The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-28
About Killing Potatoes.

Most farmers hill their potatoes, saws
the American Cultivator They do this,
as we have done ourselves, when CON
WINGED that killing is always injurious,
and in a very dry season is almost always
fatal to the crop. It is impossible for
moderate summer rain, or even a violent
rain, to penetrate the potato hill so far as
to furnish moisture to the roots. rain
which fell slowly for twenty-four hours
might do this, but summer rains are not
often of that character The rain falls
heavily, COmpacts the surface and runs
off in the burrows between the rows made
by the killing These burrows are Just
where the feed roots of potatoes
should be, if the loose soil were not
earthed up around the hills.
Why do farmers thus run counter to
the plain laws of potato growth2 1t is US
ually to keep the potato growing out of
the ground and sunburning until the lar
ger part are worthless for marketing
Some potatoes naturally form tubers
nearer the surface than do other varie-
ties. Even those sorts that were most
Objectionable in this respect we would
not hill up as is usually done. II is COM
paratively a light task to 90 over a field
that has had a level culture and draw
with hoe little earth above potatoes
that appear above ground, rather than
to use shovel pillow, tearing to pieces the
feeding roots of potatoes between the
rows, on which the future growth of the
tubers depends. If, as usually happens,
the shovel blowing is delayed until tu-
bers are formed, the growth of these
tubers is at once arrested, and the result
at best is two crops of very small pota-
toes in each hill.
Too shallow planting of potatoes is the
common mistake. The shallow planted
potatoes undoubtedly come up quicker,
and if early potatoes are deep planted on
wet ground they may rot in the soil and
not come up at all, especially if fresh cut
But by partially drying the cut potato
seed 1t may be planted four or five inches
deep in April and come up every time.
This deep planting has its advantage in
allowing early cultivation before the DO
tatoeS are up. We commonly talk of
dragging the potato ground A cultivator
is set to scarify the surfare at a depth of
fully one inch in above the set. Then the
harrow may be put on to leave the sur
face as smooth as possible and keep the
soil moist.
The chief cause of light crops of pota-
toes is drouth and this is always most
| injurious on potatoes that are shovel
| plowed and hilled. More than once have
| we seen acres of potatoes whitening and
| dying in few days after the killing had
been finished, even though heavy rains
had fallen, which on level surface would
have maintained growth for several
| weeks.
1t is probably true that killing makes
easier digging, and it is partly owing to
the fact that in the hill the potatoes are
| fewer in number, and are necessarily
| punched in a heap. When they have
more room to spread the crop is increased
and proportionatlely the labor of digging.
All kinds of potatoes, even those whose
tubers are punched, will spread their
/ roots through the whole surface between
| the rows if the soil is not
scraped out so as to leave burrows In
| that case, of course, the roots are eraaped
and the crop is accordingly lessened.