1908.] Summary of Agricultural Experiments. 627 



planting in England and Wales. As regards the comparison with English 

 seed, it is stated to be clearly evident that Irish seed will produce much 

 heavier crops, even when the English seed is changed from one district to 

 another, as was necessarily the case in these experiments. 



Change of Seed {Univ. Coll. of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dept. of Agric, Rept. 

 o?i Expts., 1906). — A small trial was arranged with a view of determining 

 whether the practice of introducing fresh seed every year or every other year 

 the more profitable. So far as one year's trial is concerned, the balance 

 is in favour of keeping a variety for more than one year before making a 

 change. 



Cha?ige of Seed {Univ. Coll. Oj N. Wales, Bangor, Agric. Dept., 

 Bull. 3, 1907). — Experiments to show the effect of change of seed on the 

 potato crop were carried out at six centres. The variety used was the 

 Up-to Date, the seed being obtained from Antrim, Lincolnshire, and 

 Midlothian, and compared with home-grown seed. The English, Scotch, and 

 Irish seed all gave better results than the home-grown seed, except at two 

 centres. At one of these there was little difference between the yield ; at 

 the other, the potatoes which were being grown on the farm for the second 

 year gave decidedly better results than the new seed. The average yields at 

 the six centres were as follows : — Home-grown seed, 8 tons ; English seed 

 9 tons 13 cwts. ; Scotch seed, 9 tons 2 cwts. ; Irish seed, 11 tons. 



It is pointed out that the terms English, Scotch, and Irish are apt to be 

 misleading, as other seed obtained from other parts of those countries might 

 give very different results. A table is given showing the varying yields 

 obtained from Up-to- Date seed grown in different parts of England. An 

 experiment was carried out by former students on 18 different farms to 

 compare Up-to-Date seed from Ireland with home-grown seed. The average 

 yield was 2.\ tons greater from new seed than from the old seed. 



Change of Seed and comparison with i?nmature Seed {Harper- Adams 

 Coll., Report o?i Field Expis., 1907). — Seed was obtained from Dumfries, 

 East Lothian, Forfar, Cork, Antrim, and Lincolnshire, and compared at two 

 centres with seed grown in Shropshire, both mature and immature. Another 

 experiment was planned to compare East Lothian seed with immature 

 home-grown seed, and it will be repeated on a larger scale in 1908. A table 

 is given showing the results obtained with seed obtained from the trials of 

 English, Scotch, and Irish grown potatoes in 1906. A comparison is also 

 made between (1) a plot of Eldorado from a stock subjected to intensive 

 propagation, and (2) a plot of the same variety planted with a stock that has 

 been propagated in the usual way. 



Effect of cha?ige of Soil on productiveness of Seed; mature and im- 

 mature Seed {Univ. of Leeds, Agric. Dept., Bulls. 63 and 70). — Experiments 

 have been made to test the effect of a change of soil on the same farm, and 

 also a change from another part of the same county. The results are not 

 very definite, but it is inferred that a farmer will gain little by adopting 

 either of these methods of "changing" seed. 



The trials with mature and immature seed did not generally show any 

 definite advantage in favour of immature seed, and it is observed in the 

 Bulletin that judging by these results, it is questionable whether a farmer 

 would be well advised in trying to restore vigour to his potatoes by growing- 

 immature seed, when by frequently introducing suitable changes of seed he 

 is practically certain of reaping distinct advantages. 



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