and note the earliest shoots, the first cutting
of which was made April 13th. The patch was cultivated during summer as
before, except that the size of the plants interfered somewhat--many of
the plants growing six feet high and correspondingly broad. During the
fall the north half of each variety was manured, at the rate of fifty
loads per acre, with strong barnyard manure, and in the spring the
effect was noted.

"The following table gives results as shown by the records of ten
cuttings made the spring of 1897, from April 20th to May 19th,
inclusive; varieties averaged in order of yield:

========================================================================
VARIETIES | YIELDS IN POUNDS
240 feet of row in each, one-half manured +---------+-----------+-------
and one-half unmanured |_Manured_|_Unmanured_|_Total_
------------------------------------------+---------+-----------+-------
1 Hub | 31 | 27 | 58
2 Donald's Elmira | 29 | 29 | 58
3 Vick's New Mammoth | 26 | 20 | 47
4 Palmetto | 20 | 18 | 39
5 Moore's Cross-bred | 19 | 15 | 35
6 Conover's Colossal | 16 | 17 | 33
7 Barr's Philadelphia Mammoth | 17 | 16 | 33
8 Columbian Mammoth White | 18 | 13 | 32
9 Dreer's Eclipse | 16 | 14 | 30
10 Giant Purple Top | 15 | 14 | 29
+---------+-----------+-------
Totals | 207 | 183 | 394
========================================================================

"Of the two heaviest yielding varieties, Hub and Donald's Elmira, the
last named is the earliest, though Hub is also quite early. As nearly as
can be judged from the notes, the ten varieties rank for earliness about
as follows, though all kinds yielded something at the first cutting:

{10 Giant Purple Top.
{ 7 Barr's Philadelphia Mammoth.
{ 2 Donald's Elmira.

{ 6 Conover's Colossal.
{ 3 Vick's New Mammoth.
{ 1 The Hub.
{ 9 Dreer's Eclipse.

4 Palmetto.
5 Moore's Cross-bred.
8 Columbian Mammoth White.

"Those included within a brace have little or no difference of s