Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1911-05-12
r0tatoeS on
Dry Land.
BY n. T. Patterson, Montana
Agricultural College.

r.
- J. ! i. !. !. i. !. j. J. !. + !. !. + !.
That potatoes will grow and pro-
been proven by experiments of the dit-
fcrent experiment stations and by ac-
tual tests made by farmers. Potatoes
upon dry land sod have been known to
yield as high as $50 bushels per acre.
Not only do we get a good crop, but
the soil is left in excellent physical
condition for the following crop
The method of preparing the soil
for potatoes will, of course, vary with
the different kinds of soil and the sea-
son in which the land is prepared
Some farmers have had good results by
blowing and preparing the soil in the
fall However. good results can be
obtained by spring preparation. In
the latter event the sod should be
plowed as early in the spring as the
weather will permit and the plow
should be immediately followed with
the disc and roller This is for
the purpose of packing down and re-
establishing capillary attraction. The
water can thus come up from below
and aid in decaying the roots and or
ganic matter.
The depth should be not less than
five inches. If we have our surface
sell packed down. it is oftentimes at
visable to run over the land with a
disc harrow and later with smooth
ing harrow. The disc harrow will
tend to break up the clods and smooth
down the high places. The smoothing
harrow makes the dust mulch and pre-
vents the evaporation of the soil mois-
ture. This is exceedingly valuable in
all parts of the semi-arid West 1t
not only keeps in good deal of mcis-
ture but it prevents the growth of
weeds. Raw land that has been plcw-
ed in the spring in this manner is not
usually seeded to potatoes until the
following spring, but the land is sum-
n.er falloWed du1::.g that season. This
gives sufficient time for the organic
matter to decay and also places the
soil in good physical condition for the
following drop
The next spring when the ground is
suffi ciently dry, it is re-powed to
depth of eight or nine inches, followed
lmmediatal, with the disc and the har-
row. Not more than half day
should elapse between the blowing
and the discing or narrowing II
more than this amount of time passes,
the surface will become lumpy and
cloddy and as result be very diff
cult to work.
There is another danger that con-
fronts the farmer at this season of the
year, and this is the pudding Of the
ROLL The soil should not be worked
when there is large amount Of water
contained in it. AS soon as the seed
bed is prepared. We are ready to plant
our potatoes. The time that the pota.
toes should be placed in the soil will
vary with the type of soil and locality.
1t is nearly always safe to put the
seed in as early as possible
The method of planting is usually
about the same as that of corn. The
seed is placed about twenty inches
three feet six inches apart They are
covered to depth of from two and
one.half to four inches. The rows are
narrowed crosswise after planting and
this narrowing is kept up for ten or
dozen days or until the potatoes are
too large. then the cultivator is used
the remainder Of the season. The
purpose of this narrowing and cultiva-
ton is to prevent the evaporation Of
moisture and to destroy the weeds
Some farmers advocate the cultivating
every ten days or as often as the con.
dition of the soil permits. In our dry
land region We should not allow the
surface Of the soil to become csusted.
Potatoes handled in this way nearly
always produce sosorable crop. How.
ever, there may be a few factors that
viii interfere with the production of
. good crop In nearly all parts OF
the West the potato beetle causes a
sreat deal of damage. We need not
experience much difficulty wirh this
bug II We follow q rigid process of
spraying. The potato can be SPRAYED
wit a solution Of Paris green, in the
proportion Of about one pound OF Paris
green to twenty gallons of water. This
will treat large area Of the potato.
In the application of this solution We
should never place It upon the vines
when there ia danger of rain. but it
should b applied early in the mor1ius
HI