114 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
— large cropping capacity and a high standard of table quality — the 
tubers should have shallow eyes, be resistant to blight and wart disease, 
easy to harvest and come to maturity when wanted. These are ideal 
aims for potato raisers anywhere. 
Dr. Wilson's method was to sow seeds in February in shallow 
bowls under glass and transplant the seedlings when two inches high. 
They were afterwards grown on in pots and planted out in June, when 
they were 10 to 14 inches high. In this way strong plants were pro- 
cured, yielding up to 3 lb. of tubers each. No better plan could be 
recommended to beginners in potato-raising than this. 
Mr. Robb proceeds to give in detail most wise and valuable advice 
on the selection of seedlings and the development of the best. He 
unhesitatingly condemns hill selection in the following words : "In 
no instance is there any record of a variety having been improved 
either as regards cropping power or shape by selecting only the best 
plants or what have been called the plus fluctuations." 
Dr. Wilson kept in view always the possibility of raising varieties 
resistant to blight, and Mr. Robb has on hand at the Plant Breeding 
Station at Edinburgh a number of varieties which have had a most 
remarkable blight-resisting record. I hope we shall hear more about 
them. Mr. Robb makes a passing reference to " Rust," and thinks 
that it may be due to abnormal soil conditions. With this I agree. 
Mr. Robb, in conclusion, discusses an interesting proposition : Should 
the potatos of last season be improved in keeping quality, or, should 
the early varieties be accelerated in earliness to meet the demand for 
good potatoes in May and June ? The public appetite, I feel, is all in 
favour at that time of the year of " new " potatos, and the improve- 
ment of earlies in every way is the premier duty. 
When we come to Mr. J. M. Hannah's paper on " The Early Potato 
Industry " we come to the only paper actually dealing with potato- 
growing read to the Conference. Mr. Hannah is the most successful 
grower of potatos for the early market in Scotland, and every line 
of his contribution ought to be read and studied by growers large and 
small. I shall only emphasize a few of his main points — or rather 
summarize them. Potatos, he tells us, have been grown in Ayrshire 
on the same land for from 30 to 50 years ; large quantities of seaweed 
are washed ashore in the autumn and winter months and spread on 
the land at the rate of 30 to 40 loads an acre ; dung is brought by rail, 
applied at the rate of 12 to 15 tons an acre, an effort being made to 
alternate the application where both are available. In addition, 
11 to 12 cwt. of the best-balanced artificial manure is applied at 
planting time. Cultivation begins in October when the land is 
ploughed 9 or 10 inches deep after the dung and seaweed are spread on 
the land. The treatment of the seed is a feature with all the successful 
Ayrshire growers. It is selected when the crop is being raised, stored 
in boxes and put away for the following year's crop. Mr. Hannah 
says the most essential requirement in the storage places is light, and 
