September 17, 1904. 
THE HARDENING WORLD . 
745 
Potatos. 
The Old and the New. 
All thei old varieties of Potato® are worn out. Collapse' and 
ruin is sure to follow those who do not replenish the stocks 
with some of the wonderful marvels. Such was the cry in the 
spring. 
The liftings have not yet been completed, but where are wed 
Up-to-Date cropping grandly, with no more disease than, Even- 
good, whilst the root is double in quantity. British Queen, 
heavier than ever, one hill I saw lifted having seventy-two- 
tubers, of which less than a dozen were chats, the others being 
all ware size. 
Where is the late variety that is beating The Factor, with 
| bushel from seven hills made from two tubers? True, there 
is a little more disease in the leaf of the above sorts than is 
visible in Northern Star, but the latter is by no means ready, 
whereas the others are fit. 
What is the matter with the new Diamond, Gold Coin, King 
Victor, Record, and others, that they are growing out—so much 
so that the first-named has 1 its new tubers ornamented by long 
strings, upon which are a number of small Potato®, whilst the 
others have knob® and sprouts in various sizes? Yet the old 
Snowdrop, Pride of Tonbridge', and many others are 
a® clear as possible. 
True, these are earlies, but not. all the new earlies 
are exempt -from the restarting trouble. 
There arei, however, some good things' among the 
new sorts, but from what I have 'seem Eldorado is 
not, among them. 
“ Gome' and see' the Eldorado®,” wrote a. friend 
recently. I went, and found plants (grown from 
shoots) on their last legs. Dried out or collapsed 
through weakness, was the opinion expressed by their 
grower, yet all around were strong hills of many sorts, 
grown from wdiole and cut set®'and also shoots. 
Even the old American Rose, when planted in the 
form of weak sprouts, were as strong and vigorous 
as trees, whilst Eldorado hung its head in despair. 
“ Pull one out,” prompted my friend, and all that 
turned up were three or four poor little rough-looking 
tubers that a, cottager would give toi his pigs,. 
“ Five pound each,” remarked their owner, and 
“ won’t realise their cost,; and yet they declared it 
a vigorous doer and likely to yield 4 lb. to 9 lb. each 
root.” 
Record certainly isi a, remarkable Potato' for size, 
for nearly all the specimens average' f lb. to I f lb. in 
weight', although grown from out sets. 
Still more remarkable are the Provost and Great 
Central, which, although not so huge, are wonderful 
croppers, and as vigorous as The Factor. 
Duchess' of Cornwall, Lord Mansfield, and Conquer¬ 
ing Hero will prove a lasting monument to the memory of the 
late W. Kerr, and all the Eldorado®, Million Makers and Fairy 
Queens will find them worthy foes to deal with, although they 
are not valued at £250 a pound. 
Among the earlies, however, there are some very choice 
tilings, a, pair which will go' down to posterity being The Rajah, 
which was advertised in The Gardening World last spring, 
and Derbyshire Success. 
Both hail from the Eastern counties and both are huge 
croppers and splendid eaters, although a trifle yellow. The 
former, a flat smooth kidney, will give the show-man a Potato 
that will gain him many prizes; whilst the latter, a thick, 
rough-skinned kidney, will outyield moist, if not all, the present 
popular sorts. 
May Queen, fine as it is, is a dirty cooker; but Success 
scores 1 here, whilst- the tubers are much finer in appearance 
and weeks earlier. 
The accompanying photo 1 shows some typical tubers of 
Derbyshire Success as grown in the open under ordinary field 
culture. 
Despite the drought, which checked the growth of all varies 
tie®, the yield of Success was wonderful, outdoing some of the 
finest late sorts. The tubers average a fair marketable size, 
although some grow extremely large. 
The haulms are not so tall as May Queen or Ninetyfold, a 
valuable feature. The tubers are solid and heavy, netted in 
appearance, with few eyes', which lay almost flat on the surface, 
without any semblance of bulging that some varieties show. 
Those who purchased this variety at 20s. per pound are giving 
it as their opinion that it paid them, as it does equally well 
on both light and heavy soil. A. T. 
Fruit Growing in Queensland. 
Bananas. —There was a considerably greater are-a, under 
Bananas in 1903 than in 1902—namely, 6,577 acres', against 
5,266 acre®, an increase of 1,311 acre®. There were 47,437 
fewer bunche-s obtained from the greater area., however, namely 
1,112,578 bundles' in 1903, and 1,160,015 bunches in the 
previous year; an average per .acre of 169 bundles in the 
former, and of 220 bunches in, the latter year. 
Mourilyan is thei chief centre of Banana cultivation, 3,553 
acre's or 54 per cent, of the- total area,, and 746,945 bunches, or 
67 per cent, of the total p-rffluctiom, being returned from that 
district, the average yield in this district being 210 bunches 
to each acre. Of the additional area in 1903, 1,075 acres, or 
82 per cent., were planted at Mourilyan. Cairns was the 
district of next largest production, but the acreage there was 
practically the same in both years; from the 1,070 acres 
under crop there in 1903, 156,97 y bunches of Bananas were 
obtained, an averagei return to eaichi acre of 147 bunches. 
Pineapples.— This fruit,, which would appear to be less 
affected by drought than many plants, showed an increase both 
in acreage and production in 1903. Pineapples would appear 
to offer greater possibilities in the way of export than many 
other varieties of fruit. Packed under ordinary conditions, 
if care in gathering and casing be taken, it will cany for 
considerable distance® and arrive in good order. Beyond 
this, however, the results of experiments would appear to 
justify the belief 'that if carried in chilled chambers, under 
certain conditions, it is not improbable that the fruit may be 
Potato Derbyshire Success. 
