Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 795 



kas been more testing with small amoimt of seed then ever before, 

 because so many farmers have tried the new and costly varieties of 

 potatoes in a small way. I have over 1,000 letters from farmers 

 speakinor of these tests, and stating their results. They state their 

 yield from one potato at from forty to 100 pounds, and one says 12i 

 pounds from the pound of seed planted. These facts proved that 

 farmers had heretofore planted too much seed. The only point 

 between large and small potatoes was that tlie large has more eyes ; 

 and, too, I think it is a good deal like choosing vines. If one wants 

 a good vine, he takes a cutting from a strong, healthy stock. I 

 think the half ounce as good as a pound, but in getting the half 

 ounce seed prefer to take it from a large potato, not so much, how- 

 ever, amount of material, but quality. 



Mr, Adrian Bergen. — I would plant the large potato, but cut them, 

 and would cut them as I am ready to plant. 



Mr. Horace Greeley. — It is a rule in almost all plants that small 

 begets small, and large large. The reason of this was that the small 

 potato was usually formed late in the season and did not get its full 

 growth, .was not perfectly ripened. 



Mr. F. D. Curtis. — The potato grows from a sprout; the roots 

 strike out from the sprout, and if you take away the sprout and 

 transplant it, it will continue to grow" ; the potato will sprout again, 

 and you may thus get ten or fifteen sprouts from a half ounce of 

 seed. Small potatoes had a small eye, and gave forth a small, delicate 

 plant. The large gave just the opposite. A good deal of bad plant- 

 ing and too many settings were the cause of bad crops. The greater 

 number of settings in a hill, the smaller the potatoes. Most farmers 

 cut the potato to make the seed go further. I can see no reason for 

 cutting two or three days before planting, unless the idea that some 

 of the nutriment escapes when fresh cut, and that it is best to heal 

 over. Small potatoes were no doubt sometimes caused by a not 

 sufficient growth. 



Mr. Addison Oliver, Onawa, Iowa, has seen no potato yield equal 

 to his, of which he incloses the subjoined statistics : " Last spring I 

 planted one pound of Early Rose, cutting to one eye, and planting 

 in forty-three hills. They received no cultivation but two hoeings. 

 I dug about September 20, and after being washed clean, the crop 

 weighed 340 pounds, or five and two-thirds bushels. The largest 

 potato weighed forty-four and one-half ounces. Several weighed 

 two and one-half pounds eacli. We have plenty of land here which 



