rey ye ee 
New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 167 
A Laboratory Haeperiment. 
In order to ascertain if any perceptible part of the stored nutri- 
ment of the potato tuber is expended in forming shoots before 
planting, 10 sound tubers were selected on February 28 and 
cut into halves lengthwise. The two halves of each tuber were 
then given a number, and the weight of each piece was noted. 
One piece of each tuber was put into the drying oven at once, in 
order to determine its percentage of dry matter at this time. Of 
the remaining pieces, 5 were placed in a cool part of the cellar, 
where they would not sprout, and the remaining 5 were packed 
in damp moss and placed in the green-house. By March 29 
the pieces placed in the green-house had formed shoots one 
to three inches long. They were, therefore, placed in the drying 
oven with those from the cellar, of which the eyes had not started. 
A comparison of the dry matter of the pieces from the cellar with 
that of those placed in the green-house, and which had formed 
shoots as above mentioned, indicated that the latter had lost on 
the average 2.065 per cent of their dry matter, which we may 
ascribe to chemical changes incident to the growth, as the sprouts 
were in every case dried with the tubers. 
THe INFLUENCE oF TREATMENT OF THE SEED TUBER. UPON THE 
E\ARLINESS OF THE CROP. 
Object of the Hxperiment: To ascertain if the time of maturity 
may be hastened by ay 
1. Exposing the seed tubers to ight and warmth. 
2. Removing the “seed” end. 
Exposing the Seed Tubers to Light and Warmth. 
It has often been stated that the time of maturity of potatoes 
may be hastened somewhat by exposing the seed tubers to the 
light in a warm room for a time before planting, the theory being 
that the starting of the eyes into short thick shoots favors their 
rapid development in the soil. An experiment was therefore 
made, intended to show the truth or fallacy of this claim. 
On March 29 a sufficient quantity of tubers was selected 
to plant four plats of one-twentieth acre each. These were 
so selected that the same number and weight of tubers were 
planted in each pair of rows intendedfor comparison. The tubers 
selected for one row of each pair were then placed on the floor of 
