The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1869-01-28
Potato Culture.

OF late years potatoes have been one Of
the most profitable of staple farm crops
Owing to bulkiness, which renders theil
transportation to market costly, they are
| not extensively grown in localities remote
| from shipping points; their culture, on q
| large scale, is necessarily restricted to q
comparatively small class of farmers and
| area of territory This fact alone has
| prevented, and, doubtless, will prevent
the market from being frequently over
stocked, and prices ruinously low, 70. the
| potato can be successfully grown in as
various soils and climates, and yields, per
acre, as much human food as any other
| staple. Profitable potato culture requires
nearness of large urban populations,
either actually in point Of distance, or
practically by reason of facilities for ship
ping at q low rate, and with such favoring
conditions the farmer may safely count on
success. True, there will be occasional
seasons OF failure from drouth, disease or
glutted markets, but latterly these draw
backs occur less frequently than formerly,
and the farmer who "pursues the even
tenor of his way" meets with ample final
rewards.
Great advances have..been made, of late
years, in the more noted potato growing
districts, in the way of systematizing the
business. There is need Of this where one
farmer cultiVates annually from ten to fifty
acres. But little Of the work is now done
by hand, with the exception of digging
chiefly hand labor, but the covering and
after tillage may be done with horses and
proper implements. The potato plant de-
lights in fresh dirt, and, when young, it
may be covered like a weed and spring
fresher and stronger for the burial. The
one implement most needed is an efficient
digger; there are several competitors in
this line for public favor, but we know OF
none that are widely successful. Here is
a rich prize for some inventor to grasp,
and the potato growers will willingly
award it to him who shall relieve them Of
the severest and costliest labor attending
the culture.
AS there is always portion of the crop
below proper size for marketing, a sup
posed economy has led growers in general
to select their seed from the small potatoes.
Usually the extremely small speci
are of the average dimensions of
small hens egg. The wisdom
of this practice has often been questioned,
but experiments have proved that small
seed give as good results for single crops
as large, hence farmers have doubted the
economy of planting full grown tubers.
But there is another view to be taken of
the matter, which has escaped the atten-
ton of most cultiyators. The small pota.
toes are those which set and mature latest,
and if such are chosen for seed year after
year, the tendency is to make the period
of the ripening of the variety later. This
is illustrated in the Peach Blow potato
when first introduced it ripened earlier
than at present. Now, if planted as early
as possible it is hardly ripe when frost
kills the vines, and, on account of its late
ness in ripening, this most valuable sort
has grown to be one of the most difficult
of all to cultivate. We advise potato
grswers to reflect on this point. Plant
the earliest ripening specimens of vari-
ETY., as you would of corn, and, if practi
cable, procure full grown seed from ex-
IRENE Northern localities where the habit
of ripening early is fixed. In this way
we think marked improvement might be
made on some Of our best old standard I
sorts, and new ones kept from degener
Nep Yorker.