The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1904-01-09
FARMER AND PLANTER.
POTATOES IN THE SOUTH.
Importance of the Crop OF Early
Irish Potatoes In the south
Hardly Realized.

|
lions of the country. Our northern
friends think that they grow some
potatoes, and they do grow them fine
~ so far as the general and late crop
IS concerned But even with the late
crop the South Atlantic states are fast
coming to the front with their second
crop potatoes. One grower in North
carolina offers three thousand bushels
OF this late crop this year, and there
are few northern farmers who grow
more during the whole season. And
When it is remembered that this is a
second crop for the same season, while
put one is grown in the north, the i'm
portance of the potatoes crop in the
south becomes at once apparent. Some
years ago Mr. Terry, of Ohio, visiting
Maine and seeing how they grow po-
tatoes there, said he thought that he
could make money at growing potatoes
in Maine, though they average about
rs cents bushel. What would he say
to growing a crop of Is barrels or
more per acre, getting them into mar
ket early in June, growing a crop of
pea vine hay on the same land and
then second crop of potatoes of IS
barrels per acre the same season, and
yet this has been done in North Caro-
lima and none of the potatoes sold for
less than $3.50 per barrel / visited the
field where this IS barrels of late pota-
toes had just been harvested and COW
cred in long rick over the field, and
the land was then set in the fourth
crop, cabbages for the next springs
market. Of course such cropping as
this demands heavy fertilization, and
the crops sold off the land are largely
water. But to get this water the truck
farmer must use the elementary plant
foods in lavish manner. His soil is
naturally light and not originally. very
fertile, but the moisture conditions are
good and the cropping tends to the &C
emulation of humus and the further
retention of the soil moisture Some
experiments are being made in the
South Atlantic truck region in the
planting of the potato crop in the late
fall or December. How this plan will
work is yet to be seen. If it turns out
we'll it will doubtless advance the
spring work greatly. But the main
season for the planting of the potato
crop is in late February and March.
Most of the North Carolina growers
aim to get their entire crop in by the
last of February and sometimes begin
the marketing the last of May. There
is no previous preparation for the ear
ly crop better than crop of COW peas
the previous summer allowed to die
on the land and rye then scattered
among the dead vines all to be turned
under for the crop. This supplies a
| considerable amount of organic nitro
gen. But in the rapid cropping of the
truck soils this is seldom done, and
generally one sees the land lying bare.
This l think is a mistake unless the
land goes into fall planted crop. The
lavish manner in which the truck
growers use commercial fertilizer
would be a revelation TO those who
are in the habit of sprinkling a hun
dred or two pounds per acre. The
heavy cropping to which the lands de-
voted to the early potato crop are de-
voted through the season necessitates
lavish treatment in the way of fertil-
iZers, and the growers seek to know,
not how little they can get along with,
but how much they can use profitably.
One of the largest of the growers of
the early potato crop who has a
large fertilizer building on his farm
! and mixes his own fertilizers by ma
chinery gave me the following for
mula which he uses on his potato
| crop:
Fish scrap 700 pounds, nitrate of
soda 300 pounds, bone black super
phosphate 900 pounds, and muriate of
| potash 400 pounds. This would make
| 512 per cent. of nitrogen, Z rs per cent.
of phosphoric acid and 10 per cent. Of
potash. He has worked this formula
out through many trials as the best one
| for the crop. 1t has been found that
the early crop in the south, growing
during the cool weather of spring, needs
| a larger percentage of nitrogen than is
usually given the crop in the north.
| We are of the opinion that if it was
| practicable to get part of the organic
nitrogen through a previous crop of
| peas, the fertilization could be done
much more economically. The grower
mentioned uses never less that half
ton per acre of the above mixture, and
! thinks it pays to use at least that
much. He plants never less than 100
acres in the early potato crop, and often
larger area. The second crop is al
ways grown from potatoes of the early
crop. One grower says that he has
| found the best way to get this crop is
to plant the potatoes as soon as dug and
then at once to SOW the whole land in
cow peas. By the time the cow peas
are ready to cut for hay, the potatoes
are coming up, and the stubble of the
peas is then worked in in the cultiva-
ton of the crop. The second crop is
not so heavily MANFRED as the first. It
| is grown mainly for seed to plant the
| following season, for the southern
growers have long since learned that
this late crop maturing and dug in De-
cember, is the very best that can be
had for planting the next season. They
keep, during the winter without
sprouting, and grow in the spring with
| the strong growth of the terminal bud,
and make stronger and more prolific
/ plants than the northern potatoes that
have been out of the ground longer,
i and have sprouted and had the sprouts
rubbed off, thus weakening the growth
and giving bunch of lateral shoots
in starting, instead of the one strong
stem they want 1t has also been found
that spring frost that will destroy
the shoots from the northern grown
seed will but slightly cut the home
grown product Why this extra hardi-
ness can not say, unless it is the extra
vigor of the plant. Sometimes the early
potato crop gets above ground, and the
weather department gives warning of a
freeze Then the fields are filled with
plows and the soil is turned over the
potato tops to protect them. But rapid