BOOKS AND BULLETINS. 



299 



as merits of varieties. The trench system of planting 

 was compared with the "usual" system, the trenches 

 being "made eight inches deep, and manure or cotton 

 seed hull ashes put in the bottom of the furrows and 

 mixed with dirt ; then potatoes planted and furrow filled 

 until it was level with the surface." Comparisons were 

 also made with plantings 14 and 20 inches apart in the 

 row, and various methods of fertilizing and of cutting 

 the seed were given attention. The experiments with 

 fertilizers are particularly suggestive and timely, and 

 they show that potash fertilizer is essen- 

 Potato tia! to the best potato culture. The gen- 



Experiments, eral conclusions of the various experi- 

 ments are as follows. "i. Many new 

 varieties produced a larger yield than either the Pearly 

 Rose or Burbank. Notably among the large yielders 

 may be named the Irish Wonder, producing 389, Gen. 

 Logan 296, Lombard 281, American Magnum Bonum 

 280 bushels per acre, while the Burbank and Early Rose 

 produced respectively 209 and 184 bushels per acre. 2. 

 The trench system of planting produced no marked effect 

 as to the yield over the usual method of planting. The 

 yield was greater in 48 out of 55 trials where potatoes 

 were planted 14 inches apart in the row than where plant- 

 ed 20 inches. On the contrary, the proportion of large 

 to small potatoes was in favor of the 20-inch planting. 

 3. Planting large whole potatoes largely increased the 

 yield over planting potatoes cut to two eyes, or cut in 

 two, or small whole potatoes. The yield was in propor- 

 tion to the weight of seed potatoes planted. 4 The 

 yield was largely increased by the use of fertilizers con- 

 taining potash. Where fertilizers containing no potash 

 were used, no increased yield was obtained. 5 A profit 

 was obtained by applying potash fertilizers, or fertilizers 

 in which potash is one of the ingredients." 



Bulletin No. 67, North Carolina Experiment Sta- 

 tion. Seed Tests. By Gerald McCarthy . Pp. j6. The 

 North Carolina Station has given particular attention to 

 seed tests of late, and has called public attention to the 

 value of this sort of labor The present bulletin gives 

 the results of many tests of garden seeds from samples 

 procured in the open market. "With the exception of 

 clovers and lucerne seed, most of the different kinds of 

 seeds tested were found true to name and reasonably free 

 from impurities." Many of the samples possessed low 

 vitality, however, "due to the staleness of the 

 Seed seeds." "Stale seeds, unless they have been 

 Tests. 'doctored,' are easily recognizable by an exper- 

 ienced person. They are usually lusterless, 

 which is due to the absortion of the oil, which is always 

 present in the seed-coat of fresh seeds. When stale seeds 

 are found in packets, the containing packets are more or 

 less stained and dirty, and such seeds should never be 

 purchased. Stale lucerne seed has lost its shiny, green- 

 ish color, and become dull and brown and more or less 

 withered. Red clover seed also becomes brown with 

 age. In our warm and humid climate, the vitality of 

 seeds, and especially of northern-grown seeds, deterior- 

 ates very rapidly ; and seeds of two years old are, as a 



rule, not worth sowing. Yet, we find that most retail 

 dealers in seeds act in utter disregard of this fact. They 

 seem to think the quality of seeds in packets, like that of 

 meats in cans, is of indefinite duration, and 'warranted 

 to keep in any climate.' " 



The author recommends that seedsmen assume entire 

 responsibility for their seeds, and states that European 

 dealers do so. It is undoubtedly true that within certain 

 limits, seedsmen should be held responsible for what 

 they sell. The problem is a difficult one, inasmuch as 

 failure as often results from poor treatment as from poor 

 seeds; and, moreover, the seedsman cannot control the 

 season or other conditions which affect his crop. The 

 author makes much of the European means of seed re- 

 sponsibility, yet, in reality, many of these means are 

 practically inefficient, particularly the one which he cites 

 as a model. No doubt any reputable house would cheer- 

 fully "take back the seeds and pay cost of 

 carriage both ways " if shown to be poor be- Seed 

 fore they were sown. At least, such has been Warranty, 

 our experience. We recall that one of our 

 leading houses filled our order gratis a second time for 

 cauliflower seed to a considerable amount, upon our rep- 

 resentation that its vitality was low. 



But the whole subject of seed warranty needs discus- 

 sion, and this bulletin will serve a good purpose in this 

 direction. 



Bulletin No. 3, Oregon Experiment Station. {Prac- 

 tical Entomology .\ By E. R. Lake and F. L. Washhui-n. 

 Pp. 24. Professor Lake's experiments upon 

 spraying apples and pears with London pur- Spraying 

 pie for the codlin moth, give some interest- in Oregon, 

 ing results. Four sprayings were given, the 

 last one being August 12. The treatment had a decided 

 benefit until "the latter part of August, but from that 

 time to the date of picking, October i, the affected fruit 

 increased so rapidly that the final results on some trees 

 of both sprayed and unsprayed were about the same. 

 We had considered it unsafe to spray later than August 

 12, but the results would indicate that had we omitted 

 the first spraying and given another in the latter part of 

 August, effective work would have been done." The 

 first spraying, immediately after the falling of the blos- 

 soms, seemed to accomplish little or no good, as "obser- 

 vations made for two weeks after the first spraying failed 

 to give any indications of the moth's work in the fruit of 

 either sprayed or unsprayed trees." The codlin moth 

 must behave differently in Oregon than in the eastern 

 states. The summary of the season's work is as follows : 

 " I . Early spraying — just after the blossoms fall — is use- 

 less. 2. A mixture of G ounces of London purple to a 

 hundred gallons of water is better than a stronger one. 

 3. The mixture should be kept thoroughly stirred while 

 being used. 4. Young and vigorous foliage is more sus- 

 ceptible to injury by burning from the application of ar- 

 senites than is older or less vigorous foliage. 5. Spray- 

 ing as late as September i , or even later on winter apples, 

 is desirable as far as fighting the moth is concerned. 

 (There may be some danger in such late spraying, how- 



