OF THE LEAVES OF A PLANT? 



109 



One drill, " Pink- 

 eye Kemps." 



Dug up Aug. 20. 

 Same length as 

 the other four. 



Four drills, 



" Pink-eye Kemps." Tops cut off August 20. 

 Dug up September 21. 



Tops not cut 

 off. 



Tops cut, not 

 earthed. 



Cut off, earthed, 

 and trod. 



Pulled up, earth- 

 ed, and trod. 



Good. 



Bad. 



Good. 



Bad. 



Good. 



Bad. 



Good. 



Bad. 



Good. 



Bad. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



70i 



20 



88 



49i 



62i 





83 



13 



74 



10* 



" The above were selected in the middle of a plot facing south, 



105 feet long. 



One drill, Roby- 

 hall Seedlings, 

 a round Potato. 

 Taken up 

 Aug. 4. 



Tliree drills. A Seedling raised here from Seeds of 

 1346. Tops cut Aug. 4. Taken up Sept. 21. 



Tops not cut. 



Cut off, but not 

 earthed. 



Cut off and 

 earthed. 



Good. 



Bad. 



Good. 



Bad. 



Good. 



Bad. 



Good. 



Bad. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



19A 





21* 



3* 



17 



i 



2 



22 



5 



" The above were selected, side by side, from a plot upon a 

 west border, each drill 1 5 feet in length. As soon as they were 

 dug, I washed them clean and spread them out for an hour or 

 two to dry previous to weighing them ; and in order that there 

 might be no mistake in the different operations, all was performed 

 by myself." 



In this case it would appear as if the removal of the leaves 

 actually diminished the crop at the instant of removal, which is 

 incredible. A space which produced 90J lbs. on the 20th of 

 August, the tops being untouched, produced only 84 lbs., in two 

 instances, a month later ; one such space, however, yielded 96 

 lbs., having gained 5% lbs. after the removal of the tops. The 

 second experiment was of the same nature. And although both 

 are of very small value, they seem to show that M. Lomba's 

 statement is not confirmed by English experience. 



On the other hand, Mr. Gwatkin, of Pare Behan, near Tre- 

 gony, entirely confirms the Belgian account. In the ' Gardener's 

 Chronicle' of August 25, 1849, he says : — 



" After reading the £ Belgian Farmer's ' recommendation on 

 the treatment of Potatoes at the time of flowering, I had my crop 

 of 'Red Roughs' watched, and as soon as the flowering had 

 ceased, I caused the haulms to be cut off within an inch of the 



