The Delta independent., 1911-08-11
The Secrets of the Spud.
James p. Reed.

James p. Reed.
While the spuds are In bloom it
is wise plan to keep an eye on
ne patcn from DAY TO day and ii
Cne vines are turning dark in color
IT means that they need water and
II is time 10 begin lrrigaing. In
any event the plants should be
Irrg gated before they have gone.
out OIL bloom for the reason that
1t is at the time of poisoning that
me tubers are selling and the
number oil tubers which will set
upon The plants depends in
uleasure upon the amount of the
moisture IN the soil. or course,
II the plants turn dark before they
Jesin TO blossom, it means tina.
there is not enough moisture and
Lne water had better be turned on
but this will not occur if sufficient
cultivation has been given.
After the first irrigating, when
the plants are passing bloom, the
only rule which can be given is to
I lrrigate as often as necessary to
keep the soil nicely moist four or
tive inches below the surface so
that when a handful of it is grip
ped the dirt will clearly show the
indentation of the fingers and be
fairly moist. A year ago l found
il necessary to irrigate every five
days or so because the hot wealth
er was drawing the moisture out
Of the soil and the earth was too
dry beneath the surface. OF course
III
too much, but generally more fail
ures result from giving too little
water, However, no mans advice
viii help very much in this mat
ter and success will depend upon
applying the rules of nature with
good judgment.
In ditching between the rows
for the water to run furrow out as
deeply as possible. This is very
important as in running the water
great care should ipe taken that
the top OF the water in the lateral
Is not high enough to be applied
directly to the tubers. A small
stream running a long time in
the bottom of the furrow is bet
ter than big stream running a
short time. incidentally potatoes
are as difficult crop to raise by
irrigation as there is and man
who is considering going into it
on an extensive scale should re
gard very carefully the risk that
ne is running il he has not had
previous experience with the par
ticular crop and it might pay
thousand per cent or SO to buy a
copy of Wilcox Irrigation Farm
ing and be guided by it.
Second growth renders potatoes
unsaleable and at best the price
received is SO variable from year
to year that it is much of gam
bling proposition even with an
experienced grower, who only ex-
poets to make a profit by sticking
to ii year in and year out, tax
ing the years of high prices with
those of low prices. A potato
plant feeds from the roots and
the tubers grow with nourishment
secured in that way. The potato
itself does not take any nourish-
ment from the soil but secures its
nourishment through the root
How important lnls ldct Is VIII
appear when you become worried,
perhaps, as to whether of not you
are getting a second growth on
your potatoes, because this fact
has an immediate bearing on what
causes this second growth. Many
growers say it is caused by too
much water, but / am firmly con-
WINGED that it arises from too little
water. If the ground ever dries
out sufficiently to stop the con-
tinuous growth of the plant the
tuber begins to mature. When a
subsequent irrigation comes, there
is stimulation to start the plant
growing again and since it has
begun to mature the tuber cannot
continue to grow in every direc.
ton. but begins to grow out of
one or more eyes and thus form
new spuds attached to the main
potato and this is a condition we
must avoid.