5oi 



AGRICULTURAL AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



Potato Planting Experiments. 



Among the experiments with potatoes carried out by the 

 Yorkshire College at their farm at Garforth in 1 900-1 were 

 tests to determine the relative advantages of planting whole 

 sets or cut sets, and of " greening " seed potatoes in 

 autumn.* 



For the cut sets large potatoes were of course used, and 

 were prepared a few days before planting. Immediately 

 after being cut the wet surface of the set was dipped into 

 ground lime. 



With the exception of three varieties, a larger crop resulted 

 from the planting of cut sets. It was not possible to have 

 the cut sets equal in size to the whole potatoes used as 

 " seed " ; in fact, the majority of the former were larger than 

 the uncut sets. In this way there would be a slightly greater 

 amount of nourishment for the young shoots from the cut 

 sets, a factor that may have produced a better growth in the 

 early stages, and consequently a larger crop. It is more 

 than likely also that the ground lime first of all took up a 

 certain amount of moisture from the cut surface of the set, 

 and in so doing formed a crust which would retard further 

 loss of moisture by evaporation, as generally happens when 

 potatoes are cut in the usual way, and allowed to remain in 

 a heap for several days. 



The season may very probably have a considerable 

 influence in determining whether a larger crop is obtained 

 from cut or uncut " seed, "and confirmation of the above 

 results is necessary before . they can be regarded as at all 

 conclusive. Subject to this, the test would show that, failing 

 a supply of whole potatoes of "seed" size on a farm, there 



* Yorkshire College Reports, No. 21. 



