i906.] 



Potato Growing. 



19 



In addition to minimizing the damage to sprouts, early 

 removal of the seed from pies is beneficial for another reason. 

 Rotting frequently takes place in the pie, sometimes to an 

 alarming extent, and sprouts which have come into contact 

 with rotten tubers are often considerably damaged, and not 

 infrequently killed. Rotting may be checked by dusting the 

 tubers freely with quicklime before pieing. 



Change of Seed. — Too much stress can hardly be laid on the 

 importance of this point. New seed is unquestionably more 

 disease-resisting than seed that has been grown on the same 

 farm for a number of years, and to secure the biggest crops, 

 apart altogether from the question of disease, it would seem to 

 be necessary to introduce new seed frequently. At Garforth, in 

 1903, nezv seed of four well-known varieties, viz., British Queen, 

 Challenge, Conquest, and Eightyfold, produced, on the average, 

 better crops by 3 tons 9 cwt. per acre than seed from stock 

 which had been grown four times without change. Moreover, 

 the crops from the new seed contained no disease, whereas on 

 the average 22 per cent, of the crops from the older seed was 

 diseased. In both cases the seed was procured from Scotland. 



The following results, also from Scotch seed, seem to indicate 

 that it may be profitable to change the seed after the second 

 year : — 



Name of variety. 



Yield per acre. 



Diseased tubers per 

 acre. 



Second 

 year on 

 farm 



Third 

 year on 

 farm. 



Balance in 

 favour of 

 the newer 

 seed. 



Second 

 year on 

 farm. 



Third 

 year on 

 farm. 





T. c. q. 



T. c. q. 



T. c. qr. 



lb. 



lb. 



British Queen 



12 19 0 



II 13 I 



' I ^ 



nil. 



160 



Conquest 



12 7 I 



9 10 3 



2 16 2 



120 



1,200 



Royal Kidney 



1222 



II II 2 



0 II 0 



nil. 



.40 



Results obtained at other stations in England furnish addi- 

 tional evidence with regard to the benefits to be derived from 

 frequent changes of seed, especially from Scotland, but there 

 are grounds for believing that changes from different parts of 

 England will also be beneficial, especially if the seed has been 

 grown on soil different in character from that on which it is to 

 be planted. 



It is well to point out that new seed should be obtained as 



C 2 



