Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1909-10-13

FIG xvI-PoTAToEs LEFT ~ PlLE
as good yield as drilling prov ided
the drilled potatoes are KEEP; i.r, ron
weeds. The checked POTATOES eau be
cultivated both ways and kept ciean
with but little hand labor anc will
yield more than a weedy patch PLANTED
twice as thick The feasibility 81 the
plan depends entirely upon the rela-
tive cost OF land and labor
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 narrowing A
few days after this the cultivator
should be started and the field Guilt
waited once a week or oftener until the
blossoms appear IL pays TO hoe or
pull any weeds that come up an 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 billing 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 10y spraying with bordeaux
paris green mixture This Is made as
follows: -Four pounds copper sulphate.
four pounds fresh lime, four ounces
paris green and fifty gallons OF water
Dissolve the copper sulphate "a TWEEN
ty-five gallons OF the water and the
lime In the rest. Then pour the two
solutions together. Make the paris
green into paste with little water
and stir il into the mixture. It PAYS to
have good hand sprayer TO apply this
solution or power machine IL many
acres are grown. A hand sprayer can
be bought for So or Sc. IL equipped
with two nozzles so as to take two
rows at once il will not take more than
an hour 10 20 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
inSs 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 la bloom.
Digging the Crop.
Where Il larise acreage OF potatoes is
grown or where several neighbors each
raise few acres every year. a digger
is Il paying Investment Ii leaves the
tubers Oh top OF the ground In good
shape TO be picked UP and gets prac-
tically all of them. Where only few
are grown they can be forked out. but
this Is a slow job The most common
practice is 10 plow them out BY pick
Ing them up after the pillow. then har-
rowing twice and picking up after each
narrowing. few will be left. If the
field is so located that the hogs can be
turned in on it. they get all that were
missed AS soon as dug. which should
be before severe freezing weather, the
potatoes should be piled up and COW
cred with straw and dirt Here they
may be left until the ground begins to
freeze. when they may be put In the
cellar or hauled TO market If the pile
is on we'll drained place Il may be
covered with n foot to eighteen inches
or straw and as much dirt and safely
left till spring There are many potato
growers, especially those of foreign ex.
traction, who never keep their crop in
-ny other way. While the dry indoor
method has numerous advantages. such
as readiness for use I'm all weather and
convenience OF handling, there is much
TO commend the outdoor storage plan
There are even those who contend that
the flavor or the tuber is only TO b.
maintained by storing IL In the pit