Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1874-05-08
Agricultural.

ABOUT PoTATOEs.-A sturdy old farmer from
a neighboring township dropped into our Office
recently, as is his custom, to take home his
weekly copy of the Village Record, and knowing
him to be one of the most successful growers of
potatoes in this vicinity, and always the first to
deposit a sample of his early varieties upon our
agricultural bureau, we invited him to let US
Know into the Secret of his success and as he
did not bind US to secrecy, we propose to let it
out Tor the benefit Of our agricultural readers
Accordingly we put three or four questions to
our old friend, which we annex, with his replies:
list. How is it that your potatoes are generally
in the market a week or ten days ahead of your
neighbors?
SIT is because take the trouble to encourage
them to come early. Every year watch Iar
those that come into blossom first and set stakes
by them, and before gathering the crop take
up all had thus marked, and the tendency of
this is to produce earlier ripening from the seed
thus selected than from the general crop. Hav-
ing pursued this system for the last three or four
years l think my Early Rose potatoes are gradu-
ally becoming constitutionally earlier in ripening
than those produced in the usual way.''
I'd. Have you any unusual method of prepar-
ing your ground so as to make it productive, as
well as tend to early maturity in your potatoesl
"For my rery early crop / select every fall
about half an acre of my cornstalk ground, plow
it deeply and top-dress moderately with manure
and let it lie on the ground all winter. Ground
thns treated is ready for working in the Spring
much earlier than if left unplowed durino the
winter, and am enabled IN nIant os coon .. ,ha
frost Is out of the
in the rows-preferring to spread broad cast and
plow under. know not the why or wherefore,
but experience has led me to believe that manur-
ing in the row stimulates to larger growth of
tops with tendency to produce numerous small
tubers, and prefer fewer good sized potatoes to
larger number of small ones. This supposed
result of manuring in the rows may be all a
tion Of mine, but the idea is in my head and will
be likely to stay there. l always select my most
mellow and d;y soil for potatoes, as it is labor
/ thrown away to plant them on heavy clay or wet
land. potato cannot grow and increase in
size when pressed down by compass soil any
more than an Infants foot would grow and e1-
pand when compressed in a hght leather boot"
Sd. How do you cultivate your potatoes
''I use the plow, hoe ard harrow, as necessity
IClulOo- As sOOU dS butJ pcCp ShS HNh
l run the drag harrow over them once-followed
by the cultivator ia couple of weeks or as soon
as the toy0 are three or four inches high. cul-
tivatc just deep enough to keep down weeds and
grass believing it to be injurious to the crop to
! disturb the roots in the least. AS soon as the
tops are full grown show signs OF blossoms,
| stop the cultiyator throw a shallow furrow to
each side of every row. This is necessary to
protect the Early Rose, Peerless, and other large
varieties which have a tendency to push up to
the surface from becoming sun-buInt. During
the remainder of the season handwriting is tie
only labor expended on the crops.'
4;h. Your potatoes are always dry and mealy.
Is this the effect of superior cultivation. or ma
tural to the varieties you grow?
81 attribute it in a great measure to allowing
them to become thoroughly ripe, aud then take
them up before the fall rains set in. There is
nearly as much difference between green and
ripe apple. Potatoes require longer season to
mature thoroughly than many of US are aware
of, and they should be planted early enough in
Spring to be ripe in August. When potatoes are
solid or soggy, as general rule it is because
they are unripe or have been exposed to soaking
|
served popularity of Early Rose potatoes to the
fact that they ripen early and are gathered and
stored away before they become affected by cold
September rains"
5th Have you ever been troubled with potato
rot?
"Very little, and | account for it by early
planting, so that my crop ripens in the dry
weather of August and escapes the cold fall
rains. gather them when the ground is tho
roughly dry, and store them in this condition in
a wel-yentilated cellar. 1t is just as important
l that potatoes get not too warm, as get not too
cold, when stored in large quantities. In some
! seasons when the rot has prevailed badly in the
! neighborhood have busted air-slacked lime over
them, but whether it did any good or not 1 am
unable to say. II did no harm at any rate.''
supposlng ourselves to be pretty well booked
up on the ''potato question" by this time, we
thanked our old friend for his good nature under
our inaiction, and invited him to call again
when we would catechise him about some of his
other fine crOps.-Record.