Milford chronicle., 1909-09-10


as good a yield as drilling. provide,
the drilled potatoes are kept free from
weeds. The checked potatoes can b,
cultivated both ways and kept cleaI
with but little hand labor and will
yield more than a weedy patch planted
twice as thick The feasibility of the
plan depends entirely upon the rela
tive cost Of land and labor.
A good narrowing after the plants
are two or three inches high will de
strOy many weeds and loosen the dirt
in the row. Deep planted potatoes are
not injured by such a narrowing. A
few days after this the cultivator
should be started and the field cult
waited once a week or oftener until the
blossoms appear. II pays TO hoe or
pull any weeds that come up in the
rows. No one thing will reduce the
yield Of potatoes more than weeds
The ground should be left nearly level
at the last cultivation. Deep planting
makes hilling unnecessary.
Spraying For Insects and Diseases.
The potato beetle is the one serious
insect enemy Of the potato crop. The
most prevalent disease other than scab
is blight. This affects the leaves. caus-
ing them to turn black and curl up
Both blight and beetles can be readily
controlled by spraying with bordeaux
paris green mixture This is made as
follows: Four pounds copper sulphate
four pounds fresh lime. four ounces
paris green and ffty gallons Of water.
Dissolve the copper sulphate in twen-
ty-ive gallons Of the water and the
lime in the rest. Then pour the two
solutions together. Make the paris
green into a paste with a little water
and stir 1t into the mixture. 1t PAYS to |
have a good hand sprayer to apply this /
solution or a power machine if many (
acres are grown. A hand sprayer can |
be bought for S5 or Sc. II equipped .
with two nozzles so as to take two
rows at once it will not take more than
an hour to go over an acre. The en-
tire expense. including the labor, will
be repaid several times over by the in
crease in yield. Three or four spray
ings will be sufficient. starting about
the time the plants are six inches high
and continuing at intervals of a week
Or ten days until they are in bloom.
Digging the Crop.
Where large acreage of potatoes is
grown or where several neighbors each
raise few acres every year, a digger
S a paying investment Ii leaves the
-ubers on top of the ground in good
shape to be picked up and gets prac- ,
ically all of them. Where only few
ire grown they can be forked out, but
his is a slow job The most common
'ractice is to plOw them out. By pick
ng them up after the plow. then har- {
owing twice and picking up after each =
few will be left If the =
eld is so located that the hogs can be
urned in on it. they get all that were
Missed. As soon as dug&which should .
e before severe freezing weather, the
otatoes should be piled up and COW
red with straw and dirt Here they
lay be left until the ground begins to
-eeze. when they may be put in the
ellar or hauled to market II the pile
on a well drained place it may be
1vered with foot to eighteen inches
straw and as much dirt and safely
IT till spring. There are many potato
'owers, especially those Of foreign ex-
action. who never keep their crop in
~ other way. While the dry indoor
ethod has numerous advantages, such
readiness for use in all weather and
nYenience Of handling, there is much n
commend the outdoor storage plan Be
here are even those who contend that su
e flavor Of the tuber is only to be !
lintained by storing it in the pit. e.
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