POTATOES

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 December 1913, Page 2

POTATOES

Mlt WALKED s EXPEIU-

MENTK

i,By Uur Agricultural Specialist). An- article which, appeared in The Chronicle some days ago on the experimental plots of potatoes at the State Farm has attracted a little attention; and. having attracted attention, will cause people to think; and if the man "on the land .can be got to think a step forward is gained. .At present not enough of the., men on the laud give sufficient thought to the methods of working the soil or to tlfe manner of raising crops. There is too much rule of thumb. Agriculture is not a trade. A carpenter cutting rafters to a certain angle has only to set a gauge to that angle ami can then go on cutting rafters till the crack of doom, or until ice forms at sea-level, on-the equator —when he would probably set tire.to the rafters to keep himself .i-ann. But because Farmer Guesswork sometime in the hazy past planted potatoes sets of a particular size in a particular way and secured a passable crop if does not follow that the same routine is sufficient to-day. The present •season, in the amount of rain that falls, and in the amount of sunshine, has a great influence, not only on the present -crops, but through its effect on the seed on next year's crop also. The rain and sunshine also works changes in the soil which is exposed to the weather at every cultivation. How far these changes, which go on year after year, affect the various crops for good or ill is the why and wherefore of the Experimental State Farms: and it is for them to find out what seeds are best adapted to meet the evervarying conditions of soil and cli-mat-e. There arc also a few nrivate individuals who carry out experiments and do a lot .towards elucidating the problems and difficulties connected wnn a Ihor- , ough understanding of agriculture. ' Mr Walker, of Weraroa, is one of those who are at present trying different kinds of potatoes with the end that the blight be rendered harmless. He has four varieties in his plot. Fiddler's Up-to-date, Finlay's Up-to-date, Gamekeeper, and • Table Hill Champion. They have all been grown from small seed, and all , the seed has been cut., a small slice-being taken off to ensure the rolling of the sets, thus reducing' the constituent parts to a form easily assimilated by the growing plant. Mr Walker ridiculed the idea that the set docs in>t supply food to the plant in the early stages of growth; he holds very strongly that it does, and most people will agree with him. Then it seems only natural to expect that a plant grown from a large set having a large supply of food, (o draw upon will be stronger than one from a small set. Mr Walker says that a good cjop can be grown, from small seis: (hat as small sets cover more ground they are not really any dearer than large sets. Certainly his plot sown with small sets give promise of returning a heavy yield, with, the exception of Finlay's Up-to-date, which, although dipped in Lambert's patent; dip before planting,' have taken the bliuhi. Table Hill Champion, Fiddler's ; Up-to-date and Gamekeeper have fine potatoes under them. Next year Mr Walker intends to plant a few rows with large sets. This is a step in the right direction, because although the row of potatoes at the State Farm grown from large sets looks better than any particular row of Mr AValker's, this may be due to other causes. Only by planting side by side under the same conditions can useful observations be made. As some -misconception appears to have arisen about the large sets planted at the StaU' S Farm, it is repeated here that it was not the very, large, coarse potatoes that were planted, but; good mediunisized ones. With the exception of Finlay's Up-to-date, none of " Mi- Walker's potatoes have taken the blight, and the real question is—apart from* cropping results - are potatoes grown from large sets better able to resist the blight than those grown from small sets? No doubt Mr Walker's experiments next year will throw some light on this matter. He is to be commended for his work. It is a pity that more people do not experiment a little aftd make careful and comprehensive notes of the results.