2 MAINE STATE COLLEGE 



account of a comparison of the two methods as conducted on the 

 grounds of the originator of the trench system. From this trial 



the following conclusions were drawn : " There is a difference of 

 the total yield per acre of only one half bushel (.49) in favor of 

 the trenches but of the marketable potatoes there is a difference 

 of over seventeen bushels per acre in favor of the trenches. 



'•The yield of small potatoes (unmarketable) of the furrows is 

 16.79 bushels per acre greater than that of the trenches."' * 



The work of this station, planned without the knowledge that 

 similar work was being undertaken elsewhere, is detailed below. 



On a piece of sandy loam, having a southern aspect, alternate 

 rows of the variety named below were planted three and one-half 

 feet apart — one being " trenched." the other planted in an ordin- 

 ary furrow. The rows trenched were plowed about a foot wide 

 and eight inches deep, after which the soil in the bottom of the 

 furrow was loosened and pulverized, some of the earth being 

 worked back into the furrow. The " seed," cut to two eyes, was 

 then planted one foot apart in the row. The pieces were covered 

 to a depth of about two inches when a complete fertilizer at the 

 rate of one thousand pounds per acre was scattered in the trenches, 

 and the trenches were filled. 



The other rows were simply plowed, the seed pieces dropped and 

 covered, when the same amount of fertilizer as before was scat- 

 tered on the surface. As soon as the young shoots appeared above 

 the surface a smoothing harrow was used and thorough culture was 

 given until about the middle of July, when the vines covered the 

 ground sufficiently to keep the weeds down and serve as a mulch 

 for themselves. 



The comparative results are shown in the accompanying table : 



Rura] New Yoiker, Oct. 14, '93, p. 6S3. 



