4 
EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES. 
on the whole, the test is not unprofitable, because it has 
enabled us to see what varieties do best under adverse 
conditions. 
While the yield of tubers is of great importance, yet 
the quality is of still greater moment. The chemical 
composition of the potato varies with the soil in which it 
is grown, the season, the nature of the fertilizers used, 
its size and maturity. The best tubers contain about 20 
per cent, of starch, which is formed in the leaves; hence, 
to have potatoes of good quality, the leaves must be 
uninjured during the season of growth. The varieties 
are arranged in the accompanying table in the order of 
content of starch; the average per cent, of starch for the 
seedlings is 18.85 per cent. ; for the named kinds, 17.17 
per cent. The soil best adapted to the potato is one that 
is cool, loose and friable, its mechanical condition being 
more important, in connection with irrigation, than its 
fertility. 
The plats were irrigated four times, cultivated four 
times, sprayed with Paris green three times, and all were 
dug by September 21. Land more level and having a 
greater affinity for water than our clay loam soils, has 
often a sufficiency in two waterings, and in certain cases, 
even, without any moisture but the usual rains. The 
tables give the number of hills planted of each kind, the 
yield in pounds, the per cent, of starch, and the condi¬ 
tion of the tubers April 1, in regard to sprouting. All 
were treated exactly alike in the field, and were wintered 
in a basement cellar, the temperature of which ranged 
from 35° to 45° Fahrenheit. 
The most prolific among the named kinds were 
Stray Beauty, Red Elephant, Grange, Bliss’ Triumph, 
Summit and Jordan’s Russet, in the order named. 
These varieties yield profitable crops of tubers in con¬ 
genial soils, and in seasons not favorable to the best 
development of this plant in all soils and situations. 
The best yields of seedlings were Nos. 72, 44, 38, 105 
and 58. in the order named. 
