The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1905-01-19
irish POTATOES.
About Planting and Cultivating.
OF INTEREST TO FARMERS.

Harvey Jordan.
Success in growing Irish potatoes
may lie reduced to the following
simple conditions; A deep, fertile,
welldrained, deeply worked and finely
pulverised soil !; strong, selected and
well-rre.erved seed OF such type as tho
market demande, and OF varieties
which are not past their prime OF life
and vigor prompt attention to the
potato beetle clean, fine and frequent
cultivation ; and tho adoption OF such
methods as will reduce tho cost OF
growing and handling the crop to q
minimum.
The best soil is ono in which sand
l, present, but If tho land is heavy 1t
should be we'll drained. There should
also he present in tho soil an album
d .nce of humus or decaying vegetable
matter. This can be best secured by
planting peas on tho land In the sum-
mer. turning under the vines and
stubble in tho fall and then sowing
the land in rye and turning 1t under
Just before planting the crop In the
early spring.
Stable manure is splendid for the
potato but it should be applied to the
land in the fall at the time OF turning
under the pea stubble. Fresh stable or
lot manure IL likely to cause scab and
this will injure the market price for
the crop OF potatoes. The seed pota-
toes should be carefully selected, and
not allowed to sprout until planting
time. The first sprouts are strongest
and most vigorous.
DEPTH OF PLANTING.
Deep planting and level culture will
produce potatoes that are smoother,
less liable to disease, and more pala-
table and digestlble than when planted
by any other system. The proper
depth for planting tho seed IL four
inches. If an early crop Is desired, OF
purse tho planting must be shallow.
The finest potatoes I ever raised were
planted after the following method !:
The land was turned deep, thoroughly
broken and pulverized with harrow.
The rows were laid of three feet
apart and six inches deep with wide
shovel furrow. Halt the fertilizers
we're distributed In the bottom OF the
furrow and q small scooter furrow run
on one side OF the furrow to cover tho
guano two inches deep, The seed po-
tatoes were then dropped in the fur
rows twelve to thirteen inches apart
and four inches deep. A small furrow
was made to cover the seed and the
balance of the guano distributed on
top of this and covered. This plan
placed tho fertilizers beneath and
aboye with the potatoes in the middle,
four inches deep.
Cultivation was rapid and . large
crop of magnificent potatoes were
harvested of the Early Rose variety.
I used mixture of the following for
mula per acre: 300 pounds acid phos-
phate, Is pounds nitrate Of soda and
80 pounds muriate of potash. This
formula would analyze about as fol-
lows:
Phosphoric acid 9per cont.
Ammonia per cent.
Potash 9per cent.
Total 81 per cent.
Cultivation should not only be rapid,
bat shallow 40 the tubes will make an
Inch or two above the reed potatoes.
TREATMENT FOR POTATO sCAB.
If the seed potatoes show the disease
of potato scab, soak the seed IN a solu-
ton consisting of one pound of cor
rosive sublimate to 120 gallons of
water, or two ounces to fifteen gallons
of water. Let the seed before cutting
soak in the mixture for two hours.
Dissolve the sublimata first in boiling
water. For potato blight use tho Bor-
deaux mixture, and to kill the Colora-
do beetle use one ounce OF paris green
to SIX gallons of water and sprinkle
the plants we'll.
The safest and best plan Is to cut
the potatoes with two eyes to the piece.
In small potatoes cut tho tubers into
quarter pieces.
There 10 always = good demand for
potatoes and it is an Industry which
should receive more attention in those
sections Of the south where they can
be probably grown. Success IL assur-
ed when the yield is from $50 to 200
bushels per acre of good eize, smooth
tubere.