The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-04-20
Growing Potatoes.


growth under like conditions. Some
varieties of potatoes succeed best by
cutting the seed fine--to one or two
eyes-while other varieties seeded as
light will fail of growing the best
crop. Hence this diversity of practice.
Not conversant with this fact, one
farmer stumbles on to varieties which
succeed best with light seeding and
favors the practice Unfortunately,
while another, failing because the va
riety he grows requires heavier seed.
ing, condemns the practice altogether
and says, "No light seeding for mel"
AS far as my experience goes in
growing potatoes, such varieties as
Early and Late Rose, Early Maine,
New Queen, Everett, Dakota Red, etc.,
seed containing one or two eyes is
preferable to more. But as varieties
differ greatly in regard to habits of
growth, without previous knowledge of
the peculiarities of a variety it is not
always safe to cut seed to single eyes.
The great prize crop of potatoes
grown in this state by Mr.. Coy of
Aroostook county, were grown from
seed cut to single eyes; variety the Da-
kota Red; yield 73S bushels on small
fraction less than an acre. Competing
in this contest other farmers succeeded
in growing immense crops of potatoes
on a single acre, and remember noting
at the time with the tabulated state
ments before me, that large part of
the largest crops were grown from seed
cut to one and two.eye pieces. How
ever, this does not prove that the plan
of cutting seed potatoes fine may be
adopted as general rule. 1t proves
that with the particular varities grown
by which such remarkable results were
reached, the single and double-eye cut
was the best.
The handsomest and largest crop of
potatoes l ever raised was grown from
seed cut to the single eye-variety, the
Early Maine, a potato very popular in
the East, few years ago, and justly
30, from its uniform good quality, form
and color, the latter pinkish white.
They were planted one piece in hill,
eight inches apart, In rows thirty inches
apart, the seed cut from the strongest
eyes, discarding most of the eye-end of
the potato.
One good, strong eye cut down to
thO SOhtcl VI euo pOtotO Will oouu up
three or four vigorous sprouts. This
is enough for single hill. More than
this is detriment. But not every eye,
no matter how carefully the selection
is made when cutting the seed, will
throw up vigorous sprouts. Some fail
to grow at all, others will furnish two
or three weak, puny stalks. For this
reason some planters prefer to cut, to
two eyes or else cutting to single eyes
drop two pieces in the hill. Br
An excess of seed causes small tu-
bers and an inferior crop. One secret
of growing large crop of fair-sized
potatoes is in not overcrowding the
vines, and another requisite is that the
plants have a mellow, light soil in
which to grow.
1t is an advantage to remove the po-
tatoes to be used for seed from the Gel
lar a couple of weeks or more and
expose to the light. The vigor of the
sprouts can then be ascertained quite
accurately, whether likely to throw up
growthy, stout stalk or not Some
of the eyes will develop fair-sized
central bud, surrounded by cluster
of smaller ones. AS rule such eyes
should be discarded, as there will be
four or five puny stalks result, giving,
If allowed to grow, small number of
small potatoes to the hill.
Missing hills resulting from failure
of seed to grow, cutting off of the
stalks by cut-worms or from any other
cause, with the occasional puny, I'M
thrifty hills which will result more or
less after the most careful selection of
seed, should be filled as soon as these
are discovered, with sprouts prepared
for the purpose by planting seed in a
bed, carefully transferring the plants
so as not to break off the sprouts. Ere.
quently these missing hills amount to
ten or fifteen per cent of the whole and
if not made good diminish the crop &C.
cordingly.
An increasing nuisance in this Sec
ton of the country affecting the quality
of the potato crop are the wire worms,
which infest old lands and grass lands.
This is the larvae of the Elaters, or
swapping beetles. They commence
boring into the newly-formed tubers as
soon as the size of pullet's egg, and
keep up their depredations until the
crop is harvested, filing the tubers
with black spots and scabs, making
them totally unfit for food for man or
beast, when the soil is badly infested
with these insects. So far as 1 am
aware no complete remedy has been
found for the depredations of this
worm. The nearest approach to an
antidote 10 to sprinkle ground mustard
seed in the hill with the potato seed at
planting. Last season hills so treated
were nearly free from the attacks of
the wire worm up to the time of ripen-
ing of the potatoes, but hills left till
September were found badly infested.
In my experiment ground mustard at
the rate Of two hundred pounds to the
acre was used on part and half as much
on another portion Of hills; the latter
seeming to be about as efficacious as
the larger quantity. Trenches were
laid open, fertilizer sprinkled in and
mingled with the soil, the seed dropped |
and the mustard sprinkled on over |
surface six or eight inches in diameter,
then the soil filled in, making the |
trenches level. Perhaps much small
or amount of mustard would prove as
af,,l tho loruar nnupto