River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-04-02
Potatoe Raising.

Necessary to the production Of a
good yield of potatoes is good soil,
good seed, good cultivation and hav-
ing them well protected from bugs.
Nearly all soil in this state can be
made to produce a good paying crop
of good potatoes.
Over much exhausted soil must be
regenerated before good crop can be
grown. L have tried different meth
DDS and find barnyard manure the
quickest, best and surest way of pre-.
pairing land FOR potatoe crop.
Glover sod is good, clover sod and
barnyard manure are better. Tim
othy sod is not good" Do not plant
the same piece of land twice, my ex-
perience having been more trouble
with bugs aud more liable to scab.
prefer to plant in drills 30 inches
apart, 5 to inches deep and 10 to II
inches apart in the drill.
Seed to be cut to one or two eyes,
and not too small. Potatoes for seed
should not be allowed to heat or
sprout. Move them or turn them
which will prevent sprouting.
Temperature of all vegetables should
run 80 to 50 degrees. Keep a Their.
mometer in your root house. Cut
seed one or two days only before plant.
ing, as much seed fails by being cutl
piled or sacked.
l plant with the AspinwalI planter,
which makes its own drill and does its
own marking. Plant or make rows
perfectly straight on account of ease
in cultivation and sprinkling or bug
killing, as well as looks. To me it is
a pleasure to see neat, clean, straight
planted field of potatoes or any other
crop. l use three 1200lb. horses and
a good man. The machine does per
feet work.
Roll the ground Immediately after
planting, to pack or firm the dirt that
the soil may be kept moist. Never
open drills ahead of planting. Kill all
weeds by repeated narrowing until
the plant is visible, then cultivate,
turning the soil to the plant. Harrow
and cross harrow. Keep weeds down
by repeated cultivation until the
plants begin to blossom.
Cultivate level and hand pull all
weeds left, which costs me about Sl.25
per acre. Potato and all hoed crops
should be clean and free from weeds,
as it pays at harvest time and for fu-
ture crops that are to be grown on the
land.
Bugs must be kept off as the full
foliage is vital to the plant.
Two pounds of Paris green to six
barrels of water applied to plants
when dry, will destroy bugs in from
one TO three applications. as the case
may require. 1t is much easier to de-
strOy them when first Matched. use
a 6-barrel tank, the teamster sprink-
ling two rows at a time, and boy to
stir to keep the Paris green from set.
thing.
Most of bug killing can be avoided
by heavy fertilizing and late planting,
and much labor can be saved in de-
stroying weeds by late planting.
Do not plant until the ground is
warm that the plant may come up Wig
orous and strong. 1t is the small and
slow of growth plant that is destroyed
by bugs.
Some years since | asked Mr.. j. NJ.
Smith what he used to kill the cab
bage worm, he replied, nothing, and
said, force my cabbage so that the
worms cannet harm them. This led
me to try the same method on my po-
tatoes. Last season | did not use 10
pounds of Paris green on so acres.
The year before not any on the same
amount of land. On land adjoining
they used 100 pounds on Is acres.
| plant for winter use from June
10th to Goth. My best crop last sea-
son was planted the 9th of June, on
clover land, well MANFRED. harvest
ed on this piece 225 bushels per acre,
early varieties being used of course in
all late planting.
Dig when ripe and not until ripe.
Potatoes are not ripe or fit for market
when the skin will not rub in hand
ling. Green potatoes are not profit
able to the grower, the buyer, nor the
consumer. Our prices are badly de-
moralized every season by the green
stuff sent to markell Wisconsin Ag-
ricstlturist.