CONSIDERATIONS OF SEED 63 



increase with the increase of eyes on the tuber. Seed 

 tubers weighing i^4 ounces and carrying 8 to 10 eyes 

 sent up, on an average, 5.5 stalks per tuber, while seed 

 tubers weighing 3 ounces and having 14 to 18 eyes 

 sent up, on an average, 11.3 stalks per tuber. Bisect- 

 ing an eye tends to increase the number of stalks, be- 

 cause each eye is usually a collection of buds, and some 

 would be left uninjured on each piece. The number 

 of stalks sent up tended to increase with the size of the 

 seed tuber, and the yield increased with the increase in 

 number of stalks. 



The Virginia Experiment Station ' reports that large 

 seed cannot be used at a profit, while small seed is not 

 recommended, but that sound tubers of the size of a 

 hen's egg and upward are proper seed. 



Green, 2 of Ohio, found that crops from whole seed 

 mature a few days earlier than from the same sized 

 seed cut in two, and that small cuttings require the 

 soil to be in better condition than large cuttings, or 

 whole potatoes, in order to secure a good stand and a 

 profitable crop. 



Amount of Seed Per Acre Cost and Influ- 

 ence on Yield. Plumb, 3 of Tennessee Experiment 

 Station, found the largest seed tubers to be most pro- 

 ductive and the least profitable, while those varying in 

 weight from one to three ounces were most profitable. 



At Kentucky Experiment Station 4 the amounts 

 planted varied from six bushels per acre when medium- 

 sized seed were cut to two eyes to 48 bushels per acre 

 where large whole potatoes were planted. At the 



1 Va. Bui. 8, p. 3. 2 Ohio Second Series Bui., Vol. III., I., p. 14. 



Tenn. Bui., Vol. III., I., p. 6. *Ky. Bui. 22, p. 136. 



