The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1885-04-28

Tie Importance of the Crop and Need Of
Better Methods Ian Growing 1t.

Tile Importance of the Crop ana Need OF
Better Methods In Growing It.
More attention has been paid to the
cultivation and Improvement of this
than any other vegetable. grain OF crop
on the list of garden and farm pro-
ducts. This is no doubt due to- the
prominent place it takes in the food of
the people. We speak of oGr daily
bread" but the daily potato is as i'm
portant and necessary to the tables OF
all, rich and poor, all over the land
Every ore wants potatoes, yet she uni
verSal demand does not make them
a very printable crop except in certain
favored localities where the soil and
climate are Just suited TO their growth
The average Weld of this State at tn,
average price will bring not over thirty
dollars per acre. which, considering che
expense of cultivation and the labor o.
handling in excess of many Othel
crops, is not large return. Better
crops would bring larger returns and
better profits, and the thing to find out
is how To raise larger crops and be Ger.
tain of them. There is more diversity
of opinion in regard to the planting.
mode of preparing seed and cultiva-
ton of this crop than is true of any
other farm crop One plants early.
another late; one manureS with wei.
rotted and another with coarse, un-
fermented manure; one cuts the
seed to one eve; two eyes, seed
ends, stem ends and whole tubers,
large, medium and small; one hills
them, another prefers flat culture, ETC.,
to the end. Where there is so great
difference of treatment some one ought
TO find the right method, but all the
methods turn out very much the same
average results, and no one has vet
shown manifest superiority over all.
As farm crop from which TO expect
money return, the potato crop is not
considered reliable in most localities.
Ii is greatly dependent on the season,
Is drouth at the critical time when
tubers are forming viii limit the yield
on the best prepared soil and with the
best cultivation. For the general crop
shere is perhaps no better condition of
the soil than to turn under a clover sod
that has been well MANFRED previously
on the surface. Plow early and then
work with tillage implement that will
mellow the soil as deep as plowed. If
this is not done before planting, it can
never be done effectually. The tubers
will not grow in hard soil. no matter
how rich, and after planting the soil
can not be mellowed under and close
about the plants as thoroughly as be-
fore. Plant early and not too thick on
common soil. As before stated, no one
has learned for a certainty just what is
the best way to prepare the seed, but
that cut one eye to piece will 90 the
fartheSt and has proved as productive
as any method. One method of select
ing seed that would seem TO be in the
line of improvement Is when digging
to select for seed the most productive
hills and the best tubers in such hills.
This would be in the same line as to Sc
lect the most thrifty stock for breeding
purposes.
No doubt a lack Of care in selecting
seed has been the cause of the early de-
terioration of varieties and their ulti-
mate extinction, requiring the produc-
ton of new varieties. This has re-
suited only in keeping the product and
quality about the same as it was years
ago; in fact it is questionable if the
quality Is as good as then. The selec-
ton of varieties must be determined by
trial in each locality. Some varieties
do better in one soil and SOME in an
other, and il is impossible TO determine
which variety is best suited except BY
trial and that generally for more than
one season. Then, again, a VARIETY
that grows we'll may not be of good
quality. A trial of several varieties il
advisable as they come into notice. but
we would never. advise buying large
quantities at large prices of anything
new that has not been well tested.
OF late the scab, disease of the
skin of the potato or the work Ofsome
parasite or worm, which of these not
having been determined by the scien-
tific Investigators. has done much dam
age in many localities, in many cases
almost running the crop. Here is an
opportunity for the scientific depart
ment of an experiment station TO dis
tinguish itself and do.a great practi-
cal good to potato growers, by the dis
covery of the cause. and prevention OF
this malady.
There are many questions connected
with the harvesting and handling of
This bulky crop when grown in guam
titles for market which the intelligent
grower will solve for himself, as the
profit of the crop will sometimes turn
on the difference in methods of harvest
ing and neutrality-suspicious. Post