116 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



cannot account for this, and am not convinced that it is 

 good policy to plant scabby potatoes. I should rather have 

 a trial of three years more with the same results, and also 

 should prefer to have others try it before settling down to 

 any definite conclusions. It is so different from what one 

 would naturally expect, that there should be stronger evi- 

 dence than three years' trial before anything of value should 

 be considered established. 



The next set of views, and the last that I shall bring to 

 your attention this evening, shows the result of an experi- 

 ment to test the value of salt to prevent scab. It having 

 been said that salt will prevent scab, I decided to commence 

 a series of experiments to ascertain if it be true. This year 

 being the first of the experiment, the result is of no great 

 value ; but I give it, with a caution not to draw conclusions 

 until further experiments are made. H 1 and H 2 are pota- 

 toes badly afi"ected with the scab. These were cut as near 

 in the centre as possible, and one-half of each put in one 

 hill and the other half in the next hill. The hill marked 

 H 1 had a small handful of coarse salt mixed with the fer- 

 tilizer and the soil directly around the hill. H 2 had no salt 

 in the hill. The view taken June 28 shows that the plants 

 in the hill salted started first, and the view taken July 21 

 shows that the plants kept in advance of those not salted ; 

 and the potatoes when dug show H 1 to be much better than 

 H 2, HI producing 4 pounds 10 ounces of large and 14 

 ounces of small potatoes, — total, 5| pounds ; H 2 produced 

 3 pounds of large and 6 ounces of small potatoes, — total, 

 o pounds 6 ounces. I give you this, not because I believe 

 that salt will always produce such good results, for I do not ; 

 but I give it to show the importance of more than one trial 

 before conclusions are drawn. This experiment will be con- 

 tinued. No scab was seen in the hill salted or in the hill 

 not salted. 



In conclusion, I would say, years of close observation and 

 careful experiments lead me to the following conclusions : 

 1st, Whole potatoes will produce a crop from a week to ten 

 days earlier than cut potatoes. 2d, Small whole potatoes 

 will produce for many years in succession just as good if 

 not better results than large potatoes cut the size of the 



