The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1911-05-13
HOW WATER HELPS POTATOES
An Expert Says That Before
Planting Land Should Be
Thoroughly Irrigated

m - a.
ajournsl Of the irrigated region Of the
Northwes-. gives the following very
rational outlines Of potato growing By
irrigation. As nearly al the rzDchsrs
in this section Of Nevada raise more or
less potatoes every season. the SENTINEL
reproducss the article for their t~ueSt:
There il no particular number oil
times during the season that potatoes
should be irrigated. The idea that
there Is, 10 fundamentally false. al
though il IL followed By s0ne growers
and usually accompanied By failure
The question 10 simply whether or not
the plant. At . given time. is IN need OF
water.
Before planting potatoes. the land
shooId Be irrigated. no matter how
damp the soil may sppesr % De 81 tie
time Of planting. TIE groond should
Be difched with an ordinary lay diichtr
and the water run over il for . period
thar will vary from one 10 four days
II land is new from sagebrush 10 will
probably need &c be watsred three or
four days You can judge whether Is
has been watered enough when the
gronnd IL thoroughly soaked. in fact.
muddy. Ia this first watering you can
hardly get the ground too wet. 50 that
the moisture will 90 down into the soil
eight or ten feet. thus providing, for
1919 - 800 months rianrv Rf
moisture from beneath After the
groun3 has dried out sufficiently for o
horss to stand upon il. il should be
ploved deeply. Il should then Be hsr-
rowed down fine when il Is ready to be
planted. Potatoes may be planted -.
Is or IS inches apart. depending on the
richness Of the soil. and the use Of .
large piece Of seed 10 advisable. Il pays
TO give the plant plenty Of sussensncs
at the start. The potato patch viii not
need watering now until !. L IL bloom,
il these directions have been completely
followed out.
Keep culrivsting after he plants
come up Continually. and don't be
afraid 10 cultivate with the spike tooth
harrow after they are -four or five inches
high. as the very few that you will
damage with the eultivstor-tssih will
be nothing COMPARED with the tenefi
derived While the pants are in bloom.
is is . wise plan 10 keep an ere on the
patch from day to day. and If You find
o place. a. you lock over the field
where the vines are turning dark in
color, is means that they need water
and Is 10 time to begin irrigatipg. In
any event. the plants should Be irri-
gated before they have rome cut Of
bloom. for the reason that il il At the
time Of blossoming that the tubsrs set.
and the number Of tnbers which will
set upon the plants depends in . meas
ure upon the amount Of moisture in the
soil. OF course il your plants turn
dark before blossoming. il means that
there IL not enough moisture in the
coil. and you had better irrigats. but
this will not occur If 90 ficient irrigatiDg
has been done in the beginning.
After the first irrigating, when the
plants are in bloom. the only rule
which can be given 10 to irrigate ths
patch - often as it 10 necessary TO keep
she soil four or I've inches below the
surface OF the ground nicely moist, so
that when Jon reach your hand in and
bring ont . 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 b. fairly moist. A
year ago. on the potato patch which
the writer grew. it vas necessary 10
irrigate about every five days. because
the hot weather was drawing the
moisture out of the soil. and the earth
course. il is possible to irrigate potatoes
too much bat generally more failures re-
suit from giving them too little water.
However. no mans advice will help you
in this matter. aud your success will
depend upon applying the rules Of ma
turs with good judgment.
In difching between the rows for the
water to run. ditch as deeply as possible.
This 10 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 running q long time in the
bottom Of the ditch il better than q big