The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-03-24
THE AGRICULTURAL WORLD
MATTERS OF MOMENT TO The
RURAL READERS.
Instructive Notes Regarding the
Culture Of Why Pigs
are Scarce--Farm'F ertiliza-
tion--ShalloW Culture Of
Corn--A Few Pointers.
Instructive Notes Regarding Pota-
toes.


Instructive Notes Regarding Pota-
Prof. J.. Troop, Of Indiana Expert
ment Station La Fayette, Ind, writes
Orange Judd Farmer: Farmers are
beginning to inquire concerning the
best varieties of potatoes to plant, ETC.,
and query now before me reads in
this way: what varieties Of potatoes
do you consider the best, and what
kind of fertilizers should be used in Or
der to produce the best results?' Po-
tatoes will not always give equally
good results on all kinds Of soils, much
of which is doubtless due to the
| pressure Of excessive moisture or alb
sence Of the proper kinds of elements
IN the soil. Many of these questions
can be best answered by the farmer
| by trying experiments in small way
N order to determine whether his soil
is deficient in either Of the principal
elements Of plant food which are es-
sential to the production Of a maxi
mum crop of potatoes. The three prin-
cipal elements, and those most liable to
OCCOA0 cAAduSICu NY CiOIpluS, UlC
potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen.
On new land, land which has been re-
Gently cleared, these elements are
usually present in abundance, and
every farmer knows that such land,
under ordinary circumstances, will
| usually produce an abundant crop of
potatoes without further enriching.
But it often happens that one OF more
of these substances becomes exhausted
by cropping, and it is necessary to re-
sort to barn manure or commercial
fertilizers to supply the deficiency.
Good barn manure contains all the
elements Of plant food, but often in
varying quantities. II, therefore, the
farmer wishes to ascertain the true
condition of his soil, so far as these
elements are concerned, he must use
fertilizers of known strength, and use
them separately as well as in cOmbina-
ton These are found on the market
in the form Of sulphate or muriate of
potash, bone black OF bone meal, and
nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia,
etc. To make a test of this kind take
| five plats Of equal size and apply broad
cast at the following rate per acre:
To plat /, $50 pounds Of sulphate of
potash, $50 pounds Of bone black. $50
pounds of nitrate of soda, all combined.
On plat apply just One-haf this
amount This will give a hint as to
actual amount needed by the crop. On
plat 3 omit the potash, applying the
other two as before. On plat omit
the bone black and on plat omit the
| nitrate of soda. The results at harvest
time will show whether the soil is de-
ficient in one or more Of these ele-
| ments, and which one. Such an expert
ment as this can be tried by almost
any farmer at slight cost, and in many
cases at least, the information obtained
concerning the condition and needs of
his soil will be worth many times the
cost Of the experiments. If, however,
this is thought to be too much trouble,
| then a complete fertilizer should be
| used.
Our varietal tests in 1892 comprise
more than one hundred varieties, and
| we're conducted on a rather heavy,
black, sandy loan, underlaid with
gravel; not first-class potato soil. yet,
as will be seen, the yields were quite
| satisfactory in most cases. OF the
whole number tested there are proba-
| bly, twenty-five varieties which have
not proved Of any special value on our
soil. Below is given a list Of twenty
| five of our best varieties which have
been grown in the same field for four
years in succession. And also twenty
| 1--WE varieties which were grown here
| for the first time last season, the most
of which seem to be excellent. 1t will
be noticed that the yield of those
grown but single season Tin the first
column) is much greater than the 9th
sarc. q fact which Wo have noted hp-
| fore, and which serves to prove again
| the ACCESSIBILITY Of changing seed often.
Table Showing Yield Per Acre.
| Varieties Grown One, Year
Bushels.