1887.] 



PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 



83 



Plat 3 (east end) received one hundred and twenty pounds 

 of ground rendered bones, and fifty-eight pounds of double 

 sulphate of potash and magnesia (equal to from twenty-six to 

 twenty-seven pounds of phosphoric acid, four to four and one- 

 half pounds of nitrogen, fifteen to sixteen pounds of potassium 

 oxide, and five to six pounds of magnesium oxide). 



The fertilizers were applied broadcast, and harrowed under 

 before planting. The potatoes were planted in rows, three 

 feet apart and fourteen inches distant in the drills, during the 

 first week in May, 1884. The crop was kept clean from weeds 

 by a timely use of the cultivator. 



As an additional feature of the experiment, one-half of each 

 plat was planted with medium-sized whole potatoes ; the other 

 with half potatoes obtained from a similar size. 



The vines produced by whole potatoes showed a more vigor- 

 ous growth during the main part of the season than those by 

 part of a potato. The entire field looked promising until 

 towards the middle of August, when with the appearance of the 

 blight the life of the stems and leaves prematurely terminated. 



The crop was harvested on the 9th and 10th of September. 

 (See results farther on.) 



Analyses of Potatoes {18S4). 

 One hundred parts of air-dried fresh potatoes contained : — 



A well-matured potato contains on an average, approximately, 

 twenty-five per cent, of solid matter. The unmatured potatoes 

 were evidently more advanced in growth, whilst those manured 

 with muriate of potash were least advanced in that direction. 



The latter, on the other hand, had the smoothest skins, and 

 were almost entirely free from scab, which seriously disfigured 

 those from Plats 2 and 3. 



