The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-06-18
MORE AND BET
TER POTATOES.

O0i0etioH u oCCu Oduly NtSltCteu
Nv Nearly All Farmers, and
'''e1 .,s:.R n, Runts.
By PrOfess,- J. r. WaIdrOn, Y. Oak
1t is a common belief that If We
purchase a variety Of potatoes from
a scotsman that We have secured
just one variety. This is true in a ,
measure. If the scotsman is reliable, |
ne Will send potatoes that are uni
form IN color, depth of eyes. earli--
ness Of maturing. and other qualities.
But unless these particular potatoes
have been pedigreed. then we have
not received one thing lat many.
The farmer can demonstrate this
tact to his own satisfaction. AT dig
ging time let him lay off a portion Of
- row containing 100 hills. In order
TO show this each hill must have
come from only one piece Of seed.
The 100 hills are dug and the
tubers Of each hill kept by them
selves on top Of the hill The pro
ducts Of the 100 hills are now ready
to be studied.
At first glance the hills may appear
! to run Very uniformly. \ little closer
view will reveal the fact that about
! the only thing that is uniform is that
| they are all potatoes The first hill
| has one large one, two medium sized
ones and half-a-dozen small Q nes.
| The next hill has one medium sized
one and several small ones. Perhaps
the next hill has three or four good
sized ones. Another hill has Solita-
| ry tuber, but of good size. PerkG ps
another hill has nothing but little
/ runts Thus it goes through the 100
hills. The ordinary farmer will pick
! up the tubers from all Of the hills
and put them together He does this
| complacently and with satisfaction.
| His fathers did it before him and all
Of his eighbors do it. Why should
| not he
Late in winter, when he begins to
read the seed catalogues. he wonders
why on earth, or under it, he cannot
raise such splendid crops Of potatoes
as he sees pictured. Now, that is the
point | am getting at: our variety is
not unit
In our 100 hills that we have dug.
close study might reveal the pres
ence of at least ten strains or varie-
ties, instead of the one that we
thought we had.
The hill that bore the little runts
has the runt character as a habit. 1t
is going to persist for years, and
, every time we plant seed of that strain
! we know to certainty that we Will
harvest little potatoes
The hill that produced one or two
large and several small ones is a
common feature Of potato fields.
, The hill that bore three or four
, good-sized tubers is the one to fasten
our eyes on. That is the hill that has
ability and the one that we should
get next to.
We will assume that we have three
tubers to every hill and that the tota
weight of the three tubers is | :
pounds There is nothing absurd ir
this for often an individual tubel
, will weigh more.
We will further assume that oul
rows are IL feet apart and tha
, our hills are feet apart in the row
This is open planting. probably more
: open than is commonly practiced.
At this rate of planting there viii
be 5000 hills per acre. assuming
:, nearly d perfect stand. With | l.
pounds per hill, we would have
l field Of 155 bushels per acre. a yieit
2 worth striving for by the majority o
farmers.
!. Now it may be that the hill will
the three or four good tubers will no
breed true. but the chances are tina
it will The offspring Of the hill is al
most certain to produce certain
r | percentage of small tubers but W.
2 may count upon it that it Will pro
!, duce a lesser percentage OF sinai
! tubers than the average hill.
e What farmer should do at potato
S digging time is to dig a fair siZet
! patch. Aeaving each hill by itself
2 After the patch is dug he shoul'
1 carefully go over the patch and selec
t out those hills that have few tuber
D of good size. >.
The tubers from those hills shoul,
be sacked by themselves and lai,
away for seed for the year followine g
If he is particular he may not b
able TO find more than ten hills t
z his liking.
I In the sDringtime these should b
: treated by themselves and planted il
q a separate patch. The second year
: product from the ten hills will b
4 sufficient to plant quite a piece 0
r ground perhaps as much as tn
e farmer desires.
) If the farmer wants to follow
. method even better and more accur
ate than this. he should plant eacl