1272 



EARLE V. HARDENBURG 



TABLE 95. COMPARISON OF FIFTY HIGHEST- AND FIFTY LOWEST- YIELDING FARMS OF THE 

 FOUR REGIONS SURVEYED, IN AVERAGE YIELD, POTATO ACREAGE, SEED USED, AND 

 FERTILIZER USED, AND PERCENTAGE OF GROWERS SPRAYING WITH FUNGICIDE 



Factors of less, but by no means negligible, influence on yield, as 

 developed by these survey studies, are: method of applying fertilizer, 

 varietal type of potatoes, sun-sprouting of seed, interval between cutting 

 seed and planting* dusting cut seed, type of seed, system of planting, 



depth of planting, system of cultivation. 







CONCLUSIONS 



The foregoing study of crop production by survey methods has, wholly 

 apart from the facts brought out, shown the broad possibilities of this 

 method of research. It does have limitations, however, as is evidenced 

 by' certain conflicting data and by the occasionally inconclusive results 

 reported herein. It cannot be used as a substitute either for the present 

 carefully executed research of the state and federal experiment stations, 

 or for more generally localized controlled experiments. On the basis of 

 facts and indications revealed in this study, however, the survey method 

 can and should play a more prominent part in supplementing the present 

 scope of research. In general, too much emphasis has been placed on 

 conclusions drawn from limited experimentation without due attention 

 to their application to local conditions. Too little research of regional 

 application has been done. Cooperative experiments have been tried, 

 but they have not been sufficiently extensive in duration. 



A crop survey, to be of greatest value, should be replicated in a given 

 region, depending on the normality of seasonal conditions. The year 

 1912, while possibly normal for Long Island, was a year of severe loss 

 from blight to the potato crop in Steuben County. The year 1913, while 

 possibly normal for Franklin and Clinton Counties, was a year with an 

 extraordinarily early killing fall frost in Monroe County. These factors 

 have doubtless vitiated to some degree the results of the present study 



