The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-05-25
Notes OIL Raising Irish Potatoes.


JIG. B.. Wytheville, writes: Il have
q farm of $40 acres, mostly III grass,
and want to make specially OF hogs
and potatoes. l have five COWS ana
will use the sour milk and small pota-
toes for the hogs. We raised about
200 bushels on one-half acre of land
last year, and l want to put out double
that amount this year. Any suGSes-
tons will be appreciated.
You should find the raising OF hoGs
and potatoes profitable, though 1t IS
inadvisable to break up good blue
grass sod to grow potatoes on. A sod
preserves the land indefinitely, and
b,ue grass land will always be in de-
mand at remunerative prices. You
could probably lease out part OF your
land TO cattle raisers and make as much
off of it as attempting to farm 1t in
other ways, and grazing blue grass sod
will cause it to improve, provided you
do not allow it to be overstocked. A
blue grass farm of $40 acres is mag
nificent possession, and should be held
on to with the greatest tenacity and
every effort made to keep it up to the
Nigh standard which it now seems to
ekjoy.
Ehe raising of sheep and lambs
should prove profitable industry.
Sheep are regarded as one of the most
profitable forms Of stock that can be
kept on the farm so the flocks are not
made too large and the ewes are given
proper care and attention. Besides
that, they are not difficult to manage,
and they rustic so well for themselves
that they require comparatively little
care.
Hogs can be made profitable ad-
junct on every Virginia farm, and more
attention should be given to this class
of stock. They should have plenty OF
good range and a variety of crops
should be grown for their special ben
eft. Among the most useful are small
areas of red or alfalfa clover, cowpeas
and soy beans sown so as to provide a
succession of grazing, and if the hogs
are farrowed in the spring, they can
be grown cheaply on these grazing
crops with the use Of a very small
amount of grain. Small potatoes Will
also prove valuable for them, and skim
milk. when fed with middlinSs and 4
little corn, provides an excellent ration
for hogs. Potatoes are money-mak-
ing crop at fifty cents a bushel, Dut
they should not be grown on the same
land wear after year. or they will e1-
haust it rapidly. Potatoes can best
be brought after q clover sod, as they
enjoy a soil rich in vegetable matter.
Good applications Of phosphates and
potash should be made to the land in
tended for potatoes. The sulphate or
potash should be used, and not the
muriate. This is an important matter,
for where the sulphate is used more
mealy and drier potato Is obtained. IL
will nav YOU to- use anywhere from
300 to 500 pounds of fertilizer per acre
for Irish potatoes, even when put on
good sod land. The fertilizer might
consist properly Of three 10 four per
cent. of nitrogen, seven or eight per
cent. of phosphoric acid and ten TO
twelve per cent. of sulphate Of potash.
You can buy the raw ingredients ana
mix them in these proportions, If you
prefer. Thorough preparation OF the
land for potatoes is necessary to the
success of this crop. They should be
planted in drills about three feet apart,
and fifteen to eighteen inches apart
in the drill row. Medium sized, uncut
seed will give you the best results.
You will find it advisable to diversity
your crops and practice a rotation so
as not to bring the same crop ON the
land two years in succession. A hve
years rotation on the cultivated areas
of your farm will tend to improve the
soil.-Andrew NJ. Soule.