Vegetable Growing for Market 



These experiments are interesting, as they show conspicuously the absurdity 

 of the popular fallacy that one is " wasting ground " by giving Potatoes 

 sufficient space to grow. In No. I, "British Queen" Experiment, it is obvious 

 that at 3 ft. apart not only did the seed cost 2, 6s. 2d. per acre less, but 

 there was a gain of over 7 tons to the acre against the Potatoes at 2 ft. apart. 

 This at 3 per ton would represent another 21. If there was any truth in 

 the statement that it is "wasting ground" to give so much space, it is obvious 

 that at 2 ft. by 1 ft. apart the 17,920 sets should have given at least twice 

 as great a yield (i.e. over 49 tons per acre) as the 8800 sets. But they 

 actually gave over 7 tons less representing a great loss. Again, for every 

 set planted at 3 ft. by li ft. apart the average yield was well over 6 Ib. 

 per set, while at 2 ft. by 1 ft. the average was just over 2 Ib. per set. 



The " Early Puritan" Experiment II again shows that there is nothing 

 gained by planting too close together. Although the 17 cwt. of seed 

 produced 20f tons to the acre, the average yield per set from the 2-ft.- 

 by-2-ft. rows was only 4 T 6 ^ Ib., against 8 T ^ Ib. from the 3-ft.-by-3-ft. rows; 

 and the average weight of the individual tubers was greater in the rows 

 farther apart. Another important point in this experiment was that in 

 the 3-ft.-by-3-ft. rows the average number of tubers to each plant was 

 45J against 25J from the 2-ft.-by-2-ft. rows. There was a larger quantity 

 of "chats" amongst the tubers from the 2-ft.-by-2-ft. rows, so that the 

 extra yield of 14 tons to the acre was swallowed up by inferior produce, 

 and signs of disease that were absent from the 3-ft.-by-3-ft. rows. 



In Experiment III, with the variety "Duchess of Cornwall", pre- 

 cisely the same result is shown as in the others. The extra yield of 

 IfV tons in the 2 -ft.- by- 2 -ft. rows was again spoiled by the number 

 of chats. The average number of tubers per set in the 3-ft.-by-3-ft. rows 

 was 344 against 224 in the rows 2 ft. by 2 ft. 



In Experiment IV with the early variety, " Myatt's Ashleaf ", it will 

 be noticed that there is a big drop in the yield per acre, and also in 

 the average weight of the tubers in comparison with the mid-season 

 and late varieties. Still, even at 3 ft. apart every way, there was a 

 better result than with the rows and sets 2 ft. apart. 



Overcrowding* and "Chats". From a commercial point of view it 

 is essential to secure as small a quantity of chats as possible in a potato 

 crop. To secure this desirable result it is necessary to give sufficient 

 space between the rows and the "sets". The following results from a 

 square pole of ground show that fewer small tubers will be produced by 

 planting at 3 ft. apart than by planting at 2 ft. apart: 



V. "WARE" AND "CHAT" EXPERIMENT " MYATTS ASHLEAF" 



VOL. IV. 



55 



