32 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, October 16, 1860. 
later than a quarter to two o’clock on the show-day. Each 
exhibitor will hare a ticket given him for each article that he 
brings. These tickets he must take care to place conspicuously 
and securely on his exhibits. After the Judges have swarded 
the prizes, all parties will be admitted to the show-room. Those 
who do not hold free tickets will be charged Is. each during tlie 
first hour of admission, and 6 d. each afterwards. “ ~~ 
“ All articles shown for competition must have been grown on 
the ground of the exhibitor, or have been in his possession for 
two months at least previous to the show. The Committee may 
require proof of this if they see fit. Any attempt to break or 
evade this rule will be followed by exclusion from the Society, 
and forfeiture of all prizes, if any have been awarded. 
“ Exhibitors may take more than one prize in any class of 
vegetables, &c., which is unlimited as to the species to be shown ; 
provided that the articles sent in by them are approved as being 
of different kinds. If more than one exhibit is sent in by any one 
person in competition for the same prize, the name of each kind 
must be given by the exhibitor on a card or paper attached to 
the basket, If the Judges find such names to be incorrectly 
given, the articles will be liabl® to be put out of competition. 
“ The Judges may award extra prizes to those exhibits wliich 
they think really deserving of such distinction. 
“No roots must be washed before exhibition, except those 
which go to make up the boxes of mixed vegetables. 
“Baskets and boxes must be applied for not later than the 
night previous to the show. 
“ All articles not admissible for competition must be ticketed 
*Not for Competition.’ It is particularly requested that this be 
attended to, as the omission might deprive a subscriber of a 
prize to which he had been justly entitled. The Judges will be 
requested to attach to such articles as are not for competition, 
but which would be entitled by then’ quality to a prize, a ticket 
marked { Best.’ ” 
On the 25th of last August a show took place. There were 
twenty classes, and for the most part three prizes in each (3*., 2s., 
and Is.) ; but in some there were four prizes, the highest being 
5s.; but in the 20th Class, for “ a box of mixed vegetables,” the 
prizes were 10s., 7s., As., and 2s. The articles for which prizes 
were offered were, Potatoes, Carrots, Parsnips, Onions, Eschalots, 
Turnips, Cabbages, Cauliflowers, and Broccoli, Peas, Runner 
Beans, Dwarf Kidney Beans, Celery, Basket of Salad, Red 
Cabbage, Vegetable Marrows, Mangolds, Swedish Turnips, and 
Nosegays. There were also four special prizes, varying from 
7s. to 3s., for “the best and largest produce of Potatoes from 
thirty-six square feet of ground.” 
“ The Potatoes must be dug from the ordinary plots. Potatoes 
planted in six-feet-square beds will not be admissible. The 
surface will be measured (in the case of Potatoes planted in rows), 
by taking such a length of one, two, or more rows, as will, with 
the distance from row to row, make up thirty-six square feet. 
In the case of Potatoes planted in ‘ butts,’ the width of the alley 
on one side will be added to the width of the ‘ butt,’ in calcu¬ 
lating the space occupied by the plants. 
“ The Judges recommend that the nosegays sent in for com¬ 
petition should be kept much smaller; they should be such 
nosegays, in fact, as a lady wordd carry in her hand. A few 
really good flowers tastefully put together will be much letter 
than a large bunch containing many common and some im¬ 
perfect flowers. In order to guide competitors in the sizes of 
their nosegays, the Committee will, on application, provide zinc 
holders for these flowers, and no more must be put together 
than will suffice to fill one of these holders.” 
To render the competition for the special prize for Potatoes 
as productive of useful results as possible, the Committee required 
each exhibitor to append answers and statements to the following 
heads of particulars and queries:— 
“ Particulars relating to a crop of. produced from 
a surface of ground containing 36 square feet, under the tenancy and 
cultivation of.the Exhibitor. 
Variety grown. 
Nature of soil. 
Kind of manure used. 
Quantity of manure per statute rod of 16.1 feet square, or per statute acre. 
Weight of crop :— 
Sound and perfect . lbs. 
Injured . lbs. 
Too small for general use. lbs. 
Diseased.lbs. 
^ t . Total. lbs. 
Date of crop being planted orjsown. 
Date of crop being t tken up. 
If the crop be Potatoes, the following additional particulars are 
required :— 
Were the tubers planted whole or cut? 
Were large tubers or small ones specially chosen for planting, or were 
large and small planted indiscriminately ? 
Were the sets dibbled in, or were they planted in drills or furrows? 
The distance from row to row ? 
The distance from set to set in the row ? 
Was any special plan adopted with a view to the prevention of disease ? If 
so, state the plan, and your opinion as to its result.” 
The particulars and answers so obtained in the years 1858, 
1859, and 1860, enabled Mr. Wilson to arrange the following 
general tables of results :— 
First, with respect to the total yield in tons per acre. 
The average yield per acre was— 
In 1858 . 12 ; 
1859 . 10 
1860 . 10? 
tons 
The greater prevalence of Potato disease this year oes not 
therefore, appear to have resulted from an unnaturally forced 
growth of the plant by excess of manure or otherwise. 
The different kinds of Potatoes yielded as follows of all kinds— 
Table 1. 
1858 . 
1859 . 
1860 . 
York 
Regent. 
.. 18 .. 
. 121 .. 
.. 12 | .. 
Mean. 14? 
Red. 
. 12 
10 
11 
Kemp. 
Pink 
Eye. 
Radical. 
Fluke. 
• » •• 
' 9 ? 
... 9| . 
.. 11 . 
. 10 .. 
. io| 
... 114 .. 
,. 9 . 
. 9? .. 
• » 
... 9 . 
.. 9 . 
10 
10 
10 
9? 
Arrowsmith’s 
Seedling. 
. » 
. 7 
. 10 
If we regard the results obtained from the York Regent in 
1858 and the Arrowsmith’s Seedling in 1859—both of which 
were from only one piece—as exceptional results, the remaining 
trials probably show fairly the cropping capabilities of the several 
kinds of Potatoes. 
The spaces allowed for each Potato plant by the several culti¬ 
vators being very different, the results are next classified according 
to these spaces. An area of from 200 to 240 inches being about 
the mean allowance by our gardeners, such areas are classed 
together as “ medium.” Areas less than 200 inches are classed 
as “small;” and areas above 240 inches as “large.” The 
following table gives the result of this classification. 
Small. 
Under 200 inches. 
14 ? 
114 
Table 2. 
1858. 
1859. 
1860. 
Medium. 
200 to 240 inches. 
. 12 
111 
104 
Large. 
Over 240 inches. 
12 
94 
101 
Mean. 
13 
Hi 104 
It is desirable to compare with this table another showing both 
the number of sets required to plant an acre of ground with a 
given allowance for each plant, and also the weight of the Potato 
tubers used for sets. It is found on trial that Potatoes weighing 
about 14 oz. each are such as are usually planted in this neigh¬ 
bourhood. 
These results are shown in the next table— 
Small spaces. 
Medium spaces. 
Large spaces. 
Table 3. 
No. of sets 
per acre. 
Weight 
in cwts. 
No. of sets 
iper acre. 
Weight 
in cwts. 
No. of sets 
per acre. 
Weight 
in cwts. 
1858 . 
1859 . 
1860 . 
46,122 
37,667 
99 
384 
314 
>> 
28,003 
28,003 
27,755 
231 
234 
23? 
20,432 
21,780 
22,165 
17 
181 
184 
Mean. 
41,894 
35 
27,920 
234 
21,459 
13 
Reference must be made to these two tables after obtaining 
some other results. 
The results may be classified according to the dates at which 
the pieces were planted. If we call those pieces planted before 
April 1 “ early ” planted, those between April 1 and April 15 
“medium” planted, and those later than April 15 “late” 
planted, we obtain the following table— 
Table 4. Early Planted. Medium Planted. Late Planted. 
1858 . 134 . 12J . 114 
1859 . 9f . 9? . 12 
1860 . 11 . 9 . 10? 
Mean. 
Ill 
114 104 
The year 1858 shows that in both methods of planting better 
results were obtained from pieces planted early than from pieces 
planted late. In 1859 and 1860 the early and late planting both 
succeeded better than the medium planting. I can only attribute 
this to the state of the weather at the times of planting, but am 
not at the moment in possession of the data whence to show the 
kind of weather at the various periods. 
