Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1909-07-06
Making Money
On the Farm
V|II.-Potato Culture
By G. v. GREGORY.
Author of ''home Course In Modern
Agriculture"
Copyright. 1909. by American Press
Association
Copyright. 1909. by American Press
Association

VVYHETHER grown for market
WV or for home use only, 1t is
!" important that the potato
crop be made to yield as
much as possible. With the right kind
of care yields of 200 to 500 bushels to
the acre can be obtained. making this
one of the most profitable crops that
can be grown. Even with the most
careless treatment the tuber frequent
ly yields most generously.
The potato is very particular In its
soil requirements. A rich sandy loan
is the best soil. Not all farms have
such soil, but almost any soil can be
so prepared as to make fairly good
potato patch. Two things are essen
tial, mellowness and plenty Of mois-
ture. Clay is too heavy. and sand dries
out too rapidly. Soils which contain
too much clay or too much sand can
be greatly improved for the production
of potatoes by the addition of humus
The ideal way to prepare field for
potatoes is to seed it to clover for at
least year. manure 1t heavily. pillow
it up and plant 1t to corn. In the fall
the corn can be cut for silage or fod-
der, so that it can be plowed before
winter. The blowing should be fairly
deep. Two diskings and narrowing
or two the following spring make an
ideal seed bed for potatoes.
Potatoes are not raised from seed.
but from the swollen underground
stems that we call tubers or potatoes.
Any piece of tuber that contains an
"eye" will grow and produce more of
its kind. A potato vine grown from a
piece of tuber Is really not a new
plant, but part Of the old one. If out
side conditions are the same the plant
will be the same and produce the same
kind of crop. There is much less
tendency to vary in plants propagated
in this way than in those raised from
seed.
Large Versus Small Potatoes.
Because of the fact that the potato
is not seed it has been claimed that
small potatoes would produce just as
good crops as large ones. Growers
often sort out and plant the tubers
that are too small for market. The
outcome of four or five years Of such
selection almost always means de.
creased yield If the potatoes planted
were small only because they did not
have chance to develop they would
produce nearly as good results as lar
ger ones from the same hill II. how
ever, they were small because they
came from hill of tubers all of which
were naturally small they would pro
duce mostly small potatoes like them
selves. For this reason 1t Is not safe
to plant the small tubers. Another i'm
portant point is that there is not
enough food material in small po
tato to give the sprout the kind Of O
start that it needs to produce a good
yield 1t is the stocky, vigorous hills
that are full of large potatoes wher
digging time comes. The start the
plant gets while it is first making Its
way to the surface of the ground
largely determines the vigor will
which it will continue to grow through
out the season.
The experience of most potato grow
ers is that it Is best to plant medium
sized tubers. about the size Of hem!
egg or larger, cutting each one int
four pieces. In experiments that wer,