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Vol. XLV. No. 1892. NEW YORK, MA Y 1, 1886. 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, by the Rural New-Yorker In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington^ 
PRICE FIVE CENTS. 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
topics. 
(Sriepcvimcnt (SvouniU of the 3Ruvat 
glciti-Hjovkcv. 
THE LAST OF THE POTATO REPORTS 
FOR THIS YEAR. 
Elective, from Peter Henderson & Co.—The only 
note that we have Is that it is earlier than Early Rose. 
It was overlooked in some way. 
Ecutse, from O. H. Alexander, Charlotte, Vt.—Five 
pieces yielded nine pounds. Best five weighed 2 pounds 
8 ounces; 81 tubers, 21 marketable. At 
the rate of 185.60 bushels to the acre- 
Reddish streaks in flesh. Irregular hi 
shape, oblong. A bulky potato. Eyes 
medium as to number and prominence. 
Late. Eaten Dec. 2. White flesh, of only 
fair quality as to mealiness and flavor. 
White Swan, from saute.—Five pieces 
yielded 994 pounds; 22 tubers, 21 market¬ 
able, best live weighing four pounds— 
rate of 171.90 bushels per acre. Bulf skin, 
shape cylindrical,medium-long, tapering 
at one end. Eyes rather deep. Eaten 
Nov. 17. Nearly while flesh. N'otaflrst- 
elass potato In quality. 
Garland, from E. E. stlne, Cuyahoga 
Falls, Ohio.—“Seed from Early Rose. 
The best Into potato," he writes. Two 
pieces yielded four pounds; 21 tubers, 10 
marketable. Ylaid per acre, 181 bushels. 
Late. Straggle badly. The Irregular 
shape, deep eyes and straggling habit 
condemn it. 
Summit, from same.—This gave us the 
largest yield of any |>otato tried last 
season. Mr. Stine says "It is the best 
early potato.” Two pieces yielded 10 
pounds; 21 tubers. 18 marketable. Best 
live weighed 1 pouuds 11 ounces. At the 
rate of 1,210 bushels per acre. Fig. 175 
shows the typical shape. Buff skin; eyes 
medium for so large a potato. Eaten 
Deo, 10 . Fairly dry and mealy; white 
flesh. We find it ralher a lute potato. 
Essex, from O. II. Alexander.—Five pieces yielded 
10Jt pounds—or at the rate of 508.20 per acre. There 
were 36 tubers, 22 marketable. Beet five, 3 pounds 10 
ounces. Long, pointed at both ends. Eyes few and 
not prominent. Enteu Dec. 29; white flesh,'mealy. 
The shape kills It. Late. 
MT. WASIOMOTQN, from same. Five pieces yielded 
13Hi pounds; 85 tubers, 29 marketable. Best five weigh¬ 
ed 13^ ounces. Yield per acre, 658 It). Buff skin; eyes 
rather deep. Shape long cylindrical, flattened some¬ 
times. Eateu Nov. 13. Flesh white and mealy out- 
Hlde. rather firm wttbtn. Perhaps they were uot cook¬ 
ed enough. See Fig. 176. 
Albany Market—L ate. Yield¬ 
ed at the rate of 181.50 bushels 
per acre; 29 tubers, six ouly 
marketable. 
Dew D rot/ from O. H. Alex¬ 
ander. — Four pieces yi elded 
nine pounds, or at the rate ol 
511.50 bushels^to th e acre; Ml 
tubers, 33 marketable. Eaten 
Oct. 12. Flesh nearly white, 
not dry. F.ycs few. 
Sauatoua, from same. Five 
pieces yielded 8 I 4 pounds; 31 
tubers. 20_marketable.“Thls is 
at the rate of 399.30 bushels to 
the acre. Best.live .weighed 8 
pounds 12 ounces; many very 
large, shape broad, truncate 
at one end. Eyes rather deep. 
Skin buff. Most of them pron- 
gy, perhaps from the effect of 
drought. Not mealy or dry. , 
ANOTHER EXPERIMENT TO 
ASCERTAIN \V H K T II E H 
THE SEED-END YIELDS 
AN EARLIER CROI* TUAN 
PIECES _KROM OTHER 
PARTS. 
Tips.—Fifteen pieces of 
the tips or sced-eiuls of the 
Rural Calico yielded 82 pouuds; 139 tuber 
120 marketable. Best five weighed 2 pounds 
10 ounces. Yield per acre, 510.27 bushels. 
Seed from other parts—that is, the stem- 
end or middle. Fifteen pieces yielded 29 
pounds; 124 .tubers, 100 marketable. Best live 
weighed 2 pounds 13 ounces. Yield per acre 
400.38 bushels. 
REMARKS. 
Both lots matured at the same time. The 
seed-end pieces sprouted first and appeared 
above ground about three days before the 
others. 
We have seen it stated many times that 
seed-end pieces will give a crop one week or 
more in advance of pieces cut from other parts 
of the potato, but our experiments do not sup¬ 
port such statements. 
•JM.11 uuuao auuuu *±v 
VA A U 1 AO 
and water. The water is strained so that the 
sprinkler wifi not become clogged. Three 
rows are sprinkled at each trip; oue under 
the wagon and one on either side. It is well 
to stop the wagon every six feet, as the fre¬ 
quent stopping and starting keeps the poison 
well mixed. The beauty of this arrange¬ 
ment is that one man can apply 40 gallons of 
the poison at a much quicker rate than 
several persons could do it by hand. With a 
good team which will follow the rows, and 
not turn over the plants, one man can work 
this machine successfully. At the ends of 
SUMMIT POTATO. From Nature. 
Fig. 175. 
fiflil Crops. 
SPRINKLING POTATOES WITH PARIS-GREEN. 
the rows the hose cau be laid over the barrel 
aud the team turned and started again. 
Mr, J. H. Mitchell sends us the sketch 
shown at Fig. 177 (p. 282). This method of ap¬ 
plying litjuid poisons works well with him. The 
hind wheels of the wagon are used with a long 
reach for a tongue. A small frame made of 
THE PECAN POTATO. 
This potato I raised from seed give nV>a by 
C. G. Pringle, Charlotte, Vt. He had crossed 
and raised it the season before, aud after 
planting all he wanted, he gave’me the rest._ 
about 20 varieties. Several were good; but 
the Pecan had all the good qualities of the 
others in addition to some peculiar to r itself, 
MT. WASHINGTON POTATO. From Nature. 
Fig. 176. 
| 4x4 seantliug is set on the axle with a step 
| behind, as shown in the cut To this frame 
the barrel of poison is firmly lashed. A faucet 
l with seven feet of soft, %-iueh rubber hose, 
I with a fine lawn sprinkler attached, is ar¬ 
ranged as shown in the illustration. The 
so, after awhile, the others were discarded- 
It originated the same year as the Snowflake. 
The plant is a stronger and healthier grower 
than the latter. The variety is a little later 
and more liable to produce small tubers. 
N. Ferrisburg, Vt, l, m. macomber. 
Ijinlurulluval 
EXPERIMENTS WITH FERTILIZERS 
FOR STRAWBERRIES. 
I have been experimenting with fertilizers 
on strawberries, but have uot been to any 
great extent successful either in increasing 
the size or improving the quality of the fruit. 
Sulphate of ammonia increased the growth of 
plants. The leaves were large and dark- 
] colored. Muriate of potash did not seem to 
have the same effect. The showing in fruit 
was not so good as the showing in 
foliage. A plot upon which no 
fertilizer was used produced as 
much and as good fruit as any of 
the fertilized plots near it. This 
has been the result of my experi¬ 
ments for five years. 
A few years since Mr. Hale, of 
Connecticut, strongly recommend¬ 
ed a heavy- application of bone- 
dust, two parts; ground fish, two 
parts, and muriate of potash one 
part. He said, in substance: “If 
you want a good crop use 1.200 
pounds to the acre; if you want a 
better crop, use one ton to the 
acre: and if you want a big crop, 
put on all you can afford. Then 
shut your eyes and put on as much 
more, and it wilt puy every time .” 
Early in the Spring of 1S82 I pre¬ 
pared one-tenth of an acre, care¬ 
fully measured and staked off, 
and applied 400 pounds of the 
above mixture—at the rate of two 
tons per acre. It was thoroughly 
harrowed in after plowing, and 
plants were set three or four 
weeks later. There were six rows running 
lengthwise of the plot. Three rows were kept 
in hills and three allowed to form matted rows. 
The plot was a part of one acre set at the 
same time, aud all were treated alike as to 
cultivation, etc. Variety, Wilson. Great 
was my disappointment w-heu I found, after 
repeated trials in the picking season of 1883, 
that the rows not fertilized produced as many 
and as good berries as the fertilized plot. 
The gi owth of the plants was a little strong¬ 
er on the fertilized plot 
than on the rest of the 
ground. In 1884, how¬ 
ever, the plants seemed 
to have got hold of the 
fertilizer, and there was 
quite an appreciable in¬ 
crease in the size of the 
fruit; bat the extra 
price was not enough to 
render the extra fertil¬ 
izing profitable. I have 
used stable manure with 
like results. 
My method of growing 
strawberries has usually 
been to plant on ground 
that has been used for 
sweet potatoes for a year 
or two and well fertilized, 
and to use no fertilizer 
at the time of planting. 
In this way I get fair 
crops. For several years 
we have had a “dry 
spell” in June, during strawberry- picking; 
such was the case t he past season, and this* 
undoubtedly-, will account for the inaction of 
some of the fertilizers. Nitrogen, however, 
in whatever form I have used it, always tells 
on the foliage, soon after an application. 
Vineland, N. J. ^ a 
