EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATO SETS.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 193, 22 March 1878, Page 7

EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATO SETS.

A French Agricultural journal, the " Basse-Conr," describes the result of some experiments in potato growing recently conducted by scientific men in Germany. The principal conclusions to which these sages have come seem to be two in number. The first of them is j that tbe vigor of the potato is always in ! dfirefct proportion to the weight of the tuber used for sets — a theory'wbich certainly finds some supports in common sense alone, considering* that the young shoots for some time draw their sole nourishment from the mother potato. ! The second' conclusion is that there is a great variety in tho productive power, not only of different tubers, but also of different eyes in the same potato Tt was found that the eyes at the top of the potato produce a much more vigorous offspring than those in the lower part, ancl the consequence is that those agriculturists Avho cut their potatoes in half before planting them are not Avell 1 advised in cutting, vertically, but should always divide them horizontally, planning the upper half nnd using the other as food for cattle.. But the best plan of all is to plant the tuber whole, cutting out, nevertheless all the eyes except those in the top part. Experiments were conducted in a garden soil by Professor Gantz, the amount of crop produced by several different settings of potatoes being accurately estimated in statistical tables. It appeared that from tubers divided vertically, only five tons were produced per acre, and from whole potatoes 7-| tons. The third sort were potatoes horizontally divided, Avhich are set doAvn as having produced 9f tons. In this particular, however, some ofthe other -professors do not agree with Herr Gantz, but maintain, that, other things being equal, the whole potatoes will always produce more than halves, however cut, On the fourth lvsult, however, all agree, and that is that the whole potatoes from Avhich the lower eyes have been cut out produce 1 T|- tons per acre, or more than double the" result shown by the sets first mentioned. — Financial Opinion. A law exists in New York State which may well excite envious feelings, in the- hearts "of all footsore and weary.

: ' . ' ' . . J. . i;ray(-llers in other parb cf the Avorld. I his statute is to ' the effect that any inhabitant liable to highway-tax who transplants to the'si'de of the highway any forest shade trees or fruit trees of suitable size, shall be allowed an abatement of his highway tax amounting to about 4s 2d for every four trees. Certarn regulations are laid doAvn as to the. distances the trees are to be apart, Elms are not to be nearer than seventy feet, maples and other forest trees are not nearer than fifty feet, excepc locust trees, which may be set thirty feet apart, Fruit trees are to stand at a distance from each other of at least fifty feet, This is pleasant to read about. Here is a State, not satisfied with providing wayfairers witli shelter from the too fierce rays of the sun but taking care that they shall have applesand other fruits ready to their hands, and so he no longer tempted to enter the fields to steal raw turnips. Many a dusty road in our own country might be treated in the same fashion. Good taxes will perhaps prompt some one to make a beginning.—From " The Gatherere-," in " Cassel's Family Magazine. lo kill vermin in fowl houses procure unslacked. lime, make into white-wash, and put on while hot. This will prove a perfect cure. There is Hitle doubt that, Avere any object fto be gained, a tAvin-bearing race of cattle could be established without difficulty. In sheep, six and seven at a birth have been recorded. The Clydesdale horse owes its origin to one ot the Dukes of Hamilton, who crossed some of the best Lanark mares with stallions which he had brought over from Flanders. Autumn ploughing is very destructive to weed seeds, and hence it is of great value to gardens and all cultivated plots, as thousands of weed seeds are turned up to the surface, and with the winter frosts they are largely destroyed. A Canadian cheese factory has achieved a fea; before which the nation that 'Micks creation" must bow its diminished head. From the Ingersoll Factory has been turned out a cheese weighing 7000 pounds. Iz Avas -six feet ten inches in diameter, three feet in height, and twenty-one feet in circumf'erence. It required one milking of seven thousand coavs, or thirty-five tons of milk to produce it. The impurities that make water injurious to health are organic matters, such as are abundantly supplied by barnyards, drains, and cemeteries, where the decay of animal and vegetable substance is o-oing on. Some families who live on firms, and avlio fancy they are drinking the best of water, are, in fact, constantly imbibing poison that will appear, perhaps, in the dreaded form of diphtheria or typhoid fever. The extra price received for a superior article is nearly all profit. Ancl this is especially the case with the farm. It costs no more to raise a good horse than a poor scrub. INo more feed, care, or .time is required. And if a •** scrubber" can be raised so as to pay expenses, there is a fine profit in raising firstclass horses. The same case with ment cattle. In fact it costs more per pound to raise such a steer as would sell for three cents per pound than one Avhich sells for six cents per pound. In the latter case there is nearly double the number of pounds, and double the price per pound, and yet the choice steer takes no more food or care than the other. In this case not only the extra price is the profit, but the extra weight also.