Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1907-04-11


famous potato producing sections in
America and Peter Brown of Gree
ley is regarded as king bee
among the growers, says the Twin
Falls News.
Recently H. B. Johnson, the
Twin Falls hardware merchant,
who handles Mr.. Browns potato
=diggers, wrote to the latter asking
him for information in regard to
the selection of potato seed, the
best method of preparing the soil,
planting and irrigating the crop,
and received the following reply,
which contains great deal of VAL
uablc information:
Greeley, Colo, Feb. 10, 1907
Mr.. H. B. Johnson, Twin Falls,
Idaho: Dear Sir-In reply to your
letter of the 31st ult., will say:
Potatoes may do lite better on
wheat stubblc than on oat stubble,
but if you wish to raise large crops
sof potatoes, get your ground in to
alfalfa and crop to alfalfa hay for
two years and then break it up
and plant to potatoes. This will
rdOuOlC JOdl CiOP TIC DCSt SOIL
for potatoes is sandy loan with
just slope enough to allow the water
10 run easily without backing up
and flooding the top of the rows.
We do not iirrigate to bring the
potatoes up here unless we have
very dry spring, which does not
often happen. We generally have
rains up TO the end of May to
bring all seeds up. When you
have to irrigate up, do it immedi-
-ately after planting, or within four
or five days, as the hot ground
may scald the seed. Make bitches
over the rows, and as soon as dry
enough, cultivate and harrow. For
late or main crop we plant from
the goth of May to the 10th of
Junc If we do not have to irri-
gate them up we start the cultiva-
tor Immediately after we finish
planting or before we finish if we
have large crop. We use heavy,
strong cu1tivators. The Reindeer
is good one, made by the John
Deere Plow Co. Hitch in four
good horses and cultivate as deep as
you can, two shovels on each side.
Turn the shovels in SO that they
will throw dirt on top of the row
and round it up and then run the
harrows lengthwise of the 70 VS.
This will leave them a flat round
on top. This destroys all weeds
before they get up and loosen the
ground, which is most essential to
making a good crop. We Guilt
vate again before irrigating with
two horses, this time not SO deep,
and then ditch for irrigation.
Make the ditch deep enough so
you can run a good stream without
bringing the water near the top of
the rows. Let the water draw up
through the row from the bottom
aof the ditch. If you flood the up
per part of the row there will be no
potatoes, and don't let the ground
get wet as mush at any time II
you can avoid it. Do not irrigate
the first time until you think that
the vines are beginning to suffer
unless you have been very late in
planting. We do not generally ir-
rigatc until after the Fourth of
Julv. Don't be afraid if they do
look little dry from drought; they
will change color within an hour
after you give them water. If you
irrigate too soon you will have
small potatoes. The thing is to
keep them back so that they will
make the most of the crop in the
end of August and September.
Here we do not have killing
frost until about October. The
reason for the above is that the
potato requires cool weather to dc
its best and if you will try to make
the crop in July, the hottest month
in the season, the result will be
large vines and small potatoes. Oh
course you may have frost earlier
than we do, and you must be
guided a good deal by your owr
knowledge about this. After yot
have irrigated the first time (thi:
does not apply to any irrigation you
NAV have had to do to bring up the
secd) and the bitches are DIR,
enough to plow, run the ditcbel
through the bitches again, this TIM
a little deeper. This will keep tn
soil from baking. Never let you
ground get thoroughly dry atte
the first irrigation or you viii
make prongv, rough shaped pota
toes. Some time after the first II