The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-02-17
AGRICULTURAL.
Seed Potatoes.

The question of seed, too, is a very im- portant one, and none but the cleanest and best matured seed should be used. Seed which has been allowed to become
 heated or the least bit frozen should be
 avoided The small culls should never
 be used for seed. Potatoes which have
 been allowed to sprout several times be-
 fore planting should never be used, for
 such seed will never prodce a good
 crop. Seed potatoes should be kept in a
 dark, cool place, at a low temperature,
 and if possible never allow them to
 sprout before planting. Neither should rough scabby seed be used.
 The manner of selecting and managing the seed will have much to O in deter
 mining the profits of the crop. People
 have very mistaken idea when they
 conclude that any refuse small stock
 will answer for seed. Select nice smooth seed stock, having but few eyes, and see
 that the eyes are shallow, and that no
 scab or disease is present in the seed. By this careful method of selecting the
 seed the yield of the crop may be greatly increased and the quality much i'm. | proved.
 Harvesting.
 Harvesting, like other details of potato
 growing, should be handled carefully
 Potatoes should be dug orly when the soil is dry, so that they may come out perfectly clean and dry. Harvested in this condition there will be but little
 trouble in keeping them In perfect condi-
 tion, but if dug wet. with mud sticking to them, and where stored this way,
 they are almost certain to become dam aged; besides their very appearance will cause them to be sold cheaply
 As to when to harvest, this depends
 entirely on what is wanted. In sections where potatoes are grown exclusively
 for early markets and where a second or fall crop is to be grown, the crop should be dug just as early as there is a
 market. Where only one crop Is grown
 and this is intended for winter use. or winter and spring market, it Is often best | to leave this crop right in the field where | grown until late fall as the rubers will | keep better there than elsewhere. But | the grower must be governed largely In | all these matters by circumstances and general conditions. Where large crops of 1 potatoes are grown for market, it will be far cheaper to harvest by some of our | improved potato blows. We now have blows so nearly perfect that if used when | the soil is in the right condition, will
 throw out nearly all the potatoes in sight. so that they may be picked up rapidly. | Then, too, these blows, that Is a good | one will cut but few of the potatoes | Again, as to when to harvest 1t has been found to be a good plan to dig and sell when there is a good market-that is,
 when there is price that will pay one well for the growing. In a long expe- rience in potato growing we have found l it a risky business to hold for better prices, especially whe nthe crop could be sold directly from the field at pay ing price, Potatoes lose fast in storage about 20 per cent from storaCe until selling time, especially if the selling is delayed for three months. Then there is the work of double handling putting
 them in and out of storage. Then again, if sold direct from the field, they should
 be picked up right after the blow and
 not left exposed to the hot burning sun,
 which will turn them green.
 In the south where early potatoes are
 grown for shipment earliness is the main object as the early crops bring fancy
 prices So that the crop should be har- vested as soon as ready. generally when
 the tops begin to turn yellow, or at such
 time as the price will justify. It ire quently happens that a half crop will bring more than a full crop, that is,
 the crop where only half matured will bring more than it would if allowed to fully mature
 Again, some seasons, as that of 1904.
 for instance, the growers would have made money Dy lettiiS tiie clop SoliS eo full maturity. In this, however. one has
 to take the chance of market fluctua-
 tions.
 Profit.
 This depends largely on many condi- tions There are sections where men
 have become comparatively wealthy by
 growing potatoes, while others Lave not made expenses Now I have shown that
 over very large range of country the potato crop, both early and late taken together. ranges in yield from fifty to POO bushels per acre. The early crop grown in the south ranges from seventy five to 125 bushels per acre. The price ranging over this same country l find from 25 cents to 75 cents per bdshel. and | occasionally prices on fancy early stock run as night as $1 or $1.50 per bushel, so with these figures before us it will be easy to figure out the profits to be made | in potato growing.
 l Then again, we find over this range ot | potato growing country, that the cost per | acre all told for growing, and placing a | crop of potatoes on the market, is about
 5000 per acre Add to that the seed
 which is generally worth ten dollars, and we have the cost of 800 per acre. or course if the grower Is a wide-awake one and grows and saves his own seed, this cost might be somewhat reduced. Now
 let us figure a little. Suppose the grow CT only grows a lower yield, that of | fifty bushels per acre. and sells them for
 90 cents per bushel, the question is, what
 has he made? His expenses have been 5000 and his returns have been s25.o0 per