CONSIDERATIONS OF SEED 6 1 



Time to Cut. — P'ormerly it was advised to cut the 

 potatoes a few days before planting. Generally speak- 

 ing, this is a mistake. Zavitz ' reports as the result 

 of hundreds of trials, during a period of eight years, 

 that potatoes cut the da)^ of planting gave 8 bushels 

 per acre heavier 3'ield than those cut four to six days 

 before planting. Similar results \A'ere obtained at the 

 Montana Experiment Station.* 



Size of Seed. — It is a matter of general observa- 

 tion, supported by experiments, that large seed usually 

 insures a larger j'ield than small seed. This may be 

 due to the greater amount of nourishment furnished to 

 the young plants, which enables them to make stronger 

 growth, and to the greater hereditary vigor possessed 

 by such tubers. Good-sized seed is especially desira- 

 able on light soils, and for early maturing varieties. 

 Smaller seed from vigorous plants may be as satisfac- 

 tory with late varieties, owing to their longer period 

 of growth. The advisability of using large or small 

 seed, cut or whole, depends largely upon the cost of 

 the seed, the season, the culture given, and the price 

 realized when harvested. Generally speaking, tubers 

 weighing two to three ounces make the most profitable 

 seed, as the}^ are worth less for consumption. The 

 amount of experimental work which has been under- 

 taken to decide the influence of the size of the seed 

 tuber upon the yield is enormous, and only a few ref- 

 erences can ]je given here. 



Fischer,' of .Germany, advises (i) that under ordi- 



1 Ont. Agr. College and Farm Report, 1898, p. 158; 1902, p. 127. 



a Mon. Bui. 9, p. 21. » E. S. R., IX., p. 331; X., pp. 361-367. 



