Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1911-03-16
INTENSIVE POTATO CULTURE
How the Burley Potato Prize Was
Won.

Messrs. l.. A. and W. \. Snyder
have prepared an exhaustive
article ON the methods they
followed in producing the crop
that won this prize The article in
question is too lengthy for our limi-
ted space, and hence we reproduce
portions OF it that we feel is most
interesting to potato growers:
I'VE came IL the Twin Falls tract in
the fall OF 1905 and have raised lew po
tatoes each year since. Our first expert
ence was with mixed run-out seed, and
they kept getting worse each year. We
had about decided to quit the potato
business when Mr.. Grub shipped in
some seed from his farm in Colorado i'll
the spring OF l9OS. The crops raised
from this seed were superior in quality
and yield still the yield was lar from
what was claimed ior them i'll Scotland
In the fall OF 1909 We had one patch
which yielded 40 bushels per acre This
crop WAS raised on sage brush land
which had been cropped twice, but had
a light manuring.
BY this time we were curious To see
what we could do ON alfalfa land. So i'll
the fall of 1909 we ''crOwned' four acres
OF alfalfa AS shallow us possible.
When the Burley prize was offered
last spring tl9lO) We decided to enter
this contest In trying To decide how 10
proceed in order to get the best results,
Il great many questions confronted Ills, as
for instance---how much manure can We
apply without getting scab' How close
can we plant without sacrificing the size
OF the potato and the yield9 What size
seed will give the best results? How is
it possible To get perfect stand
In order Ia break the crust which had
formed over the field during the winter
we USED 4 double-action disc-harrow.
This was followed with Il drag harrow
and was narrowed several times II inter
walls OF one week BY the time We were
ready to pillow nearly all the alfalfa was
dead. All this discing and narrowing
had thoroughly mixed the manure with
, the soil. and had created Il dust mulch
over the field. Being afraid ot >cab VT
only applied twelve loads of manure pei
: acre. This was put on i'll the sprlnA
while We were killing the alfalfa. Belns
so thoroughly mixed with the soil an'
plowed under 50 deep. We had no scab
and could have applied more, and still
have been safe is lar Is scab was con
cerned. Before blowing, We corrugate'
and irrigated.
As soon rs the ground was dry enough
it was plowed from 10 to T. inches deep
As the surface soil had been worke'
many times, before blowing, it was yer
fine and made perfect contact VIII
the bottom OF the furrow This is yer
important and We find it pays to dis
before blowing for any crop. Ate
blowing, it was narrowed twice in orde
to pack the soil and create dust mule
on top This narrowing was very benz
< fetal, As u soil which is comparativel
3 compact with dust mulch on top Wi
hold moisture longer than one which
loose clear to the bottom OF the iurroW
While We were preparing the soil we Ina
i been getting the seed ready The see
was selected true to type, and As nea
e the same size as possible We cut til
seed more to conform with the needs {
the planter than to our own ideas. Pa
Ie of this seed had been hill-selected. W
found that the planter planted pie'
u about the size OF hens egg to best ao
vantage. 50 we cut our seed i'll SQUARE
about that size In cutting a potato "
Ct always Use as many cut from the see
end as possibe---e piece having OF
or two eyes. The seed was treated wit
0 formaldahyde as per directions.
Acre No. was planted from four
five inches deep with Delmany Cha
lenge, the rows being 80 inches apa
Nc and the sets inches in the rows.
Acre No. was planted the same di
ldIlft. WIFI W illlf fttiibADNH- i''ii
no doubtful as to results OF planting inch
- in the rows, We planted acre No. 3 wi
Red Pcachblows, the same as acre y
/, except that the sets were twelve inch
/ apart The inch planting requiril
100 lbs OF cut seed per acre and the
inch planting 1850 lbs
The nlantinO was commenced Nav 2
The planter was set to ridge the IN
quite high. Immediately after plantin
II the land was "planked' with flo
made from four pinch planks 10 fC
long. These planks are nailed togeth
parallel to each other overlapping abo
inches. This float run over tine hi
ridges in the same direction the plant
ran, PRESSES the dirt around the set, a
lnaviue, the surfacp smooth has a ten