The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1912-02-28
SPUD CONTEST
|NAUGURATED
Boys and Girls of Every School
District to Have an Opport-
tunity to Compete
APPLES AND DAIRY COWS
ARE ALSO TO BE JUDGED
Prizes Are Offered to the Younger
Citizens of the Valley in Var
ious Branches of Farm Activity

Boys and girls in every school dis
trict in Yakima county those who
are pupils and those who are not, are
to have an opportunity to grow pota--
toes for prizes and results of their
work probably to be shown at the
state fair and the awards to be made
in September. They are also ito have
an opportunity to judge apples and
also to judge dairy cows. The contest
is limited to boys and girls under 81
years of age who are attending school
and to those under is years who are
not attending school. These contests
and the particulars in connection
Herewith were decided upon Satur-
day at the Y. NJ. G. A. at a largely
attended meeting of the Yakima Bays
Agricultural club.
Work Square Rod
The contestants are to work Il
square rod of land and can grow any
variety or any several varieties of po-
tatoes that they choose to, but they
can exhibit only one variety and must
exhibit bushel of that There is to
be a competition and a show in each
school district, in September, and Il
medal is to issue to the winners in
each district A request is to be
made to the boards in the various
districts to offer additional prizes ana
the state fair commission is to be
asked to award prizes of $50, $50 and
$40 for first, second and third places
respectively. In the potato contest
the judging Will be on yield, on quail
ity and on a written report of the
work. Yield will count so per cent;
quality rs per cent, and the written
report will count l 5 per cent. Each
competing tract will be inspected.
Apple Judging Also
The apple judging will be at the
state fair which will be asked to
award prizes of $40 and IS for the
teams, three in team, and IS for
the individuals The same conditions
or similar conditions will apply with
reference to the judging of the dairy
stock
Enrolment in the contest may be
made with f. E. Gustin of North
Yakima, and the members of the eX-
ecutive committee are Messrs H. M.
Gilbert, Prof. S. F. Smyser and S. S.
Busch, with Mr.. Gustin, the secretary.
One of the boys made a very inter-
esting talk at the meeting in the
morning. declaring that there was no
question as to the interest of the boys
in the work but suggesting that it
would require some campaigning on
the part of some one to convince par
ents that the boys were interested.
1t was also suggested that the plan
was bringing the educational work
something that it now lacked and that
was sufficient physical work.
What an Expert Says
{. w. Chamberlain of Seattle, of a
firm there of potato dealers which
purchases extensively in Yakima an
nually of the spud crop of this coun-
~ in speaking later in the day with
H. Nj. Gilbert on the work taken In
for the boys made a number of in
teresting suggestions. He thought
that the boys should first make a
study of the potato most in demand
in the markets in which Yakima sells.
Having decided upon the kind of po-
tato he then said it was ticklish
point to select the best seed. The
! otatoes used for seed should be the
Hedie 10 type ol tne variety select
ed. In other words all potatoes Of
the variety chosen would not make
good seed and Judgment will need to
be exercised in what is planted The
soil should be new or at least not
very old for potatoes speedily ex-
haust the soil of the particular things
they need. After production there
must be careful culling of the crop
in the selection of the market or show
stuff though it should always be
borne in mind, through the entire
growing period that the highest per-
centage possible of SOW stuff must be
grown. Mr. Chamberlain thought II
wise, also, not to use home seed but
to get some from some other district,
unrelated to this section but adapted
for growth here.