154 



MAINE STATE COLLEGE. 



"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 ordinary 

 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 fertdizer as before was 

 scattered on the surface. As soon as the young shoots appeared 

 above the surface a smoothing harrow was used and thorough cul- 

 ture was given until about the middle of July, when the vines 

 covered the ground sufficiently to keep the weeds down and ser^-e 

 as a mulch for themselves. 



The comparative results are shown in the accompanying table : 



TKEXCH STSTEM VS. OEDIXAET CCXTUKE OF POTATOES. 



Variety axd Ststem. 



i 









X 



w 



_ 



— 



^ 



^ 



•"" X 



— 



2 



?-i 



— T 



"Z. ozz 



O 



?^ m 



X :: 



i'^t 



2- 



!^. 



5T 





"Str 5 















oo 



i, ' — ^ 



C ^ 



>'"■-' 



>- j; 



>. ' — X 



^ "Z 



.^^^ ^ 





" ~~ 







— OS 



^ -^ ' ~^ " 



Early Rose. 



2s o. 1. Furrow, 

 Trench . 



Xo. 2. Furrow. 

 Trench 



Cease's .Juxe. 



Xo. 1. Furrow. 

 Trench . 



So. 



Hebeox. 



Fun'ow. 

 Trench . 



Furrow. 

 Trench . 



5S.S7 

 61.48 



80.00 

 79.23 



69.90 

 66.30 



70.19 

 71.57 



64.15 



74.07 



51.03 

 53.24 



7.S4 

 8.34 



5.6 

 5.0 



234.4 

 244.8 



71.00 

 68.73 



9.00 

 10.51 



6-9 

 6.1 



327.7 

 317.4 



62.00 

 'bi.Si 



7.90 

 11.49 



6.0 

 5.2 



286.3 

 253.1 



58.45 

 61.(^ 



11.74 

 10.53 



5.9 

 5.8 



269-6 

 282.1 



.59.12 



G5.16 



5.03 



S.91 



5.4 



5.4 



271.7 



.3(10..? 



34.6 

 37.9 



41.5 



48.5 



36.3 



54.1 



48.5 



23.2 

 41.1 



*Rnral New Yorker, Oct. 14, '93, p. 6S3. 



