Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1915-08-31
Selection of Seed Potatoes.
a FARMER SPEAKS FROM RESULTS OF
YEARS EXPERIENCE.

Daniel Dean in New England Homestead)
By carefully digging a field OF potatoes
have found that the poorest hills pro-
duce more small tubers and the best
hills mainly large ones. Diseased hills
give light yields, and the tubers in them
are mainly small. l have selected bills
for seed for II years, always choosing the
best yielding. | now get less than per
cent of small in good seasons, even
though the hills are planted only a foot
apart, to produce the medium-sized
stock demanded by city markets.
Farmers use small seed because it is
cheap. While it is possible that the in
creased yield from the use of large seed
might not pay the extra cost, the use Of
small seed year after year increases the
proportion of weak and diseased hills,
the yield diminishes, and the variety
runs out. Many scientific experiments
have almost always shown better yields
from large than from small seed when
sorted in the usual way. The use of
large seed produces better crop and
better seed at an increased cost. Often
farmers buy new varieties which produce
well at first, because the seedsmen have
grown them, using large seed and having
had good winter storage conditions. The
yield often falls down as soon as handled
under the usual farm conditions.
Selecting seed according to an ideal
type for each variety would be of i'm
mense value il we were certain just what
points in the appearance Of a tuoer were
reliable indications Of it's value as seed.
The Uncle Sam variety varies all the way
from smooth, fiat-oval shape to longer
aud rougher type, the vine and flower
being the same. once selected the hills
which were smooth, discarding those
longer and rougher. The yield COM
pared to other varieties declined so rap
idly that it was apparent that the poor
looking hills were the ones that bad
given the yield. With the Rural this
same smooth type is found in the best
hills and is the best seed. Tubers longer
and narrower than the usual type OF any
variety are 10 be regarded with suspicion
in most years, especially il the eyes are
longer than usual and clustered closely
around the seed end. Prof. Z. l.. Fitch
of the Iowa station states that fiatness
and relative shortness are the result OF
healthy growth and are signs of strength.
For the present we are not warranted
in depending too much on any rigid type
as a means of selecting the best seed po-
tatoes. Anyone making tuber-unit test
will be greatly surprised at the variation
between units, although the seed tubers
may have been as nearly alike as 1t was
possible to select from the bin.
SAVING HILLS WITH LARGE TOPS.
Large tops are often believed to be an
indication of large yield. This is often
advocated and appears at first sight to
be probable. However, my experience
with over so varieties in IL years of seed
selection is that hills with large tops are
seldom the best yielders. Selection on
the basis of yield of tubers to the hill
has practically eliminated the large tops.
One season tested strain of Green
Mountain, sent me by an experiment sta
ton, that had been selected for large tops
and blight resistance. Results showed
that these qualities had been secured at
the cost of low yield. Prof. W. A. Or
ton, one of our best disease experts,
believes large and late growing tops may
indicate that the plants have been in-
jured by too great heat. | have seen
them in white-sprout, blue-sprout and
Irish Cobbler varieties. As these are
almost unstable in large cities this is
another objection to saving hills with
large tops.
A few years ago there was demand
for blight resistance. Sometimes these
late growing hills were saved on that ac-
count. One of the best potato authori-
ties, Prof F. Fl. Bsllou, stated: Little
is gained by selecting parent hills OF po-
tatoes on the basis of disease resistance
of the plants over selection of parent
hills because of superior individual
yields. The later growing bills simply
demonstrate that there develops through
natural plant variation these tardy, de-
liberate, slow-maturing strains which
should not be mistaken for strains OF
special disease resistance"
In 1914, the set in my field was small
and the tubers large. In 1905, there were
too many in the hill and the crop ran
small. In 1910, one field had small set
and another planted with the same seed
the same day, but with light sandy soil,
set nearly twice as many TO the hill.
Most potato diseases reduce the yield
of the affected hills. Removing hills
with fusarium wilt, black-leg, leaf-roll,
curly -dwarf, ETC., leaves healthy seed
stock which will give better yield the
next year than if the diseased hills are
left. Particularly is this true where
small seed is planted, since diseased hills
produce many small potatoes. Some of
these diseases also infect the soil and
attack potatoes for years after. This
digging must be done before the healthy
tops die. Work is usually not pressing
at this time; the extra expense is small,
as these hills would have to be dug and
picked up later anyway.
METHODS OF SECURING SEED.
take good-sized tubers of nearly
equal size from the bin. These are quar-
tered lengthwise and planted in adjoining