Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1882-06-29

Perhaps no food product Of the same
importance as the potato, says the Lon
don Times. has been left so long neg
lected, for however beyond control
may have been the potato disease on
its first appearance, it is not unreasOn-
able to imagine that the skill which
found remedy for the silk worm dis
ea:e. aud for the vine disease, might
have been equally successful in combat
ing the very closely allied fungoid dis
ease of the potato. Apart, however,
from a study of the disease of this
important tuber, it is strange how
little Is known as to the best modes of
its culture, and as to the best varieties
for culture. In both of these respects
it is PROBABLE that the New Z Islanders
were, In respect TO their sweet potato
at the time of Capt. Cook, good deal
in advance Of ourselves now. We,
therefore, welcome the very valuable
information which is presented in a
small pamphlet containing the reports
OF experiments on potato culture, made
under the direction of committee of
the County of Cork Agricultural
society at the Munster farm in the year
1881. These experiments were of two
kinds, first, the cultivation side by side
or as many varieties of tbs potato as
could be obtained with a view of
comparing their relative productiveness
and disease resisting power under pre-
cisely similar conditions as to soil.
climate. and manure; second, testing
the relative value OF the three most
important constituents of manures-
trst-nitrogen in the hydrogenized or
ammonia. form; second, potash; and
third, phosphates, singly or in combin-
alton, In the growth of the same
variety of the potato under similar
conditions. Within the last two years
the committee report q great change
Tor the better both in the quality and
gross weight of the potato crop grown
IN the south of Ireland, and they fair
~ attribute some of this progress
10 the results of their labors of 1880
and 1881. They thank the commits.
slonerS of national education for the
facilities and assistance they so cor
daily gave, and they express their
sense of the great help they have re-
ceived from Mr.. Carroll, superinten-
lent of the government industrial
farm at Glasnevin, near Dublin. This
report is already too condensed to ad-
NIT of much abstracting. Out of thirty
i've varieties grown in 1881 Only nine
were disease-proof. The experiments
seemed to support the nOn-contagious
nature OF the disease, for the varieties
producing perfectly healthy crop
grew in the closest proximity to the
highly diseased ones. The experiments
as to the values of the different ma.
nures, were under the direction of
President Sullivan. of Queens college,
Cork. and they are of the deepest in
terest. The variety selected was that
known as the champion; the time of
planting was April II, 1881, the plats
wer= of the same SIZE. With no ma
nure, the gross yield per acre was 5
tons 16 cwt.; with 2 cwt. of bone to
the acre and mineral superphosphate.
b tots 10 cwt.; with bone meal, 4 cwt
to the acre, 10 tons 3 cwt; with Kahn
IT, only 2 cwt. to the acre, Ii tons, 10
cwt.; with farm yard manure, collected
in open yard, Ii tons Is cwt.; with
the same from closed pit, 16 tons Ii
cwt; American phosphate and Kainit,
ID tons 10 cwt. to the acre.