The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1896-04-04
FARMER AND PLANTER.
POTATO LESSONS
BY q Kentuckian Who Processes to Know
What He Ia alking About

BY a Kentuckian Who Processes to Know
What He Is ai1ing About.
In recent letter from Column ia,
Tenn, setting forth the achievements
and possibilities of that town, the
statement is made that the county in
which it is situated (Maury) produces
annually about 400, 900 barrels (sa5..
600 bushels) of Irish potatoes, of which
200, 600 barrels are grown in the spring
and 900 second crop are grown in
the fall. No doubt these figures are
liberal estimate; but, discounted one
half, they would exceed, five-fold, the
potato yield of any county in Kentucky,
excepting jefferson. There are other
counties in Te- see besides Maury
that grow potatoes on large
seale-the most notable il Sum-
ner, of which Gallatin is the county
seat. These two countries together
produce nearly as many potatoes in the
spring as the market gardeners around
Louisville, and their influence on the
market is well recognized here. We
are always glad when the Tennesseeans
quit shipping and leave the markets
north of the Ohio river to us.
The point l wish to make is. that
there are many counties in Kentucky
just as rich as the two Tennessee coun-
ties mentioned and just as favorably
situated as regards railroad trans
portation-in fact being nearer the
cities that do the buying and eating.
The Kentucky counties have an
advantage of the location that more
than offsets Tennessee's advantages in
earliness Why early potatoes have
not been more extensively grown as a
money crop in the richer parts of Ken
lucky has often puzzled me- t must
be that 1t has simply so happened that
no enterprising farmers have demon
strated the merits of the business.
That there Is more money in 1t than In
wheat corn or any other ordinary farm
crop there can be no manner of d lbt;
and with the use of modern machinery,
especially the planters, which are
perfect implements, the labor and
expense are reduced almost to
insignihcance. One man and two
horses, with a planter, can In
one full day lay off, fertilize, drop
and cover five acres of potatoes. l have
exceeded this with second man to
keep the hopper and fertilizer attach
ment supplied. As the potatoes are
coming up narrowing with 14-foot
harrow kills the young weeds, and
after that, with perhaps once over with
weeder, nothing remains to be done
until digging time, save TO give few
civilizations once in the row and one
good going over with Paris green for
the bugs For the latter work there
are several paris green guns that
will dust the plants at the rate of five
to ten acres day.
l grew both corn and potatoes last
year, and the latter required less work
than the former. For the potatoes
Louisville shippers paid me an average
of 81. so a barrel, delivered in bulk at
the cars; for the corn, had | sold 1t,
would have received % cents bushel.
got 70 barrels of potatoes to the acre
"a light crop for land MANFRED as
mine was-the season being unusually
dry The corn yielded me IS bushels
to the acre, rain having come at the
right time for that crop By addition
and subtraction here were the COM
parative results per acre:
70 barrels potatoes at 81 go ......S112 90
b bushels corn at % cents secs. :. ...... 81 25
In favor of potatoes ...................".S9 90 rs
OF course / made an outlay for ma
nure on the potato land-about $50 an
acre-and paid ten cents barrel for
digging, but it will be plainly seen that
1t would have taken good deal more
corn or good deal less potatoes to
have brought the two crops to an equal
ity. And then the potatoes were off
the ground by July 4, and on August
l planted a second crop and got the
full benefit of the manure had used.
Clover land will make good crop of
potatoes without the use of stable ma
nure or commercial fertilizers.
But Kentucky farmers, in order to do
as well as the Tennesseeans, must prac-
tiee the same methods. They must use
second-crop seed of the best-tested
early varieties. they must plant them
as soon as the ground can be worked in
March or early April, and they must
dig and sell as the tubers are large
enough, not waiting until the vines are
dead. The market for our potatoes is
In the north, before the northern grow
ers have crops ready to sell. Even
without planter early potatoes are
paying crop, and no farmer can miss
the mark by giving them trial on an
experimental scale this season. -Jno.
G. Pearce, in Farmers Home journal.
lnhEN DEE