112 



between the yields of individuals in a variety as there is between 

 the varieties themselves. Therefore. I would urge you to consider 

 this question. The ability of the in(li^ddual to produce a crop can 

 be determined by trial. If you select i,ooo good potatoes or 500 

 the method of operation would be about as follows : Take a piece 

 of land no better or worse than the average and prepare it the same 

 as for the rest of the crop. Prepare to plant by hand. Take the 

 tubers to the field, having them, say 8 ounces each, so that they 

 will make 4 nice sized sets. Plant them, probably 15 inches apart 

 in the rows and leave a spcice of 18 or 20 inches between each 

 four, that is, each individual potato will make 4 sets and will give 

 you four plants. If you have 1,000 you will have 4.000 hills. 

 By leaving a little space between every four there will lie less lia- 

 bility of mixing wdien digging. Cultivate and S]n-a\- the crop as 

 you h.ave done before and plan to dig it b}' hand, throwing the 

 four hills from each individual together so that it will make a thou- 

 sand piles. Now, carefully go over each and throw out all the ]X)or 

 hills. Put all the good ones into individual bags or weigh them m 

 the field, probably 10 will be found to produce a heavier yield than 

 anv others. These should be kept bv themselves and all of the crop 

 planted in a row, so that we have 10 rows, each planted with the 

 progeny of one individual. If they continue to yield well these 

 can be saved, but probably one or two mav loose in vigor. They 

 will need to be dropped. Those wdiich hold up can be kept and put 

 into a multi]ilying plot until enough can be secured for seed. If 

 this be kcjn u]) each vear one will increase the productive ]:)Ower 

 of his strain of potatoes. It has been shown bv this means that 

 the yield can be increased considerably. There is one difiiculty 

 wdiich immediately comes in in regard to the fruit grower turning 

 potato grower. He probably intends to be a fruit grower and is 

 merely using potatoes as a stop-^ap for a little while, and there- 

 fore, it does not appeal to him to go ahead and reach the summit 

 of the potato-growing profession, and it mav not appear to be worth 

 wdiile to undertake such a piece of work as this outlined. This 

 is one of the difficulties of the situation and one of the reasons 

 why I feel that I cannot look after more than one or two things 

 ancl need to contract rather than spread myself out over more. To 

 be a success all one needs is to be able to grow one variet\- of one 

 crop better than anvbodv else. 



There is one other problem, that is the securing of a good saw 

 for pruning. We have had considerable diificultv but think we 

 have a good tool now^ in the No. 20 Disston Pruning Saw. It is a 

 modified No. 7 Ship Carpenter's Saw, which this firm has kindly 

 changed at the suegestion of mvself and others. AA'e think it is 

 a good tool. At the point it is but an inch wide, the back is hol- 

 lowed ; it is 26 inches long and has the largest handle ever put on a 

 saw, so that a man can use it with his mitten on his hand. 



