The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-07-02
A RICH HARVEST.
Irish Potatoes Prove 60 be = Real
Gold MINE 90 H. J. DuatOu. tieOr.

Irish Potatoes Prove 60 be - Real
Gold Mine 90 u. J. Duaton. Geor.
gia farmer.
Mr.. II. ]. Dunton. OF smyrna, Ga. grew last
wear over 100 bushels OF late Irish potatoes per
acre. They are In the bins In his barn today.
AZ sound aS when dog last November. The
variety grown by Mr.. Dnntou IL the Lookout
Mountain and he has had no dfficufy In dts
pos,ug OF every potato hc has raised At al.ob
per bushei. The potatoes were very inc.
many oI them being as large rs your two h>ih
We had some Ot them for dinner February
18th, the day visited his place. aud ior nav.
or and quality they are equal Ia anything
shl ppcd here from the north.
Atlanta now Consumes. Dir. w. J. MaddoA,
of the nrm OF j. ]. & ]. f.. Maddox. tells me.
between two and three car ioads of lrish potA.
toes every dny In the week. shipped here by
northern growers. The freight on these Pota-
toes Is thirty cents per on,hel, ana a. rns sn pre-.
The price oi these shipped potatoes seldom u
ever goes below IS -ents. ail winter. ana tne
demand Is steady throughout the entire
Mr. Duuton informed me that the cost oi
growing these potatoes was very NUS, MOI
over SIS or so per acre, lnciudihg reht' heeu'
ferti,lzer IsUur ana all This leaves, hgur'
ing the potatoes nj - cents per bushcl, over
500 IN ncre net proft. Think 81 II: Several
times the value Of the land upon which theS
were grown. and many stnes TUG 'a,ue o'
iucipR siullar crops. What better paying
crop can the southern farmer ask Tor:
The great beauty about these po'stoes ID The
.nsr with which they are Kept. Ihere tuey
were pil ed loose In square box bins In Mr.
Duntt,n's barn, and were simply covered with
q fev boards. ,,, ,
ton. .'nlst keep cool. They are not IKE III.
sweet potato, and all you have IN do ID 10 set
that they do not freeze. l never made any
money on Ir,:h potatoe., ne went wen On. . uni.
pect 10 plant anything else from now on
rhry are The coming potato for the main crop
Of the south, and represent more clear money
thar almost anything you can suggest. They
DO NOT have 10 oe rushed on the market like
early potatoes for fear oil their uecayipg. lou
can put them up and have six or eigh'
months In which TO market your crop. inih
or has TO sell. for then he can watch the mar
Ket and dispose OF his produce 10 the best I'D.
vantage. As for me people come here after
my potatoes. aud pay me u per oushel 'o'
"Doer not the dry weather We frequently
have In the fall OF the year interfere grrntly
with the growing OF this late potato crop?
I'D would" he replied, Elf a man did not
prepare bis land properly In the nrst place.
and cultivate Il properly afterward. A man
ing deep, and suosoiiinx. He must then
check evaporation by keeping the surface
cuitlsated and leaving u smooth and iesei'
II man expects 70 make big crops oiany'
thing, he must dx for 10. and know what ne
10 dcinK. Fail drouths have never injured
my crops O! Ir sh potatoes. try TO select the
piece OF land ieast likely 10 10 Affected BY
droutb. II In true. and then work ~. a san, n,
dy dat or second bottom 10 about the best
pIuce have found for these potatoes"
cone grea. trouble with the farmers around
hero In they use too small animals TO break
their ground a. it should be broken. Do you
700 maj pair OF horses plowins out there
They weigh 3lO0 pounds, and the single one
pulling the subsoil plow will weigh 900
pounds. A man must have the Prope. kino
or stock n he expects 70 do good Work.
"And how about fertiliZlng ?" was the next
f.Yes. q man must know how 10 fsrtilize
/ Know what have got. And besides. IL has
been cheaper and moro Satisfactory In the
long run. Potatoes. you see. must have con.
siderable potash n they are 70 be meaiy and
n thinS NIX in n q fsrtiiizer I used 500 pounds TO tn.
acre OH those potatees Of = guapo which which
Analysed: Ammonia per cent phoephorir
acid per cont and poissn p o RSr ,M cen,; ctI;r.
together with 9 shovel until Il was OF uoi'
form color, 80 pounds OF cotton seed meal.
700 pounds OF acid phosphate (b,gh grade)
made 800 pounds OF reriilizer-enough for
lhree acres of land. I applied this IN the
drill, and mixed Il thoroughly with the soil
before dropping my po,atoes."
ton. aud how iar apart do you drop them :"
well" said he. 81 cut to one or two eyes
according TO the r'ze OF The piece. Each eye
should have sufficient potato attached 10 in'
sure strong, healthy plant Then / drop
them from fourtsen TO eighteen iucnes apart,
In rows four feet wide. and cover about lou,
inches deep. There 10 one point right mere j
must caution you about" continued Mr..
Dunton, and that ~ about cutting potatoes.
Ia my experience It won't do 70 plant freshly
cnt seed. for this @ late crop sspec,sily s,
ubtaiued good stand. My best success has
come by cutttug my potatoes lew days In
advance OF the time I wish 70 plant. and
spreading them out Oh the barn noor, or
somewhere In the shHde, until he cuts are
dry, before they are dropped"
II presume you are AWARE replied, that
this IL entirely opposite the practices of sue.
nave always put freshly cut seed into freshly
opened burrows for early potatoes."
THAT may be-" he returned. "out you will
tipd that for this late crop. planted In tbe
And. by the way, never plant until the mid.
die OF August. In this locality"
"YOu spoke about level iilage; how do you
manage shis 2" was my next query.
"Well, sir. ! use broad-cutting impc.
mcnts. BY this do not mean u Wide sweep.
but cullivstors that vii; spread out and that
little DIRT. Then clean the middle by run.
nipR once or twice to the row. i have loi
OF sweeps. or scrapes. AZ some people cali
them. over there In the barn. but ! veiy set
dom use them. Nothing makes land wash
Worse than Q scooter aud scrape making q
ditch OF every row.
II begin the cultivation OF ms potatoes
With H.ilocks Success weedef: which makes &
With which one man and one horse can cui
tivsse from twelve 70 fifteen acres per day oi
amy fieId crop when the land Is in good con.
ditiou. This tool runs right over the top OF
young potatoes, cotton. corn, etc.. without
the siigpIest injury TO plants.
The best thing about this Implement In.
necessiiy Of band hoeing and reduces the
cost OF cultivation 10 . minimum. "Do you
know" be continued, II hardly evor do any
hoeing. Farm help has become 30 unrelia-
work done. And then, besides, IL is cheaper
TO do II with machinery. With the help OF
the improved Tools now available the farmer
good men who can hsndis these i'm elements.
and accomplish the same amount Of work
he formerly did with three times IN much
help. I run the weeder over the potatoes
large, after which ! use the cullvatpr men,
toned. keeping the ground level between the
rows at all times. and running further from
the plants IN they grow 10 prevent Injury To
tie tubers.
speaking about farm help. l just could
not get Il last year. Why, have only twelve
hundred bushels OF sweet potatoes In those
iesa than two thonsand bushels, and often. n
great many more each season. But last ) ear
Il was impossible 70 get ihem planted"
Mr.. Dunton's sweet potatoes, when tsken
from the back or bin, the day ! was there.
were N bright AZ when nrst dug IL wan
little wonder that no could sell hts crop for
q good price In the spring.
"Yes," said Mr.. Dunton, "for over twenty
years | did not sell y sweet potato for less
than a dollar per bushel. It IL only within
the last three years that / have taken iess.
But I have never sold any for less than 70
cents bushel Ia the spring.
IlnAs MI nj hal In S,nli u1I,lA