VOL. XLVIII. NO. 2075. 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 2 , i889. 
PRICE, FIVE CENTS. 
$ 2.00 PER YEAR. 
Entered^According to Act of Congress in the Year 1889 , by the Rural New-Yorker, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.J 
fulfc Creps. 
ji'lote.s; from the literal (grounds. 
THE THREE BARRELS 
EXPERIMENT, 
RESULTS OT THE REGULAR CONTEST 
PLOT OP THE R, l-l 
How Much Fertilizer may Profitably 
be used for Potatoes on an Im¬ 
poverished Soil that Needs 
“ Complete ” Fertilizer ? 
SIXTH SEASON’S EXPERIMENTS. 
Essentially the Same Results 
Every Year. 
FERTILIZER UNDER AND OVER. 
third barrel. These potatoes were then 
covered with about three inches of the same 
sand, loam and fertilizer, the distance from 
the top of the soil being now about 13 
inches. As the shoots of the growing pota¬ 
toes appeared above the surface, more soil 
and sand were added until the barrels were 
filled to within an inch and the tops were 
allowed to grow as they would, being at 
length supported by a platform raised to 
the hight of the barrels. The seed was 
planted April 10 and the shoots of all three 
appeared above the soil May 18, there being 
scarcely 10 hours’ difference. 
Planted 16 inches deep where would the 
tubers form ; near the bottom, near the 
top, midway, or in tiers from the bottom to 
the top ? This is what the experiment was 
designed to show. It was also designed to 
show the root and tuber-forming growth of 
plants raised under these peculiar condi¬ 
tions. The plants were watered as water was 
needed. It was unnecessary to apply poison 
as the potato beetles seemed to prefer a lower 
plane. In the earlier part of the season the 
leaves showed no Flea-beetle perforations 
and few were seen upon them. Later they in¬ 
jured the leaves as much as those growing in 
the regular “Contest” plot near by. This is 
noted because it has been stated that the 
Cucumber Flea-beetle confines itself to 
within a foot or so of the ground. 
It was the design to have sawed the bar¬ 
rels lengthwise in halves and to have re¬ 
moved the soil and sand Just as the vines 
began to show maturity, but while yet the 
potatoes would cling to the stems. Thus 
the root and tuber-bearing systems could 
have been well shown after the sand and soil 
had been carefully washed out by the use 
of a hand pump and hose. The vines 
“ blighted,” however, in mid-July and were 
quite dry and dead before the services of a 
photographer could be secured. 
The cut shows fairly well in what part 
of the barrels the tubers grew, apparently 
from four to 12 inches below the surface, 
yet while washing out the sand and soil, 
several fell from their places. The reader 
must bear in mind that back of those 
shown in the photograph other potatoes 
were covered and concealed by the sand 
and soil. The yield was as follows: R. N.- 
Y. No. 2 yielded 13 marketable potatoes, 
eight small and two rotten, weighing six 
pounds. The decayed tubers were not 
weighed or taken in the account. Allow¬ 
ing three square feet to the hill as in field 
culture, the yield would be 1,452 bushels to 
the acre. 
The No. 3 blighted earlier than the others 
and the yield was 20 very small potatoes, 
weighing 14 ounces. 
The No. 4 yielded 13 marketable and three 
small tubers. Not less than 10 were rotten 
and not estimated. They weighed 4 % 
pounds. 
THE REGULAR CONTEST PLOT OF 
THE R. N.-Y. 
OUR older readers will not be interested 
in the details of this renewed effort to 
raise at the rate of 700 bushels of potatoes 
per acre on one-fortieth of an acre. But the 
details should all the same be furnished to 
the many new subscribers of this year who 
know little or nothing about it. Not only 
was the attempt made on one-fortieth of an 
acre, but upon two measured acres as well, 
the one located on high, sandy land, the 
other upon low, moist, loamy laud, so that, 
let the season be wet or dry, there would be 
'I' HE THREE 
BARRELS, j J 
O 
N April 10, 
three barrels 
of the same size 
were provided 
with perfect 
drainage and 
filled to within 16 
inches of the top 
with garden loam 
and s a 11 d—h a 1 f 
and half—thor¬ 
oughly mixed. 
While mixing the 
sand and loam 
together, Mapes’s 
potato fertilizer 
was added — one- 
quarter of a 
pound to each 
barrel. In the 
first barrel a sin¬ 
gle tuber (medi¬ 
um size) of the R. 
.N.-Y. No. 2 was 
placed upon the 
loam and sand, 
being 16 inches 
below the top of 
the barrel. In the 
second barrel a 
single tuber of 
the same size of 
the R. N.-Y. No. 
3 was similarly 
placed. A single 
tuber of the R. N.- 
Y. No. 4 of the 
same size was 
placed in the 
PHOTOGRAPH OF THE R. N.-Y’S BARREL EXPERIMENTS. Fig. 264. 
one acre adapted to the weather. Both are 
comparative failures owing to blight. The 
R. N.-Y. No. 2 was the variety planted on 
the low-land acre ; Brownell’s Winner on 
the high, light land. Particulars of the 
yields will be given later. 
THE CONTEST PLOT. 
The trenches were dug April 6, 10 inches 
deep and wide, 11 in number, each 33 feet 
long and three feet apart. Twenty-five 
pounds of Mapes’s potato fertilizer (1,000 
pounds to the acre) were then sown broad¬ 
cast, walking through the trenches—not in 
the trenches alone, but over the soil piled 
up between the trenches as well. The 
bottom of each trench was then loosened 
with a Hexamer pronged hoe. Five inches 
of soil were then raked back into the 
trenches and on this the seed-pieces (half of 
medium-sized potatoes with the seed end 
cut off) were placed exactly one foot apart, 
making 33 in each trench or 363 in the entire 
plot. Such large seed pieces were never 
used before. The trenches were never be¬ 
fore dug quite so deep and never before 
placed upon so great a depth of mellow 
soil. This work was done in a perfect 
manner as the weather was fine and the 
soil in splendid condition to work. The 
trenches were then filled, being careful to 
fill one at a time and complete it so that 
the work could be done without walking on 
the completed trenches. Never was there a 
mellower seed-bed. 
NOTES OF PROGRESS. 
May 7. To-day Flea-beetles were noticed 
in great numbers. Some of the plants were 
four inches high, others just breaking 
through. Sprayed all with tobacco soap dis¬ 
solved in water, using two ounces to a pail¬ 
ful of water. Not effective. 
May8. Sprayed 
the plants with 
water in which 
tobacco stems had 
been boiled; also 
with whale-oil 
soap water, one 
ounce to one gal¬ 
lon of water. 
May 9. Used 
Thymo-cresol and 
Paris-green and 
water. Corn-cobs 
were dipped into 
crude carbolic 
acid and one 
placed bet ween 
every two plants. 
N ot effective in 
the least. 
May 10. A cy¬ 
clone attended 
with heavy rain. 
In the evening 
after the storm as 
many Flea-bee¬ 
tles were noticed 
as before the 
storm. 
May 12. One 
table-spoonful of 
hellebore, one 
heaping table¬ 
spoonful of bu- 
lntch, 25 drops of 
sulphuric acid, 
one tea-spoonful 
of Paris-green to 
a pailful of water 
were sprayed on 
the vines. No ef¬ 
fect. 
May 14. Two 
tea-spoonfuls of 
Thymo-cresola 
