Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1911-04-13
WATER FOR POTATOES
Before Planting Land Should Be
Thoroughly Irrigated
When Vines Begin to Turn Dark In
Color II Is Indication That Mois-
ture Is Needed-Oon't Be Afraid
to Cultivate Continually.

10 SuitiNatc OOnkinudiiJ.
An observing writer in The Irri-
gator. journal OF the irrigated re-
gion of the Northwest. gives the fol
lowing very rational outlines of po-
tato growing by irrigation:
There is no particular number OF
times during the season that potatoes
should be irrigated. The idea that
there is. is fundamentally false. al
though II is followed by some grow
ers and usually accompanied by fail
ure. The question Is simply whether
or not the plant. at given time. is
In need OF water.
Before planting potatoes. the land
should be irrigated. no matter how
damp the soil may appear to be at the
time of planting. The ground should
be ditched with an ordinary hay
iitcher and the water run over II for
period that will vary from one to
four days. II land is new from sage
brush it will probably need TO be wa
tered three or four days. You can
Judge whether 1t has been watered
enough when the ground is thorough
y soaked. in fact. muddy. In this
ground too wet, so that the moisture
will go down into the soil eight or
zen feet thus providing, for six weeks
or two months, plenty OF moisture
rom beneath. After the ground has
Tried out sufficiently for horse to
stand upon 1t. it should be plowed
deeply. 1t should then be narrowed
Town fine when IT is ready to be
planted. Potatoes may be planted
IL. Is or IS inches apart, depending
On the richness OF the soil. and the
use Of large piece OF seed Is advis
able. II pays to give the plant plenty
Of sustenance at the start. The po-
.ato patch will not need watering now
until 1t is in bloom. II these directions
have been completely followed out
Keep cultivating after the plants
come up continually. and don't be
afraid to cultivate with the spike
.ooth harrow after they are four or
ave inches high. as the very few that
you will damage with the cultivator-
:eeth will be nothing compared with
he benefit derived. While the plants
are in bloom. It is a wise plan to
Keep an eye on the patch from day to
lay. and II you find any place. as
-ou look over the field. where the
lines are turning dark In color. II
means that they need water and II
s time to begin irrigating. In any
svent. the plants should be irrigated
before they have gone out of bloom.
or the reason that IL is at the time
II blossoming that the tubers set. and
he number OF tubers which will set
pom the plants depends in a measure
ipon the amount of moisture In the
'oil. or course, II your plants turn
lark before poisoning. II means that
here is not enough moisture in the
soil. and you had better irrigate. but
his will not occur II sufficient irrigat-
ng has been done in the beginning.
After the first irrigating. when the
plants are in bloom. the only rule
which can be given is to irrigate the
,atch as often as II Is necessary to
keep the soil four or FIVE inches be
ow the surface OF the ground nicely
moist. SO that when you reach your
land in and bring out handful of It
N the grip of the hand. and open the
hand again. the dirt will clearly show
he indentation OF the fingers and be
airly moist. year ago. on the po-
I
was necessary to irrigate about every
i've days. because the hot weather
vas drawing the moisture out OF the
SOIL and the earth was too dry be-
heath the surface. OF course. 1t is
possible to irrigate potatoes too
much. but generally more failures re-
suit from giving them too little wa
ter. However. no mans advice will
lelp you in this matter. and your sue
cess will depend upon applying the
rules of nature with good Judgment.
In ditching between the rows for
The water to run. ditch as deeply as
possible. This is very important, as
in running the water through the
ditch great pains should be taken that
the top OF the water in the ditch is
not high enough to be applied directly
to the tubers. A small stream run
ming long time in the bottom OF the
ditch is better than a big stream
running a short time.