Morris tribune., 1902-03-08
A TALK ABOUT IRISH APPLES.
The Advantages OF Raising the Tuber
for Man or Beast.

The Advantages OF Raising the Tuber
for Man or Beast.
The following from the Alexandria
Post News regarding the raising of
potatoes contains many valuable
hints for the farmers of this vicinity:
"That Alexandria is not better
potatoe market is in large measure
the farmers fault. And right here is
it not noteworthy that Alexandria is
one of the very few villages in a fine
agricultural county where the farmers
have never themselves done anything
to make market. 1t is no uncom-
mon thing for farmers to combine to
put in elevators, creameries, potato
starch factories, grist mills, etc., but
here they have never done anything
of the kind. But Alexandra has
money enough to act without the
farmers going to their purses and
though it moves slowly, it "gets
there" If the Merchants elevator,
by the good will of the farmers, pays
expenses this year, we believe a pota-
to warehouse will follow next year.
"But before potato warehouse can
be success, the farmers will have to
be more careful of their seed potatoes
and the kind they raise. We know
absolutely nothing of the various
kinds of potatoes but we are told the
Early Ohio, Burbank, White Star and
Early New York are the best %breeds"
for this section. However, this we
do know that to sell to advantage
potatoes must be all of one kind. To
many, very many farmers, potato
seems to be potato. He can see no
difference in them, no sense in Sc
lecting choice sample seed, nor GER
tain kind. In corn a farmer picks out
the very best ears and puts them
carefully away for seed and he never
thinks of mixing Flint and White and
Yellow Dent in the hills. It is the
same with his wheat, oats and other
grains, and so with his tomatoes and
melons. But any potato will do fer
seed and we have known two and
three kinds to be sliced up together
and planted mixed indiscriminately.
When, however, the farmer comes to
sell for shipment hs finds that the
city buyer wants only one kind in a
car; chat a car of one kind, nicely
cared for and culled will sell for de-
cidedlY more bushel than the mixed
tubers. Then if one farmer does not
intend to put in enough SO he will
have a carload to sell, let him join
with his eigh5or and both plant
from the same seed. In fact farmers
should combine in neighborhoods to
raise the same kind of potatoes and
then they could market together and
buyers could always get uniform car
loads to ship. Another thing this
year showed is that it is the potato
that is ripened and ready for market
early that brings the big price. Anoka
farmers get a dollar and more for
their potatoes because they planted
early in soil that would mature the
crop rapidly, and they had them
ready when the market had to have
them.
Potatoes are practically sure crop
It is seldom they bring the price of
this year. We have never known
them so high before, but when they
are even soHplentiful that the choicest
cannot be sold at a profit, they can
always be turned into pork and be |
made to pay we'll. In fact we have
known farmers to claim that when |
pork is good price that by slicing |
and cooking their potatoes they can
always make them worth 80 cents.
Above all things though select a
first class early potato and late one
that will keep, take the kinds mostly
demanded in the market and plant
by neighborhoods. Then and not
till then will you get4the highest mar.
ket price or be able to sell at margin
where under the present system you
are forced to feed them or let them
rot.'