The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1904-04-15
POTATO CULTIVATION.

entific potato culture in that country.
Among other things he says:
Potato cultivation, like all farming
on large scale in Germany, is based
on an exact knowledge of the soil.
This includes not only the elements
which it contains, but its underlying
strata, exposure, elevation and sur
roundings, whether shaded by adjacent
woodlands or buildings, and especially
its susceptibility to natural efficient
drainage. There is no careless, hit or
miss guesswork as to what the Soil
may lack or what it contains. The
agricultural and technical schools of
Germany have trained an army of
practical chemists, expert in the analy-
sis of soils and familiar with the ele-
mental requirements of every plant
known to German husbandry. The
effective value of every kind of fertili-
zer, its influence on crops planted in
sand, clay or loan and the efficacy of
clover, lucern and other growths when
plowed in to enrich soils in nitrogen
are accurately known.
Although the potato will grow in
every arabic field in Germany, from
the upper hill slopes to the moorlands
of the valleys and seacoast, there is
wide variation, both as to quantity
and quality, in the product ofthe diff
ferent localities. Poor, light, gravely
soils yield small and few potatoes, and
in dry seasons fail altogether. Heavy,
tough, cold clays are likewise unfavor-
able. The ideal potato land is warm,
permeable, loamy sand or light moor
land, well drained, clean and rich from
the vegetable decay of past ages.
Soils containing large proportions Of
sand produce potatoes Of the best fla
vor and with highest percentage Of
starch. So marked are these charac-
teristic effects that in every potato
market of Germany the potatoes of
certain communes are known and rated
at the head of the list because the soils
of those districts have demonstrated
their superior fitness for. potato cul-
ture. A potato field should be open,
fully exposed to sun and wind, not
shaded or obstructed by trees and,
above all, free from clay substrata
which hold water and make a wet sub
soil. Crops grown on land with these
defects may in some seasons be large,
but they rot easily aud are always
deficient in starch and of inferior fla
vor In Germany the red and so
called "blue skinned" potatoes are
found to do better than the white in
damp locations or where the land is
excluded from free action of sun and
wind.
In the preparation of land for pota-
to planting the first requisite is deep,
thorough plowing. In view of the
many centuries during which the
fields of Germany have been cultivated
and the generally high standard of
intelligence among farmers here an
American is surprised to note that in
many wheat, rye and oat fields the
plew does not cut more than six or
seven inches in depth. But for pota-
toes this superficial scratching of the
earth will not suffice. Every addi-
tional inch of depth broken adds tan
gible percentage to the yield, and on
the best farms subsoil plowing attains
a depth of twelve to fifteen inches.
Small tracts are worked with the spade
and instances are given where the po-
tato crop has been doubled by working
the soil two spade lengths in depth.
This deep, careful preparation Of the
land is always completed in autumn
and the upturned earth left exposed
to the action of frost and thawing
during the winter.
Careful experim ent has shown that
a given piece of land prepared in au-
tumn yields one-third more potatoes
than if treated in percisely the same
manner in spring Immediately before
planting time. Having been deeply
plowed and thoroughly narrowed in
autumn, the frost penetrates readily,
the action of the air upon the varions
elements of the soil is enhanced, it
dries out quickly in spring and with
the first warm days is ready for plant
ing 1t is then plowed again, usually
to depth of five or six inches, with
broad, shallow plow drawn by one
horse, and in every third furrow the
potatoes are dropped and are covered
by the furrow slice next turned in.
This quick, easy method of planting
with the plow is practicable only in
Iioht. loose soils that have been thor