400 Transactions of the American Institute. 



The experiments, of which I give you the results in the foregoing 

 list, were made with the white peach-blow, but owing to the wet 

 season, the yield of this variety has been much smaller than in 

 former years, so that the number of bushels per acre should be 

 taken as the comparative quantities only. The figures given are 

 derived from seventy hills of each manner of planting, and equalized 

 to the rate per acre. 



The greatest yield was obtained from the largest potatoes, 

 planted whole, as was the case in all my former experiments. The 

 smallest yield from the smallest potatoes, cut in two. The large 

 and small potatoes of each row were carefully assorted and mea- 

 sured, which resulted in the remarkable fact, that the larger the 

 yield the greater has been the proportion of' large potatoes. Com- 

 paring the figures in the above list, we must come to the conclu- 

 sion, that the size of the piece is not the most important part in 

 planting potatoes. If one healthy, matured eye of a grapevine 

 makes a better plant than a long cutting of immature wood, so will 

 a piece of solid and ripe potato produce more and better ones than 

 a whole potato which is diseased or unripe. My practice in plant- 

 ing the field crop has been, to take more of smaller than mediun\- 

 Bized potatoes; these were planted whole, larger ones were cut in 

 two, and the largest ones in four pieces, alwaj's taking care to 

 select only sound and well-matured tubers. The above 3'ield, at 

 the rate of ninety-five bushels per acre, was the return of two 

 acres, planted in this manner, and is only nineteen bushels per 

 acre less than the highest yield on the list. To one acre planted 

 in this way, it requires about five barrels of seed. The planting 

 of one acre with whole potatoes of the largest size would require 

 four times that quantity. To obtain a barrel of seed potatoes of 

 the largest size, like those which gave the best yield, would take 

 the largest of about five ban-els of marketable potatoes, and reduce 

 the value of the balance considerably. If we deduct in both 

 cases the value of the seed from the product per acre, the result of 

 the field crop will net the most profit. We have, therefore, no 

 evidence yet that there is a more ])rofitable mode of planting than 

 the one just spoken of as practiced by us. 



Although the above experiments were made with the utmost 

 exactness, we should not place implicit reliance in one single exper- 

 mcnt. Different seasons and different soils may give other results; 

 but every experiment helps to solve the great questions which con- 

 cern the agricultural interests in common. In my experiments of 



