Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1911-01-26

Potato culture was discussed in
part in the issue of December 6. In
the present article we shall consid-
er such matters pertaining to the
subject as were not taken up at that
time.
Planting
If the soil is not moist enough ir-
rigate the land before planting, as
it is never satisfactory to irrigate po-
tatoes up. A small acreage may be
planted by hand, but when the plant
ing is on a considerable scale, it is
advisable to use a two-horse planter.
With a planter five to six acres per
day may be planted. The Improved
Robbins, an Iron Age Planter, and
the Keystone, require an extra man
or boy who rides behind and sees
that there is no miss in planting. The
Evans and Aspinwell planters re-
quire but the driver. These are pick
er" planters which have metal points
which pierce each seed piece in de-
posting it in the ground. These
planters occasionally miss a piece
which means a miss hill in the field,
and if the hopper chokes up a part
of a row may be skipped before the
driver discovers the difficulty. The
cost of the planters in from $50 to
$50 each. The rows may be SO to 40
inches apart and cuttings II inches
apart in the rows. With cuttings / 2
inches apart there will be 1850
hills to the acre. The seed is plant,
ed about four and a half inches deep
From ZOO to 1900 POUNDS of seed
will be required per acre.
Cultivation.
Soon after the planting cultiyat'
deeply and as close to the rows as
possible without disturbing the tn.
bers. Harrow at once if the ground
is left rough by the cultivator and
repeat about once a week until the
potatoes are several inches high
when the second cultivation SHOULD
be given This cultivation as vel
as those that follow should be shall
low so as not to disturb the root sys
TEN. A two-row cultivator drawn by
two horses is used. Deep ditchinl
and heavy ridges give the best re
suits. Flat cultivation is not suit
able to culture of potatoes on irrigat
ed land
Irrigation.
Use deep burrows for the irrigation
so that the water is applied below
the level of the tubers. 1t is bette
for the moisture to reach the root
by capillarity than that the irriga
ton water saturate the soil abou
the tubers The time of the first ir
rigation must be determined by ex
animation of the soil Water SHOULD
not be applied sooner than necessary
yet irrigation should begin in tim
so that the whole field may be GOV
cred before any of it would suffer
1t is considered desirable to withhold
water until the tubers have formed
However, if there is need of mois
ture sooner. irrigate, as potatoe
must be kept growing right alonl
without any check if good result
are to be secured.
Cultivation should follow each il
rigation as soon after as the sol
can be worked to advantage Irri
gate as often as soil conditions will
require. Do not let the potatoes ge
dry at any time, as a check in tn
growth means a loss in yield or il
quality. If once checked in growt
second growth is sure to follow whe-
water is again applied Irrigation
and cultivation should cease shortl
before the month of August. TIL
number of irrigations may be on
to five, according to the soil.
Harvesting.
Harvesting is most expeditiousl
done by means of a digger that ele
Yates the potatoes and the soil owe
an elevator chain. The soil drop
| 4io,,o.l, LOWING tho nofatOos on To
of the ground. At least four horse
are needed to draw this digger an
four to six acres per day are hand
ed. Ten to IS men are required t
pick after the digger.
FITTING and Storing.
Pitting potatoes is a common pra'
tice. The trench is made about a foe
deem or even less and siv to eight fee