The Ward County independent., 1910-09-01
KEEPING UP POTATO QUALITY
of Land for Growing Seed for
Following Year.

s. Following Year. "
Uy T. A. HovERsTAD. superintendent
Of Farmers InstituteD
It ts quite common belief that po-
eAtoes will run out" when they have
been grown on the same farm after
. number Of years. unless the variety
has been changed. That potatoes do
run out" or deteriorate both in yield
and size is quite a common expert
snce. It Is doubtful whether this run.
ming out is unavoidable. Some grow"
Sfs seem to be able to grow the same
variety on the same farm year after
year and still the size and quality do
not seem to deteriorate. An Institute
associate reported that particular
grower in his neighborhood had kept
the same variety on his farm for thir-
ty-f1ve years, and instead of running
sut 1t was gradually being improved.
The reduction in the size of the
euber and in the yield Is doubtless due
20 Indifference in seed selection and
nsglecting to take proper care of the
growing crop. Very often the best po-
kAtoes are sold or consumed at home
and only the small and inferior ones
Are used for seed When the potatoes
Rre growing, there is very little done
10 protect the potatoes from insects,
weeds or plant diseases. Under these
conditions it is not at all strange that
potatoes will run out" In order to
keep up the quality and yield some
plan must be introduced and followed
that will give the potato the best
chance to grow and develop. One Of
the important things to consider is
The selection Of the seed. This is
matter that the experimentors have
given great deal of attention to, and
more and more data is reported every
pear.
The writer has found the following
method to be practical under farm
conditions: A separate piece Of Land
b Get aside for growing the potatoes
that are to be used for, seed the fol-
lowing year. This seed plot should be
piece Of land ON which potatoes have
not been grown ON the previous year.
Il should be In good condition In r.
gard to tilth and fertility This piece
10 marked out in squares. Potatoes
cAn be grown In hills about three and
. half feet apart each way. A num-
Der Of uniform sized, smooth pota-
toes should be of the type that the
grower aims to produce in his field.
After they are properly treated, each
potato is put in its proper hill before
u is cut. Each potato is then cut into
four pieces so that all the potatoes
grown in one hill will come from the
same potato. During the growing
season any hill that does not show
health and vigorous growth should be
destroyed. When the potatoes are
ripe and ready to be dug, each hill
should be dug separately and the 20
tatoes in each hill should be studied
separately It will be seen that there
q great variation in the yield Of each
hill. At this time the potatoes that
are to be used for the seed plot the
following year should be: selected.
Only those hills should be selected
that contain the largest number Of po-
tatoes Of the type that is desired. The
product from each hill can be kept
separately until the following year
and it can be put in q separate row BY
itself. In this way the strain or sub
varieties can be kept separate. Only
those that show themselves to be
good producers should be grown. Aft
q the potatoes for the seed plot have
been selected, the rest can be used for
seed for the fAld Of potatoes tho fol-
lowing year. .-''' '',
Doubtless there Is going to continue
to be demand from the south for
northern grown seed potatoes. It
should be wise plan for the North
Dakota farmer to establish q system
q selection, 20 in case tho demand for
esd potatoes will continue to be good
1hau will be ready to furnish the
market with q superior article. The
sxperimentors In growing potatoes In
the south have shown that potatoes
6um the northern grown seed has pro-
duosd so much better Yields that 1t
pays the southern farmer to buy north
srn grown seed every year rather than
fy to raise potatoes from their own
homo grown potato