The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1902-02-08
FARMER AND PLANTER.
ABOUT LATE IRISH POTATOES.
b Advantages Of the Tubers a. "A
Southern Farm Crop Are Not
to He Overestimated.

The many and great advantages of
The late Irish potato crop south can
hardly be over-estimated. In the first
place potatoes dug in November will
keep perfectly all winter in barrels
Or boxes in a closed house. The tenn
perature may go down to freezing,
but if the barrels are covered there
will be little if any danger of injury.
In fact Irish potatoes need to be kept
cool. We have kept them perfectly
piled up under a shed and covered
with only about one foot of pine
straw.
This wonderful keeping quality of
the late Irish potato enables the
grower to market them to advantage.
There is at least six months in which
to dispose of the crop, and the grow
er can watch the market and place
them when the price is good. Another
advantage of this crop is that our
southern home market throughout
the winter is the best in the country
for Irish potatoes. The price last
winter in Atlanta ranged from rs
cents to 81 per bushel, while at pres.
ent, owing to the short crop north,
they are bringing $1.40 per bushel.
The south is a large consumer OF
this vegetable, and throughout the
winter the supply has come principal
ly from the north and west. The city
of Atlanta alone between
two and three carloads q day during
this period.
Outside of the market and keeping
qualities, we have the further ad.
vantage of being able to grow these
potatoes on land which has already
made a crop of something else. This
year we planted them after early
cabbage and tufnips. The land for
these crops has been heavily ma
nured with heterogeneous fertilizers,
and after the cabbages were off we
replowed and worked the land down
me. 1t was not necessary here to
use ammonia on the potatoes, there
being already an. abundance of this
element in the soil The land was OF
a sandy character, and on such land
potash always shows a marked eff.
feet, especially on a root crop like
potatoes. We therefore only used
acid phosphate and muriate of pot.
ash in preparing bur fertilizer, and
applied it at the rate of eight hun.
dred pounds per acre. A fertilize,
for this crop on such land should
analyze about ten per cent. phos,
phoric acid and eight per cent. pot
ash. For the early potato crop the
fertilizer should contain ammonia
also, about three or four per cent.
and for the late crop, where the lane
is deficient in this element.
There are thousands of acres Of
sandy loan land all over the soutI
on which these late potatoes can bt
grown to perfection with proper at
tention and fertilizer. Lam firml,
convinced that the time is not fal
Instant when the south will grow al
OF her Irish potatoes, both early ant
late, as well.
The potato referred to in this in
stance is not the late potato usual,
known as the second crop, but a lat.
variety called the Lookout Mountain
which produces but one crop in 6
season, the seed being kept over ant
planted between the Goth of July ant
the 18th of August. The second croI
OF such varieties as Early Rose, Bliss
Triumph, Early Ohio and others car
also be made very remunerative, ant
deserves more attention from gu
southern farmers, especially for seet
purposes, for the next spring plant
ing. This second crop seed is mucl
superior to the northern-growI
stock, in that they produce fewer
small potatoes, are earlier, and thu
vines are much more thrifty.
Side by side in the same field thi.
year the northern and southern
grown seed produced potatoes which
looked like different varieties al
though they were of the same sort
Altogether, the late Irish potato a
the south furnishes a field for enter
prise worthy of the earnest atten
ton of our farmers.-F. j. Merriam
in Southern C~ultivator.