The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-11-19

and the exercises Of Judgment along
al these lines for man to know with
anything like precision whether Ii. Is
pest tosextend or curtail his opera lions
along certain lines Of crop prod ton
& Tor any particular year. Jumping at
B conclus ions or following along IN an
old rutis style Of farming that ought
to be obsolete in this day and age Of
the world S II
IS there is any one expression that
describes the successful farmer Of to-
/ day It is that Of being up to the times.
/ Others things being equal the up-with-
sthe-times farmer is found in the lead
every day and everywhere. Some
farmers are always waiting for an op-
portunity, but there are others who
make a business Of manufacturing OPP
portunities a good and favorable sea-
son for crop growing is not the only
thing that pushes prosperity into
farmers doorway. Let the farmer fol-
low his best Judgment with an eye out
Tor the main chance always, and he is
pretty apt to succeed, provided his
Judgment is an intelligent Judgment.
81 Harvesting and storing Potatoes
The potato crop should be allowed to
get entirely ripe before being dug. AZ
ter the tubers are matured they should
be harvested without delay. The large
four-horse diggers are the most eco
nomlcal to use. It is hardly possible to
sort a crop properly in the field. If
only a small force is run and a ma
chine is employed, fair job may be
done. The sorting is a very important
matter and requires the most careful
attention. A crop rightly sorted is
more than half marketed. No one
should attempt to top a sack with big
potatoes, putting small ones in the bot
tom. 1t always " orks injury The
only way is to make a sack good all
through .@s
+ AtWo-inch screen is the smallest that
should be used All rough and scabby
potatoes should be thrown out and the
grade made as nearly uniform as posi-
BILE. Storing potatoes is least under
stood Of any feature Of the business
The very heavy shrinkage generally
claimed to follow storing may not be
more than the truth, but it is unneces
sary. If man expects to sell dirt, and
counts it a loss if he dosn't sell ten or
fifteen pounds in every sack, he had
better not store his crop. Thoroughly.
ripe potatoes may be stored and kept
until March / at loss not to exceed 5
per cent. In order to do this, man
must have dugout in which he can
control the temperature absolutely It
should be kept within a range Of six or
eight degrees upward from % degrees
above zero. The Field and Farm last
week had very good article on the.
construction of potato cellars.
More loss occurs from heating than
from all other sources put together.
After all. storing is a risky business.
My plan for keeping seeds is this: As
soon as the weather begins to get
warm in the spring I spread the seed
out about good foot deep over the
floor of the dug-out and shovel it over
about once in ten days, to keep it cool.
In this way am able to plant seed
which is as solid and free from sprouts
as when it was dug in the fall How
best to market potatoes is question
I with every season. Every ear seems
to present some Lew obstacle to this
branch Of the business. The greatest
drawback is excessive transportation
rates.
But the question proper is, shall q
farmer sell to local dealers or ship his
crop, at his own risk AID responsible
ity? Strong competition between local.
tiles has tended to cut down the deal.
ers margins until there is not big
money in the business; at least, not in
seasons like the present. Yet, if a
! farmer, or a number Of farmers, have
a large quantity of tirst-clss SIS potatoes,
it will certainly pay them to ship. For
myself, | always ship my crops, and
make it pay me exceedingly WELL The
principal thing, however, to be kept in
mind in selling potatoes is to never
offer anything but first-class stock.-A.
B. Fowler, in Field and Farm.