Smyrna times., 1898-03-16
1000 BUSHELS PER ACRE.
That is the Quantity of Potatoes Raised in
California by a System Sent
TO Talbot.

DR.. Charles Lowndes has received a
letter from a gentleman in California
describing a new way of planting Irish
potatoes. This getleman says he has
raised from 2OOO to $500 bushels of po-
tatoes per acre by this system. In
Talbot an average of 80 bushels to the
acre in lots of from 10 to 20 acres is
a good crop.
The California plan, which is entirely
new, is as follows:
''Sprout the potatoes before plant
ing. If the potato is put in the ground
in the old way it takes about 100 days
to get full grown tubers. Over half
this time is consumed in sprouting the
plant. BY planting the little sprouts
you control the number in the hill,
give each a fair share of the fertiliZed
area, and save half the usual time in
growing a crop. PulveIize your soil
well and plow out rows by and up and
down furrow, leaving a small balk if
convenient. Make the row 18 inches
wide and 3 feet from center to center.
Drill in the fertilizers, and the drilling
will level down the balk and leave a
small trench. Plant the potatoes right
along continuously so that each 1S
inches square shall have so OF 60 little
spuds. From the center of each row
to the center of the next is just 36
inches, which gives IS inches of un
planted ground. This gives $500 So
called hills to the acre and will require
500, 900 plants or little tubers.
"Fifty or sixty days before planting
time put the proper number of spuds
in keg or barrel in a cellar and raise
the temperature to IS or 80 degrees,
and keep the air tolerably moist. The
spuds will soon sprOut, and on each
sprout will be found several little tubers
varying in size from sixteenth to one
half inch through. When the ground
is ready knock down the kegs and
shake apart the spuds. Break off the
tubers and plant as directed. Give
each tuber space and plant from fifty
to sixty to the square, cover in and
treat just as the ordinary planting. For
each 1000 hills it takes four and half
busels of seed potatoes. For each 1000
hills it takes $50 pounds of nj
trate of soda, $50 pounds murlate of
potash, and 25O pounds superphosphate
or ground bone that has been so
treated that the phosphorus is in a
soluble form. All of the potash and
all of the phosphate should be mixed
and carefully drilled into the rows so
that they are evenly spread over the bot
tom of the row. 1t is we'll in most soils
to add to the mixture one quarter of the
Soda Dissolve the rest of the soda
and put half on the plants two weeks
after they come up; the remainder is
put on two weeks after this. If the
soil is infested it is best to put
on all of the soda on in solution after
the plants are up.
eff the soil is naturally alkaline,
lime will not be needed, but
the potatoes must have lime at the
! rate of pounds to the thousand hills
This amount is usually present in the
soil but an excess added will do no iniu
{ ry This rate of fertilizer is on the bash
! of 10 pounds to the hill, and supposine
that the soil contains only silica and {
. fair amount of humus. The best form
' of fertilizer for particular kinds of sol
5 can only be learned by experience
Q The kinds given are recommended TO
!. thin. sandy soils that have been crop
ped"