American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1907-11-16
POTATO CULTURE
BY IRRIGATION
How the Famous Colorado Pc.
tatoes Are Cultivated.
The Industry in Colorado is Profita.
BE Ose and Will Become So Here
Good Potato Yields At Ab-
erdeen and Elsewhere.

Ole itthuStrN hsfr' iuaho y aus ~ shs
Greeley of Colorado. but Twin Falls
bids fair To wr.st the honor from her.
American Falls. which lies midway be
tween the two. is the center of more
acres suitable To potato growing than
either, will not lag behind. Potatoes
will pay three times as much ar wheat.
and some large fields will be put out on
tho Carey tract next year. The follow
ing by r. X. Bennett, Of the Colorado
Agricultural College. is replete with
useful information.
The preparation oi the land for po-
tato growing is probably the most i'm
portan, item of the work. The differ
enee between ncw lard broken for po-
ta,ocs. old lard and alfalfa land is mos,
marked The new land produces very
clean grade Of potatoes. bu, does not
give SO good yield ss lard either pre-
ceded by potatoes or alfalfa. Alfalfa
lard gives the largest yields and is less
liable to disease than where potatoes
succeed potatoes. The universal prac-
tiee Is To rotate 50 as to preocde po,s-
toes ~ith alfalfa.
The mos, common rotation IL alfalfa
two OF thrc. years. potatoes two years
or ,sbcr. bcc,s are grown. potatoes one
year. then grain two years. Sometimes
wheat OF oats are only grown one year
but experience has shown that in the
majority of cases. the first year of grain
following potatoes or bcets produces SO
much straw ,hs, the young alfalfa is
srsoothcred oait IL grown. The grain.
owing To the rcsiuced fertility Of the
soiI. is mol 80 large the second year ard
makes better nurse crop for the nj.
faifa. Another rotation practieed has
some possibilities in the way Of hliph,
control which will be spoken Of later in
this report. The number Of years al
falfa should be allowed Ia grow to get
tn. land In the best condition for potH-
toes is An open question.
All planting Is done by machinery.
Among the different makes of planters
used are the Aspinwal, the Evans. the
Superior. the Robins and the Excelsior
All these planters require cut seed.
Very little difference can be seen in the
work of any of them. -Four horses are
used with these planters and five 10
seven acres planted is considered days
work. The rows are from rs to, 80
inches apart. with distance between
plants in the row Of IL To Is inches.
Very soon after planting the first cul-
tivstion is given. The ridge left by the
planter shows the rows 30 the plants do
not need to be seen. The object of the
first cultivation il two-foh. First the
tramping of the four horses used on
the planter packs the ground solidly.
This needs to be loosencd to acrate the
soil and prevent the loss of moisture by
evaporation. Second. the alfafa or
weeds that are starting are killed. For
this work. four horses on heavy four
shovel type OF eultivator are used The
shosels are set to run M deep in the
aoil "a they will go. which il from eight
to twelve or thirteen inches. They are
also set so as TO throw the soil toward
the potato rows, thus beginning the hill
ing or ridging process which is charac-
teristic of potato culture in this locality.
This operation leaves the soil loose. but
more or less luupy and with rough or
uneven surface, especially on the heavy
,ooils. The harrow Immediately follows
ne cultivator to rc-establish the soil
nlch. These two operations destroy
y toung weeds so there is little trouble
esping the field clean.
y number Of CIVILIZATIONS depends
the weather conditions and rapidity
with Of the vines. The cultivator
second time as soon as the
are large enough 80 that the
r. n be easily followed This time
~ wells are not run quite 40 close to
~ but to The same depth unlcss
~ nts are much developed. In that
lnoo inside shovcls are raised leo a.
- hjure the root system. Some
tvuo civilizations are all that are
W., oat ordinarily third follows the
A " . week or ten days and II the
- MT get too large or irrigation
necessary, cultivation il con-
nBh time the cultivator y
ooal y thrown towards the
a,and the hollow between the
n deeper, thus ditching b
done.
and irrigation are delayed rs