416 



Transactions of the London HorlicuUural Sociclij. 



Time of Planting. 



Sets. 



Weightplanted 



Weight taken 

 up. 



Deduct weight 



planted for 

 clear produce. 



1st week in March. -! 

 1st week in April. -! 



Whole Tubers 

 Base oi:' Tubers 

 Points of Tubers 



t. cwt. lb. 

 1 11 22 

 1 89 

 10 44 



t. cwt. lb. 

 15 2 45 

 15 6 108 

 18 1 28 



t. cwt. lb. 



13 11 23 



14 6 19 

 17 10 96 



Aver. 



1 89 



16 3 60i 



15 2 83i- 



Whole Tubers 

 Base of Tubers 

 Points of Tubers 



1 11 22 

 1 89 

 10 44 



15 14 74 

 14 11 18 



14 8 74 



14 3 52 

 13 10 41 

 13 18 30 



Aver, 



1 89 



14 18 18 



13 17 41 



Difference in favour of the March plantation 1 5 42^ 



" It appears from the above, that the March plantation exceeds that of 

 April by 1 ton 5 cwt. 42^ lb. ; and farther, that the average produce of the 

 points of tubers exceeds that of whole tubers by 1 ton 16 cwt. 87 lb., and of 

 the base of tubers by 1 ton 15 cwt. 94| lb. Consequently, the lowest pro- 

 duce is from the whole sets ; a little above the latter is that from the base; 

 and the points of the tubers rank considerably above either. This superiority 

 appears to take place in the March planting; for of those planted in April 

 the whole tubers had the advantage with regard to produce. 



" Sir George S. Mackenzie obtained a different result from different parts 

 of the tuber. Cuts from the base gave a return of 26 lb., middle 20i lb., and 

 points 24 lb. ; but, from the following communication, it appears that he was 

 not fully satisfied in regard to the experiment having been fairly made. 



" ' The experiment, the result of which I communicated last year, comparing 

 the respective produce of the cuts taken from the root end, the middle, and 

 the rose end of a potato, was made, as I mentioned, by the gardener then in 

 my service. Last spring I directed the experiment to be repeated ; but my 

 gardener misunderstanding me planted root-cuts, &c., from different potatoes 

 of one sort, instead of all the cuts to be compared being from one tuber. The 

 result is as follows : — 



* Root-end cuts, 26 lb. Middle, 20i lb. Rose, or crown end, 24 lb. 



There were 20 cuts of each sort planted at the usual distance, and a single 

 eye in each cut. Though this does not give a strict comparison of cuts from 

 one tuber, yet it may be regarded as giving a fair mean result. The inferi- 

 ority of the middle cuts is remarkable ; and it appears of some importance to 

 repeat the experiment with different varieties of the potato, attending care- 

 fully that only one eye shall be in each cut. When the ej'es are crowded, as 

 in the crown, or rose, end, they should be all cut away but one. I am aware 

 that it has been the universal opinion that the crown end is the most pro- 

 ductive ; but this appears to have been taken for granted, and not deduced 

 from experiment. The great number of eyes, also, at the crown end, may 

 have contributed to an increased produce. In planting a field it is always 

 advantageous to have at least two eyes, lest one should be cut off by frost.' 



" In order to try the effects of different depths of planting, a quarter was 

 divided into four equal parts, and planted with sets in the second week in 

 April, at the respective depths of 3, 4, 6, and 9 inches. The results computed 

 for an acre are as follows : — At 3 in., 13 1. 141b. ; 4 in., 14 1. 1 cwt. 18 lb. ; 

 6in., 14t, 11 cwt. 41b. ; 9in., 13t. 1111b. 



" The greatest produce was from the plantation at 6 in. deep ; and next to 

 jt, from that at 4 in. Those planted only 3 in. deep gave the least return. 



