Seed  Potatoes. 
419 
cattle.  He  reminded  me  that  the  pure  bred  cows  should  have 
their  horns  going  ‘ outward  and  upward,’  that  the  teats  should 
be  black,  the  nose  and  face  a rich  dark  brown,  that  the  belly 
should  be  white,  and  a streak  of  white  running  along  the  tail.” 
This  dark,  almost  black-red,  colouring  set  off  by  the  white 
markings,  gives  the  breed  a very  distinct  character. 
The  cattlemen  in  charge  were  enthusiastic  in  praise  of  their 
stock,  and  told  us  that  the  animals  of  this  breed  were  seldom,  if 
ever  under  a roof,  and  that  notwithstanding  this  a cow  sixteen 
years  old,  which  in  her  prime  had  given  6^  gallons  of  good 
quality  milk,  made  211.  to  the  butcher  when  fat.  Also  that 
steers  under  three  years  old  had  been  sold  for  211.  In  fact,  did 
space  allow,  we  might  give  a long  list  of  their  good  qualities  as 
detailed  by  the  cowmen  who  talked  about  their  cattle  as  only 
these  high-class  and  intelligent  members  of  the  community  can. 
K.  J.  J.  M. 
Seed  Potatoes. — It  has  been  believed  for  years  past,  more 
especially  in  the  East,  South  Midland,  and  Southern  Districts  of 
England,  that  potato  “ sets  ” planted  direct  from  Scotland 
give  a much  greater  yield  than  do  “ sets  ” grown  from  “ stocks  ” 
which  have  been  in  England  for  several  years.  Latterly,  care- 
fully conducted  experiments  have  decisively  shown  this  to  be 
the  case.  Under  normal  conditions  Scottish  seed  will  show  an 
increase  of  from  two  to  four  tons  per  acre  in  the  total  yield 
over  crops  grown  from  a stock  that  has  been  in  the  districts 
mentioned  for  three  years  or  more.  The  second  season  often 
shows  an  increase  rather  than  otherwise  in  weight  of  crop  and 
size  of  tubers,  while  it  is  the  third  and  subsequent  seasons 
which  show  a considerable  falling  off. 
The  real  causes  of  this  increase  are  not  yet  entirely  known, 
but  it  is  commonly  believed  that  transference  from  a colder 
climate  is  one  of  the  principal  of  them.  Of  late  years,  however, 
experiments  have  shown  that  “ seed  ” from  Ireland  is  equal  to 
that  from  Scotland  ; in  fact  seed  from  County  Cork  was  found 
to  give  a better  result  than  seed  from  Cromarty.  This  fact 
suggests  that  some  other  reason  be  sought  for. 
To  get  anything  approaching  reliable  resiilts  from  com- 
parative tests,  such  as  are  mentioned  above,  it  is  essential  that 
the  tubers  to  be  compared  should  have  had  the  same  treatment 
in  every  way  for  at  least  two  years,  while  it  would  be  better 
still  if  they  could  be  traced  back  to  the  parent  stock.  The  fact 
that  potatoes  are  called  by  the  same  name  in  different  districts 
is^by  no  means  sufficiently  conclusive. 
I In  1908  an  experiment  on  potatoes  was  carried  out  at  the 
Cambridge  University  Farm,  under  conditions  which  closely 
EE  3 
