BT ho 2 ORLD NEWS IN PICTURES - AE = (1) Launching the Shamrock IV. at City Island, New York, May 26, 1920. (2) Princess Mary inspecting Guard of Honor of Red Cross Division, (3) A novel method o? transporting the Royal swans; they are going from England to South Wales, A present from King George. (4) Major Lockett, selected by Eng- land as captain of the English Polo Team, in contest with America. (5) Salvaging a seaplane at Felix Stone, England, in which four lives were lost. The seaplane Was Ccarry- ing 45 passengers and a crew of § i while at practice nose-dived inte the sea about half a mile from th beach. . (6) Llamas are a novel seaside ate traction for children at Folkestone, England, ' (7) Children of notables who danced at Australia House for the Royal Caledonia Charity Fair, (8) Dignity vs. Impudence.--A youth- ful messenger inquires the way from & Guardsman, 4 R oy courresy or c.o & 'say their yields have been from 3 "Never had a crop failure in sew. enty-five years." Such a record is good enough for any country and for any crop, and it might be inferred that the assertion Was made in re- ference to some country that had been settled for generations, But it does not. It refers to a part of West- ern Canada, a country of which the tioa, and is still going on. The crop that has never failed in three-quar- ters of a century is potatoes--theé homely spud--and the district in which they have been ETOWND success- fully for so long a period surrounds Edmonton--the capital city of the Province of Alberta. This district is acquiring for fts potatoes a reputation far beyond the limit of its immediate neighborhood. Farmers here may not be able to ETOw oranges and lemons and grape fruit, but they are growing spuds and sending them where those fruits are grown, and probably making as much money out of them as the other fel- lows are out of their oranges. This nay seem a tall statement, but it must. be remembered that for the capital invested the former has much more land to grow his potatoes on them than the latter has to grow his oranges on. Consignments of Alberta Potatoes have this year been sent to California, Washington, Idaho, Mon- tana, Missouri, Illinois, North Dakota and Minnesota, as well as to the east- ern provinces of Canada and British Columbia. 1 The peculiar qualities of the soil a.d the climate that have made Western Canada's grain famous ali over the world no doubt, have some- thing to do with the excellence of the potatoes grown here. The early set- tiers who grew potatoes seventy-five years ago on the land--where now the magnificent buildings of the Pro- vincial Government stand--noted the excellent) qualities of their ¢rop and the heavy yields; and so have those who have grown them in the sur- rounding country ever since in stead- ily increasing quantities. At first only sufficient for domestic use were grown; then with the coming of the railway outside points began to be supplied and In 1917 an export trads | was begun. The success of the potato industry Central Alberta is due to four ex- cellent qualities which tubers grown here possess; they yield heavily, they are free from disease, they cook well and they are good eating. Moreover, growers are not troubled with the potato bug, that spoiler of 'many crops in other parts of the continent. Those who have been growing pota- toes on a fairly large scale, planting from fifty to sixty acres annually to 500 bushels to the acre. These are yields that will compare favorably with any obtained anywhere. And the eagerness with which these pota- toes are bought by buyers from all parts of the continent is sufficient evidence of their quality, The potato industry in Central Al- be however, is still in its Infancy. It is only during the last year or two that any steps have been taken to -- LAUNCHING SHAMROCK 1V. (1) The Farmer Takes Pride in his Potato Field. 2) In an Alberta Potato Field. ascertain the best varieties to grow. | For a long time almost every farmer grew a different variety of potato, | #0 that when carloads were required | they had to be made up of mixed lots. This naturally resulted in the grow- er receiving a lower price than If a few | standard varieties had been | grown. Expert advice was sought The experts agreed that the country was exceedingly well adapted to p tato growing and reached the conc! = sion that if the number of varieties should be reduced to one or two of the best suited to the district, the in- dustry would be immeasurably ad- | vanced. | This matter of finding the most suitable varieties of potatoes was | {taken up by thé faculty of agricul- |ture of the University of Alberta. In | 1914 Professor E. A. Howes, Dean of 50 | the faculty, distributed nine varie- ties of seed potatoes among a number of farmers. A careful record was made of the growth and 'yield and after they were harvested a cooking test was made. The "Wee Magre- | gor" was proved to be the best all- | around potato,-and Carman No. 1 the | second best Ninety per cent of the farmers in the district are now grow- | ing these two varieties, and the de- | mand for their potatoes has since | increased a hundredfold. Experiments are still being con< ducted at the University chiefly with a view of finding the best conditions under which the potatoes should be grown and the best form of rotation. It has been found. that potatoes fol lowing corn yield 171 bushels more than when grown following oats, the acre yield being 629 bushels and 458 bushels respectively. The growing importance of the ine dustry led to the formation last Feb ruary of a potato growers' associa tion. The objects of this association are to encourage the members to grow as high a quality of potatoes as' possible, to find'thie best markets for their crops, and, if necessary, to establish a co-operative marketing system. During the winter months lectures' on the best methods of growing potatoes have been given: and at all times the associat'on keeps in touch with and assists in the ex~ perimental work of the Provincial Jovernment. The association Ras bee Eun by making thé quality 'dea pro minent. They have adopted a high standard and intend to maintain It With such a standard and in a coune try which As developing so rapidly as Western Canada is. the industry is sure of a steady growth, hp