APPENDIX. 153 



BULLETIN No. 12. 



POTATOES. 



A COMPARISON OF THE TRENCH SYSTEM WITH ORDINARY CCLTDRE. 



A few years ago considerable interest was aroused by tlie accounts 

 of wonderful yields of potatoes obtained by a method of culture 

 known as the Rural New Yorker trench system. The system derives 

 its name from the fact that it was first used at the trial grounds of 

 the Rural New Yorker and was advocated by the editor of that 

 paper, Mr. E. S. Carman. 



The system consists essentially in planting the tubers in trenches 

 five to seven inches deep and twelve to fifteen inches wide, the bot- 

 toms of which are well pulverized ; covering to the depth of about 

 two inches ; then applying any desired amount of fertilizer in the 

 trench, after which the trenches are filled so that the surface shall 

 be level. 



Now it has been the practice of the writer for several years to 

 plant in furrows, applying fertilizer broadcast over the surface of 

 the ground ; for there is little doubt that the old custom of "hill- 

 ing" potatoes is worse than useless, — it is positively injurious to 

 the crop on dry soil. It has seemed doubtful in view of the fact 

 that the roots of the potato extend in all directions, filling the 

 whole space between the rows, whether placing the fertilizer in a 

 trench only could be ^s rational or in practice as satisfactory as the 

 other method. 



In the paper referred to and also in a book recently published,* 

 the statement is made that 'Tn every trial the land laid out in 

 trenches, whether with or without fertilizer or manure, has largely 

 outyielded that planted according to the old method of hills or 

 furrows." 



In an issue of the Rural New Yorker of recent date is a detailed 

 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 New Potato Culture, p. 3.5. 



