The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1910-02-10
POTATO METHODS
Very Little Level Cultivstion-impor
tance of Spraying Declared 20 be
CxtrsVsgant-Geed I'll Cut


nous for its potatoes can 3e c2p,ed
with advantage by a., po:a.o grow.
ers. The following description mas
been prepared By an Aroos;ooh ex.
pert for the American Cu!tlva.Ur:
We usually begin preparing for TIC
potato crop the ye2r ptt1r, ne says,
by blowing all the SOD ia-iJ We III.
tend 10 use for the crop Some use
part OF the land two wears III sue.
cession going over the Whole farm
that way in rotation But those who
have land enough use il for potatoes
only once in each rotation Some
SOW grain once and othefa twice in
the rotation and seed 70 grass III the
grain. Some spread The manure on
the sod ground and pillow Il down.
others spread Il On top Of the fur
rows and harrow ii in Others claim
It is impossible TO raise good, clean
sound potatoes with manure put on
anyway directly for that crop, they
say it is apt TO make them both
scabby and rotten Biz the majority
favor a liberal use OF ready mixed
commercial fertilizers. 500 to 1900
pounds an acre, all OF it put on in
one application with the planter
Since we goI the Green Mountain
potato there has been great change
fer the better in yield per acre and
in its blight and hug resisting quail
ties it is far ahead of any potato we
ever raised in tho country before.
Now the Irish Cobber bids fair to
excel it in all these good points and
| also in price The last lots OF them
| brought So barrel this winter Our
farmers are not as a rule, 50 very
particular about how the seed Is cut,
so long as it's cut mp, Some rig UP
| an apparatus that will hash up a
| potato ar one clip into four and six
pieces: some drive knife into a
board and shove the potato against
it until II is cut into as many pieces
as it will make. Still others hold
the knife in the hand and cut OF
| pieces with one, two or three eyes
on each. 1t seems to be not so very
| important how the tuber is cut The
main object is to get it cut up some,
Certain farmers cut away hin chip
from the seed end while others dis
| card the eye near the root end. The
| idea Is gaining adherents steadily
! thag we must use the Iowa method
Of seed selection TO improve cur po-
tato crop. because the potato deterl
crates SO quickly where II is plant
ed year after year on the same
farms But with proper seed selec
ton it should steadily improve
We commonly use only eight pick
ers in the planter. The machinery
most in use in the county is fitted
I'D with 10. but that arrangement
plants the seed too closely in the
row. With the new Improvements IT
| can be set to use nine, and that
strikes the happy medium between
too far apart, or too close. The ma
chine is usually run SO the inside
| wheel runs in the furow made by
the disc coverer, while few rnil II
| in the wheel track The first mates
| Tie rows about ~ feet apart the
| latter about three feet apart
We start the cultiyator the next
week. or within eight or 10 days az
| ter they are planted. Then il is
kept going all through the summer
as long as we can get between the
| tops. The horse hoe is used three
to four times, too. This gives
large ridge for the tubers to grow
| in. We always plant in ridges az
we don't believe in level culture
! The fact u.s. the seed is dropped
practically on top of the ground ami
the soil ridged up over them. This
method makes It easier to dig them
with machine or by hand. AS rule
we go over the field once or twice
in the season with hand hoes to clean
out the weeds between the plants
but this Is done ye~y fast in many
cases. One man said he and small
boy went over five acres in one day
and that means al a fast walk
Spraying? No doubt now that
spraying sometimes helps the crop
by preventing blight. and so gives n
longer time to grow, thereby in
creasing the yield but there Is also
lno doubt in my mind that its i'm
portance is often greatly exaggerat-
ed. There is bunch of us farmers
that seldom use the sprayer, In fact
not at all the past three years and
our crop has not been appreciably
smaller nor badly affected with
blight and rot When one takes In
10 account the labor and time and
cost of materials one has to figure
awfulIy close to find any profit in 1t
here. More so where water is scarce
and hard to get at, as in my case
But when like one Of my neighbors
one has three smart sons TO help
him. il is an easy job to spray Is
to % acres several times in season
They figure 1t pays them to do It be-
cause the cost of application is more
than offset by the increased yields
Digging usually begins after the
middle Of September, but those who
haya orIy a fam acrpG dnu't bpPin