OF AGRICULTURE. 173 



periments on a small scale, and they obtained 

 instead of the three tons which they were 

 accustomed to grow such crops as would 

 correspond to twenty and thirty-six tons to the 

 acre. Moreover, ninety growers experimented 

 on fields more than one-quarter of an acre in 

 size, and more than twenty growers made their 

 experiments on larger areas of from three to 

 twenty-eight acres. The result was that none 

 of them obtained less than twelve tons to the acre, 

 while some obtained twenty tons, and the 

 average was, for the 110 growers, fourteen and 

 a half tons per acre. 



However, industry requires still heavier crops. 

 Potatoes are largely used in Germany and 

 Belgium for distilleries ; consequently, the dis- 

 tillery owners try to obtain the greatest possible 

 amounts of starch from the acre. Extensive 

 experiments have lately been made for that 

 purpose in Germany, and the crops were : Nine 

 tons per acre for the poor sorts, fourteen tons 

 for the better ones, and thirty-two and four-tenths 

 tons for the best varieties of potatoes. 



Three tons to the acre and more than thirty 

 tons to the acre are thus the ascertained limits ; 

 and one necessarily asks oneself : Which of the 

 two requires less labour in tilling, planting, culti- 

 vating and digging, and less expenditure in 

 manure thirty tons grown on ten acres, or the 



