of using clay to bed the glass, instead of 

 putty. This, of course, is for the kind of sash 



