408 
Rational Potato Culture. 
It will be seen by analysing this table that the third group, 
petite culture , shows the largest proportion of yields below 12 tons 
per acre, or 50 per cent, of the acreage cultivated. The proportion 
of the second group, moyenne culture, falling below 12 tons per acre, 
is 40 per cent. ; while that of the first group, grande culture, is not 
more than 33 per cent. As M. Girard says, “ one would expect a 
different result, as small holdings are generally the object of greater 
care than the larger holdings ; ” but he adds that “ small cultivators 
are apt to continue in the ruts of routine, from which large farmers 
more quickly extricate themselves.” It should be stated that in a 
few instances the yields of the small cultivators in the third group, 
petite culture, were at the extraordinary rate of 40 tons per acre. 
These immense crops were produced upon very small patches of a 
few poles in area, so that it is necessary, as M. Girard remarks, 
“ merely to multiply and to exercise a certain amount of faith.” 
Among the most striking instances of heavy crops in the first 
group, grande culture, is one in the department Eure-et-Loir, 
where M. Egasse grew at Archevilliers 18 tons per acre upon 40 
acres ; M. Vast at Chanteloup, in Seine-et-Marne, produced a crop 
of 1 2 tons on 112 acres ; and M. Godefroy at Grigny, in Seine-et- 
Oise, obtained 14 tons per acre from 98 acres. 
In the region of the north-east the magnificent return of 17^- 
tons per acre was made on 147 acres by one cultivator. In this 
region 1 2 cultivators produced slightly over 16 tons per acre upon 
182 acres. 
Again, in the region du centre 10 cultivators, whose extent of 
potato land ranged from 2| to 12 j acres, averaged 14 tons per acre 
upon 59 acres. 
In short, 49 cultivators, having together 962 acres, succeeded in 
averaging 14 tons per acre. 
In some of the potato fields cultivated according to M. Girard’s 
directions, where the soil was sandy with gravelly subsoil, the 
drought interfered considerably with the results, so that 14 growers 
in different parts of France, having 112 acres, only obtained crops 
varying between 4 tons and 1 1 tons per acre, or an average of 8 tons 
per acre. 
Upon 295 acres of poor and medium soils 16 growers obtained 
an average yield of 7 tons 10 cwt. per acre. 
Eighty-four of the co-operators in this division, however, grew 
an average of slightly over 12 tons per acre, which must be regarded 
as a most striking result. 
Coming to the second group of medium-sized acreages, cidture 
moyenne, 62 cultivators of 61 acres of potatoes, divided among them 
in plots of from f acre to 12-],- acres, grew an average crop of 14 
tons per acre. 
With regard to the other 42 cultivators in this group, their 
average crop was about the same as that of the 39 cultivators in 
group 1, or between 7 and 8 tons per acre. 
With regard to group 3, petite cidture, two-thirds of the culti- 
vators planted over 20 poles of land, whose crop averaged 14 tons 
