POTATO- G ROWING E XPE K I MENTS. 
285 
two and. the two cut surfaces are rubbed together, as this denotes richness 
in starch, and those rich in starch are always good cookers. 
The next factor in importance is tilth. Potatos require a loose free- 
working soil, containing plenty of organic matter. By having the soil 
loose and well tilled we increase the root area of the plant, supplying it 
with food, and thus ensuring a vigorous plant growth. We think very 
often the land is not sufficiently cultivated both before and after the crop 
is planted. Frequent cultivation until the haulms almost close across 
the drills invariably gives good results, except in the case of early potatos, 
where the chief object is to check growth, and hasten maturity. 
The last time the potatos are moulded, the soil should be put up on 
the drills as high as possible, in order to have no open space on the crest 
of the drills and to have them quite taper or steep : this is to prevent 
disease from attacking the tubers, because if the drills are open on the top, 
the spores are sure to drop off the leaves on the cleft in the drills and 
are washed down to the tubers by rain. We carried out an experi- 
ment in 1897 with high and shallow moulding, and found 25 per cent, 
more diseased tubers after the shallow than the high moulding. Ex- 
periments carried out by Prof. Carroll, of the Albert Model Farm, Glasnevin, 
seem to prove that the potato disease reaches the tubers from without. 
In 1892 this experiment was carried out at three stations, with the same 
variety of potato and upon similar lines. Prof. Carroll says : * A portion 
of ground upon which these potatos were growing was covered beneath 
the potato stems and leaves with a layer of cotton wool. This cotton 
wool was carefully placed around the stems, and every means was used 
to have the ground perfectly covered with it, with a view to filtering out 
the spores that might fall off the leaves upon the ground. The cotton 
wool was put on in June, before any sign of disease was noticeable. 
Disease appeared in July, and the leaves of the potato plants were in each 
case badly affected. 
Upon raising the potatos in Octiober, the following results were 
noticed : — 
Albert Model Farm, Glasnevin. 
Pot9;tos where ground was covered with cotton wool. 
Sound tubers . . 75 tubers. 
Diseased . . . nil. 
Potatos where ground was uncovered. 
Sound tubers . . 40 tubers. 
Diseased . . . 33 ,, 
Garryliill. 
Potatos where ground was covered with cotton wool. 
Sound tubers . . 95 
Diseased . . . nil. 
Uncovered ground. 
Sound tubers . . 61 
Diseased ... 15 
* See Report on Experiments in Checking Potato Disease in the Unitei Kinndom 
published by the Board of Agriculture, 1893. ' 
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