The Dickinson press., 1910-10-01
NATURAL POTATO s1AIE..
BETTER METHODS NEEDED

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That North Dakota has q future as a
potato raising state is the. contention of
l. r. Waldron, superintendent of: the
substation at Dickinson. N. q. lii an
interview furnished the Agricultural
college yesterday he wrote:
THE potato is a favorite article of
food on this planet of ours for the an
nual production of this. Vegetable
amounts in round numbers to the en6r-
NOUS totafsof i've billion bushels. The
United States produces but a small Dor
tion Of these, say 800 million bushels
or six per cent of the total output. This
is seen to be but a drop in the bucket
when we learn that this. country pro-
duces 20 per cent of the worlds wheat
crop II per cent of the worlds corn crop
and 81 per cent of the worlds cotton
crops.
The United States not only grows a
low percentage of the worlds potato crop
but what is rather of more importance.
her average yield per acre ranks very
low. The yield of potatoes in the
United States is go bushels per acre.
The yield of even Russia is eight bushels
per acre more. and in those countries
where the methods of farming have
reached a comparatively high stan d ard.
the potato yields far surpass our own.
The potatoes in Austria 90 Isl bulshel
per acre. those in the United Kingdom
1856 bushels. while Germany leads with
an average yield. of 1877. bushels per
acre. These high yields may we'll be
due in part to; climatic influences but it
would certainly be wrong to ascribe such
great differences to this factor alone.
THE use of fertilizers in foreign
countries Is more commonly practiced
and this helps 10 bring up the average
yields. But our newer soils ought to
offset this in a great measure. There
are two other factors tending to reduce
the yield in this country poor methods
OF farming and the use of poor varieties
of seed.
Very many farmers unfortunately have
no evident desire to improve their potato
crop. When they do have such a desire,
it is most apt to be in the way of secur-
ing a better variety. This is commend
able but to do this alone is a lazy way
of increasing the crop. BY this means
the farmer is seeking to get something
for nothing. He expects to increase his
crop 40 or so bushels per acre merely by
the expenditure of a small amount of
money for some wonderful seed.
BETTER CULTURE URGED
THE above is a very important
though. very commonly neglected fact in
our methods of farming. 1T surely helps
the crop some to get a good variety.
This is especially true when one is
growing q run OUT variety. But if
a farmer is growing an average variety,
the most important for him to do is to
improve his methods Of culture. When
he has done this it will be well for him
to improve his variety. 7
If one plants a superior yielding
strain in the field that is allowed to run
to weeds and is not kept properly culti-
waited, and if no attention be given to
spraying, either for bugs or for blight.
then that superior strain. will do; but
little if any better than the ordinary
one. But if we'll approved methods are
used in the growing of the potato arop,
then it will be Of great advantage to
improve the variety ofssthea petato4. In
such a case we will get the full value of
the improved strain.
GOOD POTATO CROP ! 4
THE potato likes q cool climate and