26 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



orouslv, and maintained their superiority throughout the 

 entire season. At harvest the superiority of the crop from 

 the Houlton seed was marked. Each kind was separately 

 weighed on each plat. On Plat 1, Maine seed yielded at 

 the rate of 399.5 pounds more than home seed; on Plat 2, 

 454 pounds more; on Plat 3, 605.5 pounds more; on Plat 

 4, 548 pounds more. Per acre the difference in favor of 

 Maine seed amounted to 36.5 bushels, — far more than 

 enough to repay the usual difference in the cost of the two 

 kinds of seed. 



Treatment of Seed with Corrosive Sublimate. 



In 1894, as the seed to be used showed a little scab, it 

 was all treated with corrosive sublimate solution. Two and 

 one-fourth ounces of corrosive sublimate were dissolved in 

 fifteen gallons of water. The seed was at first washed with 

 a hose, being spread in a shallow inclined trough. After 

 draining, the seed was put into the solution and allowed to 

 remain one and one-half hours. It was then taken out, 

 spread and allowed to dry in the sun, being cut and planted 

 about as soon as it was dry. Corrosive sublimate can be 

 purchased of druggists. It is a dangerous poison if taken 

 into the stomach, but it is not at all dangerous to handle the 

 seed thus prepared. The same solution can be used several 

 times if all the seed cannot be put in at once. Care should 

 be taken to use wooden vessels for the solution, as it will 

 corrode metals. After use the solution should be thrown 

 away in such a manner as to make it certain that animals 

 cannot get hold of it, and where it cannot contaminate wells, 

 springs, streams or ponds. 



The treatment is effective in preventing scab where the 

 germs of the disease are not present in the soil, — i. e., on 

 land where scabby potatoes have not been grown for several 

 years. The method was perfected by Professor Bolley of 

 North Dakota, and is fully described in Bulletin No. 9 of 

 that station. 



