Vol. LV. No. 2413. 
NEW YORK, APRIL 25, 1896. 
81.00 PER YEAR. 
BY THEIR SPROUTS YE KNOW THEM! 
AN EASY TEST OF VARIETIES. 
Sprouting Habits of Different Varieties. 
To distinguish varieties of potatoes, within certain 
limits, we know of no better way than placing the 
sound tubers in a warm, 
sunny room, where they 
are to remain for from one 
to three months. Of course, 
early, intermediate, and 
late kinds differ as to the 
time required. Generally, 
the earliest kinds will be 
the first to sprout, the in¬ 
termediate next, and the 
late last. But this is not a 
rule without many excep¬ 
tions. Sometimes the in¬ 
termediate and late will 
sprout before the early. It 
may be said, however, as a 
general proposition, that 
the first to sprout will 
prove the shortest keepers. 
The warty, stocky growths 
of the eyes which grow 
under the conditions of 
In the seed-end of the old Lady Finger, the eye 
growth is stubby and of a deep red color, quite dis¬ 
tinct. Notably nearly all the eyes, whether of the 
seed-end, stem-end or central portion, had made a 
growth. Evidently the Lady Finger seed tuber 
might safely be cut into smaller pieces than the others. 
One 
CARMA& No. 1. Fig. 89. 
CARMANiNo. 3. Fig. 90. 
A " STARTER” FOR SEED POTATOES. 
HOW THE PLANTS ARE PUSHED ALONG. 
of The R. H.-Y.’s Suggestions Modified. 
The Rhode Island Experiment Station (Kingston, 
R. I.), gives, in Bulletin 3(5, some •interesting facts 
about potato culture. 
Though too late for many 
of our readers to practice 
this season, we give a 
synopsis of two methods 
that have been practiced 
with much success. 
One method is called 
4 ‘ sprouting.” An ordinary 
cold frame is used—about 
12 sash (3 x 6) being needed 
for the seed to plant an 
acre. The soil is plowed or 
dug over the fall previous, 
and about a month before 
the seed is needed, it is 
again spaded up and well 
fertilized. Seed potatoes 
from the North, are cut as 
for regular planting, and 
placed, cut side down, on 
the earth of the cold frame 
warmth and sunlight, vary indefinitely, in color, in 
stockiness, in the number of little shoots which issue 
from the first growth, and m the color of those shoots. 
Thus it may be judged, in a measure, whether the 
vines of a given variety in the field will grow to be 
tall, dwarf, upright or spreading ; whether the leaves 
will be light or dark green ; whether the stems will 
be green or purplish. 
Nearly three months ago, we placed in a warm, 
well-lighted room, several sound tubers of each of the 
following kinds : Lady Finger, Rural Blush, Carman 
No. 1, Carman No. 3 and Rural New-Yorker. Our 
illustrations from photographs will show the differ¬ 
ences as to form better than we can describe them. 
Only the seed-end eyes of the Carman No. 1 sprouted ; 
the others remained nearly as dormant as if in cold 
storage. The sprouts were light green, showing 
many sub branches indicating that the habit of the 
plant in the field will be branching and spreading. 
They also indicate that it would not be economy to 
throw away the seed-end in cutting the seed potatoes. 
The sprouts of the R. N.- 
Y. No. 2, as will be seen, 
are very different. They in¬ 
dicate that the vines will 
be comparatively few and 
upright. Again, instead of 
a cluster of branching 
buds, we have but two or 
three, and these are of a 
dark, purple color, almost 
black. As in the case of 
the No. 1, only the seed- 
end eyes have grown. 
Now we have the Carman 
No. 3, which shows the 
stubbiest growth of the 
three. Fewer of the eyes 
have grown, and none of 
the other eyes has sprouted. 
The thick sprout indicates 
a vigorous but not spread¬ 
ing habit of the vines, as 
they may grow under out¬ 
door culture. The color is 
dark purple, almost black, as with the R. N.-Y. No. 2. 
The Rural Blush sprouts indicate only ordinary 
vigor and size of vines. Only the seed-end has grown. 
The color is a dark green of the secondary sprouts, 
and a pinkish purple of the body of the sprouts. 
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LADY FINGER POTATO. Fig. 91. 
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RURAL BLUSH POTATO. Fig. 92. RURAL NEW-YORKER No. 2. Fig. 93. 
DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF POTATOES AND THEIR METHODS OF SPROUTING 
In so far as we are aware, The R. N.-Y. was the first 
to call attention to the practical advantages of sprout¬ 
ing potatoes in this way. It is clearly possible to 
determine whether certain varieties, claimed to be 
different, are distinct. 
as close together as they will lie. Each sash will cover 
three pecks of seed. They are then covered with 
about four inches of fine earth, and left to grow—the 
sash being raised or lowered as required to give 
proper air and warmth. The sets are ready for plant¬ 
ing when they begin to break through the soil. 
In planting, the field is well prepared, and wide, 
deep furrows or drills made with a plow. Fertilizer 
is used in the drill. The plants are taken carefully 
from the bed—beginning at one end and lifting them 
out into a flat box. They are taken to the field and 
carefully placed by hand in the furrows—with the 
earth drawn around them. In case of frost, the earth 
can be filled in over them. The furrows or drills are 
30 to 32 inches apart, and the sets are placed 12 inches 
apart in the drill. It requires eight men one day to 
set the sprouted seed on an acre. Of course this 
method is adapted only to garden culture in cold 
climates where cheap labor is to be obtained. It is 
said to pay well in the gardens near the large cities 
in New England, as the yield is largely increased and 
several weeks are gained 
in earliness. 
Another method is called 
budding, and is a modifica¬ 
tion of the methods em¬ 
ployed on the island of 
Jersey where early pota¬ 
toes for the London mar¬ 
ket are grown. TheR. N.- 
Y. has long advocated this 
plan of exposing the seed 
on the floor of a warm, 
well-lighted room, and in 
this way securing strong, 
thick sprouts. One objec¬ 
tion made by farmers has 
been that they did not have 
the necessary floor space to 
do this properly. This ob¬ 
jection is overcome by the 
use of the rack shown at 
Fig. 94, page 286. The up¬ 
rights are six feet long, 
of 2%xl)£-inch lumber. 
Room is made for nine trays—one standing on the 
floor and the others sliding on the cleats and braces 
shown in the picture. The trays are 1% foot wide, 
and three feet nine inches long, but could be made of 
any size. The picture shows how they are mad$. 
