1044 



Potato Maturity Trials, 1921. 



[Feb., 



Needless to say a large number of the tenants took advantage of 

 this offer. 



A large number of small farmers in the vicinity of large towns, 

 whose farms are wholly grass and who retail their milk, have let 

 their land get into such poor condition that they now buy more 

 milk than they produce. They are, in fact, little more than 

 milk retailers. It is a common thing to find small farms carry- 

 ing only one cow to every 4 acres. The pasture land is entirely 

 neglected, never receiving manure of any kind other than the 

 droppings of the cows in summer. The manure made in winter 

 is applied to the meadows. 



When these farmers are asked why they do not produce more 

 milk they reply that their land is carrying as many stock as it 

 can support and any increase in stock would necessitate buying 

 feeding stuffs. They do not seem to grasp the fact that if they 

 manured their pastures more grass of a better quality would be 

 obtained, which would enable them to increase their stock and 

 consequently produce more milk without the aid of feeding stuffs. 



Potato maturity trials were carried out in 1921 by the 

 National Institute of Agricultural Botany at its Ormskirk 

 Potato Maturit station. The object was to test a suggested 

 m i method for (I) demonstrating the relative 



Trials, 1921. ^ . : . f , & , . ,. 



times of ripening ot potato varieties, 



(.2) establishing the relative yielding capacities of different 

 varieties, and (3) determining the influence of place of origin of 

 seed in respect to both maturity and cropping. 



Equal weights of stocks of immune varieties comprising seven 

 of the best known second earlies and two varieties on the border- 

 lines of this group were obtained from several districts in England 

 and Scotland. A single plot of each stock of all the varieties was 

 planted, the whole forming a chequer-board which was so 

 arranged that different varieties, and stocks from different 

 districts were scattered over the area used for trial. At the 

 end of the growing period the date on which each plot became 

 mature was determined, and the produce of every plot was lifted 

 and weighed as it matured. 



Conclusive results could not be expected from a single year's 

 trial, but the data indicate that the method adopted is sound, 

 and that, when slight modifications have been made, reliable 

 results of great practical and scientific value will be secured. 

 Although the figures obtained so far must be regarded as 



