3 14 Summary of Agricultural experiments. |j uly > 



phate, 3 cwt. kainit, f cwt. sulphate of ammonia per acre. The seed 

 in every case was from potatoes grown at Madryn in the previous 

 year. The heaviest yields of marketable potatoes were given by ; — 

 Premier (14 tons 1 cwt.), Dalmeny Regent (14 tons), Dalmeny Beauty 

 (12 tons 19 cwt.), Table Talk (12 tons 18 cwt.), and British Queen 

 (12 tons 13 cwt.). Up-to-Date usually does well at Madryn, but in 1908 

 the crop was 8 tons 17 cwt. A report on the cooking quality of all the 

 varieties is given, and is most favourable in the case of Up-to-Date, 

 British Queen, and Dalmeny Radium. 



Varieties of Potatoes (Edinburgh and E. of Scotland Coll. of Agric, 

 Bull. XVII.). — Experiments arranged to ascertain the most suitable 

 varieties of First Early, Second Early, and Maincrop potatoes for the 

 College district were conducted at one centre in 1906, at two centres in 

 1907, and one centre in 1908, and the results of the three years' trials are 

 dealt with in this report. A test was made of the cooking quality of 

 each variety. 



First Early Varieties. — Thirteen varieties were tested, and on the 

 average of the four trials the best yields were Sharpe's Express (9 tons 

 2 cwt.), Conquest (8 tons 18 cwt.), Epicure (8 tons 1 cwt.). The 

 cooking quality of the first two was excellent, and of the Epicure good. 

 In addition Midlothian Early (7 tons 13 cwt.) and Duke of York (7 tons 

 11 cwt.) showed themselves fair croppers of good quality, and are 

 worthy of attention as being earlier than any of the varieties 

 mentioned. 



Second Early Varieties. — British Queen, which is well known and 

 appreciated, was adopted as a standard of comparison, the object being 

 to discover a better variety. The best average yields in three trials out 

 of 14 varieties were Cottar (11 tons 13 cwt.), Dalmeny Acme (11 tons 

 8 cwt.), and Johnston's Diamond (11 tons), British Queen producing 

 10 tons 3 cwt. The conclusion is reached that the three first mentioned 

 have, taking into account quality and liability to disease, done con- 

 siderably better on the whole than British Queen, and can be recom- 

 mended to growers as worth trying. 



Late and Maincrop Varieties. — Twenty-one varieties were tested. Of 

 these, sixteen were of the Up-to-Date type, being generally charac- 

 terised by a high yield combined with indifferent quality, and five of 

 the Langworthy type, with a much lower yield but of fine quality. Of 

 the Up-to-Date type the heaviest croppers (average of three trials) 

 were Factor (13 tons 7 cwt.), Dalhousie (13 tons), Dalmeny Hero 

 (12 tons 13 cwt.), Table Talk (12 tons 8 cwt.), Mayfield Blossom (12 tons 

 5 cwt.), Pink Blossom (11 tons 19 cwt.), Dalmeny Regent (11 tons 

 19 cwt.), Dalmeny Beauty (11 tons 16 cwt.), Up-to-Date (11 tons 8 cwt.). 

 The cooking quality of all was equal, and is described as " good. " 

 These varieties were practically indistinguishable from Up-to-Date 

 except in cropping power, but this difference occurred regularly at 

 each centre in the case of Factor, Dalhousie, Dalmeny Hero, and Table 

 Talk. It is pointed out that the varieties that surpass Up-to-Date have 

 done so, with practically uniform regularity, during a number of years 

 at a number of centres. For instance, Factor and Pink Blossom have 

 been grown for six years in succession at several centres with this 

 result. This is particularly interesting in view of the difficulty of 

 drawing any other distinction between these varieties. 



