The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1882-03-16
Early Potatoea

1t is about time for putting in early potatoes
| and the old favOrite, Early Rose, still holds its
| place at the front. 1t NAV he inferior to some
Of the new varieties. but there is one thing in
| favor of the Early Rose that all will admit, and
that is the usual certainty of a crop. There are
| hut few exceptions regarding the reliability of
the Early Rose, and it must be very unfayor-
able season, indeed, when they do not reward
| the grower for his trouble. Another peculiarly
! is that when the tops are dead the Potatoes are
there, and this cannot be said of all others the
Peachblow, which is late variety, first gives
/ 4 very vigorous growth of vine, and form the
/ potatoes afterward. At times they show no
signs OF tubers until almost at the period of ma
| turity of vine, and they to hurry up the
! tubers as if they had been forgotten. They are
| good keepers, and are hard to beat as a late
variety. The bugs are very partial TO the Peer
! less, and attack that variety in preference to
/ others, yet sighting none. With the first
| growth OF the potato above ground the bugs be-
gin work. AT this stage the bugs should he
picked in preference TO sprinkling with Paris
green, as the poison is somewhat injurious TO the
vines when very young. IL manipulating be-
comes too difficult, which is noticed on the ap-
| pearauce of the Matching of the eggs. the Paris
| green must he applied. Always mix il with fine
dry plaster in preference to flour, the plaster
| is very beneficial to potatoes. We formerly
| alluded to the fact that some growers claimed
| that their crops had been increased by the use
| of Paris green. What increased them was the
| plaster, and it is a doubtful question as TO
whether the bugs are an injury or a benefit, ON
| that account They have brought plaster into
use on potatoes and the consequence is, pro-
| duce more potatoes than formerly, despite the
bugs. In using plaster, always put asprnkling
on the ground around the plant well as on
the vine 1t will he an additional benefit.
Ashes are excellent for potatoes and should be
broadcasted after the seed is in, the heavy
ground, or scattered on the sandy soil.
Regarding the new varieties, it is best to pro-
cure only pound for experiment. Try them
I IL, II, II I
varieties. The reason is that no farmer can re-
commend to another at distance which is the
more preferable variety, soils and other con-
ditions may not be the same. A Western paper
publishes new method of getting the best re-
suits from potatoes which is worthy of a trial
We give il only for what it il intended by the
one who discovered it, which is that Others
would use il and report results. IL is well
known that early potatoes are not always fully
matured, and the larger ones are often taken
from the hill while the smaller are left
This robbing process Injuries the growth of those
left, and they never arrive at perfection. If the
grower, however, will dig mp all his potatoes
large and small-he can select the larger ones
and market them, and then Immediately the
small ones for seed, by putting them in the
ground for a second or late crop. They should
be cut in halves and put in thickly, as many of
them will not sprout. After they M they
must be thinned out if too thick. Ifput on the
same ground as the first crop, a fertilizer is re-
quired in addition TO that originally applied.
We are not familiar with the above process, hut
will experiment with it this season, and give
our readers the benefit of it at the proper time
Potatoes should be kept clean and grass and
weeds not allowed even to sprout. They require
at times a certain amount of moisture, and if a
weed gets place among them it appropriates
not only the moisture but the nourishment
The ground should be kept as loose as possible
without disturbing them. The common prac-
tice of digging up the hill or row is radical,
for the roots, when torn to pieces. must stop to
shoot out in other directions which more or less
checks the growth of the tubers. In sandy soils
plant deep and hill up well, destroying the crab
grass that so persistently shoots up. In select
ing fine seed, see that it is sound and good, cut
to two eyes, let dry for day or two, sprinkle
with plaster, and plant. In heavy soils, espec-
tally, put the manure on top, especially if it is
coarse il assists to keep the surface loose and
in light soils it is partial protection against
drouth and extreme heat. That is the reason
why the top application is preferred Manure
for potatoes should be good, but the hest ne
sults will be obtained when well-rotted manure
is mixed with coarse litter, or ANYTHING that
lightens the soil. Never use fresh manure. Fer
tiliZers are better for potatoes than anything