The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1888-04-13
Different Modes OF Potato Culture.

Nots great many years ago 10 was
the practice to plant whole potatoes in
such quantities as to form Quite large
percentage of the expected yield, which
has beel succeeded at the present time
10y the opposite extreme of planting
single eyes, leaving ample room be-
tween the two methods for cultivators
to experiment as to the amount OF seed
and the methods of cultivation from
which the best results may be obtained.
Owing to the short crop os last year,
seed Will be high, and it will be a good
time to plant whole small potatoes. such
as have been given to the pigs in plenti-
full years, and with many persons they
have all along beel preferred to cut
seeds. Planting Irish and Scotch
grown seeds is unsafe. as those who
ly represent them as unsu:ted to our
climate.
There is a gsneral agreement on rows
about three and half feet apart, with
hills twelve inches apart in the rows,
aud one or two eyes in a hill. while al
the same time occasional trials with
whole seed have yielded larger crops
but so long as cut seed proves satisfac-
tory majority will no doubt continue
Its use. 1t is Of no use to plaut pota-
toes on wet, Eeavy soil !; while the
ground should not be excessively rich.
1t should be clean, dry and mellow, and
generously fertilized. Where barn yard
manure is used, which contains all the
necessary elements, it should be well
rottsd and decomposed. as in its green
state 1t is liable to cause scabby pota.
toes where this is not plentiful some
reliable commercial article should take
its place. Another quite good plan il
to spread the barn yard manure and
plough 1t under. and at planting, drill
the commercial kind moderately in the
rows. This method is practiced in
many sections and by it the tubers gel
the advantages OF both kinds OF fertil-
izers, first from the quicker action o!
the highly concentrated one. and Later
on from that OF the barn yard, a mod
crate application of both being though,
better than the use of either one by it.
self.
A successful potato grower in Unior
county, New Jersey. says his practice
for several years has been to plant only
one eye to hill, cut from the butts ol
large potatoes, not using the other enc
with its more numerous eyes at all. He
puts in the rows GOO pounds of some
we'll known brand OF commercial ma
nuTe to the acre, mixes it with the dir,
In the rows by drawing chain through
before dropping the seed, and using nc
other kind. He has always had good
crops, even including the present un
favorable year, and believes he car
proHtably use ton to the acre of com.
mercial fertilizers whenever the aver
age price of potatoes in this section car
be obtained for his crop.
The potato has the habit of degener-
ating to degree that has caused the
times to become obsolete. 50 that even
their names are scarcely remembered
and some OF the more recent ones, such
as the Peach Blow and Early Rose. ara
giving ars to newer seeding varieties,
to be themselves displaced hereafter in
the same way. II we were dependent
on the tuoers alone for The propagation
of the potato this would be an alarm
ing fact. but fortunately we have ia the
seed the ready means of reiuvenating
the species, and the more than 500 new
varieties, many of them SURPRISING the
former excellencies OF the parent stock,
attest the success of potato specialists
in this direction.
In states where the crop can be har-
vested in May or June, and sometimes
as late as uly, it is becoming some
what common to raise q second crop BY
exposing the small potatoes to the air
but not to the sun--for a couple oi
weeks or longer, until they become dry
and green in color. These are theI
planted whole, and are dug in the fal
for seeds The next year. This seed hal
not the same tendency 10 sprout through
the winter from a warm cellar as the
fully matured tubers. AS the small
oues used in the summer for the second
planting are slow in terminating so soor
after being dug. they shonld be started
to sproutirg before being planted, by
putting them into barrels set in COO
place and sprinkling them daily and
covering the barrels with O damp cloth
until they show signs of terminating
Flat and hill culture each has its adyo
Gates farmers are more competent to
determine from their own experiments,
which is best for their own soils than
from sny advice that can be given.
For the same reason, no particular va
rieties will be recommended for seed,
except to say that for the main crop Sc.
iect the ones that from your own ex-
perience and that Of your neighbors you
know to be we'll adapted to your soil
and your market. This, however, is
not to be understood as discouraging
any one from testing in a moderate way
the new varieties confidently recon-
mended by well known specialists, as 1t