Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1894-05-07

Chapman, of New York. The largest
part of the potato crop must be grown
within few miles of a shipping sta
tion, as the bulk makes too much cost
for hauling long distances. Thirty
bushels at twenty cents per bushel,
where but one load can be drawn per
day, little more than pays the cost OF
hauling. Do not be handicapped
from the start in planting ground un'
suited, or lily prepared.
Potatoes require mellow soil; depth
and looseness are more necessary than
richness. The poor hemlock, yellow
land of Tioga County, New York,
yields the finest potatoes brought to
the New York market. With me
phosphates have proved valueless;
horse manure spread on clover sod
year previous to planting is the best
preparation. The land is plowed in
the fall, twice dragged in the spring,
with spring tooth harrow The
drills are marked out three feet apart
with two-horse reversible plow, let.
ting the plow run as deep as when the
land was first plowed, turning all fur.
rows down hill, which forms bank
on the lower side. Where land is
steep the soil cannot be worked up to
the hill from the lower side. The
other way is marked with narrow
toothed marker, which drags some
fine earth back into the furrow, which
makes perfect seed bed.
The cut seed is dropped and stepped
on by boys. With the same plow and
one horse walking in the trench, the
seed is covered, throwing the soil the
same way as before, not back. The
tubers are covered six to eight inches
deep and the ground is two-thirds re-
plowed. The potatoes will be long
time in coming up, will escape the
first crop of bugs, will withstand
drouth, can be narrowed several times,
and, best of all, will be strong, rank
growers, soon shading the ground
with their foliage. | have never yet
found new tuber below the piece
planted, nor above that point on the
stalk which first saw the light, no
matter how much soil was piled around
it afterwards. Therefore it is best to
plan SO as to have long bearing stem,
with tubers attached far enough from
each other to expand fully, instead of
hat full of the size of hens eggs at
tached to two inches of stalk.
From the time the potatoes are plant
ed until they break through the
ground, they are dragged several times
with heavy two-horse spring drag,
drawn in the same direction they were
covered, but not across the burrows.
This levels down the two burrows par
TALLY, and forms rounded hill, COM
pletely mellows the soil in the hill,
kills all weeds, can be done by boy
at a very small expense, as compared
with cost of cultivating, and is infinite
ly better in the quality of work done.
By this process no hoe ever goes into
the field, nor any sunburned potatoes
come out. The root growth is enor-
nous; some of the roots are twenty
inches long before any tubers have set.
The after cultivation is very shallow
to keep the ground from trusting over
after rains, and to keep the soil fine
and mellow, so as to serve as mulch
in times of drouth.
Select some large yielding, medium
late, disease resisting, long white po.
tato, and the battle is half won. Round
potatoes are not favorites in the mar
ket, and peal to waste Do not let
your seed sprout. In trial row I cut
the seed early last season, placed it in
crates and covered it with land plaster,
which kept it cool; when planted the
buds were swollen full, but not enough
to break off, Thus treated, it gave
the largest yield of any of my trial
rows. My rule is to seed according to
the quality of the land The poorer
the land the farther apart the hills,
and the less seed. American Agricul-
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