316 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  11,  1901. 
Gardeners’  Provident  and  Charitable  Institutions. 
The  Gardeners’  Royal  Benevolent  Institution.  —  Secretary, 
"Mr.  G.  J.  Ingram,  175,  Victoria  Street,  S.W. 
United  Horticultural  Benefit  and  Provident  Society. — Secretary, 
Mr.  W.  Collins,  9,  Martindale  Road,  Balham,  London,  S.W. 
Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund. — Secretary,  Mr.  Brian  Wynne, 
8,  Danes  Inn,  Strand.  London,  W.C. 
Field  Culture  of  Potatoes. 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  during  the  last  four  years  the  value  of 
Potatoes  has  been  much  more  than  normal,  chiefly  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  crops,  from  one  cause  or  other,  have  been  deficient,  and  this 
in  spite  of  the  last  four  summers  having  been  drier  than  an  average, 
the  growth  of  this  large  item  of  the  nation’s  food  supply  is  very 
important,  and  every  factor  which  makes  for  or  against  its  successful 
cultivation  is  worthy  of  the  closest  consideration.  We  therefore 
welcome  the  report  of  the  Notts  authorities  on  experiments  with 
Potatoes  at  three  different  stations,  as  being  one  more  chapter  in  the 
book  of  reliable  agricultural  knowledge. 
Experiments  were  conducted  at  three  stations :  Althorpe,  in 
Lincolnshire,  on  land  which  would  be  difficult  to  excel  in  productive¬ 
ness,  and  which  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  growth  of  Potatoes — viz., 
the  best  description  of  warp ;  at  Hodsock,  in  North  Notts,  on  deep 
sand  on  gravel,  but  so  closely  bordering  on  a  limestone  district  as  to 
make  it  doubtful  whether  the  sub-strata  include  limestone  or  not ; 
and  also  at  Blidwortb,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Nottingham. 
Althorpe  we  know,  and  Hodsock  we  know,  but  whether  the  land  at 
Blidworth  be  strong  or  light  we  know  not,  but  fancy  that  it  inclines 
to  the  former  quality.  As  in  all  experiments,  however  carefully 
conducted,  the  results  are  very  anomalous,  and  go  to  show  the 
unreliability  of  conclusions  drawn  from  isolated  cases,  and  the  necessity 
for  suspending  judgment  until  a  general  average  can  be  arrived  at, 
based  upon  a  number  of  trials  carried  out  on  various  soils  under 
various  conditions  of  weather  and  cultivation. 
We  notice  that  at  the  three  stations  different  varieties  of  Potatoes 
were  used,  and  it  is  but  natural  that  varieties  should  be  chosen  for 
trial  which  are  well  known  in  the  neighbourhood  as  being  suitable  to 
the  soil.  It  is,  however,  desirable  that  experiments  at  different 
stations  should  as  regards  minor  details  be  fairly  uniform,  particularly 
as  regards  manures  and  varieties  of  plants  to  be  tested,  and  in  relation 
to  this  matter  we  entirely  agree  with  the  agricultural  correspondent 
of  the  “Yorkshire  Post”  when  he  says,  “While  it  is  impossible  not 
to  commend  this  form  of  work,  it  would  seem  to  be  extremely 
advisable  that  there  should  be  some  uniformity  in  these  experiment-, 
in  order  that  the  results  might  be  taken  as  a  whole,  subject  to 
perhaps  a  few  local  variations  in  some  of  the  tests,  that  the  country 
at  large  might  benefit  more  distinctly.”  This  is  one  more  argument 
against  locally  managed  efforts  and  in  favour  of  the  organisation  oi 
extensive  trials  directly  by  the  Board  of  Agriculture.  It  would 
certainly  not  be  difficult  for  the  Board  to  give  sufficient  direction  to 
the  efforts  of  county  authorities  to  attain  more  uniformity  than  there 
is  now. 
At  Althorpe,  on  the  rich  warp,  the  manure  which  brought  about 
the  best  results  was  a  mixture  of  cwt.  nitrate  of  soda,  1£  cwt. 
sulphate  of  ammonia,  and  6  cwt.  of  superphosphate.  The  striking 
fact  about  this  mixture  is  the  absence  of  kainit,  but  this  soil  is 
rich  in  potash,  and  the  mixed  manures  used  generally  by  the 
farmers  of  the  district  contain  little  or  no  potash.  Of  the  varieties 
tried  British  Queen  was  the  most  successful,  and  County  Councillor 
the  least.  British  Queen  was  ahead  on  all  the  different  manures, 
but  only  took  third  place  on  the  unmanured  plot,  bemg  beaten  by 
both  Prime  Minister  and  Cigarette.  This  is  natural,  for  British 
Queen  has  a  short  haulm,  and  requires  forcing  treatment.  We 
should  not  recommend  it  for  poor  land,  but  on  fairly  good  redso  1 
limestone  we  know  an  instance  where  British  Queen  produced  10  tons 
of  sound  ware  per  acre,  and  nearly  double  the  crop  produced  by 
Up-to-Date,  grown  in  a  neighbouring  field.  This  was  in  the  season 
.just  past.  Besides  various  mixtures  of  artificials,  each  variety  was 
tried  with  18  loads  of  dung  per  acre.  The  average  yield  of  the 
eight  best  kinds  grown  thus  was  6  tons  5  cwt.  per  acre,  and  the 
average  for  three  years  was  8  tons  7  cwt.  The  same  kinds  grown 
without  manure  produced  4  tons  15  cwt.,  and  for  three  years 
7  tons  1  cwt. 
Here  we  see  what  a  very  poor  under  average  yield  was  that  of 
last  year,  and  also  that  the  unmanured  land  suffered  more  than  that 
upon  which  dung  was  used.  The  average  of  the  e;ght  varieties  grown 
with  the  artificial  mixture  we  mentioned  above,  in  addition  to  the 
dung,  produced  9  tons  1  cwt.,  and  those  manured  with  4  cwt.  nitrate 
of  soda  and  6  cwt.  of  superphosphate,  produced  8  tons  1  cwt.  (also  used 
in  addition  to  the  18  tons  of  dung).  In  reckoning  the  profit  and  loss 
on  the  manures  the  Potatoes  were  valued  at  50s.  per  ton,  which  is 
much  less  than  good  ware  has  been  realising,  but  decidedly  less  than 
Potatoes  from  this  land  would  fetch  on  a  seven  years’  average.  At 
Hodsock,  on  the  contrary,  50s.  would  do  very  well  to  take  as  an 
average  value,  the  Potatoes  grown  there  being  of  good  autumn  quality, 
but  not  using  well  nearer  spring  when  prices  are  usually  higher.  At 
Hodsock  only  Up-to- Dates  were  planted.  Two  unmanured  plots 
produced  5  tons  per  acre,  10  cwt.  kiln  dust  produced  6  tons  14  cwt., 
10  tons  of  dung  produced  7£  tons,  but  none  of  these  produced  so 
much  as  10  tons  of  dung,  1£  cwt.  nitrate  of  soda,  4  cwt.  super,  and 
2  cwt.  kainit.  On  allotment  trials  at  Blidworth  1  ton  per  acre  of 
kiln  dust  produced  the  heaviest  crop,  which  shows  the  wisdom  of 
using  manures  which  are  suitable  to  the  texture  of  the  soil,  for  we 
could  hardly  expect  a  ton  of  kiln  dust  to  act  as  well  mechanically  on 
dry  sand  (too  dry  already)  as  on  heavy  retentive  soil. 
Here  Scottish  Triumph  was  at  the  top  of  the  trials  with  10  tons 
4  cwt.,  Cigarette  being  second  with  9  tons  ;  but  on  unmanured  land 
Scottish  Triumph  was  very  low  down,  as  also  was  Up-to-Date.  We 
see  here  how  necessary  it  is  to  study  tne  habits  and  needs  of  the 
various  kinds  before  choosing  which  to  plant.  At  the  regular  trials 
at  Blidworth  similar  results  obtained  as  on  the  allotments,  but  10  cwt. 
kiln  dust  produced  more  Potatoes  than  1  ton  did.  We  wonder 
whether  the  soil  for  the  regular  trials  was  lighter  than  the  allotment 
field,  for  perhaps  a  ton  of  very  dry  kiln  dust  was  too  much  on  dry 
land  in  a  dry  season.  In  valuing  the  relative  results  of  the  different 
manures  at  Blidworth  the  labour  of  application  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  added,  as  it  should  have  been,  thus  favouring  the  dung  as 
against  the  artificials,  and  both  as  against  unmanured  plots.  Kiln 
dust  appears  to  carry  the  palm  at  Blidworth,  as  10  cwt.  beat  all  other 
manures  and  mixtures,  and  produced  on  two  years’  average  a  profit  of 
£3  15s.,  as  against  £2  17s.  produced  by  a  mixture  of  nitrate,  phosphate, 
and  kainit. 
Work  on  %  Home  Farm. 
Matters  are  improving,  for  though  the  atmosphere  is  still  very  chilly, 
the  wind  is  in  the  south-west,  and  the  outlook  a  little  more  like  spring. 
The  land  is  in  fairly  dry  condition,  and  the  drill  may  be  seen  at  work  in 
every  direction.  Reports  as  to  the  seed  bed  are  very  diverse ;  some 
farmers  are  quite  sanguine  as  to  the  crop,  and  declare  they  never  saw 
Barley  go  in  better,  whilst  others,  and  these  mostly  hail  from  the  strong 
land  parishes,  shake  their  heads  and  say  that  only  the  rapid  approach 
of  summer  would  have  induced  them  to  drill  under  recent  conditions. 
They  hope  for  the  best,  but  do  not  expect  it. 
The  cold  weather  has  had  its  natural  effect  on  the  root  supply,  and 
all  will  be  oonsumed  before  May.  We  saw  a  man  to-day  opening  a 
Mangold  pie  which  he  said  had  been  put  by  entirely  for  summer  use. 
It  was  a  very  big  heap  to  have  come  from  less  than  2  acres  of  land. 
He  is  a  small  farmer,  and  says  that  he  had  an  idea  that  he  could  not 
grow  Mangolds  properly,  until  by  good  fortune  he  one  year  sent  for 
his  seed  from  a  well  known  first-class  firm  of  seedsmen.  The  crop 
surprised  him,  and  he  has  foresworn  cheap  Mangold  seed  for  the  future. 
If  he  could  manage  it  he  would  keep  the  whole  of  his  crop  for  pig  food 
during  the  summer.  The  pig  has  of  late  been  the  best  paying  animal 
on  the  farm,  and  with  offers  of  20s.  per  head  for  eight-week-old 
pigs  yet  unborn,  there  does  not  seem  to  be  much  prospect  of  lower 
prices  this  summer. 
Thousand-headed  Kale  and  Cabbage  must  be  drilled  at  once  if  they 
are  to  have  full  opportunity  to  do  well.  For  both  the  land  must  be 
well  manured  with  old  well-decayed  farmyard  muck.  The  Thousand- 
head  is  a  gross  feeder,  and  will  give  a  grand  return  in  green  food  if 
well  enriched  ground  be  provided  for  it.  As  to  Cabbage,  we  prefer  to 
grow  it  on  a  seed  patch  and  plant  it  out  later,  but  of  course  we  have 
i  o  risk  a  dry  time,  which  may  make  transplanting  difficult  or  impossible. 
This  system  gives  a  few  weeks  longer  for  cleaning  the  land  thoroughly 
than  the  other  way  of  drilling  in  rows,  where  the  crop  is  to  stand  until 
maturity.  Planting  is  an  extra  expense,  but  to  set  against  this  much 
less  seed  is  required. 
Store  cattle  are  selling  very  well,  and  good  two-year-old  bullocks 
are  difficult  to  meet  with.  There  does  not  look  like  being  a  large 
enough  margin  for  profit  for  feeding  unless  beef  rises  in  prioe.  We 
are,  however,  informed  that  there  is  some  probability  of  this  occurring 
next  month  or  early  in  June,  and  the  information  is  from  an  excellent 
source. 
