368 BOOKS AND 



well matured, healthy potatoes, and cut to two and three 

 eyes. " 



Bulletin No. 22, Wisconsin Experiment Station. 

 A portion of this bulletin is devoted to potato experi- 

 ments by Professor Goif. In tests 

 Goff on of methods of cutting potatoes, it 



Cutting Potatoes. was found that " the total yield was 

 directly in proportion to the bulk 

 of seed planted. But in merchantable yield, the two-eye 

 cuttings slightly' surpassed the halves and whole tubers." 

 Ai^a whole, the experiments "favor heavy rather than 

 iTghTseeding. Cutting off the 'seed end ' was found det- 

 rimental to the yield." 



■■Of 122 varieties and seedlings of the potato tested 

 the past season, the following ten were most productive, 

 yielding in the order named : Seedling 

 Potatoes in from C. E Angell, Rose Beauty, Mon- 

 Wisconsin. arch, Duplex, Late Beauty of Hebron, 

 Mullaly, Alexander's Prolific, Seneca 

 Red Jacket, White Beauty of Hebron and Wisconsin 

 Beauty. Placed in the order of their table quality, these 

 varieties would rank as follows ; Alexander's Prolific, 

 White Beauty of Hebron, Late Beauty of Hebron, Du- 

 plex, Monarch, Wisconsin Beauty, Seneca Red Jacket, 

 Rose Beauty, Mullaly, seedling from C. E. Angell." 



Bulletin No. 5, Rhode Island Experiment Station. 

 The larger part of this bulletin considers "methods of 

 planting and tests of varieties" of potatoes, by L. F. 

 Kinney. ' ' This season, two-eye pieces planted 18 inches 

 apart has given the best results ; 

 Kinney on the average yield by this method 



Cutting Potatoes. being more than eleven per cent. 



greater than when single eye pieces 

 were planted 9 inches apart, and nearly twenty-eight per 

 cent, greater than when whole potatoes were planted 36 

 inches apart. The average proportion of small potatoes 

 was, however, this season, largest with two eyes, and 

 slightly less with single eyes than with whole tubers. 

 As a rule, the heaviest potatoes grew where whole pota- 

 toes were planted." 



One hundred varieties of potatoes were from Connec- 

 ticut (lat. 41°), and fourteen were from Wisconsin (lat. 

 44°). The average yield was greater from the Wisconsin 

 seed, but the results were such that ' ' no 

 Potatoes deductions of value can be safely made, 



and Latitude. A test of the influence of latitude should 

 consider that longitude is often an im- 

 portant factor in plant variation, as climatic conditions 

 do not follow degrees of latitude. Seed should be select- 

 ed so far as possible from similar longitudes for such 

 comparisons. 



Bulletin No. 10, Pennsylvania Experiment Sta- 

 tion. Professor Butz asks, ' ■ Should farmers raise their 

 own vegetable seeds ? " and answers the question in the 

 negative. ' ' The question in its scientific aspect presents 

 itself in the following form : Are seeds which have ma- 

 tured under high cultivation (as on our best seed farms) 

 better for our less enriched farm soils than seeds which 

 have matured on this poorer soil ? The answer must be 



BULLETINS. 



found in a comparison of results regarding earliness, 

 productiveness, vigor and quality of the products. The 

 conditions at the station were very 



favorable to the work, and last year Home-Grown vs. 

 seeds were gathered from the best Purchased Seeds. 



of those vegetables that seeded. 



The ground in which they grew is not a rich garden soil, 

 but only an ordinary farm soil. These seeds were plant- 

 ed this year along with seeds of the same varieties from 

 the seed houses of Landreth, Dreer, Thorburn and 

 others." The results are as follows, the plants tested 

 being numerous varieties of beans, lettuce, peas, rad- 

 ishes and tomatoes: ■'In the majority of cases the 

 earlier marketable products were obtained from the pur- 

 chased seeds. The greater yield, with but few excep- 

 tions, was obtained from purchased seeds. Lettuce from 

 purchased seed produced heads that did not ' ' shoot up " 

 to flower as early as the plants from station seed. Rad- 

 ishes from purchased seeds were larger, more tender 

 and more uniform than those from station seeds. On 

 the whole, the results are strongly in favor of seeds from 

 good soil, however rich that may be." 



This is an interesting, experiment, and one which 

 needed to be made. The results are undoubtedly cor- 

 rect for "farmers," if that term is used in its ordinary 

 sense, to designate those who practice a rather large and 

 mixed husbandry. For market gardeners who grow par- 

 ticular crops, the results may sometimes be different, 

 particularly in cauliflowers, cabbages and onions. Pro- 

 fessor Butz has made a good point. 



The bulletin also gives descriptive notes upon various 

 vegetables, but no summaries of adaptation are drawn. 



Bulletin No. 23, Wisconsin Experiment Station. 

 Prevention of Apple-Scab. By E. S. Goff. Pp. 11. Illus- 

 trated. Professor Goff, working under 

 direction of B. F. Galloway of the De- Goff on 



partment of Agriculture, has had phe- Apple-Scab, 

 nomenal scccess in the treatment of the 

 apple-scab. The Fameuse, which scabs badly in the 

 west, was selected for the experiment. The trees were 

 sprayed seven times, at intervals from the last of May 

 to the loth of August. The materials used were potas- 

 sium sulphide, soda hyposulphite, a sulphur and lime 

 compound, and a carbonate of copper solution. "All 

 of the treatments were more or less beneficial, and the 

 carbonate of copper solution was almost a complete rem- 

 edy for the disease." Trees not treated gave of first 

 quality apples 23.34 psr cent., of second quality 53.89 

 percent., and of third quality 22.71 per cent. Those 

 treated with carbonate of copper gave of first quality 

 75.02 per cent., of second quality 23.35 per cent., and of 

 third quality 1.63 per cent. " The reduced size of the 

 badly scabbed fruits, which does not appear in the num- 

 erical computation, also created a manifest difference in 

 favor of the spraying." 



"Formula for the Fungicide. — The experience of 

 the past season would lead us to recommend using, as a 

 convenient formula, a solution composed of one ounce 

 of carbonate of copper dissolved in one quart of aqua- 



