No. 33.] | 305 
The question may arise whesher the smaller size of the cuttings 
from the smaller tubers may not account for the differences in yield. 
The smallest tubers planted in A, however, did not exceed in size 
the smallest tubers in B. Hence the results seem to indicate that 
the tubers of A possessed more inherent vigor than those of B. We 
have material for further experiments in this direction the coming 
season. 
While we cannot regard a single experiment in this line as in any 
sense conclusive, the evidence seems so clearly in favor of using only 
tubers from the more productive hills of potato for seed, that we 
‘commend the subject to the consideration of potato growers who are 
inclined to make experiments. It would involve little extra labor 
in digging potatoes by hand to deposit the tubers from each hill by 
themselves, when a sufficient number of tubers to supply seed for 
the coming year could be easily gathered from the more productive 
hills. 
The Decaying of Potatoes. 
The potato disease did not appear at the Station the past season. 
The tubers deposited in the cellar in the fall of 1883, which were 
infested with the disease when dug, continued to decay during the 
winter. 
Lime has sometimes been recommended as a preventive of the 
potato rot. In order to test its efficacy, we filled two barrels with 
sound White Star potatoes, in the fall of 1883, in one of which we 
sprifikled air-slacked lime, as the tubers were put in, in suflicient 
quantity to whiten them. 
On April 3rd the potatoes in both barrels were examined. The 
one treated with the lime contained sixty-eight decayed tubers, while 
the other contained but fifty-two. It thus appears that in this 
experiment the lime exerted no beneficial influence. 
Roor W AsHINGS. 
Strange to say the distribution of the roots of plants in the soil is 
a subject that has received comparatively little attention from agri- 
culturists. It would seem that before we can give an intelligent 
opinion as to the best system of cultivation to be observed, or the best 
method of applying fertilizers for any crop, we should know some- 
thing of the character of the roots that sustain the plants, and the 
position that these occupy in the soil. If the fibrous roots through 
which the plant receives its nourishment grow very near the surface, 
it is certain that any but the most shallow cultivation must lacerate 
these to a great extent. If on the other hand the fibrous roots 
chiefly lie deeper than the ordinary plow reaches, it may be advisa- 
ble, in preparing the soil for such crops, to plow deeper than we 
usually do, and thus mellow and fertilize the soil at the point where 
the roots can be more directly benefited by culture and fertility. 
The subject of the distribution of roots suggests questions that 
are as yet unanswered. How far do varying soils, seasons and cli- 
[Assem. Doe. No. 33.] 39° 
