The Winslow mail., 1911-04-08
WATER FOR POTATOES
Before Planting Land Should Be
Thoroughly Irrigated.
When Vines Begin to Turn Dark In
Color 1t Is Indication That Mos-
ture Is Needed-Don't Be Afraid
to Cultivate Continually.


An observing writer in The 1rri-
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 it 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
ditcher and the water run over 1t for
a period that will vary from one to
four days. If land is new from sage
brush it will probably need to be wa
tered three or four days. You can
Judge whether it has been watered
enough when the ground is thorough
ly soaked, in fact, muddy. In this
first watering you can hardly get the
ground too wet, so that the moisture
will go down into the soil eight or
ten feet, thus providing, for six weeks
or two months, plenty of moisture
from beneath. After the ground has
l~yo ~ f0r hnrCa n
stand upon, it, it should be plowed
deeply. 1t should then be narrowed
down 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 a large piece of seed Is advls-
able. 1t pays to give the plant plenty
Of sustenance at the start. The po-
tato patch will not need watering now
until it is in bloom, If 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
tooth harrow after they are four or
five inches high, as the very few that
you will damage with the cultivator-
teeth will be nothing compared with
the benefit derived. While the plants
are in bloom, 1t is a wise plan to
keep an eye on the patch from day to
day, and If you find any place, as
you look over the field, where the
vines are turning dark in color, It,
means that they need water and 1t
Is time to begin irrigating. In any
event, the plants should be irrigated
before they have gone out of bloom,
for the reason that it is at the time
of poisoning that the tubers set, and
the number Of tubers which will set
upon the plants depends in measure
upon the amount of moisture in the
soil. OF course, If your plants turn
dark before poisoning, 1t means that
there is not enough moisture in the
soil, and you had better irrigate, but
this will not occur If sufficient irrigat-
ing 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
patch as often as it is necessary to
keep the soil four or five inches be-
low the surface of the ground nicely
moist, so that when you reach your
hand in and bring out a handful of it
in the grip Of the hand, and open the
hand again, the dirt will clearly show
the indentation of the fingers and be
fairly moist. A year ago, on the po-
tato patch which the writer grew, it
was necessary to irrigate about every
five days, because the hot weather
was drawing the moisture out of the
soil, and the earth was too dry be-
meath the surface. Of course, it 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
help 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 a long time in the bottom Of the
ditch is better than a big stream
running a short time